It’s
Time for the Feasts of the Lord
As
Fall approaches we once again see the arrival of the
Feasts of the Lord. Many Christians are unaware that a
different calendar lies buried (and long ago
forgotten) in the pages of their Bible. This Biblical
calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar and
today the Church celebrates holidays prescribed to us
by the Catholic Church. Thus we have holidays like
Christ-Mass and All-Hallows-Eve along with days to
honor saints given this status by the Catholic Church
(Patrick/Valentine). I write to encourage a return to
the Biblical calendar. I know what I am asking is
radical and goes against the grain of tradition. Many
people think that this calendar is “Jewish” or
“Israeli” but the truth is these Holy Days belong to
our G-d and He has given them to everyone who places
their faith in His Son Yeshua (Jesus).
Allow
me to introduce you to the Holy Days of the Biblical
calendar known in Hebrew as “moedim”. The word
“moedim” means “an appointed time” and the complete
listing is found in Leviticus 23. There are five major
Biblical moedim with two in the Spring and three in
the Fall. The two Spring Feasts are Passover and
Shavuot. Passover celebrates the deliverance of Israel
from the bondage of Egypt. Told to sprinkle blood on
their doorposts, the death angel “passed over” the
houses covered by the blood. Fast forward to the
Apostolic Scripture (NT) and the death of Yeshua
occurs at Passover. The next Feasts is Shavuot which
takes place 49 days after Passover. The word “Shavuot”
means “weeks”. At the first Shavuot the Torah
(instruction for life) was delivered on Mount Sinai.
Fast forward and the Holy Spirit is poured out (see
Acts 2) on Shavuot (known in Greek as Pentecost). The
Spring Feasts give us the timing of the first coming
of our Messiah Yeshua and this means that the Fall
Feasts give us the timing of His Second Coming.
Now
let’s examine the three remaining Feasts that occur in
the Fall. The first Feast we encounter is Yom Teruah.
The word “yom” means “day” an the word “teruah” means
“blowing” so Yom Teruah means the day of the blowing.
The blowing of the rams horn (known as the shofar) was
used to call the people to remember that the Holy Days
had arrived so they could prepare their hearts with
repentance and forgiveness. In modern times this
moedim is known as Rosh HaShanah which means “head of
the year”. I believe that this moedim of Yom Teruah is
the Day that Yeshua will return to this earth to begin
His reign as King of Kings. The second of the Fall
Feasts is Yom Kippur and means “day of atonement”. The
day of Atonement is a day of fasting as we recall the
sacrifice of Yeshua on our behalf and await the Second
Coming of Yeshua. For those who would like to do more
study on the Day of Atonement I encourage a reading of
Leviticus 16.
The
final Fall Feast is Sukkot or what is commonly called
Booths/Tabernacles. Sukkot once again reminds us that
our eternal destiny is to live with our G-d forever.
For seven days we prepare little booths or huts and
live in them as a memorial of G-d’s provision for us
when we departed Egypt. I have argued in the past that
the Feast of Sukkot is the Feast on which Yeshua
(Jesus) was born. In fact major events in the life of
Yeshua “happened” on Biblical Feast days. According to
the Prophet Zechariah (see ch.14) there will come a
day in the future when everyone who believes in the
Lord will celebrate the Feast of Sukkot.
Over
time the Biblically based Feasts of the Lord were
replaced and then forgotten. With a proper
understanding of the Biblical Feasts we have a
blueprint for the first and second coming of Messiah
Yeshua. Within the Feasts we can celebrate the birth,
death, resurrection and return of the Messiah without
ever looking at a Gregorian calendar. A study of the
calendar is far too deep to do it justice with this
article but I hope I have piqued your interest and
that you will investigate these Holy Days. As the days
of Messiah’s return draw closer we must know and
understand the times and that can only happen if we
are educated in the Calendar of G-d. This calendar was
established for us in Genesis 1:14 where we are told
that the sun, moon, and stars are placed in the
heavens for us so we will know the “seasons” (Hebrew
word is Moedim). If one studies the Apostolic
Scripture these Feasts are not replaced or abolished
but marked by the believing community of faith. My
brothers and sisters I implore you with all I have to
investigate these Holy Days for in them are the times
of our G-d.