The Scriptural Feasts – Replaced by Pagan Traditions
Honouring Scriptural Feasts and the Danger of Ignoring Them
The Most-High Yahuah gave His people moedim (appointed times) to remember His works, draw close to Him, and walk in His ways. These Scriptural feasts are outlined in the Turah (Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23, Devarym (Deuteronomy) 16) and were meant for the people of Yashar’al, and for all who believe in and follow Yahusha the Messiah.
Ignoring Yahuah’s commands is never neutral. As Devarym (Deuteronomy) repeatedly warns, disobedience brings consequences that touch every part of life: spiritually, physically, emotionally, communally, and generationally. Following His Turah brings life, protection, and barak (blessings), while turning away invites discipline, hardship, and loss.
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, so that you and your children may live, by loving Yahuah, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him.” Devarym 30:19–20
Yet over the centuries, many of these feasts have been ignored, distorted, or replaced by celebrations rooted in paganism and wickedness, masking the truth Yahuah intended to reveal through them.
The Scriptural Feasts
Zadok Calendar is used for dates, not the Gregorian Calendar.
Passover (Pesach, 14th of the 1st month)
Commemorates Yahuah delivering Yashar’al (His People) from Mitsrayim (Egypt).
Symbolically points to Yahusha as the Lamb of Aluhym.
Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot, 15–21 of the 1st month)
A week-long feast removing leaven, symbolising purity and separation from sin/wickedness.
Feast of First Fruits (Bikkurim, 16th of the 1st month)
Gives thanks for the harvest and looks forward to the resurrection life in Yahusha.
Feast of Weeks (Shavuot / Pentecost, 50 days after First Fruits)
Celebrates the wheat harvest and the giving of the Turah.
In Natsarim understanding, points to the giving of the Ruach HaQodesh (Holy Spirit).
Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, 1st of the 7th month)
A day of shofar blasts, calling people to teshuvah (repentance) and spiritual awakening.
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, 10th of the 7th month)
A solemn day of fasting, repentance, and cleansing.
Points to Yahusha’s atoning sacrifice.
Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, 15–21 of the 7th month)
A joyful feast remembering Yashar’al dwelling in temporary booths in the wilderness.
Points to Aluhym dwelling with His people.
Eighth Day of Assembly (Shemini Atzeret, 22nd of the 7th month)
A solemn day closing Sukkot, celebrating closeness to Yahuah.
How the Feasts Were Replaced
Over time, many Scriptural feasts were replaced with paganised celebrations:
Christmas (Dec 25): Replaces Passover and Yahusha’s birth celebrations; originally a pagan winter sun festival.
Easter: Replaces First Fruits and Resurrection celebrations with symbols like eggs and rabbits, rooted in pagan fertility rites.
Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and other “holy days”: Have no Turah basis and all of these and above are linked to pagan gods, spirits, and rituals (including human sacrifices).
Even weekly Shabbat is often neglected, replaced by Sunday worship, a custom with no Scriptural mandate.
Ignoring the feasts distances people from the original plan of Yahuah, masks prophetic truths revealed in Yahusha, and confuses families and communities, mixing truth with deception.
Consequences of Ignoring Yahuah’s Commands
Devarym emphasises that ignoring Yahuah’s commands brings serious consequences:
1. Spiritual
Separation from Yahuah; hardening of the heart.
Loss of protection and favour; opening to deception and pride.
Devarym 28:15: “But if you do not obey the voice of Yahuah your Aluhym… all these curses shall come upon you…”
2. Material and Physical
Disease, weakness, famine, and scarcity.
Defeat by enemies; loss of provision.
3. Generational
Impact on children spiritually and materially.
Loss of inheritance; the land promised to Yashar’al can become desolate or taken by others.
4. Psychological and Emotional
Restlessness, anxiety, unfulfilled hearts.
Loss of shalum (peace); confusion and conflict.
5. Social and Communal
Division and strife; broken families and communities.
Loss of reputation among the nations; Yashar’al fails as a qodesh (separated) people, a light to the nations.
Returning to Yahuah’s Appointed Times
For us today, there is a call to:
Observe the Scriptural Feasts in the Turah calendar.
Turn away from pagan replacements and worldly customs.
Teach our families about the feasts’ meanings and prophetic significance in Yahusha.
Use the feasts to draw near to Yahuah in repentance, worship, and joy.
“Speak to the children of Yashar’al, and say to them: These are My qodesh times, the appointed feasts of Yahuah, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons.” Wayyiqra 23:2
When we honour Yahuah’s feasts, we walk in His ways, celebrate His redemption, and experience His presence in our lives. Observing these moedim is not just tradition; it is choosing life, barak (blessings), and closeness with the Father.
