You CAN Afford the Feasts!

We often hear, “But how can I afford to go to the Feast this year?” Yahweh had already anticipated the question and gives the following response.

Yahweh's annual Feast days are one of the greatest bless­ings He bestows on His people. Unless you have kept them in the place where He puts His Name, you can't imagine what a joy they truly are. A veritable Kingdom on earth!

A common question posed by those to whom Yahweh has newly revealed the importance of His annual Feast days is, “How can I afford to attend?” A subsequent question is, “When and where are these Festivals held?”

Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry publishes a calendar each year point­ing out the dates of each of the seven annual Feast days. Our calendar is based upon Yahweh's lunar months. We go by the monthly new moons that Yahweh placed in the sky for this purpose, Isaiah 66:23 and Numbers 28:11. The Feasts are grouped accord­ing to the harvest seasons, beginning with Abib (meaning green ears), which comes in the spring at the time of the barley harvest (Ex. 9:31).

Next begins the harvest of wheat in early summer (Pentecost or Feast of Weeks), followed by the harvest of oil, grapes and garden stuffs in the fall (Tabernacles).

Yahweh's Feasts are prophetic (Col. 2:16-17). He works everything out according to His timetable: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Eccl. 3:1). Yahweh's purpose was es­tablished at creation when He made the lights in the heavens: “And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven. to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons [Hebrew = MOED], and for days, and years” (Gen. 1: 14).

The Hebrew word moed means an “appointed time.” His Feasts are special times that Yahweh has set aside and that He will use to ac­complish His will. The seven annual Feasts are His “moedim” or appointed times when He meets with His people.

Until we recognize that His Feast days are appointments that we keep with Yahweh, we miss important truths revealed to His people. All of the Feasts are listed in Leviticus 23, with special emphasis placed on some.

The fact that these Feast days will be kept in the Kingdom (Ezek. 45:21-25) shows that they are of special im­portance now. We cannot ignore them and still be His people.

Sign and Seal Ignored

The two most ignored commands in the Bible are the sign He has given us and the seal by which we are preserved. The sign is keeping His Sabbaths:

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a SIGN between. me and them, that they might know that I [am] Yahweh that sanctify them.” (Ezek. 20: 12)  “And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a SIGN between. me and you, that you may know that I [am] Yahweh your Elo­­­him” (Ezek. 20:20).

By keeping His Sabbaths Yahweh will sanctify or set His people apart as a sanctified for a holy pur­pose. The Sabbaths are a special time in which we learn to know Him and we draw closer to Him. The world in general irresponsibly ignores these days, believing that they are free from all obligations and responsibili­ties.

The seal is His Name: We are sealed with His Name upon baptism (Rev. 14:1) and already carry His Name for we are known as “His wife” (Rev. 19:7), and have prepared or made our­selves ready. The sealing agent is the Holy Spirit: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of Elohim, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

Financing the Feasts

The seven annual Feasts are not op­tional for the people of Yahweh. They are commanded convocations. They are a part of that sign showing that we are truly His people when we keep them. His Feast days also set us apart, sanctifying us, as they did Israel.

In His command Yahweh was very complete, making provisions for the fi­nancing of our trips to His gatherings without having them become a great burden. After all, His Feasts should be a delight, the highlights of the year.

Just as we are expected to tithe to Yahweh so that His plan of salvation can be proclaimed around the world (Mat. 23:23), He also shows us that we are to set aside funds to keep the Feasts. Notice: “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.  And thou shalt eat before Yahweh your Elohim, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear Yahweh your Elohim always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; [or] if the place be too far from thee, which Yahweh your Elohim shall choose to set his name there, when Yahweh your Elohim hath blessed thee:  Then shalt thou turn [it] into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Yahweh your Elohim shall choose:  And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before Yahweh your Elohim, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,  And the Levite that [is] within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee” (Deut. 14:22-27).

Notice, this second tithe is a special tithe to use for the Feasts. It is to be kept and man­aged by the individual to assure that one has funds to attend the Feasts. It is separate from the tithe to proclaim the evangel to the world, which is holy unto Yahweh and to be used for that purpose.

Instead of setting aside cash as the world does in a “vacation fund” or some “Xmas savings plan,” Yahweh long ago gave us this guide as assurance that we could al­ways attend His Festivals.

Savings accounts and pay­roll savings plans are actually patterned after Yahweh's plan of assuring that His people can attend His Feasts. The majority of Yahweh's people plan their vacations and time off to coincide with the Feast days.

What better way to spend a vacation than to gather with others of like faith and clearly identify with the “sign” Yahweh gives us that we might learn of Him by keep­ing His Sabbaths. Spiritual enrichment for the entire family is a part of His plan that we get to know and share our joy and experiences with the future kings and priests of His coming King­dom!

Making Feast attendance a part of our lives is a maturing experience as we disci­pline ourselves to obey our Father and gather where He has placed His Name.

See YOU at Tabernacles!

The three “Pilgrim Feasts” are: the seven days of Unleavened Bread, Pen­tecost, and the eight days at Taber­nacles. Preparations such as plane res­ervations, transportation, accommoda­tions, and auto repairs should be taken care of early. See our Feast reservation information elsewhere on this site.

Israel was commanded to eat of the tithe of their produce at the Feast. For those traveling a distance, Yahweh says, “Then shalt thou turn [it] into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which Yahweh your Elohim shall choose,” which He does through His ministers (Deut. 14:25).

Consider the words of Moses to Is­rael just before they were to cross over into the Promised Land – just as the faithful will some day come into the Kingdom: “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Yahweh your Elohim in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty” (Deut. 16:16).

Yahweh promises a blessing upon those who obey Him. Don't you want to be blessed? Isn't it time you came out of the world of sin in these last days and prepared for your eternal life in Yahweh? We look forward to seeing YOU with us at the fall Feasts!

by Donald R. Mansager