Religious traditions or man and not from God are a hard thing to overcome, and have been around since the Golden calf and their man made "Feasts unto the Lord".
So it is a difficult topic to discuss. People who adhere to man made traditions will be against or ignorant of God's Holy Days.
I can only give you my perspective, which is a perspective that has chosen, as close as I can, the Ways of God and not the religious ways of man. No SDA, AOG, Methodist, Baptist, No Pope, No Hebrew Roots, not a Jew, I just believe in the Bible, All of it.
Yesterday was "Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. When to first Church of Christ gathered on this Holy Day they were blessed. But Pentecost without Feast of Unleavened Bread means nothing, and Feast of Unleavened bread without Passover means nothing.
I believe that those who truly seeking God, with all their heart, will find Him. It would be wrong for me to tell you what to do, but not wrong showing you His Word and letting Him Direct you.
In Leviticus 23 God lays out the highlights of His Salvation Plan, if you can except it.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
It is important to note that this "Lord" is the Word which became Flesh in the person of Jesus. This Lord created "ALL THINGS" according to the New Testament, including the following Holy Days.
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim
to be holy convocations,
even these are my feasts.
So Jesus, as the Word, made a point to tell His People that the Following Holy Days are HIS Feasts, not man's, not the Jews, Not from Moses, or any other entity. These Feasts belong to the "Word which became Flesh".
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day
is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work
therein: it
is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
It is also a Biblical Fact that the First Holy Day the Word which became Flesh created was His Sabbath. This kind of sheds some light on the Word's of the Christ "for the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath Day".
This is a hard pill to swallow for "Many", who come in Christ's name, and say Lord, Lord, but do not what He says. It also exposes the phrase "Jewish tradition" as not true when applied to God's Sabbath and Holy Days.
4
So after the weekly Sabbath the Holydays begin with Passover. I have always found it fascinating that most mainstream religions consider Passover as the "END" of God's Salvation plan. "it is finished" they cry. But the Word which became Flesh created just the opposite. According to HIS Salvation plan, Passover is the Beginning of salvation.
Then comes Feast of Unleavened bread, which represents our new life which is to be free from Leaven (Representing sin). It is a 7 day feast which represents our whole life "after Passover". It has a Sabbath on the First day and a Sabbath on the Last day. This is why there were two Sabbaths the week of Christ's death.
After that comes Pentecost. You can't properly observe Pentecost, or "Feast of Weeks" or "Feast of First fruits" as it is also called, unless one counts correctly from Unleavened bread. These feasts were aligned with "harvest" practices to foreshadow "things to come".
Jesus was the very first "first fruit", the very first person to actually be "born of God" in His Resurrection. This was symbolized in the OT by the "first sheaf" (a handful of stalks and cereal grass, "an omers worth") to be waved before the Eternal God by the Priest on the morning after His Resurrection. This "lifting up" and "waving" then coming back down shows how Jesus was "lifted" before coming back down.
Fascinating stuff and a great study and will change your understanding of the scriptures forever should you decide to trust God enough follow them.
Feast of Trumpets, which represent the 2nd coming of Christ to take over the Earth and rule the nations.
Day of Atonement, symbolizes the putting away of satan, and the placing of the worlds sin on it's head where it belongs.
Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) symbolizes the 1000 year reign under the Rule of the Christ and the "born children of God". This also is 7 day Feast.
Last Great Day, symbolizes the final judgment, "White throne Judgment" where all who died without the knowledge of Christ, (Those who died in ignorance) will get their fair trial to Salvation.
So as to my advice.
It is my belief that "MAN" and their practice of ignoring God's Word, but still wanting His gift, so creating another path to get it, has always been the problem.
We have the Pope, whose religion changes with the wind and the amount of money people are willing to give to them, we have the thousands of religious movements, Catholics, Baptists, AOG, Hebrew Roots, SDA, Methodists, JW, the list goes on and on and on.
Each one claiming their way is the right way. The only thing they all seem to have in common is they all "Transgress the commandments of God by their own religious Traditions.
So for my family and I, we stopped listening to them all and simply did as Jesus instructed.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
It has been my experience that when we study His Word, truly seeking to know Him, and follow the instructions of the things we can understand, He will lead us into His Truth.
This is the New Covenant, we no longer need fleshy priests or preachers to filter His Word, we all have direct access to it.
And remember, if Jesus came to us today as a brick mason, or carpenter, went in to any one of the Churches of this land, and said, only those things He said before, most churches would label Him as a Legalist and drive Him out of their presence.
I hope you find what you are looking for.
