Truth Magazine

By Daniel H. King

Contemporary Jewish feasts and Holy Days include both canonical (biblical) and non-canonical celebrations. Moreover, even those days which were observed in Bible times have been in many instances altered to allow for the fact that the temple no longer stands and may no longer be utilized in the services rendered on such occasions. Although Judaism generally concedes that the Holy Spirit departed from Israel after the end of prophetic times, still allowances are made both for additional feasts and needed changes to up-date and modernize the ancient ones. Also, Jews generally consider their feasts as living memorials of historical events worth remembering, so they fear not to heap tradition upon tradition in expanding both the number of feasts and the character of those already in existence. In doing so, three things appear to be important to a greater or lesser extent: (1) The Biblical instructions; (2) The judgments of the Rabbis in the Mishna, Midrashim, and Talmudim; and (3) The contemporary situation. In this short article, we shall attempt to keep the discussion of the Biblical instructions at a bare minimum, since this information is easily obtainable in Bible encyclopedias and dictionaries, in order to focus upon the Holy Days as they are observed among the Jews at the present time.

Pesach: Passover

In Bible times this was the first of three annual festivals at which all Israelite men were required to appear at the sanctuary (Ex. 12:43; Deut. 16:1). It was known also as the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 23:15, Deut. 16:16), and was instituted in Egypt to commemorate the night when the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, but passed over the houses of the Israelites where the blood had been sprinkled and those within were standing, staff in hand, awaiting the deliverance promised by the Lord (Ex. 12; 23; Deut. 16). Passover began on the 14th of Abib at even, with the sacrificial meal (Lev. 23:5-6). A lamb or kid was slain between the evenings, was roasted whole, and was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8). Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken (Ex. 12:46). If the family was too small, then neighbors joined until the company was large enough to consume the entire lamb (Ex.12:4). During the seven days of the feast only unleavened bread was eaten, and, in addition to the regular services of the sanctuary, 2 bullocks, 1 ram, and 7 lambs were offered as a burnt offering, and a male goat as a sin offering (Lev. 23:8; Num. 28:19-23).

Modern Jews recognize the impossibility of observing the feast according to biblical injunction. In fact, they freely make the admission as the following quotation shows: “Although the Biblical laws of Passover have been rendered obsolete by the destruction of the temple, many of the elements which made our festival so joyous then still remain to gladden our hearts today” (S.M. Lehrman, The Jewish Festivals (2nd. ed.; London: Shapiro, Vallentine & Co., 1938), pp. 42-43). In Modern Jewry the Seder-the word means “the order of service” or “formal procedure”-is at once a substitute for the ancient paschal sacrifice and a fulfillment of the Biblical injunction to retell the story of the Exodus to one’s children (Ex. 13:8). The principal feature of the ritual is the eating of various foods associated with the original Passover meal: matzah, or unleavened bread; bitter herbs (horse-radish); and haroseth, a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, raisins and cinnamon, which is said to symbolize the mortar in which the Israelites labored (Ex. 1:11). The meal is introduced by the consumption of parsley dipped in salted water. At the first institution the participants stood, but the Talmud reflects the Roman banquet custom and thenceforth the communicants have reclined at Passover. During the course of it, a minimum of four cups of wine mixed with water must be drunk, recalling the four expressions used in- Ex. 6:6-7 to describe God’s deliverance of Israel. And, besides the food actually consumed, the shankbone of a lamb and a roasted egg are placed on the table. The former symbolizes the paschal offering, while the latter is, in all probability an imported pagan custom. Strict custom surrounds the manner and order of the eating of these ritual foods. And, finally, at the conclusion of the supper, an extra cup of wine is filled for the prophet Elijah, who it is believed, will come on Passover night to herald the final redemption of Israel. The main door of the house is opened momentarily to permit his entrance.

The narrative portion of the ceremony is known as the Haggadah or Recital, and consists of a repetition of the Biblical story of the Exodus, embellished by Rabbinic comments and elaborations and includes also the chanting of Psalms (especially the Hallels, Pss. 113-118), hymns, and secular songs.

Shavuoth: Pentecost

Called in the Old Testament “the Feast of Weeks”, Pentecost was the second of the three annual festivals requiring every male Israelite to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary (Ex. 34:22-23). Its date was set seven complete weeks after the consecration of the harvest season by the offering of the sheaf of the first ripe barley (Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9-10). This sheaf was waved on the morrow after the Sabbath (Lev. 23:11). The festival fell on the 50th day after the waving of the sheaf (Lev. 23:10-11, 15-16), which gave rise to the Greek .name Pentecost or 50th day. (Acts 2:1). It was also called the Feast of Harvest or Day of Firstfruits. It celebrated the close of the barley harvest and beginning of the wheat harvest. On this day ordinary labors were suspended, and there was a holy convocation (Lev. 23:21; Num. 28:26); two loaves of leavened bread were offered to the Lord (Lev. 23:17, 20); and with them ten animals were sacrificed for a burnt offering, a male goat for a sin offering, and 2 male lambs for a peace offering (Lev. 23:18-19).

Since the destruction of the temple, however, this harvest festival has been reinterpreted to commemorate the giving of the Law at Sinai. The giving of the Law was thought by the Rabbis on the basis of Ex. 19:1 to have taken place fifty days after the Exodus and so was in keeping with the symbolism of the feast. In the modern Jewish liturgy it is known as zemay matan toratenu or “the reason of the giving of our law.” The festival to modern Jews thus is celebrated as the birthday of Israel, the anniversary of the day on which the Covenant was concluded between God and his people. One rabbi even described it as the wedding anniversary of the Jewish people and said that the Law was the Ketubah or marriage certificate between the Jews and God. The twofold character of the festival, the ancient and the modern, finds expression in the services of the synagogue: on the first day, the lesson from the Pentateuch (Ex. 19-20) deals with the promulgation of the Ten Commandments; on the second day, with the institution and observance of the Feast of Firstfruits (Deut. 15:19-16:17); while on both days an extra portion is read describing the special sacrifices which were anciently presented on this occasion (Num. 28:26-31). The dominant theme is, however, the Giving of the Law. After feasting on Shavuoth Eve, the congregation goes to the Beth ha-Midrash (“the House of Study”), to spend the entire night reading Tikkun. The Tlkkun is an abridged Bible and Mishnah (the oral Law), which was composed so that Jews on this occasion could review the teachings of Judaism. Synagogues and homes are decorated with green branches and flowers and special dishes and delicacies — honey cakes and cheese cakes — are reminders that the Torah or Law is sweet and life-giving.

On the second evening only half the night is spent in the synagogue. And this time the congregation recites the Psalms of David. For, some Jews believe that King David was born at Shavuoth time (cf. Ben M. Edidin, Jewish Holidays and Festivals [New York: Hebrew Pub. Co., 1940] , p. 173), while others say he died then (cf. Hayyim Schauss, The Jewish Festivals, trans. by Samuel Jaffe [Cincinnati: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1938], p. 93). The book of Ruth is also read at this time, since it is connected both with the harvest season and the ancestry of David. Reform Jews also have their Bar Mitzvah or Confirmation ceremonies for their children at this season.

Sukkoth: Tabernacles

Tabernacles was the last of the three great annual festivals at which every man in Israel was required to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary, and the second of the harvest festivals (Deut. 16:16; 2 Chron. 8:12,13). Its name derived from the custom of dwelling in booths during its celebration (Lev. 23:40-42). It was kept in the seventh month at the close of the agricultural season, when all the products of the year from the grainfield, olive yard, and vineyard were gathered. Thus, it was also called the Feast of Ingathering (Ex. 23:16; 24:22; Lev. 23:39; Deut. 16:13,15). It began on the 15th of the month and continued for seven days. The special burnt offering amounted to seventy bullocks and a daily sacrifice of two rams and fourteen lambs. As a sin offering a he goat was sacrificed every day (Num. 29:1234). The booths made of the boughs of trees were reminiscent of the march from Egypt through the wilderness (Lev. 23:43).

In the days of the Herodian Temple the Mishna tells us that on every day of the festival a golden flagon was filled from the neighboring pool of Siloam and carried to the Temple in gay procession. This was the Water Libation. Delivered to the officiating priest, it was then poured into a silver container, the spout of which was trained upon the altar. The Mishnah likewise preserves another historical remembrance of the observance in New Testament times. On the evening of the first day, we are told, men repaired to the precincts of the Temple and lit a huge candelabra in the Court of the Women. “Men of piety and good works” danced, waving burning torches while the Levites furnished accompanying music. At cockcrow, a set of priests who stood at the Nicanor Gate, sounded a series of trumpet blasts. “Our forefathers,” they said, “when they were in this place, turned their backs to the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the rising sun in the east, but we-our eyes are turned toward the Lord.” This ceremony was known as “Rejoicing at the Beth haShoebah.”

The combination of the Mishnaic practice, the Biblical commandment, and modern custom added together give us the modern practices. The Bible commands that “ye shall take, you, on the first day, the fruit of a goodly tree, palm-branches, foliage of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice seven days before the Lord your God” (Lev. 23:40). These festive branches (now called lulabh and ethrog) in the modern celebration are taken to symbolize the characters and virtues of the ancient patriarchs, and when they are carried in procession around the synagogue during the morning services of the festival, this is regarded as a memorial of the circuits which the priests used to make around the altar on the Feast of Booths. On the other hand, the Water Libation is presently memorialized by the custom of offering special prayers for rain on the eighth day of the festival. Also, the feast is called 7eman simhatenu or “the Season of our Rejoicing,” recalling the Mishnah passage referring to the Libation (Sukkah V. i.), “Whoever has not witnessed it has never seen joy.”

Among modern Jews the Sukkah or Booth, is still a feature of the holiday. Home Sukkahs are built on roofs or in back yards. Sometimes porches are so constructed that the roofs can be replaced with green foliage for Sukkoth. The most beautiful ones are usually built by synagogues. In some reform temples a small, decorative booth is erected on the pulpit.

Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement

The Old Testament “Day of Atonement” is called in Hebrew Yom ha-kippurim (Lev. 23:27; 25:9). It was the annual day of .expiation for the sins of Israel, when the high priest offered sacrifices as an atonement for the sanctuary, the priests, and the people (Lev. 16; 23:26-32; Num. 29:7-11). It was observed on the tenth day of the seventh month by abstinence from labor, a holy convocation, and by fasting. An elaborate ritual was performed by the high priest: clad in simple white linen he sacrificed a bullock as a sin offering for himself and the priest, taking a censer of live coals from the altar, he entered the holy of holies and burned incense; the blood of the slain bullock he sprinkled upon the mercy seat and on the floor; he took two goats and cast lots upon them; one he slew as a sin offering for the people and sprinkled its blood within the veil; the other goat he sent away into the wilderness laden with the sins of the people.

As one writer has truly said, “No other holy day has undergone such a transformation since it was first ordained.” With the temple destroyed and the priestly intercessor gone, the entire day is now devoted to fasting and prayer. These now take the place of the offerings for the Jews. Rabbinic reflection lies at the heart of this change (along with necessity), for they concluded that “when the sanctuary fell, there fell with it that wall of iron that formerly severed Israel from his God” (Berachoth 32b). The service of the heart was soon viewed as more important than the service of the temple (Sanhedrin 106b). The attitude of the Jews with regard to Yom Kippur after the destruction of the Temple is shown in the following Talmudic tale:

Rebhan lochanan ben Zakkaf, together with his pupil, Rabbi Joshua, once stood gazing at the ruins of the Temple. And Rabbi Joshua said, “Woe to us, that the place where Jews were forgiven for their sins is destroyed.” To which Rebhan lochanan answered, “My son, regret it not. We have another medium, just as good, for the forgiveness of sin. It Is: Do good to mankind. For it is written: (Hos. 6:6) `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'” Aboth de Rabbi Nathan IV.

Among contemporary Jews some visit the cemetery and bring large candles to the synagogue, which are lit in memory of dead parents. Pious Jews ask a neighbor or friend to strike them thirty-nine times with a strap as self-inflicted punishment for sins committed.

Purim: Feast of Lots

Celebrated in biblical times on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar (Feb.-March), this festival has its origin in the book of Esther (Est. 3:7; 9:24ff). The wicked Haman had cast pur, or a lot, to ascertain a favorable day for the massacre of the Jewish exiles in Persia. The failing of his plans by Esther occasioned the institution of the feast, “a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another” (9:19).

Among Jews today the 13th of Adar is kept as the Fast of Esther. This custom of fasting before Purim is first heard of in the eighth century A.D. In the evening which is the beginning of the 14th, they assemble in the synagogue. After the evening service the reading of the book of Esther is begun. When the name of Haman is reached, the people cry out, “Let his name be blotted out,” or “The name of the wicked shall rot,” while the children spring rattles. The names of Haman’s sons are all read in a breath, to indicate that they were hanged simultaneously. The next morning they return to the synagogue, and finish the formal services and then devote the day to mirth and rejoicing. The wealthy give gifts to the poor. Purim masquerades, Purim dramas, and many other customs attend the season. Some’ burn an effigy of Haman, others write his name on stones and rub them together until it disappears, still others chalk his name upon the soles of their shoes and stomp and shuffle until it is wiped out. Most Jewish children would agree that, “Purim is the jolliest of all holidays.”

Rosh Hashanah: New Year

The beginning of the Jewish calendrical year is a very complicated question in the Old Testament. Suffice it to say that there were two systems of reckoning employed: one civil and one religious, the first being solar in orientation and the second lunar. The civil year began in the autumn (Ex. 23:16, 34:22), while the ritual one started in the seventh month of the calendar year, which would correspond to our September-October (Lev. 25:9). In the Bible, the first of Tishri is called simply “the Day of Memorial,” (Lev. 23:24) but that day is never labeled “rosh hashanah,” “the first of the year;” it is only designated as the first day of the seventh month. It is clear, therefore, that in biblical days there was no holiday by that name. In fact, none of the Jewish documents from the second Temple period ever refer to it as the New Year. Shortly after the destruction of the temple, however, the first of Tishri came to be commonly called Rosh Hashanah. In those days the belief was popularized that Rosh Hashanah marked the day on which mankind was judged in heaven and man’s fate settled. These ideas were obviously borrowed from the Babylonians (where the most popular rabbinic school thrived during this period) who conceived of their New Year’s Day in this way, as well as the conception that creation is renewed on that day (the rabbis said the world was created on Rosh Hashanah).

The essential feature of New Year’s Day in the Jewish synagogue is the Glowing of the shofar, or trumpet. This instrument is usually fashioned out of ram’s horn, and requires considerable skill. The notes are duly prescribed by tradition, and there may be no deviation from the established order. It must be sounded five times during the service, each at a particular interval, and one time toward the end. During the morning services of the festival, all adult males wear a long white cloak known as a kittel. It is also worn on Yom Kippur and Pesach. It is the symbol of purity, and in this garment the pious Jew is both married and buried.

This day also begins the so-called “Ten Days of Penitence.” Since Rosh Hashana falls on the first of Tishri and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the tenth of Tishri, this day is the first in a series of days which are preparatory to that important Holy Day. The principal outward observance of this period is the recital of special supplicatory psalms and prayers every morning at dawn. Obviously, this period is also an addition to biblical prescription.

Hanukkah: Feast of Lights

Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication, is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It is celebrated for eight days, beginning on the 25th of Kislev (December), to commemorate the victory of Judas Maccabaeus and his followers over the forces of the Svrian king Antiochus IV, Epiphanes in 165 B.C. The temple was purified and dedicated exactly three years after it had been desecrated by the introduction of Greek idolatry and other pollutions by the order of the king. The story is told in the First and Second Books of the Maccabees, which form part of the Apocrypha, and in the writings of the Greek historian Polybius (204-122 B.C .). The Maccabees, we are told, celebrated their triumph with an eight-day festival, and, with the consent of the proper authorities, enjoined that it be perpetuated in Israel as the Feast of Dedication.

As to the actual observance of Hanukkah, the only religious ceremony which attaches to the celebration is the kindling of lights each evening at dusk. The usual practice is to start with one light and to increase the number by one on each successive evening, the flames: being lit from right to left, after the direction of Hebrew writing. The lighting of the lamps is accompanied by a blessing and a brief statement in Hebrew to the effect that the ceremony commemorates “the miracles, deliverance, deeds of power and acts of salvation” wrought by God. After the lights have been lit, the Thirtieth Psalm is intoned. It bears the title, “A Psalm, a Song for the Dedication of the House.” Scholars .think that the lighting of lights for the occasion probably was a later addition to the celebration, likely borrowed from the pagans. We might also add that Jesus was present in Jerusalem and delivered a discourse to the assembled multitude during the feast on at least one occasion (Jn. 10:22).

Minor Festivals

Many other minor festivals and holy days exist within the Jewish community which have no elaborate ritual and play no important part in Jewish life. An example is Rosh Hodesh, the first of the month, synonymous with the appearance of the New Moon. It was simply known as Hodesh in the Bible (1 Sam. 20:5, 24; 2 Kgs. 4:23; Isa. 1:13; 66:23; Amos 8:5; Kos. 2:f3) and along with the Sabbath was a day of rest. It is little observed today by most Jews. Many others fall into the same category with Rosh Hodesh. Time and space, however, disallows our discussing them.

Conclusion

Two very simple points are sufficient in pointing out the errors of contemporary Judaism with respect to her Holidays and Holy Days. First, assuming that the Torah, or Law, is still in effect, the Jews are still as wrong to make additions and alterations to the Word of God as they were when Jesus condemned their doing so (Matt. 15:1-20). Their own Law convicts them of sin (heut. 4:2; 12:32; etc.). And, the necessity of the temple and priesthood to acceptable Jewish worship cannot be avoided by sophistry or specious quibbling. The Jews must rebuild their temple and reactivate their priesthood to satisfy the demands of their Torah. Yet this is not even being planned by the Jews of modern Israel, though they possess the real estate of Mt. Zion at present. I have heard that premillennialists, in their anxiety to see their false prophecies come to fruition, have offered to help pay for it-but to no avail. The mosque of Omar has long stood on the site of the temple in the southwest of the Haram area. Jews feel that the destruction of one of the most sacred shrines of the Moslems would call down upon their heads the united fury of that otherwise disparate and disjunctive people. And they are probably right. Nonetheless, if they are right and righteous, then God will come to their aid as he has in the past. But if they are wrong, then no amount of prayer or penitence will save them.

Howbeit, the above assumption that the Law is still effectual is only that. The Jewish prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34) predicted a New Covenant unlike the Old one, even as all the prophets predicted the coming of the Messiah, or Christ. And, even the Rabbis admitted that the era of the Messiah would bring an end to the Law (Sanhedrin 97a; Aboda Zara 9a; Jer. Meg. 70 d). Thus, Jewish feasts and Holy Days may no longer be used to judge us, as Paul boldly declared: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day; which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s” (Col. 2:16,17).

Why is this so? Because the Messiah has “blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). Yet as long as Israef continues to harden her heart and deny the words of her prophets, there is no hope for her. A look at one of the thirteen principles of Jewish faith makes this the more evident:

“I believe with perfect faith that this Law will not be changed, and that there will never be any other law from the Creator, blessed be his name” (Excerpted from Reshith Daath, (New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1927), p.95).

This puts Jewry in direct contradiction with Jeremiah, with all of her other, prophets, and even with her own Rabbis. A strange paradox indeed!

Truth Magazine XXII: 1, pp. 16-20
January 5, 1978

By Hoyt H. Houchen

“Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain” (Gal. 4:10, 11). The foregoing statement of Paul to the churches of Galatia refers to Mosaic regulations such as. Sabbaths, new moons, festivals, annual atonements, sabbatical years, and jubilees. These observances had been abolished (Col. 2:14-17). “The bond written in ordinances” which was taken away, is obviously “the law of commandments contained in ordinances” referred to by Paul in Eph. 2:15. “God has completely obliterated the document with its legal demands.”(1) Judaizers, however, had successfully enforced some observances of the old law upon the Galatians (4:10), although they had apparently failed to bind circumcision at the time of Paul’s writing.

The return to these “weak and beggarly rudiments” (Gal. 4:9) upon the part of Paul’s readers was a most discouraging factor, and it indicated that they had more zeal and interest in observing Judaistic regulations than in serving Christ. He feared that he had bestowed vain labor upon them. Lenski properly points out: “Paul’s work would certainly be in vain if all that it would eventually accomplish would be to make the Gentile Christians exchange their old pagan elements and observances for the old abrogated Jewish elements and observances.”(2)

A problem of man has ever been to place his unholy hands upon that which God has made sacred and holy. And, every case of man’s refusal to submit to what God has enjoined (e.g. Nadab and Abihu, Lev. 10:1,2), or, every instance where man relegates a command of God to the non-essential (e.g. baptism, Mk. 16:16) illustrates this truth. But this problem of man is also seen in reverse; that is, man has made holy that which God has never made holy. So, he either makes unholy that which God makes holy, or he makes holy that which God does not make holy. Both acts are sinful; man stands condemned in either or both cases. Those whom Paul addressed were guilty of the latter sin for they were making days, months, seasons, and years a matter of religious observance. The rites, ceremonies with respect to feasts, new moons, Sabbath days etc. were not to be observed under the law of Christ, but some were attempting to revive them. But, while many today may not attempt to revive such dead ordinances, they institute the religious observance of such days as Palm Sunday and Easter, the subjects of this article.

Palm Sunday

This is the name usually gives to the last Sunday of Lent (the Fast period observed before Easter by Catholics and many Protestants); it is named in commemoration of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem when the multitude took branches of palm trees (emblems of victory) and went forth to meet Him (Matt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Jn. 12:12-16). The date of its first observance is uncertain.(3) “In the Greek Church Palm Sunday was apparently observed as early as the 4th century. The writings of the Greek fathers contain allusions to the celebration of this day. In the Western Church there are no signs of the observance of it during the first six centuries.”(4) So, although the time of its first observance is uncertain, it evidently originated with the Greek Church.

Various procedures are employed in religious services on Palm Sunday. A description of how some of the Catholic Churches of the West observe this special day is given in the following: “A procession is formed, the members of which issue from the church carrying branches in their hands, and singing a hymn, suited to the occasion, of very ancient origin. In the Greek Church the book of the Gospels is borne in front. In some of the Catholic countries of the West, a priest, or occasionally a lay member, was led at the head, mounted upon an ass, in commemoration of Christ’s entry into the city-a usage which still exists in some parts of Spain and Spanish America. Before the party returns to the church the doors have been closed, and certain strophes of the hymn are sung alternately by the choir within the church and by the procession without, when, on the subdeacon’s knocking at the door, it is again thrown open, and the procession re-enters. During the singing of the Passion in the solemn mass which ensues, the congregation hold the palm branches in their hands, and at the conclusion of the service they are carried to their respective homes, where they are preserved during the year.”(5)

History asserts that the 4th century is as early as Palm Sunday was observed, so it is obvious and significant that this special day is not of New Testament origin. Its observance is therefore without scriptural authority.

Easter

The word “Easter” appears one time in the King James Version. Herod (Agrippa I), having killed James with the sword, imprisoned Peter, “intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people” (Acts 12:4). “Easter” is both inconsistent and erroneous upon the part of the translators of the King James or Authorized Version. “In the earlier English Versions Easter had been frequently used as the translation of pascha. At the last revision Passover was substituted in all passages but this.”(6) Pascha appears 29 times in the Greek New Testament, 28 times it is translated “Passover,” but this one time it is “Easter.”

To Pacsha, the Greek words in Acts 12:4 and translated “Easter” in the King James Version, have no connection whatsoever with the religious observance of what is known today as “Easter.” Arndt and Gingrich define the Greek words To Pascha in Acts 12:4 as simply “the Passover (Festival).”(7) The following by W.E. Vine is significant: “Pascha, mistranslated “Easter” in Acts 12:4, A.V., denotes the Passover (R.V.). The phrase ‘after the Passover’ signifies after the whole festival was at an end. The term Easter is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Pasch held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast, but was not instituted by Christ, nor was it connected with Lent. From this Pasch the Pagan festival of Easter was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt Pagan festivals to Christianity.”(8) So, the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4 (AV) is an inconsistent and erroneous translation, and which regretfully has influenced many to falsely assume that the religious observance of Easter is of divine origin.

The observance of Easter as a religious holiday is of pagan origin. ” ‘Easter’ ” is a word of Saxon origin, and imports a goddess of the Saxons, or rather, of the East, Estera, in honor of whom sacrifices being annually about the Passover time of the year (spring), the name became attached by association of ideas to the Christian festival of the resurrection, which happened at the time of the Passover: hence we say Easter-day, Easter Sunday, but very improperly; as we by no means refer the festival then kept to the goddess of the ancient Saxons.”(9) The idea of Easter eggs came to us from ancient Egypt and Persia. The eggs are a sign of new life, handed down by legend that they are laid by the Easter rabbit on Easter eve. Churches are often decorated with white lilies, a symbol of purity and light. The cross is used as a reminder of the religious significance of Easter.

The first celebration of Easter in church history is dated back to the 2nd century. By the 8th century, Anglo-Saxons had adopted the name “Easter” to designate the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. “While there is reason to suppose that Easter had been honored from early in Christian history, the first definite record of its celebration is in connection with a visit of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, to Anicetus, bishop of Rome, in 154 or 155.”(10) A belief that Easter was observed by the New Testament Church would be nothing short of mere supposition. “The ‘first day of the week,’ the Lord’s Day, was the regular, weekly commemoration of our Lord’s resurrection. It is more than doubtful if there was an annual commemoration (‘Easter’) in Apostolic times.”(11)

Bitter controversies arose after the 2nd century as to when Easter was to be celebrated. Jewish converts in particular insisted that it be on the 14th of their month Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it would occur. The Romans and some parts of the East contended that it was always to be on Sunday. So, the question was whether the time for the celebration would always be on Sunday or the 14th of Nisan, whichever day of the week it would happen to be. But the problem became more complicated when a dispute arose in about 167 A.D. as to whether the celebration was to be on the 14th or the 15th of Nisan, some contending that the death of Christ took place on the 14th while others maintained that it was on the 15th.(12) The long dispute was one of the principal reasons for the convening of the council of Nicea in 325 A.D. A uniform day was decided upon by the council-that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.(13) Easter would fall in future years on any Sunday from March 22nd to April 25th. But the decision of the council did not settle all differences. Although the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations observe the date decreed by the council of Nicea, the Eastern branch of the Catholic Church has another date for the observance of Easter.

In no uncertain terms the apostle Paul denounced all unauthorized religious days and seasons such as Easter, Lent, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Christmas. He strongly wrote, “Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain” (Gal. 4:10, 11).

Christians observe every first day of the week, the Lord’s day, by assembling for worship and engaging in those acts which are authorized by the Lord. This day is a memorial of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of His suffering and death for our sins.

There is not one scintilla of divine authority for such unscriptural holy days as Palm Sunday and Easter. Thousands of people throughout the world observe these days and seasons with zeal, promptness, and precision, while at the same time, they reject God’s commands to obey the gospel by being baptized for the remission of their sins and living daily the kind of lives in harmony with the will of Jesus, the Son of God. They observe unauthorized days, but reject divine commands. Remember, it is sinful to make holy that which God did not make holy, and it is sinful to make unholy that which God made holy. How much vain labor of divine teaching is bestowed upon those who pursue either or both of these ways! They are the ways which seem right to men, but they are the ways of death (Prov. 16:25). May we never be guilty of making any day or season holy which God has not made holy, and may we be equally sure that we never relegate any of God’s commands to the realm of the unholy.

Truth Magazine XXII: 1, pp. 14-16 
January 5, 1978

By O. C. Birdwell

The New Testament writers completed their work during the first century. Anything that originated after the first century must be discussed from the viewpoint of secular or uninspired history. Exception to this would be the foretelling by inspired men of events that would come to pass, such as the apostasy foretold by Paul in Acts. 20:28, 30. The modern day celebration of Christmas is not found in scripture. It is essential for us to look elsewhere if an article is written on the subject. In view of the extensive acceptance of the day as a holy day it seems imperative that we write on the subject. Also, we were asked to do so by the Editor!

An account of the birth of Christ is found in scripture. The event was prepared, prophesied, and presented in historical reality through the almighty power of God. While affirming the reality of the birth of Christ, we remind the reader that the birth is ,not synonymous with “Christmas.” The word “Christmas” is defined as, “lit., Christ’s mass.” “Mass” is “a sequence of prayers and ceremonies forming the Eucharist office esp. of the Latin rites . . . . a celebration of the Eucharist.”(1) There is no such celebration in scripture relating to Christ’s birth. It all came into being this side of completion of the New Testament. Christmas did not, therefore, originate with inspired men.

New Testament Observances

Before his death, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to be eaten in His memory and in the kingdom (Matt. 26; Mk. 14; Luke 22). After the church was established disciples began immediately the practice of “breaking bread” in their worship assemblies (Acts 2:42). The church at Troas came together on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7). Paul gave detailed instructions about the communion (1 Cor. 11). This observance related to the death, not the birth, of Christ. It was observed on the resurrection day, the first day of the week. The practice of eating the Lord’s Supper on each first day was authorized by inspired men, practiced by first century Christians, and continued for two or three hundred years before anyone ever practiced or heard about the practice of an observance of the birth of Christ. There is no indication of an accepted feast of Christ’s birth until the fourth century. The acceptance at that time was by those who had no faith in the final authority of the New Testament.

Historical Accounts of Christmas (1) Some hold to a Gnostic origin. It is affirmed that Christmas originated with the Basilidians of Egypt.(2)These people were Gnostic disciples of Basilides who in the second century began observing January 6th as the date of Jesus’ baptism. Later, this same day, January 6th, began to be regarded in the East as the time of Christ’s birth also, since they affirmed him to be exactly 30 years old when he was baptized.(3) Luke affirmed that he was about 30 years old when he began to teach (Lk. 3:23). There are at least three things wrong with this theory of the birth of Christ. First, there is no scriptural proof that January 6th was the baptism date of Jesus. Second, the time Jesus began teaching was when he was about thirty. This does not mean that he was baptized and began to teach on his birthday. In the third place, even if both the baptism date and birth day could be established, there is no indication from scripture that they are to be regarded as religious feast days, or days of special worship.

(2) Others hold that Christmas was the transformation of pagan festivals. Schaff lists the festivals as, “the Saturnalia, Sigillaria, Juvenalia, and Brumalia-which were kept in Rome in the month of December, in commemoration of the golden age of universal freedom and equality, and in honor of the unconquered sun, and which were great holidays, especially for slaves and children.” In a footnote he describes these festivals . in the following words: “The Saturnalia were the feast of Saturn or Kronos, in representation of the golden days of his reign, when all labor ceased, prisoners were set free, slaves went about in gentlemen’s clothes and in the hat (the mark of a freeman), and all classes gave themselves up to mirth and rejoicing. The Sigillaria were a festival of images and puppets at the close of the Saturnalia on the 21st and 22nd of December, when miniature images of the gods, wax tapers, and all sorts of articles of beauty and luxury were distributed to children and among kinsfolk. The Brumalia, from bruma (brevissima, the shortest day), had reference to the winter solstice, and the return of the Sol invictus.”(4)

As one can see even from the quotations given, the earliest and greatest corruptions of the church Jesus built came about through the injection into the organization, worship, and work, foreign and scripturally unknown elements. There was a tendency to mix with the pure religion of Christ the pagan superstitions and ceremonies. This was done, seemingly, in order to make the religion of Christ less offensive to the world in general, and to get them to accept Jesus as the Christ. When the mixing was done, however, the only result was a corrupted and perverted gospel. The church developing out of such a marriage of paganism and Christianity cannot be the one Jesus built. It is an apostate body. The Roman leadership in this corruption and apostasy has some forty special holy days in a year. Of these observances Benjamin Franklin says, “Protestants are patronizing them in this, and recognizing their holy days, and at the same time making nothing of celebrating the suffering of our Lord, on the first day of every week, as all history assures us was the practice of the first church!”(5)

(3) There were many later additions to Christmas. Many of these were taken from the pagan practices. We are told of old English Christmas festivals as follows: “It was customary to light candles of large size, and to lay upon the fire a huge log, called a Yule clog or Christmas block, a custom not yet extinct in some parts of England. Yule (from huel, a wheel) was a sunfeast, commemorative of the turn of the sun and the lengthening of the day, and seems to have been a period of pagan festivals in Europe from ancient times.”(6)

The Puritan William Prynne (1600-1669), tells us about the Christmas celebration in his day and also gives his attitude toward it. “Our Christmas lords of misrule, together with dancing, masks, mummeries, stage players, and such other Christmas disorders, now in use ‘with Christians, we derived from these Roman Saturalia and Bacchanalian festivals, which should cause all pious Christians eternally to abominate them.” During the same period as Prynne, John Selden, described as a man of “stupendous learning in all kinds and in all languages,” paid his respects to the Christmas celebration. He said the dishes most in vogue were formerly, for breakfast and supper on Christmas eve, a boar’s head stuck with rosemary, with an apple or orange in the mouth, plum porridge, and minced pies. Eating the latter was a test of orthodoxy, as the Puritans conceived it to be an abomination; they were originally made long, in imitation of the manger in which our Lord was laid.(7)

More could be presented about the origin and development of the Christmas celebration. This should suffice to show it is not from the Bible. Truly it is an unscriptural holy day!

Conclusion

Concluding remarks maybe should be made about what, if anything, Christians may do during the Christmas period, that is done by those who celebrate Christmas. May a family get together during the season and exchange gifts? May they have a large turkey dinner? May they decorate a tree? If these things can be done with the understanding that Christ’s birthday is not being celebrated and that they are not related to our worship and service to God, this writer has no objection. People are known to wear new clothing on “Easter Sunday” who do not observe annually the resurrection of Christ. Just remember that Christmas must not become a special holy day to us. It is not in scripture. The most that can be said for the day is that in a time of appalling unbelief it is gratifying to know that so many still, at least, believe in Christ’s birth!

Truth Magazine XXII: 1, pp. 13-14
January 5, 1978

By John Brandt

“The Lord’s day is the day on which Crist rose from the dead. It is the day on which he broke bread with the apostles. It is the day on which the Holy Ghost descended from heaven. It is the day on which salvation was first preached to the whole world. It is the day on which repentance, baptism and remission of sins were first preached in the name of Christ. It is the day on which the first church of Christ was established. It is the day on which the apostles and primitive Christians met, to read the Scriptures; to observe the Lord’s Supper; to offer prayers, and participate in the various religious privileges. It is the day on which the apocalypse was revealed to John on the isle of Patmos. It is a day filled with hallowed memories of sacred events. It is a day filled with hallowed memories and sacred events. It is a day of rest and worship. It is a day of joy, praise, thanksgiving and fellowship. This day as we remember, in partaking of this Supper, that Christ died for us, and that the Son of righteousness rose for our justification, let us ask God to keep us faithful and steadfast in thus showing forth His death and resurrection until the glorious day of eternity shall dawn upon us, and we shall have that unspeakable privilege of sitting down at the table of the Lord, with the loved ones who have gone before, in that everlasting kingdom.”

Truth Magazine XXII: 1, p. 12
January 5, 1978