Church of God, In Truth
The Annual Festivals of God!
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The Annual Festivals of God!
PROVE ALL THINGS BIBLE STUDY
THE ANNUAL FESTIVALS OF GOD
IS JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY DAYS?
CAN WE SEE THE PLAN OF GOD IN THE HOLY DAYS?
1. WHERE DO WE FIND A COMPLETE LIST OF THE ANNUAL FEAST DAYS MENTIONED IN THE WORD OF GOD?
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts" (Lev 23:2).
SABBATH
"Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings" (Lev 23:3).
PASSOVER
"In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S Passover" (Lev 23:5).
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
"And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein" (Lev 23:6-8).
WAVESHEAF SUNDAY
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete" (Lev 23:10,15)
PENTECOST
"Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations" (Lev 23: 16, 21).
FEAST OF TRUMPETS
"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" (Lev 23:24).
DAY OF ATONEMENT
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath (Lev 23: 27,32).
FEAST OF TABERNACLES
"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. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein" (Lev 23:34-35).
LAST GREAT DAY
"Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein" (Lev 23:36).
2. WHEN LOOKING AT THE HOLY DAYS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT SPIRITUAL POINT OF VIEW, ARE WE LOOKING AT THE SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME?
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ (Col 2:16-17).
3. DO WE SEE JESUS CHRIST IN EACH OF THESE HOLY DAYS?
SABBATH:
The sabbath pictures the sign between God and His people. God made the sabbath for man. It is a sign by which WE KNOW that he is God. It is a memorial of creation and creation is the proof of the existence of God. Creation identifies God. The sabbath is a weekly memorial and reminder of God and His power to create! And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Gen 2:2-3).
PASSOVER:
Passover pictures the death of Jesus Christ as the lamb of God, who had to shed His blood for the remission of sin for all of mankind. "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb 9:14, 22-28). "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect" (Heb 10:1). As we take the New Testament Passover each year with the new symbols of bread and wine, we renew our vows to God that we want to put sin out of our life and to be a new person in Jesus Christ. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt 26:26-28).
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD:
As we eat unleavened bread for seven days, we picture the putting on of Jesus Christ. We imbibe of His nature, His character and His laws. In Leviticus 23:6 God said, we must eat unleavened bread seven days! "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days YE MUST EAT unleavened bread" (Lev 23:6). This was a command from God. The reason being, we need to put Jesus Christ into our inward parts. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom 6:4-13).
WAVESHEAF:
Just as Passover is not a Holy Day, neither is the Wavesheaf day a Holy day. This pictures, not the resurrection, but the resurrected Christ being accepted of God as the very first human being to be actually born of God-- the first fruit of the first harvest of brethren. "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (Joh 20:17). "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming" (1 Cor 15:20,23).
PENTECOST:
Fifty days after the wavesheaf was offered, the Holy Spirit came to help the people of God. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (Joh 14:16-18,20-21). We know that the Holy Spirit is a power, not a person. In the King James English they translated this meaning by saying he, when we all know it means it, the Spirit of power!! We can see Christ in Pentecost as the first part of the spiritual first harvest.
FEAST OF TRUMPETS:
The Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thes 4:16-17). "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful" (Rev 17:14). Unless Christ returns to resurrect the dead, we will never gain eternal life. As soon as the work of gathering in the firstfruits (pictured by Pentecost) is completed at the end of this present age, then Christ will begin to set up His Kingdom on this earth.
DAY OF ATONEMENT:
Atonement, pictures Jesus Christ as our High Priest going within the veil, into the Holy of Holies (which is in heaven), to lay the sins of the world on the head of Satan and to send him away for 1000 years. "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison" (Rev 20:2-3,7). Atonement means to set at one--to join in one--to form by uniting. We shall not be completely joined in one, and united with God, until Satan the accuser of the brethren, who is the real cause--the actual author of sin is taken away.
FEAST OF TABERNACLES:
This pictures the millennium. To show His plan, God took the yearly material harvest seasons in Palestine as the picture of the spiritual harvest of souls. The second harvest, produced by the "latter rain", comes in the fall. The Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering is at the turn of the year (beginning of autumn). "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year" (Exo 34:22 Interlinear Bible). Just as Pentecost pictures the early harvest--this church age, so the feast of ingathering or tabernacles pictures the late harvest--the great harvest of people in the millennium! The millennium is a time when the Eternal shall be king over the whole earth. "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. And it shall come to pass, that every one 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 14:9,16). We see a kingdom, heavenly in origin, principle, and authority, set up on earth, with Jerusalem as the capital and to be established first over regathered, restored Israel. The moral characteristics of the Kingdom of God are to righteousness and peace, which bare the fruit of the Spirit of God. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal 5:22-23).
GREAT LAST DAY:
The seventh festival of God pictures the final resurrection, when all who have ever lived have the opportunity to learn and live the way of the True God and His Son Jesus Christ. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works" (Rev 20:11-13). This festival also pictures the final judgement before the new heaven and new earth comes down from the Father. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:15). "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Rev 21:1-3).
4. CAN WE SEE BOTH A MEMORIAL AND A PROPHECY IN THE HOLY DAYS?
We have seen that the feasts of God are both a memorial and a prophecy! As we look at the Old Testament, God tells them to keep the feasts as a memorial. "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever" (Exo 12:14). "And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. "Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year" (Exo 13:9-10). Now, notice the feast days from the New Testament point of view. We see Christ in each feast day and the prophecy of the true plan of God for all of mankind as pictured by the annual harvests. God's Holy Days show that all mankind will have the opportunity to know the true God and His way to eternal life.
In the Old Testament the Holy Days were a Memorial
"And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD" (Exo 23:16-17). "And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel" (Exo 34:22-23).
In Exodus the Feast was called Ingathering, as a prophecy of the plan of God. The name was changed to the Feast of Booths because of sin! That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God" (Lev 23:43).
In the New Testament the Holy Days are prophetic--a shadow of things to come!!
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col 2:16-17). In the New Testament, we are again looking at the Holy Days as prophetic. We are looking for the Plan of Redemption to be fulfilled!! We see the resurrections in the harvest plan God has shown in His Holy Days. After the final feast has been orchestrated the festivals will again be a memorial.
IN THIS PRESENT AGE WE MUST ALL KEEP THE FEASTS AND THE SABBATH AS A SIGN BETWEEN GOD AND US!!
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