TIME FOR ME TO GET BACK INTO PASSOVER FEAST STUDIES AS I PROMISED I WOULD----- HERE'S AN INTRODUCTION TO GOD'S FEASTS.
WHERE DO WE KEEP THE FEASTS TODAY ?
by Keith Hunt A question has been posed, and an answer desired. The question: "Another reason for keeping the Feast is to know where is 'the place which He shall choose to place His name,' Deuteronomy 14:23. In Samuel's day it was Shiloh, 1 Samuel 1:3; Judges 18:31. God later chose Jerusalem, Deut.12:5; Ps.78:68; 2 Chron.7:12; but Christ prophesied of a time when Jerusalem would not be the place of worship, John 4:20-21. In the future, Jerusalem will again be chosen, Zech.2:12...... So where is God's place today for keeping the Feast?....." It has also been wondered what the implication of this statement is: "The Feast forces us to prove.....which group is the true Church......for only they will be keeping the Feast at 'the place which He shall choose to place His name there.' " Then it has also been posed: "If a woman at a well this year would ask Jesus where God had 'placed His name,' I wonder what He would tell her." Ah, GOOD QUESTIONS, many may have wondered, many may still be wondering. These questions need to be answered, they can be answered. We shall first notice from what is given above, God can and has decided to CHANGE locations as to where to place His name from time to time. Under the OLD Covenant we see the Lord chose TWO locations - Shiloh and Jerusalem after Israel entered the land of promise. Before that, and as Israel moved around in the desert for 40 years, God placed His name in many different places as the tabernacle tent moved and was pitched along the 40 year journey. We need to keep in mind the Old Testament (OT) is the Old Testament or Covenant, not the New Testament (NT). Now that should be simple enough, but many get into sticky mud because they carry questions from the OT over into the NT, believing they should still apply, without asking the question "does the NT show the question does not apply?" Take the example of physical circumcision. If we apply the law of the OT without noting the teaching of the NT on the matter, we could believe circumcision is "a must" as it was under the OT. So it is with the question of "where today has God placed His name for keeping the Feast." We need to remember also that under the OT it was not just ONE feast that God placed His name in a certain location, but ALL THREE FESTIVAL SEASONS! Remember Deut.16 and note verse 16. See also Exodus 23:14-17. The questions above want to zero in on the Feast, namely, feast of Tabernacles, but God had THREE pilgrim festival seasons under the OT, not just one. God placed His name at a certain location for the people of Israel to come and worship Him during THREE feast seasons, not just Tabernacles. Our question is a little off centre to begin with if we are trying to use a law under the OT to apply under the NT. Does the majority of the Leviticus 23 festival observing Churches of God today, observe the Passover and Pentecost feasts(even Trumpets and Atonement) in specially called feast sites, like they practice with Tabernacles? NO THEY DO NOT! It is rather poor theology to try and claim the festival observing Churches of God are obeying the Old Covenant law regarding "where God has placed His name" for in truth they are not, or they are only obeying it by ONE THIRD. And how can you obey only one third of a law and still be within the law? How do I obey only a third of the law "thou shalt not commit adultery." So when it comes right down to it, most Churches of God who observe the festivals of the Lord, have never practiced and believed the law we are discussing from the OT is meant to be carried over into and under the NT, for most have never established special centres for THREE pilgrim festival seasons, where at least the males are to attend. UNDER THE NEW TESTAMENT The NT shows quite clearly that from the time of the start of the Spirit begotten Church of God on the Day of Pentecost(Acts 2), this law of the OT was CHANGED! It was not a law to be observed as dogma and doctrine under the New Covenant. Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Corinth to correct them in many areas. In chapter 11 beginning with verse 17 he corrects them on HOW to observe the Passover or Lord's death. You will notice he says NOTHING about getting to Jerusalem, or any words such as: Do you not know this is a pilgrim festival and you should have all been in Jerusalem the only place at present where God has placed His name. No such words are found anywhere in the NT concerning the keeping of God's feasts because all knew it was correct under the New Covenant to observe the festivals of the Lord ANYWHERE God's people were living. Notice 1 Cor.16 and verse 8. Paul and company were going to stay at Ephesus, not Jerusalem, for the celebration of the feast of Pentecost. They knew the law of three pilgrim festivals to only one place where God had placed His name, a law under the Old Covenant was NOT in effect under the New Covenant - they knew it had been CHANGED! Turn to Acts 20 and read verse 6. Again Paul, Luke(who wrote Acts) and company stayed at Philippi to observe the feast of Unleavened Bread. Paul was personally taught by Christ Himself(Gal.1:11-12) and obviously just from the examples so far seen, Paul knew the law of three pilgrim festivals to Jerusalem was not a law under the New Covenant, but that law had been changed to allowing the feasts to be observed ANYWHERE God's people were living. I guess so, the gospel was to go to the world, how would it be possible for those in the British Isles, to travel three times a year to observe the festivals at Jerusalem? Remember they only had horse and buggy as their fastest means of transportation. Certain CHANGES to old covenant laws regarding the observance of the festivals was necessary under a worldwide era of the calling of God's children from all nations of the earth. Do we teach today that it is still the law of God to be observed by everyone worldwide, that each should keep the feast of Tabernacles LIVING IN BOOTHS OR TENTS made from the branches of trees or the like? No we do not! If we did I think we would all end up observing the feast in Florida, South Texas, or southern California. I would sure pity those up in Alaska if we did. The kids and old people would end up in the main not looking forward to the fall festivals if we could only live in tents in Alaska, and other Northern lands. Galatians is revealing. Notice chapter one and verses 15 through 24. When Paul was called and converted he did not go to Jerusalem FOR THREE YEARS! He was in Arabia and Damascus (verse 17). When he did go to Jerusalem he only stayed a short time, a very short time, then went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Did Paul observe the festivals of God during those three years? Oh, you bet he did, but obviously NOT in Jerusalem. The law of "the place where God has placed His name" had been changed. Then look at Gal.2:1. It would seem from this that Paul did not go to Jerusalem again until 14 YEARS LATER! Did he observe the festivals of the Lord during all those years? Yes indeed, but not in Jerusalem. He observed them wherever he was with God's people wherever they were. Sure there were times when he wanted to be in Jerusalem to observe a feast of God (Acts 18:21; 20:16), but the contexts show there were also others reasons he wanted to be in Jerusalem. It was a case of killing two birds with one stone. We have clearly seen he felt he was under no "law obligation" to observe a law of the OT that had been changed under the NT. We need also to remember that the Jews themselves were scattered far and wide in the "dispersion." Most of them only got to Jerusalem to observe a festival of God a few times in their life, sure did not make the journey three times a year, or it would have been a full time job for them to have tried. Did those Jews in the far reaches of the Roman Empire observe the feasts of God WHERE THEY WERE LIVING? History proclaims loud and clear - YES THEY DID! Did God rain fire and brimstone down upon their heads for not getting to Jerusalem three times a year, or even once a year at the time of the fall festivals? No, He did not! The truth is the old law under the Old Covenant HAD ALREADY BEEN CHANGED WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE WERE LIVING BEYOND THE LAND OF PALESTINE. And that is why Jesus answered the woman at the well the way He did. Many have missed it. Notice, in the context of whether God was to be worshipped in this mountain or that mountain, this city or that city, Jesus answered the woman with these words: "But the hour comes(sure did in 70 A.D.), AND NOW IS," yes right at the time Jesus was speaking, then at that time, "when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth; for the father seeks such to worship Him"(John 4:23). Aaaahhhh, indeed as someone has already said, God has placed His name to worship Him in His festivals
WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE I AM IN THE MIDST OF THEM"(Mat.18:19,20).
The life and examples of the great apostle Paul (a man directly
taught by Christ) prove beyond any doubt that God's festivals can
be observed under the New Covenant ANYWHERE on this good green
earth, ANYWHERE God's people are gathered together to worship Him
in Spirit and in Truth, for that is the really important matter
today, not the physical location.
If a woman at a well this year would ask Jesus where God had
"placed His name" NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK HE WOULD TELL HER.
....................
Written Oct.1996 WHERE TO OBSERVE THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES by Keith Hunt
In the earlier study (part one) we saw from the Scriptures of both the Old and New Covenants the full truth of the matter about the observance of the three festival seasons of God as practiced under both Covenants. A short brief recap will suffice for this study. Under the Old Covenant, the Eternal placed His name in a CENTRAL location in the land of promise, first at Shiloh, then later at Jerusalem. The three festival seasons became known by the Jews as "Pilgrim Feasts" simply because the law of Moses said they were to travel (the males in Israel especially) to the city where God had placed His name, and there observe the Feasts of the Spring season (Passover/Unleavened Bread), the Summer season(Pentecost), and the Fall season (Trumpets/Atonement/Tabernacles/Last Great Feast or 8th day). We also saw that the Scriptures of the Old Testament said the Lord would ENLARGE the borders of Israel. We saw that from Jewish history, it has always been a fact (certainly so after the 70 year captivity in Babylon, when tens of thousands of Jews never returned to Palestine) that the scattered Jews could not always travel to Jerusalem three times a year to observe the Feasts of the Lord, often not even once a year, for those living in far away places in the Roman empire. We noted that those Jews STILL observed the Feasts of the Lord WHERE THEY WERE LIVING, without observing the sacrificial system (obviously without observing such as the Temple and Levitical Priesthood for sacrificing was in Jerusalem). We noted that the Eternal did not rain fire and brimstone down on those Jews so observing the Feasts outside of the city of Jerusalem. The Lord understood the physical, financial, and work responsibilities, of Jews living many hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem. When the fastest means of transportation was ship, mule, horse and buggy, and foot, such travel to Jerusalem ONCE a year, let alone three times a year, would be impossible for most Jews, on any regular basis. What is also forgotten by many is that the Spring Passover/Unleavened Bread Feast was also the START of the harvesting of the barley grain. As soon as the first fruit wave sheaf offering had been presented by the priests in the temple to the Lord, THEN the harvest could begin. Only the first and last days of the seven day feast of Unleavened Bread were HOLY days, the five days or four days if a weekly Sabbath came (which it did most of the time) between the start and finish of that feast, WERE WORK DAYS! The harvest could start to be gathered in as soon as the wave sheaf was offered on that morning of the first day of the week during the feast of Unleavened Bread. The THIRD season of the festival year included all the fall festivals, from Trumpets to Tabernacles. Attending at Jerusalem for this third pilgrim festival season meant starting out from your home before Trumpets, to be at Jerusalem for that Feast day and staying there until the end of the 8th or last annual Sabbath, coming after the seven day feast of Tabernacles. If you lived close to Jerusalem you may have not gone up to stay in that city until after the feast of Atonement, as you could go back and forth for Trumpets and Atonement, but the basic instruction in the law of Moses was that there were THREE festive seasons to attend where God had placed His name, the third one then being ALL the fall festivals. It would have been no small undertaking for the Jews in Palestine (not even thinking about those outside of Palestine), and especially those living furthest away from Jerusalem, to attend ALL three festival seasons in the city of Jerusalem. The time away from your work (crops, live stock, remembering it was mainly an agricultural society), would all by itself have prevented you from travelling to Jerusalem (unless living very close to that city) for THREE festival seasons, on any regular basis. Some few whose work was not in agriculture, may have been able to attend at Jerusalem for one or more of the festival season on a regular basis (Joseph and Mary with the boy Jesus, did attend each year the Passover festival in Jerusalem, so it is written in the Gospels, but Joseph was not in the agricultural trade). The many factors mentioned above, together with Jewish history, prove beyond any shadow of doubt that the facts are clear. Not all Israelites or Jews attended AT JERUSALEM, for the THREE festival seasons each year. Many, in the time of Jesus, living in the far outreaches of the Roman empire, may have only managed to come to Jerusalem for a festival season ONCE in their life time. But the historic facts as just as clear, those Jews still observed the three festival seasons WHERE THEY LIVED, but as mentioned earlier, without observing the sacrificial system, as it was only to be observed in Jerusalem. It is or should be very clear to the reader by now, that there has never been any NT Church of God in this 20th century, that observing the three festival seasons, has come CLOSE to observing them as the Israelites did when in Palestine, under Moses, or thereafter, up to the time of Christ. Even if some have tried to copy some aspects or taken certain verses in the OT and tried to apply then in this 20th century, it should be now clear that they have missed even that mark by a long way, or that they have not been consistent (applying certain verses to Tabernacles feast only while not applying them to Passover and Pentecost as the law of Moses also included, is to say the least, in-consistent). It should be clear, even looking at only the OT verses, especially under the laws of Moses, the applying and mis-applying of these verses in a 20th century context, as done by some Churches of God, who have picked and chosen, applied and not applied, verses that fitted their situation at the time (though possibly done with sincerity, but then not always so), then chose other verses or claimed they misunderstood previous verses, so they could adapt to their new situations as their organization grew, has been somewhat of a sham and a shame at times, based more upon getting "money" and being in "control of people" than really desiring the truth of the matter. We saw in our last study on this matter, that when we come to the New Testament age, Jerusalem was no longer the city of central Festival worship. We saw the apostle Paul observing the Festivals of God in different places, wherever he may have been at the time. We saw that He actually spent very little time in the city of Jerusalem. From one short couple of weeks in that city to the next time he was there, was a period of FOURTEEN years! Paul still observed the Festivals of the Lord during that time, and obviously he did not observe them in Jerusalem. It is just as clear from the NT that the Church of God did not proclaim this ot that city or any group of cities as the only cities where the Feasts of God could be observed. We saw last time that Jesus plainly said the time was NOW and was to COME (when Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 A.D.) when the true worshippers of God would worship Him not only in Jerusalem, but anywhere in "spirit and in truth" for He wanted such worship. Many Churches of God have now come to see that the NT truth is that under the NT the Feasts of God, and especially the Feast of Tabernacles, can be observed ANYWHERE that the people of God congregate to meet and observe the three festival seasons, which includes the local church staying right where it is, and observing the Feast of Tabernacles as it does the feast of Passover and Pentecost. All this then brings up a number of other questions. Is it wrong for a local church or a larger church organization to plan feast observance in some other parts of the country? With the NT liberty we have in Christ, it is not wrong to so plan, but again with the liberty we have in Christ, no church organization can demand its members can only observe the three festivals seasons, or Tabernacles, where that organization has official Feast sites. Today, with the light of truth on this matter, any organization so trying to control and teach its members will soon have few if any members, certainly those who cannot be deceived, will move on out to a church less cultic and authoritarian. Observing say the feast of Tabernacles more locally, brings up the question of SECOND or Festival tithe. Must it still be saved and used as under the laws of Moses, given under a different age and national system, as we have been studying? I think the answer is obvious - NO! Under the NT festival observance locally, as practiced by the NT apostolic Church of God, there is no need for a saving of a festival or second tithe, to be used in one central location, as under the OT. Certainly, you are free to save a second tithe if you so desire to. You are free under the liberty in Christ, to attend the feast of Tabernacles, on the other side of the earth or the country in which you live. That is your choice to make. In so making that choice you will need money to fulfill it, a full tithe of your income, possibly even more, or maybe less. If you are blessed with physical money, it would be right and proper to use part of it in helping someone else attend a feast of Tabernacles in some part of the nation or world that they would like to see, but would be unable to go to because of their financial poorness. Having a large financial income is a blessing IF used wisely and with the love of the Lord in your heart towards Him and other people not so blessed. If the feast of Tabernacles should be, will be, more and more on a local level, what about the staying in "booths" or as many call them today, "temporary dwellings"? Do I move out of my house or apartment to another house or apartment, if observing the Tabernacles feast locally? First, the booths as directed under Moses were FAR different than modern houses and hotels, and apartments, that most stay in during the observance of the feast of Tabernacles. Such building are not built to be just "temporary" dwellings, no matter how people deceive themselves to believe they are living in a "booth" by dwelling in such a permanent structure. The age of booth building and living has gone with the OT. Under the NT, with no Jerusalem in a warm climate of Palestine, to only observe the feast of Tabernacles (with an observance that is now worldwide in every nation, north and south, east and west, warm and cold, try living in a booth of tree branches in Alaska for the feast of Tabernacles and see how you like it, especially see how the elderly like it) in tents is nowhere mentioned in the NT as a law that was to be observed to the letter. The worship of God in spirit and in truth does not need such physical reminders that we came out of Egypt as wanderers in a world that is not our home, that we are pilgrims on this earth looking for a city whose builder and maker is God, which fades not away, reserved in heaven for us, and waiting to be given us when Christ Jesus returns to Tabernacle with the world once more, when the Kingdom of God is literally established in the earth. If observing the feast of Tabernacles locally, the NT does not require any moving out of your house or apartment. Observing the feast of Tabernacles on a more local level, or not even locally, am I commanded to attend services EVERY day? Should there even be church services every day? The instructions from the Lord are clear. Only the first and eighth days of the Tabernacles/Last Feast are commanded holy convocations. They only are Sabbath days in which God commands services and attendance. All other services during that whole eight days are man made. We are at liberty in Christ to so have services/bible studies etc. on those other days, but in the same respect we are at liberty not to attend if we so choose for any reason. The feast of Tabernacles is to learn to fear (deeply respect) the Lord, to read and study His word, but that can be done privately if so wanting, without attending services on any day other than the Sabbaths. Many organizations now have what they call "free days" during the Feast, some have "work-shops" of various kinds on the days during the two Sabbaths, you can attend or not attend, freedom in Christ once more being taught, where freedom is allowed by God. If observing the Tabernacles feast locally, do I have to stop working at my secular job for all eight days? Most people like to take off from secular work for the entire Feast, but under the NT local observance, such is not a command. The first and eighth days are Sabbaths, so it is written. God never said all eight days were Sabbaths, or it would be so written. If only the first and eighth are Sabbaths then the other days are not, and so belong to us, as part of our eating and drinking and whatsoever our soul desires, which may mean we desire to work at our secular job for the other days or parts of those days etc. Many are coming to see that under the NT observance of the feast of Tabernacles, in a local church setting, we can observe this fall festival in much the same way as we do the spring festival, but with a different emphasis in our physical life as pictured by the joyful festivities of the fall feast. The Jewish people and especially the Messianic Jews observe this fall feast locally with great enthusiasm and spirituality, many of them still working at their secular jobs during the Sabbath days of the feast. Again, from a local observance point of view, the liberty in Christ would determine you personally choosing whether to work or not work at your secular job doing the days of the feast between the Sabbaths. No church organization has the authority from God to make that decision for you, just as they do not have the authority to tell you where to observe this fall festival. It may be nice to be able to observe this fall feast in some far away place you have never seen before, but the reality of many today in this world of insecure jobs, and financial ups and downs, is that the spector of saying home for all the fall festivals of the Lord is becoming more and more the way they must go, and so in so doing the feasts of God are becoming more and more local, just as it was in the days of the NT apostolic church, who had no cars or flying machines to move them quickly around from one place to another. As we have seen, Paul more often than not, observed God's Festivals in the town or city where he happened to be evangelizing or living at the time. The Jews from the time of the Babylonian captivity and after, have been observing all the feasts of God in the towns where they had synagogues and congregations established in the lands they chose to dwell in. This they still practice today. The NT Church of God followed in like manner, observing the great and wonderful feasts of the Lord where congregations were established, after all it is the people and their attitude towards the observing of God's Festivals that make them so great and wonderful, together with the meaning of each feast as brought out in sermons (as well as the lovely food and drink, except for the feast of Atonement), that make them so enjoyable and spiritually edifying. The actual town or location is not the important thing. Observing them in spirit and in truth is what really counts with our heavenly Father today under the New Covenant age. ..................................
Written October 1998
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