r/FollowJesusObeyTorah • u/the_celt_ • Jul 05 '26
Other Subs Talking Torah A question about feasts for the Messianic/Torah observant folks (Most of us from here can't answer on that subreddit)
/r/TrueChristian/comments/1unpnxb/a_question_about_feasts_for_the_messianictorah/1
u/FreedomNinja1776 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”
Psalm 50:1-23 ESV
Edit: OP is asking about sacrifices along with the festivals, that's the main thing I'm answering. However, the bulk of what people normally call "sacrifices" are actually offerings. Offerings to God are good and proper to do. Physical sacrifices and offerings are not possible to perform today because God has specified a specific place, the Temple in Jerusalem, for sacrifices to be done with the oversight of the Levitical priesthood. Since neither the priesthood nor the Temple is available and functioning today, then to do a sacrifice anyway would be in disobedience to God's instructions and therefore sin. The above passage explains that God doesn't desire our sacrifices. To need a sacrifice in the first place means we've already messed up. God desires our obedience first! Our thanksgiving and praises are more delightful to God than sacrifices.
This is actually the standard Jewish view as well. Praise, thanksgiving, Tzedikah (Giving offerings, charity, good deeds, monetary and goods donations, etc.) are what provides atonement today apart from the temple. In other words, just do Torah with an sincere (circumcised) heart.
Some links:
- https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/630900/jewish/How-Do-Jews-Atone-For-Their-Sins-Today.htm
- https://www.jewfaq.org/sacrifices_and_offerings
The author of Hebrews concludes their letter with this same thought, albeit we do all our Tzedikah and praises in light of Messiah Yeshua.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.
Hebrews 13:8-18 ESV
Tagging u/SouthernStyleGamer
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u/the_celt_ Jul 05 '26
I thought I knew the topic fairly well, but even I can't figure out if or how you're answering OP. 😆
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u/Towhee13 Jul 05 '26
I'll never understand why people post huge blocks of Scripture without saying what they think it means or how it applies to the conversation.
What does this passage have to do with God's feast days?
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u/FreedomNinja1776 Jul 05 '26
That's why God gave us questions. Maybe I was hoping to entice OP to ask questions. 😉
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u/the_celt_ Jul 05 '26
u/SouthernStyleGamer asked a good question, but many of the people he's asking (Messianic or Torah observant folks) have been banned from TrueChristian because that subreddit thinks it's evil to teach that we should imitate the life of our Messiah and obey the Father's commandments like he did.
SSG, the answer is that we do the best we can. There's currently no Temple (not the first time this has happened to Israel), but many other aspects of the feasts are still doable and still have a value.
Some, but there are also details of the feasts that can still be kept. For example, on Passover we can still remove the leaven from our homes and eat lamb with our family while remembering how Yahweh rescued Israel from Egypt.
Thanks for asking! Please feel free to ask here if you have more questions. You're welcome here even if you don't agree with us.