5. Messianic Concept of Feast Restoration

What applies to the fulfillment of the Torah naturally applies to any prophecy-based understandings of millennial feast restorations. Messianics advocate for the present and future reconstruction of the Mosaic feasts based on prophecies that predict certain feasts to be held in the Millennial Age.

But like the meaning of Jeremiah’s Torah, all Millennial Age feasts must have a regenerative fulfillment in a glorified setting. This can be the only legitimate meaning of the prophets because the New Covenant apostles specifically teach that Mosaic feasts are shadows without force, not to be observed under any compulsion (Gal. 4:9-10; Col. 2:16-17). And the prophets must be interpreted in light of the apostles.

The same way he identifies Christ as the Torah “written on the heart,” so Paul twice says of the feasts that Christ Himself is their fulfillment. First is in Colossians just cited:

2:16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to—a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Regarding the Passover itself, Paul also tells the Corinthians, “—Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (I Cor. 5:7-8)

In characteristic circumvention of Paul’s spiritual context, Messianics isolate the words “therefore let us celebrate the feast” to prove we are to keep the Mosaic Passover and justify the idea God is restoring it today. But Paul’s definition of terms refutes this.

Not only does he refer to Christ Himself as the Passover, but the leaven and bread Paul describes are spiritual. The bread is the bread of Christ’s truth (“sincerity”). Thus the “feast” Paul exhorts to celebrate is the feasting on Christ—the Lamb of God and the bread of truth in the Spirit—even as Yeshua says of Himself, “I AM the bread of life;” and, at the Last Supper, “This is my body.”

Paul’s words have absolutely nothing to do with the physical Passover, nor could they, seeing he had already told the Galatians not to become involved in observing days. Moreover, had he been teaching on the literal Mosaic Passover, Paul would first have had to preach circumcision to the Corinthians since it was a requirement for celebrating the Passover (Ex. 12:48). How utterly untenable in light of his views on circumcision!

- Interpreting the Restored Passover to Come

The connection of Paul’s regenerative interpretation of the Passover bread to the Last Supper is especially germane in light of Yeshua’s word to the disciples on that night:

“I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.” (Mt. 26:29).

At the Last supper, Yeshua predicts a “new” Passover celebration to come, one that will not be enjoined until His manifest kingdom is established with His disciples present. What then are we to understand about this restored Passover?

First, Yeshua’s word makes clear the Lord is not yet “restoring” any feasts today as Messianics contend is now happening. The Passover won’t be restored until Christ is here to celebrate it with His apostles. And if so with Passover (the premier feast), how much more with the others?

What is happening today is Messianic Judaism is re-enacting the feasts from the Mosaic order in context of the unbelieving State of Israel, believing this to be their “restoration.” But the re-enacting of something is not the same as its restoration under divine mandate, order and power. Such re-enactments conducted without regard to apostolic teaching are conducted in unbelief, and Yeshua has no regard for them.

·        The “New” Passover 

Nevertheless, Yeshua has said there will be a restored Passover of which He will literally “eat” and “drink” with His apostles in glory. Does Yeshua’s prediction here mandate a reconstructive restoration of the Mosaic Passover as Messianics claim? Or can we reconcile this regeneratively with apostolic teaching where reconstructionist belief cannot?

The idea that Yeshua will again literally eat the Passover introduces us to the problem of restored animal sacrifices. We will specifically hold discussion of this issue for points 6 and 7 below. Here, I will only say that Yeshua’s own description of the feast shows that it is to be a regenerated feast of an entirely different order, not a reconstructed feast based in the sacrifices of Exodus.

·        The Circumcision Prohibition 

Even without Revelation’s description of the next Passover event, the Mosaic Passover’s requirement of circumcision alone tells us that the Millennial Age Passover cannot be the Mosaic Passover:

Ex. 12:48 "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

The circumcision requirement creates insurmountable problems with the idea of a millennially reconstructed Mosaic Passover. First, in the glorified realm of immortal transnationality—where there is no male or female—circumcision has no meaning or relevance. Yet Yeshua and his disciples together with those in His kingdom will most certainly eat of this Passover as glorified ones without reference to circumcision.

Secondly, a millennial return to the Mosaic Passover would mean either it could only be for Jews, or that the entire world must become circumcised! If the millennial Passover is only for Jews, then it is entirely out of sync with other prophecies requiring all the world to keep the Lord’s feasts, would be of no value to the rest of the world, and would perpetuate a divided “feast” system (Are the uncircumcised believers supposed to only keep the Lord’s Supper then?)

But if the millennial Mosaic Passover is for the entire world, thus mandating the circumcision of the entire world…?—well, we simply have a ludicrous suggestion in the face of New Covenant teaching against mandatory circumcision. Only Messianic Pharisees can lobby for this position as they did at the Jerusalem Council, and their position has already been condemned.

The only alternative to all the above then is to create “millennial exceptions” to the Mosaic Law for Gentiles—but that of course violates the Law which Messianics teach must forever be kept to “the jot and tittle.” So no matter how one looks at it, the belief in a reconstructively restored Mosaic Passover is a no winner. The coming Passover must be regenerative.    

- Interpreting Other Prophecies of Restored Feasts

What is true regarding a restored Passover must in turn be true of all other prophesied millennial feasts. Several restoration prophecies refer to other feast and Sabbath observances in the glorified age. (The most prominent is Zechariah’s charge regarding the entire world’s observance of the Feast of Booths.) How can we understand them regeneratively?

To insist that a feast or Sabbath restoration prophecy must have regenerative fulfillment is not to contend it is merely allegorical. It is only to say that it has a “kainos” fulfillment on a plane defined by glorified reality—something which “eye has not seen nor ear heard.” The Mosaic feasts and other calendar Sabbaths were given as mere types and shadows of these coming realities, but could not touch their essence.

The “Feast of Booths” is about God’s dwelling with and in man. The “Sabbath” is about finding one’s rest in God. Such indwelling and resting refer to glorified reality of which the Mosaic knew nothing, and of which we under the New Covenant have only received an internal “down payment”—but which will come into full understandable view only in the regeneration. At that time, the “feast observances” associated with these realities will directly engage the realities of God’s indwelling and rest. They will not be about “picturing,” “anticipating” or “commemorating” them.

So at the time these observances are “restored,” they will be regeneratively kept with respect to God’s present tense habitation among earth’s peoples, and our resting in Him in a “kainos” way. They will not be about constructing “booths out of branches” or certain “restrictions of activities” on a certain day of the week. They will be keyed rather to the cycles of Life transformation whereby God’s indwelling of man and man’s rest in Him is increased and perfected.

Hebrews notes, “There remains a Sabbath rest to the people of God.” Revelation mentions those who have entered into that literal glorified rest, ceasing from their labors. It’s this remaining rest in God that is to yet come to earth. Literal entry into this glorified rest is what will define the meaning of “keeping the Sabbath” as prophesied. Similar applications will apply to all feasts and other observances fore-typed in the Mosaic system, but will not be kept according to the carnal executions required under that system.