The Feast Keeping Apostolic Christian Church-A Reply to Mike Snyder No.-1
By Garrick Augustus, November 28, 1998
I read carefully your dissertation on The Feast Days in Type and Antitype-A Response to HSCTL, and found the comments and conclusions rather interesting. The purpose of this Reply is not to carry on an unending theological debate, but to discover truth and unmask error. As a foundation for theological consistency, I shall use the Bible first and foremost, to sustain all positions taken, then the writings of Ellen White (products of the Spirit of Prophecy), to support those views, but not the other way around. From time to time I will mention your name, but in a non malicious (non offensive) manner. I shall, more often than not, refer to your Reply as Mike’s Reply, with the associated page and paragraph numbers, respectively, so that all readers might follow this Reply in a concise and systematic manner. [Those readers needing a copy of Mike’s Reply should contact him, otherwise myself. Please see my mailing information at the end of this treatise.]
We are instructed that, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2Tim: 3:16, 17. Again we are told: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1: 20-21.
Since “all Scripture” are God breathed, and they are sealed by Him, that is to say, they cannot be “of any private interpretation,” it is clear that we must have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to decode their sacred meanings. We have also been assured that “God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms.” The Great Controversy, p 595. I will in the main, maintain “the Bible and the Bible only” as my authority for the conclusions drawn.
That you may appreciate the things I shall share, the reader should be aware that I once held views similar to those of Mike’s on the subject. Yes, I bundled a host of Ellen White statements in my vain attempt at overthrowing faith in the Lord’s Festivals. That fourteen-page document was entitled Old Testament Feast Days, and Their New Testament Application.[December, 1991]. It would take seven-years of further digging and studying, and deep conviction from the Lord, that caused me to re-examine my former position with an “open mind” placing the Scriptures in their rightful place. If you desire to read that work, I shall be pleased to duplicate a copy for you, at your request.
Examining the position you’ve taken against the Lord’s Festivals, I can simply say that your approach is wrong. While this statement may seem trivial, as simply my words against yours, I shall produce Scriptural support to sustain this view. Finally, I shall analyze those “key Spirit of Prophecy Statements” which seems to mitigate the necessity of the Festivals in our day, and place them in the framework of the Bible,-the light that beams from Calvary’s cross.
The Feast of Tabernacles
On page-1, paragraph-9, you correctly quoted, “The feast of Tabernacles was not only commemorative but typical. It not only pointed back to the wilderness sojourn, but as the feast of harvest, it celebrated the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, and pointed forward to the great day of final ingathering, when the Lord of harvest shall send forth His reapers to gather the tares together in bundles for the fire, and to gather the wheat into His garner.” PP 541. If you have carefully analyzed your position, you will quickly see that this statement is not sustaining your views, for while you maintain that “these feast days were finished when Christ died on the cross” [Mike’s Reply, page-2 paragraph-3], this inspired statement projects the feast of Tabernacles “forward to the great day of final ingathering” of earth’s harvest, the time of Christ’s Second advent-the end of the world. If indeed this Feast was nailed to the cross, as you suppose, then you have just condemned the very writings you so carefully built your premises upon, for they demonstrate that the Feast of Tabernacles is yet future.
Notwithstanding all evidences to the contrary, you led your readers to the false conclusion “that each particular feast was either commemorative of something that God had done for them or it pointed forward to some event that God wanted them to understand. In some cases, such as the Feast of Tabernacles, it was both. But never did they ever point to anything other than Christ or the work He did in Israel’s behalf.” By this statement you would have me believe that the Feast of Tabernacles came to its close at Calvary. This is a position that cannot be supported by the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy, it is without foundation.
On page-2 paragraphs 2 and 3, you quoted the expression “a Feast of Tabernacles,” and bundled it with the question, “What are the Feasts of Tabernacles?” In the one instance Ellen White was quoting the Scriptural passage of Leviticus 23: 40, 42, 43, see PP, p-540, whereas in the other James White was neither quoting relevant Scripture, nor commenting on any particular prophecy relative to the Feast of Tabernacles. Rather, the context dictates that he was merely comparing the “campmeetings” of their days to Feasts of Tabernacles, or feasts of rejoicing, when parents see their children come to Christ, the sin pardoning Redeemer. Finally, the very passage quoted, Signs of the Times, June 8, 1876, demonstrates the antitypical nature of the Feast of Tabernacles-the feast of soul harvest, rather than agricultural harvest, an event which continues beyond the cross of Calvary. So correctly understood, the campmeetings were antitypical Feasts of Tabernacles-holy convocations, during which time souls were harvested into the Kingdom of Grace, awaiting the final “ingathering” into the Kingdom of Glory. Furthermore, it requires Bereanlike wisdom to realize that it was not Ellen White speaking in the quote regarding “feasts of Tabernacles,” rather it was her husband James.
“But when the ransomed of the Lord shall have been safely gathered into the heavenly Canaan [kingdom of glory], forever delivered from the bondage of the curse, under which the ‘whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now’ (Romans 8:22), they will rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” PP. 542. [Supplied.] This is the great Feast of Tabernacles to which all others, over the roaring centuries, points.
Further evidence of a post-Calvary commemoration of the Feast of Tabernacles is provided for in the prophecies: “And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even 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 whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.” Zech. 14:15-17. [Read entire chapter.] From the foregoing prophecy, it is clear that sometime after Calvary, sometime deep into the Christian dispensation, even down to the time of the “plagues,” ” all the families of the earth” shall “worship the King, the Lord of hosts,” at the greatest “Feast of Tabernacles” ever celebrated on this earth, and those who refuse to do so, will be plagued form heaven (Zech. 14: 18-19). “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” Zech. 14: 9.
“And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.” Hosea 12: 9. This prophecy is “yet” to be fulfilled.
Among the several things commanded of Israel during the typical Feast of Tabernacles, was their building booths from palm branches and dwelling in them. It is of interest to note that the “great multitude” (Rev. 7: 9) all had palm branches in their hands, indicating first of all that they are the “final ingathering” of earth’s harvest, and as such they have gotten “victory” over the beast and his image-“came out of Great Tribulation.” Rev. 7:14.
Did Rome Change the Sacred Feasts of Yahveh?
On page-2 paragraph-8 we read, “While I agree that the Papacy did try to change the law of God, it did not try to change the feast days. They were already done away with.” I find this statement hard to believe my dear Brother, because on not a few occasions, in our Sabbath School class, you described yourself as “a history buff.” I thought therefore, that as an historian, you if no one else, would be cognizant of this fact. Since you are apparently unaware of this segment of history, I shall simply quote from the historians’ indefatigable pen.
Ø “The new law has its own spirit…and it’s own feasts which have taken the place of those appointed in the Law of Moses. If we would know the days to be observed…we must go to the Catholic Church, not to the Mosaic law.” From the Catholic Catechism as published in The Signs of the Times, Nov. 4, 1919.
Ø “The Catholic Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish festivals.” T. Enright C.S.S.R., Bishop of the St. Alphonsus’ (Rock) Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June 1905.
Ø “This was the official sanction of the old custom of addressing a prayer to the rising sun. In determining what days should be regarded as holy, and in the composition of a prayer for national use, Constantine exercised one of the rights belonging to his as Pontifex Maximus; and it caused no surprise that he should do this.” Drury’ History of Rome, Chap. 57, part I, par. 4 from the end, Quoted in A.T. Jones’ The Two Republics, p. 319.
Ø “The question having been considered relative to the most holy day of Easter *[Passover], it was determined by common consent that it would be proper that all should celebrate it on one and the same day everywhere. …And in the first place it seemed very unsuitable in the celebration of this sacred feast, that we should follow the custom of the Jews; a people who, having imbrued their hands in a most heinous outrage, and thus polluted their souls, are deservedly blind. … Let us then have nothing in common with that most hostile people the Jews. … Surely we should never suffer Easter to be kept twice in one and the same year. But even if these considerations were not laid before you, it became your prudence at all times to take heed, both by diligence and prayer, that the purity of your soul should in nothing have communion, or seem to have accordance with the customs of men so utterly depraved.
*[Supplied- The Jews kept only the Passover, not Easter. To “have nothing in common with …the Jews,” clearly demonstrated that the subject at hand was the Passover, which is here erroneously called Easter, by the heathen Constantine. In Acts:12:4, we read, “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” This word “Easter,” is incorrectly translated. Instead of “Easter,” it should have been “Passover”-further evidence of Papal tampering.]
Ø “Since then it was desirable that this should be so amended that we should have nothing in common with that nation of parricides, and of those who slew their Lord; and since the order is a becoming one which is observed by all the churches of the western southern, and northern parts, and by some also in the eastern. …Reflect, too, that not only is there a greater number of churches in the places before mentioned, but also that this in particular is a most sacred obligation, that all should in common desire whatever strict reason seems to demand, and which has no communion with the perjury of the Jews.
Ø “But to sum up matters briefly, it was determined by common consent that the most holy festival of Easter should be solemnized on one and the same day; for in such a hallowed solemnity any difference is unseemly, and it is more commendable to adopt that opinion in which there will be no intermixture of strange error, or deviation from what is right. These things therefore being thus ordered, do you gladly receive this heavenly and truly divine command; for whatever is done in the sacred assemblies of bishops if referable to the divine will.” Socrate’s Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, Chap. 9, quoted in A.T. Jones’ The Two Republics, pp. 319-320.
Ø “We have also gratifying intelligence to communicate to you relative to unity of judgement on the subject of the most holy feast of Easter, *[Passover-see note above]: for this point also had been happily settled through your prayers; so that all the brethren in the East who have heretofore kept this festival when the Jews did, will henceforth conform to the Romans and to us, and to all who from the earliest time have observed our period of celebrating Easter.” Socrate’s Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, Chap. 9, Quoted in A.T. Jones’ The Two Republics, p. 319.
Ø “The first Christians being mostly Jews, continued to celebrate the Passover in remembrance of the death of Christ, the true Passover; and this was continued among those who from among the Gentiles had turned to Christ. Accordingly, the celebration was always on the Passover day,—the fourteenth of the first month. Rome, however, and from her all the West, adopted the day of the sun as the day of this celebration. According to the Eastern custom, the celebration, being on the fourteenth day of the month, would of course fall on different days of the week as the years revolved. The rule of Rome was that the celebration must always be on a Sunday—the Sunday nearest to the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year. And if the fourteenth day of that month should itself be a Sunday, then the celebration was not to be held on that day, but upon the next Sunday. One reason of this was not only to be as like the heathen as possible, but to be as unlike the Jews as possible; this in order not only to facilitate the ‘conversion’ of the heathen by conforming to their customs, but also by pandering to their spirit of contempt and hatred of the Jews. It was upon this point that the bishop of Rome made his first open attempt at absolutism.” The Great Empires of Bible Prophecy, A.T. Jones, p. 383.
Ø “Judaic Christianity survived for five centuries in a little group of Syriac Christians called Ebionim (‘the poor’), who practiced Christian poverty and the full Jewish Law. At the end of the second century the church condemned them as heretics. [This was caused by the change from Passover to Easter] …Till 70 [A.D.] Christianity was preached chiefly in synagogues among Jews. The form, ceremony, and vestments of Hebrew worship passed down into Christian ritual. The Paschal lamb of sacrifice was sublimated in the Agnus Dei—The expiatory Lamb of God—of the Catholic Mass. …Many Judaic festivals—e.g., Passover and Pentecost—were accepted into the Christian calendar, however altered in content and date.” Caesar And Christ, Will Durant, pp. 577, 578-579. [Supplied].
The historical evidence for your claim that the Papacy “did not try to change the feast days,” is simply unfounded by both history and prophecy. The only semblance of truth to this statement, is that Rome did not “try,” she was actually successful at changing the feast days. And in her successful attempt, she substituted them [God’s Festivals] with pagan holydays. As we have clearly sustained the charge of a Papal “change” to the Divine Festivals from the Historians pen, we shall do the same with the Prophetic Pen in the following section.
The “Times” and “Laws” of Daniel 7:25
In commenting on my article you observed, “The author [Garrick Augustus] tries to make you think that since the Bible refers to plural ‘laws’ that it must refer to more than just the law of God.” [Supplied.] That is an incorrect rendition of my article. I clearly defined this area in much detail, which I shall share later in this section.
I must compliment you however, for researching the word “laws.” In your explanation you agreed with me [HSCTL page-2 paragraph-4.] that it means “‘a royal edict, or statute,’ and is translated in other places as commandment, commission, decree, law, and manner.” In my article I further demonstrated with Scriptural proof, that the word “laws” clearly points to the ten-commandment “royal Law” James 2: 8.
What you have failed to do however, is to define the word “times,” for you will note, the prediction is that the Papacy shall think to “change times and laws” (Dan. 7: 25). While you have accurately defined the word “laws” as applicable to the ten-commandments, there needs also to be the defining of the word “times.” Whether by ignorance or by oversight I cannot tell, but if you will take the time to research the word “times,” you will see that it is the Hebrew word mowed, which is the same word used in describing all the sacred “feasts” in Leviticus chapter-23.
[It is of special interest to note that the Hebrew word for “appointed time” is “môw’êd (mo-adé):-a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly as (convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting…assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season.” Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary No., 4150. This being so therefore, it should be clear that Rome has actually tampered with the Divine Code of “commandments,” “statutes, and judgements,” and has replaced them with her own. The Lord is now calling us out of false worship into the true. The great issue to be resolved in these last days will revolve around the authority of man versus that of the Divine Creator’s.]-HSCTL page-2, paragraph-5.
Your comment on 1BC p. 1104 (which is a direct quote from Review and Herald, May 6, 1875) is rather breath-taking! You contend that “the author [Garrick Augustus] uses this statement out of context. You should be a Berean in your studies and compare precept upon precept, line upon line. You should go to the source and be certain that it is contextually honest! This statement could also refer to the fact that the shadowy types that are not to be done away with are the types found in the sanctuary model. It is the sanctuary that protects the law of God.” Mike’s Reply, page-3 paragraph-1. [Supplied.]
If this is indeed the wisdom of “a Berean,” then we are in deep spiritual trouble, because as we shall shortly see, it is the blindness of a Laodicean that thus speaks! (No offenses.) You advised your readers to do that which you apparently have not done, “go to the source and be certain that it is contextually honest!” You then made the mind-boggling observation that “It is the sanctuary that protects the law of God!” And this you do under the guise of contextual honesty, and for being a Berean! I carefully re-read the entire seventeen-paragraphs from the original article, The Law of God (Review and Herald May 6, 1875), and not even in one instance did the author, Ellen White, make reference to the “sanctuary.” To be clear, the word “sanctuary” was not even implied, let alone stated. This kind of isogesis is clearly untenable at the least, and outrightly dishonest at best. It is therefore left as an assignment for the reader to “go to the source, and be certain that it is contextually honest!” In the interest of those who do not have the inspired writings, here is the paragraph again:
“In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Siani. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the every-day life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law.” Review and Herald, May 6, 1875, paragraph-10.
| Mike Snyder | Ellen G. White |
| “It is the sanctuary that protects the law of God!” | “These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments.” |
It is of interest to note also, that the Bible teaches that the “ark of the covenant” is that sacred chest which protects [guards] the Law of God�the ten commandments, and together they are placed within the inner sanctum of the Sanctuary, the Most Holy apartment. It is indeed un-Bereanlike to teach that the Sanctuary protects the law of God. To be clear the Sanctuary protects all of the sacred furniture associated with it, not just the law of God.
What is The “Ceremonial Law”?
For those who are students of both Scripture and sacred History, the term “Ceremonial Law” is not used in the Bible. This phrase was first coined by Roman Catholics during the “dark ages,” who tried to give justification to their tampering with the Law of Yahveh. It has therefore been handed down throughout the reformation as a doctrine of Apostolic origin, that there is a moral and ceremonial law, and that the ceremonial law includes all the feast days. The Bible does not teach this. When the whole truth is made known, it will be discovered that all of God’s holy days had ceremonies attached to them, not excluding the seventh-day Sabbath, which had a double portion of sacrifices than any other holy day. It is generally understood that the so-called “festival Sabbaths,” had ceremonies attached to them, but is this also true of the seventh-day Sabbath?
“And on the Sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, beside [in addition to] the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.” Num. 28:9-10. [Supplied].
Since the seventh-day Sabbath had a double portion of sacrifices and offerings included in its services, which were over and above that of any other day, one could easily make a case for the Sabbath’s being a ceremonial day, thus a ceremonial Sabbath. To argue therefore, that the so-called “festival Sabbaths” have been nailed to the cross, by virtue of the sacrifices that were offered on them, is to argue out of existence the very seventh-day Sabbath itself! As an example: On every Sabbath that we go to church, we go through a series of ceremonies: There is an opening prayer to begin the hour of worship, then there might be a series of songs followed by a mission report, giving of offerings to the treasurery, Sabbath-School Lesson study, Break. Next their might be an Invocation�organ or piano, followed by a prayer, followed by special music, followed by Offertory, followed by baptism or baby blessing, followed by preaching, followed by an alter call, followed by a Doxology. All these series of events are in themselves “ceremonies.” The church bulletin is an outline of the ceremonies for that day. These services though “ceremonial,” do not make the Sabbath a ceremonial Sabbath. Neither therefore do the gifts and sacrifices of the other feasts of Yahveh make them any more “ceremonial” than the seventh-day Sabbath. Also, if we were to do away with the “ceremonies,” does that mean a doing away with the “day?” No indeed! The “day” stands immovable. If you never go to church or have a religious meeting (ceremony) on any given Sabbath-day, that does not nullify the existence of the Sabbath. There are many today among the Protestant bodies of Christendom who think that if they shift their act of worship from Sabbath to Sunday, that by so doing, they have changed the sanctity and solemnity of the Sabbath. But our observing or not observing the Sabbath does not change its sacredness. In like manner, our keeping or not keeping the feasts of Yahveh does not minimize or eradicate their sanctity and importance in His eyes.
It is true that Ellen White uses the phrase “ceremonial law,” and when she does, it is used in a very definite and purposeful way. First of all, the Spirit of Prophecy’s definition of “ceremonial law” speaks with specificity to the sacrificial system of gifts and sacrifices, ceremonies and washings, which did not make the doers thereof righteous (perfect).
“But there is a law which was abolished, which Christ ‘took out of the way, nailing it to his cross.’ Paul calls it ‘the law of commandments contained in ordinances.’ This ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles labored to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians should observe the ceremonial law.” The Signs of the Times, September 4, 1884, paragraph 3.
“The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to His sacrifice and His priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. It is this law that Christ ‘took … out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’ Colossians 2:14.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 365.
“There is a law which was abolished, which Christ “took out of the way, nailing it to His cross.” Paul calls it “the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” This ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles laboured to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians ought to observe the ceremonial law.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, April 16, 1894, paragraph 2.
“The ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles labored to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians should observe the ceremonial law.” Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, September 27, 1881, paragraph 3. Be sure that your definition of “the ceremonial law” matches Inspiration’s, for it is the law of “ordinances,” “sacrificial offerings and services,” and not the law of the feast days (holy days) that has been thus described to have been “nailed to the cross.”
With a clearer understanding of the term “ceremonial law” it should not now be difficult for the reader to grasp the truth being shown here�the “ceremonial law” is “the sacrificial” system of offerings and ceremonial sacrificial services. These were nailed to the cross when the Messiah shed His blood for a lost world. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Dan. 9: 27. Friends, that which “ceased” when type met antitype in the death of the Son of God, was not the feast days, not the new moons, not the Sabbath days, rather it was the “sacrifices and the oblations” which came to their end, because the Perfect Sacrifice had indeed come and given His life a ransom for His purchased possession.
It is a doctrine of the Papacy for any to teach that the festivals of Yahveh were nailed to the cross, because in so doing, it will not be difficult to nail to the cross the seventh-day Sabbath as well. Indeed, this is the very philosophy which has led so many in Christendom to reverence Sunday instead of Saturday, as the Sabbath of the Lord. It is also noteworthy to observe that while many contend that the “ceremonial Sabbaths,” were “nailed to the cross,” they take from that very “nailed” law, the ordinances of diet and health, cleanliness and tithing, but reject all others. Let me say it clearly, if the Statutes concerning the feast days have indeed been nailed to the cross, as some contend, then every Christian is absolved from returning “tithes and offerings” to the Treasurery, because such a system has been nullified by Christ’s death at Calvary!
On page-3 paragraph-5 of Mike’s Reply we read, “After the crucifixion, it was a denial of Christ for the Jews to continue to offer the burnt offerings and sacrifices [and keep feast days] which were typical of his death.” Signs of The Times, July 29, 1896. [Mike’s]. By this insertion, the author would have us believe that God will be insulted by our keeping the feast days after the crucifixion of Christ. And because the passage did not say that, he inserted it, in another of his classical case in isogesis (reading into the Inspired Writings things they do not say. Rev. 22:18). If indeed this statement is saying what the author is forcing it to say, then the entire Apostolic, New Testament Christian Church, was for over 300-years, worshipping in open rebellion against the government of Heaven–living in “denial of Christ!” For they not only taught the festivals of Yahveh, but they practiced them! (See my article, He Shall…Change Times And Laws, for a more comprehensive analysis of God’s festivals and their celebration among the New Testament, Apostolic Christian Church.) The reader will also note that it would verily be “a denial of Christ,” for anyone after Calvary, “to continue to offer the burnt offerings and sacrifices” as emblems of cleansing from sin. Such a practice would give the lie to Jesus’ being the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world! This kind of worship would not only be “a denial of Christ,” but an insult to God, that His Son was not the Perfect Sacrifice to cleanse all from every vestige of sin.
With the above insights, the reader is now prepared to understand the meaning of the collection of Spirit of Prophecy statements found in Mike’s Reply, page-4, through page-5, paragraph-3. As a back drop, the assertion was made that “some will still try to argue that the feast days were not included in the ceremonial laws.” Mike’s Reply, page-4, paragraph-1. If this statement bothers the reader, s/he need only recall that the seventh-day Sabbath was included amongst all the feast days, and that more ceremonies were performed on the Sabbath day than on any other feast day. Read Numbers 28.
Was the Feast of Passover nullified at Calvary?
Here is another question of ignorance, and lack of skill on the Word of God: “If Jesus knew that this was to be the last Passover ever celebrated why are so many wanting to re-institute the feast days?” Mike’s Reply, page-4. How can any, with the Bible within reach, ever suppose that the Last-Supper which the Messiah celebrated with His disciples “was to be the last Passover ever celebrated”? There is simply no Scriptural foundation for this claim. Please note that the Passover supper will be celebrated again with Christ as the Master Of Ceremonies, in the “Kingdom” of God.
“Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat [the Passover], he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. … And as they were eating [the Passover], Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matt. 26:17-21, 26-29. [Supplied].
Christ gave His disciples no indication that this “was to be the last Passover ever celebrated”! To the contrary, He clearly pointed their attention to His “Father’s Kingdom” where it will again be celebrated, at that grand home-coming feast. What a wonderful day that will be, when we all shall be seated with Jesus as guests, into our Father’s House! The very fact that Christ used the expectant conditional expression “until” suggests continuance. Why? He is here declaring to His disciples that: this is my last Passover supper with you before I die, and after this I shall depart to Heaven, but I will come again to celebrate this Passover supper with you, not now, but in My Father’s Kingdom. Therefore, keep the feast in my absence “until” I come again, when I will serve you as guests in my Father’s Kingdom.
The following statement has been used in an attempt to bolster the claim that the “last Passover” was the Last Supper. “In the last Passover our Lord observed with His disciples, He instituted the Lord’s Supper in place of the Passover, to be observed in memory of His death. No longer had they need of the Passover, for He, the great antitypical Lamb, was ready to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Type met antitype in the death of Christ.” Youth Instructor, May, 1873. This statement should not now be as difficult to the reader, as it first appeared prior to the above detailed clarification. Simply put, Ellen White is saying that there was no longer the “need of the Passover, for He, the great antitypical [Passover] Lamb, was ready to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.” And this is exactly what the Scriptures teach. We need not look for another Passover lamb, for the Lamb has already been slain once, and for all time.
From one of the pioneers of the Advent faith we read, “The work typified by the Passover extends on down through the ages, and will not have fully met its antitype until the children of God are forever freed from the power of the enemy of all righteousness. It was at midnight that the destroying angel passed throughout Egypt, and manifested his power in delivering the people of God from bondage; so it will be at midnight that God will manifest His power for the final deliverance of His people.” The Cross and Its Shadow, Stephen N. Haskell, p. 98.
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” 1 Cor. 5: 7. The impact of this statement is far-reaching, for it used the verb “is,” in the present active tense. Although Paul was here speaking nearly 30-years after the cross, he did not tell the Corinthian Christians that Christ our Passover has been slain for us, but rather that He “IS” slain for us. This is to say that he is slain once, and for all time, no longer is there a need to slay a sacrifice to atone for sins. Such a sacrificial system has long been “nailed to His cross.” Col. 2: 14. And if Christians today should offer the blood of an animal as atonement from sins, this act would be an insult to GOD.
“Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Cor. 5: 8. Paul, the apostle “to the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21) implored them to “keep the feast” of Unleavened Bread [Passover], with the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Note: He did not say “do not keep the feast,” rather, he said, “Let us keep the feast.” Those who ignorantly teach that the Passover as a feast has been done away with since the Crucifixion of Christ, know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God. For while the Inspired Apostle admonishes us to “keep the feast,” these latter day voices are proclaiming in clarion notes, do not keep the feast! Friends, be like the Apostles and say to the modern-day Sanhedrin, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5: 29), and “keep the feast.”
| Mike Snyder | The LORD Yahveh |
| “There is to be no keeping the feast days now!!” | “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” Nahum 1: 15. |
The reader should now resolutely determine just whom s/he will surrender obedience to, whether the voice that cries, “There is to be no keeping the feast days now,” or the still soft voice which counsels, “O Judah [Church of God] keep thy solemn feasts.” “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24: 15), and “keep the feast.” Further, the Lord admonishes us to keep the solemn feasts at a time when the wicked will be “utterly cut off.” Clearly then, since the wheat and tares are still co-mingled together, it is quite evident that we are living during the time of the Judgement day For The Living in the House of God�the time of the keeping of the feasts, the time when the “wicked”�tares, are comingled with the just�wheat.
Were the Feast Days Nailed to the Cross?
Some, in their attempt at overthrowing faith in the relevance of the Old Covenant festivals in New Covenant theology, have maintained “that the desire to resurrect the feast days is an effort for man to substitute ceremony for righteousness and godliness.” Mike’s Reply, page-6, paragraph-11. This Spirit Paul met and opposed in the Colossian Church. Col. 2: 16.
“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.” Col. 2: 16-17. The Papacy would have us believe that this verse of Scripture is teaching that all the feast days, holy days and Sabbath days have been nailed to the cross. And there are many amongst Present Truth believers who partially believe this perversion of Truth. As for the Seventh-day Adventist’s claim that this passage is speaking only of the “ceremonial Sabbaths,” it is unsubstantiated from the context. Note that the Apostle covered every holy day. He used the terms “holyday,” “new moon,” and “Sabbath days.” Since as we have argued that the seventh-day Sabbath is not included amongst the “new moon” Sabbaths, then it must be among the “holyday,” if not amongst the “Sabbath days.” Clearly, he has included the seventh-day Sabbath in the expression “an holyday,” as “a shadow of things to come.” Since this is so, is Paul therefore an anti-Sabbatarian? No indeed! It was Paul’s custom to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, and all the other festival Sabbaths as well. Acts 17:2; 18:21; 20:5-6, 16; I Cor. 16:8.
Furthermore, the Bible teaches that these holy days are “a shadow of things to come.” To grasp the impact of this statement, the reader need only realize that Paul is now over 30-years forward from the cross, and he declares of these feasts that they are “a shadow of things to come.” Over 30-years since the cross and he teaches the festivals to be shadows of things to come [future]! They do not alone point backward to Calvary but forward to the great day of the Son of Man. Moreover, the fact that we have seen the New Testament Church keeping the feast days, holydays, new moons and Sabbath days, is clear evidence that Paul was not teaching the abrogation of those divine Statutes, but obedience to them. Again to repeat, Paul told the new church to “let no man judge you, “that is to say,” do not let anyone condemn (judge) you as a legalist for being obedient to the Law of Statutes and Commandments, because they are a shadow of things to come.” The ones who were doing the “judging” were not Paul and the rest of Apostles, rather, they were the false teachers of that day. In alleviating the theological pressures being brought to bear upon this new church, the wise Apostle declared “let no man judge you” for rendering obedience to the Torah. In other words, let no man place a guilt trip on you for the keeping of the Divinely appointed “times and laws”�God’s feast days.
We are admonished to not “judge” (condemn) anyone for the observance of holy times, however those who would follow the Scriptures in the area of the Divine festivals, are labeled as having an “evil practice.” Mike’s Reply, page-6, paragraph-11. He further contends that “These wrong principles cannot be united with the pure and holy religion of Christ and Him crucified. We must not become members of a legal religion.” Mike’s Reply, page-7, paragraph-3. This is the very spirit the Apostle warned against in the preceding two paragraphs.
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isa. 66: 22-23.
Here in prophetic utterance, the Lord makes clear that even in the “new heavens and the new earth,” all flesh shall worship Him on the new moon Sabbaths, of which the feasts are, and on the seventh-day Sabbath as well. If indeed these were “nailed to the cross,” why would the God of Creation restore that which has been done away with�lost their significance? In other words, if the laws of Statutes and Commandments were “nailed to the cross,” because “keeping of the feast days and other such requirements will cause people to take their eyes and attention off of Him and fix them solidly on the traditions of men” (Mike’s Reply, page-6, paragraph-5); Why are we admonished to keep them in “the new heavens and the new earth”�eternity? The answer should now be self evident that it was not Christ who nailed them to the cross, rather it was the Papacy who nailed them there, and she has intoxicated the rest of the Protestant world with the “wine” of her false doctrines to keep the Divinely appointed times nailed to the cross. And it is Seventh-day Adventists who have followed on after and detached only the seventh-day Sabbath from the cross, and left all others intact.
They were not to be left intact on the cross forever though, for we have been instructed to “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in *Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Mal. 4: 4-5. *Mount Horeb is another name for Mount Siani.
“In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Siani [Horeb]. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the every-day life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the ten commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ [“nailed to the Cross”]. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law.” Review and Herald, May 6, 1875, paragraph-10. [Supplied.]
Friend, did you get the import of the Truth we have just stumbled on? First of all, the Lord tells us that sometime “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” we are to “remember” the law of Statutes, Commandments and Judgments given to Moses on Mount Horeb [Siani].
“The law of types reached forward to Christ. All hope and faith centered in Christ until type reached its antitype in his death. The statutes and judgments specifying the duty of man to his fellow-men, were full of important instruction, defining and simplifying the principles of the moral law, for the purpose of increasing religious knowledge, and of preserving God’s chosen people distinct and separate from idolatrous nations.”
“The statutes concerning marriage, inheritance, and strict justice in deal with one another, were peculiar and contrary to the customs and manners of other nations, and were designed of God to keep his people separate from other nations. The necessity of this to preserve the people of God from becoming like the nations who had not the love and fear of God, is the same in this corrupt age, when the transgression of God’s law prevails and idolatry exists to a fearful extent. If ancient Israel needed such security, we need it more, to keep us from being utterly confounded with the transgressors of God’s law. The hearts of men are so prone to depart from God that there is a necessity for restraint and discipline.” Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 6, 1875, paragraphs 5&6.
“God graciously spoke his law and wrote it with his own finger on stone, making a solemn covenant with his people at Sinai. God acknowledged them as his peculiar treasure above all people upon the earth. Christ, who went before Moses in the wilderness, made the principles of morality and religion more clear by particular precepts, specifying the duty of man to God and his fellow-men, for the purpose of protecting life, and guarding the sacred law of God, that it should not be entirely forgotten in the midst of an apostate world.” Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 6, 1875, paragraph 14.
“They cast aside the restraint of the law, and give loose rein to the corrupt passions and the promptings of the natural heart, and then triumph in the mercy and grace of the gospel. Christ speaks to such: ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.’ What is the will of the Father? That we keep his commandments. Christ, to enforce the will of his Father, became the author of the statutes and precepts given through Moses to the people of God. Christians who extol Christ, but array themselves against the law governing the Jewish church, array Christ against Christ.” Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 6, 1875, paragraph 16.
“The Holy One of Israel has made known to us the statutes and laws which are to govern all human intelligences. These precepts, which have been pronounced “holy, and just, and good,” are to form the standard of action in the home. There can be no departure from them without sin, for they are the foundation of the Christian religion.” Child Guidance, page 506-507.
“And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.” Deut:6:24.
“The sacred statutes which Satan has hated and sought to destroy, will be honored throughout a sinless universe.” Sons and Daughters of God, page 38, paragraph 6.
“The Lord gave many other statutes or judgments, which were to be strictly obeyed. These are recorded in the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third chapters of Exodus.” Sermons and Talks Volume Two, page 187, paragraph 3.
“The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Ps:19: 8.
Ps:119:5: O that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes!
Ps:119:8: I will keep thy Statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Ps:119:12: Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy Statutes.
Ps:119:16: I will delight myself in thy Statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Ps:119:26: I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy Statutes.
Ps:119:33: Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy Statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Ps. 119: 64: The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy Statutes.
Ps:119:68: Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy Statutes.
Ps:119:71: It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy Statutes.
Ps:147:19: He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his Statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
From the passage in Malachi chapter-4, we are admonished that Elijah will first come to “remind” the people of God regarding the divine Statutes and Commandments, Judgments and Laws. And the very fact that we are admonished to “remember” is evidence that circumstances and theology will be orchestrated by sinful man, to cause the forgetting of these divine Laws, thus the Lord declares “Remember.” He also saw that the promised antitypical Elijah the prophet would, by and large, be rejected by the Israel of God in these last days, for declares the Spirit of Prophecy: “[Mal. 4:5 quoted] Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he [masculine pronoun] appears, men may say: ‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.’” Testimonies to Ministers, p. 475. [Supplied.]
There is a three fold allegation to be brought against this promised Elijah, and the message he bears: (a) “You are too earnest”-you are too forthright, to strict. (b) “You do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way.”- He is an interpreter of Scriptures, but he will be charged with “private interpretation,” or for taking the Bible out of context. (c) “Let me tell you how to teach your message.” He has a message to be taught, but others are actively usurping his office declaring, “let me tell you how to teach your message.”
Simply put then, to “remember the Law of Moses” “with the statutes and judgments,” is Heaven’s admonition to us, that we as latter day Christians, give heed to the message of Elijah, for his message will proclaim, “O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” Nahum 1: 15.
It is amazing that Seventh-day Adventists take from the Statutes the dietary laws, which are a part of what they call the “ceremonial law” which has been “nailed to the cross,” yet condemn others for keeping the whole Torah save for the ritual services of “sacrifice and oblation” (Dan. 9:27), washings and ordinances. Daniel identified a group in prophecy known as “the robbers of thy people” (Dan. 11: 14), let us be sure that we are not robbing from the Torah only those things which please our personal likes and taste. There is a law that is nailed to the Cross, which is the law of “sacrifice and oblation” (Dan. 9:27) washings and ordinances�the ritual law.
What about Acts Chapter 15 and the Judaizing Christians?
In their attempt to overthrow faith in the Divine Statutes for New Covenant believers, many in our day have appealed to Acts chapter-15 as proof that the “feast days” are not required of new converts anymore. To bolster his position Mike quotes the Spirit of Prophecy, and tampered with its meaning. Note: “The opposing class now took advantage of this, to urge a distinction between the observers of the ceremonial law [circumcision, feast days, etc…] and those who did not observe it, holding that the latter were farther from God than the former.” Mike’s Reply, page-5, paragramh-5. [Included with quotation.] Anyone taking a most critical reading of Acts chapter-15 will not find even in one instance whereby the Inspired Writer alluded to “feast days,” let alone mentioning them, as one of the evils of the Judaizing Christians. This is a gross miscarriage of biblical interpretation by those who profess to be Bereans. Friends, we need not try to help God, like Uzza, by propping up the ark of Truth. Simply state the inspired council as herein demonstrated, and leave the rest (conviction) to the Holy Ghost. However, if your thoughts are not aligned with the mind of the Spirit, do not force a conclusion which the text and context disallows.
In commenting on the passage in Acts chapter-15, the Spirit of Prophecy in our day declares: “There is a law which was abolished, which Christ ‘took out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’ Paul calls it ‘the law of commandments contained in ordinances.’ This ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles laboured to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians ought to observe the ceremonial law.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, April 16, 1894, paragraph 2. When the reader understands Inspiration’s definition of the phrase “ceremonial law,” s/he will have no difficulty in resolving the issues involved in Acts chapter-15.
Since this erroneous view is held, that Acts 15 is actually speaking against the keeping of the feast days, it is of importance that we “rightly divide the Word of Truth,” and disclose to view whatever teaching was being unveiled by that “Jerusalem Council.”
| A List Of What Was Discussed | A List Of Things From Which Gentile Christians Were To Abstain |
| v The rite or “ordinance” of circumcision of adults, teens, and infant males as a work that secured salvation.v The eating of blood and things strangled.
v The eating of food which had been offered to pagan deities (gods). v The clean vs. unclean status of the Hebrew and Gentile Christians, respectively. v Fornication. v The ritual and sacrificial aspects of the Law, known as the “ceremonial law” of the Torah. |
Ø Foods offered to idolsØ Blood
Ø Things strangled Ø Fornication Ø Keeping the “ceremonial law” Ø The rite or “ordinance” of circumcision as a process or work that guaranteed salvation |
By comparing the two columns above, the reader will readily see that the list of abstinences, is taken not from the “ten commandment law,” but from the divine Statutes. Read Deuteronomy chapter-12. The very fact that the Statutes were used as the Law for the Gentiles, clearly shows their [Statutes] position in the framework of the Christian Religion. It proves that they were not “nailed to the cross,” as some would have us believe. To repeat, since the Moral, (ten-commandment) Law is silent on foods offered to idols, blood and things strangled, it is clear that the apostles were instructing the Gentile believers with the law of Statutes and Judgements. Furthermore, if one really wants to be picky at this, s/he might well observe that the Gentile Christians were not instructed to keep the Sabbath day holy. This conjecture is quickly removed however, when the reader realizes that from days of old, the law was preached and “read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.” “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” Acts 13: 42. Here we see then, that “the Gentiles” not only kept the ten-commandment Law, but the Statutes and Judgements as well, just as we are enjoined upon to do in Malachi 4: 4.
“Shall we not keep holy festivals unto God? Shall we not show that we have some enthusiasm in His service? With the grand, ennobling theme of salvation before us, shall we be as cold as statues of marble? If men can become so excited over a match game of cricket, or a horse race, or over foolish things that bring no good to anyone, shall we be unmoved when the plan of salvation is unfolded before us? Let the school and the church henceforth have festivals of rejoicing unto the Lord”.– Special Testimonies on Education, pages 77-78.
Friend, heed the Apostle’s command and “let us keep” the feasts.
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Except otherwise specified, all Italics and bold faced type, are supplied.
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If the reader desires to pursue this subject in greater detail, please contact me by e-mail at: Gaugustus336@yahoo.com.