One of the things that makes God, God is that He keeps His promises and does not lie. If God says something, you can count on it. He gave us the first glimpse of salvation in Genesis 3:15 CJB “I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

The promise of salvation is fulfilled in Jesus through the lineage of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Matthew 1:1-2 CJB “This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham: 2 Avraham was the father of Yitz’chak, Yitz’chak was the father of Ya’akov, Ya’akov was the father of Y’hudah and his brothers,”

God made the following promises to Abraham and his descendants; “Now Adonai said to Avram, “Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 CJB). “Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, because I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants. I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Avraham your father — 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, I will give all these lands to your descendants, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless themselves. 5 All this is because Avraham heeded what I said and did what I told him to do — he followed my mitzvot, my regulations and my teachings.” (Genesis 26:3-5 CJB).

I share these passages so we can better understand who we are part of as Christians. Paul wrote the following in Ephesians 2:11-22 CJB “Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth — called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised — 12 at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God. 13 But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood. 14 For he himself is our shalom — he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us 15 by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, 16 and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity. 17 Also, when he came, he announced as Good News shalom to you far off and shalom to those nearby, 18 news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. 20 You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. 21 In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. 22 Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!”

Through Jesus, we are now citizens of the commonwealth of Israel. Israel’s God is our God, and the Feasts of the Lord are our Feasts. When Purim was instituted, it says that the Jews, their descendants, and all who joined them celebrated. So likewise, in Exodus, citizens and foreigners commemorate the Passover, and a mixed multitude left Egypt (12:19, 38).

Exodus 12:48-49 CJB “If a foreigner staying with you wants to observe Adonai’s Pesach, all his males must be circumcised. Then he may take part and observe it; he will be like a citizen of the land. But no uncircumcised person is to eat it. 49 The same teaching is to apply equally to the citizen and to the foreigner living among you.”

Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, mainly Gentiles, “Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. 8 So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8 CJB). Gentiles were celebrating the Feasts of the Lord!

That’s something we have forgotten through church history; they are the Lord’s Feasts given to Israel. As Christians, we have a standing invitation to join the celebration!

Many counsels in church history wouldn’t allow Jews who received Jesus or Gentiles to celebrate Passover. That’s one error called prevention. The other mistake is a perversion to legalistically mandate observance, which takes away the joy and closeness that God intended.

The question is not do we have to, but can we? God’s heart has always been to connect with His people; that’s why He gave the Feasts to Israel. So an invitation is available to each one of us. It’s not about legalism or form; Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Chanukah, and Purim are times of joy, and as fellow citizens of Israel, we are invited to the celebration.