It is hard to believe that here we are in 2026 and COG groups are still having to justify why they use the Roman calendar and other peripheral issues around daily life. They still like to claim that while they are of this world, they are not part of this world. That is one of the biggest cons of the church (besides British Israelism). Some are so quick to point out that they only observe biblical days and seasons, and yet the very days and seasons they celebrate in the church are all days that were patterned after the so-called Canaanite days of the ancient tribes.
A New Year? In Winter? Why do we in the Living Church of God not engage in “New Year’s” parties or festivities—or even the greeting “Happy New Year”? Because the new-year celebrations our world just observed are from pagan sources, which you can read about in the commentary by the late Gary F. Ehman, “The Two Faces of New Year Celebrations,” posted on TomorrowsWorld.org this week. We live in this world, so it’s not wrong to use the Roman calendar as a part of functioning in it—but we are not to be of this world. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Let’s thank God for the fact that He has called us out of ancient superstitions and customs of this world and called us into His sanctifying truth (John 17:17)!
Have a peaceful Sabbath,
Rod McNair
They love to mock Christians, whom they claim have reinterpreted days associated with pagans, such as Christmas and Easter, and yet keep days appropriated from Canaanite pagans that ancient Israel came out of.
COG groups have no problem keeping the three major biblical pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim): Passover (Pesach), Shavuot (Weeks/Pentecost), and Sukkot (Booths/Tabernacles). These holidays have deep roots in ancient agricultural harvest cycles that were common across the ancient Near East, including among the Canaanites (the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land). Over time, the biblical authors reinterpreted and "historicized" these observances, transforming them into uniquely Israelite/Jewish celebrations tied to key events in salvation history (like the Exodus and Sinai).
The Torah itself preserves clear evidence of the festivals' original agricultural character, even as it layers on historical/theological meanings:
- Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread — Tied to the spring barley harvest (the first grain to ripen). It falls in the month of Abib (spring), when the new planting season begins after winter rains. The emphasis on unleavened bread (matzah) and the offering of the first sheaf (omer) of barley reflects this. Some scholars propose connections to Canaanite spring rituals involving unleavened bread and apotropaic (protective) rites.
- Shavuot — Called the "Feast of Harvest" or "Day of First Fruits" in the Torah. It marks the wheat harvest (about 7 weeks after Passover) and the bringing of first fruits (bikkurim) to the sanctuary. Later rabbinic tradition linked it to the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
- Sukkot — Originally the "Feast of Ingathering" (Hag ha-Asif), the major autumn harvest festival celebrating the gathering of grapes, olives, figs, and other late-summer fruits. It was the most prominent and joyous of the three in biblical times (often just called "the Festival"). The practice of dwelling in temporary booths (sukkot) likely derives from field shelters used by farmers during the final, intensive harvest period before the rains.
These three festivals align precisely with the natural agricultural rhythm of the Land of Israel: spring barley → early summer wheat → late summer/autumn fruits.
Archaeology, Ugaritic texts from ancient Canaan, and comparative studies, hold that the early Israelites — who emerged within Canaanite culture — adapted existing regional harvest festivals rather than inventing them from scratch. This was a common process in the ancient world: new cultural or religious groups often reframed inherited seasonal rites to fit their theology.
- Sukkot shows particularly strong parallels to Canaanite autumn new-year/harvest festivals, including seven-day celebrations, temporary booths/shelters, and rituals linked to rainfall and fertility (e.g., Ugaritic texts describe similar practices for deities like Baal). Some scholars trace the sukkah itself to Canaanite customs of building ritual booths on rooftops or terraces.
- The overall pattern — three major seasonal pilgrimages to a central sanctuary — fits broader Canaanite and Near Eastern patterns of harvest thanksgiving and petitions for fertility/rain.
The biblical texts themselves show this evolution: earlier layers refer to the festivals purely by agricultural names (e.g., "Feast of Ingathering"), while later passages add historical explanations (e.g., Sukkot recalling the desert booths of the Exodus, or Passover recalling liberation from Egypt).
It's more accurate to say the biblical authors took over and transformed pre-existing Canaanite/Levantine harvest festivals than to call them simple "substitutes." The process was one of historicization and monotheization — removing pagan elements (like fertility rites or polytheistic myths) and reorienting the celebrations toward the God of Israel, the Exodus covenant, and ethical/historical memory.This pattern is typical in the development of Israelite religion: the prophets and Torah writers repeatedly criticize purely agricultural or "Canaanite-style" observances, insisting that festivals must remember God's acts in history, not just thank nature deities for crops.
The core ancient Jewish pilgrimage festivals originated as regional harvest celebrations with likely Canaanite roots, but Judaism intentionally reframed them to emphasize historical redemption, covenant, and dependence on the one God rather than seasonal cycles alone. This creative adaptation is one of the fascinating ways ancient Israelite religion distinguished itself while remaining deeply connected to the land and its rhythms.
