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In the previous posts we reviewed the Spring Feasts and how Yeshua fulfilled them all to the very day, in sequential order. At this point it is abundantly clear that the very purpose of the Spring Feasts was to prepare Israel and the world for the redemption to come: with the Spring Feasts pointing to the Messiah’s first advent (making atonement for sin & sending the Holy Spirit), and the Fall Feasts pointing ahead to his second advent (taking a people unto Himself, redeeming a generation of Israel, and eternally dwelling in our midst). If the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever – and leaves nothing unfinished – it is fair to believe that He will fulfill the rest in sequential order and, most likely, on the very day. Let us continue…
Fall Feasts
Yom Teruah (Feast of Shouting/Trumpets)/Rosh Hashana: This Feast on Tishri 1 falls in the September/October time frame. Leviticus 23:23-25 says: ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI.”
It is the Jewish Civil New Year, and according to tradition it is considered to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve; and of the first sin that was committed and resulting repentance; a day when God takes stock of all of His Creation, which includes all of humanity.
During this Feast, the blowing of shofars (rams’ horns) signifies the bringing together of God’s people, warning them to repent during the coming “days of awe” (the 10 days between Trumpets and the Day of Atonement). It is also important to note that, in addition to a call to repentance, the blowing of shofars is indicative of a battle call in Scripture. The word “teruah” in Hebrew also denotes “shouting” – as this feast is marked by shofars and, in its original context, a “loud shout”.
“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.” Joshua 6:20
According to the New Testament, what is the next thing to occur in Yeshua’s plan for earth’s redemption? The trumpets will sound and the Lord will descend with a loud shout, and the true believers in Messiah will be gathered/resurrected and He will wage war on the ungoldy (I Thess. 4:13-18, I Cor. 15:50-54, Jude 1:14-15).
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
“Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
This Feast signals the call for repentance; for the time is short and Judgment is coming upon the Earth. While we do not know the day or hour of his coming, it is fair to say that, in light of the template set forth for us by Jesus on the Feasts days that He has fulfilled, he will likely fulfill this Feast on or around the very day of Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets.
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets we come to Yom Kippur…
Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur: This Feast represents the need for the sacrifice/sin offering that must be made for the sins of Israel. Celebrated on Tishri 10, this Feast falls in the September/October timeframe. Leviticus 16:29 tells us: “It is to be a permanent regulation for you that on the tenth day of the seventh month you are to deny yourselves and not to do any kind of work, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you. For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before ADONAI from all your sins. It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves. This is a permanent regulation.”
Yeshua WAS and IS the Sacrifice and He will be recognized by His own people when He returns and opens a fountain of cleansing for Israel – according to the understanding of those of us whose eschatology takes Zechariah 12-14 literally. As the Bible tells us, God/Jesus shall descend to put to an end to the sins of Israel. At that time they will call for the Messiah to return and will mourn for the “One who was pierced”. This day will be fulfilled upon the Second Coming of Messiah to the Earth (Matt. 23:37-39, Hos. 5:15 thru 6:1-3, Zech. 13:8,9 Zech. 12:10, Zech. 13:1, Ezek. 16:61-63), when His atoning work is appropriated for national Israel. In light of this understanding, the next Feast day, “tabernacles”, fits perfectly into the scheme.
***A reading of Zechariah 12-14 seems to lay out how the final 3 Feasts will be fulfilled. In Chapter 12 God comes to defend His people and to wage war on the godless (Trumpets), at the end of chapter 12 and duration of 13 a river of cleansing flows to the nation of Israel after they recognize the “Pierced One” (Day of Atonement), and in chapter 14 we read a summary of this order of events as well as the subsequent reign of the Lord when Tabernacles is observed by all in the earthly Kingdom. Revelation 21 gives us the fulfillment of Tabernacles – this final Feast of the Lord. When Tabernacles is finally fulfilled, the book is closed.
Concerning Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, it may be asked, “why is the future salvation of Israel important?” To answer this, I refer to the words of our Lord as well as the apostle Paul:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will never SEE Me again until you say, He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One’!” (Matthew 23:36-39) *my emphasis*
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will SEE him, even those who pierced him“; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7) *my emphasis*
“For if (Israel’s) rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15)
Did you catch that? When Messiah returns, every eye will see Him. Conversely, the Jewish people will not see Him until they recognize & welcome Him…therefore no eye will see Him until Israel repents and recognizes Him. And when they do, according to Paul, it will mean RESURRECTION. And what will take place in fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets? Messiah comes with the sound of the trumpet, defends His people, and the dead in Messiah come to life! This event will extend for 10 days until Yom Kippur when Israel, like the brothers of Joseph, mourn and are reconciled with their brother, Messiah, and Lord.
It has never been about the supremacy of a nation, but the supremacy of the Messiah and the unmerited grace of God which is poured out regardless of human effort and performance. God will save a future generation of Israel because He wishes to display His grace upon a rebellious people. Were we not rebels when He saved us? The Lord will keep His promise. All Israel will be saved!
The last & final Feast we will look at in the next post, is the Feast of Tabernacles.
Messiah In the Feasts and Their Eschatological Implications, Part 5/7 (The Fall Feasts) January 4th, 2016Tony
