Photo by Michael Melford, National Geographic. |
The Biblical calendar is right in front of us, it visual, ordained in the heavens since day four of creation.
Everyone can see it, it's woven into creation and the solar system is God's timepiece and signpost. The rotation of the earth, it's orbit around the sun (greater light) and the moons's (lesser light) orbit around the earth governs the Biblical calendar that connects the time stamps on the Feasts of The LORD.
The word of God is declared in the Bible describes The LORD's appointed days that incredibly take into account the time window it takes the Earth to orbit our life giving star the Sun as well as the Moon's orbit around the Earth.
The Moon works like a hand on a clock with a visual appearance we call the phases of the Moon as it revolves around our planet. It's a sign for the seasons (in Hebrew moed) and King David understood God's timepiece purpose when he wrote this:
He made the moon for the seasons [moed]; The sun knows the place of its setting. Psalm 104:19
Not only that, each creation day in Genesis begins and ends at evening as the Sun sets at evening nightfall. They still do, midnight is a mistake. Believe it or not a day on God's calendar starts and ends and evening.
That means you don't need to a clock or a watch to determine a day. Pope Gregorys calendar divides a day at the stroke of midnight, God does not. After all, if you look up you can't see midnight, but since creation week long ago, those with eyes to see and ears to hear can know The LORD's way of keeping time and God's appointments.
Bottomline, although we use it, Almighty God does not use the Gregorian calendar.
During the days of creation the seventh day was set as Shabbat and its the day that God rested. It's called the Sabbath. It's the weekly Biblically ordained vacation day of rest and relationship with our family and our Creator.
It simply begins every Friday evening and ends at Saturday evening.
According to Scripture, the sign of the beginning of a month on God's calendar is called Rosh Chodesh, or new Moon. You can see it in the photo above. The new Moon visually sets the Biblical months in heaven like a giant billboard for the planet. It's also the timestamp of counting the Biblical Holy days in God's redemption plan.
All we have to do is look up at sunset to see the new Moon to start counting God's days God's way.
The beginning of each year on God's calendar is the Biblical month of Abib. You can read about that in Exodus 12. It has nothing to do with Julius Caesar's winter or summer solstice or the spring or fall equinox.
Since the Babylonian captivity, the first month of Abib has been called Nisan and it's important.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "God has a plan"?
Thank God's appointments were not done away with. Had they been done away with at the cross... Acts 2 would have never happened !!
You can find them in your Bible just like I did and make the right choice. They are summarized by Almighty God in the Leviticus 23 life lesson outline of God's Kingdom gospel plan.
As noted above, God's holy appointments are so important that the design of the heavens above including the light of the sun and the moon as well as the solar system's orbits are set in place in the by the design of Almighty God to shine light on earth and to keep track of God's appointed days and years.
The big question is... Do you want to participate in The LORD's plan or continue to just go your own way stumbling in the dark?
Thank God the earth is still spinning, the sun is still shining and the moon is still orbiting our planet so there's no jot or tittle that's been done away with and there's much more on the prophetic horizon in God's heavenly plan of Fall Feast appointments for God's relationship restoration plan with mankind that did not end at the cross, it began.
God keeps all of His appointments, past present and future because His will is to restore mankind to His image. That process starts with something you can do. You can honor His weekly Sabbath, when you do your eyes and heart will be opened.
Take a look at the words Moses recorded in Leviticus 23 and you will see that it is Almighty God that takes personal claim to His divine appointments. He calls them my appointed feasts:
Thank God, the disciples followed the Torah instruction which was Yeshua's continual admonition to repent and obey the written Word of God. After all, He said it was written about Him (John 5:46-47).
How about this one, "God’s ways are higher than our ways"?
In my Scripture studies I've discovered Almighty God has a plan higher and seemingly beyond comprehension if we think the Old Testament is old and done away with. The truth is the Hebrew Bible reveals the gospel of God outline plain as day in Leviticus 23.
The redemption plan of God links The LORD's appointments (moedim) from Genesis to Revelation, so we all need to come to know Leviticus isn't old or done away with after all.
Not only that, the seasons, days and years in Genesis 1:14 are not quite as we think of them.
The seasons are not about winter or summer, the seasons are the "moed" appointments of redemption and restoration. Many call God's appointments The Feasts of The LORD. Yet, the word Feast is a misnomer. Each Feast is a moed appointment owned by The LORD and placed on His calendar.
I like to think of them as the "Feats" of The LORD.
What do I mean by that?
I think I can best sum it up as The LORD loves us so much that He gave everyone the outline of His glory plan noted in the Leviticus 23 and the precise timepiece is the ordination of the Sun, Moon and the Earth.
Not only that, The LORD will carry out His plan right on time on His gospel of God schedule outline to restore His garden Kingdom on Earth as it was intended from the beginning.
Our Creator God graciously tells us that His schedule includes His appointed times linked to creation with the words in Genesis 1:14-15:
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons [moed appointments] and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
We just have to open the Bible and our hearts to begin to uncover the big picture truth that's written plain as day to see it.
The seasons are God's appointments, the days are His set apart holy days. The weeks and years are Shemittah and Jubilee years whose big picture purpose is described in Leviticus 25.
For most of my life I was lost in time and didn't know it.
Perhaps like you, I missed out on a big part of God's plan and didn't have a clue that my Creator revealed His gospel redemption calendar for mankind long ago during the exodus from Egypt.
With much prayer, I realized that I could better understand how and when The LORD would accomplish His glory goal described to Isaiah:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you.
And His glory will appear upon you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." Isaiah 60 1-3
Sure, I believed God invented time and space as we know it at creation, but I had missed out on the fact The LORD has an appointment calendar that provides the outline of His plan of salvation, redemption, judgement and restoration that I could participate in celebration of what He's done and will do.
Not only that, by reading and believing the Bible as the light of truth, I discovered that The LORD's seasons of appointed times (moedim) are so important that He set our solar system in exact and precise motion for us to keep track of them right on time.
When I started reading the Hebrew Bible from the beginning, I realized I had a Greco Roman problem.
I had innocently believed the front of the Bible was old and done away with, but hen I realized its the same Bible Jesus read and taught.
I had no idea what creation week meant or that Genesis 1:14-15 described God's timepiece for the signs, days and years to be revealed in Leviticus 23 and Leviticus 25 that play such a big part in the balance of the Bible and the future of this planet.
Without knowing it, I'd missed out on that fact and unwittingly inherited a lie, a divorce decree from a 4th century meeting organized by a Roman Emperor named Constantine in ancient Nicaea.
Constantine is not my Emperor, and I am not a Roman citizen so I had to re-think everything.
Constantine declared his version of Christianity as the official state and corporate religion of the Roman Empire, but in doing so he rejected The LORD's Sabbath as well as the appointed days of The LORD because the Jewish people kept and honored them.
Constantine's thinking was that he'd just replace them with a new church calendar.
It started in Nicaea. The ancient city is located within today's modern Turkish city of İznik. It's the spot for the first of many Constantine councils that set forth new religious rules that forgot the Torah of God.
It's as if Constantine claimed to be in charge of the Bible.
New church rules came out of Nicaea that forgot Moses and disinherited The LORD God Creator's calendar and His holy convocations. Their new house rules forgot The LORD's appointed times and issued a divorce decree against The LORD's weekly Sabbath and His Feast Day appointments for all Bible believers.
The Emperor's councils were big time anti-Semitic.
Instead of calling the LORD's days His days, the councils declared them as Jewish days ignoring that The LORD said they are "My appointments" (see Leviticus 23:2).
I came to realize they called them Jewish because the Jewish people believed the Bible and honored the days of The LORD yet the councilmen hated the Jewish people and forgot Jesus is a Jew.
They thought they had replaced the Jewish people, so they invented their own new religion, new holy days and a new calendar eventually came out of it that we still use today. Basically, the fourth century councils followed the pagan cult of Sol Invictus that a prior man by the name Emperor Elagabalus introduced in the third century when he declared the birth of Sol Invictus as the 25th of December in line with Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light and regeneration that had been adopted by the Romans.
The Mithras birthday festival reached the pinnacle of its popularity when Sextus Julius Africanus linked the birth of Christ to this date in 221 AD and John Chrysostom set the stage for Christmas despite the fact the Newer Testament has no evidence to link a December nativity.
I was shocked by the Bible.
When I read the Bible things changed for me. I came to the light when I began reading and believing the Bible from the beginning. I was shocked to know our Creator designed our solar system as His timepiece with signposts around His appointed seasons just as He proclaimed in the Genesis beginning.
Oh by the way The LORD's calendar has nothing to do with astrology!
I was amazed to realize The LORD's creation and astronomy handiwork helps us stay in tune and on track of His for ever gospel appointments for mankind's redemption that is centered in the vortex of Israel, not Rome as I'd thought.
After all, the land of Israel and its people are an integral part of God's big plan for the planet. That's why Jesus walked there, talked there, taught there and healed there.
I discovered that the outline of the plan of Almighty God revealed at Mount Sinai not only declared the Ten Commandments for all humanity, but set apart the calendar for Almighty God's very special holy time observances for us that can't be replaced or wiped away by any Emperor or council meeting in Nicaea.
I was amazed to learn that God set forth most of His planned appointments before the golden calf sin had occurred. Immediately after the Ten Commandments were given, you can see the days of The LORD outlined in Exodus 23:10-19. They include the Sabbath as well as the big three celebration festival appointments planned for Jerusalem from the beginning to the end:
“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.Three times a year all your males shall appear before The LORD God.Exodus 23:14-17
Not only that, thanks to the helper, the Holy Spirit, after much prayer it finally hit home in my stoney heart that the Almighty LORD God of all creation says they are "His appointments" (Leviticus 23:2) and that The LORD tells us that they are to be proclaimed publicly (Leviticus 23:4).
So I'm doing that here and now!
There's been a lot of church confusion about them. I know all about that first hand. After all, in my own ignorance I'd ignored them until I was 45 years old thinking they were just for Jewish people.
The reason was I'd fallen for a misguided tradition that started in Nicaea. The councils broke with the Torah (God's teaching and instruction). I doing so they took away from and added to Scripture. They claimed the appointments that belonged to The LORD were old and done away at the cross because they opposed all things Jewish despite the fact that Jesus is Jewish.
I thanked God the Jewish people have kept them including Jesus.
I didn't realize that my Sunday school traditions were unwittingly out of sync with The Almighty. I was shocked to realize that in a strange way thinking Sunday was a new Sabbath was mysteriously founded in anti-Semitism, aka against the Jews back in Nicaea.
Then I remembered, I had a Jewish Rabbi, after all Jesus is Jewish!
If you are not familiar with Acts 2, I want to strongly encourage you to read it.
You might call the tongues of fire day Pentecost if you want, but in Hebrew it's Shavuot and it's connected to Passover, not Easter. I know, that's another shocker but its important.
Like I said, I used to believe that The LORD God changed His mind.
I'd heard that story line in plenty of sermons, but the simple truth I've learned from reading the Bible on the back shelf of my church pew is that God does not change!
I thanked God for those pews and those Bibles when I came to realize why He says this:
For I, The LORD do not change... Malachi 3:6
There's even a proverb with a warning about Nicaea for those that are given to change and a lack of reverence when it comes to The LORD. You'll find it in Proverbs 24:21-22:
My son, revere The LORD and the king;Do not associate with those who are given to change,For their calamity will rise suddenly,And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?
Forget Nicaea. Turn back and repent because the outline of the gospel of God plan for salvation, redemption and restoration of the planet and mankind revolves around Almighty God's appointments and that's never changed.
I knew I had do something, I had to repent and turn back to the Bible Jesus taught.
Soon, I realized that what changed after the cross was religious, antisemitic replacement theology.
It arrived on the scene veiled in the mystery of a Roman-Greco mindset along with a new church calendar that ignored God's voice and adopted some old traditions from Babylon and the land of Shinar.
I decided to take a pass on Babylon and turn back to Jerusalem.
So, if you want to know the truth and understand God's unchanging plan for the planet and your life, its time to go back to the beginning and unlearn what you think you know no matter how sincere your own belief may be if it is not the Bible.
That can take some time, so this is no short story!
The first appointed time I found in the Bible is a God time of rest for body, mind and soul. It's the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day revealed at the beginning in Genesis.
The first appointed time I found in the Bible is a God time of rest for body, mind and soul. It's the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day revealed at the beginning in Genesis.
Shabbat, aka the Sabbath is the first lesson in God's handbook for living life in the Kingdom of God.
The beginning is important because it sets the foundation in relationship.
When the reality of The LORD's Sabbath and His Feast Day appointments sunk into my heart and soul, I was shocked when I discovered I'd fell for some doctrines that started with a divorce decree. I was shocked I did not know the Biblical truth that our Creator commands time and that He has a calendar with His scheduled appointments that He will keep no matter what we think.
I no longer wanted to miss them.
Let's repeat: The LORD's appointed times start with His Sabbath, followed by His specially appointed days and weeks that are linked to Holy (set apart) convocations (gatherings) with The Spirit of The LORD.
Actually, in the original Hebrew they are not "Feasts" despite the fact that we like to call them that from reading most English translations of the Bible. Once again, they are The LORD's "Appointments" in the Hebrew Bible that we call the Old Testament.
It's the one and only Bible that Jesus read and taught every Sabbath (see Luke 4:16 for the proof). It's the Bible that reveals the Holy Day appointments of The LORD.
Back in Jesus day, we find Greek people mentioned in John 12:20-21 that went to Jerusalem for Passover. Without a doubt, even the Greeks knew Jesus kept them because when they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked Phillip to introduce them to Jesus. They knew He'd be there because He kept God's word.
Jesus kept them because Almighty God the Father owns them and they are His "appointed times."
As we've seen in Hebrew an "appointed time" is from the Hebrew word mo`ed מוֹעֵד.
After the chaos of slavery in Egypt, The Father declared His mo'ed calendar outline to those that followed Him out of Egypt's idolatry and oppression. There at Mount Sinai, on Shavuot, God repeated the importance of His Genesis creation Sabbath. It's the 4th covenant commandment in the outline of Kingdom instruction that I'd been ignorant of. By the way, the longest commandment of the ten words is about the Sabbath, read it for yourself in the proof text.
Because of the Earth's reaction to Almighty God's glory presence as He descended, the mountain caught on fire and shook as lightning bolts were flying and thunder roared. Smoke filled the air and the assembly at Sinai was very afraid. Perhaps the most fearful thing was that mysterious shofar, the trumpet that announced God's arrival at the mountain.
It didn't take long and they asked that God to stop speaking and only continue talking to Moses as their intercessor.
Almighty God agreed.
I certain it's because The LORD knew He would one day send Messiah as His last intercessor in the appointed times to live out and fulfill His words. So, God stopped and Moses went up the mountain to listen. He heard and wrote down all the words of instruction from the voice of Almighty God atop the mountain.
Those words include the outline plan in the appointed Feasts of The LORD.
Down below chaos ensued. The then word covenant was broken by the golden calf sin. Only forty days had passed and just like Adam and Eve in the garden, some 3,000 of them chose to ignore the covenant words they had all heard plain as day:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth". Exodus 20:2-4
After the idol crime, the Levite priesthood was established as a gift as the Torah focused on the need for redemption and another Shavuot moment of Holy Spirit fire descending.
That's what Acts 2 revealed in Jerusalem.
Everyone that can read and listen to Moses and learn that three appointed Feasts of the LORD are set aside aka Holy because they are especially unique as pilgrimage festivals and the Bible reveals that they are focused on God's appointed feats in Jerusalem.
Those big three are God's big days, but why Jerusalem?
The reason is that our Creator chose that city as the place He would put His name to carry out His plan.
In Jerusalem, God unwound death with resurrection. In Jerusalem God revealed Messiah. In Jerusalem God put His redemptive salvation plan into action. In Jerusalem the gifts His Spirit poured out and one day in Jerusalem the planet will celebrate what He has done and will do to judge and redeem those that love Him on Yom Kippur.
The Spirit of The LORD revealed this to Paul and it rejects the liars at the Council of Nicaea. He wrote about it in his Roman letter:
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be!
Rather, let God be found true, though every man [be found] a liar, as it is written, "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED." Romans 3:1-4
It took awhile for me to realize all of The Lord's appointed times are for me too. After all that were declared in Scripture by El Shaddai's unchanging voice for both the native born and the sojourner with them.
Moses was the scribe, not the voice. The Torah is not the law of Moses, its The LORD's.
That fact takes no credit away from Moses as the first intercessor, after all despite his wrongdoings or his shyness and a likely self professed speech impediment, Moses was chosen as the scribe and spokesman by Almighty God as his life mission.
The scene and place was dramatic and awesome.
Moses was called in the wilderness at the burning bush, and he was called up at Mount Sinai into the smoke and fire. There, Moses wrote what he heard exactly as Elohim God The Father declared.
Those declarations include God's outline of forever appointments and times that I like to summarize as best I can:
Passover - Pesach represents death and blood shed that will lead to a new repentant sin-free life evidenced by the the resurrection day of First Fruits.
The Week of Unleavened Bread - Hag Hamatzot is the first week-long a lesson in righteousness. It symbolizes a decision to choose to follow God's instruction and remove sin, so that the God believer becomes a God follower ready for the Holy Spirit to dwell.
The Day of Pentecost - Shavuot stands apart on God's calendar as the day we get to count seven weeks to the 50th day in which The Father keeps His promise to pour out His Spirit.
The Day of Trumpets - Yom Teruah calls people to shout for The Lord and the return of Messiah King.
The Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur memorializes God's righteous judgment to come for those that Messiah shed His blood to cover sin and carry our iniquities away from the LORD's presence.
The Feast of Tabernacles - Sukkot is the week-long bookend celebration about The Kingdom of God.
The Last Great Day - Shemini Atzeret is the set apart eight day following the week of Tabernacles. It shows us the picture of eternal life and Almighty God dwelling with mankind as it was intended from the beginning.
The Shemittah - The Shemittah is the final year in God's seven-year cycle of debt forgiveness and land rest. Every seventh year, the people of Israel were instructed to forgive debts owed by fellow Israelites and not work the land to only harvest free-growing crops that The LORD provided.
The Jubilee - The Yovel literally means “the blast of a horn. ” It announces the end of the seventh sabbatical Shemittah year after seven cycles of seven Shemittah years. The count down is 49 years to the 50th year. The Jubilee year is a time of celebration and rejoicing because its the year of release from indebtedness, bondage. All prisoners are set free, all slaves released, all debts forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners. In addition, both the land and people are able to rest in The LORD.
Each of these appointments of The LORD gives us the outline glimpse of God's master plan.
They are the seasons in which our Creator instructs everyone that follows The LORD, whether native born or sojourner to take part of and take time away from our busy world of work to set apart time for The LORD.
His appointed days are a great blessing!
The appointments of The LORD are needless to say very special to our Heavenly Father. That's why they are called "holy" which means "set apart."
The appointments of The LORD are needless to say very special to our Heavenly Father. That's why they are called "holy" which means "set apart."
That's why I like to think of the "Feasts" as the "Feats" of The LORD.
They do not stand alone, "we get to" participate, and that requires a willing "I want to" heart.
They allow us to focus 100% on our Creator King and LORD God, to worship and to honor our Father and Creator. Like I said, they give us the outline picture of God's plan for your life now and into eternity.
You can find them in your Bible just like I did and make the right choice. They are summarized by Almighty God in the Leviticus 23 life lesson outline of God's Kingdom gospel plan.
Take note, whenever something is repeated in Scripture, you should know that what is repeated over and again is really important to The LORD. That's why The Feasts of The LORD are so important to participate in. The outline for the plan of God is repeated in Exodus 12, Exodus 34, Numbers 8, Numbers 29 and again in Deuteronomy 16 which is a part of Moses' final sermon series.
The Feasts are not done away with, they are intertwined throughout the so-called Newer Testament, but often forgotten by many believers of Yeshua (Jesus). They have NOT been set aside and they are NOT old and done away with.
Thank God they are not!!
The fact of the matter is that Yeshua's ministry including His death and resurrection zeroed in precisely on the Feast Day calendar of Almighty God.
The truth is the Easter bunny and the Christmas Santa Claus are part of the redemption plan or the resurrection glory story!
Many that ask what would Jesus do, miss the fact that the Scriptural references in The Torah are prophetic connections about the prophet like Moses described in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.
That portion of the Torah outlines Yeshua's ministry, it was His first trip assignment. Just like Moses there are two trips.
The prophetic themes are all there because God's plan has always had something amazing to declare about Yeshua of Nazareth.
If you'll read what Jesus did and said, you'll know that He declared something critical about prophets in Matthew 23:37 that links to the gospel of God reality about the second trip.
The LORD God gave His appointments to the world to show us King Messiah's role and to set the record straight on God's character including salvation, deliverance, redemption, mercy, lovingkindness, grace, and restoration described in the Torah after the Golden Calf sin.
That's why the Feasts of The Lord are woven from one end of the Bible to the other and embedded in the ministry of Yeshua of Nazareth on the first trip and the second trip to come as High Priest and King in the order of Melchizedek because The LORD will not change His mind. That order include the return and defeat of those that oppose Almighty God:
Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:17-18The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." Psalm 110:4Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God... Hebrews 5: 8-12
In the beginning of the Bible, Genesis sets forth the first Sabbath (Shabbat). It's in Genesis 2:1-3 and you may have missed it, but the end of Revelation reveals another Shabbat, it's called "the Last Great Day" (Hoshana Rabbah). It's in plain sight in Revelation 21 when the plan of God and His Feast day appointments with mankind will be fulfilled.
As noted above, God's holy appointments are so important that the design of the heavens above including the light of the sun and the moon as well as the solar system's orbits are set in place in the by the design of Almighty God to shine light on earth and to keep track of God's appointed days and years.
It's well worth repeating, this astronomical fact that kicked time as we know it in motion for God's plan is established in Genesis 1:14-15:
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
The problem I had for years is that I did not realize that the early English Bible translators did not render the basic Hebrew word mo'ed מוֹעֵד as "appointment."
Since the King James Bible uses the word seasons in Genesis 1:14, many like me thought the Bible was speaking about spring, summer, fall and winter as we missed out on God's big plan to give light to a dark world.
The mo'ed מוֹעֵד appointed time of The LORD is set on His calendar because our Heavenly Father has had a plan from the beginning to keep us from stumbling in the dark for ever.
Just take a look at how the Hebrew word "mo'ed" appears in these translations:
And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years... NIVThe NIV and Holman got it right because our Creator is the God of order, not confusion.
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years... NASB
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. Holman
What about the days and years? The LORD is laser focused on precise order, and the Bible outlines the Holy days in the Feasts of The LORD as well as very special years which are the Shemittah and the Jubilee.
As you can see and hear in the Hebrew Bible, a lot can be lost in translation. so it's critical to return to the Hebrew Bible if we want to know what God has to say to us about His gospel plan.
Elohim God set the timing and order of His redemption plan with His appointment calendar that is tied to the waxing and waning of the moon above our spinning Earth as we orbit the Sun. When you stop and think about that amazing and mind-bending fact, you must know that all of The LORD God's engagements are provided as His gift for mankind's redemption.
They are interconnected in the past, present and future of time that is literally seen in Heaven.
The sovereign majesty of it all is overwhelming. Once the truth is known...
How can we ever forget the appointments of The LORD?
The Lord's appointments are dimensional, like time they repeat in weekly, monthly and annual cycles as timeless reminders.
The reason Almighty God repeats important things in Scripture is because He made us and He knows how we learn, so I'll do the same here repeating over and again the awesome things I've learned from my Scripture studies.
The Lord's appointments are dimensional, like time they repeat in weekly, monthly and annual cycles as timeless reminders.
The reason Almighty God repeats important things in Scripture is because He made us and He knows how we learn, so I'll do the same here repeating over and again the awesome things I've learned from my Scripture studies.
Praise God these profoundly amazing appointments WERE NEVER done away with, no matter what we may have heard to the contrary from a new church tradition.
Thank God the earth is still spinning, the sun is still shining and the moon is still orbiting our planet so there's no jot or tittle that's been done away with and there's much more on the prophetic horizon in God's heavenly plan of Fall Feast appointments for God's relationship restoration plan with mankind that did not end at the cross, it began.
God keeps all of His appointments, past present and future because His will is to restore mankind to His image. That process starts with something you can do. You can honor His weekly Sabbath, when you do your eyes and heart will be opened.
Why on earth would you choose to miss out on your appointed Shabbat rest with the Almighty?
The so-called New Testament book of Hebrews tells us the Sabbath is an opportunity to be like our Creator and that remains true. This Hebrews fact has not changed one iota:
After all, the weekly Sabbath and the appointments of The LORD are Almighty God's holidays, Holy Days set in time by our Creator. It may surprise you, but that means that the Feasts of The Lord are actually not just Jewish, although many like me have thought of them in that way because faithful Jewish people have kept them ever since the Exodus.
The so-called New Testament book of Hebrews tells us the Sabbath is an opportunity to be like our Creator and that remains true. This Hebrews fact has not changed one iota:
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:9-10God's Sabbath appointment is a once a-week opportunity, take it.
After all, the weekly Sabbath and the appointments of The LORD are Almighty God's holidays, Holy Days set in time by our Creator. It may surprise you, but that means that the Feasts of The Lord are actually not just Jewish, although many like me have thought of them in that way because faithful Jewish people have kept them ever since the Exodus.
They are The Lord's appointments, and thank God faithful Jewish people are God Believers!
The amazing mo'ed witness of many Jewish faithful is a rock solid fact. They have held fast and bound themselves in good times and bad to honor God's word.
The amazing mo'ed witness of many Jewish faithful is a rock solid fact. They have held fast and bound themselves in good times and bad to honor God's word.
That faith fact is an amazing testimony to this form Jesus the Jew:
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. John 4:22Sadly, most Christians have ignored this and God's appointments, thinking they are just Jewish and that The LORD's days are old and done away with at the cross. That's a dark lie embedded in Replacement Theology.
Take a look at the words Moses recorded in Leviticus 23 and you will see that it is Almighty God that takes personal claim to His divine appointments. He calls them my appointed feasts:
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of THE LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my [moed] appointed feasts." Leviticus 23:2That means we all have an assignment if we are made by our Creator.
It's an honor, a privilege to proclaim them and participate in them set apart, holy convocations... they are God appointments. Do you want to miss another appointment with God?
Our Creator starts with His weekly Sabbath rest no matter who we are, native born or foreigner:
If you want get closer to God, change your schedule and align with God's appointments.
I've already alluded to it, but when we reconsider the term "Feast Days," the olde English word "feast" can seem a bit confusing. After all, the Hebrew word in the Bible is "Moed" and that word means "appointed time." It's greater than any appointment you put on your calendar, this is much bigger, it's God's appointment.
Almighty God put His appointments on His calendar in the life giving invitation is yours to join Him.
When you have an appointment you can't miss, you'll write it down in advance and you will plan and prepare for it. God does the same and you don't want to miss out on any of His plans for your life. Not only that, these days are set apart as the outline of God's redemption plan for mankind!
Abba Father Y-H-V-H has appointed His times and seasons and planned them since the days of creation. They are the specific days God embedded in creation and on His calendar to meet with mankind to engage His seven-step salvation plan for the planet and the people on it.
For that reason, God tells the world through Moses that His appointments are to be observed and kept at specific times and seasons.
There is an amazing prophetic significance of each appointed day of rest in the schedule on God's calendar. The key is that His mercy, grace and lovingkindness is revealed through them and that is the story I pray you will find in here. The Moed make up God's prophetic outline and calnedar for the redemptive work of the Messiah.
Our Creator starts with His weekly Sabbath rest no matter who we are, native born or foreigner:
"Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places." Leviticus 23:3Isaiah was given some special words of promise about this last weekday that can apply to you:
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LordDid you notice, the house of prayer if not Jewish either, it is a house call for "all nations." If you say you love The Lord, ask yourself a question. Do you want to serve Him and hold fast to His covenant and receive blessings of joy?
to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.” Isaiah 56:6-7
If you want get closer to God, change your schedule and align with God's appointments.
I've already alluded to it, but when we reconsider the term "Feast Days," the olde English word "feast" can seem a bit confusing. After all, the Hebrew word in the Bible is "Moed" and that word means "appointed time." It's greater than any appointment you put on your calendar, this is much bigger, it's God's appointment.
Almighty God put His appointments on His calendar in the life giving invitation is yours to join Him.
When you have an appointment you can't miss, you'll write it down in advance and you will plan and prepare for it. God does the same and you don't want to miss out on any of His plans for your life. Not only that, these days are set apart as the outline of God's redemption plan for mankind!
Abba Father Y-H-V-H has appointed His times and seasons and planned them since the days of creation. They are the specific days God embedded in creation and on His calendar to meet with mankind to engage His seven-step salvation plan for the planet and the people on it.
For that reason, God tells the world through Moses that His appointments are to be observed and kept at specific times and seasons.
There is an amazing prophetic significance of each appointed day of rest in the schedule on God's calendar. The key is that His mercy, grace and lovingkindness is revealed through them and that is the story I pray you will find in here. The Moed make up God's prophetic outline and calnedar for the redemptive work of the Messiah.
They show substitution, intercession and restoration.
If we would just honor these days as we are told to do by our Heavenly Abba Father, it will become incredible clear how Almighty God’s plan can make a big difference in our walk and relationship with Him and others. Those others include the Jewish people, our brothers and sister's that believe what God meant what He said when He said honor these appointments.
If we would just honor these days as we are told to do by our Heavenly Abba Father, it will become incredible clear how Almighty God’s plan can make a big difference in our walk and relationship with Him and others. Those others include the Jewish people, our brothers and sister's that believe what God meant what He said when He said honor these appointments.
Simply put, they believe God.
The Bible shows us Almighty God likes math too. He uses the number seven to point us back to Him. It is the focus of His weekly Sabbath on the seventh day of each week and seven is woven in the feast of Shavuot, the Moed many call Pentecost that arrives seven weeks after Passover. It is the second of the three festival days of joy to be spent in Jerusalem. It the big day Jesus told the disciples to be sure to not miss and be in Jerusalem to receive the outpouring of God's Spirit!
There is a Heavenly plan connection to the seven Moed of the Lord. The Spring Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days and the Fall Feasts conclude with another seven day Feast called Sukkot.
The Bible shows us Almighty God likes math too. He uses the number seven to point us back to Him. It is the focus of His weekly Sabbath on the seventh day of each week and seven is woven in the feast of Shavuot, the Moed many call Pentecost that arrives seven weeks after Passover. It is the second of the three festival days of joy to be spent in Jerusalem. It the big day Jesus told the disciples to be sure to not miss and be in Jerusalem to receive the outpouring of God's Spirit!
There is a Heavenly plan connection to the seven Moed of the Lord. The Spring Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days and the Fall Feasts conclude with another seven day Feast called Sukkot.
They work like Feast Week bookends to God's big plan.
The seventh Biblical Feast stands out big time because it is the grand finale of the annual appointments of the Lord that outline the redemption plan for humanity and there's an eighth day appendix to that final chapter called Shemini Atzeret, which is a separate holiday noted in Leviticus 23;36 representing the new heavens and the new earth first noted by Isaiah:
The seventh Biblical Feast stands out big time because it is the grand finale of the annual appointments of the Lord that outline the redemption plan for humanity and there's an eighth day appendix to that final chapter called Shemini Atzeret, which is a separate holiday noted in Leviticus 23;36 representing the new heavens and the new earth first noted by Isaiah:
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. Isaiah 65:17For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2Peter 3:13Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Revelation 21:1
Not only that, God teaches that every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, a Shemittah and after seven Sabbatical years, the restitution, restoration and redemption year 50 of Jubilee arrives. You can read all about that mostly forgotten year in the prophetic picture given in Leviticus 25.
When you see the Moed outline in God's restoration plan for the planet, you have to realize you "GET TO" participate in them and praise God for the gift of the appointed Feasts of The Lord.
For that reason, they were never optional for Jesus.
For that reason, they were never optional for Jesus.
So, it time to do what Jesus did.
Get in sync with our Creator's plan, each Moed is a big part of the plan.
Oh sure, you may be like me. You may have missed prior appointments with The Lord in the past, perhaps not knowing much about them while ignoring the front of the Bible like I once did, or perhaps innocently thinking they were only for Jewish people, not knowing that they belong to The Lord God Creator of the Universe. The good news is, if you seek truth its not too late to make your next appointment.
Get in sync with our Creator's plan, each Moed is a big part of the plan.
Oh sure, you may be like me. You may have missed prior appointments with The Lord in the past, perhaps not knowing much about them while ignoring the front of the Bible like I once did, or perhaps innocently thinking they were only for Jewish people, not knowing that they belong to The Lord God Creator of the Universe. The good news is, if you seek truth its not too late to make your next appointment.
Ask yourself, do you want to continue to miss God's appointments and redemption celebrations?
I vote no, Heaven forbid, instead choose to join The LORD at the times He has set aside because we get to choose to be a part of the Bible and God's gospel plan.
We've already seen Almighty God, the Creator embedded His appointments and seasons at creation and its well worth repeating:
I vote no, Heaven forbid, instead choose to join The LORD at the times He has set aside because we get to choose to be a part of the Bible and God's gospel plan.
We've already seen Almighty God, the Creator embedded His appointments and seasons at creation and its well worth repeating:
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons [moedim] and for days and years..." Genesis 1:14King David declared the lights of Heaven that shine on earth mark the moed [appointments] of God:
He made the moon for the seasons [moedim];Almighty God integrated creation with His set-apart appointments as a set-apart privileged time for all Bible believers.
The sun knows the place of its setting. Psalm 104:19
The appointed seasons are those times that He chose to extend an invitation to His lovingkindness, grace and mercy.
Thats's why they are seasons of joy and celebration for a troubled world to repent and be redeemed.
They unwind the iniquity condition that began in Eden and thankfully faithful Jewish people are still shining their light to the world about them, so pay attention, Jesus is Jewish for a reason.
To top off the appointments, Almighty God set aside three of them as pilgrimage Festivals in Jerusalem at the center of the homeland of the Jewish people. These are VERY special times. They are the "big three" and they are all about celebrating Messiah Yeshua, the Jewish messenger, the prophet promised to Moses:
If you consider yourself a Christian, one that does what Jesus did, imagine for a moment what you'd be called
if Jesus the Jew missed out on His
Passover appointment in Jerusalem?
You could not call yourself a Christian, you'd likely be a pagan. Thank goodness the first disciples and Jesus were Jewish!
And thank God, Jesus and His disciples kept the Feasts of The Lord.
To top off the appointments, Almighty God set aside three of them as pilgrimage Festivals in Jerusalem at the center of the homeland of the Jewish people. These are VERY special times. They are the "big three" and they are all about celebrating Messiah Yeshua, the Jewish messenger, the prophet promised to Moses:
“Behold, I send an angel [messenger] before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." Exodus 23:20-22
You could not call yourself a Christian, you'd likely be a pagan. Thank goodness the first disciples and Jesus were Jewish!
And thank God, Jesus and His disciples kept the Feasts of The Lord.
Had Jesus ignored God's instruction on Passover, He would have never given His life blood as the sinless, Passover lamb offering that was nailed to the wood of the tree and lifted up over Jerusalem for the sins of the world.
Had the Jewish people not been in Jerusalem at Passover and during the following week of Unleavened Bread neither would Jesus, after all He is a Jew.
Without keeping Passover, Jesus would have never laid in the grave three days during the week of Hag HaMatzot (Unleavened Bread) and most certainly He would not have been resurrected in glory on the appointed Day of Yom Bikkurim (First Fruits) by Almighty God to overcome the penalty for death's iniquity brought on mankind by Adam and Eve's choice of betrayal to believe a deception in Eden with the tare of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Without keeping Passover, Jesus would have never laid in the grave three days during the week of Hag HaMatzot (Unleavened Bread) and most certainly He would not have been resurrected in glory on the appointed Day of Yom Bikkurim (First Fruits) by Almighty God to overcome the penalty for death's iniquity brought on mankind by Adam and Eve's choice of betrayal to believe a deception in Eden with the tare of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Yeshua's victory over death by Almighty God's power in resurrection to the freedom of eternal life would not exist without Passover. Christianity would not exist. You could not call yourself a Christian.
Folks it's not Easter for Heaven's sake. Yeshua was in that for grave three days not two fulfilling the sign of Jonah just as He promised. Believe it or not, good Friday does not fit in on God's calendar. Yeshua had to finish the transgression with righteousness and put an end to sin and atone for our iniquity.
That's what Daniel 9:24 is all about. It's the prophecy of that Unleavened Bread week and it points forward to the Fall Feast of Yom Kippur when the iniquity of sin will be done away with in God's good judgment once and for all.
Without Yeshua's work during the Lord's Spring Feasts, there would be no journey for Paul the "apostle" and no new life resurrection promise described in Daniel 12:2 and Revelation 20:6, and no need for the Messiah to serve and return as Priest King to complete the Yom Kippur assignment.
Without Yeshua's work during the Lord's Spring Feasts, there would be no journey for Paul the "apostle" and no new life resurrection promise described in Daniel 12:2 and Revelation 20:6, and no need for the Messiah to serve and return as Priest King to complete the Yom Kippur assignment.
The cross was not the end.
If we think the Torah was hung on the cross we miss the Gospel message in Leviticus. There we learn that sacrifice is not the death. The sacrifice is the blood offering before the presence of The LORD, the death is before the offering of atonement outside the Tabernacle.
By the quickening miracle life giving power of our Creator God, Yeshua lives in resurrection power and He has overcome the death of Adam and lives interceding as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek just as the book of Hebrews describes.
He kept and is keeping the Torah of God, in the High Priestly duty and privilege to enter the Holy of Holies of Heaven to expiate sins of the people of Israel wearing only white linen garments, forgoing the the elaborate priestly vestments just as Stephen saw him as Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary on High standing before the very Divine Throne of Glory:
"But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56
Nothing in His life was or is Torah-less. His death by Rome's guard occurred just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem, but the enemy's death plot failed in God's perfect plan carried out in the First Fruits' power of resurrection to eternal life given to Messiah Yeshua by Almighty God on the 3rd day. On the 40th day of the Omer count He ascended to the Heavenly throne room of the most Holy of Holies now interceding as High Priest King in the order of Melchizedek attaining for sin and he will return just as David declared in Psalm 110 as King and High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.
Jesus did not come to start a new religion or change God's calendar to a new Sabbath. Think about that and this...
What if His disciples had elected to do their own thing and not keep the appointed Feast Day of Shavuot described in Acts 1?
They would have missed one of the most profound days in history, a day that started at Sinai with the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Had the disciples Jesus thought Jesus did away with the Torah on the cross, they would have not obeyed the Biblical instruction to be in Jerusalem just as God intended. They could have left the city and missed the appointed day when Almighty God sent His Holy, Set Apart Spirit to come down on them like fire in Jerusalem.
They would have never had the ability to spread the word in languages they did not know or do the healing miracles described about their good deeds in the book of Acts. Had they not been present in real time in Jerusalem at the Lord's (Pentecost) appointment, perhaps no one would remember what really happened some 2,000 years ago.
The gospel of the restoration of The Kingdom on this planet would have never spread across the globe like a wildfire. The Gentile world could have destroyed itself, lost in idol paganism without men empowered by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.
Had faithful Jewish men and women not obeyed Yeshua's admonition to be faithful to the eternal, unchanging instruction of God 2,000 years ago, they would missed the cloud of glory and not seen Yeshua as He ascended to the right hand of God on the 40th day of the Omer count up to Shavuot.
What if His disciples had elected to do their own thing and not keep the appointed Feast Day of Shavuot described in Acts 1?
They would have missed one of the most profound days in history, a day that started at Sinai with the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Had the disciples Jesus thought Jesus did away with the Torah on the cross, they would have not obeyed the Biblical instruction to be in Jerusalem just as God intended. They could have left the city and missed the appointed day when Almighty God sent His Holy, Set Apart Spirit to come down on them like fire in Jerusalem.
They would have never had the ability to spread the word in languages they did not know or do the healing miracles described about their good deeds in the book of Acts. Had they not been present in real time in Jerusalem at the Lord's (Pentecost) appointment, perhaps no one would remember what really happened some 2,000 years ago.
The gospel of the restoration of The Kingdom on this planet would have never spread across the globe like a wildfire. The Gentile world could have destroyed itself, lost in idol paganism without men empowered by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.
Had faithful Jewish men and women not obeyed Yeshua's admonition to be faithful to the eternal, unchanging instruction of God 2,000 years ago, they would missed the cloud of glory and not seen Yeshua as He ascended to the right hand of God on the 40th day of the Omer count up to Shavuot.
The term we call Christian that means follower of Messiah would not exist.
Now the big question: do we really follow Him? I ask because repentance and the gospel of The Kingdom of God that Yeshua preached about is not new, it's a return.
Now the big question: do we really follow Him? I ask because repentance and the gospel of The Kingdom of God that Yeshua preached about is not new, it's a return.
Thank God, the disciples followed the Torah instruction which was Yeshua's continual admonition to repent and obey the written Word of God. After all, He said it was written about Him (John 5:46-47).
Praise God, those Jewish men and women honored and kept the pilgrim festival of Shavuot (Pentecost).
They stayed the course and went to the place that God had chosen to place His name and reputation for redemption. That's the Temple Mount. There they did is what Yeshua said:
If the disciples had not honored the appointed time of The Lord, then everything they learned from Jesus may had faded away and been lost in the dust of history, Christianity would be meaningless. They would NOT have been at the right place at the right time, they would have missed the gifts bestoyed from God from the former rain of the Ruach Spirit fire falling on them. Without that, the gospel writings we have today would have never been written and the resurrection likely forgotten.
If you call yourself a Believer, do what you believe.
Do you believe that you need to be in the right place, at the right time honoring God's teaching and instruction on His appointed Feast Days?
It's time for a new heart just as Jeremiah 31:31 describes. Think about this too, our Almighty Creator God does not run the universe by a Roman calendar or Pope Gregory's either, so its time to re-calibrate your appointments that align with The Lord's.
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about."Do you understand what you just read?
If the disciples had not honored the appointed time of The Lord, then everything they learned from Jesus may had faded away and been lost in the dust of history, Christianity would be meaningless. They would NOT have been at the right place at the right time, they would have missed the gifts bestoyed from God from the former rain of the Ruach Spirit fire falling on them. Without that, the gospel writings we have today would have never been written and the resurrection likely forgotten.
If you call yourself a Believer, do what you believe.
Do you believe that you need to be in the right place, at the right time honoring God's teaching and instruction on His appointed Feast Days?
It's time for a new heart just as Jeremiah 31:31 describes. Think about this too, our Almighty Creator God does not run the universe by a Roman calendar or Pope Gregory's either, so its time to re-calibrate your appointments that align with The Lord's.
It's time to make an appointment with your Maker.
There's more to come: there's a big day declared by the Prophets of the Bible is called THE DAY OF THE LORD.
You may have noticed that the book of Revelation zeroes in on seven trumpet events! That's there for a reason, a good reason to point us right to the season. The trumpet scenes John describes point us up to the Day of Trumpets and the ten days of awe leading up to the Yom Kippur's white throne judgment followed by the celebration Feast of Tabernacles.
Yes, Jesus is a Jew and His Hebrew name is Yeshua. He is the King of the Jews, and He can be your King too if your a sojourner. Spread the good word and profess Him to others. If you follow Him, you can walk as He did following Him in The Father's instruction of celebrating His Feasts.
If you are as Paul says, "grafted in by faith" as a former Gentile into God's faithful family, the body of people the Father calls Israel, you are no longer a stranger or Gentile with an identity crisis about the Feasts because God's Holy appointments are for you.
Bottomline, our old customs need to change, we need to repent because new church holidays like Easter and Christmas are not a celebration of the holy days The LORD calls His own. Our ways, our customs and traditions are not His ways. Not even close, they are counterfeit, they look real like a tare that hides in the wheat, but they are nowhere in the Bible that Jesus read and taught.
It was mind-bending, no heartbreaking for me to come to the sense of reality that The LORD's Feasts were not my own because I had unwittingly disowned them. I now know the truth as fact: non-Biblical traditions and customs "appointed by men" trouble Almighty God deeply and they should trouble us as well. How do we know?
Our Creator God says so:
"... your appointed feasts my soul hateth:
they are a trouble unto me
I am weary to hear them." Isaiah 1:14
The LORD's Feast Days are important to our Heavenly Father, because they are His. So much so He designed the solar system to declare them like a master timepiece.
Our traditions and customs distort God's purpose in His Feasts, so we need to be like king Hezekiah. If we will read 2 Kings 18:4 you will see that king Hezekiah knew what to do about improper worship: he removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah trees. You can too.
The book of life, the Bible is the good book Almighty God declares from Genesis to Revelation to reveal His love story and His plan for His appointments with mankind is outlined for His royal priesthood in Leviticus 23. Read and study it and you will discover every Feast is critically important in God's plan of redemption!
The King James translators called God's set apart days "Feasts" but as we have seen, the Hebrew word in the Bible is actually "moed." It means "appointed time." That Hebrew word is important, it adds clarity to God's calendar because the Feasts of The LORD are God's appointments and we get to rehearse them!
The King James translators also used the word "solemn" to describe the Feasts of The LORD and that can be confusing too in our "western" mindset. The truth is, the olde English word "solemn" did not just mean serious as it does today. When the King James Bible was written they got it right. At the time, the word actually meant "regularly appointed" and that means God's appointments do not change.
Mind blowing??
Yes, but don't let the truth discourage you! It should encourage you because the good news is that each of God's holy appointed, set-apart regularly appointed "moed" days on God's calendar have tremendous significance in His plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for you, me and the planet if we just believe The LORD and do something in faith and action about that belief.
Think of the Feasts as God's perfect plan that you can be a part of, right now. Don't be discouraged that you have not known the truth or believed a lie.
Every "believer" I know says they want to know God's plan for their life. If that describes you, a good place to begin that journey of discovery the royal priesthood (1Peter 2:9-10) is to start with the Creator's appointment calendar.
That place is in the assembly on His appointed days, because we do not want to miss His glory fire and His good Spirit. Shavuot is the holiday connecting the beginning from the end and it shows us we are to teach everyone its lesson, to observe "all things" and that includes The LORD's Feast Days.
Like Yeshua we are to "disciple" others in the appointments of our Holy God so I am glad you are here today. If you doubt the Jesus assignment, you are not alone, others have doubted before, including me:
If we continue to stubbornly go our own way on a wide road and miss God's appointed times on the narrow road, we will miss a great blessing of the Bible and its amazing plan and promise.
Think of the Feasts (appointments) as the blueprint of God's redemption plan. Be a part of the plan.
As the Bible shows us, God's great plan has an outline in Leviticus. It includes God's key engagements, seven divine appointments established at Mount Sinai pointing to the Gospel promise of The Kingdom of God. They lead to the final appointment for mankind to meet with The King of the Universe. To understand that we need to reconnect with God's calendar, and not miss any of His rehearsals or we will end of like the five virgins with no oil and miss the wedding party.
When we take them to heart, we can understand the Feasts of The LORD are His appointments, when we take them to heart you will never want to miss them again if you love Him!
If they are done away with as so many have said, the future will be pretty bleak, but it's not. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the good news for a reason and a season.
One big key that helped me get a 'heart' handle on The Feasts of The LORD was to begin to understand that God gives us His teaching and instruction (Torah) for living because He loves us as our Heavenly Father.
The Father wants you to know His unchanging plan and His unchanging heart. He wants you to understand His unchanging plan. That is the baseline, like Nehemiah said: "you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love..."
When we "get it" the truth reveals that the Feasts of The LORD teach us about His abounding steadfast love, and we can finally know that the "change" needed is the change you and I need to make on our calendar because we "want to" return to "the faith which was once delivered" because we get to.
The Almighty is the King of the uni"verse" and He uses each letter and verse of His Word as a part of a steadfast love message to teach us when and how to hang out with Him and how to rest in Him.
That's why they are called appointments of The LORD.
Yeshua said: "my yoke is easy". His light yoke is the same instruction given at Mount Sinai. It is shown to us as the way we get live if we love Him and desire to be near to The Father. And get this... it includes with a vacation plan from work so mark your calendar now. Yup, the Feast Days give us guidance, they are the days God gives us to be off from the difficult labors of life, a time to rest in Him, a time to celebrate and rejuvenate in God's plan.
It's the original message of the deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that lie any longer!
I know this study may seem a bit long, but it only scratches the surface on the significance and meaning of God's prophetic, rehearsal days for His appointment time with you and there is much more to discover about His desire to forgive, be gracious and merciful, slow to anger and demonstrate His abounding in steadfast love.
The purpose of this Scripture study is to help you leave Egypt and get started in your own journey with Messiah into a restoration life into the Kingdom.
God knows we are only human, He know we need rehearsal, it takes practice to prepare.
That's why its up to you to participate in the rehearsals. Honor the festivals if you love The LORD because God will keep His appointments whether you are there or not. So keep digging in and learn to love to honor The Father. It's your purpose for life, just like Messiah.
If you have a heartfelt desire to learn more about your Creator God and His plan, to know His heart, that is probably why you are here today. Consider this prophecy that was foretold by God to Zephaniah:
The Feast seasons are all synchronized with God's calendar by God's timepiece. Its big hand uses the moon. The 'new moon' marks the first day of each Biblical month's counting. The Psalms teach us all about this truth:
All of the prophetic days in the time prophecies of Scripture, including those in the book of Daniel and Revelation will occur in the days set according to God's creation calendar. Not a single time or date mentioned in any Scripture is set by our own calendar! To know what God is up to, get in sync with God's daytimer.
Yet, the "deceiver" has another plan to erase all memory of God's Feasts and His appointment calendar from the minds and hearts of Believers that have heard a false testimony. In fact, many of us have shunned away from even looking up because the "deceiver" has polluted God's plan with the deceptive lies of astrology.
God hates astrology, but He created astronomy and He uses the Heavens to mark time for His Feast Days.
Interestingly, the Falls Feasts begin with Yom Teruah (Tĕruw`ah in Hebrew), the day of shouting or Trumpets Day in the 7th month. Tishrei always starts on a 'new moon'... always has, always will. The Bible calls each monthly new moon day a 'Rosh Kodesh' day. Since creation, the arrival of the "Day of Trumpets" has been set in Heaven above as a Rosh Kodesh new moon day and because of that it is referenced as the day that: "no man knows the day or hour."
Those words are from Matthew 24:36. They were well know in His day, but made famous by none other than the humble Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) when he spoke of a future Day of Trumpets that will announce His return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The King.
As you can see, there is a lot more going on than you ever expected in the Fall Feasts.
Why did Jesus say it would be a day no man knows?
Hold on to your hat, because for starters, Trumpets or Yom Teruah is the only holy appointed Feast Day of The LORD that arrives without a specific marker. It only arrives when you see it in the darkness of a new moon on the first day of the 7th month now called Tishre.
In antiquity, this new moon "day" was never precisely known until you actually saw it with your own eyes or heard the trumpet blast of someone that did. Think about that for a minute, and take off your Greek glasses and put in your Hebrew lens before you read on.
Ready?
OK, here's what's up, the 'Hebraic' thought behind Yeshua's statement is really amazing, but it does not fit in well with our western world of Greek thinking that says "we just can't know." The fact is we can. That's why Paul wrote: "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
The new moon is the period of a dark or invisible moon as it sneaks up on you like a theif in the night as it transitions in its monthly cycle. That's a part of the mystery key. To understand, we have to look up to God's creation. Imagine that!
Today in 2011, thanks to NASA's computers and engineers, we now know with some precision that the calendar during this month potentially has two days in which the moon will be unlit by the sun in darkness as it transitions in new light to the third day.
By the way, does the lunar pattern sound like a prophetic message to any Bible students out there?
It is. It's a remembrance etched in creation of the 3rd day resurrection of Messiah and His return to life from the darkness of death after 2 days!! And regarding the two days, they are also a reference to the prophecy of Hosea 6:3 as well as Psalms 90:4.
Check it out! The disciple Peter validated this in 2Peter 3:8 2,000 years ago form the book of Psalms:
So if you consider it, the Trumpet's Day appointed arrival time is really only "known" with the actual sighting of the sliver of the new moon.
Simply put, within God's "purpose" in His creation design and by His own declaration, this Feast Day is not really "known" until it is seen - when the day and hour is "confirmed" (and known). But we can learn how to watch for it, we can learn how to prepare, and to do that we get to honor the annual Feast of Trumpets in the month of Tishre. After all, until Yeshua does return, it's a rehearsal.
When you consider the moon's location during the day, we can know it also affects our ability to see its crescent light. The ancient message that the day and hour is "unknown" becomes clearer and it points right at Trumpets Day, the day of shouting. One thing is sure, God knows which future Trumpet's day will be "the coming day" of The King's trumpet blast, the announcement of Yeshua's return.
In Matthew 24 Yeshua privately said as He spoke to His talmidim (disciples) sitting on the Mount of Olives…
The account of Chronicles gives us a picture of the seventh month that begins with Yom Teruah.
Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Check out David’s song in 1 Chronicles 16.
"After that day Nathan was told to tell David that the promised kingdom household would be built by God. (Chapter 17).
We need to know them to understand God's plan for "the" fulfillment of His appointed Fall Feast days that start with the Day of Trumpets and declare the end (Fall) harvest of things "not yet done" to accomplish His purpose from the beginning to the end.
Check out Nehemiah 6. There you will read about the restoration of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was prophetically restored on Elul 25.
Many believe that Elul 25 was also the day that God began His creation week and if we believe that report, it means the wall was finished the day after Trumpets just as Adam was created on the 6th day, another Day of Trumpets arrival day.
Not only that, but through the centuries, Trumpets (Yom Teruah) has been traditionally called a “day of blowing” and for good reason, it's the day the Almighty blew the quickening breath of His Spirit of life into Adam. It's amazing to consider that nickname, a “day of blowing” because Adam was given life by God’s blowing into the dust of Adam on Trumpets Day, the 'memorial day of blowing'. It was a day of shouting... perhaps the same day... "God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
The great promise of Jesus given by Daniel is that He will give renewed life, resurrection to those in the dust at His return.
Yes, the Fall Feast days are awesome!
From my Scripture studies, I have learned that God's calendar is based on both the moon and the sun is it is quite different from the singular solar calendar that we have grown up with. God's calendar began with His creation. In God's timekeeping, each month is marked by the moon, each day is marked by the setting sun and each week by the Sabbath. Every day begins at sunset instead of midnight as each day by our Creator's own definition, continues through the night to the next day's evening sunset.
How do we know this about the day? One more time...
Let it sink in, "creation" began before there was light and before light there is darkness. God does not change, so it is the same with His definition of a day. It has never changed, not does He.
To understand Scripture, and the Feast Days, we just need to start thinking like God does since "the beginning." The light of the 'final' day will be preceded by darkness and tribulation like the waters and void before the first day, but the good news is, the Light of The World is coming on the seventh day!
In the same way, each week is always counted with the seven days given to us by God on His Biblical calendar and each week ends on His 7th Sabbath day of rest. The week ends with the Sabbath it does not begin there!
We are not given details in the Biblical record, but that fast to honor and give thanks for the firstborn is still a Jewish tradition.
Reference to it can be found in the Talmud in Soferim 21:3.
We do not know if that tradition is a part of the backstory to Last Supper, but we can know Jesus didn't start a new religion tradition with a eucharist wafer of bread and wine called communion. By the way, the word eucharist actually comes from the Greek word that means to give thanks, it's not a part of a mass.
After the wine was shared at Passover, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. It seems likely that their song was the historic Jewish Hallel known as the Psalms of Praise. The Hallel is the the singing of Psalms 113-118 and it has a very long Jewish tradition. It is also called the "Egyptian Hallel" for good reason. The record of their singing is found in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.
We have much to be grateful to the Jewish people and Jesus is the first in line. It is obvious that during Passover each year we can partake of the unleavened bread matzos, representing the unleavened Messiah without sin as well as the cup of blessing red wine representing His shed blood as our Passover lamb that is described in 1 Corinthians 5:7.
There's a deeper story behind these words: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Exodus 20:12
The promise of prolonging days in the Promised Land is a prophetic promise from God, a teaching of resurrection and eternal life in God's Kingdom.
Elohim God the Father tells us how to honor Him, we all get a day of to do no labor's work on His annual appointed days. Among other verses about this read what He has to say in Leviticus 23:7; Leviticus 23:8; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:25; Leviticus 23:28; Leviticus 23:35 ; Leviticus 23:36 and Leviticus 23:39.
It is critically important to know that in the Biblical seventh month, exactly ten days after Yom Teruah or Trumpets Day, the holiest of all days arrives. It is Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements is to be honored with a fast, it is not a day to feast. This "Day" is significant because Yom Kippurim or coverings is synonymous with "atonements" the great gift of God that cannot be earned, only received as a gift of His mercy and grace.
Jewish scholars believe the Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements in the 10th of Tishri marks the day Moses carried down the second set of Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai following the golden calf crime after Shavuot. The first set of stones are thought to have been written by God's hand on Shavuot fifty days after the Passover Exodus from Egypt. The Rabbi's also believe this shows how God judged 3,000 and then forgave the purposeful sin of image idolatry against God.
The atonement "covering" message of Yom Kippurim can be seen when Moses made his final trip down Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets and a message of forgiveness and mercy for the sin of the Golden Calf. With that we can truly begin to understand that mercy and grace abound within the heart of the Torah.
Before the smoke clears the message of Yom Kippur aka the day of Atonement, check out the front of the Bible. There, you'll find the Acharei Mot scroll portion that describes Aaron's Yom Kippur 'mystery' assignment in Leviticus 16:12-13. It's about Aaron's job to fill the room with smoke at Yom Kippur.
The thing is Aaron's incense fire and smoke assignment was a rehearsal.
In the Acharei Mot portion of the Torah scroll, Aaron was given instruction from God through Moses so that he could come into the Most Holy Place and not die before God's consuming glory.
Aaron was told he had to take a pan of glowing coals from the altar of incense and two handfuls of sweet incense and put it on the fire at the incense altar while standing in front of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. In that way, the smoke from the incense would cover the Mercy Seat above the Ark of the Covenant and keep God from his view, protecting Aaron from God's consuming fire glory.
After all, no one with sin can look at God and live. The incense was the original smoke screen and it likely protected Aaron.
If we check out the back of the book, we can see breaking the 7th Seal reveals the ultimate Yom Kippur assignment described in Acharei Mot:
Had Aaron forgot the little detail of the incense, he would have been toast. Remember...
Remember, Yom Kippur and Acharei Mot will come to pass.
You should search the Scriptures for yourself on the key word "trumpet" or "trumpets".
Yeshua was teaching on what is boldly proclaimed in Zechariah:
Yom Teruah is a BIG day reserved for the new moon day of the seventh Biblical month.
Yom Kippur is HUGE in Almighty God's Gospel plan.
There's more to come: there's a big day declared by the Prophets of the Bible is called THE DAY OF THE LORD.
It starts with Trumpets Day and leads up to the appointed High Holy Day of the Lord which is the Day of Atonement to cleanse mankind from the iniquity sin condition of death that began in the garden. The day to come is for both native born and sojourner. Read it for yourself, that's the one reason God gave for Yom Kippur, the day of the last trumpet. You can read all about it in Leviticus 16:29-30:
"And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever."
It is announced ten days earlier by Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets).
Yom Teruah is a very BIG deal.
Today, many call it Rosh Hashanah, meaning the beginning of a new year. It is the first day of the 7th month called Tishrei and according to an old rabbinic tradition, it's the day God leaves the Mercy Seat and heads for the Judgment Seat.
Although the tradition of a Jewish new year beginning on Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of Tishrei, this month is actually the seventh month after the first according to God's voice and the written record of Scripture. The first month is Abib, which has been called Nisan since the Babylonian exile.
“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you." Exodus 12:2
Abib is the month in which the Passover (Pesach) falls on the evening of the 14th day. In this manner, the Biblical year of God's cycle of appointed Feasts is set apart as the plan with Almighty God’s great redemptive act that began with the Exodus from Egypt's slavery and oppression that opened the door for the latter day redemption of all the nations of the world led by Messiah. He is the root of Jesse standard to gather those that seek to walk in God's ways just as Moses led the way in the first Exodus. Isaiah the prophet records God's voice on this:
"Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. ... And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. ... Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. ... And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isaiah 2:2, Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:12 NASB95
From the evening sunset that starts the shofar blasts of Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur, Jewish tradition also marks those ten days with prayers of repentance known as selichot. They are called the ten days of awe because they are awesome.
The Bible does not use the name Rosh Hashanah or make note any of its Jewish traditions. The Scriptures declare the day simply as the first day of the seventh month. The first day of each Biblical month is why God set apart every Rosh Kodesh new moon day. He did it so we would never lose count of God's schedule for the plan of redemption and restoration of His Kingdom on earth.
The seventh month count is forever tied back to the Passover exodus from Egypt in the spring in the beginning of months. Following God’s calendar appointments, if we just count each month from Passover to seven like any child can, we count to the seventh month and the announcement of the Rosh Kodesh arrival day of The High Priest King Messiah Yeshua.
Know it or not, Almighty God set the first day of each month in synchronization with the moon so everyone on the planet could literally see His plan unfold in Heaven. All we have to do is look up as a witness to each Rosh Kodesh evening that is set apart (holy) as a special holiday (no work day).
On the 7th month, the shouting and the sound of shofar trumpets must be heard. That's the declaration of Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 10:10 and Numbers 29:1.
You may have noticed that the book of Revelation zeroes in on seven trumpet events! That's there for a reason, a good reason to point us right to the season. The trumpet scenes John describes point us up to the Day of Trumpets and the ten days of awe leading up to the Yom Kippur's white throne judgment followed by the celebration Feast of Tabernacles.
Most that read the book of Revelation miss the fact that it describes the Fall Feasts and zeros in on Yom Kippur.
The fact is Revelation follows the order of the Torah portion known as Acharei Mot which big surprise means "After the Death." Acharei Mot is found in Leviticus 16:1-18:30. It's there that the holiest day, Yom Kippur is placed in the Torah in the middle of the description of the profane. In doing so The LORD God not only informs His people what is right and wrong, but Almighty God gives us the reasons to resist sin, be patient and overcome.
Revelation does the same thing showing us why Yom Kippur and what follows is the goal of everyone who believes.
Because of the error of replacement theology many people have inherited lies and believe that Yom Kippur is just an old Jewish holiday. They are missing the forest for the trees. It's not true, Yom Kippur is for all God believers, always has been always will be because God does not change.
Christians must not assume that just because one law (the law of death) was conquered by Yeshua's death and resurrection, the teachings in the Torah's constitution of life that He taught have been done away with at the cross. Yeshua-Jesus tells everyone if that were the case then planet earth, indeed the universe would implode according to the Sermon on the Mount. (see Matthew 5:17-19).
The disciple John's prophetic Revelation vision graphically portrays the week-long celebration after Yom Kippur, it's called Sukkot or Tabernacles. It's the ingathering celebration of joy called the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19:6-10. And hidden in plain sight, Revelation ends with the graphic picture of Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of the assembly of God's people revealed in Revelation 21-22.
In Scripture, numbers are important and seven is the number representing completion, but eight points to eternity, the ʿOlam Ha-ba of the world to come.
If you missed the Feasts of The LORD while reading John's vision, it's time to read it again and it's high time to rewind your heart, repent and open your eyes to the Bible's unchanging message. It contains God's salvation, redemption and atonement plan for this planet from the iniquity of Eden to Shemini Atzeret and every day since in which we have ignored God's voice and turned ours backs whether in ignorance or by choice.
Shemini Atzeret is a BIG deal, it's time to know the Feasts of The LORD.
Almighty God starts the beginning of months with His Spring appointments that start with Passover followed by the seven days of the week of Unleavened Bread for good reason. Just like Tabernacles, there are actually eight days in the Passover week and in the end, eight days during Tabernacles.
It's time to connect the dots and tittles that the creation in motion above us is connected to The Feasts of The LORD. The Heavens that NASA explores are the witness as the Bible describes a combination luni-solar calendar. The book of Exodus shows us the way to the first month in the redemption plan of Almighty God.
A long time ago in Babylon, the month of Abib described in the Bible took on the Babylonian name Nisan. Abib marks the new year in the redemption plan of God. Aviv is the spring month of the barley harvest and we can see this month declared four times:
Exodus 13:4 "This day came you out in the month Abib." The name is repeated in Exodus 23:15 and it's linked to Exodus 34:18 and Deuteronomy 16:1 by Passover followed by the week-long observance of Unleavened Bread that is proclaimed to point us to the need to turn away from the leaven of sin and slavery in Egypt.
The Torah calls the first day chodesh ha-Abib. We all need to know this day. It marks the beginning of redemption through Yeshua-Jesus and His First Fruits third day resurrection marks time for new life.
Easter has nothing to do with the Bible.
I know it's shocking but its name root sadly comes from neo-pagan links with Ishtar and Eostre, the Spring equinox and idol worship in the Bible.
No need to take my word for it, you can do your own research. For now, we need to reconsider Easter and Good Friday and get back to the Bible basics in repentance. When we do, we will realize on the first day of Abib two weeks before the Passover exodus, Moses must have been looking up when he saw the crescent new moon as Almighty God - Abba Father said this to him:
“This month shall be for you the head of months, the first of the months of the year.” Exodus 12:2
That evening marked the appointment calendar given before the exodus from slavery and idolatry in Egypt. It's also the day the wilderness Tabernacle was erected by Moses on the anniversary of the second year of the Exodus. That day the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Most Holy place behind the veil, the showbread table, the menorah, the incense altar, the burnt altar and the water basin. (Exodus 40:17-33).
It's the day the Menorah was lit and the day the Shechinah Glory of God covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
A year later on each of the first 12 days of this special month of Abib, each of the 12 tribes of Israel brought 24 celebration offerings as gifts for the Tabernacle sanctuary that the craftsmen led by Bezalel and Oholiab had made so that Moses could assemble the Tabernacle, anoint and consecrate it just as Yeshua, the prophet like Moses assembles and anoints each person entering into the body of Messiah.
The gifts from each family were identical and each family leader presented them one day at a time (see Numbers 7). Those gift offerings represent a set apart Royal Priesthood service to The LORD with silver and gold, fine flour, olive oil and incense. The animals presented at that time demonstrate our requirement for blood sacrifice for sin. They are a prophetic picture of Yeshua.
As always, Judah's family led the procession with the first gift. That fact connects the ultimate gift of life in resurrection and it points toward an Emmaus road stop. On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua told the two men He walked with that Moses wrote of Him for a reason.
If we turn to the book of John, we see Yeshua called Lazarus from the grave. The story is in John 11. He was first anointed by Miriam, Lazarus' sister, He stayed two days then returned to Judea when Yeshua returned to Bethany, where Lazarus had been dead four days. Miriam met Yeshua outside the little village and He wept when she delivered the news. They then went to the tomb.
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:41-42 NASB
Word of the restored life miracle made it to Jerusalem.
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. John 11:49-52 NASB
When the last gift for the Tabernacle was presented Moses, he went into the tent of meeting to speak with The LORD. He heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat atop the ark of the testimony between the two cherubim.
What God declared is recorded in Numbers 8-10 and it includes this:
"Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it."
Thank God Yeshua kept it and fulfilled it.
On the 12th day after the Tabernacle and gifts were complete: In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai.
All other months that God noted are defined in Scripture by counting from the month of Abib, there's the 2nd month, the 7th month, the 8th and so on as each month is marked by a new moon (Rosh Kodesh) then just as it is today.
By the way, the only day named in Scripture is the seventh day, the Sabbath. Some of the other days noted in Scripture are counts from each new moon day, Rosh Kodesh: the 14th day, the 15th day, the 20th day and so on. Open your Bible and you'll see this.
As already noted, the month to month names of today's Hebrew calendar came into being during the Babylonian exile, not the Exodus. That's why other than Abib, other month names found in the Bible date back to the 6th Century BC and the 70 year Babylonian exile and after that time. The counting of months continues in the writings of The Prophets such as the 8th month and the 11th month. Since that exile, the names of other Babylonian calendar months are found in the Hebrew Scriptures, but not before. They include the months of Zif, Chisleu, Elul and the month of Tebeth. Adar is the 12th month and the 3rd month is Sivan.
The months tie to King David too when established the service times and the courses described in 1Chronicles 27:1 as: "chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses." Each month, the responsibilities from the king shifted to another leader over the "course" of allotted time.
Needless to say, the month of Abib is very special and it is the focal point of Yeshua's humble first mission.
At Passover, He overcame the death penalty brought into the world by Adam and Eve. He could do that because He never broke Torah, He never transgressed God's instruction and He was able to overcome death by men fom Almighty God's great power of life. Yeshua accomplished this in His First Fruits resurrection much like Adam was given life as God breathed into him.
That ties to Israel and the sojourners that were saved from the slavery of Egypt in the first month:
1) Passover (Pesach). This is also the first of the big three pilgrim festivals in Jerusalem. It is the offering of the lamb, the Son of God but believe it or not, it's shocking for some it is not Easter! The evening of Passover falls in the beginning of months, the first Biblical month of Abib, now Nisan on most Hebrew calendars.
Esther 3:7 calls it "the month of flowers." On the evening of the 14th day (Leviticus 23:5) it is called the beginning of the appointed Feasts of The LORD (Exodus 12:2). The next appointment on God's calendar is the day of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6) also know as First Fruits. The seven day festival of Unleavened Bread immediately follows Passover evening after the 14th of Nisan.
2) Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot). This begins the day after the evening of Passover on Nisan 15. It includes the three days and nights of Jonah's timeline for Jesus' time of mortal death in the grave. Yeshua is the personification of matzah, the unleavened bread from Heaven. This unleavened bread week marks victory over death as Messiah took the sins of repentant mankind to the grave with Him. The third day of this week is called First Fruits (Chag HaBikurim). It is the day revealing Yeshua's resurrection and restoration to eternal life.
Leviticus 23:11 has this to say about First Fruits: "He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it."
Next, the Bible instruct us to begin counting up to 50 days after the first Sabbath during the week of Unleavened Bread. After those seven weeks of counting, another anointment with God arrives as His Spirit came to gift, teach and comfort in Jerusalem. The assembly of disciples experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit on the same day the congregation gathered under the fire atop Mount Sinai many years earlier to hear the Ten Commandments from the fire atop the mountain.Because of the prophetic latter day season in which we are living, many people are waking up and realizing that it is proper, good and it is pleasing to The LORD that everyone honors God's set appointments for mankind and celebrate the Holy Days that will all be fulfilled in Yeshua-Jesus.
3) After counting seven consecutive weekly Sabbaths following Passover, the second of three pilgrim festival days of joy in Jerusalem arrives. It is the 50th day following the weekly Sabbath after Passover and it is called the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) for good reason. It is the Pentecost (50th) day marking the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and the giving of God's covenant at Sinai to Israel and the sojourners there at the mountain.
These are God's festival days for good reason!
The future season includes the fall feasts to come that will be fulfilled in the Father's good timing.
If you desire to know more of God will and His plan for your life journey, then you can connect to His appointments, they are the outline of the new creation and your redemption.
If you desire to know more of God will and His plan for your life journey, then you can connect to His appointments, they are the outline of the new creation and your redemption.
The good news is we that get to participate in God's plan like a rehearsal in His appointed calendar. Our journey with The LORD starts by remembering His Sabbaths. Our future begins with the weekly Sabbath, then Passover and doing what the Jewish Rabbi Paul said to do by keeping this Feast with unleavened sincerity and truth:
There is no legalism as you may think in honoring God's appointed, set apart days. No religion either because there is no salvation by anything you or I can do because unlike Yeshua, we will continue to transgress and sin no matter what prayer or statement of faith we might make. Iniquity is the death condition that results, but thank God, He has the appointed plan for our problem.
"Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Pesach, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the matzah of sincerity and truth." 1Corinthians 5:7-8 HNVIf you will believe Paul, the Holy Spirit of God will show you much more about His plan of restoration in the celebration of each of His appointed times.
There is no legalism as you may think in honoring God's appointed, set apart days. No religion either because there is no salvation by anything you or I can do because unlike Yeshua, we will continue to transgress and sin no matter what prayer or statement of faith we might make. Iniquity is the death condition that results, but thank God, He has the appointed plan for our problem.
Bottomline, the festivals of The LORD get to be kept out of love for The Holy One that declared them as His appointed days.
Scripture shows us there is no salvation by a deed of keeping the days God has set aside for His redemptive work. It's not what we do on those days, it's what The LORD does. The work is God's alone on His appointed days, but we get to believe, remember and do them because its a matter of a heart of love for what our Father does for His children:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart."Think about it! You "get to" honor these days to show God you love Him with all of your heart, soul and might. The Feasts of The LORD allow us to do something in return for God's grace and love. We get to show Almighty God we love and worship Him. You too can honor what He has done, is doing and will do for our redemption and the world's salvation.
Bottomline, we get to participate in God's plan by keeping His appointments.
You get to remember God's amazing blessings in your own life, family and congregation assembly by celebrating in His appointments.
"Pesach" is the Hebrew name of the Passover evening offering on Abib 14, and it literally points the world to "the lamb" of God - Jesus the Jew and Messiah High Priest King.
You get to remember God's amazing blessings in your own life, family and congregation assembly by celebrating in His appointments.
"Pesach" is the Hebrew name of the Passover evening offering on Abib 14, and it literally points the world to "the lamb" of God - Jesus the Jew and Messiah High Priest King.
Yeshua always walked in obedience to God's instruction. Jesus kept the Passover Feast, if you want to follow Him, shouldn't you?
Praise God, Pesach has been faithfully celebrated by Jewish people around the world for thousands of years commemorating the salvation of Israel and the sojourners from Egyptian slavery that prophetically points us all to the ultimate salvation of mankind from sin's slavery.
Exodus gives us clues about the big picture of the life saving Passover offering:
If you count yourself in the family, as a child of God, it is time to join in the celebration of salvation offered to you by "the" anointed Lamb of God Messiah.
Praise God, Pesach has been faithfully celebrated by Jewish people around the world for thousands of years commemorating the salvation of Israel and the sojourners from Egyptian slavery that prophetically points us all to the ultimate salvation of mankind from sin's slavery.
Exodus gives us clues about the big picture of the life saving Passover offering:
"In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover." Exodus 12:11This shows us that we are to be ready to follow God's instruction if we are to do it in faith and love.
If you count yourself in the family, as a child of God, it is time to join in the celebration of salvation offered to you by "the" anointed Lamb of God Messiah.
If not, it's time to open your heart and celebrate your release from the death penalty of sin through the Passover lamb, the Jewish Messiah Yeshua born in Bethlehem. It's also time to walk as He walked.
Yes, Jesus is a Jew and His Hebrew name is Yeshua. He is the King of the Jews, and He can be your King too if your a sojourner. Spread the good word and profess Him to others. If you follow Him, you can walk as He did following Him in The Father's instruction of celebrating His Feasts.
If you are as Paul says, "grafted in by faith" as a former Gentile into God's faithful family, the body of people the Father calls Israel, you are no longer a stranger or Gentile with an identity crisis about the Feasts because God's Holy appointments are for you.
If you believe Paul and what he wrote, believe this: replacement theology is a lie and God never replaced Israel as His firstborn son:
"But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either." Romans 11:17-21Today, is God's appointed time to reconcile Jew and non-Jew, binding us together by His Spirit and one day in truth about Messiah Yeshua. This restoration in repentance is critical because some 2,000 years ago, a Gentile "church" began to pull away from its roots distancing themselves from Jewish people, the Sabbath and Feasts of The LORD.
But now, many are turning back to the ways and faith of Messiah and rejecting their saved sinner Gentile label. Tens of thousands around the planet are re-learning that we get to celebrate "The Feasts of The LORD" because it has always been God's plan. A part of that today is God's work to reunite Jew and Gentile as 'one new man' through Yeshua HaMashiach.
Yeshua is the Messiah who brings salvation first to the Jew and then others just as Paul said, because all nations must repent and seek redemption (see Isaiah 11:10, 42:6, Acts 2:39, Ephesians 2:11-18).
In the Older Testament (actually the Hebrew Scriptures known as the TaNaK) God provides an inspired record of all prophecies of the work of Messiah to enable both Jew and Gentile to recognize Him, if we only look for Him. By the way, in case you did not know it by now, every disciple or talmidim of Yeshua during His ministry was a Jew.... every one.
Yeshua is the Messiah who brings salvation first to the Jew and then others just as Paul said, because all nations must repent and seek redemption (see Isaiah 11:10, 42:6, Acts 2:39, Ephesians 2:11-18).
In the Older Testament (actually the Hebrew Scriptures known as the TaNaK) God provides an inspired record of all prophecies of the work of Messiah to enable both Jew and Gentile to recognize Him, if we only look for Him. By the way, in case you did not know it by now, every disciple or talmidim of Yeshua during His ministry was a Jew.... every one.
If you accept Yeshua as Messiah you too can be grafted back into the family of Israel as a child of the God of Israel within the body of Messiah, no longer a Gentile. Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary sheds some light saying:
"GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]
In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen."
Mr. Webster points to the issue of idol practices as being their character distinction. They were linked to the heathens, the image-worshippers according to the 1880 McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
"As to the religion of heathenism, it is "a wild growth on the soil of fallen human nature, a darkening of the original consciousness of God's deification of the rational and irrational creature, and a corresponding corruption of the moral sense, giving the sanction of religion to natural and unnatural vices."
Whether Jew or former Gentile, you can be "one" in the Messiah of Israel. Paul taught this in Romans 2:10, it's time to look at it and take it to heart.
Yeshua of Nazareth is the anointed Messiah of Israel and He fulfilled His first mission through the Spring Feasts. All the Scriptures of Torah speak of Him:
Yeshua of Nazareth is the anointed Messiah of Israel and He fulfilled His first mission through the Spring Feasts. All the Scriptures of Torah speak of Him:
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27In the first century, many tens of thousands of Jews believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, yet some put religious tradition before the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings and rejected Him 2,000 years ago. But ironically, starting with the Samaritans, non-Jews began to embrace Jesus the Jew as Messiah with the blessing to become grafted in as children of God.
We don't know her name, but the woman at Jacob's well was not a Jew and Yeshua declared Himself as Messiah.
Many think of a man named Cornelius as the first non-Jew to believe, but Yeshua started His witness personally with the Gentiles. After that the non-Jewish followers of Jesus starting with Cornelius were introduced by the Jewish disciples including Peter's witness to Cornelius that included an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them as well.
The Samaritan's were foreigners (aka Gentile) yet Yeshua ministered to them. Do you remember the ten Samaritan lepers?
Their story is in Luke 17:11-19 and one of them believed and gave glory to God:
"Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” Luke 17:15-18
Yeshua told the Samaritan woman at the well who He was and she believed:
“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. John 4:22
She left Jacob's well and told her whole town about Yeshua and many believed:
Now from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” John 4:29
After that, a "royal" official approached Yeshua in Capernaum about his sick son. That account is in John 4 as well. There's not much detail given, but the official may have been a Roman principal under Herod Antipas assigned there by Augustus.
After Herod the Great died, the Roman emperor Augustus appointed Antipas as the ruler tetrarch of Galilee because the Galilee area a client state of the Roman Empire and the Romans ruled Galilee during the time of Jesus.
The apostle John wrote:
"He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. But as many received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." John 1:11-12Paul wrote: "to the Jew first and then the Gentile, (see Romans 1:16).
Peter received a old message about the Gentiles, then Paul. They both overcame traditional discriminatory thinking in prejudice against Gentiles as they began to believe the promises that Almighty God gave to Abraham as a blessing "to all nations." They remembered what was declared to Isaiah and the message delivered to the woman at the well.
You can find the promises throughout the scroll of Isaiah. Here are just a few:
- Isaiah 2:2
- Isaiah 5:26
- Isaiah 11:10
- Isaiah 42:6
- Isaiah 49:6
- Isaiah 52:10
- Isaiah 60:3
Non-Jew Gentiles whether Greek, Roman or the Samaritan and all people in-between that turned from false worship experienced a spiritual new birth and became part of the family adoption taught by Paul in Romans 11 (check it out).
Peter and Paul were Jewish, but if you're not Jewish follow Jesus too. If you do, do what Paul did: celebrate God. That includes His Appointed Feasts!
Think of it Biblically as "grafting" your faith in. Part of that grafting is remembering and honoring Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits with the hope for Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.
The Spring Feasts are beautiful. Yeshua offered His life "as the lamb" of the Passover offering. He was buried "sinless" pointing to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and He was resurrected "in glory" on the third day of First Fruits just as He said, like the promise of the sign of Jonah.
Peter and Paul were Jewish, but if you're not Jewish follow Jesus too. If you do, do what Paul did: celebrate God. That includes His Appointed Feasts!
Think of it Biblically as "grafting" your faith in. Part of that grafting is remembering and honoring Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits with the hope for Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.
The Spring Feasts are beautiful. Yeshua offered His life "as the lamb" of the Passover offering. He was buried "sinless" pointing to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and He was resurrected "in glory" on the third day of First Fruits just as He said, like the promise of the sign of Jonah.
There is much more for our Savior to do on when He returns in glory. The latter rain Fall Feasts of the "appointments" (mo'ed) of God remain to be fulfilled because they are the coming Feast Days of the returning High Priest King Messiah. These will engage the entire world I think they will soon happen in real time at Messiah's return to earth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the King of the Universe and redeemer of "all" Israel whether native born or sojourner.
Just as Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) fulfilled the appointed Spring feasts by filling them up with meaning in God's plan, the Fall Feasts will fulfill God's will to restore life, so it is time to rehearse.
Our Father set His calendar in Heaven at their appointed time and He will send Messiah Yeshua from the throne room bringing Heaven to Earth because...
The real final four are God's set apart convocation days to be fulfilled by King Yeshua Jesus and they are:
During Shemini Atzeret, time will move from linear into the eternity of God's realm in The Kingdom. The eighth day is 'the' day of the second creation, the restoration, the New Heaven and the New Earth when Heaven comes to Earth as it was intended in the beginning.
Our Father set His calendar in Heaven at their appointed time and He will send Messiah Yeshua from the throne room bringing Heaven to Earth because...
"Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." Acts 3:20–21A lot of people get excited and enjoy the "Final Four" in college basketball (I do), but its time to really get excited about God's finals, His Appointed Fall Festivals!
The real final four are God's set apart convocation days to be fulfilled by King Yeshua Jesus and they are:
4) The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) the day of shouting and the awakening trumpets to announce Messiah's arrival as King. A High Holy day preparing us for what is to come.
5) The Day of Atonements (Yom Kippurim) the High Holy Day of Judgment and Atonement and the great trumpet shofar announcing that good and evil are separated. The death judgment for sin will be wiped off the planet once and for all.
6) Tabernacles is the week-long joyful celebration called Sukkot. It is a seven day party celebration in Jerusalem. It is the last of the three pilgrim festival and it is an appointment of the Father represented by the wedding of The King "tabernacling" with His people.
Sukkot is HUGE. It represents the seven day wedding celebration of The Lamb and the Bride of Messiah and it points to the eight day, the day of eternity shown in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, shown by...Eight is the Biblical number of new beginnings and the 8th day that Revelation declares as the transition to the world to come from the 1,000 years of the millennium after a 7,000 year ride on the rock we call planet Earth.
7) Shemini Atzeret the eight day, the set-apart day following the seven days of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret literally means the assembly of the eighth (day). It is the grand finale, the eternal day of rest and the purpose of the Feasts of The LORD. This is the new beginning.
During Shemini Atzeret, time will move from linear into the eternity of God's realm in The Kingdom. The eighth day is 'the' day of the second creation, the restoration, the New Heaven and the New Earth when Heaven comes to Earth as it was intended in the beginning.
As already noted the 8th day of Shemini Atzeret is described in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22.
Tabernacles aka Sukkot is shown to us in the prophecy of the scroll of Zechariah too. It is the Feast week that will continue to be celebrated as a time of worship during the millennium rest to come:
God does not change. All appointed Feasts of "The LORD" are His "holy days" set apart and bookmarked in the Heavens on God's appointment calendar and inscribed in His unchanging Word for everyone to "see" the promise and glory of our Creator and the Messiah.
The "final four" of The LORD's moed days begin with Yom Teruah, a "day of trumpeting." Joel 2:1 also prophetically declares:
Tabernacles aka Sukkot is shown to us in the prophecy of the scroll of Zechariah too. It is the Feast week that will continue to be celebrated as a time of worship during the millennium rest to come:
"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain." Zechariah 14:16-17
It was during Sukkot that the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Temple by Solomon:
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion. All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim ("enduring"), which is the seventh month. 1Kings 8:1-2
In the days of the first and second Temple during the seventh month, the Sukkot (Tabernacles) ingathering in Jerusalem included a wonderful tradition, the time of the water-drawing ceremony before the crowds gathered there. The good water drawing tradition likely came from the scene of the crowds shown in the book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 7-8 describes the day the descendants of the exiles gathered at none other than the Water Gate. It happened after the breaches in the wall around Jerusalem had been re-built and the gates installed on Elul 25. Have you ever noticed, the crowd of over 42,000 was led by 12 men?
Sound familiar?
They were at the Water Gate square when Ezra brought out the Torah as everyone stood with all arms raised and heads bowed. The Torah was read morning to noon on a wooden platform.
Then Nehemiah told everyone to celebrate: "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
The reason for the joy of the LORD at the water gate was fulfilled 400 years later on the last day of the Sukkot festival. That's when Yeshua stood and shouted to the crowds declaring Isaiah's promise with a link to the water, wine and food for those who lack:
"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'" John 7:37-38
He was referencing this:
"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 12:2-6
So much for the Feasts... "being done away with."
God does not change. All appointed Feasts of "The LORD" are His "holy days" set apart and bookmarked in the Heavens on God's appointment calendar and inscribed in His unchanging Word for everyone to "see" the promise and glory of our Creator and the Messiah.
The "final four" of The LORD's moed days begin with Yom Teruah, a "day of trumpeting." Joel 2:1 also prophetically declares:
“Blow the the shofar בַּשֹּׁופָר [trumpet] in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand”The importance of the Day of Trumpets is mind-bending. The Scriptures tell us in the end the Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet shofar again:
"And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD God shall blow the shofar בַּשֹּׁופָר and shall go with whirlwinds of the south." Zechariah 9:14It's time to reconsider what you may have learned about "this" trumpet.
The foundation story pointing toward the sounding of this shofar is found in Genesis 22:14. Genesis speaks of the need of a sacrifice, yet Abraham revels to his son that God will provide the ram to be offered up in place of Isaac on the wood. It's a picture of the the salvation work of Messiah Yeshua.
Remember, the ram's head was caught in the thicket of thorns by his horn. It is the same ram’s horn that is used after sacrifice for making the shofar. When we hear the sound of the ram’s horn, we are pointed back to the beginning and the faithfulness of God's covenant in providing what Abraham needed as a substitute for the death of his son Isaac.
God tested Abraham's faith in His promise to bless all nations , in that test Abraham was told to take his son to Mount Moriah to offer him there. Abraham had to rely on God's promise, not his own understanding. So, the sound of the shofar reminds us to remember the blessing Almighty God has provided for all people. That blessing is God's pardon on the Day of Judgment.
The ram is picture of Messiah, our substitute, our mediator before Almighty God in the same way the ram was Isaac’s.
Nehemiah 8 describes what happened on this same day years later when Ezra stood at a wooden podium in Jerusalem. He was there to read the Torah to the assembly gathered them after the 70 year diaspora in Babylon.
Remember, the ram's head was caught in the thicket of thorns by his horn. It is the same ram’s horn that is used after sacrifice for making the shofar. When we hear the sound of the ram’s horn, we are pointed back to the beginning and the faithfulness of God's covenant in providing what Abraham needed as a substitute for the death of his son Isaac.
God tested Abraham's faith in His promise to bless all nations , in that test Abraham was told to take his son to Mount Moriah to offer him there. Abraham had to rely on God's promise, not his own understanding. So, the sound of the shofar reminds us to remember the blessing Almighty God has provided for all people. That blessing is God's pardon on the Day of Judgment.
The ram is picture of Messiah, our substitute, our mediator before Almighty God in the same way the ram was Isaac’s.
Nehemiah 8 describes what happened on this same day years later when Ezra stood at a wooden podium in Jerusalem. He was there to read the Torah to the assembly gathered them after the 70 year diaspora in Babylon.
Check out the list of the names of the men that stood there with Ezra as he shouted out on Yom Teruah. Their names are important to know and zero in on God's plan:
"Help" (Ezra) stood at a wooden podium and brought the Torah and opened the scroll before the assembly who could listen with understanding, on Yom Teruah, the day of shouting and the day of the shofar. It was the first day of the month before the square in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday.
Help is on his right hand the gift of Yah, hear Yah - He has answered, Yah is the light, my portion is the work of Yah. Yah is the short for the name Y-H-V-H.
Yeshua is salvation scorched, the right insidious. The sabbatical majesty, a work of Yah crippled. Yet Yah has helped, has endowed, he is merciful and Yah does wonders.
There are three traditional trumpets blown in most any synagogue around the world on this great day called Yom Kippur. It has been a rehearsal for thousands of years by faithful Jewish people... the shofar called the first trump, is first blown on Shavuot (Pentecost). Check out Exodus 19:19.
Take note, Zechariah says "God shall blow." That's what happened on Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. He blew His Spirit wind on the disciples gathered there.
The seventh new moon trumpet is blown on the Fall Feast of Yom Teruah, it is the Rosh Kodesh (New Moon) day of shofar blowing in the countdown to the great trumpet (see Leviticus 25:1 and Revelation 11:15). The seven new moon trumpets are know known as the first days of these months on the Hebrew calendar:
1. Nisan
2. Iyyar
3. Sivan
4. Tammuz
5. Av
6. Elul
7. Tishri
But there is another trumpet to come. The last trumpet, the great trumpet will be blown to herald the mystery of the holiest day miracle on the Day of Atonement covering for those called from the four winds of earth to Jerusalem's high holy court of good judgment in the court under King Messiah Yeshua.
That shofar will be blown at the end of Yom Kippur to announce the Jubilee Year has commenced (see references in Leviticus 25:9-10 Matthew 24:31, 1Corinthians 15:52, 1Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 10:7).
That special high holy Yom Kippur Jubilee day is the "great trump," the mega shofar!
"Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand." Nehemiah 8:4Ezra in Hebrew means "help." Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets is all about helping us hear and do (Shema) the Word of God that points to Messiah. Using the wold help we can see:
"Help" (Ezra) stood at a wooden podium and brought the Torah and opened the scroll before the assembly who could listen with understanding, on Yom Teruah, the day of shouting and the day of the shofar. It was the first day of the month before the square in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday.
Help is on his right hand the gift of Yah, hear Yah - He has answered, Yah is the light, my portion is the work of Yah. Yah is the short for the name Y-H-V-H.
- Mattithiah = gift of Yah
- Shema = hear
- Anaiah = Yah has answered
- Uriah = Yah is my light
- Hilkiah = My portion is Yah
- Maaseiah = work of Yah
- Pedaiah = Yah has ransomed
- Mishael = who is what God is (this is Meshach from the furnice fire)
- Malchijah = my king is Yah
- Hashum = rich
- Hashbaddanah = considerate judge
- Zechariah = Yah remembers
- Meshullam = friend
Yeshua is salvation scorched, the right insidious. The sabbatical majesty, a work of Yah crippled. Yet Yah has helped, has endowed, he is merciful and Yah does wonders.
- Jeshua (Yeshua) = Yah is salvation
- Bani = made
- Sherebiah = Yah has scorched
- Jamin = right hand
- Akkub = insidious
- Shabbethai = sabbatical
- Hodiah= my majesty is Yah
- Maaseiah = work of Yah
- Kelita = crippled
- Azariah = Yah has helped
- Jozabad = Yah has endowed
- Hanan= he is merciful
- Pelaiah = Yah does wonders
"He will send out his angels with a great sound of a shofar, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." Matthew 24:31It's also about announcing the coming fulfillment of the promise of the final Jubilee.
There are three traditional trumpets blown in most any synagogue around the world on this great day called Yom Kippur. It has been a rehearsal for thousands of years by faithful Jewish people... the shofar called the first trump, is first blown on Shavuot (Pentecost). Check out Exodus 19:19.
Take note, Zechariah says "God shall blow." That's what happened on Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. He blew His Spirit wind on the disciples gathered there.
The seventh new moon trumpet is blown on the Fall Feast of Yom Teruah, it is the Rosh Kodesh (New Moon) day of shofar blowing in the countdown to the great trumpet (see Leviticus 25:1 and Revelation 11:15). The seven new moon trumpets are know known as the first days of these months on the Hebrew calendar:
1. Nisan
2. Iyyar
3. Sivan
4. Tammuz
5. Av
6. Elul
7. Tishri
But there is another trumpet to come. The last trumpet, the great trumpet will be blown to herald the mystery of the holiest day miracle on the Day of Atonement covering for those called from the four winds of earth to Jerusalem's high holy court of good judgment in the court under King Messiah Yeshua.
That shofar will be blown at the end of Yom Kippur to announce the Jubilee Year has commenced (see references in Leviticus 25:9-10 Matthew 24:31, 1Corinthians 15:52, 1Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 10:7).
That special high holy Yom Kippur Jubilee day is the "great trump," the mega shofar!
This day will herald the mystery of the holiest day, the miracle of eliminating iniquity, the miracle of complete atonement and it will announce the grand Jubilee. It's the day Almighty God will use a shofar to call His own, whether native born or sojourner grafted in -- to Jerusalem. That final "great" trumpet will be the one that is blown to announce "THE" Jubilee of the King.
That trumpet will signal that all slaves to sin both dead and alive, will be freed from the iniquity condition we call death. By understanding this, we can realize that Yom Kippur explains the completion, the fulfillment of the work of Yeshua that began at Passover almost 2,000 years (two days ago).
That trumpet will signal that all slaves to sin both dead and alive, will be freed from the iniquity condition we call death. By understanding this, we can realize that Yom Kippur explains the completion, the fulfillment of the work of Yeshua that began at Passover almost 2,000 years (two days ago).
That shofar is called the Shofar HaGadol of Yom Kippur. It will be blown to bring in the Jubilee Year. That shofar will announce the arrival of the year the Promised Land will be fully restored as an inheritance just as promised to Abraham.
Scripture does not seem to say that the Jubilee begins on the Day of Atonement, but that the impending arrival of the Jubilee Year is announced on the Day of Atonement. It will be the great trumpet call to live and worship The LORD in the land of Israel (see Isaiah 27:13).
This Jubilee is described in John's vision in Revelation 21-22 where he described it as the new heaven and new earth and the river of life. Even the tree of life is seen again as it was in the beginning. This is also declared in Matthew 24:31: "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Passover shows us what Jesus (Yeshua) did in public for mankind and Yom Kippur explains the hidden story of the priesthood work of Melchizedek that Yeshua will complete. We might begin to understand this when we realize the work of the High Priest takes place in the Tabernacle and the Most Holy Place.
This Jubilee is described in John's vision in Revelation 21-22 where he described it as the new heaven and new earth and the river of life. Even the tree of life is seen again as it was in the beginning. This is also declared in Matthew 24:31: "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Passover shows us what Jesus (Yeshua) did in public for mankind and Yom Kippur explains the hidden story of the priesthood work of Melchizedek that Yeshua will complete. We might begin to understand this when we realize the work of the High Priest takes place in the Tabernacle and the Most Holy Place.
To get a grasp on that, we must realize that The Tabernacle with its Holy Place and Most Holy Place and it components made of gold represent the unseen reality of Heaven on Earth (for a refresher re-read Exodus 25:40).
On that future day, the Promised Land will be restored to all nations that make the choice to repent and seek God's Kingdom with The High Priest King fulfilling God's promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Leviticus 25:9, Revelation 7:9 and Revelation 20).
Its amazing, the so-called done away with Old Testament Feasts are not old at all, they are alive and well and they show us the good things, "the things to come."
They are critically important to honor and rehearse yet many do not get to because they struggle with the words of Paul and preachers that do not read his letters with the foundation of the Bible Jesus read because they have been taught like I was, wearing grimy Greek glasses instead of the crystal clear Hebrew lens of Scripture.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he was encouraging them to not accept criticism from those that did not understand they needed to celebrate the Feasts of The LORD, but many unwittingly reverse his Hebraic message today. Paul knew the new moon trumpets represent the substance of the amazing things to come and they that they belong to Messiah:
Like I used to, some Christians ask: “Didn’t Jesus render the Sabbath and the feast days obsolete? Doesn’t Colossians 2:17 say that these things were "mere" shadows?”
No. Look for yourself.
On that future day, the Promised Land will be restored to all nations that make the choice to repent and seek God's Kingdom with The High Priest King fulfilling God's promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Leviticus 25:9, Revelation 7:9 and Revelation 20).
Its amazing, the so-called done away with Old Testament Feasts are not old at all, they are alive and well and they show us the good things, "the things to come."
They are critically important to honor and rehearse yet many do not get to because they struggle with the words of Paul and preachers that do not read his letters with the foundation of the Bible Jesus read because they have been taught like I was, wearing grimy Greek glasses instead of the crystal clear Hebrew lens of Scripture.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he was encouraging them to not accept criticism from those that did not understand they needed to celebrate the Feasts of The LORD, but many unwittingly reverse his Hebraic message today. Paul knew the new moon trumpets represent the substance of the amazing things to come and they that they belong to Messiah:
"Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or Shabbat, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Messiah's." Colossians 2:16-17 HNVBottomline, Paul's advice to everyone is that the Feasts of The LORD must be front and center on your calendar, not just The LORD's because these are The LORD's days to to be fulfilled by the Messiah of Israel.
Like I used to, some Christians ask: “Didn’t Jesus render the Sabbath and the feast days obsolete? Doesn’t Colossians 2:17 say that these things were "mere" shadows?”
No. Look for yourself.
The Greek manuscripts do NOT say "mere" shadows; the word mere is not found in any known Greek manuscript of Paul's letter. It was added by some translator's because of religious tradition that had turned their back against the Jewish people and the Bible.
The insertion of the word "mere" reflects a translator's misguided opinion, that is why it appears in italics in many modern English publications. At least the italics are honest to a degree. They show that mere was added in despite Moses warning to not add to or take away anything from God's word. Paul actually wrote this:
Things which are a shadow of the glory to come shows us the eternal unchanging importance of the Feasts of the LORD, it gives them significance and Colossians 2:17 does not teach of a "mere" shadow. at all. It says they “are” a shadow of what is to come -- the substance of Messiah will be seen.
This is important if you say your are a follower of Messiah!! The mere truth shows us that Paul properly regarded the appointed days as a shadow picture of Messiah, and they are VERY real, still able to cast a shadow of the past, present and future.
The shadow of the Messiah is alive and well in His resurrection AND intercession as His Priest King. So, if we honor the Sabbaths, we get to honor the Feasts of The LORD and stand in the work of Messiah Yeshua.
At first, this can be frustrating if you have been taught another tradition by some old sermons of dispensational Greek thinking replacement theology (false doctrine). It can take some serious unwinding of inherited lies of the fathers, to unlearn tradition to see the light of truth.
The thing is, our Creator does not really care much for our "holiday" customs that we add to our Roman calendars. They are not on His. It can be hard, but among the "sacred stone" traditions of so-called holidays with Santa's Christmas tree and an Easter bunny's basket of eggs are found nowhere in the Bible Jesus read from and taught every Sabbath (see Luke 4:16).
The insertion of the word "mere" reflects a translator's misguided opinion, that is why it appears in italics in many modern English publications. At least the italics are honest to a degree. They show that mere was added in despite Moses warning to not add to or take away anything from God's word. Paul actually wrote this:
"things which are a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."
Things which are a shadow of the glory to come shows us the eternal unchanging importance of the Feasts of the LORD, it gives them significance and Colossians 2:17 does not teach of a "mere" shadow. at all. It says they “are” a shadow of what is to come -- the substance of Messiah will be seen.
This is important if you say your are a follower of Messiah!! The mere truth shows us that Paul properly regarded the appointed days as a shadow picture of Messiah, and they are VERY real, still able to cast a shadow of the past, present and future.
The shadow of the Messiah is alive and well in His resurrection AND intercession as His Priest King. So, if we honor the Sabbaths, we get to honor the Feasts of The LORD and stand in the work of Messiah Yeshua.
At first, this can be frustrating if you have been taught another tradition by some old sermons of dispensational Greek thinking replacement theology (false doctrine). It can take some serious unwinding of inherited lies of the fathers, to unlearn tradition to see the light of truth.
The thing is, our Creator does not really care much for our "holiday" customs that we add to our Roman calendars. They are not on His. It can be hard, but among the "sacred stone" traditions of so-called holidays with Santa's Christmas tree and an Easter bunny's basket of eggs are found nowhere in the Bible Jesus read from and taught every Sabbath (see Luke 4:16).
In the beginning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked good, but it was a deception. Adam and Eve ate the fruit despite the warning and were told to leave the garden. Today, Bible believers do the same when they decide to honor custom of the wrong tree.
That's why Almighty God says... "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts." (Leviticus 23:1) and this:
Thus says the LORD:“Learn not the way of the nations,nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavensbecause the nations are dismayed at them,for the customs of the peoples are vanity.A tree from the forest is cut downand worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.They decorate it with silver and gold;they fasten it with hammer and nailsso that it cannot move." Jeremiah 1-:1-4
Following Constantine's lead, hundreds of years after multitudes of Jewish people that had heard and believed Yeshua and witnessed His miracle healings, they followed Him as their Master Rabbi, but the early Gentile church fathers mixed-in vain customs from Rome with Scripture.
They blended in some old Babylonian mythologies of the birth of a sun-god with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, honoring the Roman idol-god Saturn with gift giving during the winter solstice. In those days, it was rare for anyone to have access to the Hebrew Scriptures, so people rejected the Jewish people and the result was a global famine of the Word of God.
Incredibly, antisemitism prevented the church fathers among the nations from knowing the truth.
Over the years, the Jewishness of Messiah and the joyful purpose of Tabernacles was erased and replaced by timelines that were customs from ancient mainstream pagan tradition. The outcome was a newly rebranded holiday called the mass of Christ (aka Christmas).
The truth if you ask your pastor, is what I heard growing up: there's nothing in the Bible that points to a Christmas birth. The story and timing of the priestly service of Zechariah in the book of Luke points to a birthday at Sukkot and that Yeshua was likely born on the first day and was circumcised on the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Praise God, people's eyes and hearts are turning away from years of old Roman customs and misguided theology. They are returning in repentance to a restored Biblical understanding of the Feasts of the LORD and their importance to our Creator God. Believers are learning through reading and believing Scripture to not bow and pay homage with gifts under trees decorated with silver and gold. They are learning to not deceive their children about a fat man coming down a chimney with a beard in a red suit too.
Yeshua’s people are being called out by God's Spirit to be set-apart as a holy priesthood people cleansed us from the past sins of Rome infused with Babylon's traditions teaching their children and others the truth of when to celebrate The LORD's Feast Days.
Bottomline, our old customs need to change, we need to repent because new church holidays like Easter and Christmas are not a celebration of the holy days The LORD calls His own. Our ways, our customs and traditions are not His ways. Not even close, they are counterfeit, they look real like a tare that hides in the wheat, but they are nowhere in the Bible that Jesus read and taught.
It was mind-bending, no heartbreaking for me to come to the sense of reality that The LORD's Feasts were not my own because I had unwittingly disowned them. I now know the truth as fact: non-Biblical traditions and customs "appointed by men" trouble Almighty God deeply and they should trouble us as well. How do we know?
Our Creator God says so:
The LORD's Feast Days are important to our Heavenly Father, because they are His. So much so He designed the solar system to declare them like a master timepiece.
Our traditions and customs distort God's purpose in His Feasts, so we need to be like king Hezekiah. If we will read 2 Kings 18:4 you will see that king Hezekiah knew what to do about improper worship: he removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah trees. You can too.
The book of life, the Bible is the good book Almighty God declares from Genesis to Revelation to reveal His love story and His plan for His appointments with mankind is outlined for His royal priesthood in Leviticus 23. Read and study it and you will discover every Feast is critically important in God's plan of redemption!
The King James translators called God's set apart days "Feasts" but as we have seen, the Hebrew word in the Bible is actually "moed." It means "appointed time." That Hebrew word is important, it adds clarity to God's calendar because the Feasts of The LORD are God's appointments and we get to rehearse them!
The King James translators also used the word "solemn" to describe the Feasts of The LORD and that can be confusing too in our "western" mindset. The truth is, the olde English word "solemn" did not just mean serious as it does today. When the King James Bible was written they got it right. At the time, the word actually meant "regularly appointed" and that means God's appointments do not change.
Mind blowing??
Yes, but don't let the truth discourage you! It should encourage you because the good news is that each of God's holy appointed, set-apart regularly appointed "moed" days on God's calendar have tremendous significance in His plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for you, me and the planet if we just believe The LORD and do something in faith and action about that belief.
Think of the Feasts as God's perfect plan that you can be a part of, right now. Don't be discouraged that you have not known the truth or believed a lie.
Every "believer" I know says they want to know God's plan for their life. If that describes you, a good place to begin that journey of discovery the royal priesthood (1Peter 2:9-10) is to start with the Creator's appointment calendar.
We all need to be in the right place at the right time. In the first coming of our humble Savior as Messiah ben Joseph, we can see the first phase of God's salvation plan in the Spring Feast season.
Those appointments are the days Yeshua kept right on time to engage the plan of "salvation" for the Jewish people first and then the whole world. Yet, those Spring appointments that God set in time on His calendar are not the end of God's plan to wipe iniquity off His planet and out of our hearts, they are the beginning.
The Fall Feasts remain in Yeshua's resurrection glory to come. They will start with a shofar trumpet blast to alert the world to the call of repentance because the appointed Fall Feasts are the days that King Messiah will arrive to restore mankind so we will be able to stand near God's presence just as it was in Eden. Back then, our Creator God Elohim walked side by side with Adam and Eve before their fall into deception. They choose to believe the lie of a serpent, then they realized the truth.
The Fall Feast season arrives each year like a rehearsal during the seventh Biblical month called Ethanin (see 1Kings 8:2). Since the Babylonian exile, that holy month pronounced in Hebrew as "Aay-thaan" has been renamed Tishri by the Jewish people during their stay in Babylon, but God's Word calls it Ethanim and it means "enduring."
Those appointments are the days Yeshua kept right on time to engage the plan of "salvation" for the Jewish people first and then the whole world. Yet, those Spring appointments that God set in time on His calendar are not the end of God's plan to wipe iniquity off His planet and out of our hearts, they are the beginning.
The Fall Feasts remain in Yeshua's resurrection glory to come. They will start with a shofar trumpet blast to alert the world to the call of repentance because the appointed Fall Feasts are the days that King Messiah will arrive to restore mankind so we will be able to stand near God's presence just as it was in Eden. Back then, our Creator God Elohim walked side by side with Adam and Eve before their fall into deception. They choose to believe the lie of a serpent, then they realized the truth.
The Fall Feast season arrives each year like a rehearsal during the seventh Biblical month called Ethanin (see 1Kings 8:2). Since the Babylonian exile, that holy month pronounced in Hebrew as "Aay-thaan" has been renamed Tishri by the Jewish people during their stay in Babylon, but God's Word calls it Ethanim and it means "enduring."
It's time to get ready for Ethanin.
The seventh Biblical month is the enduring month. It's the month all of Israel (children of God) will assemble to the King in Zion at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.
Like the celebration of a wedding rehearsal, each passing year gets us closer and to this holy month and provides us the appointed rehearsal time to prepare the royal priesthood assembly waiting for Messiah to arrive as the High Priest King of Israel. When He arrives, like Solomon say in 1Kings 8:14, He will turn around and bless all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly stands. I thinkYeshua will raise His scarred hands for all to see say and say these very words:
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26
Each year the Fall Feast days arrive on God's calendar four months after Shavuot (Pentecost Day) and they portray the future new moon Trumpet's Day announcement arrival of the King of Heaven.
Revelation describes all of this harkening us back to the words of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and other prophets. The final Feast of "Ingathering" reveals Messiah living on Earth as He did before, yet not as a humble Rabbi from Nazareth, but as Messiah King leading the restoration of Heaven and Earth.
Every detail of the Feasts of The LORD are critically important!
Even the four hot months of summer's heat between the Spring and Fall seasons play a vital role in God's plan when we repent and look back. Think about the words that Jesus (aka Yeshua) gave to His disciples. His message has deep significance. Like me, you may have missed it in past readings if the purpose of the appointed "Fall" Feast Days are not understood:
It was the Feast of Shavuot when the gifts of The Spirit were poured out for all that believed. They were in the right place at the solemn right time. Ten days earlier they were given an assignment to wait before going out to the world to declare the Gospel of the Kingdom. They all needed to wait for Shavuot because it was appointed for the gift giving of the Spirit of The LORD to be able to speak the languages of the nations.
So they waited with obedience in Jerusalem and on that 50th Shavuot day in 30AD, the assembly in Jerusalem received the fire of the gifts of God's Spirit as it descended on them with the sound of a rushing wind (see Acts 2).
Some think that event was unique, something new, but it was seen before. There was another amazing Shavuot that preceded it when the Spirit was given and that place was Mount Sinai. Nehemiah tells it like it is:
Many people have inadvertently cut the great commission short saying" we are to teach others to "just believe" the Gospel message of grace, but Messiah Yeshua commands we are "to do" God's Word just like He did and abide in The Father's love!!
Revelation describes all of this harkening us back to the words of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and other prophets. The final Feast of "Ingathering" reveals Messiah living on Earth as He did before, yet not as a humble Rabbi from Nazareth, but as Messiah King leading the restoration of Heaven and Earth.
Every detail of the Feasts of The LORD are critically important!
Even the four hot months of summer's heat between the Spring and Fall seasons play a vital role in God's plan when we repent and look back. Think about the words that Jesus (aka Yeshua) gave to His disciples. His message has deep significance. Like me, you may have missed it in past readings if the purpose of the appointed "Fall" Feast Days are not understood:
"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." John 4:35The giving of the gifts of the Spirit of God at Pentecost (Shavuot) to the disciples that were there at the appointed time in Jerusalem empowered them with an amazing gift of Almighty God to speak languages they did not know in a Spirit filled reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babylon. Empowered with a gift, they were ready to engage the great harvest commission and change the world... to teach all nations, regardless of their language of the gospel of the Kingdom of Messiah and how to walk His walk.
It was the Feast of Shavuot when the gifts of The Spirit were poured out for all that believed. They were in the right place at the solemn right time. Ten days earlier they were given an assignment to wait before going out to the world to declare the Gospel of the Kingdom. They all needed to wait for Shavuot because it was appointed for the gift giving of the Spirit of The LORD to be able to speak the languages of the nations.
So they waited with obedience in Jerusalem and on that 50th Shavuot day in 30AD, the assembly in Jerusalem received the fire of the gifts of God's Spirit as it descended on them with the sound of a rushing wind (see Acts 2).
Some think that event was unique, something new, but it was seen before. There was another amazing Shavuot that preceded it when the Spirit was given and that place was Mount Sinai. Nehemiah tells it like it is:
"You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst." Nehemiah 9:20There is another gift. That gift is time, after all it's been almost 2,000 years, and many "weeks" since the Shavuot arrival of the Spirit of God. The LORD describes Pentecost or Shavuot as the "Feast of Weeks" for good reason. The Spirit of God and His gifts have remained engaged over the weeks of 2,000 years even if you didn't know it!
Many people have inadvertently cut the great commission short saying" we are to teach others to "just believe" the Gospel message of grace, but Messiah Yeshua commands we are "to do" God's Word just like He did and abide in The Father's love!!
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. John 15:10Just alike the days of the Exodus, where God is, we need to be.
That place is in the assembly on His appointed days, because we do not want to miss His glory fire and His good Spirit. Shavuot is the holiday connecting the beginning from the end and it shows us we are to teach everyone its lesson, to observe "all things" and that includes The LORD's Feast Days.
Like Yeshua we are to "disciple" others in the appointments of our Holy God so I am glad you are here today. If you doubt the Jesus assignment, you are not alone, others have doubted before, including me:
"And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus (Yeshua) came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father (YHVH) and of the Son (Yeshua) and of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" Matthew 28:17-20You may be like me, you may have 'innocently' missed the significance and timing of God's appointments, thinking they were done away with because like me you inherited some lies. But if we continue to do believe them, we must realize that when we turn our backs on the appointments of God and ignore His invitation to meet with Him, we are like the Roman Centurion that pierced Messiah (the living word) hanging on the crucifixion tree.
If we continue to stubbornly go our own way on a wide road and miss God's appointed times on the narrow road, we will miss a great blessing of the Bible and its amazing plan and promise.
Think of the Feasts (appointments) as the blueprint of God's redemption plan. Be a part of the plan.
As the Bible shows us, God's great plan has an outline in Leviticus. It includes God's key engagements, seven divine appointments established at Mount Sinai pointing to the Gospel promise of The Kingdom of God. They lead to the final appointment for mankind to meet with The King of the Universe. To understand that we need to reconnect with God's calendar, and not miss any of His rehearsals or we will end of like the five virgins with no oil and miss the wedding party.
When we take them to heart, we can understand the Feasts of The LORD are His appointments, when we take them to heart you will never want to miss them again if you love Him!
If they are done away with as so many have said, the future will be pretty bleak, but it's not. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the good news for a reason and a season.
One big key that helped me get a 'heart' handle on The Feasts of The LORD was to begin to understand that God gives us His teaching and instruction (Torah) for living because He loves us as our Heavenly Father.
The Father wants you to know His unchanging plan and His unchanging heart. He wants you to understand His unchanging plan. That is the baseline, like Nehemiah said: "you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love..."
When we "get it" the truth reveals that the Feasts of The LORD teach us about His abounding steadfast love, and we can finally know that the "change" needed is the change you and I need to make on our calendar because we "want to" return to "the faith which was once delivered" because we get to.
The Almighty is the King of the uni"verse" and He uses each letter and verse of His Word as a part of a steadfast love message to teach us when and how to hang out with Him and how to rest in Him.
That's why they are called appointments of The LORD.
Yeshua said: "my yoke is easy". His light yoke is the same instruction given at Mount Sinai. It is shown to us as the way we get live if we love Him and desire to be near to The Father. And get this... it includes with a vacation plan from work so mark your calendar now. Yup, the Feast Days give us guidance, they are the days God gives us to be off from the difficult labors of life, a time to rest in Him, a time to celebrate and rejuvenate in God's plan.
It's the original message of the deceiver to fall for the idea that God does not mean what He says or that He changes His mind. Don't listen to that lie any longer!
I know this study may seem a bit long, but it only scratches the surface on the significance and meaning of God's prophetic, rehearsal days for His appointment time with you and there is much more to discover about His desire to forgive, be gracious and merciful, slow to anger and demonstrate His abounding in steadfast love.
The purpose of this Scripture study is to help you leave Egypt and get started in your own journey with Messiah into a restoration life into the Kingdom.
God knows we are only human, He know we need rehearsal, it takes practice to prepare.
That's why its up to you to participate in the rehearsals. Honor the festivals if you love The LORD because God will keep His appointments whether you are there or not. So keep digging in and learn to love to honor The Father. It's your purpose for life, just like Messiah.
If you have a heartfelt desire to learn more about your Creator God and His plan, to know His heart, that is probably why you are here today. Consider this prophecy that was foretold by God to Zephaniah:
"I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts-- They came from you, {O Zion;} {The} reproach {of exile} is a burden on them." Zephaniah 3:18It is important to know that to grieve means that love comes first. It's time to love the Feasts and remember that on God's calendar, His "days" begin in the evening after sunset. That's nothing new, in the beginning, there was darkness before light.
"And the evening and the morning were the first day."I know this may seem odd at first, but it just goes to show that some of us have been out of sync with our Creator and we never realized it.
The Feast seasons are all synchronized with God's calendar by God's timepiece. Its big hand uses the moon. The 'new moon' marks the first day of each Biblical month's counting. The Psalms teach us all about this truth:
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:3-4The Hebrew word in Psalm 104:19 is that word 'moed', look for yourself at any Bible concordance, and in the Psalm, the 'seasons' mean 'appointed times'.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. Psalm 89:11
It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. Psalm 89:37
He made the moon to mark the 'seasons'... Psalm 104:19
All of the prophetic days in the time prophecies of Scripture, including those in the book of Daniel and Revelation will occur in the days set according to God's creation calendar. Not a single time or date mentioned in any Scripture is set by our own calendar! To know what God is up to, get in sync with God's daytimer.
Yet, the "deceiver" has another plan to erase all memory of God's Feasts and His appointment calendar from the minds and hearts of Believers that have heard a false testimony. In fact, many of us have shunned away from even looking up because the "deceiver" has polluted God's plan with the deceptive lies of astrology.
God hates astrology, but He created astronomy and He uses the Heavens to mark time for His Feast Days.
Interestingly, the Falls Feasts begin with Yom Teruah (Tĕruw`ah in Hebrew), the day of shouting or Trumpets Day in the 7th month. Tishrei always starts on a 'new moon'... always has, always will. The Bible calls each monthly new moon day a 'Rosh Kodesh' day. Since creation, the arrival of the "Day of Trumpets" has been set in Heaven above as a Rosh Kodesh new moon day and because of that it is referenced as the day that: "no man knows the day or hour."
Those words are from Matthew 24:36. They were well know in His day, but made famous by none other than the humble Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) when he spoke of a future Day of Trumpets that will announce His return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The King.
As you can see, there is a lot more going on than you ever expected in the Fall Feasts.
Why did Jesus say it would be a day no man knows?
Hold on to your hat, because for starters, Trumpets or Yom Teruah is the only holy appointed Feast Day of The LORD that arrives without a specific marker. It only arrives when you see it in the darkness of a new moon on the first day of the 7th month now called Tishre.
In antiquity, this new moon "day" was never precisely known until you actually saw it with your own eyes or heard the trumpet blast of someone that did. Think about that for a minute, and take off your Greek glasses and put in your Hebrew lens before you read on.
Ready?
OK, here's what's up, the 'Hebraic' thought behind Yeshua's statement is really amazing, but it does not fit in well with our western world of Greek thinking that says "we just can't know." The fact is we can. That's why Paul wrote: "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
The new moon is the period of a dark or invisible moon as it sneaks up on you like a theif in the night as it transitions in its monthly cycle. That's a part of the mystery key. To understand, we have to look up to God's creation. Imagine that!
Today in 2011, thanks to NASA's computers and engineers, we now know with some precision that the calendar during this month potentially has two days in which the moon will be unlit by the sun in darkness as it transitions in new light to the third day.
By the way, does the lunar pattern sound like a prophetic message to any Bible students out there?
It is. It's a remembrance etched in creation of the 3rd day resurrection of Messiah and His return to life from the darkness of death after 2 days!! And regarding the two days, they are also a reference to the prophecy of Hosea 6:3 as well as Psalms 90:4.
Check it out! The disciple Peter validated this in 2Peter 3:8 2,000 years ago form the book of Psalms:
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."This two day lunar transition from night's darkness to light is due to the moon's orbital shape and alignment that was set by God during creation. Like God Almighty, it has never changed.
So if you consider it, the Trumpet's Day appointed arrival time is really only "known" with the actual sighting of the sliver of the new moon.
Simply put, within God's "purpose" in His creation design and by His own declaration, this Feast Day is not really "known" until it is seen - when the day and hour is "confirmed" (and known). But we can learn how to watch for it, we can learn how to prepare, and to do that we get to honor the annual Feast of Trumpets in the month of Tishre. After all, until Yeshua does return, it's a rehearsal.
When you consider the moon's location during the day, we can know it also affects our ability to see its crescent light. The ancient message that the day and hour is "unknown" becomes clearer and it points right at Trumpets Day, the day of shouting. One thing is sure, God knows which future Trumpet's day will be "the coming day" of The King's trumpet blast, the announcement of Yeshua's return.
In Matthew 24 Yeshua privately said as He spoke to His talmidim (disciples) sitting on the Mount of Olives…
"Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."So don't miss out on your chance to be a trumpet blower and a prayer warrior to shout out, rehearse and celebrate the coming day that will announce His return!
The account of Chronicles gives us a picture of the seventh month that begins with Yom Teruah.
"Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.
All the Levites who were musicians – Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres..."They were accompanied by priests sounding trumpets.
"The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:
“He is good; his love endures forever.”
"Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God."That song verse “He is good; his love endures forever” came from David’s song the day he brought the ark to Jerusalem. It includes the words…
Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.This speaks of Yom Teruah.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
Check out David’s song in 1 Chronicles 16.
"After that day Nathan was told to tell David that the promised kingdom household would be built by God. (Chapter 17).
“Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.
In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David."This day is also known as the day of the awakening blast... by this we might see it is the day of gladness, the resurrection promised in Isaiah:
"But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise - let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy — your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." Isaiah 16:19 NIVWe all need to know, and remember 'the former things' which are the pattern of God's appointments.
We need to know them to understand God's plan for "the" fulfillment of His appointed Fall Feast days that start with the Day of Trumpets and declare the end (Fall) harvest of things "not yet done" to accomplish His purpose from the beginning to the end.
"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose..." Isaiah 46:8-11God's Biblical calendar has what seems to be oddly named months. One of them is called Elul, it’s mentioned once in Nehemiah. It translates as “nothingness” as in 'the void' of Genesis before creation. It’s the 6th month of the Biblical calendar.
Check out Nehemiah 6. There you will read about the restoration of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was prophetically restored on Elul 25.
"So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth [day] of [the month] Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard [thereof], and all the heathen that [were] about us saw [these things], they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God."That work was finished five days before the celebration of the Day Trumpets on Elul 25 because Nehemiah tells us that the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 52 days.
Many believe that Elul 25 was also the day that God began His creation week and if we believe that report, it means the wall was finished the day after Trumpets just as Adam was created on the 6th day, another Day of Trumpets arrival day.
Not only that, but through the centuries, Trumpets (Yom Teruah) has been traditionally called a “day of blowing” and for good reason, it's the day the Almighty blew the quickening breath of His Spirit of life into Adam. It's amazing to consider that nickname, a “day of blowing” because Adam was given life by God’s blowing into the dust of Adam on Trumpets Day, the 'memorial day of blowing'. It was a day of shouting... perhaps the same day... "God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
The great promise of Jesus given by Daniel is that He will give renewed life, resurrection to those in the dust at His return.
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.So, is it any wonder Paul wrote the Corinthians these words?
1Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.As you rest in God’s love, consider the traditional events of 'the day' of Trumpets.
1Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
Yes, the Fall Feast days are awesome!
From my Scripture studies, I have learned that God's calendar is based on both the moon and the sun is it is quite different from the singular solar calendar that we have grown up with. God's calendar began with His creation. In God's timekeeping, each month is marked by the moon, each day is marked by the setting sun and each week by the Sabbath. Every day begins at sunset instead of midnight as each day by our Creator's own definition, continues through the night to the next day's evening sunset.
How do we know this about the day? One more time...
"And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Genesis 1:5Think again about the basics given here.
Let it sink in, "creation" began before there was light and before light there is darkness. God does not change, so it is the same with His definition of a day. It has never changed, not does He.
To understand Scripture, and the Feast Days, we just need to start thinking like God does since "the beginning." The light of the 'final' day will be preceded by darkness and tribulation like the waters and void before the first day, but the good news is, the Light of The World is coming on the seventh day!
In the same way, each week is always counted with the seven days given to us by God on His Biblical calendar and each week ends on His 7th Sabbath day of rest. The week ends with the Sabbath it does not begin there!
God never changed a thing.
It's mind blowing for some of us, but Sunday is a religious invention of men, a day that replaces God's Sabbath with our own. If you want to consider more on this, see my Scripture study: "The Sabbath.... When Did For Ever Change?".
Each month is recorded by the Creator's perfectly amazing and exact movement of His own creation timepiece, the orbit of the moon around the earth and the orbit of the earth around the sun.
This precise movement marks each Feast month as he planet rotates in God's keeping. Simply put, the beginning of all Biblical months begins with the new moon and that is why the new moon has a special placeholder in Scripture. It shows us God's timekeeping, His way.
In the Bible, all of God's set apart days, all of His "Holy" appointed days are in accordance with His creation calendar which combines the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun with the moon's rotation and orbit around the earth. The moon's axis rotation exactly matches that of its orbital revolution around the Earth. It is no coincidence.
God's timekeeping is quite different from today's solar Gregorian calendar that ignores the creation of Biblical months and the lunar component of God's calendar. Out manmade calendar was introduced by none other than a fellow named Gregory... Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
As we have seen, before we can understand the great significance of God's appointed fall rehearsals, His Feast Days, we must first look at the events of the fulfillment of His Spring Feast Days.
We've already glanced at them, but we must understand truth from Scripture: the "fulfillment" of the Spring Feast Days were fulfilled by Jesus (or in Hebrew - Yeshua).
Like God's calendar, the Feast Days are cyclical, they repeat because their orbital mechanics are based on God's rotational and orbital timepiece, they are not linear. So too, Messiah's mission to Earth is cyclical and two-fold. That is on reason the prophetic Feast Days are divided into two separate seasons, spring and fall.
In Hebraic thought, the spring days tie to His humble role as "Messiah ben Joseph", the suffering Messiah, the lamb. Like Joseph's story long ago, today many of His brothers reject him, but thank God that's not the end of Joseph's story, just a part of it. He was reconciled with his brothers.
The prophecy of Daniel 9:26-27 teaches us more truth of the one Messiah's two comings as seen in the Spring and Fall Feasts. In fact, Gabriel showed Daniel the exact timing of the future that Moses wrote of when describing the Feast Days. Daniel was told that "Messiah the Prince" will come on God's Feast Day schedule and He will be cut off. Yeshua fulfilled this prophecy right on time.
Passover
Jesus was tried falsely and cursed by man and killed on a stake outside the city of Jerusalem. He gave His life willfully as a Passover offering. He lay in the grave on the day of Unleavened Bread and He arose in resurrection on the third day of First Fruits.
All of these days are described in the Bible.
Forty years later, the sanctuary of God, The Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and it remains in that way today as “wars and desolations are determined until the end.” This tells us Jesus our Messiah will return again in a time of great trouble:
Israelis and Palestinians both want access. Jerusalem is the cup of trembling where Yeshua was pierced and where He gave His blood for mankind before the very site that once held the two tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Holy of Holies below the Mercy Seat.
Messiah entered Jerusalem during the Spring Feast preparation days, the four days before the Passover riding a lowly donkey as foretold by Zechariah 9:9. According to Biblical teaching and instruction (the meaning of the word Torah), the Passover lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of 1st month, and Messiah Yeshua was hailed by the crowds on His triumphant entry into the gate of Jerusalem on that exact day, it was the 10th of Nisan.
The seven days that begin after the Passover are also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
I encourage you to celebrate and participate each Passover with a meal in your home with your family and closest friends just as Jesus did with His disciples. Here is a link to explain How To Prepare Passover Seder Plate.
The book of Exodus gives us the timing of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread that begins and ends giving us two rest days from labor's work. The key word is of course "rest" aka no labor. Here's the appointment calendar given by YHVH God way back in Egypt in three verses:
If we want to 'get it', this requires a Hebrew mindset with a focus on the beginning with the week of creation if we are to begin to understand the Bible and God's plan.
Consider the beginning of the Exodus journey from slavery.
There in the desert, God gave what seemed to be some unusual instructions for the priestly sacrifices. Like a parable, these foreshadows the life work and anointing ministry of Yeshua the Messiah.
All the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua in some way! Its up to us to seek Him in them because each gives us a unique revelation of God's redemptive plan - past, present, and future all pointing to Messiah.
It's mind blowing for some of us, but Sunday is a religious invention of men, a day that replaces God's Sabbath with our own. If you want to consider more on this, see my Scripture study: "The Sabbath.... When Did For Ever Change?".
Each month is recorded by the Creator's perfectly amazing and exact movement of His own creation timepiece, the orbit of the moon around the earth and the orbit of the earth around the sun.
This precise movement marks each Feast month as he planet rotates in God's keeping. Simply put, the beginning of all Biblical months begins with the new moon and that is why the new moon has a special placeholder in Scripture. It shows us God's timekeeping, His way.
In the Bible, all of God's set apart days, all of His "Holy" appointed days are in accordance with His creation calendar which combines the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun with the moon's rotation and orbit around the earth. The moon's axis rotation exactly matches that of its orbital revolution around the Earth. It is no coincidence.
God's timekeeping is quite different from today's solar Gregorian calendar that ignores the creation of Biblical months and the lunar component of God's calendar. Out manmade calendar was introduced by none other than a fellow named Gregory... Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
As we have seen, before we can understand the great significance of God's appointed fall rehearsals, His Feast Days, we must first look at the events of the fulfillment of His Spring Feast Days.
We've already glanced at them, but we must understand truth from Scripture: the "fulfillment" of the Spring Feast Days were fulfilled by Jesus (or in Hebrew - Yeshua).
Like God's calendar, the Feast Days are cyclical, they repeat because their orbital mechanics are based on God's rotational and orbital timepiece, they are not linear. So too, Messiah's mission to Earth is cyclical and two-fold. That is on reason the prophetic Feast Days are divided into two separate seasons, spring and fall.
In Hebraic thought, the spring days tie to His humble role as "Messiah ben Joseph", the suffering Messiah, the lamb. Like Joseph's story long ago, today many of His brothers reject him, but thank God that's not the end of Joseph's story, just a part of it. He was reconciled with his brothers.
The prophecy of Daniel 9:26-27 teaches us more truth of the one Messiah's two comings as seen in the Spring and Fall Feasts. In fact, Gabriel showed Daniel the exact timing of the future that Moses wrote of when describing the Feast Days. Daniel was told that "Messiah the Prince" will come on God's Feast Day schedule and He will be cut off. Yeshua fulfilled this prophecy right on time.
Passover
Jesus was tried falsely and cursed by man and killed on a stake outside the city of Jerusalem. He gave His life willfully as a Passover offering. He lay in the grave on the day of Unleavened Bread and He arose in resurrection on the third day of First Fruits.
All of these days are described in the Bible.
Forty years later, the sanctuary of God, The Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and it remains in that way today as “wars and desolations are determined until the end.” This tells us Jesus our Messiah will return again in a time of great trouble:
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Zechariah 12:2-3"In that day" before us Yeshua will reveal His role as "Messiah ben David," the King who will come in judgment of those that arise against Jerusalem. Even now, the stones of the Western Wall have become a burden for all the world to see. There is one aspect of the burdensome stone before us now. Jerusalem is a long-divided city. It has at its ancient center Islam's so-called third holiest site. It is the al-Aqsa mosque on top of the Temple Mount. Just a few feet away stands the Dome of the Rock and below the Western Wall remains, the stones of which right comprise the foundation of holiest site on the planet.
Israelis and Palestinians both want access. Jerusalem is the cup of trembling where Yeshua was pierced and where He gave His blood for mankind before the very site that once held the two tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Holy of Holies below the Mercy Seat.
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced... Zechariah 12:9-10Yeshua was pierced as "The Lamb of God" as the Passover lamb foretold by Abraham and declared by John the Levite Baptizer. Think of John as the 'mikvah' man. After all, mikvah is the Hebrew word for baptize.
Messiah entered Jerusalem during the Spring Feast preparation days, the four days before the Passover riding a lowly donkey as foretold by Zechariah 9:9. According to Biblical teaching and instruction (the meaning of the word Torah), the Passover lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of 1st month, and Messiah Yeshua was hailed by the crowds on His triumphant entry into the gate of Jerusalem on that exact day, it was the 10th of Nisan.
The seven days that begin after the Passover are also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. John 18:28As prophesied by John at the river Jordan (in Hebrew, Yardén or garden) Yeshua was crucified as the "Lamb of God" at the time set at the first Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:2). According to the prophetic Biblical record, Yeshua shows us each part of His Passover story has great meaning in His plan of redemption and the coming resurrection.
I encourage you to celebrate and participate each Passover with a meal in your home with your family and closest friends just as Jesus did with His disciples. Here is a link to explain How To Prepare Passover Seder Plate.
The book of Exodus gives us the timing of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread that begins and ends giving us two rest days from labor's work. The key word is of course "rest" aka no labor. Here's the appointment calendar given by YHVH God way back in Egypt in three verses:
"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.As we can seen, evening is important in the Bible, it has been since creation. Ever since Genesis, a day begins when the sun sets at evening. Perhaps this is because when the sun has set, you can look up and see the moon. It's a big part of God's lunar solar timepiece that connects the monthly orbit of the moon around the Earth and the daily rotation of the Earth on it axis!
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening." Exodus 12:15-18
If we want to 'get it', this requires a Hebrew mindset with a focus on the beginning with the week of creation if we are to begin to understand the Bible and God's plan.
Consider the beginning of the Exodus journey from slavery.
There in the desert, God gave what seemed to be some unusual instructions for the priestly sacrifices. Like a parable, these foreshadows the life work and anointing ministry of Yeshua the Messiah.
All the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua in some way! Its up to us to seek Him in them because each gives us a unique revelation of God's redemptive plan - past, present, and future all pointing to Messiah.
So let's go ahead and jump in the deep end of the water.
Matthew understood the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua, after all he was a Jew. His Hebrew name was Matityahu, it means which means "Gift of Yahovah." The shadow picture he gives to us ties four sets of generations of men from Abraham to Yeshua in Matthew 1:1-17.
If you carefully read the text you will notice that the Matthew does not specifically state that there are 42 generations. He states there are three groups of 14 generations to Yeshua but in reality he lists 14 from Abraham to David. He then lists 14 from Solomon to Jeconiah but then only thirteen generations are listed from Shealtiel to Yeshua and Mary is noted as His mother.
There is a reason. Yeshua Jesus was the 13th and 14th generation. He was born the son of Mary and and listed as the 13th generation. He was reborn as the 14th generation after offering His life as a sacrifice for mankind's sin in His 'new grain' First Fruits' resurrection.
Not only that, the hidden layer if you dig in is that the Feast Days all had required sacrifices and they point to Matthew's genealogy of thirteen.
Numbers 28:19-23 describes a offering teaching and instruction during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to include the offering of thirteen animals and two more by grain and oil as an offering:
Numbers 29:1-6 also shows us thirteen offerings beginning on the Fall Feast of Trumpets, eleven animals and the grain and drink offerings:
"So that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." Genesis 8:4
We can only imagine the joy and celebration of Noah and the seven others with him. Remeber, the seventeenth day of the seventh month is the third day of the celebration of Sukkot. Noah's story should remind us of Hosea 6:1-3 and its great promise and a tie to rain:
The eight day following the seven days of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew and it brings us back to the thirteen offerings and it points to something critical in Numbers 29:35-39 as there are appointed times for each of the appointed offerings.
All of the women had a tarnished reputation in the view of men but found grace in the eyes of God. Tamar had her children from prostitution. Rahab was a former Gentile prostitute too. Ruth was from Moab, she was a former Gentile of the nations, a foreigner that repented and joined herself to Israel. Bathsheba had an adulterous affair with the king (David). The young Mary, a virgin was engaged to Joseph, but she was with the child by God's miracle, out of wedlock.
The number five represents the mercy grace and lovingkindness of Almighty God and this is displayed in these five women.
Several generations of kings are omitted in the genealogy of Matthew. Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah are missing between Jehoram and Uzziah. Jehoiakim is not seen between Josiah and Jehoiachin. Yet, this is not unusual in Jewish genealogy because a grandson can be considered a son, yet we do not know why these kings are not listed by Matthew.
The thing we need to understand is that this genealogy is a good record and it is written to be instructive. So, the facts are presented by Matthew in a way as to teach what God desires to teach us about Messiah.
Every Feast and their thirteen sacrifices points to Yeshua and His final generation heritage as the bread of life both past and future, offering His life blood filled with the Spirit represented by the oil. Take note too, the seven Feasts occur during the two seasons of rain each year across the planet. The Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain). Hosea 6:3 tells us why this is significant, His going forth is certain and He (Yeshua) will come to us:
God expects His people to recognize Him as Savior. That is why everything in the Torah; the Feasts and even the number of their sacrifices point to Yeshua and God's appointments in some way. Each Feast is critical, which is why Leviticus 23:37 says: "each day’s matter on its own day." So let us press on to know the Feasts of The Lord and Messiah.
Looking to the Bible, let's take a look at the mystery ashes of the red heifer and its purpose to point us toward Messiah's work.
First, the red heifer was burned 'outside the camp' just as Yeshua was killed outside Jerusalem. The heifer's death served a purpose to produce ashes to be mixed with living water as the "water of separation". A purification water to separate people from the unclean state of death. This is a graphic figure of the death of Messiah for eternal "purification of sin" because the wages of sin is death. The ashes have reference to God’s judgment of death being eternally overcome by Yeshua because once fully burned, something amazing and mysterious can be gained from the ash of the red heifer and the water... purification from death.
The red heifer ashes required that hyssop be used to sprinkle the water of separation mixed with the ashes. Once the priest did this, the priest became unclean so that the other person was no longer defiled by death. Amazingly, this is the scene at the death stake of Yeshua yet He overcame it in resurrection. The story includes a hyssop branch that was used by the Roman Centurion who soaked a sponge and put it on a hyssop branch (see John 19:29).
Paul describes the role of the red heifer and the water of separation. Think about his letter, Jesus had to become unclean for the person who had touched death (sin):
The Bible describes that people who touched a dead body would be unclean for seven days. Because of that, they would not be allowed in the camp of Israel nor participate in any service of the Tabernacle until cleansed.
Passover is a miracle, the worst sunset evening in history marks "salvation." The first Passover marks the first time an entire nation was saved, yet they did not have to do a thing but follow God's simple instruction to use a hyssop branch to apply the blood of a lamb on the wood of each doorway.
In Genesis, 1:14 God tells us that He set the moon to mark seasons, the thing is, He is not talking about winter, fall, spring or summer, He is talking about the seasons of His own great works. The Lord set His moedim appointments as the Word shows us. You now know what moedim means, they are the appointed holy times of God.
The Feasts are 'signs' as declared from the beginning, this is shown in Exodus 13:9...
Not doing so is another sign, a sign of disobedience to a faithful Heavenly Father and that brothers and sisters is a problem, a big problem. How do we know?
Read Revelation.
There in Revelation we are told of another sign, a mark of man that spells wrath:
Many have been innocently deceived by a counterfeit. It's called Easter. Its origin is from Ishtar, the false-goddess of Babylon where pagan ways grafted themselves to the pagan Anglo-Saxons who held feasts in Eostre's honor and polluted YHVH's festivals replacing them as counterfeit days. Its time to return to the truth.
Easter is not a moed day. Moed is the word God uses in Exodus 13:10 about His instruction given at Mount Sinai to remember the appointed ordinances of Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread each and every year:
There is a simple reason that the moon is so critical in the creation story. You can look at the sun alone on any day you like and you will NEVER be able to tell what day it is!
In God's timekeeping, midnight does not determine the beginning of a day either, never did - never will. Mankind came up with that in our own reckoning of time but God does not think like we do.
Do you want to know why?
Its simple: once again, first there was darkness, then light.
Understanding God's calendar seems a bit mysterious at first, but the reason is not too technical. It's easy, because when you look at the moon, anyone, anywhere, man woman or child, can determine the exact day of the month by its lunar phase if we just look up. After all, God wants us to know what day it is on His calendar.
All you have to do is commit the appearance of the moon each day to memory because the lunar phases, like God, never vary. The moon's phases work just like a dial on a clock, and wow what a big clock!
And the good news is, you can look see it.
During the Passover month of Nisan, the full moon is always seen 14 days after the sunset on the evening of the Passover from the sighting of the new moon and it will always be that way! That's why Leviticus 23:5 tells us:
Each moon period (lunar month) starts with a new moon and each month ends with the final waxing gibbous phase. God's time clock has never ever varied, ever and the unchanging face of the moon is our witness. So, if you are timing things according to Pope Gregory's timeline you are out of sync with God's calendar, and I pray you are beginning to see its time to change that.
Science has proved it. The lunar timepiece that shows us the appointed times of God has no variation, no change and that must be recognized. Surprised? Don't be. God put it there in creation for the reasons He stated in Genesis One: for His times and seasons, His moed (appointments).
It's just like God to do that but we miss it because we are focused only on the sun and a stand alone solar calendar. Because of that, we lose track of time... God's time. So here it is one more time:
Passover always begins with a full moon on the 14th day in the first Spring month. Just like God says and astronomy shows us the dynamics, that full moon is always seen in the evening of the 14th day. The cool thing about that is how the 'exodus' people called 'Israel' could actually see in the night as they left Egypt. After all, a bright moon in the desert lights up everything!
All the subsequent Feast days rely on the unchanging evening of salvation which falls on the Passover full moon. What is hard to comprehend is not the timing, after all the moon visually shows us that. What was difficult at first for me was the fact that Passover is not Easter, they are not the same. Constantine and the Council of Nicaea promoted Easter in 325AD, but today many believers like me are repenting and walking away from Constantine’s creed’s that separated Christianity and Judaism and set them in opposition to each other. The battle ground was old vs. new, church vs. synagogue, cross vs. menorah divided in men's hostility.
Constantine’s decree for Easter law attempted to change the times and seasons away from Passover and the Biblical month of Nisan (Abib). The Emperor and his Nicaea Council took a left turn away from God's Torah in an attempt to establish a new religion, an authoritative substitution and supplanting of the teaching of the Word of God. Passover was soon outlawed throughout the Roman Empire.
In Roman tradition, Easter is timed on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox each Spring and to add to the Easter confusion, Orthodox Eastern churches use the Julian calendar to calculate Easter while Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, yet there is no mention of the vernal equinox in the light of Scripture.
The first Passover and every one since the Exodus have begun on the evening of Nisan 14. The first was marked by the blood of a lamb on the wood posts of every home that followed the instruction of The Lord. The ultimate Passover was marked in the same way by the blood of the lamb of God on the wood of for all the world to believe.
On Passover, we get to take the baked unleavened bread and wine. The unleavened bread has stripes and holes throughout. When broken it almost sounds like the snap of a whip, reminding us of the beating the Romans gave Jesus through the lashes. Crucifixion was an agonizing, torturous death, but Jesus endured the pain silently before He was ruthlessly nailed to the tree. We are reminded of His Passover scourging by the breaking of unleavened bread and the wine.
The Romans used a flagellum. It was a whip with several strands weighted with lead balls or pieces of bone designed to lacerate and cause bleeding. The weighed thongs struck the skin so violently that it tore and ripped it open. The bloody scene must have looked like the appearance of sacrifice as animals were slaughtered as their blood was thrown against the Altar.
The historian Eusebius of Caesarea recounts with vivid, horrible detail the facts about a scourging. He writes:
Pilate stood before the scourged Yeshua who was wearing a crown of thorns and a robe. Pilate told the crowd, “Behold, the man!” (John 19:5). But the angry men in crowd had their way in His tribulation, had they not, unbelievably we would all be in big trouble.
They demanded his death just as we have by our sin.
Like everything else about his death, Jesus knew by Isaiah's words that he would be scourged. Yeshua predicted His suffering for the third time in Matthew 20:19. Jesus knew of His suffering before He offered His life as the Pascal lamb of God long before He died at the stake providing cleansing from death like the red heifer. He accepted those bloody blows, and his body was ripped and torn open bleeding for our sinful ways that oppose God.
Sin is defined in the Bible as transgression of the law [Torah] of God (1John 3:4) and sin is rebellion against God (see Deuteronomy 9:7 and Joshua 1:18). Paul wrote to those in Rome that the first man Adam brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12), and so death and expulsion from Eden was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That is what we all must come to terms with.
The good news is the Savior of the world took the beating for our sins so that we might not have to suffer the eternal consequence of our transgressions which is death and eternal separation from God. Most people call this hell. It's not torture for the living, its death eternal with no hope for eternal resurrection into life with the King and the restoration of Eden.
Truly, by His stripes we can be healed and today, we 'get to' participate in the joy of knowing that through the celebration of the seven days of Unleavened Bread.
On the day 'after' the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, according to Biblical instruction, an offering is to be made before God as a wave offering, a barley sheaf of the spring harvest before The Lord for you to be accepted (Leviticus 23:11).
According to the promised sign of Jonah that He declared, Yeshua was then raised from the dead on the, third day 'like' Jonah. Yeshua was resurrected three days and three nights after being crucified.
Sorry, but do the math for yourself to see if the story you have heard about a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection adds up to three days and three nights. If it does not add up, then the traditional rumor does not make sense. That's why learning that there is much more to know about the Feast days of The Lord is so important today in our lives as Believers.
You can't discard or ignore any of the Feasts of The Lord as you may have been innocently taught in the past.
Today, in our so-called modern culture, we have many traditional man-made holidays that have existed over the millennia, yet they move around on our man-made calendars. In the last few centuries, these have morphed into celebration by holidays not found in Scripture.
At the same time, the seven Feast Days declared by God that He said were to be set apart 'for ever' as appointed Holy Days throughout 'all generations' have been relegated in our minds as only 'Jewish' holidays. Yet, God's calendar and His holidays are set Holy Days for everyone not only the Jew.
It is time all of God's people emerge from a wilderness of tradition as one new man (Ephesians 2:15).
It is time for the restoration of God's appointed Feast Days under His ownership and leadership. It is time for renewed worship and celebration in purpose freed from the issues that divide and delay the return of Messiah.
It is time to say good bye to Emperor Constantine's Easter rule from the First Council of Nicaea. It is time to say good bye to Nimrod, Ishtar and Ēostre. There are no bunny egg hunts in the salvation story, no Easter ham in the redemptive plan of God but there is a lamb, and He is the Lamb of God.
The eastern and western "Christian Church" is still divided between the schism of the Gregorian and Julian calendar to set the dates. So it is time to wake up and be restored to God's Biblical calendar and thank the Jewish people for honoring it since the beginning!
Perhaps Ripley should say, "believe it or not" Christians should look Jewish, set apart to the world.
It is time for “Christians” to begin to look and act like their Jewish Messiah. It is time to quit messing around, ignoring the instruction of the Father and the obedience of the Son. It is time to put away unBiblical tradition, it is time to stand and walk uprightly and follow the Son of God in obedience to the instruction of The Father:
Passover is a holy, set apart Feast of The Lord, it arrives every Biblical year in the month we know as Nisan on the 14th day because God said so:
Yeshua entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, He was inspected as the Lamb of God for four days. His crucified blood was on the wood on the 15th of Nisan and He was wrapped in linen and put to rest in the grave before the end of the day. He lay there behind the stone and after the third day and night, at the end of the weekly Sabbath, His death ended as He was quickened to resurrection life. He arose from the grave to stand before the Father on the day of First Fruits.
He then appeared to ten unbelieving disciples like the ten lost tribes of Israel. Why just ten? Judas, who betrayed Him took his own life and doubting Thomas (called “Twin") was not there with the disciples when Jesus came because he did not believe, just yet. Thomas doubted Messiah and went his own way, so he missed out on the blessing when He arrived but he was given a second chance like the provision of the Second Passover provided the men that might be missing in the wilderness.
The good news is, even if you have missed The Lord on His appointed days you can do just as Thomas did and see the lamb of God for who He is. Perhaps that is a witness we can give our Jewish brothers and sisters.
Many think the Spirit of God did not come upon the disciples until Pentecost (Shavuot) but John 20:22 tells us that the 'Resurrected One' breathed on these ten men and said:
I pray you can now begin to see the Lord's work. It was Yeshua's Pesach. It was Passover and His appointed time. Messiah Yeshua kept the appointment and showed the world how to live, now it's time to do something about it.
The Torah and the Prophets point to Him. Yeshua is the unleavened bread, the wine and the spotless lamb of God without sin. For three days and nights, He took on the sin of the world into the grave of the earth. At the end of the glorious 3rd day as the sun was setting, He resurrected from death into new life glory. This is a part of the gospel of the Kingdom of God you must know, the gate of Eden is not closed, eternal life can be restored through the Messiah of Israel.
Yeshua of Nazareth said the proof will be seen in the three days and nights and the death of Jonah. The three days that Yeshua fulfilled from the prophetic sign of Jonah are: 1) Passover, 2) Unleavened Bread and 3) First Fruits.
Perhaps, these were the same days Jonah lay in the belly of that whale, if so we may need to adjust our thinking of Messiah, Jonah and the Passover.
For many, its time to get in sync with God's calendar and get busy with the true gospel of the Kingdom. Yeshua was raised in glory on the third day according to the truth declared (read the witness of Luke 18:33; Luke 24:7; Luke 24:21; Luke 24:46; John 2:1; Acts 10:40; Acts 27:19 and 1Corinthians 15:4).
We can have a clearer picture of the Biblical record of resurrection if we dig in, we can establish that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey as promised to the world in Zechariah 9:9. That day was Nisan 10. It is the day that the "Lamb" was to be inspected according to Exodus 12:
Matthew understood the sacrifice offerings point to Yeshua, after all he was a Jew. His Hebrew name was Matityahu, it means which means "Gift of Yahovah." The shadow picture he gives to us ties four sets of generations of men from Abraham to Yeshua in Matthew 1:1-17.
If you carefully read the text you will notice that the Matthew does not specifically state that there are 42 generations. He states there are three groups of 14 generations to Yeshua but in reality he lists 14 from Abraham to David. He then lists 14 from Solomon to Jeconiah but then only thirteen generations are listed from Shealtiel to Yeshua and Mary is noted as His mother.
There is a reason. Yeshua Jesus was the 13th and 14th generation. He was born the son of Mary and and listed as the 13th generation. He was reborn as the 14th generation after offering His life as a sacrifice for mankind's sin in His 'new grain' First Fruits' resurrection.
Not only that, the hidden layer if you dig in is that the Feast Days all had required sacrifices and they point to Matthew's genealogy of thirteen.
Numbers 28:19-23 describes a offering teaching and instruction during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to include the offering of thirteen animals and two more by grain and oil as an offering:
"You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect. For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you. You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering."Numbers 28:26-31 shows the sacrifices on First Fruits day during the week of Unleavened Bread must include the offering of thirteen consisting eleven animals and two more in the bread (grain) and wine (drink) seen at the Last Supper and the sinless (without defect) life of Yeshua (to make atonement). Notice this day is after Passover:
"Also on the day of the First Fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat to make atonement for you. Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect."Leviticus 23:17-20 also includes the numbering of thirteen burnt offerings for the day of Shavuot (Pentecost), the day the gift of the Ten Commandments and the days of the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On this day there were offerings of seven male lambs, one bull, and two rams, followed by a sin offering of one goat and a fellowship offering of two lambs. It was a day of sacred assembly. The primary focus of this and every Festival offering points toward Yeshua.
Numbers 29:1-6 also shows us thirteen offerings beginning on the Fall Feast of Trumpets, eleven animals and the grain and drink offerings:
"Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs. Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD."Numbers 29:7-11 shows us thirteen offerings on the Day of Atonement, again eleven animals and the two grain and drink offerings:
"Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work. You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs; one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings."On the Day of Atonement, there is a days of old aspect. It is seen in the the timing of seventh month covering (kippur) described in the Torah if we'll just remember the former things of old. It's shown as the end of the flood (covering) of the earth and is noted in Genesis 8:4.
"So that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." Genesis 8:4
We can only imagine the joy and celebration of Noah and the seven others with him. Remeber, the seventeenth day of the seventh month is the third day of the celebration of Sukkot. Noah's story should remind us of Hosea 6:1-3 and its great promise and a tie to rain:
“Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
The Torah, aka God's teaching and instruction that points to Messiah shows that the third and final Pilgrim Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) caps off the others. During the celebration week, a total of seventy animals are offered, this points to the engagement of the symbol of the seventy nations of the world in the celebration and it points back to Genesis 10-11, where the seventy grandsons of Noah are named and each became the ancestor of a nation.
The eight day following the seven days of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret in Hebrew and it brings us back to the thirteen offerings and it points to something critical in Numbers 29:35-39 as there are appointed times for each of the appointed offerings.
"On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. ‘You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times...'"Matthew's genealogy is instructive in other ways. It mentions five women and five points us to the five books of Torah: The women named are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. This is very unusual in Biblical genealogy, but then so is Yeshua!!
All of the women had a tarnished reputation in the view of men but found grace in the eyes of God. Tamar had her children from prostitution. Rahab was a former Gentile prostitute too. Ruth was from Moab, she was a former Gentile of the nations, a foreigner that repented and joined herself to Israel. Bathsheba had an adulterous affair with the king (David). The young Mary, a virgin was engaged to Joseph, but she was with the child by God's miracle, out of wedlock.
The number five represents the mercy grace and lovingkindness of Almighty God and this is displayed in these five women.
Several generations of kings are omitted in the genealogy of Matthew. Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah are missing between Jehoram and Uzziah. Jehoiakim is not seen between Josiah and Jehoiachin. Yet, this is not unusual in Jewish genealogy because a grandson can be considered a son, yet we do not know why these kings are not listed by Matthew.
The thing we need to understand is that this genealogy is a good record and it is written to be instructive. So, the facts are presented by Matthew in a way as to teach what God desires to teach us about Messiah.
Every Feast and their thirteen sacrifices points to Yeshua and His final generation heritage as the bread of life both past and future, offering His life blood filled with the Spirit represented by the oil. Take note too, the seven Feasts occur during the two seasons of rain each year across the planet. The Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain). Hosea 6:3 tells us why this is significant, His going forth is certain and He (Yeshua) will come to us:
“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”
God expects His people to recognize Him as Savior. That is why everything in the Torah; the Feasts and even the number of their sacrifices point to Yeshua and God's appointments in some way. Each Feast is critical, which is why Leviticus 23:37 says: "each day’s matter on its own day." So let us press on to know the Feasts of The Lord and Messiah.
Looking to the Bible, let's take a look at the mystery ashes of the red heifer and its purpose to point us toward Messiah's work.
First, the red heifer was burned 'outside the camp' just as Yeshua was killed outside Jerusalem. The heifer's death served a purpose to produce ashes to be mixed with living water as the "water of separation". A purification water to separate people from the unclean state of death. This is a graphic figure of the death of Messiah for eternal "purification of sin" because the wages of sin is death. The ashes have reference to God’s judgment of death being eternally overcome by Yeshua because once fully burned, something amazing and mysterious can be gained from the ash of the red heifer and the water... purification from death.
The red heifer ashes required that hyssop be used to sprinkle the water of separation mixed with the ashes. Once the priest did this, the priest became unclean so that the other person was no longer defiled by death. Amazingly, this is the scene at the death stake of Yeshua yet He overcame it in resurrection. The story includes a hyssop branch that was used by the Roman Centurion who soaked a sponge and put it on a hyssop branch (see John 19:29).
Paul describes the role of the red heifer and the water of separation. Think about his letter, Jesus had to become unclean for the person who had touched death (sin):
"For he (God) hath made him (Messiah) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2Corinthians 5:21).The week of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days because of the teaching of Numbers 19:11-16 which shows us that the offering on the Passover of Messiah also represents the behind the scene reason for the red heifer. Its ashes provide purification from the defilement of "death." This Biblical truth may not have been heard in many sermons, but the Bible shows us the beginning of this parable in God's instruction. It is tied to Messiah's taking on the sins of the world on Himself at the stake:
"He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days."
"Whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields… shall be unclean seven days".This has to do with all of us... we are "all" sinful and therefore we have caused the horrific violent beating and ultimate offering of Messiah, yet He arose in resurrection. Only God can save us!
The Bible describes that people who touched a dead body would be unclean for seven days. Because of that, they would not be allowed in the camp of Israel nor participate in any service of the Tabernacle until cleansed.
Passover is a miracle, the worst sunset evening in history marks "salvation." The first Passover marks the first time an entire nation was saved, yet they did not have to do a thing but follow God's simple instruction to use a hyssop branch to apply the blood of a lamb on the wood of each doorway.
In Genesis, 1:14 God tells us that He set the moon to mark seasons, the thing is, He is not talking about winter, fall, spring or summer, He is talking about the seasons of His own great works. The Lord set His moedim appointments as the Word shows us. You now know what moedim means, they are the appointed holy times of God.
The Feasts are 'signs' as declared from the beginning, this is shown in Exodus 13:9...
"And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt."The Biblical message here is 'the hand' denotes 'doing" them and the 'memorial between your eyes' means remembering them.
Not doing so is another sign, a sign of disobedience to a faithful Heavenly Father and that brothers and sisters is a problem, a big problem. How do we know?
Read Revelation.
There in Revelation we are told of another sign, a mark of man that spells wrath:
"And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Revelation 14:9-10The big problem is that haSatan is the counterfeit of truth, he originated deception with the intent to defraud God's instruction. His fraud against mankind began in Eden and it continues today.
Many have been innocently deceived by a counterfeit. It's called Easter. Its origin is from Ishtar, the false-goddess of Babylon where pagan ways grafted themselves to the pagan Anglo-Saxons who held feasts in Eostre's honor and polluted YHVH's festivals replacing them as counterfeit days. Its time to return to the truth.
Easter is not a moed day. Moed is the word God uses in Exodus 13:10 about His instruction given at Mount Sinai to remember the appointed ordinances of Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread each and every year:
"You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year."We have seen that Passover and indeed all "appointed times" are eternal and governed by God's calendar and that not only includes the solar cycle but the lunar cycle, the daily phases of the moon embedded in God's heavenly creation timepiece.
There is a simple reason that the moon is so critical in the creation story. You can look at the sun alone on any day you like and you will NEVER be able to tell what day it is!
In God's timekeeping, midnight does not determine the beginning of a day either, never did - never will. Mankind came up with that in our own reckoning of time but God does not think like we do.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8–9The day, by our Creator's definition given in the beginning of the Bible starts after the sun's set, the evening.
Do you want to know why?
Its simple: once again, first there was darkness, then light.
Understanding God's calendar seems a bit mysterious at first, but the reason is not too technical. It's easy, because when you look at the moon, anyone, anywhere, man woman or child, can determine the exact day of the month by its lunar phase if we just look up. After all, God wants us to know what day it is on His calendar.
All you have to do is commit the appearance of the moon each day to memory because the lunar phases, like God, never vary. The moon's phases work just like a dial on a clock, and wow what a big clock!
And the good news is, you can look see it.
During the Passover month of Nisan, the full moon is always seen 14 days after the sunset on the evening of the Passover from the sighting of the new moon and it will always be that way! That's why Leviticus 23:5 tells us:
"In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S Passover."Did you know, the moon spins but you never see it turn on its axis because the moon's rotational spin is in perfect, total sync with the Earth each and every day? That is why we never see the dark side of the moon.
Each moon period (lunar month) starts with a new moon and each month ends with the final waxing gibbous phase. God's time clock has never ever varied, ever and the unchanging face of the moon is our witness. So, if you are timing things according to Pope Gregory's timeline you are out of sync with God's calendar, and I pray you are beginning to see its time to change that.
Science has proved it. The lunar timepiece that shows us the appointed times of God has no variation, no change and that must be recognized. Surprised? Don't be. God put it there in creation for the reasons He stated in Genesis One: for His times and seasons, His moed (appointments).
It's just like God to do that but we miss it because we are focused only on the sun and a stand alone solar calendar. Because of that, we lose track of time... God's time. So here it is one more time:
Passover always begins with a full moon on the 14th day in the first Spring month. Just like God says and astronomy shows us the dynamics, that full moon is always seen in the evening of the 14th day. The cool thing about that is how the 'exodus' people called 'Israel' could actually see in the night as they left Egypt. After all, a bright moon in the desert lights up everything!
All the subsequent Feast days rely on the unchanging evening of salvation which falls on the Passover full moon. What is hard to comprehend is not the timing, after all the moon visually shows us that. What was difficult at first for me was the fact that Passover is not Easter, they are not the same. Constantine and the Council of Nicaea promoted Easter in 325AD, but today many believers like me are repenting and walking away from Constantine’s creed’s that separated Christianity and Judaism and set them in opposition to each other. The battle ground was old vs. new, church vs. synagogue, cross vs. menorah divided in men's hostility.
Constantine’s decree for Easter law attempted to change the times and seasons away from Passover and the Biblical month of Nisan (Abib). The Emperor and his Nicaea Council took a left turn away from God's Torah in an attempt to establish a new religion, an authoritative substitution and supplanting of the teaching of the Word of God. Passover was soon outlawed throughout the Roman Empire.
In Roman tradition, Easter is timed on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox each Spring and to add to the Easter confusion, Orthodox Eastern churches use the Julian calendar to calculate Easter while Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, yet there is no mention of the vernal equinox in the light of Scripture.
The first Passover and every one since the Exodus have begun on the evening of Nisan 14. The first was marked by the blood of a lamb on the wood posts of every home that followed the instruction of The Lord. The ultimate Passover was marked in the same way by the blood of the lamb of God on the wood of for all the world to believe.
On Passover, we get to take the baked unleavened bread and wine. The unleavened bread has stripes and holes throughout. When broken it almost sounds like the snap of a whip, reminding us of the beating the Romans gave Jesus through the lashes. Crucifixion was an agonizing, torturous death, but Jesus endured the pain silently before He was ruthlessly nailed to the tree. We are reminded of His Passover scourging by the breaking of unleavened bread and the wine.
The Romans used a flagellum. It was a whip with several strands weighted with lead balls or pieces of bone designed to lacerate and cause bleeding. The weighed thongs struck the skin so violently that it tore and ripped it open. The bloody scene must have looked like the appearance of sacrifice as animals were slaughtered as their blood was thrown against the Altar.
The historian Eusebius of Caesarea recounts with vivid, horrible detail the facts about a scourging. He writes:
“For they say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view” (Ecclesiastical History, Book 4, chapter 15).Roman law required capital sentences to be accompanied by scourging, but the final decision to scourge Yeshua was made before it was ultimately determined that he would be crucified. After the brutal beating, Pilate attempted to release him (John 19:1) at first. Perhaps by the urging of his wife, Pilate hoped that if he humiliated and beat Jesus to a bloody pulp, the sentence of blasphemy could be satisfied. But it was not.
Pilate stood before the scourged Yeshua who was wearing a crown of thorns and a robe. Pilate told the crowd, “Behold, the man!” (John 19:5). But the angry men in crowd had their way in His tribulation, had they not, unbelievably we would all be in big trouble.
They demanded his death just as we have by our sin.
Like everything else about his death, Jesus knew by Isaiah's words that he would be scourged. Yeshua predicted His suffering for the third time in Matthew 20:19. Jesus knew of His suffering before He offered His life as the Pascal lamb of God long before He died at the stake providing cleansing from death like the red heifer. He accepted those bloody blows, and his body was ripped and torn open bleeding for our sinful ways that oppose God.
Sin is defined in the Bible as transgression of the law [Torah] of God (1John 3:4) and sin is rebellion against God (see Deuteronomy 9:7 and Joshua 1:18). Paul wrote to those in Rome that the first man Adam brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12), and so death and expulsion from Eden was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That is what we all must come to terms with.
The good news is the Savior of the world took the beating for our sins so that we might not have to suffer the eternal consequence of our transgressions which is death and eternal separation from God. Most people call this hell. It's not torture for the living, its death eternal with no hope for eternal resurrection into life with the King and the restoration of Eden.
Truly, by His stripes we can be healed and today, we 'get to' participate in the joy of knowing that through the celebration of the seven days of Unleavened Bread.
On the day 'after' the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, according to Biblical instruction, an offering is to be made before God as a wave offering, a barley sheaf of the spring harvest before The Lord for you to be accepted (Leviticus 23:11).
According to the promised sign of Jonah that He declared, Yeshua was then raised from the dead on the, third day 'like' Jonah. Yeshua was resurrected three days and three nights after being crucified.
Sorry, but do the math for yourself to see if the story you have heard about a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection adds up to three days and three nights. If it does not add up, then the traditional rumor does not make sense. That's why learning that there is much more to know about the Feast days of The Lord is so important today in our lives as Believers.
You can't discard or ignore any of the Feasts of The Lord as you may have been innocently taught in the past.
Today, in our so-called modern culture, we have many traditional man-made holidays that have existed over the millennia, yet they move around on our man-made calendars. In the last few centuries, these have morphed into celebration by holidays not found in Scripture.
At the same time, the seven Feast Days declared by God that He said were to be set apart 'for ever' as appointed Holy Days throughout 'all generations' have been relegated in our minds as only 'Jewish' holidays. Yet, God's calendar and His holidays are set Holy Days for everyone not only the Jew.
It is time all of God's people emerge from a wilderness of tradition as one new man (Ephesians 2:15).
It is time for the restoration of God's appointed Feast Days under His ownership and leadership. It is time for renewed worship and celebration in purpose freed from the issues that divide and delay the return of Messiah.
It is time to say good bye to Emperor Constantine's Easter rule from the First Council of Nicaea. It is time to say good bye to Nimrod, Ishtar and Ēostre. There are no bunny egg hunts in the salvation story, no Easter ham in the redemptive plan of God but there is a lamb, and He is the Lamb of God.
The eastern and western "Christian Church" is still divided between the schism of the Gregorian and Julian calendar to set the dates. So it is time to wake up and be restored to God's Biblical calendar and thank the Jewish people for honoring it since the beginning!
Perhaps Ripley should say, "believe it or not" Christians should look Jewish, set apart to the world.
It is time for “Christians” to begin to look and act like their Jewish Messiah. It is time to quit messing around, ignoring the instruction of the Father and the obedience of the Son. It is time to put away unBiblical tradition, it is time to stand and walk uprightly and follow the Son of God in obedience to the instruction of The Father:
"Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." John 5:19The Lord says, "Come out of her my people". Its time to do that and go back to the heavenly days of unleavened bread and turn from our earthly traditions. It's no wonder God says:
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24
"I hate your new moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with them". Isaiah 1:14Our Father is tired of our own festivals when they DO NOT follow His instruction. The Easter bunny did not morph into the Passover lamb, God's appointment calendar did not change and there is certainly no Easter ham. Easter festival traditions with our baskets and colored bunny egg hunts are not a part of God's ordained worship despite good intention. The Easter bunny distorts the truth with a counterfeit, cuddly deception. It takes our hearts and souls off Passover. It's no wonder the dates we choose rarely coincide. So much so, we don't even know what time it is on God's calendar.
Passover is a holy, set apart Feast of The Lord, it arrives every Biblical year in the month we know as Nisan on the 14th day because God said so:
"The Passover to the LORD comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month." Leviticus 23:5Jesus’ death provides the Passover offering required to cover the death penalty of sin for this world.
Yeshua entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, He was inspected as the Lamb of God for four days. His crucified blood was on the wood on the 15th of Nisan and He was wrapped in linen and put to rest in the grave before the end of the day. He lay there behind the stone and after the third day and night, at the end of the weekly Sabbath, His death ended as He was quickened to resurrection life. He arose from the grave to stand before the Father on the day of First Fruits.
"God raised Him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it." Acts 2:24Jesus is alive today, resurrected from death, exalted to the right hand of God.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” Acts 2:36Now that you know that, Peter (Kepha) a disciple of Yeshua gives you and I our next step and a promise:
“Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39The arisen Yeshua was first seen by Mary Magdalene before He ascended to the Father. Luke 24:13–31 tells us He returned to walk with the two witnesses on the road to Emmaus to explain how He is found woven throughout the words of the Torah and the prophets, giving eternal life to the Scriptures. (Luke 24:13-35)
He then appeared to ten unbelieving disciples like the ten lost tribes of Israel. Why just ten? Judas, who betrayed Him took his own life and doubting Thomas (called “Twin") was not there with the disciples when Jesus came because he did not believe, just yet. Thomas doubted Messiah and went his own way, so he missed out on the blessing when He arrived but he was given a second chance like the provision of the Second Passover provided the men that might be missing in the wilderness.
The good news is, even if you have missed The Lord on His appointed days you can do just as Thomas did and see the lamb of God for who He is. Perhaps that is a witness we can give our Jewish brothers and sisters.
Many think the Spirit of God did not come upon the disciples until Pentecost (Shavuot) but John 20:22 tells us that the 'Resurrected One' breathed on these ten men and said:
“Receive the Holy Spirit”.Eight days later, like doubting Judah today, Thomas was found with the ten. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came in and stood among them and said:
“Peace be with you.”Then he said to Thomas:
“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”Thomas the Jewish disciple, answered him:
“My Lord and my God!”Yeshua said to him:
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”These words are written so that you may believe Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name and be given the gifts of faith (see John 20:31). This record, prophetically and graphically describes all people and the future for Jerusalem given by Zechariah 12:10-14.
I pray you can now begin to see the Lord's work. It was Yeshua's Pesach. It was Passover and His appointed time. Messiah Yeshua kept the appointment and showed the world how to live, now it's time to do something about it.
The Torah and the Prophets point to Him. Yeshua is the unleavened bread, the wine and the spotless lamb of God without sin. For three days and nights, He took on the sin of the world into the grave of the earth. At the end of the glorious 3rd day as the sun was setting, He resurrected from death into new life glory. This is a part of the gospel of the Kingdom of God you must know, the gate of Eden is not closed, eternal life can be restored through the Messiah of Israel.
Yeshua of Nazareth said the proof will be seen in the three days and nights and the death of Jonah. The three days that Yeshua fulfilled from the prophetic sign of Jonah are: 1) Passover, 2) Unleavened Bread and 3) First Fruits.
Perhaps, these were the same days Jonah lay in the belly of that whale, if so we may need to adjust our thinking of Messiah, Jonah and the Passover.
For many, its time to get in sync with God's calendar and get busy with the true gospel of the Kingdom. Yeshua was raised in glory on the third day according to the truth declared (read the witness of Luke 18:33; Luke 24:7; Luke 24:21; Luke 24:46; John 2:1; Acts 10:40; Acts 27:19 and 1Corinthians 15:4).
We can have a clearer picture of the Biblical record of resurrection if we dig in, we can establish that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey as promised to the world in Zechariah 9:9. That day was Nisan 10. It is the day that the "Lamb" was to be inspected according to Exodus 12:
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb... Exodus 12:3What about the Last Supper?
Remembering Yeshua's last supper of bread and wine celebrates Him as the firstborn son and it links Him to to Abraham.
When Jesus said (John 8:56-57) “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” He was pointing back to the bread and wine that Melchizedek king of Salem brought out to share with Abraham. This is described in Genesis 14:18.
When Jesus said (John 8:56-57) “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” He was pointing back to the bread and wine that Melchizedek king of Salem brought out to share with Abraham. This is described in Genesis 14:18.
It happened after Abraham rescued Lot.
Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him including the king of Sodom north of Damascus fought and that battle foreshadowed events in Egypt. During the meal with Melchizedek, Abraham participated in a shadow picture of Messiah and the Unleavened Bread tradition.
God begins and ends the cycle of His appointed days with rest allowing us to focus on His work not ours. If we love The Father and appreciate Him, let's show that we honor Him as our Father in Heaven. We get to do that by keeping His appointments and resting in them just as Jesus did because He always honored the Father's instruction. Jesus followed and taught His Father's instruction, thank God we can do the same thing!
Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him including the king of Sodom north of Damascus fought and that battle foreshadowed events in Egypt. During the meal with Melchizedek, Abraham participated in a shadow picture of Messiah and the Unleavened Bread tradition.
God begins and ends the cycle of His appointed days with rest allowing us to focus on His work not ours. If we love The Father and appreciate Him, let's show that we honor Him as our Father in Heaven. We get to do that by keeping His appointments and resting in them just as Jesus did because He always honored the Father's instruction. Jesus followed and taught His Father's instruction, thank God we can do the same thing!
Did you know that some Jewish writings give us a reference to a Galilean tradition that may be tied to the "Last Supper." Much like a Passover Seder rehearsal if you will before the Fast of the Firstborn (Ta'anit Behorim) with bread and wine eaten in honor of those firstborn of Egypt that died as the full Passover moon lit up the Egyptian sky. The fast expresses honor for the life of Israel's firstborn sons saved from the tenth plague.
Reference to it can be found in the Talmud in Soferim 21:3.
We do not know if that tradition is a part of the backstory to Last Supper, but we can know Jesus didn't start a new religion tradition with a eucharist wafer of bread and wine called communion. By the way, the word eucharist actually comes from the Greek word that means to give thanks, it's not a part of a mass.
The traditional Jewish blessing for bread and wine goes like this as one blesses God for providing bread and fruit from the earth:
"Blessed are you, LORD, our God, King of the Universe, who provides bread from the earth." In Hebrew: Baruch attah Adonai, Elohenu, Melek ha olam, Ha motzi lechem min ha-eretz.
"Blessed are you, LORD our Elohim, King and Ruler of the Universe, who gives us the fruit of the vine." In Hebrew: Baruch attah Adonai, Elohenu, Melek ha olam, boray pre hagafen.
Amen.
The Passover story began long ago in Egypt, Jesus gave it great meaning as the Lamb of God in Jerusalem, but there's more, it's not over:
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Luke 22:14-16
As for me, I am grateful faithful Jews have kept good traditions and most importantly keep the Sabbath and the Feasts of The LORD. Jesus the Jew did the same and brought forth the promise of eternal life and forgiveness. His Passover story highlights the instruction that has been kept by the Jewish people that came from the command of The Father, Almighty God and Sovereign of the Universe:
"And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening." Exodus 12:17-18
Did you know the Last Supper Jesus ate with His disciples was not His last?
It wasn't His last supper. Not only did Yeshua declare it will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God, Luke 24 tells us Jesus shared a meal in Emmaus with two men after their encounter. Luke also tells us some time later He ate fish with the disciples:
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
Everything Yeshua did and does has order and purpose.
Order is the Hebrew word "seder" and in Jewish tradition the Passover seder includes not only unleavened bread, but four cups of wine shared during the seder remembering the promises of God given in Exodus 6:6-7:
- I will bring you out (Sanctification)
- I will free you (Deliverance)
- I will redeem you (Redemption)
- I will take you as my own people (Restoration)
After the wine was shared at Passover, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. It seems likely that their song was the historic Jewish Hallel known as the Psalms of Praise. The Hallel is the the singing of Psalms 113-118 and it has a very long Jewish tradition. It is also called the "Egyptian Hallel" for good reason. The record of their singing is found in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.
We have much to be grateful to the Jewish people and Jesus is the first in line. It is obvious that during Passover each year we can partake of the unleavened bread matzos, representing the unleavened Messiah without sin as well as the cup of blessing red wine representing His shed blood as our Passover lamb that is described in 1 Corinthians 5:7.
Elohim God wants to honor what He has done on each of His appointed days. He wants be the focus of our heart, mind and soul especially on these days.
Praise God, Jesus is the afikoman, the hidden bread of life, broken by our sins that can be found, representing Messiah's resurrection and return.
I pray you can see why you should grab your calendar and mark out a vacation day from work for each day described as a day of rest from labor in Leviticus 23 so that you can show up and show God that you honor your Heavenly Father and respect His requests because you love Him.
To mark the proper days, you will need the help of a Hebrew calendar and you can thank the Jewish people for that too.
To mark the proper days, you will need the help of a Hebrew calendar and you can thank the Jewish people for that too.
The Passover month begins on the first day of Abib, the first month God declared in the Bible with the purpose to honor Passover when He outlined His seven point plan of redemption with His appointed Feasts.
As always, God declares the end from the beginning. The month of the Passover marks the beginning for salvation and redemption.
The first day is the day we can begin get ready for our appointment with the Almighty.
Like the lamb, the red heifer is a spotless offering with no defect. Like Yeshua, it was not offered at the Temple. It was sacrificed outside the city, its ashes were mixed and sprinkled with clean water and a hyssop branch. Anyone sprinkled with it is restored from the unclean stain of death, but get this, the Priest that sprinkles it must take on the uncleanliness of death. The realm of death must be transferred, taken on by the Priest. Yeshua did that.
The red heifer is a picture the work of Messiah the Priest King that purifies and redeems mankind from death with His own. The red heifer provides the imagery of that blessing we need to see in the restoration promise of resurrection from death. Even the hyssop branch was there at the cross (see John 19:29 for the evidence).
Did you know Ezekiel also declares a prophecy that "The Prince" will provide offerings on behalf of Himself and all people during the week of Unleavened Bread that starts off with Passover?
You should also know that special Passover includes the sin offering by The Prince on the Altar?
He is why we get to rehearse God's appointment days as we await His return.
One day we will hear our Creator say: "I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Y-H-V-H your God, who delivered you..." Exodus 6:7
We need to be ready.
There are seven appointed times in God's plan and thank The LORD they remain into perpetually, forever appointed days by our unchanging, all knowing Almighty Creator God and never done away with.
As always, God declares the end from the beginning. The month of the Passover marks the beginning for salvation and redemption.
I declare the end from the beginning,Passover has always been important. On the first day of the first month, the judgment of the flood ended, Noah removed the ark's cover. So God set the beginning of His calendar with salvation. On this same day, Ezra came out of Babylon just as Moses came out of Egypt. Do you see the theme?
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: My plan will take place,
and I will do all My will. Isaiah 46:10
The first day is the day we can begin get ready for our appointment with the Almighty.
In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark's cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. Genesis 8:13Reading from Ezekiel, we see that the prophet is describing a glimpse of the future Passover of Messiah. It includes another fullness of time celebration many may have missed. It is the offering of the red heifer described in Numbers 19.
“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year." Exodus 12:2
“You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month." Exodus 40:2
"They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of the LORD's temple. They consecrated the LORD's temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished." Exodus 40:2
"He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month since the gracious hand of his God was on him." Ezra 7:9
"In the twenty-seventh year in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:" Ezekiel 29:17
“This is what the Lord GOD says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and purify the sanctuary." Ezekiel 45:18
Like the lamb, the red heifer is a spotless offering with no defect. Like Yeshua, it was not offered at the Temple. It was sacrificed outside the city, its ashes were mixed and sprinkled with clean water and a hyssop branch. Anyone sprinkled with it is restored from the unclean stain of death, but get this, the Priest that sprinkles it must take on the uncleanliness of death. The realm of death must be transferred, taken on by the Priest. Yeshua did that.
The red heifer is a picture the work of Messiah the Priest King that purifies and redeems mankind from death with His own. The red heifer provides the imagery of that blessing we need to see in the restoration promise of resurrection from death. Even the hyssop branch was there at the cross (see John 19:29 for the evidence).
Did you know Ezekiel also declares a prophecy that "The Prince" will provide offerings on behalf of Himself and all people during the week of Unleavened Bread that starts off with Passover?
You should also know that special Passover includes the sin offering by The Prince on the Altar?
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you are to celebrate the Passover, a festival of seven days during which unleavened bread will be eaten.
On that day The Prince will provide a bull as a sin offering on behalf of Himself and all the people of the land.
During the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD on each of the seven days, along with a male goat each day for a sin offering.
He will also provide a grain offering of half a bushel per bull and half a bushel per ram, along with a gallon of oil for every half bushel. At the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he will provide the same things for seven days — the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil. Ezekiel 45:21-25Jesus is "The Prince."
He is why we get to rehearse God's appointment days as we await His return.
One day we will hear our Creator say: "I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Y-H-V-H your God, who delivered you..." Exodus 6:7
We need to be ready.
There are seven appointed times in God's plan and thank The LORD they remain into perpetually, forever appointed days by our unchanging, all knowing Almighty Creator God and never done away with.
Almighty God gives us holy teaching with some basic instruction. So, take His days off to honor your Heavenly Father.
There's a deeper story behind these words: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Exodus 20:12
The promise of prolonging days in the Promised Land is a prophetic promise from God, a teaching of resurrection and eternal life in God's Kingdom.
Elohim God the Father tells us how to honor Him, we all get a day of to do no labor's work on His annual appointed days. Among other verses about this read what He has to say in Leviticus 23:7; Leviticus 23:8; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:25; Leviticus 23:28; Leviticus 23:35 ; Leviticus 23:36 and Leviticus 23:39.
These are the eternal words of your Creator, they are not old.
We need to see the light of Biblical truth and it is shining brightly if we just open God's instruction manual and follow our Father's advice.
The appointed Spring Feast Days pinpoint the exact days of the Heavenly Father's incredible plan of redemption offered by the humble "Prince of Peace." We get to rest in them and look forward to the Fall Feast Days of His return as King. They are our rehearsal cycle pointing toward each phase of His plan declared in the Bible.
Just as the Spring appointment days shown to us in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms have been filled up with great meaning, the latter Fall Days will be fulfilled by "The Prince" on the appointed days too. That is why we should all participate in them.
The final four appointments conclude the seven Feasts of The Lord, they are:
For some 3,000 years, Jewish people have prayed for the coming of the Messiah. For 2,000 years, Christians have prayed the return of the Messiah. Are we not paying for the same redemption?
In the fullness of the latter time represented by the Fall Feasts, both prayers and hope will be realized when the King comes to redeem and restore Earth as it was in the beginning.
Hosea prophesied of two appearances of Messiah. Moses demonstrated it. He made two trips with the Ten Commandments in hand.
Both the Spring and Fall Feasts are tied to the spring and fall harvest times as well as the former and latter rain... which are the seasons that God has taught us about in Scripture. Messiah the King is the reason for the seasons, the 'moed' appointments of Almighty God!
In ancient times before modern irrigation, crop harvests of Israel were totally dependent upon the patterns of the spring and fall rains that only God provides. The "key" spring harvest crop has always been barley, its success depended on the "former" spring rains. The "key" fall harvest has always been the grape, its crop yield was dependent on the "latter" rains. If we just look, we can see these agricultural themes throughout Scripture. The grape is the fruit of the vine.
There's also a summer harvest of wheat. It occurred at Pentecost, aka Shavuot.
Remember the "end time" parable of the wheat and the tares? It is all about 'wheat' for a reason, the reason is the season, the summer harvest wheat!!
Without a doubt, Leviticus 23 reveals God’s plan to do great things and to meet with His people, the children of God that he calls Israel and those with them who have been grafted in through faith in Israel’s Messiah. Leviticus tells of the appointed times, Moses heard the voice of the Lord saying:
The holy Feasts occur in two rainy seasons – the Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain).
Rain is symbolic of the outpouring of God's Spirit on His creation, the Earth and Mankind.
Rain is key in the Feasts. It is really important to honor the Father... and to participate in His plan:
The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is unique in that it is the only Biblical Feast day on God's calendar that occurs on the first day of a lunar month, the day of the "new moon" (in Hebrew - Rosh Kodesh). Trumpets Day arrives on the first day of the seventh Biblical month. Today, it's called the month Tishrei.
The Word of God tells us that in God's creation the heavens govern the timing of The Lord's Feast days. Without an eye toward the heavens we cannot know the season nor the signs or the wonders of God's plan as foretold by this appointed Fall rehearsal day. Leviticus 23 and Number's 29 reveals The Father's appointment plan for the day three passages dealing with this special New Moon day. They are Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 10:1-10; 29:1-6.
Numbers 10:1-10 reveals that Yom Teruah is called as the day of your gladness and it features two united in the sound hammered silver trumpets to cause us to be remembered in redemption before our God!
In Biblical times past, the new moon declares each new month. Fortunately, God's word, His Torah is wonderfully precise in His instruction of how we are to participate in observance of this day by blowing trumpets announcing the coming Messiah King. We know this because 2 Samuel 15 and 2 Kings 9 tell us that the shofar is blown when a king of Israel was coronated.
It might be easy to lose sight of the instructions of our Father if we think of them as done away with, after all, many may think that the "Feast Days" were somehow only for those living in the so-called "Old Testament" times. I used to think like that in ignorance... actually I did not think at all about them at all, but I know now we must not ignore the observance of any of God's teaching.
We need to see the light of Biblical truth and it is shining brightly if we just open God's instruction manual and follow our Father's advice.
The appointed Spring Feast Days pinpoint the exact days of the Heavenly Father's incredible plan of redemption offered by the humble "Prince of Peace." We get to rest in them and look forward to the Fall Feast Days of His return as King. They are our rehearsal cycle pointing toward each phase of His plan declared in the Bible.
Just as the Spring appointment days shown to us in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms have been filled up with great meaning, the latter Fall Days will be fulfilled by "The Prince" on the appointed days too. That is why we should all participate in them.
The final four appointments conclude the seven Feasts of The Lord, they are:
1) Trumpets (Yom Teruah) it begins in the first day of the seventh Biblical month. It is the day of shouting and blowing the shofar. The next appointment on God's calendar is ten days later, theses are the 'Ten Days of Awe' because the next Feast is called...
2) Atonement Day (Yom Kippur). It is the great day of judgment when God atones, literally covers sin. Like the weekly Sabbath, this day is not like the other appointments, because it is raised to the status of Sabbath, not just a day of no labor or regular work.
On this day, the last shofar will sound as a proclamation: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” as shown in Revelation 11:15. The Day of Atonement covering, Yom Kippur is the big day before Sukkot and Shemini Azereth. Yom Kippur represents the promise of the day when God removes sin from before he comes to tabernacle and live just as He did in Eden and Sinai. This great day will be followed by an incredible wedding celebration. The party will last a week...
3) Tabernacles (Sukkot), like Unleavened Bread week, gives us two days off work, they serve like bookends setting the time aside, setting it apart for joy and celebration. The first day off begins a seven day celebration of ingathering, the second day off work is the day eighth day following the week long celebration.
This coming prophetic time follows the season that begins with a shofar Trumpet to announce the coming of The King. Messiah will “send his angels with a shofar blast on Trumpets Day and they will call His elect from the four winds to prepare for Yom Kippur and the ingathering from one end of the earth to the other. Yeshua promised this in Matthew 24:31 so that God's people will be ready to meet Him in His tabernacle of a glorified, resurrected body. He will live among His people as King and Prince of Peace.
To understand this we have to study the shadow pictures of the Feast Days given in the Torah. They shows us the reason for celebration. It's the Tabernacles theme:
God living among His people.
Long ago, God tabernacled among the tents of Israel and Messiah Yeshua did the same in the humble flesh and bone tabernacle of a man, not unlike the tanned rams and goat skins that covered the acacia wood frame of the sanctuary design shown to Moses at Mount Sinai:
"And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." Exodus 25:8
The Tabernacle in the wilderness was made by man, but designed by God Almighty. He will return in bright blinding glory as Messiah High Priest and King of the universe. The wilderness Tabernacle gives us a shadow picture of the dwelling place of God among his people, the fullness of which is in Messiah Yeshua who was Immanuel God with us some 2,000 years ago. The wilderness Tabernacle, the "Mishkan" was filled by the Shechinah glory showing us the coming day to be fulfilled with God's Spirit of glory in the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.
The frame work of the wilderness Tabernacle was covered in gold representing the perfection of God and the frame stood in silver sockets on the Earth. The silver represents redemption brought to the dirt of mankind and in fact the silver that was used to make the Tabernacles socket bases to support the gold framework came from an ofering. This gives a wonderful picture of God's purity (gold) coming into touch with the world (earth-dirt) through a redeemer Messiah (silver). The silver sockets show us that we, made of the earth can only draw near to God on Earth by the covering atonement of Messiah, who is God come to earth as a man, a living tent like us, a living Sukkah if you will.
The outer covering of the Mishkan (tent) was plain and just like the ordinary material from which other tents were made, likewise Messiah was a man of flesh on the outside, He came in the appearance of a man. God humbled Himself in the body of a man to destroy the reign of death against mankind on a tree. Inside this humble tent of man, this living Sukkah, He was different from all other tents (men), Yeshua was no ordinary man, He was God's Tabernacle in the form of a man... "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." Colossians 1:19
The goats hair covering of the wilderness Tabernacle was dyed red underneath pointing to the atonement by Messiah's blood. The Tabernacle covering was staked to the ground outside with copper staves representing the judgment of the nails that pierced Yeshua and held Him to the wood. We can even be reminded of the bronze snake in the wilderness lifted up for sin as a shadow type of Messiah's fulfillment of this Scripture.
It's also important to know all the Shittim wood was overlaid with the gold, but not only that the veil was there as a barrier between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place that protected men from God's shechinah presence. It allowed no direct approach to God because His power, His glory presence required a shield. The curtain had cherubim embroidered in it to remind us of the Cherubim that guarded the way to the tree of life as described in Genesis 3:24, just as the cherubim above the Mercy Seat guarded it.These Fall Feast days bring a bright light focus to the Prophets that declared the "Day of The LORD" and they reflect Yeshua's return as Messiah ben David, the returning King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
It is no surprise to learn that the Israelites knew the veil by the name "Life." There were three entrances at the wilderness Tabernacle, they were:
a. the gate to the outer court (Exodus 27:16-19)
b. the door to the Holy Place (Exodus 26:36/37 and 36:37/38) and
c. the veil to the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:31-33)
The veil formed a barrier of protection to the glory above the mercy seat, just a the curtain represented the concealed glory of God within the flesh of Yeshua. When Jesus was asked "how can we know the way" he answered His question, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the father except through me." John 14:5-6. That shows us the outer gate of the courtyard of the Tabernacle and its white linen curtain walls as the WAY, the entrance to the Tabernacle within as the "TRUTH" and the inner sanctuary of the Most Holy as eternal "LIFE."
These show us how the Torah, even the minute details of the Tabernacle all point to the Messiah.
4) The eight day (Shemini Atzeret), the day after the seventh day of Sukkot. Sukkot is a holiday intended for all of that believes, all that are re-born, grafted into the assembly, the body of Messiah. When Sukkot is over, the Creator invites His children to stay with Him for eternity. It is the arrival of the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret the day of the inauguration of the Kingdom of Messiah in God’s eternal city, New Jerusalem from Heaven, the City of Gold.
For some 3,000 years, Jewish people have prayed for the coming of the Messiah. For 2,000 years, Christians have prayed the return of the Messiah. Are we not paying for the same redemption?
In the fullness of the latter time represented by the Fall Feasts, both prayers and hope will be realized when the King comes to redeem and restore Earth as it was in the beginning.
Hosea prophesied of two appearances of Messiah. Moses demonstrated it. He made two trips with the Ten Commandments in hand.
Both the Spring and Fall Feasts are tied to the spring and fall harvest times as well as the former and latter rain... which are the seasons that God has taught us about in Scripture. Messiah the King is the reason for the seasons, the 'moed' appointments of Almighty God!
In ancient times before modern irrigation, crop harvests of Israel were totally dependent upon the patterns of the spring and fall rains that only God provides. The "key" spring harvest crop has always been barley, its success depended on the "former" spring rains. The "key" fall harvest has always been the grape, its crop yield was dependent on the "latter" rains. If we just look, we can see these agricultural themes throughout Scripture. The grape is the fruit of the vine.
There's also a summer harvest of wheat. It occurred at Pentecost, aka Shavuot.
Remember the "end time" parable of the wheat and the tares? It is all about 'wheat' for a reason, the reason is the season, the summer harvest wheat!!
Without a doubt, Leviticus 23 reveals God’s plan to do great things and to meet with His people, the children of God that he calls Israel and those with them who have been grafted in through faith in Israel’s Messiah. Leviticus tells of the appointed times, Moses heard the voice of the Lord saying:
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘the Feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My Feasts.” Leviticus 23:2God declares them as my Feasts, my appointments and Exodus 19 reveals the seemingly "hidden" plan of Messiah Yeshua, He will return to Earth after two days (2,000 years) after His first coming so get ready, time is about up. How do we know about the third day? Moses said so:
"And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people... Exodus 19:11Hosea and Jeremiah wrote of Messiah's two missions as well. They are described as the former and latter rain.
The holy Feasts occur in two rainy seasons – the Spring Feasts (former rain) and the Fall Feasts (latter rain).
Rain is symbolic of the outpouring of God's Spirit on His creation, the Earth and Mankind.
Rain is key in the Feasts. It is really important to honor the Father... and to participate in His plan:
"Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3Yom Teruah - The Day of Trumpets
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Jeremiah 5:24
The Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is unique in that it is the only Biblical Feast day on God's calendar that occurs on the first day of a lunar month, the day of the "new moon" (in Hebrew - Rosh Kodesh). Trumpets Day arrives on the first day of the seventh Biblical month. Today, it's called the month Tishrei.
The Word of God tells us that in God's creation the heavens govern the timing of The Lord's Feast days. Without an eye toward the heavens we cannot know the season nor the signs or the wonders of God's plan as foretold by this appointed Fall rehearsal day. Leviticus 23 and Number's 29 reveals The Father's appointment plan for the day three passages dealing with this special New Moon day. They are Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 10:1-10; 29:1-6.
Numbers 10:1-10 reveals that Yom Teruah is called as the day of your gladness and it features two united in the sound hammered silver trumpets to cause us to be remembered in redemption before our God!
In Biblical times past, the new moon declares each new month. Fortunately, God's word, His Torah is wonderfully precise in His instruction of how we are to participate in observance of this day by blowing trumpets announcing the coming Messiah King. We know this because 2 Samuel 15 and 2 Kings 9 tell us that the shofar is blown when a king of Israel was coronated.
It might be easy to lose sight of the instructions of our Father if we think of them as done away with, after all, many may think that the "Feast Days" were somehow only for those living in the so-called "Old Testament" times. I used to think like that in ignorance... actually I did not think at all about them at all, but I know now we must not ignore the observance of any of God's teaching.
After all, Jesus (Yeshua) himself declared this. Matthew 5:17: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law [Torah], or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
With this instruction from our Messiah, we must understand He has not changed His mind.
With this instruction from our Messiah, we must understand He has not changed His mind.
The goal here is to show why this is true and to address the meaning and imagery of His holy days and the prophetic significance of this appointed rehearsal, this "set apart" (holy) day.
Our focus should be on how to honor and celebrate God's days and to rehearse them with the teaching and instruction found in the words of Scripture. We need to know first of all that God's "mikra" or convocation days are to be "rest" days which occur during each of the seven feasts of The LORD. They do not necessarily fall on the weekly (seventh day) Sabbath day.
In Scripture, God identifies these appointed convocation days with easy to do instruction, “do no work".
To better understand this, begin by reading the instruction given in the Word of God in order to begin to comprehend the foreshadowed "principles" of each Feast Day and their relation to what you know about the Messiah. This is important so that we can honor each day according to God's Word.
Our focus should be on how to honor and celebrate God's days and to rehearse them with the teaching and instruction found in the words of Scripture. We need to know first of all that God's "mikra" or convocation days are to be "rest" days which occur during each of the seven feasts of The LORD. They do not necessarily fall on the weekly (seventh day) Sabbath day.
In Scripture, God identifies these appointed convocation days with easy to do instruction, “do no work".
To better understand this, begin by reading the instruction given in the Word of God in order to begin to comprehend the foreshadowed "principles" of each Feast Day and their relation to what you know about the Messiah. This is important so that we can honor each day according to God's Word.
We get to celebrate "Trumpets Day" as set apart and holy. Let's search some key words in Scripture relating to this special day to find the passages that reveal to us how we can celebrate it.
The first time we learn about "Yom Teruah", The Day of Trumpets is in the Scriptures of Torah in Leviticus 23:24-25. Leviticus is misunderstood, but it graphically portrays the redemptive planning manual of God so pay close attention to every detail, they all symbolically portray imagery of The Messiah! Let's take a look at what this allegorical passage says about this prophetic day of gladness that Messiah Himself refers to as "the day no man knows", the Day of Trumpets - Yom Teruah.
So let's celebrate it because we love God!
He is God after all and He determined the way that we should walk if we truly want to love and follow Him. With the Spirit of truth from Messiah Yeshua, we can honor His appointments and walk in His ways of worship that He gave to us. As we celebrate His Feasts we are proclaiming our love for God for what He has done and will do for us, and we are witnessing to the world that we are His children.
We are also learning and experiencing His ways as we look forward to His return. The Day of Trumpets points us to several prophetic promises of the last days. The Mount of Olives points us to the Day of Trumpets. It is the very spot Messiah Yeshua ascended from and it will be where He returns in His full Glory and fullness at a great shofar blast, His glory was shown at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9).
The prophetic trumpet return is shown to us in Zechariah 14:4 as the earth shakes as He returns:
The first time we learn about "Yom Teruah", The Day of Trumpets is in the Scriptures of Torah in Leviticus 23:24-25. Leviticus is misunderstood, but it graphically portrays the redemptive planning manual of God so pay close attention to every detail, they all symbolically portray imagery of The Messiah! Let's take a look at what this allegorical passage says about this prophetic day of gladness that Messiah Himself refers to as "the day no man knows", the Day of Trumpets - Yom Teruah.
Leviticus 23:24-25: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD."There are five books, five scrolls of the Torah as recorded by Moses, and by no coincidence whatsoever we can see that there are five principles of this holy, "set apart" day:
1. It is to be in the first day of the seventh month.The shofar blast gives us God's call to freedom and liberty. We can also see this as the shofar is to be blown in the Year of Jubilee to announce freedom to all (see Leviticus 25:9-10) on Yom Kippur. Isaiah also speaks of the shofar being blown when God gathers the House of Israel to Himself in the Land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:
2. It is a rest day.
3. It is a memorial day of blowing the shofar.
4. It is a day of holy convocation or assembly.
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Father, God.
"It will come about also in that day that a great shofar will be blown and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered out to the land of Egypt, will come and worship YHVH on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem." Isaiah 27:13Trumpets is a one day "Feast" and it is critically important to remember that our Heavenly Father tells us to not add or take away from any of His words of instruction as He expressed in Deuteronomy 12:32.
So let's celebrate it because we love God!
He is God after all and He determined the way that we should walk if we truly want to love and follow Him. With the Spirit of truth from Messiah Yeshua, we can honor His appointments and walk in His ways of worship that He gave to us. As we celebrate His Feasts we are proclaiming our love for God for what He has done and will do for us, and we are witnessing to the world that we are His children.
We are also learning and experiencing His ways as we look forward to His return. The Day of Trumpets points us to several prophetic promises of the last days. The Mount of Olives points us to the Day of Trumpets. It is the very spot Messiah Yeshua ascended from and it will be where He returns in His full Glory and fullness at a great shofar blast, His glory was shown at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9).
The prophetic trumpet return is shown to us in Zechariah 14:4 as the earth shakes as He returns:
"On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south."Micah provides a witness to this dramatic change in Jerusalem's landscape at the blast of Heaven's shofar:
"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Micah 4:2-3This is repeated in Isaiah 2:2
"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it."Let's look to see what the Israelites experienced when they first heard this commandment of keeping a "memorial of blowing trumpets" for the first time after their Exodus from Egypt. Scripture reveals that the commandments in Leviticus 23:24-25 were given one year after leaving Egypt and the instructions found in the Book of Leviticus are given to Israel after the time reset month known as Aviv.
For more details please read Exodus 40:1-17.
If you search for the words "trumpet" which is "shofar" in Hebrew or "trumpets" online at BlueLetterBible.org you will find four verses contain these words prior to Leviticus 23:24-25.
If you search for the words "trumpet" which is "shofar" in Hebrew or "trumpets" online at BlueLetterBible.org you will find four verses contain these words prior to Leviticus 23:24-25.
The verses that contain the word "trumpet" or "trumpets" relate to events when God "descended" upon Mt. Sinai. Other verses are contained in Exodus Chapter 19 which tells the story of God's descent upon Mt. Sinai to give the Ten Commandments. The four specific verses are Exodus 19:13,16,19 and Exodus 20:18.
Let's review Exodus 19. These trumpet blasts don't just contain history but they represent the future as well:
Let's review Exodus 19. These trumpet blasts don't just contain history but they represent the future as well:
Exodus 19: 1-25 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations." On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them." Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'" The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them.The people of Israel and the sojourners that traveled with them assembled at the base of the mountain. They both came out of Egypt and were gathered together headed for the Promised Land.
Perhaps, the most memorable prophetic event is the commandment to keep a memorial of blowing trumpets is that God physically descended in fire upon Mount Sinai while the trumpets sounded louder and louder.
That is why the main theme of Yom Teruah (Trumpets) is a "celebration."
One day it will mark the celebration of Yeshua's return. As seen in the three biblical witnesses of 1) the Creation week described in Genesis 1:11 when harvest life was created on Earth on the 3rd day, and 2) as promised by Hosea 6:2:
"After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence"
3) Check out the message of Luke 18:33, we all (Israel and sojourners with them) have been given two days (2,000 years) from Yeshua's lamb of God Spring Feast to prepare, to consecrate ourselves for His return at The Fall Feasts as the King, the Lion of Judah.
Here is a key to understand Biblical days in God's prophetic redemption calendar:
Are you ready for the Trumpet and the smoke and thunder in the vortex of the third day, The Day of The Lord?
If not, you can start your preparation by reading The Ten Commandments which are first recorded in Exodus 20 and commit to the I will do them.
Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.
2Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Ecclesiastes 6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice [told], yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
The thing about this time cycle, it's not a concentric circle, it's more like a vortex that follows the picture of the whirling mass of flame, the pillar of fire seen in the wilderness above the Tabernacle. Prophecy shows us that in the end, the appointments of God give us a picture like the Fibonacci golden ratio spiral seen in creation that links to prophecy as it winds tighter through time.
If not, you can start your preparation by reading The Ten Commandments which are first recorded in Exodus 20 and commit to the I will do them.
The Biblical narrative reveals that Mount Sinai continued to smoke, thunder and display lightning as the trumpet of God sounded. See Exodus 20:18. It will happen again. If you ask me, Yeshua will descend in the cloud covering Mount Sinai at Shavuot before He returns to stand on the Mount of Olives on Yom Kippurim.
It is critically important to know that in the Biblical seventh month, exactly ten days after Yom Teruah or Trumpets Day, the holiest of all days arrives. It is Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements is to be honored with a fast, it is not a day to feast. This "Day" is significant because Yom Kippurim or coverings is synonymous with "atonements" the great gift of God that cannot be earned, only received as a gift of His mercy and grace.
Jewish scholars believe the Yom Kippurim, the Day of Atonements in the 10th of Tishri marks the day Moses carried down the second set of Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai following the golden calf crime after Shavuot. The first set of stones are thought to have been written by God's hand on Shavuot fifty days after the Passover Exodus from Egypt. The Rabbi's also believe this shows how God judged 3,000 and then forgave the purposeful sin of image idolatry against God.
The atonement "covering" message of Yom Kippurim can be seen when Moses made his final trip down Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets and a message of forgiveness and mercy for the sin of the Golden Calf. With that we can truly begin to understand that mercy and grace abound within the heart of the Torah.
God's throne is often called the Mercy Seat for good reason.
Grace did not start in the New Testament, this is shown by God's own words in Exodus 33:19.
Before the smoke clears the message of Yom Kippur aka the day of Atonement, check out the front of the Bible. There, you'll find the Acharei Mot scroll portion that describes Aaron's Yom Kippur 'mystery' assignment in Leviticus 16:12-13. It's about Aaron's job to fill the room with smoke at Yom Kippur.
The thing is Aaron's incense fire and smoke assignment was a rehearsal.
In the Acharei Mot portion of the Torah scroll, Aaron was given instruction from God through Moses so that he could come into the Most Holy Place and not die before God's consuming glory.
Aaron was told he had to take a pan of glowing coals from the altar of incense and two handfuls of sweet incense and put it on the fire at the incense altar while standing in front of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. In that way, the smoke from the incense would cover the Mercy Seat above the Ark of the Covenant and keep God from his view, protecting Aaron from God's consuming fire glory.
After all, no one with sin can look at God and live. The incense was the original smoke screen and it likely protected Aaron.
If we check out the back of the book, we can see breaking the 7th Seal reveals the ultimate Yom Kippur assignment described in Acharei Mot:
"When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Another angel [messenger], who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Revelation 8:1-5Revelation reveals that Acharei Mot is a big deal and likely a big part of the reason why we are all told... "You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 18:4
Had Aaron forgot the little detail of the incense, he would have been toast. Remember...
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and "the faith" of Jesus. Revelation 14:12
"The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me." John 14:31 (Easy to Read Version)Have you ever thought about the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) never had to make a decision for repentance. That means the faith of Yeshua always includes walking in God's instruction just as as Yeshua did because we love The Father!
Remember, Yom Kippur and Acharei Mot will come to pass.
"And the whole multitude were praying outside at the hour of incense." Luke 1:10As we have seen, the Fall Feasts begin on Trumpets Day.
You should search the Scriptures for yourself on the key word "trumpet" or "trumpets".
I like to use Blue Letter Bible as an easy to use resource and offers several translations.
A key verse in the Torah that explicitly relates to Trumpets Day (Yom Teruah) is found in Numbers 29:1.
You'l. find the word "trumpets" in Numbers 10:10 too, but it not just about Yom Teruah. So let's start with Numbers 29:1:
You'l. find the word "trumpets" in Numbers 10:10 too, but it not just about Yom Teruah. So let's start with Numbers 29:1:
"And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you."Now, take a look at Numbers 10:10:
"Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God."If we search for the word "gladness," we learn that in one way it relates to "gladness" in celebrating the "Feast Days" because they are THE Biblical set apart, holy days (see 2 Chronicles 30:21-23). The phrase "day of your gladness" also point to the appointed Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), which has other titles including "The Feast of Booths" and "The Season of our Joy" as well as "The Feast of In-gathering."
Now, try a search on the word "solemn," it relates to "solemn" assemblies, ingathering in the "Feast Days."
These Biblical hints are obvious and point us toward a future fulfillment, so don't ignore these days any longer!
The LORDS's teaching in Numbers gives the instruction to sound the trumpet at the beginning of each month, it's like a countdown to the first day of the millennium Kingdom.
The LORDS's teaching in Numbers gives the instruction to sound the trumpet at the beginning of each month, it's like a countdown to the first day of the millennium Kingdom.
Yom Teruah is the first day of the seventh month, a new moon and a memorial blowing of the trumpet that links to our Creator coming down to the mountain at Mount Sinai to give His covenant and it points to Messiah Yeshua's return.
There's not much explanation written by Moses about Yom Teruah. Yet from this passage, we need learn about the trumpet at the beginning of months when the light of the sun sets and the new moon is seen.
Why? We need to be in tune, in rehearsal so that we will be ready for the day no man knows - it counts down to the day no one but The Father knows (see Matthew 24:36-42).
Yeshua was teaching on what is boldly proclaimed in Zechariah:
"On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. It will be a day known only to YHVH, without day or night, but there will be light at evening." Zechariah 14:6-7There is light because:
"On that day YHVH will become King over all the earth — YHVH alone, and His name alone." Zechariah 14:9
If you have not read all of Zechariah 14, you should now.
You have time, it's a short passage, yet it shows the world how important keeping appointments at the right time and the right place are to Almighty God. If ignored, the Fall Feasts carry a drought...
"Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, rain will not fall on them."
Yom Teruah is a BIG day reserved for the new moon day of the seventh Biblical month.
Seven is a very BIG number in the Bible. Whenever you see seven - pay attention to the context, because God's plans for the future are in the clues that God gives.
Trumpets day points to the day of assembly when people gather to The LORD in resurrection glory, a future day remembered by shouting and blowing a trumpet as a memorial for covenant given by our Heavenly Father.
So, what are you going to do?
So, what are you going to do?
My suggestion is to buy a shofar and blow it!
This day will mark the return and you'll want to know what you are supposed to do!
It's important to God to understand the purpose of blowing a shofar in order to appreciate and rehearse this special day. Yom Teruah is one of the appointed days where we are to gather in fellowship for praise, prayer and intercession with others because Scripture reveals it is a day of "holy convocation" or "assembly."
It's important to God to understand the purpose of blowing a shofar in order to appreciate and rehearse this special day. Yom Teruah is one of the appointed days where we are to gather in fellowship for praise, prayer and intercession with others because Scripture reveals it is a day of "holy convocation" or "assembly."
Yom Teruah is a prophetic instruction. The trumpet will sound for the arrival of the King. We don't you want to be silent without a trumpet or a shout when He returns!
Scripture also reveals this day is a day to make an "offering made by fire" to Almighty God. Because the Temple and the altar are now gone, the principles of the Scriptures show us that our "offerings" to our Father - God today are our praises, prayers and worship.
Scripture also reveals this day is a day to make an "offering made by fire" to Almighty God. Because the Temple and the altar are now gone, the principles of the Scriptures show us that our "offerings" to our Father - God today are our praises, prayers and worship.
As we rehearse the Day of Trumpets, we can offer our shouts of celebration anticipating His return!
Yom Teruah is both a prophetic and a past celebration marking the arrival of The King in the season of God's plan.
Trumpets also sets the stage for the beginning of the long day. The thousand-year day, the future big picture 7th day, the "millennium day" of rest.
Yom Teruah is both a prophetic and a past celebration marking the arrival of The King in the season of God's plan.
Trumpets also sets the stage for the beginning of the long day. The thousand-year day, the future big picture 7th day, the "millennium day" of rest.
This day of 1,000 years is the end time God's children no longer live outside the presence of King Messiah. The reason for the celebration season is a Bible basic. Yom Teruah is the trumpet and shout announcement for the King.
The season of the Fall Feasts of The LORD God are a foreshadow of the end of the time that Gentiles no longer trample the Torah as if it were done away with, nor divide Jerusalem and claim the Temple Mount as a mosque for a false god.
It points to the end, the undoing of the adversary deceiver's six day (6,000 year) authority of death which began in Eden with a lie.
Just as the 7th day of the week is the Sabbath, it is symbolic and point to the 7th millennium. It's focus is the 7th month of the Biblical calendar and it starts with a shout, a shofar call on the Day of Trumpets, the day no man knows... yet.
The time-line cycle of creation and The LORD's feast days reveal the redemption plan for mankind and earth unfolds at 7,000 years. That is seen in Exodus 34:21. It points to the Messianic Kingdom of rest on THE 7th day millennium:
If we look we can find six verses in Scripture that contain the words "new" and "heaven", they are: 1) Genesis 27:28; 2) Daniel 4:15; 3) Daniel 4:23; 4) Matthew 13:52; 5) Revelation 3:12 and...
The time-line cycle of creation and The LORD's feast days reveal the redemption plan for mankind and earth unfolds at 7,000 years. That is seen in Exodus 34:21. It points to the Messianic Kingdom of rest on THE 7th day millennium:
"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest."The millennium of 1,000 years represents the day of rest before God's re-creation on the 8th day of Shemini Atzeret. That is the promised day for the eternal New Jerusalem.
If we look we can find six verses in Scripture that contain the words "new" and "heaven", they are: 1) Genesis 27:28; 2) Daniel 4:15; 3) Daniel 4:23; 4) Matthew 13:52; 5) Revelation 3:12 and...
6) "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. " Revelation 21:1There is a good reason for the season that the Day of Trumpets is "the day no man knows."
Just ask a Jewish rabbi or maybe an astronomer, or just look at the sky for yourself because the heavens declare God's glory. (Psalm 19:1)
The new Moon cycle varies slightly from month to month because it does not line up with our Pope's calendar on the wall, but the phase of the moon is consistent in God's time keeping.
The new Moon cycle varies slightly from month to month because it does not line up with our Pope's calendar on the wall, but the phase of the moon is consistent in God's time keeping.
From our view on earth, the new moon can appear after two days of darkness, even three depending on the alignment of the lunar orbit that has been precisely set by God. So, now you know the riddle's answer about the day of return. Without the help of NASA's mathematics perhaps first set in motion by Sir Isaac Newton's formulas, no one can really know when the sliver of the moon will be seen until you see it because it varies.
But... God knows.
About 2,500 years ago, the prophet Daniel was told that in the latter days, knowledge would increase.
About 2,500 years ago, the prophet Daniel was told that in the latter days, knowledge would increase.
If you ask me, that means the calling of God's Word (Torah) and understanding of His creation would point us back in repentance to the beginning of His word and the Genesis account.
Consider this example, in the 1990's, physicists began to describe the new discovery of so-called dark matter, but Genesis 1:2 already did that thousands of years ago. And more recently, a group of theoretical physicists have explained that sound pervades the universe, yet Psalm 19:1-4 did that already, again thousands of years ago.
So what can we learn?
Yeshua (Jesus) was giving everyone a simple clue about the day no man knows from the Hebrew Bible.
Look at Genesis 1:14 "And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years".
So what can we learn?
Yeshua (Jesus) was giving everyone a simple clue about the day no man knows from the Hebrew Bible.
Look at Genesis 1:14 "And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years".
Jesus (Yeshua) was referring to the appointed Feasts and a future Day of Trumpets with the arrival of the new moon (in Hebrew, Rosh Chodesh).
His message points us to watch. We need to know the signs and season of the Feast Days.
They have noting to do with our calendar or our manmade holidays.
The ancient words, the Scriptures of the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets are Yeshua's witness. He is indeed found among them, like a signpost. The Torah gives us all the clues about Messiah. The Torah's Feast days are day of the assembly, the days of gathering.
They gives us the clue to these words:
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Matthew 18:20Today, thanks to NASA, we have access to everyday computer programs that can mathematically and graphically model when the new moon will occur at any location on earth at any time.
Knowledge has increased. But prior to these fantastic new technologies, ancient man looked up, watched the sky and waited for the new moon not knowing the exact hour or know the precise number of days the new moon would last in the sky.
As you can see, in Hebrew thought and time, only the new moon is seen on the "Day of Trumpets."
It's future fulfillment is truly the day no man knows, only The Father because His return could be on any one of the 7th month days of the new moon, we just don't know which one.
At the same time, Daniel points us to watch and return in knowledge to God's words in the latter days.
As we have seen, contrary to modern pulpit teaching, Paul taught that the body of Messiah are not to let others obstruct our observance of God's instruction. That includes a Biblical good food diet and our celebration and rehearsal of the days of The LORD:
As we have seen, contrary to modern pulpit teaching, Paul taught that the body of Messiah are not to let others obstruct our observance of God's instruction. That includes a Biblical good food diet and our celebration and rehearsal of the days of The LORD:
Colossians 2:16-17 "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."Messiah Yeshua warns us to watch, so we need to repent:
Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Let's review: according to Scripture, once the new moon arrives each month it signals a count by a re-newed Biblical month on God's calendar. Yom Teruah is the 7th new moon after the 1st trumpet is blown. The trumpet count from Nisan to Tishre is seven trumpets.
Let's review: according to Scripture, once the new moon arrives each month it signals a count by a re-newed Biblical month on God's calendar. Yom Teruah is the 7th new moon after the 1st trumpet is blown. The trumpet count from Nisan to Tishre is seven trumpets.
That 7th Rosh Chodesh day has extreme significance for this planet.
Think about it, there are seven new moon trumpet blasts from the Spring Feasts to the Fall Feasts.
It doesn't take a calculator to figure the front of the Bible mirrors the back.
So it's time to re-read Leviticus Numbers 10:10 and reconsider Revelation 8- 11.
There's a reason for the new moon days, and a reason to celebrate each new moon as a countdown.
Numbers 10:10 ...at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpet over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
We are to watch and wait with anticipation for THE Trumpets Day to be revealed, as we rehearse and wait for Messiah's return to be announced by a blast and shout on the day of Trumpets!
If we just look, King David gave us a subtle hint of this coming great day when he told his friend Jonathan:
Don't forget the patterns God gives to us. When He created the earth remember He did not create the moon until the after the third day. The new moon Day of Trumpets is about King Messiah's return and resurrection, that is why Hosea declares:
"And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow [is] the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third [day] at even." 1Samuel 20:5Here we see a hint at the length of the new moon's darkness. David knew it would be "at least" three days. After all, the darkness of a new moon period can last up to three days. Then in an amazing visual above, the moon is resurrected.
Don't forget the patterns God gives to us. When He created the earth remember He did not create the moon until the after the third day. The new moon Day of Trumpets is about King Messiah's return and resurrection, that is why Hosea declares:
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:2That time is soon it's been almost two days (2,000 years) since Yeshua taught God's word about the Kingdom of God in Israel. The sun is setting on the second day, soon it will be the third.
Our Creator Father uses numbers throughout His word to teach us more about Him. For example, there are three recorded resurrections in the Older Testament and three resurrections found in the Newer Testament prior to that of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). His resurrection was the seventh. Seven is the Biblical number of completion and perfection. I believe that it is possible that our generation may be a witness to the resurrection of mankind when the Trumpet sounds as we approach the beginning of the third day since His first coming.
As I pray you can now see, understanding the sayings embedded for us in Scripture is critical to obtain an understanding of the "gathering of the saints" on the coming days of Tabernacles. Perhaps, one of the most important concepts is seen in Jewish tradition where the three trumpets blasts of God each have a name. For thousands of years, these three trumpet blasts have been called the 1) "first trump," 2) the "last trump" and 3) the "great trump."
As I pray you can now see, understanding the sayings embedded for us in Scripture is critical to obtain an understanding of the "gathering of the saints" on the coming days of Tabernacles. Perhaps, one of the most important concepts is seen in Jewish tradition where the three trumpets blasts of God each have a name. For thousands of years, these three trumpet blasts have been called the 1) "first trump," 2) the "last trump" and 3) the "great trump."
Don't let the names confuse you, the great day of The Lord is reserved for the great trump of the seventh month. The sequence of shofars blown on the Fall Feast Days are a very big deal! Understanding these trumpet blasts by their name and timing opens up the prophecy of the Scriptures and the book of Revelation which is a summary of the Fall Feasts. They are not done away with.
Are you beginning to see that understanding the fall Feast Days are today so critical?
The "last trump" in Hebrew is the Tekiah HaGadol and it is blown on the Day of Trumpets.
With an understanding of the actual name of this "trumpet blast" we can understand what a famous Jewish rabbi that studied in Gamaliel's yeshiva. The Apostle Paul was the student and he wrote this in 1Corinthians 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
Paul was confirming that the Book of Life resurrection of the dead will occur. On Yom Teruah, after the shouting and the blasts of the shofar are blown, the final shofar blast is the loudest and the longest. It is called the Tekiah Gedolah.
The blowing of the trumpets signifies not only resurrection, but it also serves as a wake-up call to the coming day of reckoning Great White Throne Judgment. See Acts 17:29-31, Hebrews 9:27 and Revelation 20:11 and remember there's nothing new there.
The Tekiah Gedolah trumpet-sound is the most likely candidate for the famous trumpet noted in 1Thessalonians 4:16 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet (Tekiah Gedolah) of God: and the dead in Messiah will rise first" also see "the last trump" of 1 Corinthians 15:52.
But, this Tekiah Gedolah is not to be confused with the Shofar HaGadol of Yom Kippur, the "great" shofar blast. The Tekiah Gedolah and Shofar HaGadol have two different meanings on two separate occasions.
The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah is the last trumpet blast in the series of seven new moon trumpet blasts from the first month of Passover to the seventh month. These are seen in John's vision in Revelation 8 through 11. The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah will bring forth God's elect from the earth to begin preparation for Yom Kippur's final judgment with Messiah as King (see Mark 13:27 and Zechariah 12:10-14).
The blowing of trumpets and this long blast (Tekiah Gedolah) is on the day of assembling together to meet King Messiah in His magnificent return and to participate in the earthquake of resurrection and the in-gathering of His people into His eternal Kingdom reign.
Moses was the first to describe a prophecy of this great in-gathering, it's in the Torah.
They point us to the day of resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous. There is a rapture all right, but it is no secret unknown day. The Lord does not come like a thief to His followers. Resurrection will occur on the fall harvest day of His people. We just don't quite know "which" coming Feast Season that will be or at what hour He will choose to blow the "Last Trumpet."
Yom Kippur is actually Yom Kippurim - The Day of Atonements. As we have seen, the Messianic teaching on Yom Kippurim begins in Leviticus 16:29-34. This great day is a "convocation" and the conclusion of the "Ten days of Awe" that follow Yom Terurah, the Day of Trumpets. Can you imagine "the awe" of those coming ten days when the redeemed of earth will be transfigured to the glory of Eden and mankind in the image of God through resurrection? It will happen at the arrival of The Lord's glory at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel?
Yom Kippur is the day that that Messiah will reap the grapes of His harvest. It will be the day of separation of light and dark, just as one goat received redemption and the other was cast out to the wilderness.
This Feast Day is described by Ezekiel as the "Fat Sheep and Lean Sheep" judgment of Ezekiel 34, the same "Sheep and Goats" separation described by Matthew 25. To learn more about this day, we all need to read and study every bit of Leviticus 16 just as Jesus did. This chapter reading is about the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippurim is a solemn day of fasting and prayer for good reason. Yom Kippurim is even called the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." It is also called the holiest day. There's a reason.
Let's look at Leviticus 16 and see what it says to identify what principles there are to rehearse what we can on for this coming Day of Atonement.
Not only that, if we look at the whole of Torah - we can see a life offering is only given where God has appeared or where His messenger has instructed it be done. Yeshua accomplished both. Its is a mystery, but the atonement offering by fire is about food (life giving) that's one reason why our Savior teaches us:
Yom Kippur is the day Yeshua, our High Priest King who will one day come to judge and cleanse, so the word of God shows we have to be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day and we need to teach our children that important lesson. No matter how young, they need to know He is coming back soon and when.
Literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is before that day. Now is the time to be humble, repent pray, seek God, seek others and ask God and man to forgive us on these days of awe leading up to The Lord's Day. Because once it arrives, it is the day we must appear as we are before the Lord... and it's too late to do anything else. and the time of repentance will have expired. The court will be in session.
Yom Kippur foreshadows the 7th day, last day millennium trial at the end of the 1,000 years of peace on earth. The scene includes the accuser against the saints, the children of God and it is shown for us in Revelation. Check out Revelation 11 and notice the narrative as the evidence like a court room video replay is presented all the way to Revelation 20.
That coming Fall Feast court appointment on the final Yom Kippur judgment day trial will begin with the last trump of the Yom Kippur shofar as the King of the Universe enters His court and sits on His throne ready to conclude His judgment.
Thunder will sound and lightning will start flying as the earth shakes just like it did at Mount Sinai when The Lord descended...
What a blessing the Fall Feast trial was shown to John in a vision to tell us about it.
John was privileged to watch the preview of the witness of the twenty and four elders in the throne room of God as Yeshua was coronated as the worthy King. We can't know just who these 24 elders are, but 1Chronicles 24:7-17 gives us a possible clue as to their identity. Here, the Scriptures tell us that Shemaiah, the son of Nethaneel was the scribe appointed to record the names of those chosen by lot before King David and the High Priest Zadok. The lot was cast for 24 Levites that were appointed from the households of Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Only these families of the sons of Aaron were chosen as the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God because Nadab and Abihu died before their father.
Nadab and Abihu died because they like Cain, did not follow the Lord's instruction for a proper offering, an offering of blood life. Not only that, they brought a fire to the Altar that was not from God, it was a manmade fire.
All of God's instructions are critical for life, yet Nadab and Abihu brought a strange fire to the altar. The word 'strange' is translated from the Hebrew word 'zuwr' זוּר. It was not from the eternal fire from God that burned at His altar. It was from manmade, a foreigner to the Altar. Their offering was much like the cheat offering of Ananias and Sapphira described in Acts 5:1-11.
If you study Leviticus, you'll notice that God told the priests to only keep the fire burning (see Leviticus 6:12-13. He never told them to start one of their own and bring it to the Altar. Assumptions are dangerous when it comes to the Most Holy One. The fire that was to consume the offerings made at the Altar must be holy, set apart and provided by Almighty God.
Ananias and Sapphira just like Nadab and Abihu died, and great fear came upon the both assemblies that witnessed their deaths and that fear also fell on all who heard of their deaths. Each tried to short change The Lord's work. Only God can make something holy.
The scenes and visions of the final Yom Kippur is described in Revelation and the images are amazing. They unfold much like a video and show us the accuser will be taken from Temple and cast down in the ultimate sentence of transgression.
In the end, the deceiver, the accuser of the children that follow God will lose in the trial on his evil works.
Those he accuses on the fulfillment day of Yom Kippur "as breakers of the covenant and law of God" which were recorded on the tablets and scrolls at Sinai will be defended. They will be covered (atoned) by the blood of the living word of God by His great offering as our sinless Messiah Yeshua, the lamb of God.
In Revelation, Yeshua (Jesus) alone is authorized to break the seals of testimony and present the evidence of truth at the fulfillment of the Feast Days of YHVH.
From a Biblical interpretation, we must take a literal approach to His teaching and instruction to John and not be like Abel assuming that an offering with no fire or life given will suffice. Here's the connection:
Are you beginning to see that understanding the fall Feast Days are today so critical?
The "last trump" in Hebrew is the Tekiah HaGadol and it is blown on the Day of Trumpets.
With an understanding of the actual name of this "trumpet blast" we can understand what a famous Jewish rabbi that studied in Gamaliel's yeshiva. The Apostle Paul was the student and he wrote this in 1Corinthians 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
Paul was confirming that the Book of Life resurrection of the dead will occur. On Yom Teruah, after the shouting and the blasts of the shofar are blown, the final shofar blast is the loudest and the longest. It is called the Tekiah Gedolah.
The blowing of the trumpets signifies not only resurrection, but it also serves as a wake-up call to the coming day of reckoning Great White Throne Judgment. See Acts 17:29-31, Hebrews 9:27 and Revelation 20:11 and remember there's nothing new there.
The Tekiah Gedolah trumpet-sound is the most likely candidate for the famous trumpet noted in 1Thessalonians 4:16 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet (Tekiah Gedolah) of God: and the dead in Messiah will rise first" also see "the last trump" of 1 Corinthians 15:52.
But, this Tekiah Gedolah is not to be confused with the Shofar HaGadol of Yom Kippur, the "great" shofar blast. The Tekiah Gedolah and Shofar HaGadol have two different meanings on two separate occasions.
The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah is the last trumpet blast in the series of seven new moon trumpet blasts from the first month of Passover to the seventh month. These are seen in John's vision in Revelation 8 through 11. The Yom Terurah Tekiah Gedolah will bring forth God's elect from the earth to begin preparation for Yom Kippur's final judgment with Messiah as King (see Mark 13:27 and Zechariah 12:10-14).
The blowing of trumpets and this long blast (Tekiah Gedolah) is on the day of assembling together to meet King Messiah in His magnificent return and to participate in the earthquake of resurrection and the in-gathering of His people into His eternal Kingdom reign.
Moses was the first to describe a prophecy of this great in-gathering, it's in the Torah.
Deuteronomy 30:3-6 "then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah provide a second and third witness to confirm the words Moses.
Ezekiel 36:24-27: I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Jeremiah 31:7-10: For thus says the Lord : "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord , save your people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord , O nations, and declare it in the coast-lands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'The fulfillment of Messiah's revelation is in the Fall Feasts. Don't think for a minute they're old and done away with. If they are we all have a big problem unless we don't want Yeshua to return.
They point us to the day of resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous. There is a rapture all right, but it is no secret unknown day. The Lord does not come like a thief to His followers. Resurrection will occur on the fall harvest day of His people. We just don't quite know "which" coming Feast Season that will be or at what hour He will choose to blow the "Last Trumpet."
Yom Kippur is actually Yom Kippurim - The Day of Atonements. As we have seen, the Messianic teaching on Yom Kippurim begins in Leviticus 16:29-34. This great day is a "convocation" and the conclusion of the "Ten days of Awe" that follow Yom Terurah, the Day of Trumpets. Can you imagine "the awe" of those coming ten days when the redeemed of earth will be transfigured to the glory of Eden and mankind in the image of God through resurrection? It will happen at the arrival of The Lord's glory at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel?
Yom Kippur is the day that that Messiah will reap the grapes of His harvest. It will be the day of separation of light and dark, just as one goat received redemption and the other was cast out to the wilderness.
This Feast Day is described by Ezekiel as the "Fat Sheep and Lean Sheep" judgment of Ezekiel 34, the same "Sheep and Goats" separation described by Matthew 25. To learn more about this day, we all need to read and study every bit of Leviticus 16 just as Jesus did. This chapter reading is about the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippurim is a solemn day of fasting and prayer for good reason. Yom Kippurim is even called the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." It is also called the holiest day. There's a reason.
Let's look at Leviticus 16 and see what it says to identify what principles there are to rehearse what we can on for this coming Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 16:29-34: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native born or an alien living among you-- because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses."Daniel 9:24 ties the mystery instruction and promise of Yom Kippur’s everlasting atonement for iniquity, sin and transgression as shown in Leviticus 16:21 to Yeshua. Look for yourself:
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. Leviticus 16:21Exodus chapters 25-30 address the setting up of the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) shortly after Moses returns from the top of Mount Sinai for the first time before he sees the "Golden Calf" sin described in Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 30:1-10 covers the set-up for the "Altar of Incense." Key words in the phrase in Exodus 30:10 state: "Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement..." this gives us understanding that this verse is about The Day of Atonement. After searching the Scriptures for verses containing key words such as "atonement," "tenth," "seventh," "deny yourselves," Other verses that address the "Day of Atonement" appear again in Leviticus 23 where the fall Feast Day is described.
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. Daniel 9:24
Leviticus 23:26-32: The LORD said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath."Just as with the Day of Trumpets, much like the five books of Torah, there are five principles that apply to celebrating the Day of Atonement:
1. It is to always be on the tenth day of the seventh Biblical month.When digging in to the Scriptures on Yom Kippur, they show us a sacrifice and a life is given. In that way, every aspect of the Yom Kippur day points us to the solemn work of Yeshua as He gave His life to redeem ours as the High Priest. On Yom Kippur no one could bring an offering of sacrifice, only the High Priest. There's a reason.
2. It is a High Sabbath Day.
3. It is a day to deny oneself (this is considered by most to be a day of fasting).
4. It is a day of sacred assembly.
5. It is a day to make offerings to our Everlasting Father and make intercessory prayer.
Not only that, if we look at the whole of Torah - we can see a life offering is only given where God has appeared or where His messenger has instructed it be done. Yeshua accomplished both. Its is a mystery, but the atonement offering by fire is about food (life giving) that's one reason why our Savior teaches us:
'I AM' the bread and the wine.In an amazing way, we can see Leviticus teaches us this coming holy day is the day that only our High Priest Messiah can make atonement for our sins as a people called Israel. We are told to do no work of any kind, and afflict our souls, so do it.
Yom Kippur is the day Yeshua, our High Priest King who will one day come to judge and cleanse, so the word of God shows we have to be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day and we need to teach our children that important lesson. No matter how young, they need to know He is coming back soon and when.
Literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is before that day. Now is the time to be humble, repent pray, seek God, seek others and ask God and man to forgive us on these days of awe leading up to The Lord's Day. Because once it arrives, it is the day we must appear as we are before the Lord... and it's too late to do anything else. and the time of repentance will have expired. The court will be in session.
Yom Kippur foreshadows the 7th day, last day millennium trial at the end of the 1,000 years of peace on earth. The scene includes the accuser against the saints, the children of God and it is shown for us in Revelation. Check out Revelation 11 and notice the narrative as the evidence like a court room video replay is presented all the way to Revelation 20.
That coming Fall Feast court appointment on the final Yom Kippur judgment day trial will begin with the last trump of the Yom Kippur shofar as the King of the Universe enters His court and sits on His throne ready to conclude His judgment.
Thunder will sound and lightning will start flying as the earth shakes just like it did at Mount Sinai when The Lord descended...
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Revelation 11:19It will be the final judgment of the old Azazel goat, the deceiver that claims God changes at THE Yom Kippur described in Revelation.
"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." Exodus 19:16
What a blessing the Fall Feast trial was shown to John in a vision to tell us about it.
John was privileged to watch the preview of the witness of the twenty and four elders in the throne room of God as Yeshua was coronated as the worthy King. We can't know just who these 24 elders are, but 1Chronicles 24:7-17 gives us a possible clue as to their identity. Here, the Scriptures tell us that Shemaiah, the son of Nethaneel was the scribe appointed to record the names of those chosen by lot before King David and the High Priest Zadok. The lot was cast for 24 Levites that were appointed from the households of Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Only these families of the sons of Aaron were chosen as the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God because Nadab and Abihu died before their father.
Nadab and Abihu died because they like Cain, did not follow the Lord's instruction for a proper offering, an offering of blood life. Not only that, they brought a fire to the Altar that was not from God, it was a manmade fire.
All of God's instructions are critical for life, yet Nadab and Abihu brought a strange fire to the altar. The word 'strange' is translated from the Hebrew word 'zuwr' זוּר. It was not from the eternal fire from God that burned at His altar. It was from manmade, a foreigner to the Altar. Their offering was much like the cheat offering of Ananias and Sapphira described in Acts 5:1-11.
If you study Leviticus, you'll notice that God told the priests to only keep the fire burning (see Leviticus 6:12-13. He never told them to start one of their own and bring it to the Altar. Assumptions are dangerous when it comes to the Most Holy One. The fire that was to consume the offerings made at the Altar must be holy, set apart and provided by Almighty God.
Ananias and Sapphira just like Nadab and Abihu died, and great fear came upon the both assemblies that witnessed their deaths and that fear also fell on all who heard of their deaths. Each tried to short change The Lord's work. Only God can make something holy.
The scenes and visions of the final Yom Kippur is described in Revelation and the images are amazing. They unfold much like a video and show us the accuser will be taken from Temple and cast down in the ultimate sentence of transgression.
In the end, the deceiver, the accuser of the children that follow God will lose in the trial on his evil works.
Those he accuses on the fulfillment day of Yom Kippur "as breakers of the covenant and law of God" which were recorded on the tablets and scrolls at Sinai will be defended. They will be covered (atoned) by the blood of the living word of God by His great offering as our sinless Messiah Yeshua, the lamb of God.
In Revelation, Yeshua (Jesus) alone is authorized to break the seals of testimony and present the evidence of truth at the fulfillment of the Feast Days of YHVH.
From a Biblical interpretation, we must take a literal approach to His teaching and instruction to John and not be like Abel assuming that an offering with no fire or life given will suffice. Here's the connection:
"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways". Deuteronomy 28:9"Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." Revelation 14:12
Most especially, on the rehearsal of His appointed Feast Days and Yom Kippur His highest day, we must honor it to show our Father how much we love Him. It's the same for all Feasts.
Yom Kippur is HUGE in Almighty God's Gospel plan.
The instruction in Leviticus shows us that the Jubilee Year begins on the 50th Yom Kippur. The Jubilee is about restoration. It is in the same pattern as Shavuot. The Jubilee is a picture of returning things to the way it once was. The 'last trump' of the shofar is blown on Yom Kippur consecrating the 50th year, the 'yovel'. Shavuot and the Jubilee are related to the creative cycle and reminds us of the three-fold lesson of the Sabbath Day: 1) God is our Creator, 2) God created the world in six days and ceased that work before the seventh day, and 3) God proclaimed the Sabbath as a time that people should continually observe just as He does.
Yom Kippur is a solemn day of rest and a day of affliction, so the tradition is to fast. If we look closely we can see that Paul wrote about Yom Kippur in 1Corinthians 15.
The Jubilee Year is tied to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a picture of life in the Garden before Adam and Eve gave away their kingship of the planet in sin and unbelief. The big revival, the restoration and restitution 'of all things' is coming and both the Jubilee and Yom Kippur are a part of the restoration to come on the Day of The Lord.
Acts 3:21 tells us:
When we dig in on Yom Kippur, the words of our Father given in the Bible shows us fire to the Lord for any tribute offering without blood (minchah) or sacrifice with blood (korban) can only be made from the continual fire of YHVH. Leviticus 6 talks about this. And the Torah scroll of Leviticus, the constitution of the Kingdom on Earth teaches that we are not to make an offering except at the place that He chooses.
Notice too, God's word also shows us that an altar may only be in a place that God has been seen.
The Torah, the teaching of God YHVH also requires that a clean offering only can be accepted as He alone has ordained by any offering at His place of an altar.
Remember... every aspect of the day of Yom Kippur points us to the solemn and exclusive work of Yeshua, our Savior as He gave His life to redeem mankind. His work alone is the ultimate work of the High Priest at Yom Kippur.
If we look at the whole of Torah, we can see the fire of YHVH and an offering is only given where God has first appeared or where His "messenger" has instructed it can be done. Any fire, from our own altar at our place of choosing is a strange thing and not acceptable to YHVH.
An offering place shown by a "messenger" (mal'ak מַלְאָךְ) is rarely seen in the Bible. As far as I know, this only happened with King David when the angel (messenger of God) told him to offer at the threshing floor, the location of today's Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Our blessing today, is to know that Yeshua accomplished all of these including the 'minchah' and the 'korban' offerings. Mincha means "present" or "gift" and is the meal offering which come from wheat or barley that is cut into a measure for the Mincha offering as well as the grape which provides wine for offering and the olive which provides the oil, representing the Spirit of God.
Korban is the life 'blood' offering of a lamb, goat, bull or dove, a clean animal. They were not presented for reasons of salvation as many suppose but for they were presented for consecration. The five Korban offerings are the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. An olah animal blood offering could only cover (atone) the sin, not remove the guilt. That is the role of Messiah.
We are far from the time of the Tabernacle, so it's much like a lost key, but the atonement offerings by fire are uniquely all about life. Food represents life, because it gives life nourishment for living. That's the reason why our Savior teaches us, 'I AM' the bread and the wine before He gave His life as the ultimate offering to restore life.
In an amazing way, we can see Leviticus and the book of Hebrews teaches us this future but last High Holy day of Yom Kippur is THE DAY that our High Priest Yeshua will return to judge and the decision will be to make atonement.
On this set apart day, we are told to do no work of any kind, and afflict our souls. There's is no legalism intended here, just caution because as we approach and get nearer to THE ultimate Day of The Lord. The awesome thing is that we can rehearse this by fasting on each Yom Kippur day. So, we do need to be seriously careful unless we REALLY know what we’re doing. Remember, no strange fire offering is acceptable. The Temple altar has been destroyed, but it will be restored by Messiah one day.
Here's another important thing to know... Yom Kippurim is 'the day' of Yeshua. He is our King and our High Priest who will one day come to judge and cleanse. The word of God shows us that on Yom Kippur we should be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day. We need to teach our children this message. They need to know He is coming back and what will happen. They need to be prepared.
Yom Kippur teaches us what any "fire and brimstone" revival preacher has taught. That literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is now, before the Great Day of Judgment. Now is the time, before the Day of The Lord, it is the time to be humble, time to repent, to fast and pray and to worship God. It is time to seek others and ask both God and man to forgive us. This message is the shadow picture shown in the 'Days of Awe' leading up to The Lord's Judgment Day.
Because once it finally arrives, so will the fire and brimstone for those that purposefully oppose YHVH. It is the day we must all appear "just as we are" before the Lord's white throne... and once that Yom Kippur arrives, it's judgment day.
So, the opportunity to turn from our sins is now so that when we arrive at the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur at His return we can be clean as white linen standing in honor at the right hand before our Lord to receive His reward.
Revelation graphically shows us the big picture many forget:
The word 'anoint' is then given by Moses, it's where we get the title Messiah, it's 'mashach' the annointed. On Yom Kippur, the grapes, whether the olive that is pressed for oil or the grape that is crushed for wine are gathered to the barn. Yom Kippur points to Jesus who comes in His Father's stead, making atonement at the harvest time. The gospels even show us He put on the white linen garments at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36).
And may we all pray every Yom Kippur:
"Reveal to us the Messiah who is the righteous one. There is none other who justifies us. He carries our sins and crimes and was wounded for our transgressions."
Amen and Hallelujah, may Tabernacles soon begin. COME LORD JESUS, REVEAL YOUR GLORY TO US!!
We must take the opportunity before us to go into the day of Yom Kippur clean as white linen by the blood of Messiah so that we might be standing in honor before Him to receive our reward when He comes.
The sequence of many end time events and our salvation is clear in the Fall Feasts. It's time to rehearse them now because Yom Kippur shows us it is the day of judgment and the day of atonements since there is no salvation apart from the wood and the blood of Messiah on it for all. It also points us toward the coming week of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the wedding Feast of the Lamb.
The Bible describes a number of burnt-sacrifices for the week of Sukkot and whether taking each offering by itself or all of them together, each is always divisible by the number seven, God's number of completion. Scripture for the Sukkot week describes 70 bullocks, 14 rams and 98 lambs or altogether 182 sacrifices (that's 26 × 7), to which must be added 336 (48 × 7) tenths of ephahs of flour for the meat offerings. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts seven days and takes place during the seventh month and it has the number 7 impressed throughout.
Amazingly, the views offered in the Jewish Talmud is that these sacrifices are offered, not for Israel, but for the nations of the world:
“There were seventy bullocks, to correspond to the number of the seventy nations in the world.”
It is difficult to imagine that the Jewish sages would embed the prophetic character of this feast without something inspired from Heaven here.
Peter tells of the grace that will be brought to the redeemed at His return. This will occur at the Fall Feasts. His return is not an imminent any day of the year even as taught in many pulpits, we just don't know which season of Fall Feasts will be the revelation day of The Lord:
Many today may think that it is a cryptic book because they do not study the Feasts of The Lord. The Fall Feasts Days are the "key" to unlock the meaning of the Revelation story of Messiah Yeshua - Jesus Christ the King.
Revelation describes these events in their sequence of the Fall Feast Days which are the Day of Trumpets when we see the return of Messiah in His Glory through to the wedding feast week of Tabernacles which includes the restoration of God's people to the Promised Land for the "Marriage of the Lamb".
It will be the 'Greater Exodus' and just as it was with the battles when Joshua entered Canaan with the twelve tribes of Israel, there will be a great battle for the land as the nations come against Israel.
Revelation gives us the sequence of major events relevant to the 1,000 year reign of Messiah from Jerusalem. In the beginning of that earthly reign, Satan's power, the "power of death" will be taken away as he is imprisoned until the end of the day (1000 years).
Just as the Day of Trumpets will announce Messiah's return, the "first resurrection" will occur for the elect through time that have chosen to follow God and to follow Messiah. It will include those from "Tribulation" which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Messiah Yeshua" (Revelation 12:17). They will rule the planet under His direction for the 1,000 years. These overcomer's who are raised in the "first resurrection" just before the 1,000 years will be transfigured the image given to mankind at Eden, covered by the light of God immortal and incorruptible. These people will include all who have overcome "in Christ" throughout time as well those still alive through the tribulation.
These faithful people will be given the gift of eternal life and restored by God to the perfect physical condition of Adam and Eve at creation as Yeshua was at the transfiguration and His resurrection. They will rule as priests with Messiah for the 1000 years. This is the advantage, the reward of the first resurrection.
All other survivors through the battles described in Psalms 83 will continue to be mortal through the 1,000 years, which means they can of course still die like Adam and Eve if they willfully sin against God's instruction and His Kingdom. In the end many will rebel with the deceiver is released as he was in Eden to lie.
This is proven by the fact that when the rebels from among them attack the Holy City at the end of the 1000 years these wayward people are "devoured" by fire from heaven when Satan is released and inspires a final rebellion against God at the end of the 1000 years, which will be promptly put down and the rebels of God and Magog will be destroyed. Then...
"Death will be no more" after Messiah's fulfillment of the second resurrection at the Feast of Trumpets at the end of the millennium age and the Day of The Lord, the final Yom Kippur is concluded, which is called the Great White Throne Judgment when Satan, his demons and mankind, those goats and tares that openly reject God are judged in the Lake of Fire.
After this judgment, all God's people whose names are written in The Book of Life may enter into the eternal state of the New Heaven and New Earth on Shemini Atzeret during "the assembly of the great eighth (day), (Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 prove this). They are the ones that are "blessed" as they do his commandments" and sin no more. They alone have the "right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" which is the "New Jerusalem", Eden restored on the 8th day of Tabernacles.
Tabernacles aka Sukkot is the big celebration. Sukkot follows judgment and marks 'the' harvest time, and we need to be ready according to Zechariah when the Bride of the millennial kingdom are called to celebrate the wedding of the bride at the fesitval of our joy, the ingathering in Jerusalem:
The first day of Tabernacles (Tishre 15) is another day off work and the festival week is closed with Hashanah Rabbah (Tishre 21) followed by a picture of eternal forgiveness and New Jerusalem on Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day, another holy set apart day of rest. The prophet Haggai describes Tishre 21:
All families have things to celebrate, so it is the time we get to rehearse this coming celebration because it is the goal of what the once sinful woman, the atoned 'Bride' has embraced in God’s Covenant, His Kingdom Gospel of forgiveness through lovingkindness and the restoration of God's Tabernacle in Israel as the husband's response to His love for His wayward bride.
Like Jesus did on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Hosea lays it all out, 'the Feast' is not done away with:
Back then, on each day of "the feast" once the daily offering made by fire was made at the altar, the priest would pour out water drawn from the pool of Siloam (remember the blind man), and then the priest would pour wine over the side of the altar.
The ultimate life offering was made at the altar (crucifixion) when our High Priest (Yeshua) poured out water and wine from His body...
“Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”
The next morning (on Shemini Atzeret) he forgave the adulterous woman, at the court of The Temple as He told her:
“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
Tabernacles, or Sukkot also known as the Feast of Booths is the feast of "In-gathering". Get it? The ingathering, no wonder it concludes with Shemini Atzeret.
Sukkot's instruction tells us about how we get to celebrate the seven day celebration of forgiveness in the seventh month at the end of the Biblical Year, this is found in Leviticus 23:34-43. The first day is a holy convocation, a 'mikra' and the celebration lasts seven days and it is followed by the eighth day to rest in The Lord.
The second time this is seen in the Torah is in Numbers 29:12-40. The third time we learn more about the Sukkot is in Deuteronomy 16:9-17. The verses in Leviticus focus on a general outline for observing the celebration Feast of The Lord. The verses in Numbers focus on the type of offerings to be made at the Feast, like a gigantic family reunion BBQ feast. The verses in Deuteronomy reveal who gets to celebrate in this mega picnic.
Sukkot has another amazing name, it is called the "Feast of In-gathering" and is one of three appointed days or festivals (the other two are Passover and Pentecost or Shavuot) where "thy males appear before God thy God in the place which he shall choose..." (Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 24:22-23, Deuteronomy 16:16).
This "pilgrimage" instruction to be in Jerusalem is ultimately why God chooses this city for His name. This is due to the fact that He appointed these "chag" celebrations as the days Yeshua (Jesus) would actually be there in person to fulfill His complete plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for all believing mankind. He was there in Jerusalem at Passover almost 2,000 years ago as were all the witnesses around the world that journeyed there to Jerusalem. God's Spirit was there at Shavuot and Yeshua will return there when Tabernacles is fulfilled.
That why the big three festivals are called chagim because chag mean "festival".
So, it is a time to spend outdoors in the beautiful fall night sky so that we may behold God's creation in the night sky that declares His gospel to the planet. If we are not outside looking up we certainly will not see the sign of Messiah first hand that He promised us in Matthew 24 because this is the appointed season of His second coming. If we are not looking up, soon we will not see the sights described in Revelation 12 sign.
There's a great message of the glory of Tabernacles in Matthew. Did Moses enter the Promised Land? No wait, he did... an awesome picture is given to us by our Lord. Our Savior met with him and gave him a great reward, acknowledging him before The Father as well as Elijah and three witnesses!
Moses entered through the invitation of mercy and atoning grace of our Messiah Yeshua alone.
Matthew points us to this happening "after" six days, it was most likely the day Hashanah Rabah, the 7th day of Tabernacles, the 21st of Tishri. And now we can know the day after, the 8th day is Shemini Atzeret שמיני עצרת "the Eighth [day] of Assembly" the last holy day and the grande finale.
Hashanah Rabah is the 7th day of Tabernacles and it means "the great salvation." Another saying in Hebrew, “Hoshiah Na! Save now! This is what the crowds were shouting about when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey colt 2,000 years ago.
Matthew's account points us to Hashanah Rabah as the day that Moses met with Messiah on the mountaintop. It was after the 6th day that Moses received victory from his grave 'outside' the land to be seen with Elijah by Peter, James and John as witnesses with Messiah Yeshua on the mountain 'in' the Promised Land.
This 'after the 6th day' points to Hashanah Rabah as "the Great Salvation" day and the day of promise. It will be the same for all inscribed in the book of life acknowledged by the Lamb of God shown in Revelation:
When the disciple Peter (Keefa) asks to build three tents (sukkah), we need to know what is happening and when. Sukkah in Hebrew means “booths”. The word tabernacle simply means to “dwell in a tent.” Sukkah refers to the temporary dwellings that faithful Jewish people have built annually from branches and leaves to remind themselves of the 40 year journey in the wilderness with Moses when they were entirely dependent on God’s provision.
Yeshua gives us a parable about Tabernacles shown earlier in the book of Matthew:
Fifty days later, God sent His Spirit there on Pentecost to indwell the believers and disciples so that they could literally preach the gospel to all the nations in their own tongue (languages). That is why we hear the term "speaking in tongues." It was the gift of the Spirit giving ability to speak in another language so that the Gospel could instantly spread around the nations around the world from those that were there in Jerusalem at the Feast of Shavuot.
This tells us one reason you don't want to forget the Feasts.
The world still speaks all of the languages (or forms of them) that God gave to mankind at the Tower of Babel. As Scripture says, He will return there in Jerusalem to begin His reign as King of the Universe on Tabernacles, and at that time I believe that He will fully restore His pure language (we call it Hebrew today) so that we can all worship Him in one unified voice as He told the prophet Zephaniah.
It was the month of Aviv (Abib), the first month of the year (see Exodus 12:2). Exodus 12:37 reveals that the children of Israel then encamped at Succoth after their departure from Egypt in the month of Aviv. The next few chapters tell the story of the crossing of the Red Sea (baptism/mikveh) between the first (Aviv) and second (Iyar) months. Exodus 16:1 describes the 15th day of the second month after the "exodus" from Egypt when the children of Israel walked to the wilderness of "Sin".
Do you see the hidden message in the story?
While in Sin, they were given manna by God (representing the bread of life). The manna saved them from starvation when they could do nothing to help themselves. They had to rely 100% on God and He provided. After camping in Sin, they journeyed on and camped in Rephidim next (this Hebrew word means "resting places". Here where they received water from the Rock (Exodus 1 7:1). This water represents the Spirit of God. Finally, in the third month (Siwan) they arrived at the mountain, Mount Sinai where they heard God's voice as the earth shook (Exodus 19:1).
Remembering the journey of the children of Israel helps us better understand our journey and the future fulfillment of the Feast of Sukkot. Our Everlasting Father God, expressly tells us why we are to observe Sukkot in Leviticus 23:42-43.
It is a "memorial celebration" to remember that God provided for the children of Israel and instructed them to dwell in "booths" (tents or tabernacles) when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. The dwelling of God's people in booths is fundamental to celebrating the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. It shows us that God will provide.
From the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month it was and is a time of great rejoicing for the people of Israel and those that sojourned with them out of Egypt. This is because it will be the future "appointed time" of celebrating Messiah's reign as King, what a celebration!
In the Scripture reading, we also learn that both the first day and the eight day following the seven days of Sukkot are His holy convocations. Much like a weekly Sabbath, they are days that we are to do no work. The are God's vacation days with us, so don't miss them like a work-a-holic.
It was a crowning festival of the fall Feast Days and it will be that again.
Israel was commanded to build tabernacles and live in them during the feast days. This commemorated how God brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Secondly, they were to cut off branches of palm trees and wave them, rejoicing before the Lord. This eight day Festival holds a wonderful future promise. In the Messianic Kingdom to come, when the other festivals have indeed been shown to have served their purpose in Messiah, Tabernacles will continue to be celebrated since praise and thanksgiving to God as our King will never end. That is the meaning of the eight day. It represents eternity.
Zechariah tells us of this time when all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles. Jews today recognize that the Feast of Tabernacles points to and looks forward to the Kingdom of Messiah. Zechariah 14:16-21 states clearly that after Messiah sets up His Kingdom His people, the children of God will celebrate the joy and blessings of the Feast of Tabernacles as a yearly memorial in Jerusalem.
Yeshua (Jesus) was there in Jerusalem at the appointed days of the Feast of Tabernacles. He was in the Temple during the Feast's water libation ceremony on the 7th day just as He was front and center on all the pilgrimage days. These focus His plan of redemption. Read the words of John 7:37-38 that describe Hashanah Rabah, the seveneth day:
The Torah is God's Word, Yeshua is the Living Word, the Torah resurrected in the flesh. In Him, all The Feast days will be fulfilled (see Matthew 5:17).
And consider Revelation 7:9-17 as it describes the saints who have come through the "great tribulation." This scene will take place at Tabernacles and it describes the day following the seven days of Sukkot aka Shemini Atzeret. This day is the day to "rejoice in Torah" to rejoice in Messiah at His inauguration as King Messiah.
The storyline of Revelation that tracks with the Falls Feasts is preceded by "the" grand celebration with the saints waving "palm branches" during Tabernacles. Why are the "saints" of Revelation waving palm branches?
They are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles which represents the great marriage supper feast that will soon take place. It is a Feast which will last for seven days until the big day which represents "eternity on" when death is swallowed up in victory. For more, see Isaiah 25:6-9. This is the greatest day of all celebrations following the marriage feast of the Lamb when the elect, redeemed people, "the bride" will say "I do".
This same great celebration was foreshadowed by the supper with God on the mountain in the wilderness when Moses, his brother Aaron and Aaron's "two sons" were invited with the "seventy" elders of Israel to the top of Mount Sinai to celebrate The Giving of Covenant in the presence of Almighty God. This future appointment is prophetically described in Exodus 24.
There below the King's throne at Mount Sinai these 74 men celebrated after everyone said "I do" and accepted God's covenant when they said they would "do" all of His words:
Messiah Yeshua as well as Peter, John and James were prophetically and thematically represented in the meal at the top of Mount Sinai some 1,500 years before Luke recorded his story. These three are prophetically seen in the persons of Moses, Aaron and his two sons. In each occasion, we the Bible gives us a glimpse into the future of the Tabernacles celebration. This is why Messiah says in Luke 9:27:
Unless we study and consider the instruction we receive in the Bible, we cannot possibly understand the great meaning and implication of the future days of celebration during Tabernacles or the other fall Feast Days of The Lord. Simply put, one of the greatest prophecies of the Messiah cannot be known because so many of us have not been taught to anchor our understanding of His words in the Torah. Unless we study His word, all of it, Bible students will skim over and read past this magnificent promise.
To understand these Words of Yeshua (Jesus) is to recognize that He was prophetically talking about the climatic celebration and rejoicing of the future saints that are to be gathered and standing with Messiah. Perhaps there at the place Peter, John and James stood during the seventh month and the conclusion of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles! All the details are important! And "...Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah..." Luke 9:33
We have the same instruction Peter understood from Leviticus 23:40; 41 and 42: "...you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days." "...It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month." "..."You shall dwell in booths..."
We must consider it a great privilege to know that Luke's fantastic narrative of this story many know as the "Transfiguration" actually occurred at Tabernacles.
This story also hints of the resurrection (awakening from death) with the foreshadowing language that they were heavy with "sleep". Here are the words of Luke 9:32: "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him."
Following the events described by Luke which were witnessed by Peter, John and James, the Master also made a grand appointment just like the seventy at Sinai that were there with Moses and Aaron to dine with them and Aaron's two sons... The Lord, Yeshua (Jesus) likewise appointed seventy-two.
This is well worth repeating and critically important to understand in this context from Luke 10:1-3: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the laborers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."
After the future "in-gathering" (harvest) of the saints in Jerusalem for THE fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, the celebration will conclude at the end of the seventh day - the rest of Messiah's 1,000 year reign over all the earth. We will then have the eighth day. That eighth day represents completion and marks the beginning of the New Jerusalem!
We are instructed us to do no work on this eighth day of Tabernacles, instead much like a wedding rehearsal, we are to rehearse for this great celebration following the wedding day, The Feast of Tabernacles!
We have to understand the eight day reference recorded in Luke 9:28 leads us straight to a greater understanding of Shemini Atzeret...
It is critical that we realize that just before this eight day of Shemini Atzeret nearly 2,000 years ago, Messiah fed the multitude of followers. They had supper with The Lord, another witness and foreshadowing of the great wedding feast of His people to come and a reflection of the great feast that occurred at the top of Mount Sinai. The feeding of the multitude of the 5,000 described in Luke 9 has significant metaphoric ties to the Torah.
Like the 5,000, the five books of Torah in this miracle story teaches us five truths:
A second miracle is told about the feeding of 4,000 hungry people. We see this miracle in Matthew 15:32-38:
This story also reflects on the Feast of Tabernacles and the promise of resurrection.
The crowds had been with Yeshua three days and the place was desolate. Hosea speaks of the third day.
The seven loaves of bread in this story point us to the noted time period of 7,000 years for the restoration of mankind's relationship with our Creator. In the creation story of Genesis, creation lasted 6 days and on the 7th day, the Sabbath day, God rested. This represents the day of Messiah, the millennium of Messiah's rest "tabernacling" with mankind when He returns to Israel.
The seven Feasts of the Lord of Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles and Shemini Atzeret speak to the appointed work of Messiah. The first coming shows us what He redemption in the first 3 appointed Spring Feasts. Yeshua came to accomplish these things on the 4th day (4,000 years since Adam).
The four Fall Feasts speak to the work of Messiah the King to be accomplished after two days (2,000 years). As we know by creation and our calendar the prophetic week of mankind has seven days.
Yom Kippur is a solemn day of rest and a day of affliction, so the tradition is to fast. If we look closely we can see that Paul wrote about Yom Kippur in 1Corinthians 15.
The Jubilee Year is tied to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a picture of life in the Garden before Adam and Eve gave away their kingship of the planet in sin and unbelief. The big revival, the restoration and restitution 'of all things' is coming and both the Jubilee and Yom Kippur are a part of the restoration to come on the Day of The Lord.
Acts 3:21 tells us:
"Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."As Believers, we must repent and say: let the rehearsal begin, and may it begin with a careful watch on the Word of God. Nadab and Abihu teach us the lesson three times in the Torah, so its really important and the message includes the fire of YHVH.
When we dig in on Yom Kippur, the words of our Father given in the Bible shows us fire to the Lord for any tribute offering without blood (minchah) or sacrifice with blood (korban) can only be made from the continual fire of YHVH. Leviticus 6 talks about this. And the Torah scroll of Leviticus, the constitution of the Kingdom on Earth teaches that we are not to make an offering except at the place that He chooses.
Notice too, God's word also shows us that an altar may only be in a place that God has been seen.
The Torah, the teaching of God YHVH also requires that a clean offering only can be accepted as He alone has ordained by any offering at His place of an altar.
Remember... every aspect of the day of Yom Kippur points us to the solemn and exclusive work of Yeshua, our Savior as He gave His life to redeem mankind. His work alone is the ultimate work of the High Priest at Yom Kippur.
If we look at the whole of Torah, we can see the fire of YHVH and an offering is only given where God has first appeared or where His "messenger" has instructed it can be done. Any fire, from our own altar at our place of choosing is a strange thing and not acceptable to YHVH.
An offering place shown by a "messenger" (mal'ak מַלְאָךְ) is rarely seen in the Bible. As far as I know, this only happened with King David when the angel (messenger of God) told him to offer at the threshing floor, the location of today's Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Our blessing today, is to know that Yeshua accomplished all of these including the 'minchah' and the 'korban' offerings. Mincha means "present" or "gift" and is the meal offering which come from wheat or barley that is cut into a measure for the Mincha offering as well as the grape which provides wine for offering and the olive which provides the oil, representing the Spirit of God.
Korban is the life 'blood' offering of a lamb, goat, bull or dove, a clean animal. They were not presented for reasons of salvation as many suppose but for they were presented for consecration. The five Korban offerings are the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. An olah animal blood offering could only cover (atone) the sin, not remove the guilt. That is the role of Messiah.
We are far from the time of the Tabernacle, so it's much like a lost key, but the atonement offerings by fire are uniquely all about life. Food represents life, because it gives life nourishment for living. That's the reason why our Savior teaches us, 'I AM' the bread and the wine before He gave His life as the ultimate offering to restore life.
In an amazing way, we can see Leviticus and the book of Hebrews teaches us this future but last High Holy day of Yom Kippur is THE DAY that our High Priest Yeshua will return to judge and the decision will be to make atonement.
On this set apart day, we are told to do no work of any kind, and afflict our souls. There's is no legalism intended here, just caution because as we approach and get nearer to THE ultimate Day of The Lord. The awesome thing is that we can rehearse this by fasting on each Yom Kippur day. So, we do need to be seriously careful unless we REALLY know what we’re doing. Remember, no strange fire offering is acceptable. The Temple altar has been destroyed, but it will be restored by Messiah one day.
Here's another important thing to know... Yom Kippurim is 'the day' of Yeshua. He is our King and our High Priest who will one day come to judge and cleanse. The word of God shows us that on Yom Kippur we should be still, quiet in humble prayer and in thanksgiving as the High Priest will do His work on this day. We need to teach our children this message. They need to know He is coming back and what will happen. They need to be prepared.
Yom Kippur teaches us what any "fire and brimstone" revival preacher has taught. That literally, our chance to repent and ask for forgiveness is now, before the Great Day of Judgment. Now is the time, before the Day of The Lord, it is the time to be humble, time to repent, to fast and pray and to worship God. It is time to seek others and ask both God and man to forgive us. This message is the shadow picture shown in the 'Days of Awe' leading up to The Lord's Judgment Day.
Because once it finally arrives, so will the fire and brimstone for those that purposefully oppose YHVH. It is the day we must all appear "just as we are" before the Lord's white throne... and once that Yom Kippur arrives, it's judgment day.
So, the opportunity to turn from our sins is now so that when we arrive at the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur at His return we can be clean as white linen standing in honor at the right hand before our Lord to receive His reward.
Revelation graphically shows us the big picture many forget:
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Aleph and Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:12-14The prophetic word for this promise is shown first to us first in Leviticus after we are given the words: "the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD".
The word 'anoint' is then given by Moses, it's where we get the title Messiah, it's 'mashach' the annointed. On Yom Kippur, the grapes, whether the olive that is pressed for oil or the grape that is crushed for wine are gathered to the barn. Yom Kippur points to Jesus who comes in His Father's stead, making atonement at the harvest time. The gospels even show us He put on the white linen garments at the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36).
"And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments." Leviticus 16:32It's pretty awesome that King David wrote to us all that the Messiah would be this 'One' spoken of by Moses and Revelation:
"I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are My Son; Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.' " Psalm 2:7-8And Zechariah showed us that He is the Priest clothed in majesty on God's throne:
"And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Zechariah 6:12-13Yom Kippur's going to be a bad day for those that rejected the Priest in the order of Melchizedek standing at the right hand of God before the day of The Lord:
"The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries." Psalms 110:4-6Our prayer should be that God will bless us as we humbly honor His day, His way.
And may we all pray every Yom Kippur:
"Reveal to us the Messiah who is the righteous one. There is none other who justifies us. He carries our sins and crimes and was wounded for our transgressions."
Amen and Hallelujah, may Tabernacles soon begin. COME LORD JESUS, REVEAL YOUR GLORY TO US!!
We must take the opportunity before us to go into the day of Yom Kippur clean as white linen by the blood of Messiah so that we might be standing in honor before Him to receive our reward when He comes.
The sequence of many end time events and our salvation is clear in the Fall Feasts. It's time to rehearse them now because Yom Kippur shows us it is the day of judgment and the day of atonements since there is no salvation apart from the wood and the blood of Messiah on it for all. It also points us toward the coming week of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the wedding Feast of the Lamb.
The Bible describes a number of burnt-sacrifices for the week of Sukkot and whether taking each offering by itself or all of them together, each is always divisible by the number seven, God's number of completion. Scripture for the Sukkot week describes 70 bullocks, 14 rams and 98 lambs or altogether 182 sacrifices (that's 26 × 7), to which must be added 336 (48 × 7) tenths of ephahs of flour for the meat offerings. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts seven days and takes place during the seventh month and it has the number 7 impressed throughout.
Amazingly, the views offered in the Jewish Talmud is that these sacrifices are offered, not for Israel, but for the nations of the world:
“There were seventy bullocks, to correspond to the number of the seventy nations in the world.”
It is difficult to imagine that the Jewish sages would embed the prophetic character of this feast without something inspired from Heaven here.
Peter tells of the grace that will be brought to the redeemed at His return. This will occur at the Fall Feasts. His return is not an imminent any day of the year even as taught in many pulpits, we just don't know which season of Fall Feasts will be the revelation day of The Lord:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1Peter 1:13The vision of Revelation was given as a gift to John and all those that would read it as the summary of the plan of God for Yeshua to fulfill the Fall Feasts of YHVH. The Fall Feasts must be studied for the book of Revelation to make sense.
Many today may think that it is a cryptic book because they do not study the Feasts of The Lord. The Fall Feasts Days are the "key" to unlock the meaning of the Revelation story of Messiah Yeshua - Jesus Christ the King.
Revelation describes these events in their sequence of the Fall Feast Days which are the Day of Trumpets when we see the return of Messiah in His Glory through to the wedding feast week of Tabernacles which includes the restoration of God's people to the Promised Land for the "Marriage of the Lamb".
It will be the 'Greater Exodus' and just as it was with the battles when Joshua entered Canaan with the twelve tribes of Israel, there will be a great battle for the land as the nations come against Israel.
Revelation gives us the sequence of major events relevant to the 1,000 year reign of Messiah from Jerusalem. In the beginning of that earthly reign, Satan's power, the "power of death" will be taken away as he is imprisoned until the end of the day (1000 years).
Just as the Day of Trumpets will announce Messiah's return, the "first resurrection" will occur for the elect through time that have chosen to follow God and to follow Messiah. It will include those from "Tribulation" which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Messiah Yeshua" (Revelation 12:17). They will rule the planet under His direction for the 1,000 years. These overcomer's who are raised in the "first resurrection" just before the 1,000 years will be transfigured the image given to mankind at Eden, covered by the light of God immortal and incorruptible. These people will include all who have overcome "in Christ" throughout time as well those still alive through the tribulation.
These faithful people will be given the gift of eternal life and restored by God to the perfect physical condition of Adam and Eve at creation as Yeshua was at the transfiguration and His resurrection. They will rule as priests with Messiah for the 1000 years. This is the advantage, the reward of the first resurrection.
All other survivors through the battles described in Psalms 83 will continue to be mortal through the 1,000 years, which means they can of course still die like Adam and Eve if they willfully sin against God's instruction and His Kingdom. In the end many will rebel with the deceiver is released as he was in Eden to lie.
This is proven by the fact that when the rebels from among them attack the Holy City at the end of the 1000 years these wayward people are "devoured" by fire from heaven when Satan is released and inspires a final rebellion against God at the end of the 1000 years, which will be promptly put down and the rebels of God and Magog will be destroyed. Then...
"Death will be no more" after Messiah's fulfillment of the second resurrection at the Feast of Trumpets at the end of the millennium age and the Day of The Lord, the final Yom Kippur is concluded, which is called the Great White Throne Judgment when Satan, his demons and mankind, those goats and tares that openly reject God are judged in the Lake of Fire.
After this judgment, all God's people whose names are written in The Book of Life may enter into the eternal state of the New Heaven and New Earth on Shemini Atzeret during "the assembly of the great eighth (day), (Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 prove this). They are the ones that are "blessed" as they do his commandments" and sin no more. They alone have the "right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" which is the "New Jerusalem", Eden restored on the 8th day of Tabernacles.
Tabernacles aka Sukkot is the big celebration. Sukkot follows judgment and marks 'the' harvest time, and we need to be ready according to Zechariah when the Bride of the millennial kingdom are called to celebrate the wedding of the bride at the fesitval of our joy, the ingathering in Jerusalem:
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16Sukkot is the seven day wedding reception after the atoning of Yom Kippur.
The first day of Tabernacles (Tishre 15) is another day off work and the festival week is closed with Hashanah Rabbah (Tishre 21) followed by a picture of eternal forgiveness and New Jerusalem on Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day, another holy set apart day of rest. The prophet Haggai describes Tishre 21:
"On the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Hashanah Rabbah), the word of The Lord came through the prophet Haggai." Haggai 2:1Next, Almighty God declares this on the 7th day of Sukkot.
"This is what The Lord Almighty says: "In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory," says The Lord Almighty. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” Haggai 2:6-9Sukkot is a very BIG deal.
All families have things to celebrate, so it is the time we get to rehearse this coming celebration because it is the goal of what the once sinful woman, the atoned 'Bride' has embraced in God’s Covenant, His Kingdom Gospel of forgiveness through lovingkindness and the restoration of God's Tabernacle in Israel as the husband's response to His love for His wayward bride.
Like Jesus did on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Hosea lays it all out, 'the Feast' is not done away with:
“I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD.Back in the days of the Temple, everyone traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot as well as Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost). One of the daily highlights of the Sukkot festival was the 'Simkhat Bet Ha-Shoeva' (Rejoicing of the Water-Drawing House).
‘It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer,’ says the LORD; ‘I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; they shall answer Jezreel.
Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:19-23
Back then, on each day of "the feast" once the daily offering made by fire was made at the altar, the priest would pour out water drawn from the pool of Siloam (remember the blind man), and then the priest would pour wine over the side of the altar.
The ultimate life offering was made at the altar (crucifixion) when our High Priest (Yeshua) poured out water and wine from His body...
"But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." John 19:34."We are honored to know the fulfillment of this last or 7th day of Tabernacles when the great I Am cried out to the crowd assembled for the water pouring, so lets celebrate just as He did then. John 7 is the witness Yeshua's words on the 7th day called Hashanah Rabbah (the great Hashanah:
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38It's amazing what the officers of the Temple Court said after they heard Him:
“Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”
The next morning (on Shemini Atzeret) he forgave the adulterous woman, at the court of The Temple as He told her:
“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
Tabernacles, or Sukkot also known as the Feast of Booths is the feast of "In-gathering". Get it? The ingathering, no wonder it concludes with Shemini Atzeret.
Sukkot's instruction tells us about how we get to celebrate the seven day celebration of forgiveness in the seventh month at the end of the Biblical Year, this is found in Leviticus 23:34-43. The first day is a holy convocation, a 'mikra' and the celebration lasts seven days and it is followed by the eighth day to rest in The Lord.
The second time this is seen in the Torah is in Numbers 29:12-40. The third time we learn more about the Sukkot is in Deuteronomy 16:9-17. The verses in Leviticus focus on a general outline for observing the celebration Feast of The Lord. The verses in Numbers focus on the type of offerings to be made at the Feast, like a gigantic family reunion BBQ feast. The verses in Deuteronomy reveal who gets to celebrate in this mega picnic.
Sukkot has another amazing name, it is called the "Feast of In-gathering" and is one of three appointed days or festivals (the other two are Passover and Pentecost or Shavuot) where "thy males appear before God thy God in the place which he shall choose..." (Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 24:22-23, Deuteronomy 16:16).
This "pilgrimage" instruction to be in Jerusalem is ultimately why God chooses this city for His name. This is due to the fact that He appointed these "chag" celebrations as the days Yeshua (Jesus) would actually be there in person to fulfill His complete plan of salvation, redemption and restoration for all believing mankind. He was there in Jerusalem at Passover almost 2,000 years ago as were all the witnesses around the world that journeyed there to Jerusalem. God's Spirit was there at Shavuot and Yeshua will return there when Tabernacles is fulfilled.
That why the big three festivals are called chagim because chag mean "festival".
So, it is a time to spend outdoors in the beautiful fall night sky so that we may behold God's creation in the night sky that declares His gospel to the planet. If we are not outside looking up we certainly will not see the sign of Messiah first hand that He promised us in Matthew 24 because this is the appointed season of His second coming. If we are not looking up, soon we will not see the sights described in Revelation 12 sign.
There's a great message of the glory of Tabernacles in Matthew. Did Moses enter the Promised Land? No wait, he did... an awesome picture is given to us by our Lord. Our Savior met with him and gave him a great reward, acknowledging him before The Father as well as Elijah and three witnesses!
Moses entered through the invitation of mercy and atoning grace of our Messiah Yeshua alone.
Matthew points us to this happening "after" six days, it was most likely the day Hashanah Rabah, the 7th day of Tabernacles, the 21st of Tishri. And now we can know the day after, the 8th day is Shemini Atzeret שמיני עצרת "the Eighth [day] of Assembly" the last holy day and the grande finale.
Hashanah Rabah is the 7th day of Tabernacles and it means "the great salvation." Another saying in Hebrew, “Hoshiah Na! Save now! This is what the crowds were shouting about when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey colt 2,000 years ago.
Matthew's account points us to Hashanah Rabah as the day that Moses met with Messiah on the mountaintop. It was after the 6th day that Moses received victory from his grave 'outside' the land to be seen with Elijah by Peter, James and John as witnesses with Messiah Yeshua on the mountain 'in' the Promised Land.
This 'after the 6th day' points to Hashanah Rabah as "the Great Salvation" day and the day of promise. It will be the same for all inscribed in the book of life acknowledged by the Lamb of God shown in Revelation:
"The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels (messengers)." Revelation 3:5Check out the story in Matthew, look at the themes. It's cool to read the account with Hebrew names. Jesus showed Moses he too would enter in and be acknowledged before His Father and his messengers (disciples) because his judgment was only until the Glory of Jesus was witnessed.
After six days, Yeshua took with him Keefa, Ya`akov, and Yochanan his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as the light. Behold, Moshe and Eliyah appeared to them talking with him.It can be your promise too. The great salvation day is coming. Hoshiah Na!
Keefa answered, and said to Yeshua, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let's make three sukkah here: one for you, one for Moshe, and one for Eliyah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." When the talmidim heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. Yeshua came and touched them and said, "Get up, and don't be afraid." Matthew 17:1-7
When the disciple Peter (Keefa) asks to build three tents (sukkah), we need to know what is happening and when. Sukkah in Hebrew means “booths”. The word tabernacle simply means to “dwell in a tent.” Sukkah refers to the temporary dwellings that faithful Jewish people have built annually from branches and leaves to remind themselves of the 40 year journey in the wilderness with Moses when they were entirely dependent on God’s provision.
Yeshua gives us a parable about Tabernacles shown earlier in the book of Matthew:
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:37-43Yeshua (Jesus) had to be there in Jerusalem of on Passover for His crucifixion and His resurrection on the day of First Fruits.
Fifty days later, God sent His Spirit there on Pentecost to indwell the believers and disciples so that they could literally preach the gospel to all the nations in their own tongue (languages). That is why we hear the term "speaking in tongues." It was the gift of the Spirit giving ability to speak in another language so that the Gospel could instantly spread around the nations around the world from those that were there in Jerusalem at the Feast of Shavuot.
This tells us one reason you don't want to forget the Feasts.
The world still speaks all of the languages (or forms of them) that God gave to mankind at the Tower of Babel. As Scripture says, He will return there in Jerusalem to begin His reign as King of the Universe on Tabernacles, and at that time I believe that He will fully restore His pure language (we call it Hebrew today) so that we can all worship Him in one unified voice as He told the prophet Zephaniah.
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. Zephaniah 3:9:To better understand the celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles), let's look again back at the Book of Exodus. By reflecting on the Exodus account, we know that the children of Israel and the sojourners with them were a part of the first Passover in Egypt.
It was the month of Aviv (Abib), the first month of the year (see Exodus 12:2). Exodus 12:37 reveals that the children of Israel then encamped at Succoth after their departure from Egypt in the month of Aviv. The next few chapters tell the story of the crossing of the Red Sea (baptism/mikveh) between the first (Aviv) and second (Iyar) months. Exodus 16:1 describes the 15th day of the second month after the "exodus" from Egypt when the children of Israel walked to the wilderness of "Sin".
Do you see the hidden message in the story?
While in Sin, they were given manna by God (representing the bread of life). The manna saved them from starvation when they could do nothing to help themselves. They had to rely 100% on God and He provided. After camping in Sin, they journeyed on and camped in Rephidim next (this Hebrew word means "resting places". Here where they received water from the Rock (Exodus 1 7:1). This water represents the Spirit of God. Finally, in the third month (Siwan) they arrived at the mountain, Mount Sinai where they heard God's voice as the earth shook (Exodus 19:1).
Remembering the journey of the children of Israel helps us better understand our journey and the future fulfillment of the Feast of Sukkot. Our Everlasting Father God, expressly tells us why we are to observe Sukkot in Leviticus 23:42-43.
It is a "memorial celebration" to remember that God provided for the children of Israel and instructed them to dwell in "booths" (tents or tabernacles) when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. The dwelling of God's people in booths is fundamental to celebrating the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. It shows us that God will provide.
From the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month it was and is a time of great rejoicing for the people of Israel and those that sojourned with them out of Egypt. This is because it will be the future "appointed time" of celebrating Messiah's reign as King, what a celebration!
In the Scripture reading, we also learn that both the first day and the eight day following the seven days of Sukkot are His holy convocations. Much like a weekly Sabbath, they are days that we are to do no work. The are God's vacation days with us, so don't miss them like a work-a-holic.
It was a crowning festival of the fall Feast Days and it will be that again.
Israel was commanded to build tabernacles and live in them during the feast days. This commemorated how God brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Secondly, they were to cut off branches of palm trees and wave them, rejoicing before the Lord. This eight day Festival holds a wonderful future promise. In the Messianic Kingdom to come, when the other festivals have indeed been shown to have served their purpose in Messiah, Tabernacles will continue to be celebrated since praise and thanksgiving to God as our King will never end. That is the meaning of the eight day. It represents eternity.
Zechariah tells us of this time when all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles. Jews today recognize that the Feast of Tabernacles points to and looks forward to the Kingdom of Messiah. Zechariah 14:16-21 states clearly that after Messiah sets up His Kingdom His people, the children of God will celebrate the joy and blessings of the Feast of Tabernacles as a yearly memorial in Jerusalem.
Yeshua (Jesus) was there in Jerusalem at the appointed days of the Feast of Tabernacles. He was in the Temple during the Feast's water libation ceremony on the 7th day just as He was front and center on all the pilgrimage days. These focus His plan of redemption. Read the words of John 7:37-38 that describe Hashanah Rabah, the seveneth day:
"In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"He was there the next day too while the torches of the ceremony still burned at The Temple above the city on Shemini Atzeret -- the "Eighth Day" of Simcha Torah.
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12Trust God's word, you don't want to miss Him at this Harvest celebration of in-gathering when He returns giving the water of eternal life as the light of the world!!
The Torah is God's Word, Yeshua is the Living Word, the Torah resurrected in the flesh. In Him, all The Feast days will be fulfilled (see Matthew 5:17).
And consider Revelation 7:9-17 as it describes the saints who have come through the "great tribulation." This scene will take place at Tabernacles and it describes the day following the seven days of Sukkot aka Shemini Atzeret. This day is the day to "rejoice in Torah" to rejoice in Messiah at His inauguration as King Messiah.
The storyline of Revelation that tracks with the Falls Feasts is preceded by "the" grand celebration with the saints waving "palm branches" during Tabernacles. Why are the "saints" of Revelation waving palm branches?
They are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles which represents the great marriage supper feast that will soon take place. It is a Feast which will last for seven days until the big day which represents "eternity on" when death is swallowed up in victory. For more, see Isaiah 25:6-9. This is the greatest day of all celebrations following the marriage feast of the Lamb when the elect, redeemed people, "the bride" will say "I do".
This same great celebration was foreshadowed by the supper with God on the mountain in the wilderness when Moses, his brother Aaron and Aaron's "two sons" were invited with the "seventy" elders of Israel to the top of Mount Sinai to celebrate The Giving of Covenant in the presence of Almighty God. This future appointment is prophetically described in Exodus 24.
There below the King's throne at Mount Sinai these 74 men celebrated after everyone said "I do" and accepted God's covenant when they said they would "do" all of His words:
"All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do." Exodus 24:3God's use of "Seventy" here represent all the nations and peoples of mankind that also accept Yeshua's covenant of grace and mercy. Amazingly, these men ate and drank there in full sight of God. The Scripture says they saw Him. This "seventy" and the "two" sons symbolize what is seen when Luke describes that Yeshua (Jesus) appointed "seventy two" disciples of the "harvest LORD" to spread His gospel of the Kingdom in every city of and place.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go." Luke 10:1This assignment likely occurred while they were gathered in Jerusalem with Messiah during the great celebration of Tabernacles. I only imagine that this divine mission given by the Master at the end of Sukkot to the seventy-two took place immediately after the seven day celebration on the one of a kind day called Shemini Atzeret. After all, the assignment give to Israel was to be a royal priesthood to minister to the planet:
And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation... Exodus 19:6Let's look back again carefully at Exodus 24:1-18:
"Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."The Feast of Tabernacles shows us the future great celebration following the "in-gathering", that many call the rapture, but it is the resurrection event that will bring people to celebrate Messiah's return, some will come that are living and many will come, arisen from death. The resurrection will occur before The Lord's celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles. I will not be surprised if this celebration will occur at the very spot where Yeshua (Jesus) took Peter, John and James to witness His "transfiguration" and the appearance of Moses (representing the Torah) and Elijah (representing the Prophets).
Messiah Yeshua as well as Peter, John and James were prophetically and thematically represented in the meal at the top of Mount Sinai some 1,500 years before Luke recorded his story. These three are prophetically seen in the persons of Moses, Aaron and his two sons. In each occasion, we the Bible gives us a glimpse into the future of the Tabernacles celebration. This is why Messiah says in Luke 9:27:
"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."Think about it, after the future trumpet day of the resurrection of the saints before Tabernacles, many people will be standing there in that very spot.
Unless we study and consider the instruction we receive in the Bible, we cannot possibly understand the great meaning and implication of the future days of celebration during Tabernacles or the other fall Feast Days of The Lord. Simply put, one of the greatest prophecies of the Messiah cannot be known because so many of us have not been taught to anchor our understanding of His words in the Torah. Unless we study His word, all of it, Bible students will skim over and read past this magnificent promise.
To understand these Words of Yeshua (Jesus) is to recognize that He was prophetically talking about the climatic celebration and rejoicing of the future saints that are to be gathered and standing with Messiah. Perhaps there at the place Peter, John and James stood during the seventh month and the conclusion of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles! All the details are important! And "...Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah..." Luke 9:33
We have the same instruction Peter understood from Leviticus 23:40; 41 and 42: "...you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days." "...It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month." "..."You shall dwell in booths..."
We must consider it a great privilege to know that Luke's fantastic narrative of this story many know as the "Transfiguration" actually occurred at Tabernacles.
This story also hints of the resurrection (awakening from death) with the foreshadowing language that they were heavy with "sleep". Here are the words of Luke 9:32: "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him."
Following the events described by Luke which were witnessed by Peter, John and James, the Master also made a grand appointment just like the seventy at Sinai that were there with Moses and Aaron to dine with them and Aaron's two sons... The Lord, Yeshua (Jesus) likewise appointed seventy-two.
This is well worth repeating and critically important to understand in this context from Luke 10:1-3: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the laborers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."
After the future "in-gathering" (harvest) of the saints in Jerusalem for THE fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, the celebration will conclude at the end of the seventh day - the rest of Messiah's 1,000 year reign over all the earth. We will then have the eighth day. That eighth day represents completion and marks the beginning of the New Jerusalem!
We are instructed us to do no work on this eighth day of Tabernacles, instead much like a wedding rehearsal, we are to rehearse for this great celebration following the wedding day, The Feast of Tabernacles!
We have to understand the eight day reference recorded in Luke 9:28 leads us straight to a greater understanding of Shemini Atzeret...
"And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray."Luke clearly show us that this happened on that awesome eighth day following the week of Tabernacles, almost 2,000 years ago!
It is critical that we realize that just before this eight day of Shemini Atzeret nearly 2,000 years ago, Messiah fed the multitude of followers. They had supper with The Lord, another witness and foreshadowing of the great wedding feast of His people to come and a reflection of the great feast that occurred at the top of Mount Sinai. The feeding of the multitude of the 5,000 described in Luke 9 has significant metaphoric ties to the Torah.
Like the 5,000, the five books of Torah in this miracle story teaches us five truths:
1. There were five loaves of bread - they represent the five books of Torah that feed the way of life!For more on the scattered twelve tribes and he restoration of Judah and Ephraim see the post Lost Sheep Scriptures.
2. There were two fish - we also have the Writings and the Prophets and the restoration of Judah and Israel!
3. Yeshua blessed them and gave them to the disciples - He gave His words to the disciples to be fishers of men!
4. The multitude were filled - We are to read and study ALL of His word!
5. Twelve baskets of leftover fragments were taken up - the scattered twelve tribes of Israel will be regathered and reunited so that All Israel may be saved.
Luke 9:13-20: "But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John the Baptist; but some [say], Elijah; and others [say], that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Messiah of God."The great thing about this miraculous story from Luke is that out Messiah taught the crowd in the town of Bethsaida. Surprise: Bethsaida is a fishing village on the west shore of The Sea of Galilee, the home of Andrew, Peter, Philip and John. Bethsaida means "house of fish". When we understand the Feast of Tabernacles we can also understand that His teaching there was prophetic. Jesus (Yeshua) spoke to them "of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing".
A second miracle is told about the feeding of 4,000 hungry people. We see this miracle in Matthew 15:32-38:
"Then Jesus called the disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way." The disciples said to him, "Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?" Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They replied, "Seven - and a few small fish." After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Not counting children and women, there were four thousand men who ate."The numbers are different here, there are: 3 days, 4,000 people, 7 loaves of bread and 7 baskets of broken pieces.
This story also reflects on the Feast of Tabernacles and the promise of resurrection.
The crowds had been with Yeshua three days and the place was desolate. Hosea speaks of the third day.
"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him." Hosea 6:1-2This promise is first given in Exodus 19:16 where we see the great trump:
"So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled."It's been two days (2,000 years) since Jesus taught in the desolate place and fed the multitude, reviving their strength with bread. Remember Hosea, after the second day...
The seven loaves of bread in this story point us to the noted time period of 7,000 years for the restoration of mankind's relationship with our Creator. In the creation story of Genesis, creation lasted 6 days and on the 7th day, the Sabbath day, God rested. This represents the day of Messiah, the millennium of Messiah's rest "tabernacling" with mankind when He returns to Israel.
The seven Feasts of the Lord of Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles and Shemini Atzeret speak to the appointed work of Messiah. The first coming shows us what He redemption in the first 3 appointed Spring Feasts. Yeshua came to accomplish these things on the 4th day (4,000 years since Adam).
The four Fall Feasts speak to the work of Messiah the King to be accomplished after two days (2,000 years). As we know by creation and our calendar the prophetic week of mankind has seven days.
Yeshua will restore the Tabernacle of David in the appointed Fall Feasts.
As we have already shown, Zechariah tells us that Tabernacles and Messiah's teachings are inseparable. But this one is well worth repeating:
The fall Feast Days are intertwined and tied to the Jubilees and God's calendar. This fall we will again celebrate Tabernacles with some great backyard camping.
God told Noah before the judgment of the flood in Genesis 6:3:
Considering the flood judgment, like most I think that the 120 years is mentioned in connection with God’s patience wearing thin before His impending judgment by water. But as to man's timetable, I think that there is a solid tie to 120 Jubilees, not to individual human life spans... after all no one I know of lives to be a 120 years of age.
The great flood was possibly at the onset of a Jubilee cycle, perhaps the 30th fifty-year cycle since creation. That would timestamp the flood some 1,500 years after creation. Scholars vary a bit on some of the dates but many agree that a straightforward reading of the Bible indicates the "flood" must have taken place sometime around 2500 BC.
The Exodus from Egypt (following the 10 judgments) likely occurred around 1,500 BC, this would have been about the 50th Jubilee since creation which means that the Sodom and Gomorrah judgment would have occurred somewhere around the 40th Jubilee or 2,000 BC. Not surprisingly we see 40 as a time of judgment throughout Scripture.
Here's how Moses recorded God's instruction about the 50 year cycle of the Jubilee:
Fast forward to the description of those that wait for the final Jubilee... Ddi you know that the Greek word “kai” καί is translated as the word “and” in Revelation 14:12?
But did the translators perhaps just miss something in the meaning of this word? The depth of the word means “indeed”...
A big part of the commandments are the set aside days of The Lord. If you'd like to learn more about the Feasts of The Lord, I can recommend a few great resources: 1. The Feasts Of The Lord God's Prophetic Calendar From Calvary To The Kingdom, 2. God's Appointed Times, and 3. A Family Guide to The Biblical Feasts and my favorite: Israel's Feasts and Their Fullness.
There's no need to be in the dark:
To be a fruit bearing part of the root, the wild branch has to be grafted into the tree. When that happens the wild branch becomes a part of the tree, it is no longer separate and it bears the same fruit.
The same was true in the exodus wilderness journey, the sojourners and those aliens with them were went with Israel and heard the voice of God and followed His shechinah glory. They all received the same covenant promise given Abraham. Israel is the identity that God YHVH gives those who are the chosen, the elect, the saints and the name that God chose to call His children.
The new covenant is that Torah (God’s word and teaching) in the minds and written on our hearts, a gift of God's indwelling Spirit. Romans is clear – those that are scattered and lost, can be adopted, grafted in and be a part of the olive tree, the tree of life - God’s “People House.” To be grafted in gives the wild branch life in the tree, it receives life and gives fruit, and that tree of life is all Israel in Messiah. So, join in the celebration of the Feast Days!
The Psalmist tells us:
Paul called the Ephesians “former Gentiles”… you once were separate, excluded "strangers" from Messiah and the identity of none other than… Israel!
If you love Jesus, you can celebrate His appointed days because you get to, because you love Him. They are a sign of that love.
Let's summarize them once again and plug in the new beginning, a new heaven and new earth, a new Jerusalem that is described in Revelation 21-22:
Look at Numbers 9, here our Holy Father provides a "Second Passover" (Pesach Sheni). "When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight."
Bottomline, we get a second chance with God.
Amazingly, the seven Feasts of YHVH are much like His seven days of creation. Isaiah gives us a hint of the former things of creation and the new things of His plan for mankind through His appointed Feast Days:
The Seventh Day, Tabernacle Rest is blessed and made holy:
I. Unleavened Bread reading: Song of Solomon. For the Second Passover (Iyar 14, 15‑21) Reading: Numbers 9:6‑14; 2 Chronicles 30. The Lord's Passover offering (Nisan/Aviv 14) and the Seven-Day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan/Aviv 15‑21) Reading: (Genesis 19:3) Exodus 10:24–15:21; 23:14‑19; 34:18‑20,23‑26; Leviticus 23:4‑8; Numbers 9:1‑5; 28:16‑25; 33:1‑5; Deuteronomy 15:19–16:8,16‑17; Joshua 5:10–6:27; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; ch. 29; 31:2‑3; 34:13–35:19; 2 Kings 22:1‑2; 23:21‑23; Ezra 6:19‑22; Ezekiel 45:21‑24; Luke 2:41‑52; John 2:13‑25; 6:1‑7:1; Matthew 26‑28; Mark 14‑16; Luke 22‑24; John 11:55‑20:31; Acts 12:1‑19; 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5 (v.7‑8); 11:17‑34; Hebrews 11:28‑31. First Fruits Day of Wave Sheaf Offering.
II. Shavuot Pentecost Reading: Every word of the book of Ruth. The Feast of Weeks (50th day after the Passover Reading: Exodus 19–20; 23:14‑17,19; 34:22‑24,26; Leviticus 2:12‑16; 23:9‑21; Numbers 28:26‑31; Deuteronomy 16:9‑12,16‑17; Joshua 5:10‑12; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 15:10‑15; 31:2‑3; Nehemiah 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:16‑17; Acts 2; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8; Hebrews 12:18‑29.
Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1) Reading: Leviticus 23:23‑25; Numbers 10:1‑10; 29:1‑6; Joel 2; Zephaniah 1:14; Psalm 81 (Genesis 41:46); Psalms 98; 150; Ezra 3:1‑3,6; Nehemiah 7:73–8:12; 1Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:51‑58; Hebrews 1:10; 4:1; ch.8–9; 10:7; 11:15.
III. Tabernacles Reading: Ecclesiastes, yup all of it. Seven-Day Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15‑21); The Eighth Day (Tishri 22) Reading: Exodus 23:14‑17; 34:22‑24; Leviticus 23:33‑44; Numbers 29:12‑40; Deuteronomy 16:13‑17; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; ch.5‑7 (7:8‑9); 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 31:2‑3; Ezra 3:4‑5; Nehemiah 8:13‑18; 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:25; Haggai 2:1. The eight day of Shemini Atzeret (Tishrei 22). It is Simchat Torah and marks the new beginning of Heaven and Earth and it is commemorated by starting the reading of the Torah anew each year. Shemini Atzeret Reading: Deuteronomy Chapter 14.
"You shall tithe all the seed crop that the field gives forth, year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He chooses to establish His Name therein."
Honor these Feasts of The Lord, they are His!!
Update October 13, 2014: I hope you enjoy this Sukkah video that shares our joy and celebration during God's vacation Feast of Tabernacles!
If you are a Newer Testament believer, its time to wake up to believe the Bible Jesus taught. The appointed Feasts of The Almighty LORD God your Creator. If you are Jewish, keep them as you always have but look to Messiah!
The Feasts of The Lord are not done away with, the earth is still spinning, the sun and the moon are still shining.
Whether you believe the words of Isaiah or the disciple Peter and the promise given John regarding the restoration of the planet as it was in the beginning, take heed of the words of The Lord:
It means we need to know "Who is the One Called Jesus who said:
As we have already shown, Zechariah tells us that Tabernacles and Messiah's teachings are inseparable. But this one is well worth repeating:
"Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths." Zechariah 14:16Isaiah too is talking of Messiah's teaching as He will certainly tabernacle here on earth with us: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, [Torah] and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Isaiah 2:2-3
The fall Feast Days are intertwined and tied to the Jubilees and God's calendar. This fall we will again celebrate Tabernacles with some great backyard camping.
God told Noah before the judgment of the flood in Genesis 6:3:
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be "an hundred and twenty years."You see the unique thing is that the word translated in every Bible I have as "year" is actually the Hebrew word "shaneh". Translating Hebrew, the word literally means "divisions of time". It is the same Hebrew word that is used in God's announcement of the Jubilee "year" in Leviticus 25:10.
Considering the flood judgment, like most I think that the 120 years is mentioned in connection with God’s patience wearing thin before His impending judgment by water. But as to man's timetable, I think that there is a solid tie to 120 Jubilees, not to individual human life spans... after all no one I know of lives to be a 120 years of age.
The great flood was possibly at the onset of a Jubilee cycle, perhaps the 30th fifty-year cycle since creation. That would timestamp the flood some 1,500 years after creation. Scholars vary a bit on some of the dates but many agree that a straightforward reading of the Bible indicates the "flood" must have taken place sometime around 2500 BC.
The Exodus from Egypt (following the 10 judgments) likely occurred around 1,500 BC, this would have been about the 50th Jubilee since creation which means that the Sodom and Gomorrah judgment would have occurred somewhere around the 40th Jubilee or 2,000 BC. Not surprisingly we see 40 as a time of judgment throughout Scripture.
Here's how Moses recorded God's instruction about the 50 year cycle of the Jubilee:
Leviticus 25:8-10 "You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. "Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan."Continuing on, we might consider that the life and times of Jesus would have occurred around the timeline of the 80th Jubilee since creation. Luke records an amazing story when Yeshua's ministry began at a synagogue in Galilee:
Luke 4:18-19: "The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."He taught about the future of His Kingdom and the fulfillment of the Jubilee.
Fast forward to the description of those that wait for the final Jubilee... Ddi you know that the Greek word “kai” καί is translated as the word “and” in Revelation 14:12?
But did the translators perhaps just miss something in the meaning of this word? The depth of the word means “indeed”...
“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, [indeed] the faith of Yeshua.”Indeed we are to walk like Yeshua walked and keep God's commandments.
A big part of the commandments are the set aside days of The Lord. If you'd like to learn more about the Feasts of The Lord, I can recommend a few great resources: 1. The Feasts Of The Lord God's Prophetic Calendar From Calvary To The Kingdom, 2. God's Appointed Times, and 3. A Family Guide to The Biblical Feasts and my favorite: Israel's Feasts and Their Fullness.
There's no need to be in the dark:
"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying,"There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober." 1Thessalonians 5:2-6The Fall Feast begins with the Day of Trumpets so consider this... what day is John calling The Lord’s Day in the Book of Revelation?
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice {the Greek word here is actually phōnē… yup it where we get the same word, in Greek it also means tone}, as of a trumpet. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega {in Hebrew Aleph Tav {which literally means “strength of the covenant"}, the first and the last {nothing changes with God} Revelation 1:10Paul tell us in Romans that former Gentiles are grafted into the faith of olive tree of God's people, whose root is Messiah and Paul calls them Israel. Today, like yesterday, there is an identity crisis (who is Israel?), but according to Paul there is no difference between Greek and Jew that are grafted into the family of God, the God of Israel.
To be a fruit bearing part of the root, the wild branch has to be grafted into the tree. When that happens the wild branch becomes a part of the tree, it is no longer separate and it bears the same fruit.
The same was true in the exodus wilderness journey, the sojourners and those aliens with them were went with Israel and heard the voice of God and followed His shechinah glory. They all received the same covenant promise given Abraham. Israel is the identity that God YHVH gives those who are the chosen, the elect, the saints and the name that God chose to call His children.
The new covenant is that Torah (God’s word and teaching) in the minds and written on our hearts, a gift of God's indwelling Spirit. Romans is clear – those that are scattered and lost, can be adopted, grafted in and be a part of the olive tree, the tree of life - God’s “People House.” To be grafted in gives the wild branch life in the tree, it receives life and gives fruit, and that tree of life is all Israel in Messiah. So, join in the celebration of the Feast Days!
The Psalmist tells us:
But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]: and I will wait on thy name; for [it is] good before thy saints. Psalms 52:8-9As a part of the tree, a part of the remnant by grace, we also need to be ready for the coming shaking, the fire, ready with lifted voice to glorify our God for the coming harvest in the day in which some will not be ready… our job is to tell them of the promise of grace.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:5A strong tree survives the harvest shaking, but it is needed for the harvest of the fruit. By no coincidence of God’s intent and creation, olive trees are harvested in the Autumn at the end of September matching with God’s fall feasts. By no coincidence, the only way to grow good olives is to graft in branches of other wild olive trees and the only way to harvest the fruit is by shaking the boughs of the whole tree. But remember, the expert harvester never bruises the fruit of the tree.
When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice {in Hebrew, qowl sound (of instrument)}, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. Isaiah 24:13-15Today, "all Israel" both native and stranger must know their identity because understanding Israel as a people is a part of our mission, our goal is Israel’s full restoration, and it’s ALL about ONE House... one people united in Messiah, it is about the identity of the people God calls out to Himself. After all, “Israel” literally means God Prevails!
The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, [and] of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. Jeremiah 11:16
Paul called the Ephesians “former Gentiles”… you once were separate, excluded "strangers" from Messiah and the identity of none other than… Israel!
“Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles… remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” Ephesians 2:11-12God recruits, He calls people into His commonwealth Kingdom under the very name He chose to give Jacob for His chosen, the whole family. We need to know He calls all believers, all that follow Him -- by the name “Israel” -- they are His chosen, both native and stranger! And Israel has a servant duty to be priests to all nations. To draw close to God and to spread the good news of His plan of salvation and redemption to all mankind.
Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin.Is it hard to celebrate God's appointed days of celebration with Him? No it is not.
Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…
If you love Jesus, you can celebrate His appointed days because you get to, because you love Him. They are a sign of that love.
“Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.” Ezekiel 20:20We have seen that the source Scriptures for the seven Feasts of The LORD begin in Leviticus 23:2 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts."
Let's summarize them once again and plug in the new beginning, a new heaven and new earth, a new Jerusalem that is described in Revelation 21-22:
1. Passover - Pesach (Leviticus 23:4-5) the evening of the 14th day of the 1st biblical month.The Lord God gives us a second chance. He proves this with Passover.
2. Unleavened Bread - Chag HaMatzot (Leviticus 23:6-8) lasts 7 days beginning on the 15th of the 1st biblical month. "And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work" which includes Firstfruits - Bikkurim (Leviticus 23:9-14) the waive of the harvest harvest which falls on the first day after the weekly Sabbath following Passover.
3. Pentecost - Shavuot (Leviticus 23:15-22 ) the Feast of Weeks of the wheat harvest, which falls seven weeks from the day after the weekly Sabbath following of the Passover. "Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.... On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live."
4. Trumpets - Yom Teruah (Leviticus 23:24-25), falls on the 1st day of the 7th month. "On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the LORD."
5. Atonement - Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:27-32), falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. "Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath."
6. Tabernacles - Sukkot (Leviticus 23:34-44), for 7 days beginning on the 15th day of the 7th month. The 8th day is shown in verse 39. "The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.
7. Shemini Atzeret - At last comes the most joyous day of all, the day point us to Simchat Torah, rejoicing in the Torah. Simchat Torah is celebrated on the twenty-third of Tishrei, or the day following Shemini Atzeret. Once again, it should be noted that the Hebrew word Torah means "teaching or instruction" for it teaches us our way of life, the kind of life God wants us all to have with Him in the end. This is the day we see in Revelation 21.
Look at Numbers 9, here our Holy Father provides a "Second Passover" (Pesach Sheni). "When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight."
Bottomline, we get a second chance with God.
Amazingly, the seven Feasts of YHVH are much like His seven days of creation. Isaiah gives us a hint of the former things of creation and the new things of His plan for mankind through His appointed Feast Days:
Thus says Elohim, YHWH,In the beginning of His ministry Yeshua walked in the void of the wilderness for 40 days, then He walked in the darkness of the seas of people teaching the light of Torah and the Kingdom to every face before Him.
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am YHWH; I have called you[a] in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am YHWH; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:5-9 ESV
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters.Passover: Yeshua, full of the Ruach Spirit of God died on the stake saving mankind as He separated darkness from light, death from life.
3 And Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And Elohim saw that the light was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5 Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.Unleavened Bread: Yeshua was buried and separated Himself from Heaven in the grave.
6 And Elohim said, “Let there be an expanse [canopy] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And Elohim made [fashioned] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And Elohim called the expanse Heaven [sky]. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.First Fruits: Yeshua, the first fruit of resurrection to new life in the form of glory.
9 And Elohim said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 Elohim called the dry land Earth, [land] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And Elohim saw that it was good. 11 And Elohim said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.Pentecost: The light of the fire tongues from heaven on men to give light on earth.
14 And Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[appointed times] and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And Elohim made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.Trumpets: God Elohim spoke. God's voice is likened to a trumpet in Scripture. His first words of instruction to the life brought forth out of His creation. His words are like the great commission, go forth, be fruitful (proclaim the gospel to the whole creation), baptizing with water, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, By this commission the disciples will multiply and fill the waters in the seas of mankind.
20 And Elohim said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds [flying things] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So Elohim created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 22 And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.Yom Kippur Atonement Covering: Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, literally the covering of the living. When covered by the mercy and grace of Yeshua, we can be filled with the Spirit of God and renewed, a new person in His image, His likeness, covered, and in dominion over sin, and behold, The Way is very good.
The Seventh Day, Tabernacle Rest is blessed and made holy:
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day Elohim finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So Elohim blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it Elohim rested from all his work that he had done in creation.The Feasts will transform your mind about worship. Paul wrote this:
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH Elohim made the earth and the heavens.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1‑2There are some Scripture readings to help in your journey with the Big Three Feasts declared in Deuteronomy 16:16-17:
I. Unleavened Bread reading: Song of Solomon. For the Second Passover (Iyar 14, 15‑21) Reading: Numbers 9:6‑14; 2 Chronicles 30. The Lord's Passover offering (Nisan/Aviv 14) and the Seven-Day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan/Aviv 15‑21) Reading: (Genesis 19:3) Exodus 10:24–15:21; 23:14‑19; 34:18‑20,23‑26; Leviticus 23:4‑8; Numbers 9:1‑5; 28:16‑25; 33:1‑5; Deuteronomy 15:19–16:8,16‑17; Joshua 5:10–6:27; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; ch. 29; 31:2‑3; 34:13–35:19; 2 Kings 22:1‑2; 23:21‑23; Ezra 6:19‑22; Ezekiel 45:21‑24; Luke 2:41‑52; John 2:13‑25; 6:1‑7:1; Matthew 26‑28; Mark 14‑16; Luke 22‑24; John 11:55‑20:31; Acts 12:1‑19; 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5 (v.7‑8); 11:17‑34; Hebrews 11:28‑31. First Fruits Day of Wave Sheaf Offering.
II. Shavuot Pentecost Reading: Every word of the book of Ruth. The Feast of Weeks (50th day after the Passover Reading: Exodus 19–20; 23:14‑17,19; 34:22‑24,26; Leviticus 2:12‑16; 23:9‑21; Numbers 28:26‑31; Deuteronomy 16:9‑12,16‑17; Joshua 5:10‑12; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 15:10‑15; 31:2‑3; Nehemiah 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:16‑17; Acts 2; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8; Hebrews 12:18‑29.
Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1) Reading: Leviticus 23:23‑25; Numbers 10:1‑10; 29:1‑6; Joel 2; Zephaniah 1:14; Psalm 81 (Genesis 41:46); Psalms 98; 150; Ezra 3:1‑3,6; Nehemiah 7:73–8:12; 1Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:51‑58; Hebrews 1:10; 4:1; ch.8–9; 10:7; 11:15.
III. Tabernacles Reading: Ecclesiastes, yup all of it. Seven-Day Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15‑21); The Eighth Day (Tishri 22) Reading: Exodus 23:14‑17; 34:22‑24; Leviticus 23:33‑44; Numbers 29:12‑40; Deuteronomy 16:13‑17; 1 Chronicles 23:27‑32; 2 Chronicles 2:3‑4; ch.5‑7 (7:8‑9); 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 8:12‑15; 31:2‑3; Ezra 3:4‑5; Nehemiah 8:13‑18; 10:32‑33; Ezekiel 45:25; Haggai 2:1. The eight day of Shemini Atzeret (Tishrei 22). It is Simchat Torah and marks the new beginning of Heaven and Earth and it is commemorated by starting the reading of the Torah anew each year. Shemini Atzeret Reading: Deuteronomy Chapter 14.
"You shall tithe all the seed crop that the field gives forth, year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He chooses to establish His Name therein."
Honor these Feasts of The Lord, they are His!!
Update October 13, 2014: I hope you enjoy this Sukkah video that shares our joy and celebration during God's vacation Feast of Tabernacles!
If you are a Newer Testament believer, its time to wake up to believe the Bible Jesus taught. The appointed Feasts of The Almighty LORD God your Creator. If you are Jewish, keep them as you always have but look to Messiah!
The Feasts of The Lord are not done away with, the earth is still spinning, the sun and the moon are still shining.
Whether you believe the words of Isaiah or the disciple Peter and the promise given John regarding the restoration of the planet as it was in the beginning, take heed of the words of The Lord:
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind." Isaiah 65:17
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make, will endure before Me”
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“so your offspring and your name will endure.
All mankind will come to worship Me
from one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,”
says the LORD." Isaiah 66:22-23
"But based on His promise,
we wait for the new heavens and a new earth,
where righteousness will dwell." 2Peter 3:13
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and the sea no longer existed."
Revelation 21:1
What does this all mean?
It's an appointed time. Time for you to repent and return to God's voice, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment.
It means we need to know "Who is the One Called Jesus who said:
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17 NASB95
Consider a prayer: Please, God guide me by your Spirit as to what I should hear and do about this because it's time to repent.
Time to return to God's voice, return to hear and do His words and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your Feast Day assignment.
Stretch out your hand, and take from the tree of life, and live forever.
Open a Bible, read it, listen to God's voice and do Yeshua's teaching about the forever jots and tittles.
You can learn how the things which are written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms are concerning Messiah and you can teach others to live life like Jesus, it's love in God's way:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:16-17
Today is the time, open your eyes if you're dead in your own valley of dry bones.
Look up and you'll recognize Messiah from Abraham's promise passed on to Isaac and Jacob as written by Moses in the Torah. You can see Him too in the Prophets and the Writings.
Repent and walk your Emmaus Road with Messiah. Study the Scriptures He taught every Sabbath that are filled with doing life God's way in the Kingdom, and tell others about Him. Be a gatekeeper until the house is complete.
Shalom.