Every so often, a Bible-believing follower of Yeshua who begins observing the biblical feast days will hear an accusation like this:
“You’re appropriating Jewish culture!”
I myself have had this said to me a time or two over the years. But I will say that I have more often had Jewish people tell me how much that they loved to see Christians honoring them and keeping them. They saw it as their culture being celebrated!
But let’s take a few minutes to address the uncomfortable “appropriation” accusation.
At first glance, that may sound plausible. After all, Passover, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the other appointed times are strongly associated today with Judaism and Jewish identity.
But there is an important question we need to ask:
Who actually established these days?
The answer, surprisingly to most, is not the Jewish people.
God did.
And the bible does not call them “the feasts of the Jews.” God calls them His appointed times.
“Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.”
— Leviticus 23:2
That distinction really matters.
If these holy days were cultural customs developed by a particular group of people, then Christians adopting them without regard for their meaning could certainly be controversial.
But the biblical feast days did not originate as cultural traditions.
They originated as commands and appointments given by God Himself.
The Appointed Times of Adonai
Leviticus 23 lays out the biblical calendar beginning with the Sabbath of Creation and continuing through Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.
Over and over again, the language is centered on Him.
They are His appointed times, it is His calendar, His instructions.
These appointed times (holy days) weren’t created or invented by Israel. God Himself established them.
And while He established them for Israel, He also included non-Israelites in His instructions!
“You are to apply the same standard of judgment to the foreigner as to the citizen, because I am ADONAI your God.”
—Leviticus 24:22
“The same teaching is to apply equally to the citizen and to the foreigner living among you.”
—Exodus 12:49
“The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.’ ””
—Numbers 15:15–16
“Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.”
—Deuteronomy 31:12
“And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
—Isaiah 56:6-7
“‘A foreigner residing among you is also to celebrate the LORD’s Passover in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for both the foreigner and the native-born.’ ”
—Numbers 9:14
Over and over again, the Father said that both the Israelites and the non-Israelites who wanted to serve the One True God were to do it the very same way.
God does not tell these foreigners to “stay away.” Instead, He welcomes those who join themselves to Him.
God’s desire has always included people from the nations coming to Him.
So that means that a believer who reads the Bible and wishes to honor the appointed times is not attempting to steal someone else’s culture.
They are trying to be obedient.
Followers of Yeshua Are Not Outside the Story of Israel
A lot of the confusion about the Feasts, comes from the modern idea that the Bible is divided into two completely separate religious systems.
Judaism belongs to Jewish people.
Christianity belongs to Gentiles.
But Scripture paints a very different picture altogether.
Paul explains in Romans 11 that believing Gentiles are grafted into Israel’s same olive tree.
“Now if the hallah offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you – a wild olive – were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree”
— Romans 11:16-17
Notice that the new Gentile believers were not given a completely separate tree. They are grafted into the existing one. Same roots, same foundation, same nourishment.
“…remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you.”
— Romans 11:18b
This does not mean Gentile believers become ethnically Jewish or are pretending to have Jewish ancestry. It also doesn’t mean adopting every tradition of modern Judaism.
But it does mean that followers of Yeshua have been brought into the covenant story of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Paul says something similar to that in Ephesians:
“You used to be dead because of your sins and acts of disobedience…Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth – called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised – at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God. But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood.”
— Ephesians 2:1, 11-13
We were far away, but now we have been brought near.
The Feasts Point Directly to Yeshua
There is another reason Christians should not dismiss the biblical feasts as cultural practices that don’t apply to them.
They are all about Yeshua.
The biblical feast calendar tells the story of redemption. As you study all of the biblical feasts, God’s appointed times, you will not be able to miss the prophetic picture that each and every one paints.
Yeshua Himself Observed the Biblical Feasts
Yeshua did not treat the appointed times as obsolete. He never ended them. He participated in them.
The Gospels record Him keeping Passover. (Luke 22:1, Luke 22:8.)
The book of John records Yeshua attending Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. (John 7:10)
The life and ministry of Yeshua took place within the biblical calendar.
Understanding those appointed times helps us better understand Him.
The Apostles Continued to Keep and Speak in the Language of the Feasts
The biblical feasts did not suddenly disappear from the lives of believers after the resurrection.
Acts mentions the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Shavuot (Pentecost.)
Paul speaks about Passover and Unleavened Bread when writing to believers in Corinth, which included “Gentile” believers. (1 Corinthians 5:8)
Paul’s does not say, “That celebration belongs to us Jews so you Gentiles stay away from it.”
Instead, he uses Passover and Unleavened Bread to teach them about following Yeshua and living faithfully before God.
Biblical Observance vs. Pretending to Be Jewish
A follower of Yeshua can keep the biblical feasts without “pretending to be Jewish.”
There’s a big difference between biblical commands and later cultural traditions.
Some traditions surrounding the biblical feasts developed over centuries within Jewish communities. And while many of those traditions can be beautiful, meaningful, and historically interesting, they are not always the same thing as the biblical command itself.
A Torah-observant Christian can respectfully distinguish between what God commands in the Bible and what tradition later developed.
Learning about Jewish history and tradition can certainly deepen our understanding, but our reason for observing God’s appointed times should ultimately be serving Him and following His instructions (Torah.)
We Should Still Walk With Humility and Respect
Rejecting the accusation of so-called “cultural appropriation” does not mean we should be in any way disrespectful toward the Jewish people.
Followers of Yeshua should acknowledge the tremendous role the Jewish people have played in preserving the bible through centuries of persecution.
Again, Paul reminds believers:
“Do not boast as if you were better than the branches!”
— Romans 11:18
Torah observance should never produce pride or make someone feel spiritually superior to others – Jew or Christian. And it should certainly never lead Christians to disrespect the Jewish people.
We can honor the Jewish people while still recognizing that God’s commandments belong to Him.
This Is About Obedience, Not Identity Theft
When a follower of Yeshua begins observing the biblical Sabbath or learning about the biblical feasts, she is simply reading the bible and asking a very reasonable question:
“If God established these days, why wouldn’t I want to learn about them?“
That is exactly how many Torah-observant believers begin. Again, simply because they were reading their Bibles.
They saw God’s holy days, Yeshua and the apostles observing them, and they asked, “Why don’t we do that too?”
One Day We Will ALL Do It
Some day there will be no more division. We will all be keeping God’s times. Zechariah describes a future time when the nations will all worship the King.
“Finally, everyone remaining from all the nations that came to attack Yerushalayim will go up every year to worship the king, ADONAI-Tzva’ot, and to keep the festival of Sukkot.”
— Zechariah 14:16
Did you notice who is celebrating? The nations – people from outside Israel.
Final Reflections
The biblical feast days are deeply connected with the history of Israel and the Jewish people and that should be respected, but ultimately they belong to God Himself.
For followers of Yeshua, learning to observe those days is not about stealing someone else’s identity but rather it is about recognizing our place in the biblical story.
We have been grafted in and brought near. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and we follow Israel’s Messiah.
Observing the biblical feasts are beautiful, meaningful and belong to our God.
The one and only God of the bible.
