Holidays or Holy Days

The Delights of Obedience

the spec i al t i mes and seasons of the Jew i sh Law, new con verts broke w i th the c u stom beca u se they re g arded i t as no lon g er needf u l or necessary ” (15th ed i t i on,Vol . IV,p . 601, “ Ch u rch Year ” ) . Not i ce the lack of d i v i ne a u thor i zat i on . The people dec i ded to make th i s chan g e . One of the first h u manly dev i sed chan g es was to wor sh i p on S u nday rather than the seventh-day Sabbath, the day a u thor i zed i n the B i ble . The same so u rce acknowl ed g es that “ the New Testament wr i t i n g s do not expla i n how the pract i ce be g an ” ( i b i d . ,p . 603) . Tho ug h some have theor i zed th i s chan g e occ u rred i n honor of Chr i st ’ s res u r rect i on, we have already seen that th i s rat i onale i s flawed beca u se Chr i st was res u rrected near s u ndown on Sat u rday rather than on S u nday . Replac i n g God ’ s ann u al feast days w i th pa g an hol i days was also done i n the same sp i r i t . Th i s same ency cloped i a art i cle also makes th i s frank adm i ss i on :“ Unl i ke the cycle of feasts and fasts of the Jew i sh Law, the [mod ern] Chr i st i an year has never been based u pon a d i v i ne revelat i on . It i s rather a trad i t i on that i s always s u b j ect to chan g e by eccles i ast i cal law . Each self- g overn i n g ch u rch ma i nta i ns the r ig ht to order the ch u rch year ” (p . 601) . When the k i n g dom of Israel d i v i ded after Solomon ’ s death,K i n g Jeroboam of the northern 10 tr i bes soon chan g ed the date of the ann u al a u t u mn fest i val from the seventh to the e ig hth month of the Hebrew calendar (1 K i n g s 12 : 32-33) . So the first k i n g of the new northern Israel i te dynasty establ i shed a corr u pt i n g pattern i n the nat i on ’ s rel igi o u s l i fe, one that event u ally helped lead to the northern tr i bes ’ destr u ct i on at the hands of the Assyr i an Emp i re . Thro ug ho u t the northern k i n g dom ’ s h i story, the pol i t i cal and eccles i ast i cal leadersh i p st u bbornly pers i sted i n “ the s i ns of Jeroboam ” (1 K i n g s 13 : 34 ; 15 : 30 ; 16 : 2-3,19 ; etc . ), one of wh i ch was h i s u na u thor i zed alterat i on of the date of a God-orda i ned rel igi o u s fest i val . Time to leave traditions behind As creat u res of hab i t, we can find o u rselves follow i n g trad i t i ons that are contrary to God ’ s i nstr u ct i ons . Almost 2,000 years a g o Jes u s Chr i st po i nted o u t that a devo u tly rel igi o u s g ro u p, the P har i sees,was i n ju st s u ch a s i t u at i on . He told them, “ Well d i d Isa i ah prophesy of yo u hypocr i tes, as i t i s wr i tten : ‘ Th i s people honors Me w i th the i r l i ps,b u t A joy and peace of mind come from making right choices, from knowing you are conscientiously obeying God’s instruction in the pages of the Bible. Before the time of King Josiah of Judah, the scroll containing the book of the law had been lost, along with the knowledge of God’s festivals. But Hilkiah, the high priest, found that scroll, and Shaphan the scribe read it in the presence of young Josiah. The repentant king quickly restored the true worship of God according to the instruction he found in the scroll. One of Josiah’s first steps in restoring proper wor ship of God was observing the Passover and the Days

the i r heart i s far from Me . And i n va i n they worsh i p Me, te a c hing a s doctr in es t h e co mman d m e n ts of m e n.’ For lay i n g as i de the commandment of God, y o u h old t h e tr a d i t i o n of m e n . . . All too well yo u re j ect the commandment of God, t ha t y o u may k eep y o u r tr a d i t i o n” (Mark 7 : 6-9) . J u st procla i m i n g that someth i n g i s Chr i st i an does not make i t so . No matter what o u r trad i t i ons have been or what rat i onal i zat i ons o u r reason i n g may employ, the B i ble i s clear that we m u st follow o u r Creator ’ s d i rect i ons on H i s days and forms of worsh i p . In Coloss i ans 2 : 8 the apostle P a u l warns, “ Beware lest anyone cheat yo u thro ug h ph i losophy and empty dece i t, accord i n g to the trad i t i on of men, accord i n g to the bas i c pr i nc i ples of the world, and not accord i n g to Chr i st .” S i m i larly, one of the last messa g es i n the B i ble reveals th i s warn i n g for people ca ug ht u p i n a g reat worldw i de system that establ i shed i tself i n oppos i t i on to God : “ Come o u t of her, my people, lest yo u share i n her s i ns, and lest yo u rece i ve of her pla gu es . For her s i ns have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her i n i q ui t i es ” (Revelat i on 18 : 4-5) . We have a cho i ce . We can choose the feast days i nst i t u ted by God or the hol i days s u bst i t u ted by men . The cho i ces we make affect o u r dest i ny and i mpact o u r relat i onsh i p w i th o u r Creator . We can take g reat comfort i n the mean i n g of God ’ s days of worsh i p, s i nce they represent the ma g n i ficent plan of God, who w i ll gi ve every h u man an opport u n i ty to u nderstand and accept H i s way of l i fe e i ther now or, for the ma j or i ty of h u man be i n g s, i n an a g e yet to come . Later that same spirit of obedience and joyful festival-keeping swept the Jewish settlements in the Holy Land during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Not only did the people enjoy the phys ical aspects of these days, but the nation gained renewed understanding of God’s Word as well (Nehemiah 8:9-12). If You’d Like to Learn More If you’ve finished reading this booklet, you’ve prob ably been surprised to discover the real origin of today’s popular holidays. But what about the days of worship defined in the Bible? Does God expect us to keep them today? When and how should we observe them? To discover the festivals of the Bible, be sure to request Sunset to Sunset: God’s Sabbath Rest and God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind. Contact our office nearest you on page 2 for your free copies, or request or download them at www.ucg.org/booklets. of Unleavened Bread. For a time the whole country caught the righteous fervor of the youthful king, and a national festival observance ensued such as had not been seen since the days of Samuel the prophet (2 Chronicles 34-35).

24 Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep?

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