The Feasts of the Lord, or God's Appointed Times, first appear in the Bible during the Exodus. There are three aspects to the Feasts of the Lord: 1. Agricultural, 2. Memorial, and 3. Prophetic. They are prophetic about both the First Advent and the Second Advent which means that some events prophesied have not happened yet.
The Jewish calendar was to be determined by the New Moons and the ripening of barley in Israel and consisted of twelve or thirteen months. The first of the Appointed Times was Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Unfortunately, the Hebrews rarely observed the Feasts of the Lord and this ultimately led to their division and the Babylonian captivity. In Babylon they began to rely upon the Babylonians astronomical calculations as well as observations to try to determine when the Feasts of the Lord would occur. Finally in the fourth century, they began to rely solely on calculations to determine the dates of the Feasts of the Lord.
The Feasts of the Lord played an important role during Christ's time on earth. There were four Passovers during His ministry culminating in His crucifixion at the time of the fourth Passover. After His resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon His followers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
The early Christian Church continued observance of the Feasts of the Lord. Paul observed Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Philippi. He was arrested at the time of Pentecost. The first breaks from the Feasts of the Lord began in the second century CE.
The Feasts of the Lord are still important today because they were part of an oath from God, and He never breaks His oaths. Furthermore, we will be observing Feasts of the Lord in the New Earth.
