Are you familiar and participating in the glorious Fall Feasts and Festivals of God?

It should be noted that more and more Christians are beginning to understand that God has appointed seven times a year for feasts and festivals to be held before Him. 

Clearly these annual celebrations or commemorations are made of things which are near and dear to God’s heart. The concepts and themes of such occassions are from things God wishes for all of His great family to always remember.  During these feasts and festivals, God is said to come down from Heaven and dwell much closer and/or right among His people.

LIKE A VACATION WITH GOD

Obviously we know that God is with us every day of our daily lives. However, this is a time of extra special attention and very focused time. You could call it God’s way of spending “quality time” with us.

Even though this happens every Sabbath; it also happens during the annual feasts and festivals. To gain further understanding of this concept, think about how you make plans to take your family on annual trips or vacations at certain times of the year. The Feasts and Festivals are similar to a family vacation with God. Indeed, they are our special times away with God.

WILL WE BE FOUND FAITHFUL?

Consequently, will we, His people of today, be found faithfully keeping these “family traditions” on the day in which Jesus returns?

Many suspect this return could happen during one of the fall feasts or festivals. That is because we can see how these days tend to prove out prophecy and point to Messiah’s return. If you wish to study these days in greater detail than provided in this article; we recommend that you read this link from another blogsite: https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/article/id/1894/fall-holy-days.htm. Consequently, the more you study these days, the greater your blessing will be.

WELCOME

If you are new to reading about the concepts from our SEASONS topics which we love to provide for the each of the annaul seasons which transpire on God’s clock in the sky; we want to welcome you and thank you for joining us.

It is our hope that the sharing of our thoughts on these matters will help to expand and bring a new fullness to your worship experiences.

JESUS SET THE STAGE

Our Beloved Yeshua set the stage for us to continue observing all of these feasts and festivals. Even after He was resurrected from the dead and just before He ascended into the Heavens we hear stories of how Jesus Christ kept the feasts and festivals of God.  While He lived on the earth, He showed us that keeping God’s Holy Days was the right thing to do, even and especially in light of the New Testament scriptures. 

Additionally, it does seem as we examine these thoughts thoroughly that the New Testament is simply an expansion of The Old Testament. Particularily, we go from the physical realities of the Old Testament into the spritual realities of the New Testament. Above all we can see that God did not do away with anything from The Old Testament. He simply fulfilled many things and made other things much more apparent and clear. Clearly the physical laws we came to know graduated and moved on up to spritiual laws to be kept inside the heart of all who love and follow God.  

Now it seems a very relavant question for the Church of today is: Are we following Jesus’s example and observing these annual Holy Days too?

Albeit, as faithful Christians, it should be our goal to immitate our Messiah.

THREE ANNUAL FALL FEASTS OF THE SACRED YEAR

First of all, we know that all of the spring feasts of God have been fulfilled by Jesus Christ, Our Messiah.

Furthermore, the next three feast days; the Fall Feasts of God, have not yet been fulfilled, but it is our understanding that Messiah will fulfill them in the future.  Consequently, the annual fall feast days tell us of what is to come in the future.

Additionally, when we look at history, we can read of the ways that the spring feasts were fulfilled by God right on time, every time, in the past generations. They have already been fulfilled by Jesus, Our Messiah. It has all happened within the times of God’s perfect schedule from the lunar/solar clock He created for us from the very beginning of time.

IN GOD’S PERFECT TIMING

Since the first four Spring Holy Day Feasts have been fulfilled, do we not expect that God will send Christ to fulfill these last three feasts?

True believers and followers of Yeshua will always be watching and waiting to see what these appointed times will reveal to them. Because of keeping God’s feasts they will understand what is happening as God further orchestrates His story into the history of His plan for mankind.

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

God told Moses on the first day of the seventh month there should be a day of rest with a sacred assembly accompanied by the blowing of trumpets. The people were not to work on this day. They were to bring a food offering.

During this conversation with Moses on the mountain, Our Father was expressing that He desires for His family to always keep The Feast of Trumpets.

This annual feast day for the blowing of trumpets prophetically and symbolically proclaims the fact that Christ will one day return to earth for a second time.  He is coming to reign over His people. At that time He will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s.  Afterward Our Messiah will rule and reign for a thousand years on the earth.

It should be noted here that The Feast of Trumpets is the Coronation Day For A King.

Further than that, His Beloved, His faithful Church, will rule and reign with Him on this future coronation day.

LISTEN FOR THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET

Indeed, the sound of the trumpet announces that One of Great Royalty is coming.  Again we note, this is a coronation day.  It is the coronation of Christ as King of the Universe. Hence, on the first day of forever, Jesus will return to reign as our King.

Therefore, as the Church and His Bride, we must make ourselves ready for Our soon coming King/Bridegroom.

GETTING READY

One way to be ready is to observe this feast day. The Feast of Trumptes (Rosh Hashanah) ushers in a time-span found within God’s clock of annual days which is called the Ten Days of Awe. These are the ten days between The Feast of Trumpets and The Day of Atonement. Note that sandwiched between Trumpets and Atonement there are Ten Days to get right with God before The Day of Atonement arrives. Even so, the loud trumpet blasts warn us to “get ready.”

Will it be this year?

Is Jesus returning on this Feast of Trumpets?

Only The Father knows.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Ten days after The Feast of Trumpets comes The Day of Atonement. God told Moses that His people should be found observing this day forever. 

This is NOT a feast day. It IS a fast day.

On this annual Holy Day of God we are to deny ourselves food for the sake of being closer to God. Instead of eating our food; we offer it up to God as a sacrifice.

This most holy day is a day of Sabbath rest.

There is to be no normal work on this sacred, holy day.  It is a time to shut out the world and to be in communication with God.  We are to be asking Our Father for His mercy and forgiveness. Our souls are remembering the fact that He will always consider that Jesus has provided atonement for our sins.  This is a time to make sure our souls and the souls of those we love may be free from any judgments or wrong-doings which could be found written in the books of heaven. We pray for such sins to be blotted out.

FORGIVEN FROM THE SINS OF THE PAST YEAR

On this day; God blots our sins from the last year out of His books. He does this with the blood of Christ. 

Over the years I have held certain jobs in the field of accounting. At the end of every year there is an accounting period in which we always close the books. So it is; that God is doing this at the end of the Ten Days of Awe. He is closing the books for the year that has just passed.

If we still have items on our accounts, we need to address them and ask God to reverse them off of the books. When we are faithful to do this; God clears our names. We have a fresh new page from which to begin the new sacred year. The adjusted records are now cleared and we have a fresh new start.

This whole season is a reminder to us. If we have neglected repentance during the daily times of our lives it needs to be done. The time is the time to examine our souls before God and remember to repent. There is atonement for those who have accepted and believe in Christ as Messiah. One need only ask of God in prayer. This time of repentance wipes the slate clean for yet another pure year of life with God.

DESTINY FOR THE NEXT YEAR

It is said that on this day God decides whether we are to live or die during the coming year. His gift of our time is established anew each sacred year. Our records in the books of heaven weigh for us or against us. I say our “records” and not our “sins.” Believers have Messiah’s blood to cover our sins. All it takes for these records of our past to disappear is for the blood of Jesus to atone, or remove them. With one drop of such precious and perfect blood, all sins are blotted out of the book never to be remembered again.

Have you neglected the purposes for which God created you? God knows everything. Would you like to turn around and respond in a different way? God is merciful and forgiving. All you have to do is to ask.

The records from everyone’s daily life are written and recorded in God’s books. Once the books are closed, at the end of The Day of Atonement, they are sealed and cannot be changed. The point is that every one should be careful to be right with God before the books are closed at the end of this 24 hour period of time. It is always best to go into a new sacred year with clean and holy hands.

A SACRED HIGH HOLY DAY

This sacred Day of Atonement is considered to be the Highest Holy Day of the year.  For those willing to repent, this sacred time is a time for receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness.  For the unrepentant, it is a day of judgment for the sins of the past sacred year.  Unfortunately, time will eventually run out for the unrepentant and only judgment will be left.

On this important day, our earnest prayer is to have our sins blotted out of one book. Also; we want to have our names written into the Book of Life. It allows us to live forever with God in His Kingdom of eternal life. The blood of Jesus is used to do both of these heavenly tasks.  He is our atonement now and forever.

So it is that believers have come to wish each other “Shana Tova.” This phrase means someone is wishing for you to have “a sweet year and a good standing before God within the new year.”

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

Ten days after The Feast of Trumpets comes The Day of Atonement. Five days after The Day of Atonement comes The Feast of Tabernacles. These are all very important appointed times on God’s clock.

God gave Moses instructions for the people to keep The Feast of Tabernacles. They were to keep it on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of God’s lunar calendar. The seventh month has been called Tishri by the Hebrews and others, though God usually calls the months by numbers. That leaves no room for confusion or inaccuracy.

Annually, this festival called The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is to last for seven days.

The last and eighth day is a special appointed day unto itself. The first day of the seven days is to be a sacred assembly.

Faithfully, the food offerings are to be brought before the Lord. On the last day of the feast, there is yet another sacred assembly. Long-time feast observers understand the first day and the last day are days in which no work is to be done. As we gather one last time, the last day is to be a closing, special assembly of the feast.

TIME FOR BUILDING A SUKKAH

God instructed Moses to tell the people to take the branches of leafy trees and build a temporary shelter. They were to dwell within these shelters during the days of The Feast of Tabernacles. This shelter is called a Sukkah. It represents the temporary dwellings of Israel during the wandering in the wilderness. We are to remember what God did for them and know that He will do the same for us. Today, we have come to realize this feast also represents the way we live within our own bodies. Our physical bodies now act as new temples in which God’s Holy Spirit dwells, or “tabernacles” with us.

The symbolism of The Feast of Tabernacles represents the coming time of the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. This future time symbolizes the coming of 1,000 years of peace and safety and abundance with Yeshua as our King. We are only rehearsing now as we carry out these festivals year after year. In our hearts we know the real days are coming.

Will this not be an awesome and amazing time?

A TIME OF JOY AND ETERNAL BLESSINGS  

God’s people (all believers) will one day be celebrating this appointed time called The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) throughout all of eternity.  All of God’s people should have this hope in their hearts. Consequently, each annual celebration should be filled with the joy of that hope.

A day will arrive when there will be no more war, no more hunger, no more pain and no more hate.

Further, the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat, and no harm will come to them.

The earth will be filled with the ways of God and The Kingdom of Heaven.

Today we carry out this feast by setting aside seven days annually for rehearsing this coming time.  For seven wonderful days we come away from the things of the world. Only the things of our Great God are noticed and celebrated. We marvel at the promises He has given to us as His people. The whole idea is to live as if we were already inside The Kingdom of Heaven.

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is a time of great joy!

HONORING GOD WITH OUR OFFERINGS

It is a time of great worship!

The offerings for these feast days are over and above all of the other regular Sabbath offerings. Those who observe God’s Feast and Festivals today prepare and plan ahead for it. Patiently, the people set aside offerings which are above their regular tithes in order to provide for what they will need during these feasts and festivals of God.

Offerings are also provided for those who have fallen upon hard times. It is our Christian duty before God to provide for widows and orphans who often need financial help to attend God’s feast and festivals.

ALL ARE EQUAL UNDER GOD

No one is to do without during God’s Holy Days, Feasts and Festivals.  These are times of abundance and joy for all of God’s people.

Everyone is to be included, loved and cared for.  All men, women and children are equal at God’s table. God’s table, His feasts and festivals, are available to all. These blessings are provided with love and cheerfulness for any who wish to attend.

All are welcomed to come to the Feasts of God!

The true family of God has open arms for anyone who embraces and loves the ways of God.  All believers are welcomed to enjoy this awesome fellowship on God’s annual calendar.  It is important to realize that this time IS NOT simply a “Jewish Holiday.” It is officially and forever one of “God’s Holy Days.”

If you belong to God, these days are for you.

THE FEASTS OF GOD – HIS PLAN FOR MANKIND

If you summarize all of the feasts and festivals of God, you will learn everything you need to know about the past, present and future of God’s Holy Kingdom.  Every mystery for living is hiding within the substance of The Sabbath and God’s annual Feast Days.

Every little nugget of gold concerning God’s ways can be found buried within the knowledge of these days. 

ANNUAL TIMES OF FELLOWSHIP

Amazingly, all of the important stories of the history of man and God seem to come out during these annual times of fellowship.  The symbolism and ritual that concern the coming Messiah are always revealed on these feast days. 

It becomes clear to all feast-goers that the proof of this title for King of Kings and Lord of Lords belongs to Jesus Christ.  These proofs are all there; hiding within the annual feasts and festivals of God.  In fact; we have learned that practically every good way to live is explained and exemplified while we are at the feasts and festivals together.  Every answer to every prayer of mankind is given in the teachings of the feasts. A lifetime of feast keeping leads one to a lifetime full of wisdom.

Therefore; we believe thatGod’s calendar is so much better than mankind’s calendar.  The wisdom and the beauty of how He has planned out these days for us are beyond measure.  The worth of these days and the keeping of them within our hearts is more precious than all of the treasures of the earth combined.

THEREFORE; LET US KEEP THE FEAST!

Note to the reader: If you have enjoyed this discussion about God’s Feast and Festivals, you might enjoy reading Gail Landgraf’s book titled THE TEN DAYS OF AWE FOR CHRISTIANS. You can obtain a copy from Amazon.com. We would love to share the AWE of these special days with you! Order your copy today and enjoy the ten devotional readings the book provides for each day of the season of The Days of Awe.