THE FEASTS OF YHWH

THE FEASTS OF YHWH

 

 

    WHY DID YHWH GIVE NATIONAL HOLIDAYS TO ISRAEL?

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Moadim meaning, “set times” or “seasons.” The Feasts were agricultural (Lev.23:2).

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Miqra Kodesh or “holy convocations;” they are holy assemblies. God wants His people to come together -like family!

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are Zikhronot or “remembrances.” The Feasts are memorials (Lev.23:24).  

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH, each one is a Skia (Grk) or a “shadow.” The Feasts are Representations of someone [coming] (Col.2:17).

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH, each one is Poieo (Grk) meaning “drama” (1 Cor. 11:24). The Feasts are for “doing” that reveal the mysteries of our great God.

    ·  The Feasts of YHWH are also Messianic. They hallmark the Messiah (Luke 24:27-44); they are all about Him!

 

    WHAT are THE BIBLICAL FEASTS OF YHWH?

    ·  The WEEKLY Festival is Shabbat, a weekly holiday of rest (Lev.23:3).

    ·  The MONTHLY Festival is Rosh Chodesh, a monthly holiday recognizing the new moon (Num.28:11).

    ·  The ANNUAL and Agricultural Feasts are the following: 

    1. Pesach/Passover (Lev.23:5), the 14^th day of the first month of the year (not January, but March/April).

    2. Chag HaMatzot/Unleavened Bread, the 15^th of the first month (Lev.23:6).

    3. Bikkurim/First Fruits (Lev.23:10-12) the 1^st day of the week following Passover, thus always on Sunday.

    4. Shavuot/Weeks or Pentecost/Harvest, fifty days following Passover (Lev.23:15-21).

    5. Yom T’Ruach/Trumpets (Lev.23:24), the first day of the 7^th month.

    6. Yom Kippur/Atonement (Lev.23:27), the tenth day of the 7^th month (following Trumpets), the most solemn feast of the year.

    7. Sukkot/Tabernacles (Lev.23:33-36), the 15^th day of the 7^th month (following Yom Kippur); it is the last of the seven annual Feasts of YHWH.

 

    ·  The 50-YEAR JUBILEE Festival, the Feast of Yoval or the Ram’s Horn (shofar) called Jubilee (Lev.25:10). It is the Feast of Release!

    ·  The POST EXILIC Festivals

    1. Purim/Lots (Esther 9:26-32) which is the feast remembering the seed of woman Judah, was saved by a woman, Queen Hadassah or Esther. It is held on the 14th day of Adar (early spring).

    2. Chanukah/Dedication (2 Maccabees; Yochanon 10:22) which is the Feast commemorating the cleansing of the Temple by the Maccabees and Israel in 165 BC. It is held on 25th day of Kislev (corresponding to 25th of December).

    Modern Israel has also inaugurated modern holidays.

    ·  Yom HaShoah/Day of the Burning (Holocaust Memorial). This is a national remembrance of the 6 million Jews who died in the ovens of Nazi Germany.

    ·  Yom HaAtzma’ut/Day of Independence (May 14). This is Israel’s Celebration of Independence.

WHERE WERE THE BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS OF YHWH TO BE observed?

    ·  God Desired Israel to make three pilgrimages to see Him in Jerusalem (Exo.23:14-17).

    ·  The Seven Annual Feasts of YHWH (above) were compartmentalized into three pilgrimages to Jerusalem: 

    1. The First Pilgrimage was to observe the first three Feasts of YHWH, Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.

    2. The Second Pilgrimage fifty days later was to observe the Feast of Pentecost/Harvest.

    3. The Third Pilgrimage was for the celebration of the last three Feasts of YHWH, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles.

the fall feasts of yhwh

Why did Elohim command Israel to obey feasts or festivals every week, every month, seven times every year, and every fifty years? Why did Elohim command Israel to aliya or “go up” to Yerushalayim three times each year, once in the spring, again in early summer, and the final journey up in the fall to keep His feasts? That's much time away from their vocations, it was/is a lot of expense, and an abundance of packing, walking, riding, and exposure to weather and exposure to many dangers?

The Feasts of YHWH were Moadim or set times or seasons (Lev.23:2). The Feasts of YHWH were also Miqra Kodesh or Holy Convocations, meaning holy “get-togethers” for fellowship. The Feasts were for assembling. The Feasts of YHWH were also for Zikhron or remembrances (Lev.23:24), and they were Skia (Greek) or “shadows” although obscure. According to the Apostle Shaul (Paul) they were representations (Col.2:17) of the Messiah. 

In the book of 1 Corinthians Shaul wrote that the Feasts of YHWH were Poieo (poy-eh-o) or “doings;” the Feasts were drama (1 Cor. 11:24). Finally, the Feasts of YHWH were Messianic. We know this to be true since Yeshua said similar when He gave us His hermeneutic of the Holy Scriptures as recorded by the good physician Luke (Luke 24:27-44). At home where Jews lived they were to keep the weekly feast of Shabbat (Lev.23:3), the monthly holiday of Rosh Chodesh or “First Moon” (Num.28:11), and the fifty-year Feast of Jubilee (Lev.25:10). However, His seven annual Feasts were to be observed in His Holy City, Yerushalayim. In Exodus 23:14-17 God compartmentalized those seven Feasts into three aliyas or “goings up” to Yerushalayim. In the spring He requested to see Israel for Pesach (Passover), Matzot (Unleavened Bread), and Bikkurim (First Fruits), all three happening within seven days. In the summer He requested to see Israel for the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost meaning “Harvest,” and in the fall the Jews were to visit the Holy City to see Holy God for Yom T’Ruah, the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. 

All three of the Fall Feasts of YHWH were/are centered on the phases of the moon and in the 7th month of the Jewish year, the seventh month being the holiest month of the twelve months. 

This year, 2019 the Feast of Trumpets occurs on September 29-30, the Feast of Yom Kippur on October 8-9, and the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles is October 13-20. The days encompassing these three fall feasts are “High Holy Days” for Israel, and the ten days between Trumpets and Atonement are called “the Days of Awe,” sobering days for self-examination. But, examination according to what point of reference? What was/is the grading scale of the examination? Our answer is, of course, Yeshua! He has always been the plum line!

On the 14th day of the 1st month of God’s calendar year, the month of Nisan or Aviv Yeshua fulfilled Passover as the Lamb of God dying for the sins of the world. Only by application of His blood is one redeemed! On the 15th day of the 1st month of God’s calendar year Yeshua fulfilled Unleavened Bread. His sinless body broken for us which is why we eat the unleavened bread of the Lord’s Supper or Communion. Then, on the 1st day of the week following Passover, Yeshua resurrected from the grave and He brought with Him His “firstfruits” of a resurrection, OT saints resurrected with Him and walked through Yerushalayim (Matthew 27:52), a small remnant of the harvest coming later. Fifty days later Yeshua blew in to the Upper Room and He possessed 120 persons who were waiting for the promise of His ghost. They were inhabited by Him; they became His kodesh kodeshim or “Holy of Holies.” With stammering or “jumpy” non-Hebraic lips, the Galilee boys became supernatural linguists speaking sixteen tongues that Luke records for us in Acts Chapter 2. The unbelieving Jews marveled, saying “aren’t these boys red-necks from the lake?” (Lisemby Paraphrase of Acts 2:7).

Yeshua HIMSELF fulfilled the first four of the seven Feasts of YHWH. How will He, then, fulfill the last three [Fall] Feasts of YHWH? On Yom T’Ruah the Feast of Trumpets 100 shofar blasts are heard -all day. It was a day of gathering and LeShanah Tova Tikatevu or roll-call. Will Yeshua Himself gather His people? Will there be a roll-call? On Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter the Kodesh Kodeshim or Holy of Holies to make atonement upon the Mercy Seat, then reappear to portray God having accepted His sacrifice. Yeshua has gone behind the veil, but He has not reappeared! No fear! Yeshua was the azazel or “scape goat” Who took away our sins never to be remembered/considered again. It is only by His blood that sins are forgiven and eradicated; outside His remission there is no forgiveness, and all unbelievers will experience His wrath -eternal punishment in ghenna fire. Yeshua is presently waiting for His Father to give Him the nod to return for His people. He is the High Priest soon to return. Following the Day of Atonement is the Feast of Tabernacles when Jews would make booths of branches and live in them for an extended period of time. This is reminiscent of man tabernacling with God in Gan Eden, and also reminiscent of OT High Priests dwelling with God in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Sukkot also foreshadows man dwelling with God in the millennial kingdom. Yeshua perfectly and transparently fulfilled the first four Feasts of YHWH and He will fulfill the last three fall Feasts of YHWH. He is about to do so! Be ready!