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Those who do not keep God’s feasts such as the Sabbath and the Passover quote the following verse to justify their faith:

Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (Isaiah 1:14)

Does this verse really mean that God hates such feasts as the Sabbath and the Passover? Why does He hate the feasts He appointed? There is something that is not consistent. We should see the context of before and after when reading the Bible. It’s hard to understand the exact meaning with a single verse only. Let’s see the context of before and after Isaiah 1:14.

Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me… Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him…  Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!… Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations– I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (Isaiah 1:2-14)

The things God hatesTo whom does He say this? God said this to people who have rebelled against God and have done wickedness in the eyes of God. Will those who have committed sin against God and who are corrupters keep God’s feasts truthfully? It’s obvious that they will not. On the contrary, the prophet Isaiah wrote clearly that the Sabbath should be kept.

Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. (Isaiah 56:2)

The fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments is about the Sabbath day. It’s written in many places of the Bible that the seven feasts should be observed as well as the Sabbath.

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins… “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days….'” (Leviticus 23:4-5; 34)

He [Jesus Christ] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (Luke 4:16)

And he said to them, “I [Jesus] have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luke 22:15)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place (Acts 2:1)

But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near… Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach… On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink… (John 7:2; 14; 37-39)

Those who obey the Words of God according to the Bible must keep God’s feasts such as the Sabbath day, the Passover, the Day of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. The feasts which are hated by God and are not found in the Bible are man-made feasts God did not command. These include such feasts as the Sunday service, Christmas, Thanksgiving Day and Easter which have been arbitrarily appointed by men.

The World Mission Society Church of God (Witness of Ahnsahnghong) observes the seven feasts of three times such as the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Firstfruits (Resurrection Day), the Feast of Weeks (Day of Pentecost), the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles according to the Bible.