Numbers 29:1

On the first day of the seventh month [on New Year’s Day of the civil year], you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no servile work. It is a day of blowing of trumpets for you [everyone blowing who wishes, proclaiming that the glad New Year has come and that the great Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles are now approaching] -- Amplified Bible

     As the Holy Spirit continues to reveal the Jewish roots of my faith, I am overwhelmed with the significance of the Lord's Feasts.  In keeping with His recurring pattern of the number 7, God has instructed us to rest on 7 specific days related to His Annual Appointed Times. Scripture indicates that on these days, we are to have a “Holy Convocation/Assembly” and we “shall do no customary work. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations”.

     But sadly, the significance of these 7 Appointed Times, or Feasts, has been lost to the modern Church.  And they have so much prophetic meaning for us!  The Spring Feasts all had meaning to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert for 40 years, waiting to enter the Promised Land.  The Feast of Passover celebrated the Angel of Death "passing over" their blood-drenched doorposts from the sacrificial lamb which protected them during their escape from Egypt.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread represented the haste with which they had to leave, and the condition of the bread they would eat in the wilderness; and that God wanted the leaven (sin) to be out of their lives.  The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the first fruits of the Harvest and God's provision for them.  And the Feast of Weeks was to be held 50 days later, in remembrance of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

     But here is the wondrous and awesome news for us, the Church!  These same Feasts point to the First Coming of Christ:  He died on the Feast of Passover (as our sacrificial lamb, delivering us from the bondage of sin); was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread (born without sin, He is our Bread of Life); He rose on the Feast of Firstfruits (as the first fruit of the Harvest of Souls); and 50 days later, He sent the Holy Spirit to write God's Laws on the hearts of new Believers.  

     So, here's my question of the day .... If the Spring Feasts represent our Lord's First Coming, wouldn't you think that the Fall Feasts will usher in His Second Coming?  The first of these feasts, the Feast of Trumpets, will begin this week -- from sundown, Thursday, the 25th, to sundown, Friday, the 26th.  The Fall Feasts continue through the Day of Atonement on October 5th, until the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles on October 17th.  (I will explain their special significance as we approach those dates).

     But I want you to understand the magnitude of this first holy day, the Feast of Trumpets.  As today's Scripture says, this Feast is to be celebrated with the sounding of the shofars (trumpets) in celebration of not only God's creation of the world, but of a new beginning at the first of the lunar year.  I have personally been to an event where multitudes of Christians were called together by the blowing of the ancient shofars, and I can tell you that it is stirring!  I can only imagine what it will be like when those mighty trumpets blow from heaven and we see the Lord coming on the clouds!

    To the ancient Israelites, this was a day set apart to gather together to praise God for His renewal --- but mindful that the Day of Atonement was coming, when they had to make sacrifices for their sins; (SO THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS WAS ALSO ABOUT REPENTANCE, BEING AWARE OF, AND CONFESSING, THE SINS THAT WOULD BE CLEANSED ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT), then it would be followed by REJOICING on the Feast of Tabernacles when they celebrated God communing with them.

     If you will ask the Holy Spirit, He will give you understanding for these present days; that these 3 Feast Days point to 1) the return of Christ (and our renewal at the Rapture - the Feast of Trumpets); 2) the day when we stand face-to-face with God, acknowledge our sins, and repent -- while Jesus stands up for us and marks our past-due-bill PAID - the Day of Atonement; and 3) the Feast of joy as we anticipate Yeshua’s return to “Tabernacle” among His people and rule and reign for a thousand years in the Millennial Kingdom.

     But as we approach the Feast of Trumpets this next week, try being mindful that as we begin to celebrate God’s appointed Times, we will have a deeper appreciation of, AND anticipation of, the return of God’s Only Begotten Son.  We are looking forward to His fulfillment of the Fall Feasts, and our own entry into "the Promised Land".  Take heart, it won't be much longer ….