The Devil’s Calendar

Scott Wilson on a Stealthy Theft of Christian Holy Days

In Exodus, God commands Israel to set aside several holy feast days:

Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. . . . You shall keep the feast of harvest. . . . You shall keep the feast of ingathering. . . . Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God. (Ex. 23:14–17)

Such feasts were for the spiritual good of the people of Israel because they caused them to turn their attention to their Lord and Creator—honoring, worshiping, and making sacrifices to him as covenant expressions of their love and devotion.

Moreover, once a week they were to rest from their labor, in the Lord’s presence:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work. . . . (Ex. 20:8–10)

The observance of the holy days and the Sabbath was an expression of both Israel’s fidelity to God and Israel’s identity as a holy people. In the prophets, Israel is rebuked for failing to keep the Sabbath; the people also failed to keep the Passover regularly, as false gods often enticed them into idolatry.

In the New Testament, Jesus recognized these holy days. On many occasions he went up to Jerusalem for one of the feasts. His observance of them gave sanction to the Church to set aside times for certain “feasts” and other commemorations to recall the significant events in our Lord’s own life which fulfilled the Old Testament Law.

Today, of course, not all churches follow the same calendar, but its main outlines are common to most. These observances have been established for our continued remembrance and participation.

But, one by one, the Church’s holy days have been overshadowed by secularizing forces, by new false gods, if you will. The religious meaning of most of these great commemorations has been lost, especially in the United States, to all but the most observant worshipers.

Advent of Losses

• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!

personal subscriptions

Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

RENEW your print/online
subscription

Purchase
Online Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives including pdf downloads for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

RENEW your online subscription

gift subscriptions

GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!

RENEW your gift subscription

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

kindle subscription

OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)

Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.

more on christianity from the online archives

30.2—March/April 2017

The Cross of Least Resistance

Our Path to Holiness Runs Straight Through Calvary by Robin Phillips

31.1—January/February 2018

Beggars Before Christ

on Taking the Measure of the Deserving & the Undeserving Poor by Martin Bordelon

18.10—December 2005

A Mighty Child

on an Apostle’s Encounter with the Son’s Children by Anthony Esolen