Why The Biblical Holidays are for All Believers

"The Bible holidays are just for the Jews."

"God only gave those instructions to Jews."

"Oh so you're Jewish now?" 

Maybe phrases like these have kept you from celebrating the Biblical holidays. Many Bible believers have been lead to think that because they are not Jewish then certain commandments and celebrations don't apply to them. But this is not something that Scripture teaches! In this post we are going to talk about why the Biblical holidays are pertinent to all believers, regardless of their bloodline.

When the bulk of the instructions about the Creator's set apart times were given, it was leading up to and following the Israelites being freed from slavery and leaving Egypt. At that point, all twelve tribes were united under the name of Israel. All the tribes were present in Egypt, and then the wilderness. Therefore, the instructions were given to all the tribes. Not just the people of Judah.

Let's not miss that that there were people among them who were not natural born Israelites. Exodus 12:38 tells us that a "mixed multitude" went with them. This verse is smack in the middle of the details of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The instructions about the Biblical holidays (and other things) apply to anyone in YHWH's family.

"The same law applies to the native-born and to the foreigner among you." -Exodus 12:49

This passage of Scripture expressly tells us that Biblical law and YHWH's set apart times are applicable, even if we aren't 'native-born.' It's profound that the Bible makes this statement. Whether or not you think or can prove that Abraham and Sarah are your great-great-great-whatever grandparents, you are still expected to keep the Biblical feasts!

We should also be aware that the words Jew, Jewish, and Judaism really don't appear in the Old Testament, and certainly not in the first five books of Scripture where the instructions for the Biblical holidays are given. This is added clarity that YHWH did not intend for his feasts to be limited to this people group.

I would also expect that a great many of us who don't realize it actually have physical ties to the ancient Israelites. YHWH promised Abraham and Sarah that in their children "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18), and the House of Israel was scattered among the nations. Because of this it seems likely that people from around the world have stemmed from the Israelites. Since most of us can't trace our family lineage back for more than a few hundred years, we won't know with certainty until the Creator makes that clear.

I think many people hear of the Biblical holidays and connect them with Judaism, simply because in recent history they have mostly been kept by Jewish people. It is very admirable that many Jews have kept these times set apart. But they do not have a monopoly on Scripture, and they are not the only people YHWH instructed to celebrate the feasts. Whether or not you are Jewish, if you follow and serve YHWH then you are called to meet with him at his set apart times and celebrate the Biblical holidays.

More on this topic:
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
Reasons Why Believers Should Keep the Feasts
Why I Started Celebrating the Biblical Holidays

What C.S. Lewis Was Wrong About

I want to preface this by saying that I have tremendous respect for the writings of C.S. Lewis. He is an excellent teacher of faith. He explains complex truths simply, and I pray that my own generation will produce works that help children understand the truth of the Gospel the way that The Chronicles of Narnia have done. That said, his teachings are not flawless, and I want to address one particular thing today.

Are you familiar with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? It is the most well-known and probably most beloved book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. The premise is that the Pevensie siblings enter a land called Narnia through a wardrobe, where they discover that this wonderful place is under a curse where it is "always winter and never Christmas." There is an act of betrayal when one of the siblings aligns with the witch who has cursed this place, and Aslan - the Lion who created Narnia - must die in order to redeem the people and animals from the curse. Even if you're not familiar with this book, I'm sure just from this you can see the parallels to the story of the Messiah's redemption of Israel.

I grew up in a Christian home and I loved celebrating Christmas, so "always winter and never Christmas" did indeed seem like a curse to me. However, there was one thing that never quite made sense to me about this story. When the spell begins to break it is signified by the winter thawing, and Aslan (the savior of Narnia) is said to be on the move. The weather turns to spring and Father Christmas arrives and then the spring flowers are coming up. I always found that disconcerting because who associates Christmas with spring weather? In fact, that kind of weather would have been a disappointment to myself, siblings, cousins, and peers growing up. So why did he tell the story like this?

I can see the logical sense of it. Springtime exemplifies like no other season the Creator making all things new. There is tangible joy when the earth thaws and flowers and food crops make their first appearances. Lewis's transition from the land being stuck in the darkness of Winter finally into the warmth of Spring is a superb analogy of what accepting the Messiah is like. We know this is the parallel Lewis intended because once it is Spring Aslan willingly allows the witch to kill him because of humanity's betrayal.

Lewis painted this analogy beautifully and was correct about this in every way except one: he was wrong about the holiday.

Christmas doesn't happen in the springtime, but there is a holiday that does. Unlike Christmas, it wasn't a creation of man, but an ancient set apart time made by the Creator himself.

The holiday that happens in the spring when the winter freeze has been lifted is Passover. Passover is first described in the book of Exodus when the Living God freed his people from slavery. It is perhaps better known as the day the Messiah was killed for the sins of mankind. At the end of winter we celebrate this set apart time, remembering the Savior who was killed to redeem the curse against us and those who aligned themselves with the witch of our world. Like Yahusha, Aslan was resurrected from the dead and returned to help his people destroy the works of the enemy. We would indeed be under a curse if there was no Passover sacrifice of the Messiah.

I believe that C.S. Lewis used the example of Christmas because it was all he knew at the time. Now that we know better we are called to remember and celebrate the amazing significance of the death and resurrection of the Messiah when he was killed and resurrected - on the Biblical holidays of Passover and First Fruits. These are not just for those with Jewish ancestry - they are for all of us who would align ourselves with the Savior. These holy days are placed in Scripture for a reason, and we can rejoice that we are made able by the blood of the Messiah to truly rejoice in what he did for us at these times.

Related posts:
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
Five Reasons Believers Should Keep Passover
Why I Stopped Celebrating Christmas
Preparing for Passover
Why I Started Celebrating the Biblical Holidays

How to Host a Passover Seder (for Believers in Messiah)

How to host Seder: let's talk about it! Passover is a very significant holiday to believers and it's important to take the time to honor and remember this day. Hosting a Seder (which means 'Passover meal') does not have to be overwhelming. If you're a person of faith and can host a dinner party then you can do Seder!

Maybe you are familiar with traditional Seders that are about five hours long, and have so many steps and procedures that participants literally need a fifty page book to keep up. There is a special Seder plate, a certain order that you eat in, some unusual ingredients, and four cups of wine. Those things are traditions. Your Passover celebration does not have to be like that. The instructions from Scripture are much more simple. We are told to do this in remembrance of the Messiah and the Exodus story on the 14th of the Biblical month Aviv (see how that corresponds to this year's calendar here), to get the leaven out of our homes, and to eat unleavened bread and herbs, and take communion.

That's really about it. Obviously, there are many different approaches you could take and I love that there is flexibility in keeping this commandment, so plan your evening in a way that makes sense and is doable to you.

A Passover Seder honoring the Messiah could look something like this:

-Starting things off with a prayer.

-Telling the story of YHWH bringing the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

-Remembering and sharing the ways YHWH has set us free and provided for us in our lives, specifically over the last year.

-Eating the meal.

-Telling the story of the last supper and the death of the Messiah.

-Having communion.

-Reciting a Psalm of praise.

-Prayer and giving thanks for the Messiah dying for our sins.

These Scriptures would be appropriate to read during your Seder.

If you're interested in some of the traditional elements of Seder, I'm going to give a general overview of what those are and how they tie into the story of our redemption. You can use all of these if you like, just a few, or none at all. Many of these serve as excellent analogies for the Passover story and the redemptive work of Messiah in our lives, but please remember that these are just traditions, and are not required by YHWH. While these elements can be meaningful and fun, these are not commandments so it would be wrong to say that they are or to value these things higher than actual instructions from Scripture. 

This is a simplification. This is not meant to be an official, rabbi-ordained Jewish Seder, and honestly if you are a follower of Messiah then your Passover should look different as you remember and honor his sacrifice for our sins.

Traditional Seder elements include:

Sanctification.
This is a blessing said that would be something like, "Blessed are you YHWH our Elohim, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commands, and commanded us to keep Passover." The idea of praying and blessing the name of YHWH is a great one, and appropriate for Passover, but be sure and watch the phrasing of some of these traditional blessings as they often claim that YHWH has commanded us to do something when he hasn't. We shouldn't add to his word!

First cup of wine. The Cup of Sanctification or "I will bring you out."
The feast of wine is a lovely tradition of Hebrew and Jewish marriages. When a suitor proposes marriage he takes a cup of wine, has a sip, and says something like, "This cup represents everything I am, everything I have, and everything I will be," and then offers it to the woman he is pursuing. By taking the cup and drinking it she is saying, "I accept everything that you are, and offer you everything that I am and will be." I can't help of thinking of this betrothal ceremony for the glasses of wine at Passover, when he offered himself for us.
This cup of wine is a great time to talk about the promises of YHWH, both for the Israelites to be brought out from slavery and for ourselves to be brought out from the slavery to this world and culture.

Hand or foot washing. Urechatz in Hebrew.
Ritual hand washing is from Judaism, and not Scripture. (We see the Messiah addressing this very issue in Mark 7.) However, one of the things Yahusha did at the last supper was to wash the feet of his followers. Believers could certainly do this at a Passover meal, though the logistics of such could be tricky.

Parsley and salt water. Karpas in Hebrew. 
Each person takes a piece of parsley and dips it into a dish of salt water before eating. The parsley reminds us of life (it is one of the first edibles to come up in the springtime), and the salt water represents the tears that the Israelites shed in Egypt. 

Breaking of matzah. Yachatz in Hebrew.
Unleavened bread is eaten during Passover to remind us that circumstances changed so quickly for the Israelites when they were enslaved in Egypt that they didn't have time to let their bread rise before they left. We eat to remember their deliverance from slavery.

Something cool in this tradition is that a piece of matzah is broken. Those of us who are believers in the Messiah recall him breaking bread in the last supper and saying, "this is my body, broken for you." The symbolism of his being killed is obvious here. An adult wraps the broken piece in a napkin (like for burial), and hides it for the children to find later.

Seder plate. 
This traditionally consists of: roasted lamb bone, bitter herbs, a vegetable, and charoset. I enjoy the symbolism of these foods and think of it as the Gospel in edible form. Pass the Seder plate (this can be a regular plate, you don't need to have anything special) around so that everyone can see it, while the leader explains the significance of each item.

Telling the Passover story!
There are many different ways to do this - have kids act out a play, read the whole story from the Bible, or tell a simplified version. This is also a good chance to talk about our own testimonies and the work of YHWH in our own lives as a group.

When you get to the part about the plagues against Egypt, you can give children related toys or have everyone throw something to represent the plagues.

Second cup of wine. The Cup of Deliverance or "I will deliver you."
At this point in the Exodus story, the Israelites have been brought out of Egypt but still need deliverance to escape their former captors and get across the Red Sea. Maybe you can relate to this waiting time in your own life. This is a time to remind ourselves and to celebrate that YHWH is faithful to complete his good works.

Bitter herbs. Maror in Hebrew.
Horseradish is used to remind us of the bitterness of the slavery the Israelites were under in Egypt, as well as the bitterness of life without Messiah. You eat this with matzah. Be forewarned that horseradish can be quite hot!

Charoset. Korech.
This is a smashed apple mixture usually containing honey, nuts, and a splash of wine. The texture reminds us of mortar, and therefore the heavy burden the Israelites had making and laying bricks in Egypt.

Dinner. (Blessing after the meal.)
Now it's time to enjoy a wonderful meal! I'll have menu ideas and tips below. The reason the blessing is said after the meal comes from Deuteronomy 8:10 which says after you have eaten you should praise YHWH.

Third cup of wine. Covenant or "I will redeem you."
There is no better time to talk about the Messiah who was killed on Passover for our redemption. Feel free to tell the story of the Last Supper and his death. Again this can be done by reading it straight from Scripture, telling and abridged version, or creatively.

Dessert.
You can find great desserts for Passover here. Before or after dessert, send the children to look for the 'afikoman' (which means dessert), the piece of matzah that was broken and hidden earlier. This is a good break for them from a lot of sitting. Reward the winner with a small prize.

Fourth cup of wine. Promise or "I will take you."
This cup represents the promises to come for us and for YHWH's people as a whole.

Hallel Psalms.
Hallel means praise, so any Psalm that praise YHWH works here. Traditionally Psalms 113-118 are used.

(The foods for all these steps are wine and/or grape juice, matzah, parsley, salt water, horseradish, and charoset.)

Again, these are all traditions and you can do with them what you will. Pray about your plans and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

What do I consider the essentials of a great Seder that honors the Messiah?

Elements for a great Passover Seder:

-Talk about or read the Exodus story. 

-Talk about the Last Supper and the Messiah's death.

-Have matzah and wine/grape juice. (Remember that when Yahusha took the wine and the bread and said to do this in remembrance of him he was seated at the Passover table! This is the appropriate time for communion.)

-Share something that YHWH has done in your life.

-Eat a festive meal.

-Join with with those also in covenant with the Messiah.

-Prayer and thanksgiving.

What do you eat at a Passover Seder?

That's really up to you! Other than not serving anything with leaven or unclean animals, the menu is your choice. My recommendation would be to include the foods found in Scripture related to Passover:

-Lamb. Not as a sacrifice, but as a practical way to make tangible the story of the Israelites sacrificing lambs in Egypt, and how they were spared because of their diligence to follow YHWH's instruction. Scripture specifies that the lamb they ate was roasted, so I would either cook it on the grill or roast it in the oven.

-Unleavened bread. This is a significant part of the Passover story of the Israelites in Egypt, and of the Messiah's last supper. This can be store bought or homemade.

-Bitter herbs. Scripture doesn't specify an exact plant here, but indicates the early lettuces and herbs of springtime. Lettuces or chicory work well. So do herbs like parsley or cilantro. Serve a simple salad of lettuces or make a chimichurri (herb sauce) out of parsley.

-Grape juice or wine. While this isn't expressly found in the Exodus story, it is such a central part of the Messiah's last supper that I think it should definitely be included with Passover.

These ingredients can then be served in any way from a Middle Eastern inspired meal with roasted lamb, hummus, and tabbouli to meat-and-potatoes grilled lamb with roasted potatoes. Or how about making soft unleavened bread to be used as tortillas and having Passover lamb tacos? Of course you can add in whatever side dishes, veggies, salads, and soups too that you would like. (Just keep it leaven free.)

Tips to simplify the Passover meal:

-Don't do it all yourself. Have a potluck and ask guests to bring a dish so that you don't have to cook everything. You could ask them to prepare a specific recipe or let them come up with something on their own. If you want or need to prepare the entire meal, come up with a doable menu that you can accomplish in a reasonable about of time. Recipes that can be made ahead are your friend here!

-Make the 'food rules' clear. If you're hosting the Seder, then you get to set the rules. If you're only comfortable with certified kosher meats, make that clear. If you don't want dairy served alongside meat, let your guests know. Do you want organic ingredients? Are you avoiding common allergens? Make sure everyone is on the same page, so a guest doesn't show up with bacon in a salad! (True story.)

-Pick dishes that hold well in a warm oven. Or in a slow cooker or roaster on low. Or salads and dips and whatever else that can be served cold or at room temperature. Seder can take a while and it's hard to time everything exactly right. Serving dishes that are more forgiving and not timing critical can alleviate a lot of headache.

-Make extra! At my congregation's potluck the rule is that you bring a lot of whatever food you're providing so everyone can go home with leftovers. Since the very next day after Passover is the no-work day of day one of Unleavened Bread, cooking should be avoided then, so how perfect to go home with food for the next day! Ask guests to bring containers and have a good supply of bags on hand.

-Round out your meal with easy foods. You don't have to do this, but if you're the type that worries there's not enough variety or that you'll run out - then add some easy foods to the menu. Fresh veggies, extra unleavened bread, green salad, olives, hummus, and fruit are great ways to round out the menu.

Recipes and menus for Passover:

This is my Seder plate inspired Passover menu.

See a past menu my congregation did here.

Want to make your own unleavened bread? Here is my recipe for Einkorn Matzah.

Here are recipes that are free of leaven that would work great as part of a Seder.

Other tips for a great Passover Seder:

-Divvy up the work. You don't have to do it all! Ask guests to bring a dish, read passages from Scripture, refill wine glasses or whatever else you could use help with. Feel free to ask for a hand ahead of time.

-Make it kid friendly. There is beauty in simplicity, and if we're making things so complicated that the kids can't follow along, then chances are good that we are missing out on some great parts of this special day. Make this time approachable. After all, Scripture says we should have child-like faith. See this post about helping kids get the most from Passover here.

-Invite those who are in covenant with the Messiah. Passover is a sacred event and I don't think it should be treated like a show-and-tell to those who aren't believers. It's also not the time to try and convert anyone to your way of doing things. That can be stressful and distracting from the true purpose of the event. Invite those who have sincere relations with the Messiah and who genuinely want to honor him by keeping Passover.

-Give guests an idea of what to expect. Give them an idea of a time frame if you're planning on a lengthier meal. If you're planning to invite your guests to share what YHWH has done in their lives, let them know ahead of time so they can prepare for it. If you don't want anyone snacking during the Exodus story make that clear ahead of time. Communication is a good way to avoid confusion and frustration.

-Do what you can ahead of time. Don't try and squeeze in the cooking, cleaning, decoration, and spiritual preparation all into one day. Set time aside in the days, or even weeks, leading to Passover to prepare what you can ahead of time.

-Make the atmosphere lovely and memorable. Ask guests to dress up, and make the tables festive with a centerpiece or flowers. If you have a menorah, there's no better time to use it! 

-Make it doable for you. There's nothing wrong with skipping the traditions or using paper plates if that simplifies your life! The most important thing here is that you're remembering this set apart time from Scripture.

-Do it in remembrance of the Messiah. The menu, the traditions, the decor all take a backseat to, as Paul said, "the priceless gain of knowing the Messiah Yahusha." Let your Seder be done in his honor. While the other parts of Passover are nice, don't let them become the focus over the Messiah.

I hope this amount of information is helpful and not overwhelming. If you're feeling like this might be too much to pull off, then pause and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. You can do this! Stick to the basics, and don't let a fear of things not being done 'perfectly' stop you from enjoying this significant time with the Creator. There is tremendous blessing when we make an effort to celebrate his set apart times!

More Passover things:
The Beginner's Guide to Passover
Unleavened Desserts for Passover
Meal Ideas for the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Passover Gifts for Kids

Passover is coming up! Are the kids in your life equipped to celebrate? While I definitely don't think gifts are mandatory for a joyous Passover or Unleavened Bread celebration, they can be a great way to generate excitement and to make this time special for the little ones (and adults) in your life! Having certain books or games to get out at Passover each year can build the excitement and these things can also help your children to focus on the set apart time at hand.

Let My People Go Game from Modern Tribe

Passover Old Maid/Memory Game from MomsandCrafters

Betrayal of the King Book from Bible Pathway Adventures

Risen King Book from Bible Pathway Adventures

Happy Passover Shirt from GreenTurtleTShirts

10 Plagues Nail Decals from Midrash Manicures

Last Supper Block Kit - I'm not seeing this for sale anymore, but maybe you could buy Legos and challenge your kids to make something like this!

Matzah Passover Leggings from GiftsNShtick

Prince of Egypt Book (or movie)

Passover and Unleavened Bread Activity Book from Bible Pathway Adventures

Go Feast Card Game from Rebekah Co

Can of Plagues from Modern Tribe

Seder Slides Game from Modern Tribe

Related posts:
Beautiful Things for Passover
Kids Crafts for Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits

Helping Kids Get the Most from Passover Seder

Why I Started Celebrating the Biblical Feasts

Why do I celebrate the Biblical holidays?

This was a slower process than the decision to honor the Sabbath day. Growing up, my mom had the wisdom to recognize the many problems with Easter being celebrated in the Christian church, so we turned to celebrating Passover in my early teens. It seems obvious in hindsight but it took us several years before we figured out we should keep the rest of the Biblical holidays as well. So what led to the change?

For me that spark came when I started seriously reading and studying Scripture. While I have consistently read my Bible since I was a preteen, I wasn't studying or being taught all of it. If you cherry-pick the popular Christian passages of Scripture, you are going to miss a lot.* Realizing that all Scripture is breathed by YHWH and intended to instruct us (1 Timothy 3:16), I knew I needed to study the whole book to see its instructions for me. Upon reading the Bible in a year I could see that not only are these holidays mentioned, but that their thread can be seen from Genesis through Revelation. (My personal learning and conviction was compounded by my small congregation that was also studying this - surround yourself with those seeking truth and working to be obedient to the word and your life will change.) And when I saw that the thought of celebrating YHWH's set apart times was exciting! To enumerate a few reasons...

I wanted to start celebrating the Biblical feasts because:

-Scripture commands us to. Once I checked out Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16, and the many other verses on the feasts this was loud and clear! "This is a festival to YHWH throughout all your generations." (Exodus 12:14) I mean, really no reason beyond this is needed, right? Scripture says throw a party, so that is just cause to celebrate. If the word says to do something then it is in our best interest to do that. You don't have to be a scholar to realize that following Scripture's instructions is the wise choice to make.

-Paul exhorts believers (even non Jewish ones) to keep these feasts. Many people have told met that the Biblical holidays are strictly an Old Testament thing and not needed after the Messiah came. Apostle Paul didn't think so and expressly told believers to keep the feasts (1 Corinthians 5:8). Both the Old and New Testaments tell us to do this. Think you're not invited because you don't come from the right gene pool? Nope, this instruction is for everyone. When Paul wrote this, he was actually addressing a Greek group of believers from Corinth. His target audience wasn't Jewish people or those living in Israel, and you don't have to meet those descriptions to celebrate.

-The Messiah and his disciples kept the set apart times. Remember those WWJD bracelets? Well one of the answers to that question is, "He would keep the feasts!" We see him doing this at the last supper for Passover, traveling to Jerusalem for a feast as a boy, and in John 7 at Sukkot. The cycle of the seven set apart times would have been foundational to his life, marking the seasons and the calendar. Just as we know that fall means back-to-school, leaves changing colors, and pumpkins and apples, he would have associated fall with getting ready for the fall feasts. I love how this gives us such an idea of what his days were like...picture him putting together a sukkah before the Feast of Tabernacles or counting the omer in the spring time, and making plans to celebrate the feasts.

-There is both historic and prophetic significance to each of these times. The Biblical holidays are action packed to say the least, from the Israelite exodus from slavery to the resurrection of the Messiah; the giving of the Torah to baptism in the Holy Spirit at Shavuot. Each set apart time is so rich because it symbolizes not only what YHWH wants us to remember regarding the past, but what is to come at those times in the future. Did you know when Yahusha said that no one knew the day or the hour of his return he used an idiom for the Feast of Trumpets? We can learn so much from the feasts.

-Wanting to honor YHWH. We host birthday celebrations and engagement parties, and award ceremonies because we want to honor people. What about a few days to honor the Creator? While we can do that through other means as well, we shouldn't neglect that he asked us to observe these times.

-Conviction. I've had no problem celebrating cultural holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, workplace/career milestones, high school homecoming, the Ohio State versus Michigan football game, and even completely made up days like 'National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day'...is it too much to ask to give YHWH's days a little attention? In fact, I'd willingly jumped into all of those other days because they sounded fun and (mostly) they held some significance. What am I saying when I reject the feasts of YHWH because I don't think they have meaning or could be celebrated with joy?

-Sincerely wanting to be a doer of the word. I don't know about you, but for me there came a time when I just got sick of letting myself off the hook with excuse after excuse for why we don't actually need to keep Scripture's instructions. Life is too short to live in half-hearted compromise. And if abundant life comes through the Messiah, shouldn't I align myself with his lifestyle and value system, at least to the best of my ability? YHWH deserves more than just my verbal praise, he desires that we show our faith by our actions. Celebrating a few times a year is a doable and joy filled way to do that.

I am so thankful to be able to honor and celebrate YHWH's set apart times. It is a great joy to have the seasons of my life revolve around Scripture. I wish I could adequately tell you how celebrating the feasts has enriched my faith and understanding of Scripture, but it has been so much more than I ever imagined. 2 Peter 3:18 tells us that we are to continually grow in the favor and knowledge of the Messiah, if you're feeling like you've been stuck or stagnant, keeping the feasts is an amazing opportunity to grow! All are invited.


*That really bad habit of skipping over large portions of Scripture leaves believers in the dark on many topics, and most live in complete ignorance that there are times of year that are set apart by the Creator for specific celebrations. This is compounded by bad translations (like Shavuot's misnomer Pentecost, or heaven forbid, calling Passover "Easter," or how a mention of it being "already after Yom Kippur" in Acts gets changed to "we had lost a lot of time"). If you have a poor translation of Scripture that you don't read all of or study, you are going to miss important blocks of Scripture, including these ancient festivals we are commanded to keep.

More on the Biblical Holidays:
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays

The Feast of Tabernacles: What it Means and Why You Should Celebrate

Fresh Perspective on the Biblical Feasts

What are the Differences Between Passover and Easter?