The Feasts of Jehovah (Part III)
By Liaf
We studied the spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost. We now come to the autumn feasts. All these feasts were times of Israel’s gathering together, worshipping and offering sacrifices to God. Many did not realize that these feasts were prophetic forerunners of things to come. They followed the appointed feasts in the same manner they followed the rest of the Law specified in the writings of Moses.
Feast of Trumpets
Continuing our study of Leviticus 23, we read:
Leviticus 23:23-25: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation[the Hebrew word for ‘convocation’ means to be called out, a meeting]. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
The Scripture is very clear what day of the month this takes place. It occurs on the first day (new moon) of the seventh month (correlating to September-October). The new moon near the autumnal equinox is when this takes place. It was to be announced by the blowing of trumpets. This day was also to be regarded as a Sabbath. There were several uses of the Trumpet sound in the Old Testament. One example was for the battle call. Another example, as was the case here, for assembly. This feast represented a future gathering of God’s people of some sort by the use of trumpets. Again, we look to the Scriptures to see what kind of end-time gathering could be foreshadowed here.
Isaiah 27:13: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Matthew 24:31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect [i.e., all Israel] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
1Corinthians 15:52: 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.
Revelation 4:1: After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
The first two end-time prophetic verses deal with the gathering of Israel at Christ’s Second Coming. The last two deal with the Church. Most Christians realize that the First Corinthians passage teaches that a trumpet will sound and the resurrection will occur while the ones that are alive yet will be changed (raptured). In our end-times series, we already discussed that John represented a type of the Church when the Lord called him to "come up hither". His "trumpet" voice was sounding and John (the Church) was raptured to heaven. Therefore, to the Church, the feast of the Trumpets represents the rapture of the Church. At Christ’s Second Coming, the feast represents the gathering of Israel to the land again. Keep in mind that the Israelites are in their human form yet when this occurs, so this gathering will not be the instantaneous change and "catching away" that the Church experienced. This is because in the case of the Church, we are changed to a new form (body). In Israel’s case, they are human beings gathered to a land again to enjoy the millennial blessings in the Kingdom of God. But in both cases, groups of God’s people are gathered to meet the Lord. And in both cases, this will occur at the time of the feast!
Day of Atonement
Leviticus 23:27-32: Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
In Leviticus 23, a few main points stand out. The Day of Atonement was to be observed on the tenth day of the seventh month. This was nine days after the Trumpets feast. It was commemorated with affliction and was to be a Sabbath day. Leviticus 16 gives us a more detailed look at the rituals involved with the Day of Atonement. In a nutshell, this ritual involved the use of blood ceremoniously. Basically, this involved the High Priest going into the Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant was once a year to make an atonement for Israel. The Ark of the Covenant was that famous gold-clad chest about 3 feet high and wide by 5 feet long. In there were kept the tablets of the unbroken commandments of God (and according to the Hebrews letter a pot of manna and Aaron’s budding staff). On top was the "mercy seat" with two cherubim. The Ark represented the perfect human (symbolized by the wood it was made from) yet divine nature (symbolized by the gold overlay on inside and out) of Christ. The mercy seat (covering) represented the throne of God. The chapter deals in detail with the attire that Aaron had to wear, the sacrifices that were prepared, including the famous "scapegoat", and his entry into the Holy Place with the blood. The cloud of the Lord’s glory would appear at the mercy seat and Aaron took in with him a censer full of burning coals of fire with incense to make an aromatic cloud as a cover between the mercy seat and him. God’s presence otherwise would have killed him. There on the mercy seat he would sprinkle the blood seven times indicating a complete removal of sin. The only thing separating Aaron from the unbroken tablets of stone containing the commands of God in that Ark was the Mercy Seat. There blood was sprinkled to show that a life was given for the sinful person who otherwise could not stand before a righteous God. The aroma of the sweet incense also typified the acceptable work of Christ.
The theme of this feast is one of affliction yet atonement by the blood. There is the atmosphere of judgement here, and yet mercy (as indicated by the results of sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat). A similar picture is painted in a vision of Joshua the High Priest when he stood before the throne of God (Zechariah 3). He stood there in filthy garments while Satan accused him. This feast demonstrated the work of Christ as he presented his blood before the throne of God for our sins. Because of our forgiveness in Christ, this is what the Hebrews passage meant when it said, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Nobody but the High Priest even dared to come into the Holy Place, and even at that, not without the blood. Anybody who entered the inner place would be struck dead by God. With the finished work of Christ, however, the provision was made and the price was paid to the satisfaction of God for such a statement to be made in the book of Hebrews. One must have a Jewish perspective to understand the bold statement made by Paul when he said to come boldly unto the throne. Was he nuts? Beforehand that meant certain death! Not now! This answers our question regarding Jesus’ enigmatic statement when he said to Mary after his resurrection, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Jesus had to enter the Holy Place of heaven to present his blood just as the High Priest had to enter the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Had she touched Jesus, he would have been tainted before presenting his precious blood. Likewise, the High Priest had to observe ceremonial washings before entering the Holy Place. Jesus, and only Jesus had to enter without the contact (or help) of anybody else.
What about the themes involving judgement, affliction, and Satan as the accuser? We already saw that the Feast of Trumpets for the Church foreshadowed the rapture. For Israel it foreshadowed their future gathering. We shall see in the next message that the feast of Tabernacles foreshadows the millennial reign of Christ and God’s Kingdom. Therefore, the Day of Atonement must point to something in between yet in the future.
When we turn to our Revelation series, we see that after the rapture, the believers enjoy the glories of heaven. However, somewhere in that timeframe there is the judgement seat of Christ. As Paul said,
Romans 14:10: But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
And again,
2Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Paul was speaking to Christians. This judgement is not to determine one’s salvation. Rather, this is a humbling judgement to determine the believer’s rewards (and thus rank) in the coming Kingdom of God. However, Satan will try to make it a salvation issue. Why is that? He will stand there before God accusing the brethren their right to eternal life as Revelation 12 clearly says,
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
How does the believer overcome Satan? What is the first thing listed in that passage?
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. This is why Satan will be cast down mid-Tribulation. God had enough of the accusations during this judgement represented by the Day of Atonement. We must realize that the rapture will happen "Earth time" at the feast of the Trumpets. However, once we are in heaven, we haven’t the slightest idea how time is reckoned. The middle of the Tribulation is springtime, not autumn when the feast takes place. However, I have no idea how long the judgement will take or when it will start. Since Satan will accuse the brethren "day and night", I can assume this means for some period of time perhaps commencing in the autumn here on Earth. After Satan will be cast down, the saints will be given their robes and the marriage in heaven will take place so that the bride (the Church) is ready to come back with Christ.
Is there an Earthly counterpart for Israel? Yes, there sure is and it will take place at the feast. The book of the prophet Zechariah says it well when the defeat of Israel is at the brink in Jerusalem when suddenly the Lord appears,
In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
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, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
This battle and resulting salvation in and of itself is not the full fulfillment of the feast, for the Lord must first
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The sudden appearance of the Lord to save them will bring on the realization and the mourning that Israel needs to set the emotional tone for the feast, but it will be realized when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And again Jesus says regarding his return,
Matthew 25:31-32: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
Before the millennium starts, there will be judgement of all nations (including Israel). Because of the earlier incident when the Lord broke on the scene to save them, they will now look upon Jesus in affliction and humiliation, but he will pour out the spirit of grace. These are the same elements contained in the Atonement feast. Of course not all the Israelites will make it in. We’ve said this before, but many of them will finally see that Jesus is the true Christ and put their trust in him. That same grace that helped us overcome Satan in heaven is the same grace that will allow the Israelites to enter the Kingdom of God.
A few days after this feast came the Feast of Tabernacles, and we shall see that this foreshadowed the millennial Kingdom that will come after the judgement. The next message will deal with this feast.