There is a deep reservoir of knowledge inherent in the feast days of ancient Israel. On the surface, they reenact the story of a people brought from slavery in Egypt, through the establishment of a covenant between God and Israel, through the wanderings in the desert, to the ultimate goal of life in the promised land. Jewish mystics and Christians have believed that these annual holy days symbolize and teach man's journey from slavery to sin, sickness, and death, toward the goal of forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. Yet there is another aspect to the feast days of ancient Israel, that of a prophetic object lesson given by God to show mankind the ultimate outworking for His plan of salvation, and the soon coming of Messiah to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. And yet there is another prophetic aspect to the feasts, namely, the specific events foretold in the prescribed celebrations.
This article will reveal those specific aspects of the feasts fulfilled by Jesus in His earthly ministry, and those to be fulfilled at or near the Second Coming. The unfulfilled feast days reveal the key to an accurate analysis of prophetic events and the key to dating of end time prophetic events. Dated not to a particular year, but a table of dates tied into the annual dates on which the feasts occur.
The feast days of ancient Israel are comprised of the spring feasts of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks (Shauvot). Also, the fall feasts include the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Sukkot or the Feast of Ingathering). All of these feast days are laid out in Leviticus 23.
Passover tells the story of the blood being shed to allow the Angel of death to pass by, and was fulfilled by Jesus when He died on the cross for our sins. If we believe and are born-again, His shed blood allows us to pass from death to life with our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And yet the Feast of Unleavened Bread shows that although set free from slavery, we must still be vigilant to get the leaven out of our lives (sin) and that the free person must live in this world and although set free (salvation), must strive to live a holy life (sanctification).
Firstfruits is the wave offering of a sheaf of the spring grain harvest before God, and was also fulfilled as Jesus ascended to heaven as an offering for all mankind, to establish the eternal covenant of the blood between Jesus and God our Father. Finally, Pentecost which was celebrated as the loaves of the spring harvest were waved as an offering, was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church as a mighty rushing wind. This pouring out continues throughout the church age in spite of those churches who teach that those things passed away or were only for the early church. This attitude on their part intimates that somehow God had changed His mind, but we are reminded that He is God and changes not.
In hindsight, we can all easily recognize that Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost were prophetic in that they foretold specific events that would take place in the early spring harvest. And not only that, but they were fulfilled on the exact days of the year on which they were celebrated by the Jews. Therefore, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the main harvest feasts are themselves prophecies of specific end time events, and that they will be fulfilled on the exact day of the year as celebrated by the Jews according to the Jewish calendar!!
Getting back to the topic at hand, most Christians are entirely ignorant of the fall feasts of ancient Israel, Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Booths (Sukkot). Ignorant in that they do not know the way in which these feast days are celebrated, which reveals specific information on the way in which they will be prophetically fulfilled. In fact, you cannot get this information from Bible study alone, since the details are not specified there, but are in the Gemara or Talmud.
In outline form, the Jews start the celebration of the fall feasts 30 days prior to Rosh Hashanah which falls on the 1st day of the 7th month. For 30 days the shofar is blown every morning in the Synagogue to remind the people that the holy days are approaching, in order that they may prepare themselves. Their preparation consists of confessing their sins and seeking forgiveness along with a change in life if needed. The Jews earnest prayer is that their name may be written in the Book of Life. They too believe as Christians do, that Angels record all the actions and words of the people on the earth in a set of books, while another book is kept by God called the Book of Life, in which are the names of those who have eternal life with God. So, the 30 days preparation before Rosh Hashanah is to become a righteous person and have their names written in the Book of Life.
On Rosh Hashanah, a series of 100 trumpet blasts are sounded for a specific reason. They announce the setting up of the eternal court, with the trumpets heralding God as the all-seeing, all-knowing Judge of the Universe. Inherent in the court proceedings, is the knowledge that this court date is only for open and shut cases, for those who are righteous and have their names in the Book of Life. All other people are a mixture of good and bad, and God in His mercy will delay their court date for a period of time to allow them to try and prepare a proper defense. The second court date is on Yom Kippur.
The Christian believes the same thing as the Jew, except may not know as much detail on why Rosh Hashanah exists in God's prophetic plan. Rosh Hashanah will be fulfilled when the Messiah comes on the clouds, the dead in Christ rise to meet the Lord in the air, then those who are alive are changed in an instant in the blinking of an eye to an eternal, immortal body. All of those whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life have open and shut cases and are righteous, not by their own deeds, but by the blood of the Lamb. Thus the fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah is the rapture of believers, all whose names are written in the Book of Life. The court process of Rosh Hashanah is shown in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, where the works of a believer's life will be tested by fire for the determination of rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
As I said earlier, all other people of the earth are a mixture of good and bad and will be remanded over for court on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. However, between Rosh Hashanah on the 1st day of the 7th month, and Yom Kippur which falls on the 10th day of 7th month, are the Days of Awe or also known as the 10 Days of Repentance. Here is a prophetic tidbit, the fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will occur in a different year in the prophetic calendar. Or as we might state, the rapture of believers does not immediately precede the Second Coming. The Days of Awe correspond to the period of time that the people of the earth are tested in the Day of the Lord. God in His mercy, allows a period of time when people can still be saved through the blood of the Lamb shed for their sins.
After the Second Coming, after the vanquishing of the armies of the earth on the Great Day of God the Almighty, all the people of the earth will be summoned to Israel for judgment. This judgment will be the fulfillment of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. First, all Israel will be judged in the Fat Sheep and Lean Sheep judgment of Ezekiel 34, their sins will be forgiven, and the two sticks of the house of Judah and the house of Israel will be combined forever in the hand of the Messiah as they are made again into one nation. This judgment will be a merciful judgment as the people of Israel acknowledge their sin, confess their guilt, and fall on the mercy of the court.
After the judgment of Israel on Yom Kippur, then the Messiah will judge all the people of the nations in the Sheep and Goats judgment shown in Matthew 25. Finally, on the 15th day of the 7th month, the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot) will be celebrated by all alive on the earth judged worthy to live on in the millennium. This first celebration of Sukkot will be fulfilled in the same year as Yom Kippur is fulfilled. Messiah will celebrate with all people of the earth and there will be joy and gladness and no tears. The Lord will pour out the Spirit of Gladness and spread the tabernacle of peace over them.
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"Blessed is He who Comes in The Name of The Lord"
I will have to study this before I can say that I agree 100%, but I know there is much truth here. IMO one of the pitfalls that modern day "Christians" encounter is the false teaching that the Old Testament has been done away with. In failing to go back and study the "types", "shadows", "figures", "patterns", "examples", ect. that were forshadowed in the Old Testament, there is a failure to understand what, and how, Jesus fulfilled in the New Testament. When one doesn't have an understanding of the things taught by the schoolmaster, he is likely to fail when asked to sum up the things that have been taught. IMO, there are no New Testament "experts" who do not have some background in the Old Testament law, Tabernacle, feast days, ect.
THE JEWISH FEASTS AND THE MESSIAH
