see also feastdays2 for another detailed analysis
Most of us have been led down the golden path regarding God's feastdays. When we celebrate Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday, Halloween, etc we do not know it but we are celebrating pagan origin holidays. Celebrating these along with Sunday as the Sabbath is considered by some theologians to be the Mark of the beast. Go to here for an explanation of the mark of the beast. The feastdays mentioned below are Yahweh's days to keep holy and along with keeping a Saturday Sabbath, constitute God's "seal" on us. God's "mark" is our keeping a Saturday Sabbath as well as these seven feastdays as Sabbaths also besides keeping His ten commandments.
Many church organizations feel the feastdays of
Leviticus went away with the cross as well as God's ten commandments. However,
other theologians including the Stewarton Bible School state that is not
true at all; in fact keeping Saturday as the weekly Sabbath and keeping God's
Feastdays below is how God "seals" us and by keeping a Sunday Sabbath
and man's traditional holidays (Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday, Halloween etc.
) we may be displaying the Mark of the Beast.
The meanings of God's feasts
It's important to briefly preview all of
God's feasts to better understand the significance. God's seven festivals are
laid out in Leviticus 23: the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast
of Weeks or Firstfruits (Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of
Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day of the feast. These
feasts show how God works to bring about the salvation of mankind.
The Passover represents Jesus' sacrifice for mankind (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread represents the unleavened life of Christ and shows the need for His disciples to "be holy, for [He is] holy," by ceasing to sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; 1 Peter 1:16). Pentecost shows the need for us to receive God's Spirit to empower us to become like God the Father and His Son, Jesus (Acts 2:1-4; Romans 8:9-19).
The Feast of Trumpets depicts Christ's return to earth "at the last trumpet," at which time God will resurrect His faithful followers to immortality in the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 11:15). The symbolism of the Day of Atonement represents Satan being shackled for 1,000 years, allowing mankind to at last be reconciled—at one—with God (Revelation 20:1-3).
We then come to the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles. Next in God's plan is 1,000 years of unprecedented peace and unparalleled prosperity (Revelation 20:4-6; Zechariah 14:3-4, 8-9).
Finally, the Last Great Day signifies the second resurrection, when all who have lived and died without ever knowing God and His plan will have their opportunity to be saved. God will resurrect them from their graves and give them temporary physical life along with revelatory knowledge of God, His truths and their part in His master plan (Revelation 20:11-12; Ezekiel 37:1-14).
These feasts—God's feasts (Leviticus 23:2, 4)—represent the steps in His plan for salvation.
 | The Passover Service
| The Week of Unleavened
Bread
| The Feast of
Pentecost
| The Feast of Trumpets
| The Day of Atonement
| The Feast of
Tabernacles
| The Last Great Day
| 2.The Almighty's Annual Sabbaths in the year 2002 are:
|
To see the exact feast days for the years 2000-2005 go to here
| The Feast Days -
Ordained at the Creation of the World
| The Feast Day
Commandments & their Eternal Nature
| The Feast Day
Sacrifices
| The Sin of Jeroboam -
Israel's Catastrophic Blunder | |
| Revival under king
Hezekiah
| Revival under king
Josiah
| Revival under
Ezra/Nehemiah
| Revival under the
Apostles | |
| The Saviour's
Advice
| Paul's Example
| The Feast Days during
the Millennium
| The Feast Days on the
New Earth | |
| Christmas
| Easter
| Sunday Observance
| The Signature
of Yahweh
| The Mark of the
Beast | |
At a festival all the age-old barriers of race, colour and class are usually swept aside as people give themselves over to the "spirit of the occasion". And so we have music festivals, sports festivals, film festivals, wine festivals, carnivals, fetes, fairs, religious festivals and Feasts of various kinds. Indeed there is a festival to suit almost every taste and they are all normally well attended.
Festivals are often held to commemorate some important event, and in this connection they may be referred to as memorial festivals. Many religious festivals fall into this category; they are 'memorial festivals' held to commemorate the actions of the various Gods people worship.
This study is of the Feast Days of Yahweh the
Holy One of Israel, the Creator of the mighty universe, the LORD God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the One who is intensely interested in the welfare of
every soul on earth. Yes, the Almighty has certain memorials. He calls them 'My
Feasts;' for they are the Sacred Memorial Banquets of His
greatest acts in the Programme of Salvation; banquets to which all His subjects
are invited.
| Leviticus 23:1-4 | And the LORD soake unto Moses, saying. "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the the Feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are MY FEASTS! ... These are the Feasts of the LORD, even holy convocationss, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." |
Undoubtedly Yahweh's festivals were initially given to the people of Israel, for it was His plan that through them salvation was to be proclaimed to the world. But the feasts themselves are the LORD'S, not Israel's or Judah's, but Yahweh's. Remember this vital fact.
Unlike the popular festivals of Ash Wednesday, Easter, Hallowe'en and Christmas, whose observance is nowhere comanded in the Scriptures, the Feast Days of Yahweh are described in the Bible in considerable detail. They are to be proclaimed to and observed by all true believers in the LORD God of Israel. Read about these sacred memorials in Leviticus 23, Numbers 28 & 29 and Zechariah 14. There you will see overwhelming evidence of their divine origin and everlasting nature.
Stewarton Bible School's aim is to draw
the church's attention to these appointed feasts of the Most High; to proclaim
them to all the world in accordance with this divine direction:
| Leviticus 23:4 | "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." |
What do these sacred feasts commemorate?
The answer is: They are the spiritual anniversaries of Yahweh's mightiest deeds; each and every one of them being an eternal memorial of some distinct, divine accomplishment in the great Programme of Salvation. If you read this booklet to the end you will see that statement proved over and over again.
Let us now consider Yahweh's feast days in turn, for there are several, and open our minds to the profound spiritual realities they represent.
| Exodus 12:29-30 | "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." |
 | JEHOVAH
(Yahweh), the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel plans
to deliver from eternal death ALL who express their faith in Him and accept
His offer of eternal life made possible by the death of His Son Yeshua
(Jesus) the Messiah.
| Yeshua the Messiah's death on Calvary was
prefigured by the death of the Passover Lamb. (John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7).
| Yeshua sacrificed His life on the Passover, at
the divinely appointed time, to rescue mankind from the 'slavery
of sin' and its tragic consequences - eternal death!
| And all those who by express faith in the
Almighty and His Son, the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world,' will be pardoned, spared and granted eternal life
according to His promise. | |
"And how," you may well ask, "is the blood of the real Passover Lamb, the Son of the Almighty God, applied to a believer in this electronic age?" The answer is: By taking part in a special memorial service called the Passover Service on the evening of the 14th Abib each year, which is the divinely appointed time. The Passover Service is a memorial of the Saviour's death on Calvary and every believer in the Messiah is commanded to keep it. "this do in remembrance of me" said the Messiah, the Lamb of God. Memorial services, incidentally are not observed several times a year; neither should they be observed at any time people fancy. The time to observe the Passover Service has been divinely appointed; and that time is the evening of the 14th day of the month of Abib. Let all who read, pause and take note.
The new covenant emblems of the Saviour's body and blood are "unleavened bread and wine." (Luke 22:14-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) These emblems have replaced the need to slay a literal lamb each year, for the Messiah, the real Passover Lamb, has already been slain. But the TIME set apart for this memorial service remains the same. It is the evening of the 14th day of the first month (Abib) in the sacred calendar (Exodus 13:5-11). The date is important and can never be altered, because it is the memorial date of our Saviour's death, when he paid with His life to rescue mankind from extinction at the hands of the Destroyer. When a believer takes part in this service he/she is, figuratively speaking, applying the blood of the Messiah to his/her mind, which is the lintel of the soul. This act of faith is a clear sign to the Almighty that that soul seeks pardon, protection and salvation. That is how the Passover Lamb's blood is applied to the lintel of a believer's mind in this century.
Incredible as it may seem, the fulfilment of the
Passover (the day itself , not the Lamb) is still future. According to
Scripture that day will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of Heaven. Even the
Saviour is awaiting the approaching midnight of this age when the
Destroyer will be compelled to spare or passover all those who are
displaying the sign of the Lamb's blood.
| Luke 22:15-16 | "I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" said the Master, "because I tell you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." |
Believers in the Almighty who, therefore, celebrate the Passover Service on the appointed evening each year will be greatly blessed; for as they eat the unleavened bread and drink the wine (the new covenant emblems of the Saviour's body and blood) they are, in truth, applying the Saviour's life-giving blood to the lintels of their souls..
Put differently, we may say that Yahweh's main purpose in staging such a breathtaking Passover display in ancient Egypt was His way of giving the entire universe a 'prophetic preview' of His earth- encompassing plan to 'pass over' and deliver His people in the closing days of this age. Yes, the LORD God of Israel is in the near future going to personally visit all the nations of the world, and as before, 'pass-over' (pity, spare and deliver) all those who faithfully display the Sign of His Son's blood on the lintels of their minds and the door post of their supporting actions. Thus we can see that ancient Israel's exodus from Egypt was a "prophetic drama," a "living blueprint," a "meaningful model" of a far greater deliverance of Yahweh's people which is scheduled to take place on a world scale in our day. In view of this, believers in the Messiah should beware of failing to keep this memorial service at its appointed time. (See How to hold the Passover in your own home.)
Leaven (yeast) is a symbol of sin, hypocrisy and false doctrine, a week represents eternity and a house represents the church of God. Thus the week of unleavened bread (when every trace of leaven is cleared from the houses of believers) symbolises the church which is to be purged by God: of sin, hypocrisy and false doctrine - for all time. Only when that work has been done will the church be a fit "Temple of God," a spiritual home the Almighty will inhabit for all eternity. Yes, before Yahweh's Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in His house (the church) He has scheduled Himself to purge His people of every trace of (leaven) sin. (Matt. 16:6-12, 1 Cor. 5:6-8, Luke 12:1).
I repeat, there is coming a time when the Almighty will purge hypocrisy, false doctrine & sin (leaven) from the minds of His people; and only when that time arrives will the Week of Unleavened Bread have found its fulfilment, not before.
Scripture tells us that this Feast of Unleavened Bread is a Sacred Sign on the believer's hand and mind that the Almighty's law is inscribed therein. This Feast is, in fact, the appointed sign of faithful obedience, as opposed to the Mark of the Antichrist, which is the brand mark of disobedience.
| Exodus 13:6: | Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened
bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. 7:
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened
bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in
all thy quarters. 8: And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying,
This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came
forth out of Egypt. 9: And IT shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. 10: Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. Note: that specific reference to this Feast being a sign on the hand and a memorial between the eyes (the mind). |
The first fruits of the Holy Spirit are the true believers won to God by His Son the firstborn. (1 Cor. 15:20&23, James 1:18, Rev. 14:4)
The ancient ceremony of presenting the Almighty with the firstfruits of the earth (Deut. 26:1-11) with two oven-baked loaves, in which the leaven had been de-activated (Lev. 23:15-17), was a figure, a type, a shadow of the spiritual harvest of human souls in whom the yeast of sin will one day cease to exist. There is coming a day when the power of sin will be de-activated in us believers just as the power of leaven is neutralised in an oven baked loaf.
The breathtaking experience recorded in Acts 2 was but the early harvest, a kind of "firstfruits" of an even greater out-pouring of divine power scheduled to fall upon the church in the near future when the main harvest of human beings will be gathered in.
The Feast of Pentecost, in short, prefigures, guarantees and commemorates the early harvest, the first fruits of human souls: and those who celebrate it declare their willingness to be part of that spiritual multitude which will one day be gathered in and presented to the Almighty by His Son - the Firstborn!
Trumpets were used by Yahweh's command in ancient Israel:
| To assemble the congregation and to start
journeying (Numbers 10:2)
| To call the leaders of Israel together (verse
4)
| To sound the alarm for war and to signal an
attack (verse 9, Judges 3:27, Job 39:25)
| To accompany the praises of Israel at the
appointed festivals and the days of the new moon (Numbers 10:10)
| To proclaim the accession of kings (2 Sam.
15:10, 1 Kings 1:34, 2 Kings 9:13)
| And to announce the Jubilee year of freedom
(Lev. 25:9) | |
| The giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus
19:14-19)
| The world wide warning still scheduled for
the future when Yahweh Himself will blow the trumpet. (Zech. 9:14,
Isaiah 18:3, Zeph. 1:14-16)
| Signalling the events scheduled for the close
of this age. (Revelation chapters 8 & 9)
| The Second Advent of Jesus Christ; at which
the resurrection will take place. (Matt. 24:31, 1 Cor. 15:51-52) | |
| Isaiah 18:3 | "All ye inhabitants of the world,
and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when He lifteth up an ensign on the
mountains; and when He bloweth a trumpet, HEAR YE."| Zechariah
9:14
| "And the LORD shall be seen
over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord
God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the
south."
| |
No one will doubt but that the Feast to Trumpets has still to find even partial fulfilment; and it is because of this fact and the many texts which tell of the use of the Trumpets of God in the future that believers should beware of ignoring this important feast day.
On some future Feast of Trumpets the mighty Trumpet
of the LORD will sound. It will be heard throughout the world!
and will reverberate with tones as awesome as the rushing sound which filled
Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost some 2000 years ago (Acts 2:2). All of
mankind will hear the Trumpet, for the Bible says:
| Zechariah 9:14 | "And the LORD shall be seen over
them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God
shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the
south."| Isaiah
18:3
| "All ye inhabitants of the world,
and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the
mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye."
| |
Our salvation, in other words, will only by complete when we are actually brought into the very presence of the Almighty.
The word "atonement" means to make amends for, to reconcile, to restore, to repair, to make at-one again. And that is exactly what the Day of Atonement prefigures. It points to a specific time in the future when the great High Priest of the Melchizedek Order (Yeshua the Messiah) will literally bring the redeemed host of mankind right into the very presence of His Father, in order that we may be AT-ONE with YAHWEH.
That indeed will by a reconciliation beyond compare, when the Almighty's estranged human family - alienated from Him by sin - will actually be brought into His presence to be AT ONE with Him. Can you now begin to see the plan of salvation prefigured in the feasts?
Yahweh's family of true believers:
| Ransomed at the Passover and liberated by the
blood of His Son - the Passover Lamb.
| Purged of sin, hypocrisy and false doctrine
during the Days of Unleavened Bread to become a holy Temple of God.
| Filled with the power of the Holy Ghost in
order to bear fruit for all eternity.
| Victoriously gathered and defended at the
Feast of Trumpets when the trumpets of Yahweh will sound throughout the
earth.
| And finally on the Great Day of Atonement,
brought into the very presence of the Almighty by his Son the High Priest to
be at-one with Him for all eternity. | |
| Luke 15:11-32 | "Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet. Bring the fatted calf, kill it and let us eat and be merry. For my son here was dead and he has come to life. He was lost and he is found." |
This feast begins a week during which all 'Israelites born' are required to live in temporary dwellings or shelters. (Lev. 23:39-43). It is, at its basic level, a memorial of the time when Yahweh made His people live in tents and temporary shelters in the wilderness when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
At a higher level it is also a reminder or memorial of the fact that the Almighty came down from heaven to live in a Tabernacle (a tent) amidst His people Israel. (Exodus 33:7-11 & chapters 35 to 40)
The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible has this to say about the Tabernacle in the wilderness. "The movable sanctuary in the form of a tent which God directed Moses at Sinai to make, that God might dwell as king among His people." (Exodus 25:8-9) Hence it was called:
| "the dwelling" (chs 25:9
margin of RV 26:1) and as the place where Jehovah met His people.
| "the tent of meeting" (Exodus
40:34,35 RV), and as the depository of the tables of the Law of testimony,
| "the tabernacle of the testimony"
(Exodus 38:21, ch 25:21,22, Numbers 9:15)
| It was also known by the general designation
"house of Jehovah" (Exodus 34:26, Josh. 6:24)" | |
From these and other passages we can see that the literal Tabernacle which Moses built according to the Almighty's design was merely a type, a shadow, a physical expression of:
| Yahweh's real spiritual habitation
| His point of contact with His people
| His law court or seat of justice, which not
only housed his commandments but from where He personally dealt out
Judgement. | |
Consequently, we may say that the Feast of
Tabernacles is also a memorial of the Almighty's astonishing condescension to
come down to earth to tabernacle or pitch His tent with humanity in the person
of His Son. For Jesus Christ is Immanuel, GOD WITH US, God incarnate; that is
the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel taking up his abode in the tabernacle
of a human body, in order to redeem and enable mankind to obey His eternal
law.
| Romans 8:3 | "For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." |
Is it any wonder that the profound reality of
this fact (that God is going to tabernacle with mankind for eternity) drew from
the lips of an angel these amazing words:
| Revelation 21:3 | "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." |