CHAPTER THREE:
THE UNFULFILLED FEASTS OF ISRAEL
SEVEN: THE NUMBER OF COMPLETION
Although I have already referred to this number, before we view the feasts of the seventh month, let’s examine it a little closer. The number seven represents completion. Wherever this number appears throughout scripture its meaning is always the same. Its first and most simplified use is the number of days in a week. Seven days make up a complete week.
God's creation of music is stamped with the number seven. Seven notes make up a complete scale. The eighth note of any scale begins a new octave. (Consequently, the number eight is God's number of new beginnings.)
Because the balance of the feast days occur in the seventh month, they speak of completed things which will take place at the end of a given period of time whether it is related to the Church or to Israel. The next three feast days: the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles all have their fulfillment in Israel, not the Church.
In the last chapter I made reference to the number 13 and its significance to the rebellious house of Judah. It is interesting that we find the number 13 appearing with reference to this last church age, the Laodicean church. Here the number is coupled with number seven. The last church age began in 1906 with the pouring out of the Holy Ghost in California. The Church age will end in 1997, as I shall later document, a period of 91 years or
7 x 13. This last Church age represents a complete period of final rebellion of the Church. Its rebellion is the result of being deaf to God's word. For that reason, Christ is shown
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standing at the door of the Church of this last age calling those within to come out and hear his voice. Those who remain within that deaf church will be spit out of the mouth of Jesus Christ.
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THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS:
A SOUND OF MOURNING
AND A CALL TO REPENTANCE
The first day of the seventh month of the sacred year is the feast of Trumpets.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord." Lev. 23:23-25
As we have partially noted, this first day of the seventh month of the sacred calendar is also the start of the civil year. As such, it is the Jewish New Year's day, Rosh Hashanah. The month is Tishri on the Hebrew calendar.
The end of one year and the beginning of another should be a time of remembrance; a time for taking spiritual inventory. So it was in this first day of the seventh month. God designated this day to be a sabbath day, a day to cease from doing servile work. The prominent exercise of the day was, "a memorial blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation."
The trumpets blown on this day were not the silver trumpets of gladness, but the winding trumpets of rams’ horns. This type of trumpet made a sad sound. It was the sound of mourning because the Feast of Trumpets was the prelude to the great Day of Atonement when Israel's past sins were atoned for. The plaintive note of the rams' horns was designed to call men to repentance. Isaiah was given the same commission during his ministry which echoes the theme of the day of Trumpets.
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"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isa.58:1
The blowing of the trumpets on that feast day was intended to call their sins into remembrance. The sound would create the mood for searching their souls in preparation for the fast on the Day of Atonement. Remission of sin belongs to the contrite, repentant heart.
When John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, he did not pipe the glad news of the gospel but the mournful melody of repentance. Those who came to his baptism with an unrepentant heart were refused the ceremony of water baptism. To them he said, "bring forth fruit meet for repentance. " There were those who went out into the wilderness merely to see the spectacle of a prophet because there had not been a prophet in Judea for over four hundred years. After John was thrown into prison, Jesus blasted those who went merely to see John:
“And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the
wind?
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in king's courts.
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.” Lk. 7:24-26
Three times Jesus asked "what went ye out to see?" He asked it of those same hypocrites in his audience who had previously attended the preaching of John. Their motivation was to go out to see what was going on. John's message of ''preparing the way of the Lord" had no effect on them because they thought that they were okay.
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Their attitude and response to the gospel was like many in the Church today . A vast majority of professing Christians attend church as a social outlet. They go to see their friends, the choir, the program, and the preacher. The Word preached to them is not mixed with faith and therefore it serves no purpose for them. Many people choose a church based on the charisma and the popularity of the preacher rather than the content of the message. Jesus took his indictment a step further:
"Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?
They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you and
ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, he hath a devil. " Lk. 7:31-33
John trumpeted to them with a ram's hom calling for repentance but they did not weep. He lived a life void of worldly celebration but it did not touch their hearts. Rather than believe his preaching it was easier to say that he had a devil.
With the Day of Atonement coming nine days after the Feast of Trumpets, nine being the number of judgement, the Feast of Trumpets was inaugurated to prepare them for the atonement of their sins.
This feast day will have its fulfillment in Israel during the time of the Tribulation and will begin with the sealing of 144,000 Jews (Rev. 7:3-4). We glanced at this group earlier but here we shall take a closer look. After they are sealed for their protection, they will then go out and preach the "gospel of the kingdom" throughout the world. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus gives us the purpose of their ministry:
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"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. "
The majority of the Church today believes and teaches that the commission given in the above verse will and must be performed by the Church. The Church was entrusted to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ which is distinctive from the gospel of the kingdom. Remember, both John and Jesus preached, "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The Jews rejected the message of the Kingdom and as a result it was put on hold. It will be offend again during the Tribulation. After the Kingdom was rejected, God established the Church, offering salvation to the Gentiles. He never commissioned the Church to preach the message of the Messiah's kingdom on earth.
One of the signs of the coming kingdom would be the return of Elijah. The apostles called that fact to Jesus' attention after his transfiguration on the mountain.
"And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."
Mt. 17:10-13
Elias will come during the second half of the Tribulation after the 144,000 trumpet the memorial or the remembrance of God. The 144,000 will bring to Israel's mind its lost glory and how it has abandoned its God. In that day Israel will fast according to the prescription written by Isaiah. They will mourn for their sins and transgressions
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against their Messiah. Joel prophesied what the response of Israel should and would be to the preaching of the 144,000.
"Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the
elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly…
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say spare thy people, 0 Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore they should say among the people, where is their God?" Joel 1:13-15,17
When Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, referred to by many as the "constitution of the Kingdom" he said, "blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted. " That scripture will be fulfilled during the Feast of Trumpets thus allowing the Great Day of Atonement to have its true fulfillment in Israel. When the 144,000
trumpet the gospel of the kingdom of heaven then the Jews will respond to the preaching.
Later in this chapter we shall clearly see that when this day of mourning takes place in Israel's future, it will happen on the exact day that God designated in the Old Testament: the first day of the seventh month on Israel's sacred calendar. Israel will experience a great return of its people to their land in 1998 but they will begin their return to God in 1999. You can be sure that there will be a Temple in Jerusalem for them to return to at that time.*
*This information is updated in The Last Trump: God’s Secret to be posted upon completion of the posting of this book.
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THE DAY OF ATONEMENT:
ETERNAL REMISSION OF SIN
Having properly met the requirements of the Feast of Trumpets, which is a Godly sorrow for sins, Israel will have prepared itself for the great Day of Atonement
known as Yom Kippur. This is the day most often referred to in the epistle to the Hebrews when the high priest entered once a year into the most holy place and presented the blood of the sacrifices that would cleanse the people from their sins during the past year.
The feast of Trumpets and the day of Atonement are connected in the same sense as the feast of Firstfruits and Pentecost. Notice the following verse:
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also..."
Lev.23:26&27
That one word, "Also," ties together the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. It is very significant because later we shall see how the same word will connect the trumpet sounding that announced the Jubile year with the trumpet sounding on the day of the Feast of Trumpets.
Nine days after mourning for their sins, on the tenth day of the seventh month, God called for a holy convocation. On this day of Atonement the nation was obligated to fast. It was the only fast day of the year that was commanded by God. However, when the nation observed the fast it was not in the manner God prescribed.
Their fast did not focus on the condition of their souls and their relationship with God. Their fast did not interrupt their pleasure and neither did it stop them from working. They fasted for strife and debate and did not allow their hearts to be broken by the Spirit of God. As a result, their fast was condemned by God for its hypocrisy.
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"Is it a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call
this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?" Isa. 58:5
Their fast was meaningless because their hearts were unprepared. We are given God's attitude toward fasting in the New Testament when John's disciples asked Jesus why his disciples did not fast.
"Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, why do we and the pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?" Mt.9:14
Although God had ordained only one fast day for Israel, by the time Jesus arrived, the Pharisees, the leading religious sect of the Jews, had legislated over 100 fast days per year. They fasted to be seen of men. Jesus warned against such fasting. He told his disciples not to "appear unto men" to fast. Those who fast to be seen do not receive the benefits of fasting. In his answer to John's disciples, Jesus associated fasting with mourning.
"Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?"
Mat. 9:15
Because Israel eventually failed to keep the spirit of the Feast of Trumpets, their fast on the Day of Atonement lost its significance also. The Day of Atonement became nothing more than a yearly ritual for them. But the day is coming in their future, during the Tribulation, when the full significance of the Day of Atonement will be fulfilled in their lives. The 144,000 will convict them of their transgressions and then they will fast with a true heart. When that day comes, nine days after the feast of Trumpets, God will hear their prayers, respect their fast and forgive them of their sins.
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When Jesus made atonement for the sins of the world at Calvary the Jews stood around the cross taunting Jesus because his atonement meant nothing to them. They even objected to the sign hung over the cross proclaiming him as their king. They did not see Jesus as the sacrifice for their sins because they thought they had no sin. But the time is coming during the Tribulation when their hearts will be changed. Zechariah prophesied about that day.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." Zec.12:9-10 & 13:1
Notice that the fountain will not be created but opened to the house of David. It was created at Calvary but closed to the Jews because they did not believe. That
passage marks the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. In the days of the Tribulation, the house of Israel and the house of Judah will again become one house and God will reunite them in one day. On that day their sin and uncleanness shall be removed forever.
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THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES:
GOD DWELLING ON EARTH
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord…
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath." Lev. 23:33-34, 39
This is the last feast day of the year and as such it will be the last great feast day to be fulfilled in Israel's future.
After Israel's sins have been removed, after its restoration again when it shall be known as the people of God, then the feast of Tabernacles will have its fulfillment.
This feast is also referred to as the Feast of Ingathering. The final harvest of the year has been reaped and now a time of remembrance and celebration is in
order. It is a time to praise and thank God for his hand of provision and protection extended to them since their departure from Egypt.
For Israel, it marked a time for remembering the past days when their forefathers dwelt in booths in the wilderness when God brought them out of the land of Egypt. For that reason it is also called the feast of Booths. They were instructed to dwell in booths seven days.
We often forget to thank God for providing for us. Israel lived in the wilderness for forty years and during that entire time God kept shoes on their feet, food on their
table and a roof over their heads. Rather than give thanks for the provision and shelter we have, we often complain about the type of provision and shelter it is. God provided
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shelter for over two million people in the wilderness while he took them to the land filled with houses that they would not have to build. Lest they forget God's goodness, he caused them to dwell in temporary houses for seven days. That, coupled with the recent harvest, would cause them to readily recall how God both fed and covered them throughout their wanderings.
It should also serve as a reminder to us that we are pilgrims here on earth and as such our possessions should be light and portable. We should always be ready to move when and where the cloud or Spirit moves. Indeed, we are admonished in Hebrews to "lay aside the sin and the weight that so easily besets us." (Heb.12:1)
Tabernacles also marks the final ingathering of God's people. By this time all who belong to God will have been gathered to him. The Old and New Testament Church, the 144,000, the Tribulation martyrs, the two witnesses, and redeemed Israel. At that point in time, Jesus will rule the entire earth while dwelling among his people. Then he will be Israel's God and they will be his people. Zechariah prophesied concerning the future of the Feast of Tabernacles:
"And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zec.14:16
The appearance of the rest of the nations in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles will be mandatory for the next 1,000 years. When the heathen nations appear in Jerusalem each year, they will come specifically to kneel before the Lord and confess that he is LORD.
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"Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations…
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. "
Isa.45:20, 23
Again, when will this event take place? Its first observance will be on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the year 2006. Notice that this celebration continues not for just seven days, but it includes an eighth day.
"...and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath."
As previously stated, eight is God's number of new beginnings. The new beginning here marks the beginning of God dwelling in the midst of all his sons. Because it is a
sabbath, it is designated as a day of rest and marks the beginning of the "rest" of the people of God (Heb.4:9-11).
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WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH?
We have looked at all of the feast days of Israel and carefully noted how they have been and will be fulfilled in these last days. Moreover, we saw in the fulfillment of Passover, Firstfruits and Pentecost, that God brought about their fulfillment exactly on their designated days. If there is an Old Testament time reserved for the gathering of the Lord's Church, would it not be reasonable to expect it to have its fulfillment exactly on its predetermined day? Let's see.
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