Why We Keep the Biblical Feast Days: Part 1

Hello readers! 

First...

We would like to say, 

Happy New Year!

A month too late...

We hope you had a wonderful 1st day of the year!  We stayed up till two in the morning the night before... But hey, the one day when we have a reasonable excuse to stay up late.
Second...

About 81/2 years ago Yahweh reveled to our family His Biblical Feast Days.  At first, we were very puzzled at the suggestion, you might say.  The thought that what we had been learning was incorrect, startled us.  Of course, we didn't want to drastically change our beliefs just because somebody said so.  We wanted to do it according to Yahweh's word, the Torah.  So, we began to study.  We would like to share with you some of our study.

       Before I get into the details, I would like to say that I (Sophia) was only 4 1/2 when this took place.  My mom and our oldest sister Brittney did the study.  But recently, before my Bat Mitzvah (the time when one dedicates herself to Yahweh and His commands, for boys it is called Bar Mitzvah), I began to ask myself, "Why do I believe the way I do?  Why am I making this commitment?"  It startled me that I myself, didn't know of any Biblical sources to what I believed.  I knew they were there, but I needed to see them.  So I began to study.
       What I found was amazing!  That's what I want to share with you today.

       For starters, here's Exodus 12:24--

"And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever."

       If you read all of chapter twelve, you will find that this is speaking of the feast of Passover.  Here's a question.  Did forever stop when Yeshua came to this earth, and was crucified?  No.  He lived a sinless life, then died the most gruesome death, so that we may live to serve HIM, and follow His commands.  He died, so that instead of us dying for our own sins, which we fully deserve, we could have a second chance to repent, and then try to get it right. Not so that we wouldn't have to follow those old feast days.
      Some people believe that the feast days were only for the Hebrews.  After all, they were the only people in the crowd, right?  Wrong!  Read Exodus 12:38--

"And a mixed multitude went up with them too, also flocks and herds, very much livestock."

      You might think that mixed multitude would be animals and things, but it says "also flocks and herds."  So you see, the Hebrews were not the only people in the crowd.  Gentiles were there as well.  Here's another verse referring to Passover being for the Gentiles.

"During those seven days, no leaven is to be found in your houses.  Whoever eats food with hametz (leaven) in it is to be cut off from the community of Isra'el - it doesn't matter whether he is a foreigner or a citizen of the land.  Eat nothing with hametz in it.  Wherever you live, eat matzah."                                                                                     Exodus 12:19-20      

Those who have done study, or have participated in Passover before, would know that during the 7 days of Passover, you're not supposed to have any trace of leaven in your household, and neither are you to eat of it during that time.  You see, the Hebrews (and the Gentiles in the crowd) didn't have time for their bread to rise.  They made the dough, grabbed it, and went.  Still, people believe that Yeshua (Jesus) did away with this when he died.  This is not the case.  Read Matthew 5:17-18--

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to complete.  For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, on yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.  Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens;  but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens." 

This isn't just the 10 commandments.  The 10 commandments are very important, need I remind you, but it was just an introduction to all of His wonderful commands and laws.  It was the prologue.  The outline.  It was made to get you excited about the rest of it.  Important, but the rest of the books hold the true adventure, and tell you the whole story.

Now, about the Passover Seder.  This is the confusing part.  In Exodus 12:43, it says this:

"Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 'This is the regulation for the Pesach (Passover) lamb: no foreigner is to eat it.' "

Seems pretty flat out, doesn't it?  So that settles it, right?  Wrong again!  If you were to search the word 'foreigner' in any website for Bible references, you would find these verses.

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Messiah Yeshua Himself being the corner stone in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In Him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."                                                        Ephesians 2:19-20

"But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Yeshua Messiah."                                                                                                     Philippians 3:20 

There is more pieces to this puzzle yet!  Read Exodus 12:48--

"If a foreigner staying with you wants to observe Adonai's Pesach, all his males must be circumcised.  Then he may take part and observe it; he will be like a citizen of the land.  But no uncircumcised person is to eat it."

You will be like a citizen of the land.  You see, a foreigner is a non-believer.  "Our citizenship is in heaven..."  Clearly, those who will not make it into heaven (not be citizens), are the ones who do not believe in Yahweh.  Therefore that makes the person who is not a citizen, a foreigner.  Foreigner means: a person born in or coming from a country other than ones own.  Here in America, and any other place in the world, everyone has different beliefs in some shape or form.  Let's change our perspective.  If you remove 'born in', and replace the word 'country' for 'religion', you get this: a person coming from a religion other than ones own.  Many times we see God mention that we were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.  That makes this crystal clear as well!  We were people coming from a religion different from their own.  So, once you accept Yahweh as your God and Father, then you have become a citizen in heaven.  Only then are you permitted to eat of the Passover lamb.

Shalom, and Blessings to you all!


Wisdom and Grace
               ----
Sophia and Hannah

Stay tuned for Why We Keep the Biblical Feast Days: Part 2