Part 6: Discovering a Middle Path
I pray that the feast keepers who take a commandment position to recover or reenact all the Old Testament standards and those who take an abolishment position by dismissing the festivals can discover a middle path. I believe there is a better way to look at the Old Testament festivals. As I have never advocated absolute keeping of the Old Testament feast days as a biblical command, I often encounter the following argument: following the Bible requires that we keep the feast days according to God’s calendar. To this, I respond, “Show me where God has commanded us to do this.” It is impossible to keep the festivals according to the biblical instructions. The biblical festive calendar was for the Israelites, who went to the temple and followed the harvest cadences of the land, not for religious denominations that devise their own interpretations of such requirements.
On the other hand, I am equally bothered by nominal church members who put their noses up at the mention of the Jewish festivals, considering them trivial or deserving of annulment. I would ask such people, “Do you really know everything there is to know about Jesus?” Such dismissiveness and neglect fall within the heresy of Marcionism, which advocates Old Testament and Jewish abolishment.
In contrast to both these extreme positions, I believe that adapting the festivals for a spiritual, Christ-centered purpose is acceptable. We should have a fuller appreciation for our Jewish roots without disrespecting Jewish norms, appearing anachronistic, or being historically inaccurate. There should be healthy mutual sharing and respect in following these traditions and biblical principles. I do not think it is inappropriate to modify the customs and traditions of other national heritages when using them to glorify God (Revelation 21:26). In this view, we can observe Thanksgiving and Christmas (which carry festive echoes of the biblical festivals) so long as these holidays’ traditions are directed toward God in accordance with our faith in Jesus. However, I believe there is only one day we are called to keep sacred without exception: the Sabbath. I do not put any civil holiday observances into this category. In light of this, I have sought a structure or specific framework whereby I can keep the festivals’ message and biblical principles, which contain detailed theology, for “all scripture is given” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). I want to keep my focus on and follow Jesus who is the substance of these festivals.
There is a framework that has helped me, one that transcends the two extremes for those who want to retain the faith of the Old Testament without denying their Jewish roots or becoming caught up in fringe zealotry. There is a way to keep or mark the festivals without abolishing them or claiming that they were done away with and nailed to the cross. I have found that church members and evangelists who promote a theology of Jewish inferiority have little knowledge of Jewish practices and poorly understand the liberty they are given in Christ to observe festivals in ways they deem meaningful (2 Corinthians 2:16). One can approach the festivals with integrity and remain faithful to a Christian or Adventist context without trying to reenact all Old Testament requirements beyond the weekly Sabbath.
Even when Israel was required to keep the biblical festivals, we see that God made adjustments based on ritual impurity or being far from the Sanctuary (Numbers 9:10–11). Changes were made to the festivals to reflect later conditions (Exodus 12; Deuteronomy 16). Furthermore, the coming of Christ brought a new meaning and manner of observance—a paradigm shift that called for our focus to turn from a bygone temple left desolate to the One who is greater than the temple (John 4:24). In fact, Jesus showed up at the temple festivals to draw everyone’s attention (John 7:37–38). In Romans and Galatians, the focus is not on the commandments, rules, or codified regulations but on the commandments as redefined in Jesus. It is a Christ-centered way of keeping God’s commandments and learning to be like Christ.
This was Paul’s argument in using the example of Abraham, who “kept” God’s commandments, statutes, and instructions before any specifications were spoken from Sinai or written as law (Romans 4:2). From Abraham’s example, we learn that it is possible to keep God’s standard of righteousness without orienting to a specific code of law, for Abraham was justified by faith (Romans 4:3). There is scholarly work that suggests that this faithfulness was not Abraham’s but Christ’s, in which Abraham shared. Abraham’s faith was based in a love relationship and his trust in God’s faithfulness. It is not our faith but the faithfulness of Jesus that justifies.
Whenever our obedience becomes ceremonial performance, lacking a meaningful relationship, we reenact empty rituals that have no meaning or value. We may no longer keep the Levitical ceremonies that pertained to the festivals, but when Adventists remove jewelry as required by the feast of Atonement to seem holier or more savable to God, the act is an empty ceremony. Only Christ’s faithfulness is our identity marker, showing that we are indeed included despite the Judaizing efforts to exclude, which include our own ceremonies intended to be badges of our acceptability to God.
As followers of Jesus, we should never disparage the festivals because they point us to Jesus and show us the luster and beauty of the redemptive plan. The festivals described in Leviticus 23, for example, highlight God’s beautiful plan to set all things right in the world. Because I see the ceremonial law and festivals right there in Jesus when I view God’s law, I do not believe these principles should be terminated, destroyed, or considered annulled. No law is done away with, for both the moral and ceremonial law are embodied in the person of Jesus. I do, however, believe that some laws change or are no longer needed, while others are meant to be temporary, transforming along with cultural changes, including the loss of the temple. Much of the ceremonial law was shaped by ancient cultures, purity rituals, and practices of exclusion that have ended or are no longer needed, but these were never valueless or contrary to faith, as many Christians suppose. I certainly see misunderstandings and perversions of God’s law being nailed to the cross along with the violations and charges (curses) against us for breaking God’s law. Certainly, cultic sacrifices and offerings should cease with Jesus’s death and the loss of the temple (Daniel 9:27).
Therefore, considering the past changes regarding the sacrifices and offerings and the future changes when the wolf will live peaceably with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:25), we should expect a paradigm shift that redefines today’s festivals. While some laws are no longer needed or have blended into the antitype, according to Jesus, no divine law has been abolished (Matthew 5:17). Jesus fulfilled the law by giving it its fullest meaning and interpretation. When well-meaning Adventists put down the festivals or ceremonial types or elevate law keeping over faith, they are in effect putting down Jesus as the author and interpreter of the law. Though we have a different relationship to the Old Testament than did Jesus, who recognized the festivals along with the disciples when the temple was in operation, our attitude toward the festivals should reflect His: “I delight to do your will” (Hebrews 10:9).
Regardless of how strongly we believe we are required to do so, we are unable to observe the Levitical festivals according to the biblical instructions. There are, however, Jewish norms and traditions that have reformatted the biblical festivals beyond the temple and its sacrifices. For those who long for something more meaningful and desire to mark their calendar with celebrations and spiritual continuity according to biblical principles, the festivals can be adapted without adopting feast-keeping extremism that purports the Old Testament festivals must be kept by Christians to maintain a truer or purer commandment-keeping status than the confused Jews who made up the modern holidays with human reasoning. This view ignores the covenant made between God and the people of Israel.
While I do not believe we are required to keep the festivals, I thank God that we can. We are not excluded from the feasts’ spiritual and educational directives. I think we should honor the feasts’ messages, adapting their principles into our experience without suggesting that we are trying to replace Jewish identity. I believe the festivals go beyond personal acts of observance, as they carry principles and meanings for how we should live in a relationship with God and understand the plan of redemption. We should cherish the festivals in the spirit that God intends and in way that is meaningful to us.
The Adventist Church is diverse. Some members have no interest in studying their Jewish roots or even belittle the festivals as being entirely abolished by Jesus—a misguided sentiment that verges on anti-Semitism. I must admit that I get a kick out of watching these dear folks flip-flop theologically after unintentionally throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Proving more than they intend, they must backtrack, unnailing the feasts from the cross to support future fulfillment of the feasts and festival applications, such as not wearing jewelry and using the priestly system to support male headship.
Some of the best scholars and theologians in the denomination have demonstrated that the feasts foster both faith and good Jewish–Christian relations. They realize that the Bible does not command or prohibit Christians from keeping the feasts. They caution, however, that feast keeping becomes a controversy when feast keepers insist that everyone keep them without a normative system. I can attest to such controversy, as I have seen sincere individuals within feast-keeping groups argue over the calculation of feast dates—whether to follow the Jewish calendar, look to the barley grown in Israel, cite the local appearance of the new moon, or determine the vernal equinox by astronomical calculations.
Since there is no formal guidance beyond the temple and Jewish traditions, individuals and groups differ in what they determine is right. Setting firm, universal standards is an experience I want to avoid. I want to focus on there beauty and meaning and do my best to honor the feasts’ messages during their respective seasons. If you feel that areas such as the festivals are lacking in your spiritual walk with God and you desire more spiritual continuity than the civil holidays offer, you can supplement your faith by attending a service or implementing some holiday features into your experience. Focusing on the biblical principles found in the festivals that inspire greater love for God without judgment aligns with scripture, but to achieve this, you may have to worship with family members or friends without joining an offshoot that requires feast keeping for everyone.
I am not interested in reenacting the Leviticus calendar to work out feast-keeping observances outside Judaism or Christianity. I prefer to focus on the attractiveness of God’s character as revealed by the beauty of Jesus’s faithfulness, which makes the pagan vestiges and lies about God lose their impact. In this light, the festivals express beautiful messages about God’s character that help us rehearse the story of redemption rather than become complacent by celebrating secular holidays. I avoid extreme positions because in the end, it is all about becoming a loving and balanced person who seeks to imitate God’s character as revealed in Jesus. That’s what really matters.
Keeping the two extreme views in mind is helpful:
- Feast keeping as mandatory
- Feast keeping as abolishment
Craig Ashton Jr.
Theological InTents 
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