Appointed Times
Messianic Apologetics editor John McKee reviews Colossians 2:16-17. We are in the middle of the Fall High Holidays, meaning that some well meaning person, sooner or later, is likely to tell a Messianic Believer not to “judge them,” as a result of observing the Leviticus 23 appointed times. What was the original context of Colossians 2:16-17, especially in light of the false teaching and false philosophy, in Colossae, which degraded the completed work of Yeshua?
This is then followed by a review of important stories and issues from the past day or so, largely witnessed on social media.
Must I go to a campground to spend the Feast of Tabernacles with thousands of people for an entire week?
Why does the Jewish community call Yom Teruah “Rosh HaShanah”? I thought the Biblical New Year began in the Spring.
Messianic Apologetics editor John McKee reviews Galatians 4:8-11. Did the Apostle Paul forthrightly condemn the Galatians for observing the seventh-day Sabbath and appointed times? Or, are there some ancient background issues which need to be taken into consideration, when properly reviewing the Galatian error?
This is then followed by a review of important stories and issues from the past day or so, largely witnessed on social media.
A majority of you who commemorate the Biblical and Jewish holidays experience precisely this: a sense of spiritual fulfillment and unity when they appear in the annual cycle. Yet, it would be entirely inappropriate to introduce you to the appointed times, without also letting you know that these can be periods of division and discord within the Messianic community. Many of you already know this to be the case, if for any other reason because you have volunteered at your local Messianic congregation or fellowship to help, in some capacity, during the Fall high holidays or with the congregational Passover seder. You probably got a quick lesson in how it is one thing to remember the Biblical and Jewish holidays within the privacy of your own home; it is another thing to remember the Biblical and Jewish holidays in a much larger venue of people who have opinions about the “right way” things are to be done.
Do you think that Christians should observe the feasts/appointed times, the moedim, of Leviticus 23?
The holidays which we find in the Holy Scriptures give us a great opportunity as Believers to commemorate Biblical history and the work of our Messiah.
Do the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) truly direct God’s people not to celebrate the Biblical holidays? Are the Biblical holidays no longer of any value to us as Believers? What might a closer reading of the Biblical text reveal?
John McKee delivers the February 2025 Outreach Israel News update.
