Hosea 9:5 What will you do in the appointed day, And in the day of the feast of the Lord? 6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction.
Hosea 12:9 “I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals. 10 I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.”
March / April (In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox)
Celebrate Jesus resurrection, easter eggs, candy, bunnies, egg hunts, ham.
Origin of Easter and History of spring feasts Asherah, Tammuz, Artemis all mentioned in the Bible as fertility gods.
OT: Deuteronomy 12:3-4,8 ....wipe out their names.....not worship in their ways.....everyone doing as they see fit.
NT: 1 Corinthians 10:21-22 I read these verses as: Don't mix pagan worship with God's commanded way of worship.
COMMENTARY: Cherry picking verses above to prove my point, please read context of chapters. Also when studying have the goal of becoming "Holy" "Set apart" servant of God. If that's my goal, then it makes sense to clean up these areas.
Leviticus 23 and Luke 22, show us how to celebrate Passover, compare that with how we celebrate Easter.
October 31
Trick or treat, Trunk or treat at church, costumes, candy, "closest time to spirit world"
Hallow = Holy een = eve. November 1 is celebrating the Holy saints of the past, this is the eve of that celebration. Google search all you want on the history of this season. I can tell you, in the Witch, Voodoo world, this stuff is real. Please stay away from it. (I was born in Haiti, and own property in Belize, I can tell you stories)
Let's study Jeroboam for a Biblical answer.
While I was studying Biblical feasts and baptism of the Holy Spirit full time. I prayed "God what would you like me to do / study, what word do you have for me today?". While praying this, I cleared my mind, usually a white background waiting for something. This time, I pictured clear glass just trying to get my mind as "clear" as possible. Then written in red blood on the right side was the word Jeroboam. Like you would see on a horror movie mirror with the name falling down the side. I only knew he was in the Bible, haven't read about him, heard about him, had nothing to do with feasts so I didn't care, but I looked up his story any way and found it in 1 Kings chapters 11-15.
Comments: This story teaches us a lot about obeying God for the correct days and correct ways to worship him. It wasn't like Jeroboam was throwing a graduation party or a random fun party, Jeroboam was perverting one of God's parties. Halloween started as a Christian holiday (not commanded by God) then was perverted to a "devil's night".
December 25, set date every year.
Exchanging gifts, big family meals, vacations, Sabbath days off work, Yule log, Christmas tree, Santa Claus
After doing this study, I hope this one is easier for your family to digest and make a decision on.
Comments:
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s [a]crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not [b]consider.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people [c]laden with iniquity,
A [d]brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.
5 Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a [e]booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile[f] sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you [g]spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of [h]blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke [i]the oppressor;
[j]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
21 How the faithful city has become a [k]harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord says,
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“Ah, I will [l]rid Myself of My adversaries,
And [m]take vengeance on My enemies.
25 I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly[n] purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
26 I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her [o]penitents with righteousness.
28 The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29 For [p]they shall be ashamed of the [q]terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31 The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.
5 Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek Me and live;
5 But do not seek Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And Bethel shall come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
7 You who turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night;
He calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
The Lord is His name.
9 He [a]rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 Therefore, because you [b]tread down the poor
And take grain [c]taxes from him,
Though you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted [d]pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For I will pass through you,”
Says the Lord.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 “Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried [e]Sikkuth[f] your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,”
Says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
1. Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O states of America:
2 The virgin of America has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the states of America.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the states of America:
“Seek Me and live;
5 But do not seek New York,
Nor enter Los Angeles
Nor pass over to Las Vegas;
For Los Angeles shall surely go into captivity,
And New York shall come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of George Washington (constitution),
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in New York—
7 You who turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night;
He calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
The Lord is His name.
9 He rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who rebukes in the courts,
And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor
And take taxes from him,
Though you have built McMansions
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
Diverting the poor from justice in court.
13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the courts.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of George Washington (constitution).
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For I will pass through you,”
Says the Lord.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I despise your Christmas, Halloween and Easter,
And I do not savor your sacred church services.
22 Though you offer Me money,
I will not accept it,
Nor will I regard your charity work.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 “Did you offer Me money and charity work
during the years before the constitution was written?
26 You celebrate your Easter feasts with bunnies and eggs, you celebrate your Christmas with a cut down tree decorated with ornaments and gold, and idols (image of God) in a manger scene
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond the sea,”
Says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.