The Departure
Calendar & Feasts
You've Been Missing the Appointments — Because Someone Changed the Calendar
Christmas · Easter · Sunday
The church teaches that the feasts of Leviticus were Jewish holidays, and they ended at the cross. In their place it keeps Sunday, Easter, and Christmas. Its week rolls on without a break, set by Rome, and its day starts at midnight. Most believers have never been told that Yahuah has a calendar at all.
But He hung His calendar in the sky on the fourth day: “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14). The sun turns the year. The moon numbers the month. The day runs from dawn to dusk — “God called the light Day” (Genesis 1:5). And the feasts are not Israel’s or the Jews’. Yahuah calls them His own: “Concerning the feasts of Yahuah, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts” (Leviticus 23:2). The appointments still stand. What changed was the calendar men use to find them.
Five Greek words carried it in. Choose a word.
The root word
Kairos “season, time”
The verse
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Galatians 4:10 (KJV)
What you were taught
Paul is scolding the Galatians for keeping the Jewish calendar. Days, months, times, and years — that means Sabbaths, new moons, feasts, and holy years. Going back to the Law’s calendar is going back to slavery. So believers today should not keep the feasts.
What the Greek brought in
The word for “times” in the Greek copy is kairos (G2540). To the Greeks, Kairos was a god — the youngest son of Zeus, with his own altar at Olympia, at the entrance to the stadium. The sculptor Lysippos made a famous statue of him: a lock of hair hanging in front, and bald behind. You grab the lucky moment as it comes, because once it passes you cannot catch it. So a kairos was a chance, a lucky time, the right moment. It was never a set meeting with God. The church hears “times and seasons” the same way — vague stretches of time, with no date and no appointment.
The Hebrew beneath it
When the Torah was put into Greek, kairos was used for a Hebrew word in the creation story: “let them be for signs, and for seasons” (Genesis 1:14). “Seasons” there is moadim, from moed (H4150). A moed is an appointment — a set time and place to meet, like a meeting written on the calendar. It is the same word Yahuah uses for His feasts: “even these are my feasts” (Leviticus 23:2).
So the sky was hung to keep Yahuah’s appointments, and the Greek word for a lucky god’s moment was put in their place. A moed is not luck. Yahuah sets it, Yahuah keeps it, and He expects His people to come.
Read it again
Now read it again the way Paul meant it: “You used to serve gods that are not gods. Now you know Yahuah. So why are you going back to your old gods’ days, and months, and lucky times, and years?”
Paul says it himself in the verses just before: “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8–9). These were people from the nations. They had never kept Yahuah’s feasts, so they could not “turn again” to them. They were turning back to the calendar of their idols. And Paul himself kept Yahuah’s calendar: “we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread” (Acts 20:6).
How it grew
- Day fourCreation Yahuah hangs the lights “for signs, and for seasons” — moadim, His appointments (Genesis 1:14).
- c. 330 BCLysippos Carves the god Kairos: a lock in front, bald behind — the lucky moment you must seize.
- c. 250 BCAlexandria The Torah is put into Greek; moadim in Genesis 1:14 becomes kairoi.
- c. 50 ADPaul Warns the Galatians not to turn back to the days of “them which by nature are no gods.”
- c. 160 ADJustin Martyr Teaches that the Sabbath and the feasts were given to Israel only because of their hard hearts.
- TodayThe pulpit “Galatians 4:10 — Paul says don’t keep the feasts.”
What it built
- Feasts as bondage — Yahuah’s own appointments treated as the “beggarly elements” of idols.
- Times and seasons with no date — the feasts heard as vague seasons, not set meetings.
- A calendar without the sky — Rome’s week and Rome’s year in place of the sun and the moon.
The emperor’s day
Kyriakos “the Lord’s day”
The verse
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Revelation 1:10 (KJV)
What you were taught
The Lord’s day is Sunday, the day Jesus rose. John was worshiping on Sunday when he saw the vision. The apostles moved the day of rest from the seventh day to the first. Sunday is now the Christian Sabbath.
What the Greek brought in
The Greek copy uses kyriakos (G2960). It simply means “belonging to the lord” — the master’s. The verse does not name a day of the week. But in the province of Asia, where John’s seven churches stood, a day each month was called Sebastē — “Emperor’s Day” — a day set aside to honor Caesar, who was called “lord.” In that world, “the lord’s day” already meant a day that belonged to a ruler. Later, Rome filled the empty phrase with a day of its own: the first day of its week.
The Hebrew beneath it
Scripture names only one day that Yahuah calls His own: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of Yahuah, honourable” (Isaiah 58:13).
“My holy day” in Hebrew is yom qodshi — yom (H3117), day, and qodesh (H6944), holy, set apart. The Sabbath (Shabbat, H7676) is the day that belongs to Yahuah. It is counted by the moon, not by Rome’s week: the new moon opens the month, and the Sabbaths fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. And Yahushua said whose day it is: “the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:28).
Read it again
Now read it again the way John meant it: “I was in the Spirit on the day that belongs to Yahuah — His holy day, His Sabbath — and I heard behind me a great voice, like a trumpet.”
Nothing in Revelation points to the first day of the week. But the book does tell us who Yahuah’s people are: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). John saw his vision on the Lord’s own day, and the saints in that vision keep the Lord’s own commandments.
How it grew
- 1st centuryProvince of Asia A day each month called Sebastē — “Emperor’s Day” — honors Caesar.
- c. 95 ADJohn on Patmos “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). No weekday is named.
- c. 110 ADIgnatius Writes of believers “no longer keeping Sabbath,” but living “according to the Lord’s.” The word “day” is not in his Greek.
- 321 ADConstantine Orders courts and city workshops to rest on “the venerable day of the Sun.”
- c. 364 ADCouncil of Laodicea Christians must not rest on the Sabbath, but work, and honor the Lord’s day instead.
- TodayThe pulpit “Sunday is the Lord’s day — the Christian Sabbath.”
What it built
- Sunday worship — Rome’s first day placed where Yahuah’s holy day stood.
- A Sabbath on a rolling week — the Sabbath counted by Rome’s unbroken week instead of by the moon.
- The Sabbath called Jewish — Yahuah’s “my holy day” treated as belonging to one nation.
The gods’ festival
Heortē “holyday”
The verse
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16–17 (KJV)
What you were taught
Paul says no one can judge you for not keeping the feasts, the new moons, or the Sabbath. Those things were only shadows, and the shadow ended when Jesus came. So keeping a holy day is optional at best. At worst it is legalism.
What the Greek brought in
The Greek copy uses heortē (G1859). It was the everyday Greek word for a religious festival — the great processions for Athena in Athens, the feasts of Dionysus, the games for Zeus. Any god could have a heortē. Honestly, the word itself is not the problem; the Greek Old Testament uses it for Yahuah’s feasts too. The problem is how it was heard. If every festival is a heortē, then any holy day will do. The church filled the word with its own holidays and treated them as the same thing as Yahuah’s.
The Hebrew beneath it
Paul’s three words — holyday, new moon, sabbath — are a set that runs all through the Hebrew Scriptures: “on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles” (2 Chronicles 8:13).
“Holyday” stands for chag (H2282), a feast kept to Yahuah, when His people went up to meet Him. These feasts are commanded and dated: “These are the feasts of Yahuah, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons” (Leviticus 23:4). They are not just any festival. They are His.
Read it again
Now read it again the way Paul meant it: “So don’t let anyone outside judge you for how you eat and drink at Yahuah’s feasts, His new moons, and His Sabbaths. These are a picture of things still to come — and the body of Messiah is the one to judge it.”
Who were the judges? Paul tells us in the same chapter. They came “through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men” (Colossians 2:8). They taught “Touch not; taste not; handle not” — “after the commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:21–22). They were the people from outside, scorning the believers for keeping Yahuah’s days. And Paul says these days “are” a shadow of things to come. Not were. They still point forward.
How it grew
- SinaiMoses The feasts are commanded and dated: “These are the feasts of Yahuah” (Leviticus 23:4).
- Classical GreeceAthens Heortē is the word for the festivals of the gods, like the great procession for Athena.
- c. 250 BCAlexandria The Torah is put into Greek; chag becomes heortē.
- c. 60 ADPaul Tells the Colossians not to let the philosophers judge them over feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths.
- 336 ADRome The first record of a feast of Messiah’s birth kept on December 25.
- TodayThe pulpit “Colossians 2:16 — nobody can tell you to keep the feasts.”
What it built
- Church holidays for Yahuah’s feasts — Christmas, Lent, and Easter in place of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
- “Shadow” read as “gone” — Paul’s “are a shadow of things to come” read as if it said “were.”
- Feast-keepers judged — the very thing Paul forbade, turned around against the people keeping Yahuah’s days.
The goddess’s name
Pascha “Easter”
The verse
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Acts 12:4 (KJV)
What you were taught
Easter is the day the church celebrates the resurrection. Many say it has been kept since the apostles. Some point to this very verse: Easter is right there in the Book of Acts. Others say Herod was waiting for a pagan spring festival to end.
What the Greek brought in
The Greek copy has pascha (G3957). Here is the surprise: pascha is not a pagan word at all. It is the Hebrew word Pesach spelled in Greek letters. The pagan name came in English. Around 725 AD an English monk named Bede wrote that the spring month was named for a goddess, Eostre. Early English Bibles put “Easter” for pascha. The King James translators changed every one of them to “passover” — except this one, Acts 12:4.
The Hebrew beneath it
Pesach is Yahuah’s own feast: “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Yahuah’s passover” (Exodus 12:11). Pesach (H6453) means “passing over” — Yahuah passed over the houses marked with the blood.
The feast has a date: “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahuah’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread” (Leviticus 23:5–6). Paul tells the believers in Corinth what it means: “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Lamb Yahuah provided died on the 14th, at 3 in the afternoon — the very hour the lambs were slain.
Read it again
Now read it again the way Luke meant it: “He put Peter in prison under four squads of soldiers, planning to bring him out to the people after the Pesach.”
Luke tells us the season one verse earlier: “(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)” (Acts 12:3). Herod was not waiting for a goddess. He was waiting for Yahuah’s feast to end. And Paul tells a church full of people from the nations to keep that same feast: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).
How it grew
- EgyptMoses The lamb is slain on the 14th of the first month: “it is Yahuah’s passover” (Exodus 12:11).
- 31 ADYahushua Eats a preparation meal on the 13th, “before the feast of the passover” (John 13:1). He dies at 3 PM on the 14th, as the lambs are slain. The Pesach is eaten that night with His body in the tomb.
- c. 190 ADPolycrates and Victor The churches of Asia still keep the 14th. The bishop of Rome threatens to cut them off.
- 325 ADCouncil of Nicaea The feast’s date is set apart from the Hebrew reckoning and tied to a Sunday.
- 1611The King James Bible Leaves “Easter” for pascha in one verse: Acts 12:4.
- TodayThe pulpit Easter Sunday — a dawn service, eggs, and rabbits.
What it built
- Easter Sunday — a moving spring Sunday in place of the 14th of the first month.
- The Last Supper as the Passover — the meal of John 13 was eaten “before the feast,” on the 13th. Calling it the Pesach meal puts His death a day late.
- Spring customs as worship — eggs, rabbits, and a goddess’s name dressed up as resurrection.
A number, not a count
Pentēkostē “Pentecost”
The verse
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Acts 2:1 (KJV)
What you were taught
Fifty days after Easter Sunday, the Spirit came down and the church was born. Churches mark it every year on a Sunday in late spring, sometimes with red banners and a birthday cake. Many teach that this was a brand-new Christian day that had nothing to do with the Law. A whole movement of tongues-speaking churches takes its name from it.
What the Greek brought in
The Greek copy calls the day Pentēkostē (G4005). It simply means “the fiftieth.” Greek-speaking Jews used it as a short label for the feast. But a label is not a command. It tells you a number. It does not tell you fifty from what, or what must be finished first. The church took the number, counted fifty days from its own Easter Sunday, and landed in late spring.
The Hebrew beneath it
Moses gave the count, not just the number: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto Yahuah” (Leviticus 23:15–16).
The feast is Shavuot (H7620), “weeks.” First, seven Sabbaths must be complete, counted from the wave sheaf on the 16th of the first month: the 22nd and 29th of the first month; the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of the second; and the 8th of the third. Then, from the morrow after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days are numbered. Shavuot lands on the 28th or 29th of the fourth month — in summer, at the wheat harvest. Moses calls it “the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours” (Exodus 23:16).
Read it again
Now read it again the way Luke meant it: “And when the day of Shavuot was fully counted out — the seven Sabbaths complete, and the fifty days numbered to the last one — they were all with one accord in one place.”
“Fully come” is a counting word. It means filled up to the end, like a measure filled to the top. Luke is pointing straight back to Moses’ count. And it was a harvest day: “the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The feast of firstfruits brought in the first fruits of a people. It was not a new day. It was Yahuah’s day, kept on time.
How it grew
- SinaiMoses “Seven sabbaths shall be complete,” then fifty days are numbered (Leviticus 23:15–16).
- c. 200 BCGreek-speaking Jews Call the feast by a number, “the fiftieth” (Tobit 2:1; 2 Maccabees 12:32).
- 31 ADJerusalem The Spirit is poured out on Shavuot; three thousand are added (Acts 2:41).
- 4th centuryThe church The feast is tied to Easter Sunday — fifty days on, always a Sunday, in late spring.
- 1901Topeka, Kansas A Bible school speaks in tongues, and a movement takes the Greek label as its name.
- TodayThe pulpit “The birthday of the church” — a Sunday in late spring.
What it built
- The birthday of the church — as if Yahuah’s people began here, instead of at a harvest feast He commanded in the Torah.
- A feast without a count — the seven Sabbaths dropped, and the day moved about fifty days early, out of summer into late spring.
- A movement named for a number — the tongues churches took their name from the Greek label, not from the feast Moses commanded.
The Old Path
The old path is written in the sky. The sun turns the year. The moon numbers the month, and the Sabbaths fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. The day runs from dawn to dusk. The feasts come in their seasons: Pesach on the 14th of the first month, Hag HaMatzot from the 15th, Bikkurim with the wave sheaf, Shavuot in summer after seven Sabbaths and fifty days, then Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. “He appointed the moon for seasons” (Psalm 104:19). Deliverance came first, through the Lamb on the 14th. The walk follows — keeping Yahuah’s appointments on Yahuah’s calendar.
Isaiah saw it would never end: “from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Yahuah” (Isaiah 66:23). Revelation shows the same calendar in the city of Yahuah, still counted by the moon: “there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).