I will be the first to tell you that I am an opinionated person. That’s just who I am, and what I am about to say is just that: an opinion.
*clears throat*
Christianity kind of SUCKS sometimes.
If you didn’t immediately exit out of this Substack, good job! Let me explain why I feel this way:
Our religion, our relationship with God, is missing something because the church doesn’t teach it. Most pastors, most teachers, they don’t understand the importance, and therefore, it must not be that important. Can you guess what we are missing?
Tradition. We are missing tradition, and tradition happens easiest through the feasts.
There are a couple things we tend to do that help commemorate our time with God and our thankfulness for what God has done, but they don’t really hit the nail on the head.
We celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection on Easter, we go to church on Sunday, maybe even celebrate sabbath…maybe…probably not.
But, those things aren’t “ours.”
First off, both Christmas and Easter were not Christian days to begin with. We kind of….stole them and turned them into something. Did you know that?
Quick In-Case-You-Didn’t-Know with the Rev. Dr.: The traditions of Christmas and Easter did not begin in Christianity. Both were originally specific pagan rituals to commemorate different phases in the moon cycle and to worship other gods in a thankful manner.
Listen to me very carefully: just because you enjoy these holidays does NOT in ANY way mean you are blasphemers. If you are opening presents up Christmas Day and suddenly start praising some random pagan god that is not Yahweh, you will probably get struck by lightning…so just refrain from doing that. I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but your traditions in these holidays are not based in religion, but rooted in nostalgia. Just know, that it is okay. God doesn’t hate you nor does he hate your nostalgic mind. He created it. Family tradition is important too.
My husband’s least favorite thing about me is when I go on tangents about Jesus not being born in December anytime I see a Christian get a little *too* hot with Christmas fever. I get unrealistically angry when I see Christians focus on Easter egg hunts and not talk to their kids about the story of Jesus. What can I say? I’m human. This doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy decorating Christmas trees or seeing tiny kids run around searching for little plastic eggs filled with chocolate. All I am saying is that we are missing something that is right in front of us.
The feasts aren’t just a couple chapters in the Bible to ignore.
They aren’t just some fun dinners to have every couple years when you remember they exist.
They aren’t just for the ancient Israelites or the Jewish people.
They are for anyone who knows, or desires to know, God.
So, let’s talk about the Feasts:
Passover
Originally instituted before the Israelites left Egypt. The final plague in Exodus 12, the death of the firstborn, was only for those who did not put blood around their doorposts. If they did put blood around the doorpost, the angel of death literally “passed over” their homes.
If you are new to the whole “God” thing, let me explain this a bit more because it’s equally horrifying and upsetting. Every plague, up until this point, had been a warning from God. He was essentially saying “let my people go or I will let your people go.” When Pharaoh would not let them go, God had Moses plead one more time and essentially say “let my sons go, or I will kill your son.” The only way to explain the intensity of God, who wanted His people to be free, is by reading that sentence in the voice of Liam Neeson, specifically from Taken and definitely NOT from the Phantom Menace. God was serious. He heard the cries of His people who had been slaves for hundreds of years and endured horrendous torture and pain.
At the beginning of Exodus, recall how Moses was shipped off in a basket to prevent from being murdered. Pharaoh ordered that all male babies were to be killed so that they wouldn’t raise up and build an army to take him over. As baby after baby died, there was a great cry in Egypt. And again, in Exodus 12:30, when the firstborns died from the final plague, there was a great cry in Egypt. A full circle, and heartbreaking, moment.
So, Passover tends to be a more somber feast. It is the feast of salvation for both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In both instances, the blood of the lamb delivers the people from slavery: in the Old, the Hebrews from Egypt; in the New, the Christians from sin (spoiler alert: Christians were delivered from sin via the acts of Jesus as a sacrificial lamb ironically, and also not ironically, on the literal day of Passover). It doesn’t mean that this feast isn’t rooted in joy, but it is a somber joy remembering how we were delivered.
It is celebrated in the first month of Spring (March/April) on the 14th day, and consisted of slaying and eating a lamb with herbs and bread without yeast (think like a tortilla).
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Unleavened Bread
The next day after Passover was the feast of Unleavened Bread. Yes, eating tortillas again, but ONLY tortillas and for seven days straight.
Two major things to note with this feast: leaven, a.k.a. yeast, was symbolically seen as sin or evil. And seven (every number is biblical and has meaning) represents fulfillment or divine completion, like creation coming together and was completely fulfilled in seven days. Thus God implemented the most important feast, i.e. the Passover, so that we would be thankful for all He has done; then implemented the feast of Unleavened Bread where only bread without yeast could be consumed, so that we could be cleansed and made holy.
Over time, the feast of Unleavened Bread was seen as a holy walk with God. For Christians, we can consider this as another way of understanding communion (i.e. disciples eating bread and Jesus then saying “this is my body, eat it, think of me, but please not in a cannibal way because that is weird and uncalled for”).
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
First Fruits
On the “morrow after the Sabbath” following Unleavened Bread, First Fruits was seen as a festival to thank God for the Promised Land.
The whole point was to bring the first crops, or fruit, to God as an offering, including a sheaf of barley to do a ceremonial “rain dance” for God. I’m kidding on the “rain dance,” but that’s basically what it looked like. You just waved the sheaf around for a while and then made a couple other offerings.
Still though, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Weeks
A couple months later, sometime between May and June, was the feast of Weeks, or as we like to call it now, Pentecost. This feast was around the peak of summer harvest.
Included in this feast was making bread WITH LEAVEN. What?? That’s wild!
Yeast was not forbidden. Get that through your head. It’s just yeast.
One of the reasons we recognize it as Pentecost now was because during the day of Pentecost (in Acts, when they were CELEBRATING THE FEAST OF WEEKS), both Jew and Gentile were apart of the church when the Holy Spirit did his thing and baptized everyone.
Another way of thinking about it was that the Gentiles, and anyone NOT Hebrew, was generally seen as evil or sinful. Symbolically having yeast in the bread during the feast of Weeks meant that it was now holy to, in Layman’s terms, “love your enemy.”
This feast was about showing joy to God and His LITERAL provision.
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Trumpets
The first feast in the fall, happening sometime in September or October, was Trumpets. We now know this as Rosh Hashanah (not pronounced rosh hash-uh-nuh, do not make that mistake, it is pronounced rah-shuh-shawn-nuh), and is the start of the year.
I know what you’re wondering. Why is it named after trumpets? The Jewish trumpet, made from a ram horn, is called a shofar.
In case you were wondering, it is, by far, my least favorite noise, but I digress.
Trumpets were important to God, which is why the Bible is full of trumpet moments.
They have two major functions today: to immediately call attention to something or to have a killer melody in the Star Wars theme song.
Obviously only one of those apply, unfortunately, but God used trumpets (i.e. shofars) to get someones attention. In a literal sense, the sound of the trumpet would tell workers to come to the Temple to worship (think like the Muslim call to prayer, but way less loud).
This feast was about receiving the favor of God, not just for one day, but for the entire year.
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Atonement
Ten days after Trumpets, this feast was meant to be a day of rest and fasting. This was the most important to the priests, so that they could continue doing their duties in the Tabernacle. They essentially did the offerings for the people and themselves, since the people were not allowed in the sacred room in the Tabernacle.
Quick FAQ with the Rev. Dr.: Remember that “atonement” means a reconciliation with God. The ancient people had to do a series of offerings, while for us, Jesus brought atonement without us having to do anything. He brought reconciliation between us and God. Jesus was, and still is, the only way.
Atonement mattered deeply to a religion that counted on offerings and sacrifices to keep them in good standing with God. We have Jesus who did the ultimate atoning act for us.
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Tabernacles
Five days after Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles happened. It is also called the feast of “booths” because the Israelites were instructed to build tiny shelters (booths in English, “Sukkot” in Hebrew) and stay in them for a week.
The whole purpose was to worship inside these little tiny DIY homes and thank God for providing shelter when the Israelites wandered the wilderness forever because they sucked at using the GPS.
At its core, this feast was meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
If you haven’t gotten the hint yet…
At its core, the feasts were meant to be celebrated with community and to give thanks to God.
Does this mean I sacrifice a lamb every March?
Absolutely not. I bake a chicken.
Does this mean I spend a week eating tortillas and only tortillas?
Absolutely. I do that all the time (unintentionally) anyways.
Does this mean I listen to trumpet sounds all day during Rosh Hashanah?
Absolutely not. I have a Star Wars marathon so I can hear some epic trumpet melodies instead.
If you have any desire to add a little raw tradition to your life, I recommend the feasts. Even if you just make a special little dessert on those days, or maybe read your Bible during those days for a little longer. Maybe read portions of the Bible with your kids inside of a tent, or light a candle and have dinner with the people you love.
Feasts are a way to bring us together. They were never meant to be carried out as a religious act. They were always meant to be celebrated.
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
I learned a few things here today that I did not know, 1. I am pretty tech savvy but I had no clue they used GPS it makes so much sense that the early versions would have been a bit glitchy! Explaining the 40 year ETA delay. 2. As someone who really has an internal struggle with any type of feast including the old and the modern "Christmas" and "Easter" I am really blessed by your summary that each feast was given as a way to remember God along with those whom you love, your tribe, your community, those who are passionate for the heart of God like you are and the cool thing is the feast does not celebrate your doctrine or gift all of them celebrate a common thing that God "gave" so its like a "Unifier" something greater to rally around that is not self focused which tends to be so common, I often forget I am saved into a body of believers and and not The body but a part of A body... I think I changed my mind a little here today... 3. Traditions and culture is so important I believe its a huge key to sustaining the Kingdom life on earth and guess what the home sets the culture and the traditions not the pastor or the church, it is time that households step up to the plate and take some responsibility in this space! Such an awesome word thank you very much for blessing us with your insights!