Foreshadows of the Feasts Part 2

Review: The Feasts So Far

All the Feasts Days were marked by a ceasing of labor and a holy convocation and assembly of God’s people drawn apart from work and the world and drawn together to God and His House, His people and family.

The Sabbath / Shabbat:

The Day of Rest which honors God the creator for the work of creation, marking the seventh day when He rested and pronounced all was good. That day of rest has now been moved to the first day of the week in honor of the resurrection of our Lord and the work of redemption He accomplished with his life, death and especially resurrection on the first day of the week.

The Spring Feasts

Passover to remember their Deliverance from the Angel of Death and the last plague upon the Egyptians that set them free.

Unleavened Bread 7 days starting with Passover, in which the people would have no leaven in their bread.

The Feast of Firstfruits takes place during the feast of unleavened bread. The people would bring the first of the fruits of their field, the first harvest of the winter wheat and offer it as a wave offering unto God.

Then 7 Sabbaths and one day from the Passover, 50 days would be the feast of Pentecost or Savuot, the feast of weeks. Now instead of first fruits or unleavened bread the people would offer 2 leavened loaves of bread.

Each feast was a foreshadow of Jesus the Messiah, his life, death and work when He came. At Passover He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. During the days of unleavened bread He is the sinless saviour worthy and able to bare our sin. The feast of firstfruits shows Him as the resurrected One the first of those who would also be resurrected by faith in Him. Pentecost marks the out pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the now two people of God represented by the two loaves. Jew and Gentile united by their repentance and faith in Jesus, Lord, Savior, and Son of God.

The Summer between the spring and fall feasts show us the Age of Grace, the church age, the time in which the people of God in the authority of His now empowered church work to reach the nation of the world. Summer is the time of the Great Commission and we must work for the night comes when man works no more.

The Fall Feasts

The Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah. Now as the harvest was finished the people would come together and worship God at the tabernacle or later the Temple called there by the blowing of 2 silver trumpets. This feast foreshadows the two trumpets, like the two loaves that will blow for the people of God. One trumpet blows for the saved during the long summer, the horn of the Rapture sounds and the graves are opened and we rise to meet the Lord in the air. The second trumpet blows at the end of the Tribulation for Israel, the nation of God that went through the tribulation, enduring until the end. The Lord sends his angels with the sound of a trumpet and gathers them from the four corners of the earth.

I’m listening for that trumpet and somedays I think Gabriel must be wetting his lips getting ready to sound it loud and long.

Timeline of Feasts: Here is a pretty good chart I found, showing the timeline of the feasts and how they correspond to God’s plan of redemption and His plan for the Ages.

You can see the Spring Holy Convocations, the Summer Church Age and the Fall feasts beginning with the feast of Trumpets. Now we come to the final feast days and the first one is the most important of all the days, the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement - Leviticus 23:27-28

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. 28 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.

Yom Kippur’s Foreshadow

Its First Purpose

In Hebrew this day is called Yom Kippor and it is the most holy of all the holy days of God. It took place on the 10th day of the 7th month of Tishri just 9 days after the feast of trumpets.

The High priest on this day and this day only could enter into the Most Holy Place and stand before the ark of the covenant which was sealed with the Mercy Seat overshadowed by the golden archangels that symbolized the throne of God. There he would offer that blood of sacrifice for himself first, that he might enter and then for the sin of the people that they might be forgiven.

While he worked, the people were to “afflict their souls.” This meant they were to be fasting, praying and confessing there sin. In other words while the priest offered the shed blood of the offering for their sin, the people were to be repenting of their sin. As they were in the act of prayer, fasting and confessing they also looked with expectant eyes for the High priest to reappear at the door of the Temple. This signified their faith in the promise of God, that if they came and confessed then God would heal and forgive.

The author Paul Van Gorder gives a good description of the Day of Atonement, “On the day of atonement, the high priest in Israel would first lay aside his robes of glory and put on a linen coat and breeches. Then he would slay a bullock, enter the holy place, and sprinkle the blood once upon the mercy seat and seven times before the altar. After the high priest had slain the bullock and sprinkled its blood, he would choose two goats. Then he would slay one of those goats and sprinkle its blood exactly as he had done with the bullock. But this time the blood was not for himself. The Lord’s lot had fallen upon this goat, and its blood was sprinkled within the veil for all the people of Israel. The priest would then lay his hands upon the head of the second goat and confess the sins of the people. That animal was then led away into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

While this was going on the people were to be afflicting their souls. Gorder continues, “While the people were still in mourning, the high priest would enter the tabernacle or temple and exchange his linen garments for his robes of glory. Then he would appear before the people. When they heard the tinkling of the bells upon the fringes of his robe, they would know he was finished with this task. And when they saw him, they would acknowledge with much rejoicing that their sins were covered.”

Yom Kippur’s Fulfillment

This is of course one the strongest types or pictures of Jesus death on the behalf of others that we have in all the Bible.

Jesus Christ laid aside his “robes of glory” and took on the robe of human flesh. He then, as that perfect sinless one offered himself as the sacrifice for our sin.

Just as one goat was slain as a propitiation, the payment, for our sins, the second goat was sent away. This was foreshadow of our sin being forgiven by the shedding of Jesus’ blood and our sins being sent away never to be seen again.

Psalms 103:10-12 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

This was done by Jesus Christ who offered Himself and also acted as our great high priest.

Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Hebrews 9:24-28 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Hebrews 13:12 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

The prophetical fulfillment.

 Just as the other feasts all have their fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ and on a particular event in God’s Plan for the Ages, so also does this Yom Kippur.

 Once the first trumpet has sounded and the New Testament people of God have been taken from this earth, a time of great sorrow for God’s Old Testament people will begin.

 This time called Jacob’s trouble in the OT and the tribulation in the New corresponds to the time of “affliction” that would precede the return of the High Priest before the people.

Jeremiah 30:5-7 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble…

It would be a time of Israel seeing their sin, of rejected their true Messiah and now calling out to God for forgiveness. It would be a time a time of sorrow, the time of Jacob’s Trouble but then it ends with the appearing of their King, Savior, Redeemer and High Priest coming forth from the holy place of God’s throne room to save His people.

Oh, won’t they rejoice, when they see Him coming with the host of heaven, crowned and arrayed as for war.

Zechariah 12:10-11 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. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

Zechariah 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

The earth will have gone through the worst natural and manmade disaster in all of history. The Bible says the Sun will not shine, the stars will fall from the heavens and the moon will turn to blood.

Then the armies of the world under the command of the Beast, the Anti-Christ will turn and march upon Israel. This man who they thought was their messiah instead turned out to be  their annihilator. In the blackness of those last days, half the city will fall but then the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the man of Galilee returns. This man who was lowly born in a Bethlehem stable, trained as a carpenter, and lived His final years as a traveling Rabbi, that same Jesus that they as a nation rejected now returns as King and heir to the throne of David.

He will shine across that blackest of black skies, like lighting blazing all around the world from east to west, and all the earth will see Him coming from Heaven with the Army of God. Then with one word of His mouth, falling like a mighty sword strike, the armies of the Beast are destroyed and Israel, God’s nation, is saved. Then as one united people, they will look on Him whom they have pierced and mourn but their mourning will turn to joy when they see the  salvation of God, their High Priest, the true Messiah, the King of Israel has come. He brings God’s wrath to the unbelieving world but God’s forgiveness to those who put their faith in the blood of the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.

What a Day that will be!

What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

True for us before His final return, true for Israel as He returns to rule and reign.

Now comes the Feast of Tabernacles.

I love the idea of this feast maybe because I like camping and picnics, who knows maybe tht is a God given thing and if you don’t like those things then obviously you need to repent.

The Feast of Tabernacles - Leviticus 23:33-34

33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

Tabernacles’ Foreshadows

The Hebrew name for the feast of tabernacles or the feast of booths is Sukkot.

It took place in the same 7th month on the 15th day of Tishri and lasted for seven days.

This Holy Day was a memorial of the time Israel spent as Hebrews, the word means wanderers, in the wilderness. For forty years they walked in the wilderness living in tabernacles waiting the time when God would allow them into the Promised Land.

During this time the presence of God was with them in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. When the cloud moved they moved and when the pillar of fire stopped they stopped. They were never apart from the presence of God.

The feast of Sukkot, along with Pentecost and Passover, was one of the three times that all Jewish men were required to come to Jerusalem. They would bring their tithes and offerings to the temple, they would gather, they would sacrifice, and in these things, they would remember all that God had done for them.

During Sukkot, they would live in booths, tabernacles, made from the branches of trees. These booths would be built in fields and on housetops if you lived in the city of Jerusalem. It was a time of celebrating the harvest, the blessing of God during the previous year and a time of remembering the faithfulness of God.

Tabernacles’ Fulfillment

The feast of tabernacles of course is a type of the millennial reign of Christ.

After the time of Jacobs Sorrow and after the final harvest of the wrath of God, Jesus Christ will rule and reign on earth for a thousand years. Jesus will dwell with man and for a thousand years He will rule and reign from His throne in Jerusalem.

Listen to these blessed scriptures, Revelation 21:3-4 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Zechariah 8:20-23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:  21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.  22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.  23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Zechariah 14:8-9 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea:
in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Once again the feast of tabernacles will be practiced in Jerusalem but now for all the people of the world.

Zechariah 14:16 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.

Can you imagine such an event?  But the Bible tells us, we will see it with our own eyes, we shall behold this great pilgrimage as all the nations of the earth flow like a great river of humanity, into Jerusalem to see our Savior! After all the times we have waited, after all the times we have prayed, after all the times we have wept, now is every promise fulfilled, every prayer answered, and every tear wiped away for all the world will then know what we now know. Jesus was, is and ever more shall be Lord and King of all the earth. And he will reign for a thousand years, a thousand years in which Satan is bound and the Lord can pour all His blessings upon His people and His earth.

Conclusion

The Perfect Plan of God

God in His omniscience has planned the redemption of mankind and then revealed it to us through Word and as we have seen though His Holy Days of Convocation.

On Passover Jesus was slain, the sinless for the sinful, that mankind might be redeemed from sin and brought into fellowship with God.

On the Feast of First Fruits, the day following the Sabbath, Jesus was resurrected from the grave proving his power over sin and death and becoming our firstfruits, the proof of our own resurrection if we put our trust in Him.

On the Day of Passover, The Holy Spirit empowered the church, and the New Testament era began. No longer was there a need of priests but each of us could go directly to God because His own Spirit indwells us.

The Perfect Plan of God includes You.

And God, who has laid such plans for the world also has a plan so vast, so intricate, so perfect that within it, there is provision for you and for me.

He has made a way for you to be delivered from sin. He has made a way for you to live in the power of grace. He has made a way for you to experience the indwelling of the Spirit. He has even planned for this day, this hour and I pray for this message and you hearing it. God has made plans for you, but have you submitted to His providence and plan? The perfect Plan of God is always in motion, even now.

There are just three appointed times and seasons that still await, the fall harvest feasts which follow the long summer days of work are all that is left.

Right now, we are in those summer days, (literally but also prophetically) and yes it has been a long summer but soon the days will grow short in this world and the last pieces of God’s plan revealed through His Holy Days in Leviticus 23 will begin.

As surely as the first Holy Days came exactly on God’s schedule, so also will the last Holy Days come. I wonder, will we be ready? Are we truly working toward that final harvest? What are we doing with our last days of summer? As a church are we working? As a child of God am I witnessing? As a sinner who will stand before God either in His grace or in His wrath, are you ready.