Do the ACOGs really obey God's Law?
Among the followers of Herbert Armstrong's teachings, the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus is critical. According to them, not only does their observance of the commandments outlined in this chapter distinguish them from traditional Christians, it also distinguishes them from other Sabbatarian Christians (like Seventh Day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptists, and the Church(es) of God Seventh Day). For them, these festivals not only provide the perfect contrast to the "pagan" holidays of Easter, Halloween and Christmas; they also stand or fall with Sabbath observance!
For the sake of argument, let's assume for a moment that Christians are obligated to observe these festivals - that the ACOG's theology is sound on this point. Are their observances and arguments consistent with what is revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures? Let's take a closer look.
In the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, NINE festivals are outlined: the weekly Sabbath, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Booths, and the Eighth Day. In connection with the annual festivals, it should be noted that there were specific rituals, sacrifices, and offerings associated with each one of them. Again, for the sake of argument, for the moment, we will ignore the instructions about sacrifices and offerings (even the ACOGs acknowledge that Christ's sacrifice makes those no longer necessary).
We are, nevertheless, left with a number of undeniable discrepancies between ACOG observances and what is outlined in this passage. For example, in all of the years that I was associated with them, I don't remember ANY specific observances related to Firstfruits. To be fair, an occasional sermon would mention the fact that Christ was our wave sheaf offering, but there was no specific observance associated with that festival. They would even read aloud the passage: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings." (Leviticus 23:9;14, ESV) Now, I suppose we could say that Firstfruits/wave sheaf was symbolic and pointed to Christ - a shadow of the reality found in him; but isn't that the very argument which other Christians use to "do away with" all of these festivals?
In similar fashion, the Feast of Trumpets was to be "proclaimed with blast of trumpets" (verse 24). Now, I do remember a couple of occasions when a trumpet was employed in the singing of "God Speaks to Us" on this feast day, but I don't recall this as having been a formal or regular part of the worship service. And, as far as this festival being celebrated as a "memorial" (same verse), most of the sermons and literature which I remember being associated with this day focused on the second coming of Jesus Christ. If my memory is faulty on this point, I'm confident that someone will correct me!
In terms of the Feast of Booths, we read: "And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (Verses 40-43) I don't remember any of this being associated with the "Feast of Tabernacles" celebrated by the ACOGs (at least, not the ones with which I was associated). Indeed, instead of temporary shelters constructed by the celebrants, most of us had reservations in very permanent hotels and campgrounds - a temporary stay!
We could, of course, talk in some detail about the ACOG's flawed understanding of the symbolism associated with these festivals. After all, the ACOGs claimed that the meaning of these days was an important part of observing them! We could talk about how the Day of Atonement pointed to Jesus, NOT Satan the Devil. We could also talk about Jesus Christ and humankind tabernacling in the flesh, and Christ's sermon on the "Last Great Day," but we will focus instead on the physical observance of these days by the ACOGs.
In this connection, another favorite passage of the ACOGs comes immediately to mind - the sixteenth chapter of Deuteronomy. Of course, within that culture, the principal role of this passage was to enjoin the membership to cough up generous offerings on each of the Holy Days! Even so, this passage conveys a number of other imperatives which those folks conveniently ignored.
For example, although ACOG folks were scrupulous about removing all leavening from their dwellings, they completely ignored the passages related to the ONLY acceptable place for the observance of these days. In that chapter in Deuteronomy, we read: "You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt." (Verses 5-6) Likewise, in connection with the Feast of Weeks, we read: "And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there." (Verse 11) In similar fashion, with regard to the Feast of Booths, we read: " For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful." (Verse 15)
Notice that ALL three of these festivals were to be observed "at the place the Lord your God will choose." Moreover, so that there wouldn't be any room for misunderstanding of God's intent in this regard, the passage concludes with: "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you." (Verses 16-17) In other words, Torah mandated THREE pilgrimage festivals - where the Israelites were required to come to JERUSALEM to properly observe these festivals! After all, any serious student of the Hebrew Bible understands that JERUSALEM is the ONLY place which God ever chose for His name to permanently rest. Moreover, students of the New Testament understand that Christ and his apostles ALWAYS celebrated the festivals at Jerusalem! Also, doesn't Zechariah suggest that JERUSALEM is where the Feast of Booths will be observed in the Millenium? (Zechariah 14:16-19)
What has been the practice of the ACOGs in this regard? The Worldwide Church of God and most of its successors have designated various "feast sites" around the world where their members gathered to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. On the other hand, Passover and the Feast of Weeks were usually observed locally - within the various congregations of the Church. Now, having personally been to many of these sites, I can attest to the fact that places like Wisconsin Dells, Jekyll Island, Saratoga Springs, Biloxi, Pensacola, Johnson City, Myrtle Beach, etc. are very nice vacation spots. They are, however, NOT JERUSALEM! Also, are the ACOGs suggesting that the choices of a "Festival Coordinator" (or church administrator) reflect God's choice? And, what about the Scriptural designation of the other two festivals (Passover and Weeks) as pilgrimage festivals? Finally, if the "offerings" on these occasions were binding on members, why weren't the other offerings designated for those days still binding on them?
What about ACOG justifications for their divergence from these plain Torah instructions? A favorite of theirs is found in Christ's instructions to his disciples recorded in the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. We read there: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Verses 18-20) Let's ignore the fact that these remarks were delivered within the context of dealing with disagreements among Christ's disciples within the Church (verses 15-17). If this passage justifies ACOG practices regarding the festivals, why can't it be employed by traditional Christians to justify their observances of Sunday, Christmas, and Easter? Let's not forget, too, that this passage was used to justify their observance of Pentecost on Monday for many years! What's that old saying? "What's good for the goose is good for the gander!"
Now, while this post does not disprove that Christians are obligated to observe the festivals (that's a subject for another post), it does demonstrate that ACOG observance of those festivals is NOT in line with Torah instructions regarding them! Hence, the answer to our original question: "Do the ACOGs really obey God's Law?" has to be answered with a resounding NO!
Lonnie Hendrix
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