Knowing that the early church kept God’s Holy Days for the first century or so, we must now ask the question: Does it matter which festivals–God’s Holy Days or Satan’s holidays–are celebrated by those who call themselves by God’s name? The answer lies in knowing the source of the various festivals celebrated by professing Christendom. Once the source is determined, it is up to the individual to decide which deity he/she will obey and serve.

In the seventh chapter of Daniel we find an amazing prophecy that projects the religious condition of the world 2500 years into the future. Here Daniel sees in a dream four beasts representing four empires that would rise up to rule in succession–Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The final beast was by far the most terrible and mighty. This beast had ten “horns,” representing ten nations that would form out of it. There appeared another “little horn” that would rise up in the midst of the ten and exert great influence, speaking pompous words and having a powerful appearance. This “little” but religiously powerful “horn” is the Catholic Church. In describing this horn Daniel relates that this powerful entity would “… think to (would) change times and laws.” In Revelation 17 we find the same entity presented as a religious woman (church) riding (controlling) a mighty beast (government system). This powerful religious entity has managed to change both “times” and “laws.” For example, the leaders of Catholicism have changed the “time” of the day’s beginning from sundown to the middle of the night, the beginning of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, the beginning of the month from the first sighting of the crescent moon to other man-made times, and the beginning of the year from mid-spring to mid-winter. The Laws the woman–Mystery, Babylon, the Great Whore and her harlot daughters–changed involved exchanging God’s Holy Days–the Saturday Sabbath, Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day–for heathen holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and the Sunday Sabbath.

God warns in Proverbs 18:13 not to judge a matter too soon: “… he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly unto him.” So as we enter into this study of the Lord’s Holy Days, let us study each with an open mind/heart so as to hear what God is saying to us. To do this one must rid one’s mind of all church teachings on such matters. Let God alone speak from His Word alone. We will begin with Passover, whose celebration is quickly approaching. To be continued. L.J.