Whether you’ve been a member of the Church of God for many years or a relatively short time, it’s probably obvious to you that God’s people stand out from mainstream “Christians” in a number of ways—and one of the most obvious is in the observance of the biblical Holy Days. Even more so than the keeping of the weekly Sabbath, our observing the annual Holy Days becomes obvious to coworkers, classmates, neighbors, and many others as they see us take off work or school and go to church at such “odd” and seemingly random times—especially the Feast of Tabernacles. I personally remember having a professor in college tease me for going on a “weird trip” to keep the Feast.
It’s probably safe to say that keeping the entire cycle of annual Holy Days separates us from more than 99 percent of mainstream Christianity, because billions of Catholics, Protestants, and even members of Sabbath-keeping denominations like the Seventh-Day Adventists, don’t keep them. Since observance of the Holy Days—even just that one practice—puts us so far into the minority, let’s consider some of the fundamental reasons why we do keep them. This article will go over seven of the primary reasons why we keep the Holy Days, with the aim of helping us to answer, simply and directly, when people ask why we keep them—no matter our age, experience, or situation within God’s Church.
1. The Holy Days Are in the Bible
One of the simple points of wisdom Mr. Richard Ames often emphasized was “Don’t overlook the obvious,” and this wisdom applies to our very first point: The Holy Days are in the Bible! In fact, all seven of God’s festivals can be seen in one chapter: Leviticus 23. And if we seek to live according to His inspired word, that should matter!
When Protestant denominations observe Christmas and Easter, they contradict one of the great battle cries of the Protestant Reformation: Sola scriptura—a Latin phrase meaning “Scripture alone.” Yet, the two most popular and “sacred” religious holidays in mainstream Christianity are Christmas and Easter—neither of which are found in the Bible even once. Admittedly, the old King James Version says “Easter” in Acts 12:4, but almost all other translations recognize this as a mistranslation of the Greek word for Passover, pascha. A true application of the sola scriptura principle will leave one with God’s Holy Days, not “the holidays.”
Of course, many practices described in the Bible are no longer practiced today, and God does not require them. For instance, we do not offer animal sacrifices today. So, are there reasons to keep the Holy Days beyond the fact that they are mentioned in the Bible? Indeed there are—let’s continue!
2. Jesus Christ Kept and Taught Them
Another point frequently overlooked is that Jesus Christ kept the Holy Days and taught us to follow His example. The New Testament gives direct evidence of Christ keeping four of the seven annual Feasts.
The gospels contain more detail of Christ keeping Passover than any of the other Feasts. We find Him keeping the Passover in Matthew 26 and Luke 22, and we can even read an account of Him keeping it as a child with His parents (Luke 2:41–42). For a detailed study on this point describing the final four Passovers kept by Jesus Christ, you may want to read “Lessons from Four Passovers” by the late evangelist John H. Ogwyn, published in the March-April 2004 Living Church News.
Immediately following Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread were also kept by Christ (Matthew 26:17; Luke 22:7–8). It was around the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread that Christ explained one of the major ways He fulfilled its symbolism, explaining that He was the “bread of life” that came down from Heaven (John 6:33–35).
In John 7:2–14, John describes Christ keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and instructing His brothers, “You go up to this feast” (v. 8). John 7:37 describes Christ keeping and teaching on “the last day, that great day of the feast,” where we get the name “Last Great Day.” The events in chapters 8–10 occurred on the daylight portion of the Holy Day in AD 30, the final Last Great Day that Christ would observe before His crucifixion six months later. You can read more about this in Mr. Ogwyn’s article “The Writings of John: Their Timing and Purpose” in the May-June 2001 Living Church News. In that article, Mr. Ogywn tells us the following:
John demonstrated that what both Jews and Greeks claimed to be searching for could only be realized in the person and the message of Jesus of Nazareth. He also made clear to the increasingly Gentile church that Jesus Christ had revealed His gospel in the context of the Holy Days. Nearly all of John’s gospel is organized around the actions and teachings of Christ during selected festival seasons throughout His ministry. Far from “doing away” with the Holy Days, Christ’s entire message was revealed in the context of Holy Day themes.
Considering that John wrote much of his gospel in relation to the observance of the Holy Days, it is significant that he likely wrote it in the 90s AD, approximately 60 years after Christ’s death.
As these examples show, the New Testament provides significant detail of Christ keeping, teaching about, and teaching on the biblical Holy Days. This point may be quite simple and even obvious, but it is vital. As Christians, we strive to follow Christ’s example, including keeping the days that He kept—and not keeping false “holy days” that He did not keep, like Christmas and Easter.
3. Christ’s Followers Kept Them
This fact provides a simple and helpful answer to the criticism that the Holy Days no longer need to be kept after Christ’s death because they were part of what was “nailed to the cross.” For a more detailed study on this point, you may want to read Mr. John Robinson’s article “Has the Law of God Been Nailed to the Cross?” from the March-April 2023 Living Church News.
One of the clearest passages making this point is found in Paul’s first letter to the brethren of Corinth, who were predominantly Gentiles living in a major Greek city known for its wealth, immorality, and pagan worship. Around AD 56, about 25 years after Christ’s death, Paul told them:
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:6–8).
Twenty-five years would have been plenty of time for Paul, the apostle who was sent to the Gentiles, to discourage Gentile Christians from keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Since he never did so, he was obviously expecting them to keep that Feast! It’s important to note that the Feasts are not just “Old Testament days,” because they are in the New Testament as well. Passover is especially prominent. Christ’s followers, under His inspiration, continued to keep the biblical Feasts many years after His death and resurrection.
In the same letter to the Corinthian brethren, Paul followed Christ’s example by teaching the people to keep the Passover with unleavened bread and wine, which symbolized Christ’s broken body and shed blood (1 Corinthians 11:17–34). Notably, he wrote, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup [annually at Passover], you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (v. 26), explaining that the new symbols of the long-established annual Passover observance would memorialize the Savior’s sacrifice every year until His return.
Another important example is found in Acts 2:1–4, when God poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, occurring about ten days after Jesus ascended to Heaven, having taught the disciples for 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3, 9). When Peter gave a sermon on that Pentecost, it could have been a good opportunity for him to explain that the Holy Days were no longer in effect for Christians—but, of course, that isn’t what he did.
The New Testament includes other references to the Holy Days, such as Pentecost in Acts 20:16 and 1 Corinthians 16:8, the Day of Atonement in Acts 27:9, and the Feast of Tabernacles in Acts 18:21. We should note that Luke wrote the book of Acts around AD 62, about 30 years after Christ’s death. Indeed, Christ’s followers continued to keep the biblical Feasts after Christ’s death, and after He was made alive and seated at the right hand of the Father as the Head of the Church. Just to reiterate—they were not keeping Christmas or Easter.
4. They Will Be Kept After Christ Returns
Many passages in Scripture reveal prophecies about Christ’s return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. At that time, the Holy Days will be kept. We read:
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16–19).
God inspired Zechariah to prophesy that, after Christ returns, all nations—not just the Israelites, but even Gentile nations like Egypt—will keep the Feast of Tabernacles from “year to year.” We even learn that God will punish nations by withholding rain if they don’t keep it. The Bible repeatedly points out that the proper amount of rain is a blessing from God, providing sustenance to plants, animals, and human beings (Leviticus 26:4; Isaiah 55:10; Matthew 5:45). This revealing passage shows how important the Feast of Tabernacles will be when Christ returns—and how important God’s Festivals are to Him now.
We find another indication of a Holy Day being kept after Christ returns in His explanation of the New Testament symbols of the Passover. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). The implication is that Christ will drink the Passover wine once God’s Kingdom has come to earth. He will not be keeping Christmas or Easter.
5. Their Meaning Runs Throughout Scripture
The Holy Days aren’t just days when we choose to get together for special fellowship with one another. They are days when we come before God and rehearse His plan for us. God called these days “My feasts” long ago, and they have been His ever since (Leviticus 23:2). Year after year, they have served as a sign of God’s people and given us annual reminders that explain the major steps in His plan of salvation.
Mr. Dexter Wakefield once made the point in a sermon that sometimes people can be critical of the Holy Days and ask questions such as, “Why do you talk so much about the Holy Days? Why don’t you talk more about Christ?” Mr. Wakefield’s answer was, “The Holy Days are all about Christ! They explain what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.” Fundamentally, the Holy Days outline the major steps of God’s plan for humanity, revealing how He is bringing about salvation to every willing person.
Let’s consider Passover, because it provides one of the clearest examples and is described in great detail in the New Testament. Many chapters in the gospels describe Christ keeping and teaching about the Passover and its meaning. Let’s notice Luke’s account of Christ instituting the New Testament Passover symbols of the bread and wine.
When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer….” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:14–15, 19–20).
Here we read of Christ teaching His disciples about the new Passover symbols that represent what He was about to do at that time for them and for the world. The bread symbolizes His broken body and the wine His shed blood as a key part of the New Covenant. The bread and wine He gave to them that evening—and the Passover bread and wine that God’s servants have partaken of down through the centuries—still to this day represent Christ’s broken body and shed blood and proclaim His death until He comes again.
Passover is one example, but the other Feasts are also rich with meaning and symbolism. And not only does each Feast have specific symbolism, the three seasons of the Feasts have overarching meaning. The first Festival season symbolizes God’s people being made innocent, the second Festival season represents God’s people being made holy, and the third Festival season reflects God’s people being glorified. For more about this, I encourage you to read Mr. Wakefield’s article “Three Times a Year” in the March-April 2016 Living Church News.
And, of course, none of this can be said about Christmas and Easter—because they aren’t in the Bible.
6. They Are a Sign of God’s People
Dr. Meredith made this point in one of his most powerful booklets:
The point is that these annual Sabbaths and Holy Days are also part of God’s “sign” by which His people would be identified. Notice God’s clear statement regarding the days of Unleavened Bread: “It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth” (Exodus 13:9). Wherever God’s true people are, wherever His Church is, His servants will have the identifying “sign” of God’s true Sabbaths, weekly and annual, for the weekly Sabbath points to the true God—the Creator—and the annual Sabbaths set forth His marvelous plan (Where Is God’s True Church Today?, p. 23).
A brief survey of the Bible shows that the Holy Days were kept by God’s people during the days of Moses (Leviticus 23), Joshua (Joshua 5:11), Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:8–9), Josiah (2 Kings 23:21–23), Ezra (Ezra 6:19–20), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8:18), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 45:21), and Jesus and His apostles (as described in our second and third points)—a period of time spanning about 1,500 years, from about the 1400s BC to about AD
100. And for all of these periods, the keeping of the Holy Days separated God’s people from the surrounding peoples and religions. The booklet God’s Church Through the Ages provides numerous examples of God’s people through the centuries—as well as today—understanding the need to continue keeping God’s Feasts.
Again—none of this can truthfully be said about Christmas or Easter.
7. Arguments Against Them All Fail
Sadly, many professing Christians are blinded to the truth and beauty of the Holy Days. Why? Now that we’ve gone through six positive, biblical reasons why we keep the Holy Days, let’s briefly consider one more: The fact that the arguments of professing Christians who don’t keep them all fail to prove we shouldn’t.
Let’s consider two of the most common arguments. One of them says, The festivals are Jewish and therefore just for the Jews. This is a very popular argument often used to dismiss the annual Holy Days—along with the seventh-day Sabbath, much of the Old Testament, and even many of Jesus Christ’s own teachings and examples. Much could be said regarding this point, but a short answer involves a few points already mentioned, such as that Christ Himself kept the Holy Days, Paul told a primarily Gentile group of saints in Corinth to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and that all nations will keep the Feast of Tabernacles after Christ returns (1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Zechariah 14:16).
Dr. Meredith’s booklet The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan gives more information on this point. As members of God’s Church, we don’t keep the Holy Days because the Jews did or do—we do so because we strive to live by every word of God and to follow Jesus Christ’s example.
Another argument claims, Colossians 2:16–17 shows that the festivals are not required. These verses are vital for God’s people to understand, because they are among the primary ones that are misinterpreted as being against the Holy Days. Let’s review what Paul wrote here: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, King James Version).
The popular, but incorrect, interpretation of Paul’s words is essentially, “We shouldn’t let anyone judge us for not keeping the Sabbath or festivals because what is important is Christ.” However, Paul is actually saying the opposite, which is made clear when we consider the context of Colossians and the rest of the Bible. Remember—Paul told the Corinthian brethren to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
What exactly was Paul saying? It is important to note that the word “is” at the end of Colossians 2:17 is not present in the Greek. Paul literally wrote, “… but the body of Christ.” He was telling the brethren in Colosse not to let people outside the Church criticize them for keeping the Sabbath and Feasts, but to look to the body of Christ—the Church (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12)—for guidance. Paul gave this instruction because of adversaries, such as the Gnostics, who taught that to be spiritual meant to deny oneself all physical pleasures, including good food and drink. Such critics were judging God’s people for rejoicing at the Feasts and enjoying good food and drink as part of their celebration, and Paul was pointing out that we should look to the Church for guidance on how to keep the Feasts, not self-appointed critics.
Again, this is a vital passage to understand. Please see Mr. Gerald Weston’s 2017 sermon “Shadow of Things to Come,” in which he specifically expounds Colossians 2:16–17. The Questions and Answers article in the February 2022 Tomorrow’s World magazine also explains these two verses.
These two popular arguments against keeping God’s Holy Days are easy to answer, especially when considering all that the Bible says about them.
Now that we’ve looked at some fundamental reasons why God’s Church keeps the Holy Days and refuted popular objections, let’s ask a simple question from “the other side of the fence.” If a Christian decided not to keep the biblical Holy Days, what would be the alternative? There are really just two options. One would be to not observe any religious days. The other would be to keep religious days that are not in the Bible—which is the choice made by most professing Christians. Of course, neither option is a good one, nor a biblical one.
Instead, as we have seen, there are basic, biblical reasons that we in God’s Church have for keeping His Holy Days—they were kept by Christ and His disciples, they will be kept after Christ returns, their symbolism runs through the entire Bible, they are a sign of God’s people, and the arguments against them are incorrect. May we as members of God’s Church, called out of the world, be very thankful for His truth and His plan for all mankind, beautifully outlined by His joyous Holy Days.