Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
We are studying the "Feasts of the Lord" found in Leviticus 23. The study of the feasts is a study in typology. These Feasts of the Lord were given to us by God so His people could understand the coming of Christ, and the role that Christ would play in redeeming man back to God following the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Although most non-Jewish Bible believers have heard of the feasts, the deep meaning and the importance of these feasts are not understood by most.
We have studied the four spring feasts to this point: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost. These four feasts were a prophetic foreshadowing of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke of His death, burial, resurrection, and the advent of the New Covenant; all of which happened on the exact days of these feasts.
The remaining three feasts we will study will be the fall feasts, which were a prophetic foreshadowing of the second coming of Christ. The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles started about 4 months after the end of the spring festivals. All three of these feasts took place in Tishri, or September. These three feasts speak of the resurrection, the consummation of redemption after the outpouring of God's wrath, and the New Heaven and Earth, which is typified by the Feast of Tabernacles.
Between Pentecost and Tabernacles there was an interval of time of about 4 months. These months in between were historically the driest months of the year for Israel. There were no holy convocations when the nation gathered before the Lord and His sanctuary.
This gap can be seen as being prophetic in a negative way, just as the rest of the feasts are positively prophetic. The newly redeemed nation of Israel experienced Passover through Pentecostfrom leaving Egypt, their place of bondage, up to receiving the covenant from God at Sinai. However, through unbelief and stubbornness (except for Joshua and Caleb), they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and it was a different generation that entered the Promised Land and celebrated Tabernacles. Thus, this four month gap can be seen to be a reminder of this forty years.
Typology and Forty
Of all the types and shadows of the Scripture, none is as pervasive, and therefore important, as the shadows revealed in the relationship between "forty" and the fulfillment of promises.
Throughout the Scriptures, we find this usage of the number forty. Examples of this usage are: the forty days and nights that God caused it to rain upon the face of the earth; also, in the length of the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon (Acts 13:21; 2 Sam. 5:4). Besides these, we see forty used as a temporal shadow in the duration of Jonah's preaching of judgment to the Ninevites (Jon. 3:4) and the number of days that the spies of Canaan searched out the land (Num. 13:25).
The New Testament underscores the importance of this typological number. Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights and continually preached that the generation then living would see the judgment of God; a generation being forty years. In fact, Christ preached the very same judgment upon the city that Jonah did.
We find the most significant type of all in the forty years of wilderness wandering leading up to the possession of the temporal land of promise. In fact, Paul, himself, wrote that the surrounding events of the wilderness wandering "were our examples" (I Cor. 10:6), and that "they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (aion-age) have come" (v.11).
One of the first lessons a student of types and shadows will learn is the lofty place given to the exodus out of Egypt. It is this event that presents the clearest correspondence to the redemptive work of Christ and the time-frame of its fulfillment.
To be more specific, the exodus out of Egypt and into the promised land by the children of Israel under Moses is a direct shadow of the exodus of the New Testament generation from the cross to the entrance into the eternal land of rest.
Let's look at some comparisons between the two forty year exodus periods.
The first was preceded by physical slaverythe bondage of the Hebrews in Egypt. The second was preceded by spiritual slavery--man's bondage to sin and death. One introduced the first Passover with the blood of lambs. The other fulfilled the type with the sacrifice of the final Passover Lamb ( Jesus Christ):
Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NASB)
One brought God's people physical deliverance by crossing through the Red Sea. The other brought God's people spiritual deliverance by the working of the cross of Christ.
The first established a temporary contract of God with the people He chosethe Old Covenant. The second established a permanent contractthe New Covenant.
Fifty five days after the first Passover in Egypt, the Law was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, written upon tables of stone. Fifty five days after the final Passover was sacrificed, the Law was given to the "Israel of God,"written upon their hearts by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10).
Very few would disagree that the above points are fulfillments of the shadows given at the time of the exodus. But the correlation doesn't stop with the initial workings of the exodus, but continues with the entrance into the land of temporal rest, forty years later. Just as the children of faith were allowed to enter into the temporal land of rest the first time, the children of faith in the generation directly following the cross of Christ were given entrance into the eternal land of rest. With each covenant, a 40 year transition period followed the initial act of deliverance into the entrance of the land of promise.
The city Abraham was looking for was the heavenly Jerusalem. The writer relates:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:22-23 NASB)
From these verses, we can see the different description of the same entity: the city, the kingdom, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church, and Mount Zion. These all have their fulfillment in the New Covenant as established in the first century. This was in contrast to the old, physical, earthly city of Jerusalem.
The believers among the people of Israel did not receive the promises of the Promised land when they entered into Palestine (Heb 4:6-9). This promise was in regards to the fulfillment of redemption and eternal life in the kingdom of God, which entrance was corporately given to all believers at the end of the 40 years from the cross to the coming of Christ.
During both periods, the people saw God's works for forty years (Heb 3:9; Acts 2:17-21). God manifested Himself to His people by signs and wonders: In the desert under Moses' leadership, daily manna, miraculous supplies of water or meat, and the appearance of the cloud and the fiery pillar revealed God's presence. In the transition period to the New Covenant, the apostles had special gifts of healing, prophecy, and tongues-speaking, and testified to the coming of the kingdom of God and the destruction of the wicked (1 Cor. 14:22):
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NASB)
If the church is not matured, then these gifts should still be operating. Are they? No! Then the church reached maturity in A.D.70 when all the gifts ceased.
During both periods, the wicked were severed from among the just and not allowed to enter into the land of promise (Heb 3:11,17; Matt. 12:30, 13:49).
Beginning with the fulfillment of Passover in the death of Christ, calamity would fall upon fleshly Israel as a result. The death of Christ contained a blessing of salvation for spiritual Israel, but for fleshly national Israel, it would bring calamity. This is evident from Matthew 21:33-41 in which the parable of the husbandmen teaches that the fulfillment of Passover, being the killing of the Son, would not bring a postponement of kingdom promises, as the dispensationalist argues, but utter destruction upon fleshly Israel. In verses 42-44, it is stated that at this point the kingdom would be given to those other than national Israel, it would go to a fruitful spiritual nation of God's; the church.
At the end of the first 40 year period, the Israelites of faith entered the temporal land of promise in which God enabled them to defeat their physical foes. At the end of the second 40 year period, salvation was complete, and God's people entered their eternal Promised Land in which God enabled them to defeat their spiritual enemies (1 Cor. 15:26,54-57).
How does Peter interpret what happened at Pentecost? He says:
but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: (Acts 2:16 NASB)
Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says that Pentecost is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Then he quotes Joel 2:28-32.
So if Pentecost was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, then Pentecost happened in the "last days." The idea of the last days is that they are the times of the Messiah, encompassing both His humble coming and His return in glory. Please notice that this is one prophecy of one event that was to last for a generation, or 40 years:
This is a prophecy of "the Christ event." This "Christ event" encompasses the Cross, Pentecost, the Resurrection, the Judgement, and the Parousia. Please notice that Joel's prophecy covers from Pentecost to the Day of the Lord. It covers a 40 year period that was equal to a generation.
John the baptizer's message also covered a forty year period. John announced in Matthew 3:2 that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, meaning it was very nearthis is a reference to Pentecost. But John's message also involved judgement:
"And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:10-12 NASB)
In order for the kingdom to be consummated (which would happen forty years later), there must be a time of judgment. The axe is there at the root ready to cut down any tree that is not bearing good fruit. John places an emphasis on fire again in verses 11 and 12. In those verses there is a reference to the coming destruction.
If Christ has not come yet today, then all believers are still waiting for the inheritance of redemption. But we believe that He has returned and has fulfilled all aspects of the "exodus shadow," using the very same chronology in the first century as He did in the initial shadow.
The physical illustrations in the Old Covenant are fulfilled in each case by the spiritual realities of the New. The second is an eternal covenant, with victory over spiritual slavery and spiritual death, bringing eternal deliverance through a spiritual Passover resulting in our new eternal life and eternal salvation. Christ has allowed His people entrance into the Holiest of all through His very presence (parousia)!
All of these types and shadows, displayed in the Exodus, found their fulfillment in the exodus of God's people from the bondage of sin to the eternal rest in Christ. Any expectation of another coming, or future fulfillment of these promises of rest, reflects a lack of appreciation for what we now have in Christeternal life in His kingdom.
These feasts, as we have taught, are both literal feasts celebrated in Israel every year and TYPES of God's prophetic calendar of events for the Church. At the end of the dry season came the fall feasts.
Let me say something about dates. The first four feasts were fulfilled on the exact day of the shadows. So, I would assume that the last three would be also. Because the Cannon was closed before the completion of the last three feasts, we have no record of their fulfillment. What we know for sure was that they were to be fulfilled with the forty year period, which began at Pentecost.
The Jewish calendar is primarily lunar, with each month beginning on the new moon. The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar loses about 11 days every year and a 13-month lunar calendar gains about 19 days every year. The months on such a calendar "drift" relative to the solar year. On a 12 month calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the spring, occurs 11 days earlier each year, eventually occurring in the winter, the fall, the summer, and then the spring again. To compensate for this drift, an extra month was occasionally added; a second month of Adar. The month of Nissan would occur 11 days earlier for two or three years and then would jump forward 29 or 30 days, balancing out the drift.
According to http://www.hebcal.com, In A.D. 70 the 1st of Tishrei was on September 22. But they add this warning: "WARNING: Results for year 1752 C.E. and before may not be accurate. Hebcal does not take into account a correction of ten days that was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII known as the Gregorian Reformation."
So, what I am trying to say here is that to try to put exact solar calendar days with these last three feasts is just about impossible. So be leery of those who attempt to give exact solar calendar days to these events.
The first of the fall feasts is the Feast of Trumpets:
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 'You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.'" (Leviticus 23:23-25 NASB)
Of the seven feasts, all are described in some detail, with the exception of the Feast of Trumpets. The Biblical record for the Feast of Trumpets observance is neither lengthy nor complicated. Israel was simply commanded to memorialize the day by blowing trumpets and to keep the day as a Sabbath day of rest.
This feast is known in Judaism as Rosh Hashanah, but it is never known by that name in Scripture. In the Bible, it is referred to as Zikhron Teruah, or the Memorial of Blowing of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24), and Yom Teruah, the Day of Blowing Of Trumpets (Num. 29:1). The "Feast of Trumpets" is a day of sounding trumpets in the Temple and throughout the land of Israel.
There are several things about this feast that should pique our interest. First, this feast was to be celebrated on the first day of the month. Second, this feast was to be celebrated on the first day of the seventh month. Third, the feast was marked by a blowing of trumpets. The Hebrew word here is teruw`ah, which means: "an alarm, a signal, a sound of tempest, a shout, a shout or blast of war or alarm or joy." Why is this significant that this feast was on the first day of the month? The Feast of Trumpets is the only one of the seven feasts that began on the first day of the month.
The Hebrew months each began on the new moon. The other feasts occurred toward the middle of the respective months, when the moon was at, or near, full. The nights would be filled with moonlight. At the new moon, the moon is DARK and only a thin crescent.
The beginning of each month was originally dependent upon the sighting of the new moon when the moon was but a crescent; the nights would be dark, with little moonlight. The precise timing of the new moon was not always easily determined due to weather conditions and a lack of witnesses.
Two concurring witnesses sighting the first sliver of the new moon determined each new month. The two witnesses see the new moon and attest to it before the Sanhedrin in the Temple. This could happen during either of two days, depending on when the witnesses come. Since no one knew when the witnesses would come, no one knew when the Feast of Trumpets would start. After the appearance of the new moon was confirmed, then the Feast of Trumpets could begin, and the rest of the fall feasts could be accurately calculated from that date. The Feast of Trumpets is also considered a High Sabbath, and no work is to be done. Therefore, all preparations for the Feast of Trumpets had to be made in advance. Since no one knew the exact hour of the new moon's appearance, it kept people in a continual state of alertness.
Watchfulness was a critical ingredient of this feast. The rabbis later added a second day to this feast to make sure they didn't miss it. This need for watchfulness and preparedness in connection with the Feast of Trumpets is echoed and re-echoed throughout the New Testament in connection with the Lord's coming:
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42 NASB)
The Seventh Monthwe should see immediately the significance of the seventh month. As the seventh month, this month was set aside as a Sabbath month.
The Feast of Trumpets is Israel's dark day. It occurred at the new moon when the primary night light of the heavens is darkened. Israel's prophets repeatedly warned of a coming day of judgment for the nation. It was called "the day of the Lord." It was to occur at the end of the Jewish age. The day of the Lord was a time when the Lord poured out His wrath upon Israel.
The prophet Amos spoke of this dark day of judgment:
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light; 19 As when a man flees from a lion, And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20 NASB)
The Trumpet was used to usher in the day of the Lord:
Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, (Joel 2:1 NASB)
Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and battle cry, Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. (Zephaniah 1:14-16 NASB)
We mentioned earlier that the Feast of Trumpets is the only feast day to begin when the moon is dark. This passage from Zephaniah is only one of many that speaks of the day of the Lord as a day of darkness, and a day when the shofar sounds.
As the darkening of the moon in the night heavens announced the Feast of Trumpets, so too, the heavens were divinely darkened as the day of the Lord commenced:
"The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Joel 2:31 NASB)
We see the spiritual anti-type of the Feasts of Trumpets in the fall of Jerusalem and the parousia of our Lord in A.D. 70. Thus, at the blowing of the trumpet, in Matthew 24, the scene was set, and Christ fulfilled the feast. Guess what month it was when Jerusalem fell? "The city was taken on September 8, A.D. 70, after the last siege had lasted about five months" (Josephus, vol. 1, p. 467).
In the New Testament, the trumpet was to be blown at the resurrection:
"And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Matthew 24:31 NASB)
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NASB)
Paul equates the resurrection with the sound of God's shofar. What are the similarities between the resurrection and the Feast of Trumpets? First, they both were to occur on an unknown and undetermined day and hour. Second, they both were be announced by the sounding of the shofar.
The blast of the shofar is a type of that blast, which called the faithful home to be with the Lord, but it is also a type of the shofar that was blasted to call judgment on the nation Israel who refused to come to Christ.
In short, we see the Feast of Trumpets fulfilled at the resurrection of the dead, which immediately precedes the day of the Lord. Both are heralded by the blast of the shofar.
We see the type of this feast, in Joshua chapter 6, with the destruction of Jericho at the end of the forty year exodus. SEVEN priests, with the Ark of God in the midst, marched with seven trumpets around the wall of Jericho for 6 days. ON the SEVENTH DAY they marched around SEVEN TIMES. At the close of the march, the trumpets were blown, the people shouted, and God caused the walls of Jericho to collapse. The victory was COMPLETE.
The events of Jericho offered a graphic image and actual prophecy of events at the close of the Jewish age, forty years after Pentecost, when there were seven angels with seven trumpets of doom and judgement:
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. (Revelation 8:2 NASB)
At that time the great and powerful city of Babylon (Jerusalem) suddenly fell:
standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' (Revelation 18:10 NASB)
Accompanied by a great shouting in heaven:
"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her." (Revelation 18:20 NASB)
The name "Joshua" is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus. As in Joshua, the destruction of the city came at the sound of the trumpets, so at the end of the Jewish age, the destruction of Jerusalem came as Jesus sounded the trumpet.
Here is an interesting side note: Ancient Jewish tradition held that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah. Reflecting this tradition, Jewish gravestones were often engraved with a SHOFAR. God's last trump and the resurrection of the righteous are intricately connected in the New Testament:
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NASB)
Most of us recognize this event as the resurrection, but few of us identify it with the Feast of Trumpets. Paul was a highly educated man of God's Torah and understood the Messianic fulfillments of the Feasts of the Lord. Paul understood how Messiah was a fulfillment of Passover and First fruits, and Paul also recognized Messiah's future fulfillments of the fall Feasts.
Day of Atonement
Let's look at the sixth feast, which is the Day of Atonement:
"On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:27 NASB)
The Day of Atonement was Israel's sixth instituted holy day and occurs in the autumn of the year. On the Hebrew calendar, it falls on the tenth day of Tishri, the seventh Hebrew month, which roughly corresponds to September or October.
Yom Kippur was the most solemn day of the year for the people of Israel. It was often simply referred to as "The Day." It was a day that atonement was made for the priest and his family, the community, the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar. It was a solemn day. The Day of Atonement also was known as the "Great Fast" or "The Day of the Fast." Yom Kippur was designated by the Lord as a day in which "you shall afflict your souls." By definition, this was understood to mean fasting.
Yom Kippur was also a very solemn day for the priesthood of Israel. Only on that singular day of the year was the high priest permitted to enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple and stand before the presence of God's glory.
Who is the anti-type of the High Priest? Jesus Christ:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Hebrews 4:14 NASB)
Jesus fulfilled the anti-type of the High Priest and the sacrifice!
If you examine the Scriptures concerning the second coming of Christ, you will find that it uses Yom Kippur terminology. Here are a few examples:
Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted. (The New Covenant references to this include Acts 2:32-35; 5:30-31; and Philippians 2:9-11). 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men. (Isaiah 52:13-14 NASB)
Recognizing that Isaiah 52:13-14 is speaking about Jesus during His first coming to earth, notice verse 15 speaking about His second coming:
Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand. (Isaiah 52:15 NASB)
The phrase, "He will sprinkle many nations", is a reference to the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat of God by the high priest during Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:14). This is also referred to in Leviticus 1:5,11; 3:2,8,13; 4:6,17; 7:2.
When it says that Jesus would sprinkle the nations, it refers to what the high priest did on Yom Kippur on the mercy seat of God, so God would forgive the sins of the people.
The types make it clear that Christ was to return on the Day of Atonement. The question is: Do we look for this as a future event, or has it already happened? I believe that the Bible is clear that it already happened:
Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, 7 but into the second only the high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing, (Hebrews 9:6-8 NASB)
The background of Hebrews 9 is the Day of Atonement. Verse 7 here talks about the high priest going into the Holy of Holies to make atonement. Now notice, carefully, verse 8. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit who is responsible for the record given to us of the Old Covenant. And the significance of the outer tabernacle being divided and separated from the inner tabernacle was that the way into the presence of God had not yet been given. The Jews were continually reminded, by the physical presence of the tabernacle, that they were not allowed to enter into the presence of God.
The words, "while the outer tabernacle is still standing," might better be translated, "while the first tabernacle still has any standing"while the Old Covenant was still in force. As long as the Old Covenant was still in effect, men did not have access to the presence of God. Prior to Jesus' second coming, at which he destroyed the temple and the Old Covenant, no one went to Heaven. Prior to Jesus' second coming in A.D. 70, all who died went to a holding place of the dead and waited for the atoning work of Christ and the resurrection from the dead. Until Christ's second coming, man could not go into God's presence.
The Day of Atonement speaks of the return of Christ, and the consummation of redemption. The destruction of Jerusalem, the second coming of Christ, and the fullness of redemption were synonymous events (compare Luke 21:24 and 28).
Feast Of Tabernacle
The Seventh, and final feast, was the Feast of Tabernacles:
"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:34 NASB)
This is the seventh feast on the seventh month, and it was to last for seven days. The number "seven" is the Biblical number of completion. This is the grand finale in God's plan of redemption.
The Feast of Tabernacles is the most joyful and festive of all Israel's feasts. It is also the most important and prominent feast; mentioned more often in Scripture than any of the other feasts. This feast also served as the historical backup for the important teachings of Jesus in John, chapters 7-9.
Nothing in ancient Israel compared to the celebration that occurred during this feast. It was so spectacular that the ancient rabbis said, "He that hath not beheld the joy of the drawing of the water (the Simchet Bet Hasho'ayva celebration) hath never seen joy in his life" (Sukkah 5:1). The light celebration was reminiscent of the descent of the Shekinah glory in Solomon's day and looked forward to the return of the glory of the Lord.
I believe that Jesus Christ, the Living water, was born into this world during the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles was to celebrate and commemorate: (1) The end of the wanderings in the desert of the children of Israel. (2) It also was a celebration of their inheritance of, and entry into, Canaanthe Promised Land.
The anti-typical fulfillment came at the end of the 40 year transition period (A.D. 30-70) when the Old Covenant came to an end, and the New Covenant was fully consummated, and the inheritance of the New Heavens and the New Earth arrived, where we "tabernacle there with God." Tabernacles speaks of the final rest, as well as the final harvest.
The Lord not only gathered His people, but He began to TABERNACLE in their midst:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, (Revelation 21:3 NASB)
This age in which we now live is the New Covenant age. We are the New Jerusalem, God's holy bride.
Listen, believers, all theologians will agree that these seven feasts relate to these redemptive events, but they fail to see the typology of the forty year exodus. Therefore, they are still looking for the fall feasts to occur in the future. They have separated the fall feasts from the spring feasts by thousands of years, which destroys many different types given in the Scriptures; the main one being the Exodus. The book of Hebrews makes it clear that the exodus and forty years are a type that is fulfilled in the New Covenant.
The Feasts of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles take place in the SEVENTH month. Number seven is the number of perfection and fullness. In these feasts, the believer is brought to the fullness of the Godhead.
Media #364b
| Continue the Series |