In the Bible, God commanded His people to keep His appointed feasts (Lev 23:1) in order so that they can receive blessings and salvation. However, there are multiple insistences that claim God abolished His feasts and we no longer have to keep them. These insistences are false. Let’s prove we must keep the feasts in the Bible, disproving these insistences.
The Insistence the Feasts Were Abolished In Hosea 2:11
Hos 2:11 “I will stop all her celebrations; her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed feasts.”
Here, it looks as though God said He will stop the appointed feasts, however if we look at the context to this verse, we can see the real reason.
Hos 2:8-11 “She has not acknowledged that I was the one who…lavished on her the silver and gold—which they used for Baal…I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals…but she forgot,” declared the LORD.
Through the context, we can see that God stopped the appointed feasts as a punishment for those who worshiped Baal, meaning they practiced idolatry instead of worshiping God alone. It is like the time of Adam and Eve who were blocked from the Tree of Life when they disobeyed God’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, in order to receive blessing from God, we should still continue to practice the feasts. Insisting the feasts were abolished in Hosea 2:11 is wrong.
The Insistence the Feasts Were Abolished In Colossians 2:16
Col 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
There are some people who say this verse means we do not need to keep any feast. However, that raises the question, if we as God’s people do not need to keep any feast, then why do Catholic and Protestant churches keep their own feasts like Sunday and Christmas? If the verse truly meant to not keep any feasts, then those churches have no reason to keep those feasts either.
Also, if we do not need to keep God’s feasts, then why did apostle Paul, who wrote the book of Colossians, keep the feasts like Sabbath (Ac 17:2) and the Passover (1 Co 5:7)?
Lastly, it is important to understand why these words were written. How were the Christians being judged at that time? It was because the Jews judged the Christians for the keeping of the feasts in the New Testament times which was different from how the feasts were kept in the time of Moses. That is why Paul said the Jews should not criticize the Christians, as it states,
Col 2:14-16 …having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross…triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you…
Here he is stating the old feasts were canceled by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and now the feasts set as an example of Jesus are what we should keep now, as the reality of the things to come is found in Christ (Col 2:17).
The Insistence In Galatians 4:10
Gal 4:10-11 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Like in the insistence of Colossians 2:16, if the insistence is all feasts are abolished then why do other churches keep their own feasts when they supposedly should not be keeping any at all, and why did Paul still keep the feasts?
We can see that their insistence is wrong even by asking these two questions. It does not make sense to insist God’s feasts were abolished through these verses, as Paul who wrote the book of Galatians still kept the feasts, following God’s example.
Why then, was this written?
Like in Colossians, it was because the Jews continued to keep the law of the Old Testament which they could no longer be saved by. It is through the law of the New Testament that Jesus established by which they could be saved, and that is why Paul rebuked them in this verse.
Gal 4:9 …how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
What do “those weak principles” mean?
Gal 4:3-5 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, so that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Paul explained, before Christ came, we were under the “principles of the world.” Therefore we were following a law that could not give us salvation. However, now that Christ has come to grant us salvation, we should be redeemed under his law and no longer under the old law. Therefore, this verse does not mean Christ’s feasts are abolished, but that the old law no longer has to be kept.
Through each of these insistences, it is important to recognize the context in which they were stated. We can see they are not abolishing the feasts God commanded us to keep in this age, but are addressing different situations based on the context. Therefore, it is important to study the Bible fully to keep God’s commands correctly.