Mountain Vista Blog

The Fall Feasts of Ancient Israel In Leviticus 23 we read of 7 Feasts ordained by God. • The first three feasts happened in 1st month of the Jewish religious calendar and all corresponded perfectly with the first coming of Jesus. • The 4th Feast (Feast of Weeks) happened 50 days after the 3rd Feast (First Fruits) and pictured the coming of the Holy Spirit (on the day of Pentecost). • Feast 5, 6, 7 all occurred in the fall, during the 7th month of the Jewish religious calendar. All were symbolic of the second coming of Christ. Feast 5 – This was called the “Feast of Trumpets.” Trumpets, specifically the Shofar, was used to call the Jewish nation to war and to worship. Interestingly, the second coming of Christ will be marked by the call of a trumpet (Zechariah 9:14)! I believe it’s a trumpet call to worship in the sense that all believers will be raptured from earth to be with him. It’s also this trumpet sound that should cause all his enemies to cower in fear because he is about to bring his justice. In Scripture, God only blows the Shofar at two different times. The first was at Mt. Sinai when He revealed Himself and His laws and a second time will be in the future at the second coming of Jesus. Feast 6 – Often called Yom Kippur this was the Day of Atonement. This is the only place in Scripture that fasting is commanded and this day was to be devoted to fasting and repentance from sins. Repentance simply meant to the Jews a “returning” to God and his ways. As a part of the ceremonial aspect of this holiday, there was to be much sacrificing. Atonement means to cover over and that was what the blood of the sacrifices signified. That their sins had been covered over. We know that Christ’s blood provided the truest sense of atonement for our sins and for all people of all times. This feast looks prophetically forward to a time when the Jews will repent and finally accept Jesus as the Messiah shortly after the judgment of Christ begins during his second coming. Feast 7 – The Feast of Tabernacles (or also called “booths”) was a weeklong party for the Jews. They built temporary lean-tos all around Jerusalem like a bunch of people “camping” in town. This is a picture of when Christ, having subdued his enemies, will one day rule the world as the perfect and benevolent King, for 1,000 years (the millennium.) In this sense he will “tabernacle” among his people. Ezekiel 37:27, 28 and Revelation 21:3 speak of this time. Jesus was in Jerusalem during this Feast when he said, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38.)” What you may not know is that during this feast, each day, the high priest used to lead a processional made up of priests and thousands of worshipers who would form an ancient conga line (so to speak); they would walk down to the pool of Siloam; the Priest filled a pitcher with water; they proceeded back to the temple where the priest poured the water on the alter as a way of asking God to provide the fall rains for their spring crops. Christ was saying…I’m THAT water and more! During His Millennial rule of the earth He will be the provider of everything that is needed…the perfect president, King, and ruler that all nations today are looking for and never seem to find. So What? • An important application of the Fall Feasts is to understand that God’s plans for this world always take place exactly as he has determined. So, if there is 100% certainty when it comes to God's plans, then we can all put our hope in Him knowing that He will never disappoint us. • So, what is a promise He has given you in which you can put your hope? • So, what should you do while you’re waiting for Him to come through, knowing He will at some point? • As people of faith in Christ we need to learn how to look for his coming. o Look for his coming each day in the ways that he answers prayer, fulfills promises, and shows up supernaturally in our otherwise mundane life. o And look for his literal second coming to take you to be with Him in heaven. This is called the rapture and it could happen at any moment, so look for it and don’t be caught off guard. Get caught serving Him!