Today, someone quoted Desire of Ages, by Ellen White, to try and show that the Passover is forever abolished, and we must not keep the Feasts of the Lord anymore. That is a serious charge, and contrary to not only Jesus’ example of keeping the Passover himself, but also against the Apostles, who kept the feasts, and the early Christian church, who also kept the feasts, and even contrary to many other places in Ellen White’s writings where she says we will be judged by the Statutes etc. This is my rebuttal:
The national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages. DA652
We have to remember that the Passover has NOT passed away forever, per:
―And He said unto them, “with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:15, 16)
That is irrefutable evidence that we will observe Passover in heaven!
At Philippi Paul tarried to keep the Passover. Only Luke remained with him, the other members of the company passing on to Troas to await him there. The Philippians were the most loving and truehearted of the apostle’s converts, and during the eight days of the feast he enjoyed peaceful and happy communion with them.AA 390, 391
Paul was faithful to keep the feasts.
Acts 20:6 ― And we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and came unto Troas in five days; where we abode seven days
“Obviously, according to the Scriptures and Ellen White, the last thing the Philippians enjoyed with Paul was the honor of keeping the feast with him. What is even more interesting is the statement he made in his letter addressed back to them after he left.”
Philippians 4:9 ―Those things, which we have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you
“What they saw him do they were to keep doing, and the last thing they saw him do was to keep the feasts. So how can we justify Ellen White in her Desire of Ages statement? We must understand that the rituals and ordinances of the Passover sacrifice were often referred to as ―the Passover.”
So after examining the evidence, we find that Desire of Ages does not contradict Christ, Paul, nor herself, as is often implied, and instead, is telling us that Christ – our Passover Lamb, had been slain, so the national festival of the Jews where they were to slay the Passover Lamb was forever abolished.