The Feasts of the Lord
"Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'The LORD'S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations-- My appointed times are these...." (Leviticus 23:2)
So begins what some call the handbook of the Jewish feast days. I remember hearing about them first as a youngster and never gave them any thought. Even as an adult, I viewed them to be of little significance except as history. Then, about thirty years ago, I listened to a presentation by Zola Levitt and was immediately enthralled by the beauty God had hidden in them.
Since then, I have continued to study the feasts and marvel at the story they tell. They are, in a nutshell, the picture of redemptive history and it is a picture not to be missed!
Considering covenant eschatology immediately confronted my futurist interpretation of the fall feasts. Only recently have I been challenged to begin thinking them through. My interest was spurred by an Internet presentation by David B. Curtis, pastor of Berean Bible Church in Chesapeake, VA. . It is well worth the time!
Students of scripture are pretty much in agreement the feasts provide a type for redemptive history. The major problem is most see the fall feasts as yet to be fulfilled. However, when we understand God's timing, we understand they of necessity had to be fulfilled in Jesus' generation. We could spend hours discussing them, but let's do a quick overview of the feasts. Do understand we are leaving out a lot of material so you can study for yourself.
There were three seasons of feasts. The first and last season each contained three feasts and Pentecost stood alone between the other two. Every Jewish male of age was required to travel to Jerusalem for these three seasons. The spring feasts began at the first full moon following the vernal equinox or Nisan 14th on the Jewish calendar. The first feast was Passover and the next day began a seven day celebration of The Feast of Unleavened Bread. The "morrow after the sabbath" during that week was The Feast of First Fruits.
From that day, fifty days were counted to Pentecost for the second feast season.
The fall feasts cluster around the autumnal equinox and include, The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and The Feast of Tabernacles.
Since I want to focus on the fall feasts, let's dispense with the others very quickly. In terms of redemptive history, what happened on Passover in the year of Christ's crucifixion? Right, He became our Passover Lamb by dying for our sins. Okay, what happened on the next day? That's something of a trick question because we have to remember the biblical day runs from sunset to sunset. By our reckoning we would have called it the same day, but it was really the next day. Are you with me? What happened on that Feast of Unleavened Bread? Christ ceased His sacrificial work and lay in the tomb. The first day of this feast was a sabbath in which work was forbidden. Christ kept the feast by completing His work before sundown. Firstfruits was celebrated on the Sunday during the week of. Unleavened Bread which could begin on any day of the week. So Firstfruits might be from one to seven days away from Passover. In the year Christ was crucified, it was three days away. What happened on that Firstfruits? Christ was resurrected. This feast is so powerful a testimony to the resurrection Jews no longer celebrate it, nevertheless God makes them count from it fifty days to Pentecost so they can never forget it.
Pentecost celebrates the beginning of the wheat harvest. What happened on Pentecost in the year Christ was slain? Right, the Spirit was given and the Christian harvest began. Coincidence? You don't really think so do you?
Now it gets really interesting. From a futurist perspective autumn is always a time of particular attention because the established pattern suggests that Christ would come then. The Feast of Trumpets announced the end of the harvest and it was followed in short order by Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) which was a day of "tribulation." The High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. God's presence was both judgment and salvation. The judgment fell on the sacrifice and the people enjoyed salvation for another year. In celebration they kept the Feast of Tabernacles commemorating God's presence with them. How are we to understand these latter feasts in terms of redemptive history?
Both in Rabbinic tradition and the majority Christian view, The Feast of Trumpets is associated with resurrection/redemption. Historians tell us it was common for the shofar or ram's horn to appear on grave markers. It is not surprising then when Paul tells the Corinthians, "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor. 15:51-53).
Let's make a couple of observations from this passage. Traditionally, we have been told that some will be alive when Christ comes again. The question here is, "Does Paul's ‘we' include us?" Emphatically no! Paul was writing to real, living, breathing people. When he said "we" to them they rightly understood him to be referring to believers who were then living. Either the resurrection is past or at least one of those people must still be alive today. If you bump into one of them, ask them what they think Paul meant.
Read the text again. Those who were alive at the resurrection (the last trumpet/feast of trumpets) would be changed. How? The popular teaching is that our physical bodies will rise and be changed in mid-air into a spiritual body, but Paul said they would be changed. If what Paul said would happen did indeed happen to them, then the popular view is wrong. They were changed but that change had nothing to do with their physical bodies. Backing up to verse 50 we read, "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." It seems clear that what was to take place was not a transformation of the physical into the spiritual but the physical receiving the spiritual. That is a huge difference!
As mortal beings they would receive the promised spiritual life when Christ came "unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). This is entirely consistent with what Paul says in Romans 8:10- 11: "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you."
Remember now, he is writing to air breathing, blood pumping believers. Were their mortal bodies dead? Clearly not. Yet, Paul says they would be given life. What kind of life? It was the kind of life that undid the kind of death that Adam experienced because of disobedience. In 1 Cor. 15 Paul uses the analogy of Adam's death to describe the kind of life Christ would bring. Adam died the day he sinned. His physical body lived to the ripe old age of 930 years but he died the death of disobedience the day he sinned and was removed from access to the Tree of Life. In a similar way, those first century believers were to receive life which they would carry in their mortal bodies until they died physically. Then, at death they would be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Where does all this leave us?
It leaves us with resurrection in the first century as the trumpet from the last Feast of Trumpets sounded. There has never been another one! The dead were raised and living believers received life and would never die - just as Christ said in John 11:26. Nothing in redemptive history has changed since that event! When we were granted faith to believe, we received life. At death, we are transformed into a state suitable for the everlasting kingdom.
What is its essence? Glorious. That's all we really need to know. There is much more which could be said about resurrection, but suffice it to say there is a sense in which we are all resurrected. The root meaning of the Greek anastasis is to stand again or a restoration of standing. What Adam lost in the garden was standing with God. What has been recovered in Christ is that standing. In the truest sense, that is resurrection.
Moving on to the Day of Atonement, we see the opposite side of the coin, judgment. This feast day was the most serious time of the year. The worst reprobate would keep this feast out of a sense of self preservation if nothing else. In A.D. 70, all Jews had gathered in Jerusalem to keep this feast. All that is except the remnant of believers who saw the signs Christ foretold and took flight. The feast day itself was 24 hours of intense personal examination and confession. It was a fast day so there was no need to worry about food. It was a sabbath, so there was no work to be done. They were to reflect on the past year and confess every sin.
The system required them to remember their sins. What a blessing we have that God remembers our sin "no more." They received their annual forgiveness when the High Priest made the sacrifice for the sins of the people. It was a time of tribulation or as the KJV says, they were to "afflict" their souls. The commemoration of this feast in A.D. 70 was the last biblical observance of this feast. They didn't have to worry about work, they were walled up in the city fighting for their lives. They didn't have to worry about food, they were starving to death. The extent to which they went to abate their hunger horrified even the Romans. Josephus records the story of a woman they found who had roasted her own child. They were appalled when she offered them some in exchange for mercy. Here we see the other side of resurrection.
Those who did not believe in Messiah were to endure torment and that is a word that bears a closer look. Remember Christ's words in the Sermon on the Mount, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men." (Matthew 5:13) The biblical word for torment is basis which has the idea of being under foot or at the bottom. Christ warned the salt, God's chosen people, would be trampled under the foot of men if it lost its seasoning power. The truth of His words became evident in A.D. 70.
There isn't space to develop the idea here, but realize many of the texts which address judgment deal with what would be visited on Old Covenant Israel because it rejected God as King. The persecution it visited upon the prophets of old, Christ Himself, and those first century believers would be repaid with the same kind of persecution. Paul made it clear that they were going to get what they had been dishing out (2 Thess. 1) and they did.
Only the remnant of believers celebrated The Feast of Booths that year and it was a spiritual celebration. Paul had written in 1 Cor. 5:1, "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." The reference to a tent here is the anti-type of the booths they built to observe the feast. Paul says our bodies are a temporary shelter in which we abide and depend upon God for our provision until that day we set it aside and enter life beyond the grave.
The Feast of Booths was the seventh feast and it lasted seven days. That is symbolic of its perfect and perpetual nature. It is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy which in part says, "Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." (Isa. 60:20-21).
That describes the time in which we live. Are we living like we are heirs of such splendor? If we are not, we are missing out not only on what God would have us enjoy, but we are also poor ambassadors of the kingdom of God. I know this has been longer than most pieces here, but I wanted to give you a panoramic view of the feasts. As time permits, future issues will look at the individual feasts in more depth but I hope this very brief excursion into the subject causes you to take a deeper look. When you do, you will see what most of Old Covenant Israel missed, the beautiful tapestry God has woven in redemptive history, and you will be blessed, richly blessed.
Come Ye Thankful People Come!
If seeing the beauty of the Feast of Tabernacles doesn't put you in the spirit of Thanksgiving, nothing will! What the Old Covenant could only celebrate in type, we enjoy in truth.
One of the things David Curtis brings out in his discussion of the Feast of Tabernacles has to do with the water drawing ritual. While not biblically prescribed, it was traditionally practiced at this time and it must have been quite spectacular. Curtis quotes the Rabbis as saying those who had not witnessed this event could not really know joy.
That is an incredibly powerful observation. The Jews knew the significance of God's Presence with them. Absolutely nothing was more important to them, for God's Presence was their assurance. Keeping the feasts after the captivity must have been a telling experience. Following the return from Babylonian bondage, they didn't even possess the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest entered an empty Holy of Holies. They had rejected God and He had rejected them.
The end (fulfillment) haunted them in spite of their arrogant cries of self-assurance. For them, it was Ichabod, the glory had departed. But God has always had a people and even as His Presence departed those unfaithful servants, It manifested Itself in the hearts and lives of believers. So it continues to this day.
Is it a Presence we take for granted? That is a question we each should reflect upon. Nothing can turn our hearts more toward thanksgiving than focusing our awareness on God's Presence with us. May that awareness be at the heart of our celebration this year.
Dead Sea Exhibit Report
Last month I mentioned the exhibit of Dead Sea Scroll artifacts in Dallas. I hope some of you got to see it. Sharon and I joined another couple for the day and it was worth the effort.
Prior to their discovery of the scrolls, the earliest biblical manuscripts were from about the eighth century and most were even later. The scrolls, dating from around 200 B.C., confirm the accuracy of the later manuscripts and affirm our faith. Of particular interest was the discussion about the Apocrypha. According to the presentation, the intertestamental books would have been in all likelihood included in the canon had the scrolls been available when our Bible was assembled. That has me wanting to do more research in this area.
The collection of Bibles in the exhibit left the biggest impression on me. They tell the story of how our English text really shaped our language. It's really an incredible story. Seeing Bibles centuries old is a moving experience. The one which captured my attention was a Wycliffe New Testament which was handwritten in English about 1410. The name of it's original owner, Thomas Downe, was written in it as a testimony to his fearless proclamation of the gospel in English - an illegal activity punishable by burning at the stake.
More than 100 years later, this same Testament belonged to Richard Hunne. Hunne was martyred for having the gospel in English and teaching it alone was the source of law, not the Catholic Church. This beautiful text was found in his cell the night he was murdered by his persecutors. They strangled him after the nails they drove up his nose and into his brain failed to kill him. Then they hanged him to make it look like a suicide. His corpse was tried for suicide and heresy. He was found not guilty of the suicide charge but his body was burned for his heretical act of possessing the gospel in English.
The next time you open your Bible, remember how it came to be in your possession and thank God. While you are at it, pray God will open the eyes of believers in this country. We are on the fast track to once again making it The Forbidden Book. The exhibit is gone, but you can still see the tour. The Biblical Arts Center has a book and a virtual tour video on VHS and DVD. There is also a video on the life of William Tyndale which is a must see. Computer analysis reveals that about 85% of the KJV New Testament is Tyndale's work. The video "The Forbidden Book" rounds out the history lesson of how we got our Bible. If you want to be inspired by the glory of what God as done to preserve His word, you can order these and other resources from the Center at (214) 691-4661
News Flash! When I visited the website just now to get the phone number, I learned the exhibit has been extended through December 28th! Also, they have now announced the exhibit will be in Huntsville, AL January 5-30, and in Murfreesboro, TN April 6-29. If you know folks in those areas, do encourage them to see it.
The Apprentice's Journal
I'm running late again this month, but I have a good excuse. Over the years, my office space at home gradually consumed two rooms: one in which I work and another which ended up as storage space. Sharon decided she would like to have one of the rooms back, so while she was in Peru (see her report) I braced myself and accepted the challenge.
We've all worked those little puzzles with numbers you slide around to put in order. You know, the ones that have a single open space and you keep moving tiles until they are right. That pretty well describes the challenge I faced. After six FULL days of shuffling things from one place to another I had most everything at least in the general area where it belonged. It took almost three days to have my office minimally functional and it may take weeks to finally get things in order. I'm a packrat by nature and throwing anything away is difficult. The up side of that is, given time, I can usually figure out a way to cram even more stuff into the existing space. It is a challenge with an increased difficulty level as time goes by, but I'm up to it!
The first day was a clear indication of the challenge I faced. As I moved things into the attic, my foot slipped off the edge of the flooring and punched a hole in the ceiling of the relocated office. It was two weeks before I could even think about taking the time to repair the damage, but now it's done, Moving phone lines and cable lines for Internet access gets harder all the time. Working above my head or on the floor is a real challenge these days and it seems there is little to be done at a comfortable height. All in all, the experience was a vivid reminder of how painful change can be.
It means getting rid of things, cleaning things, repairing things, rearranging things and so on. That is just not fun to contemplate. But, once you get into the spirit of the challenge there is something of a sense of expectancy that starts to grow. You begin to see things in a new way and start to believe there might really be some benefit in making the change. There is a bit of excitement at the prospect of things actually being better than they were. The discomfort begins to wane and a new enthusiasm arises which makes the task more bearable.
If you think I'm going somewhere with this, you're right. In every aspect of life, it is easy for us to grow comfortable with the way things are. However, comfortable is a relative term. For one who has been struggling in an ice cold lake, being wrapped up in a blanket in a tent is comfortable. But to one shivering in a blanket in a tent, the thought of standing under a nice hot shower is delightful. It's all about perspective.
Our desire for comfort shapes our lives more than we like to admit. Sometimes, in the pursuit of comfort, we sacrifice things we shouldn't. Making comfort our primary goal is a mistake. Frequently, the proper course of action for us is one which results in discomfort as the world counts costs.
In the long run, it is often the uncomfortable thing which brings lasting comfort and a sense of real satisfaction.
Whether it is our relationships with one another, our understanding of scripture, our social involvements or whatever, it is crucial for us to be willing to do the uncomfortable thing required so we can enjoy the blessing of real peace. It is futile to close our eyes to the clutter in our lives and hang onto it just because we are used to it. Doing so only limits our opportunity for greater growth. Getting rid of things which we no longer need (and perhaps didn't really need in the first place) clears space for something new.
The challenge is knowing what to keep and what to discard. When it comes to things, you can count on needing something within a week of discarding it. Why is that?
As hard as parting with things is, letting go of faulty thinking is even harder. Of course, if we really believed we were wrong, we would change quickly but we are convinced we are right and don't need to change. It is challenging to maintain the perspective which affirms that we are indeed wrong about things and remain open to correction.
Keeping our spiritual house in order requires this discipline and it is one which needs to be exercised more among believers. I pray that in some small way, our time together each month causes you to reflect on your understanding of God's word. And I pray you have the courage to rearrange the furniture when necessary. The task is never completed in this life and that is part of its attraction. The joy is in the journey!
Somewhere around here I have a sign that says, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk indicate?" So, I intend to keep a comfortable level of clutter: some new, some old. It is fertile soil for further growth.
If you're feeling root bound, repot!