We just finished celebrating the Feast of Passover, and even though I grew up celebrating the biblical feasts ( Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and others), I have wondered if people may think it is a little strange for us to celebrate the festivals of the Old Testament. I have also had people ask, ‘Why do you even read the Old Testament?’
I believe that when God created the universe, He also established laws and principles of nature that continue unchanged, like God Himself (Malachi 3:6). Even before the Law was given to Moses, He also established the Sabbath. “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:2–3). The fact that He blessed the seventh day makes me believe that God has a cycle, like the days of the week, months, and years. And if God has His own calendar we also should try to follow His appointed times for celebrating biblical feasts as the scriptures instruct us (Leviticus 23).
Some may think that with the coming of Christ everything of the past changed, and was abolished, but Jesus Christ Himself said, “I did not come to abolish (the Law or the Prophets) but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17-20). I really believe that God’s calendar continues the same, even if we have our own schedules and modern calendars. It is important to remember that Christ was crucified on the day that the sacrifices were offered during Passover, and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened on the Day of Pentecost. His coming, crucifixion, and resurrection all followed God’s calendar.
It is true that whenever we look for God we can find Him. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13). But there are specific times that God wants us to come before Him (Exodus 23:15); these are not only the celebration of events that happened in the past. The biblical feasts also have a prophetic expectation of a future fulfillment of the plan of God. When we celebrate the feasts we anticipate what God is about to do in our lives. Right now we are in the period between Passover and Pentecost. This period is rich in meaning for us as Christians; it is the period when Christ appeared to His disciples after the resurrection and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They were obedient to the Lord by returning to Jerusalem and waiting to receive the power. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Lets believe that our obedience, our oneness, and our anticipation will trigger a new outpouring of His Spirit upon the earth again.
Acts 1:6-8
Joel 2:28
Jeremiah 31:35-56
Genesis 1:14-18
Psalms 19:1-3