Behold, the fall season for the feasts of God which are also known as Moedim (Hebrew), is almost upon us. The feasts of the Most High have a very significant prophetic meaning in the redemption plan of God through Yahshua Messiah, our Lord, in the lives of Jews and Gentiles who have been grafted into Israel which is the rich and cultivated olive tree.
The spring feasts begin in the first biblical month of Nisan as given by God through Moses (Exodus 12:1). In the month of Nisan, two feasts are celebrated, Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread and the little-known Feast of Firstfruits. We then wrap up the spring feasts in the third month of Sivan, with the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot but mostly known as Pentecost.
Yahshua Messiah fulfilled all the spring feasts during his first coming. Just as John the Baptist testified that Yahshua became God’s Passover lamb (John 1:29) when he died on the 14th day of Nisan (Exodus 12:6-7, Matthew 26:2). After dying on the 14th, on the following day of the 15th of Nisan, the Feast of Unleavened Bread went on for seven days. He was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits. Messiah became the firstfruits of God’s harvest (1 Cor 15:20) and the firstborn from the dead of all creation (Col 1:15, Rev 1:5). Just as he said in John 14:19, ‘Because I live, you also will live.” Fifty days later after his death, Yahshua sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles on Sivan 6 which is the Feast of Weeks, the same day that God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel.
Messiah’s mission was divided into two phases. During his first advent, he came as the Lamb of God. But in his second coming, he will return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to rule and reign over the world. Judaism often terms the Messiah's twin role as Mashiach Ben Yosef (Messiah son of Joseph) and Mashiach Ben David (Messiah son of David) respectively.
Since Yahshua fulfilled the spring feasts, let’s look into the fall feasts that are fast approaching. The fall feasts foreshadow Messiah’s second coming.
The fall feasts all take place in the seventh biblical month termed as Ethanim/Tishrei. The first fall feast is called the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) which is celebrated on Ethanim 1. It is commonly referred to as Rosh Hashanah as the start of the Jewish New Year. However, the actual biblical New Year is on Nisan 1. Jews all over the world wish each other “L’shana Tovah U’metuka” meaning “May you have a good and sweet year.” On this day apples are normally dipped in honey to signify the sweet year God will give to us.
About Yom Teruah it is written in Leviticus 23:24, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. This feast mostly about the blowing of trumpets or the shofar (ram’s horn). It prophetically foreshadows the trumpets that will be blown during the end of days and the final trumpet that will bring the second coming of Yahshua Messiah. The feast is a reminder of the imminent return of our savior. Maranatha! 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first.
The second feast of this season is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). It is considered to be the holiest day of the Jewish holidays after the Shabbat. On Yom Kippur, the High priest would enter the holy of holies in the Sanctuary (Leviticus 16, 17 & 23:27). He would first sacrifice a bull to atone for his sins then he would sacrifice a goat to atone for the sins of Israel. He would enter into the holy of holies with the blood of the goat and sprinkle it over the Kapporet (mercy seat). Then the elders of Israel would put their hands over another goat, known as the scapegoat that would carry Israel’s sins into the wilderness.
During this feast, we thank Yahshua for his sacrifice and role as our great High Priest for he entered heaven and sprinkled his blood, not the blood of goats, on the real mercy seat in heaven once and for all (Hebrews 9:12). On Yom Kippur, we are commanded to afflict ourselves (Lev 23:29). It is a day of mourning and bringing ourselves before God for forgiveness. The feast forecasts the redemption of the children of Israel when they recognize Yahshua Messiah (Zechariah 1:10, Rev 1:7), the one that they pierced and at that time “all Israel will be saved”(Romans 11:26).
Zechariah 12:10 - “And I will pour on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
The last feast of the Hebrew Calendar is the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Also known as the feast of booths (Lev 23:34-42), the children of Israel were told to make booths made from branches of palm, willow, and leafy trees. They were to celebrate the feast for eight days as a reminder of the forty years they sojourned with God in the wilderness. It was called ‘z’man simchateinu’ meaning ‘the season of our rejoicing’ to thank God for His benevolence to His people.
Sukkot foreshadows our millennial reign with Messiah. It also prophetically points us to the time where God would return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem and it shall be called the City of Truth (Zechariah 8:3). Jerusalem shall be called, Adonai Shammah, meaning The LORD is there (Ezekiel 48:35). Sukkot also reminds us of our temporal booths meaning our bodies (2 Cor 5:1) that God will one day change with imperishable ones. The prophet Zechariah tells us that Sukkot will be celebrated in Messiah’s millennial reign and Isaiah’s prophecy of the word coming from Jerusalem and the Law from Zion will be fulfilled, literally (Isaiah 2:2-3).
Zechariah 14:16 - And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
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