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God has an incredible plan and purpose for mankind. But how does He reveal it, and how can we understand it?
by Donald Ward
he Holy Days reveal God's plan of salvation for all humanity. Just as the plan of salvation is universal, so are the Holy Days. They progressively provide hope for all humans as God's boundless love is made available through their fulfillment. The universality of these days is confirmed in Leviticus 23:4: "These are the feasts of the Lord," not just the feasts of Israel. These feasts include the weekly Sabbath. After Jesus Christ created the Sabbath day, He rested (Hebrew shabath: "kept Sabbath") from all the work He had made (Genesis 2:2).
Since Jesus Christ created the Sabbath, He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). Thus, anyone who attempts to confine the "feasts of the Lord" to the Jews must deny Jesus' own testimony. So to deny that Jesus Christ created the Sabbath is to deny His lordship and sovereignty.
Since the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days are "feasts of the Lord," they stand or fall together. They reveal the greatest purpose of God: His desire to have a relationship with every human that has ever lived or ever will live. Human beings can have a relationship with God only through the Holy Spirit. Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Sabbaths of the Lord reveal God as a spiritual Creator who desires a relationship with humankind.
If, at the creation of man, God had not created the Sabbath and revealed Himself as the spiritual Creator, man would have been incomplete: cut off, without any hope or knowledge of how to relate to his Creator. So, at creation, our great loving Father revealed His love, care and concern for humans by revealing Himself as the spiritual Creator, who would commune with humans through the Holy Spirit as symbolized by the tree of life.
One cannot eat of the tree of life without recognizing God's sovereignty in all facets of His being. Adam and Eve rejected God's sovereignty in their lives. They refused to look to God for the knowledge of good and evil; that is, the knowledge of how to relate to God and fellow humans. As a result of Adam's and Eve's rejection of God as spiritual Creator and Revelator, humanity as a whole was cut off from the Holy Spirit, and hence a relationship with their Creator, for more than 4,000 years.
The progressive revelation and spiritual fulfillment of "the feasts of the Lord" provide all humans who have ever lived with an opportunity to call upon the name of Jesus Christ as He has commanded for redemption and reconciliation with our loving Father. God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2Peter 3:9). Yes, the "feasts of the Lord" are truly universal since they reveal God's will for all humans.
Jesus Christ kept the feasts. The apostle Paul admonished the Corinthians, "Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump (a little leaven leavens the whole lump), since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1Corinthians 5:7,8).
These passages demonstrate at least two vital truths concerning Christians' observance of the Holy Days in the New Testament. First of all, they were clearly keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread in that they were unleavened (physically). Paul then admonishes them to keep the Feast spiritually by casting out the old leaven (sin), just as they had put out the physical leaven and had thus become physically unleavened. The spiritual keeping of the Feast is to be done through the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Jesus Christ is that unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The Church is to eat and drink of His Word so "that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26).
With this backdrop we can now parallel the Holy Days with literal events in Israel's history, with "the principles of the doctrine of Christ" (KJV) as outlined in Hebrews 6:1 and 2, and the spiritual fulfillment of the Holy Days that culminates with all humans being given the opportunity to enter into a spiritual relationship with their loving heavenly Father.
The Weekly Sabbath
God revealed the Sabbath to Adam and Eve the day after they were created. The apostle Paul wrote that "the law is spiritual" (Romans 7:14). The Sabbath proves that God is a spiritual Creator. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is . . ." (Hebrews 11:6). So the Sabbath parallels the doctrine of faith in God. In short, to deny the spiritual law is to deny that "God is."
The author of Hebrews wrote that there remains a rest for the people of God, and the Hebrews were admonished to labor to enter into that rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). The word rest is translated from the Greek word sabbatismos, which implies a physical keeping of the Sabbath as well as the future millennial rest that is to be enjoyed by the entire creation at the manifestation of the sons of God during the thousand-year reign of Christ and the saints.
Passover
The servitude of Israel in the land of Egypt culminated with God hearing the cries of His people and raising up His servant Moses to lead them out of captivity (Exodus 3:7-11). Time after time, Moses went before Pharaoh pleading for freedom so Israel could hold a feast and "sacrifice unto the Lord" (Exodus 5:1-3). Time after time Pharaoh hardened his heart as God sent deadly plagues upon the Egyptians and their land.
Finally God revealed to Moses how the Israelites could be saved. They were instructed to set aside an unblemished lamb on the 10th day of the first month. (Here we find God revealing His sacred calendar to the Israelites.)
On the 14th day of the month they were instructed to kill the lambs and sprinkle the blood of the lambs on the doorposts of their homes, so the death angel would pass over their homes and spare their firstborn. In those homes where no blood was sprinkled, the firstborn of both man and beast were slain.
About 1,450 years later, Jesus Christ became our Passover Lamb on the 14th day of the first month of the sacred calendar. Jesus Christ is our Passover (1Corinthians 5:7). His sacrifice makes it possible for the believer to leave spiritual Egypt. Leaving spiritual Egypt parallels the doctrine of repentance. The blood of Christ becomes the propitiation - the atoning sacrifice - for sin, for all persons who repent of breaking God's great, immutable, spiritual law. Christ came to save us out of our sins, not in our sins. As Paul wrote, "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" (Galatians 2:17).
Christ instituted the new symbols of the Passover on the night before He was betrayed and crucified. The bread and wine represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ is the seal of the new covenant. Jesus said that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53).
Christians are therefore commanded to keep the Feast of Passover. In light of His clear instructions, no Christian would deny the necessity of keeping the Feast of Passover. Are the other feasts of God any less important in the purpose and plan of God?
First Day of Unleavened Bread
The children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This freedom was made possible by the blood of the Passover lambs and the Israelites' faith in God. After we are convicted of sin by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit and repent and exercise faith, we too can begin to leave spiritual Egypt.
It took Israel seven days to completely leave the geographical environs of Egypt. But the moment a person exercises faith in God for the remission of sins that are past, he is justified and the penalty for sin is abolished. The repentant sinner is viewed as sinless and righteous in the sight of God (Colossians 1:21,22).
The Christian is to continue in a state of repentance and contrition before God by eating of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Corinthians 5:8). Thus the repentant sinner is supposed to continually put sin out through faith. Faith without works is dead. Therefore Paul said, ". . . For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified" (Romans 2:13).
The justified person commits himself to perpetually living what the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures - a life of removing sin by living in faith before God.
Last Day of Unleavened Bread
The Israelites crossed the Red Sea on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Paul wrote that this was their baptism (1Corinthians 10:2). The crossing of the Red Sea marked the Israelites' final departure from Egypt, symbolic of sin and death.
Immediately after Israel crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites sang the victory song of Moses: ". . . The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation . . ." (Exodus 15:2, KJV).
Israel prepared God a physical habitation, the tabernacle. In this habitation, Israel approached God through offerings and sacrifices, none of which changed the heart. Today God wants us to approach Him with a new heart. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).
Today God's habitation is in the individual believer's heart and mind. God dwells in the hearts and minds of believers. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the believer is given the power to crucify the flesh and keep the hosts of Pharaoh, the works of the flesh, in their watery, baptismal grave.
The subject of the Holy Spirit leads us to the parallels of the Feast of Pentecost.
Feast of Pentecost
According to Jewish tradition, Israel received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai on the Day of Pentecost. The Ten Commandments became the basis of Christ's marriage covenant with Israel.
The law is spiritual, but humans had been cut off from the Holy Spirit since Adam and Eve rejected the source of all things spiritual in the Garden of Eden. Thus Israel did not have the heart and mind to keep the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:29).
God recognized the weakness of the people and promised a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31,32). This covenant made it possible for the laws of God to be written on the inward parts of the believer (Hebrews 8:10). Jesus Christ is the "Mediator of a better covenant (the new covenant), which was established on better promises."
The Greek word nomotheteo, translated here as established, means "furnished with law." So the new covenant was furnished with law. What law? The same laws that were codified at Mount Sinai, which included the "feasts of the Lord."
The better promises are spiritual. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ replaced the sacrificial laws of the old covenant, making it possible for the conscience of the believer to be purged (Hebrews 9:14). Upon repentance and faith in the blood of Christ for remission of past sins, God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer (Acts 2:38).
The new convert is to become a new creation in Jesus Christ. He is now a son of God, having received the Spirit of sonship (Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:5,6). He can now be led by the Spirit of God. There is a new mind abiding in his inward parts, providing the power to walk after the Spirit rather than the flesh (Romans 8:1).
As the believer yields himself to obey the mind of the Spirit, he is actively involved in "put(ting) on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). This means that God is actually present and active in his mind. God is writing His laws, His ways, in the mind and heart of the believer.
The spiritual mind and the power to become a new creation were made possible when God sent His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 31 (Acts 2:1-4). On the very feast day that the law was given, God sent His Holy Spirit to correct the fault of the people, who did not keep the terms of the covenant (Hebrews 8:8).
Under the old covenant, Pentecost (also called the Festival of Weeks) marked the harvest of the firstfruits (Leviticus 23:20). On Pentecost, the priest waved the bread of the firstfruits from the early wheat harvest.
On Pentecost, A.D. 31, God began to call out the firstfruits of the new Israel - the Israel of God (Acts 2:39; Galatians 6:16; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4).
Pentecost parallels the doctrine of the laying on of hands (Hebrews 6:2). The new convert receives the Holy Spirit of sonship by the laying on of hands. The Samaritans who repented and were baptized by Philip received the Holy Spirit when Peter and John came down to Samaria and laid hands on them (Acts 8:14-18). Through this ceremony God demonstrates through whom He is working.
Simon the sorcerer desired this gift of the Spirit but refused God's conditions for receiving it (Acts 8:18-23).
The meaning of the Feast of Pentecost is lived every day in the life of the believer. The inward man is to be renewed daily through God's Spirit (2Corinthians 4:16). God gives His Spirit to those who ask for it, to those who eat and drink of His Word and to those who obey Him (Luke 11:13; John 6:63; Acts 5:32).
Feast of Trumpets
In ancient Israel, trumpets were blown to assemble the congregation when it went to war, on feast days and on other special occasions (Numbers 10:1-10). The blowing of trumpets could signal a time of alarm or a time of joy and rejoicing. The Feast of Trumpets marked the beginning of the great fall harvest in ancient Israel, a commanded time of rejoicing and thanksgiving before God.
In the New Testament, the sounding of trumpets marks a time of great contrasts. On the one hand, the trumpet plagues are poured out on the unrepentant inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 8:6-9:21). And on the other hand, the sounding of the trumpet marks the completion of the mystery of God (Revelation 10:7).
Paul explains the mystery: "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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1Corinthians 15:51,52).
So the sounding of trumpets in the New Testament parallels that of the Old Testament. Trumpets may be a time of great travail or a time of great victory. The resurrection from the dead is the greatest victory of all victories for humankind (1Corinthians 15:54-58). The resurrection will indeed be full of glory and a time of unspeakable joy.
The first resurrection marks the harvest of the firstfruits that have been called out since A.D. 31. It will be the greatest turning point in human history. "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, `The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'" (Revelation 11:15).
The Feast of Trumpets parallels the doctrine of resurrection in Hebrews 6:2. Believers who have been crucified with Christ in the watery grave of baptism are raised to newness of life to serve God in the newness of the Spirit (Romans 6:3-6). This means that Christians are to live a new live, a "resurrected" life, by yielding themselves to God as servants of righteousness (Romans 6:13).
The "resurrected" Christian can call on God in this time of travail, and God will deliver. God delights in your reliance upon Him as you live the new life of resurrection (Psalm 50:14,15).
Day of Atonement
On the Day of Atonement, the Israelites were commanded to afflict their souls by fasting. "From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath" (Leviticus 23:32). The casual reader may think it paradoxical for God to command a Sabbath fast and at the same time call it a celebration. The solemn significance of this day truly called for a celebration.
This was the day that the high priest put on special garments and went into the Holy of Holies in the very presence of God to offer blood to atone for his sins and the sins of the people, and to cleanse the sanctuary. The sanctuary had not sinned, but the sins of the nation had been placed on the altar during the year. Therefore it, too, had to be cleansed.
Jesus Christ entered into the Holy Place in heaven, in the presence of God, to provide a new and living way for each believer to enter into the holiest of all through His blood (Hebrews 9:23-24; 10:18-21).
The blood that was sprinkled on the altar in the Holy of Holies of the earthly sanctuary was the blood of a goat that had been selected by the casting of lots (Leviticus 16:6-10). The other goat was called the scapegoat (Hebrew Azazel: the "goat of separation"), signifying entire removal.
Some commentators believe that Azazel means the "great demon" or "Satan." They continue to debate who or what the Azazel goat represents. It is obvious that the blood of the goat that was sprinkled on the altar in the Holy of Holies represents the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:10).
In some ways, it seems that both Passover and the Day of Atonement point to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the same way. And, in some ways, they are the same. That is, the sins of humanity can be passed over through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25).
The Day of Atonement adds a new dimension. Not only have we been redeemed by the blood of Christ, we have a High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us. Moreover, we can live in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of God. Thus we are able to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:15,16).
In view of our position in the Holy of Holies before the throne of God, let us return to the significance of the Azazel goat. It is clear from the Scriptures that "without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). Therefore, it is not possible that the Azazel goat could have anything to do with the remission of sins.
The Levitical high priest took the blood of the goat (which represented the blood of Christ) into the Holy of Holies. Then he was to come back out and "lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, (and) confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel." Then, putting the sins of Israel on the head of the goat, he sent the goat "away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness" (Leviticus 16:21,22).
Placing sin on the head of the goat represents responsibility. We commonly say "your sins are on your head." Satan is the author and father of sin and death. The individual believer can have his sins atoned for through the blood of Christ, but that does not expiate the accountability of the being who is responsible for the way of sin and death. The Azazel goat was taken into an uninhabited land and let go. That is, he was taken to a place that prevented him from having any contact or influence upon the people.
In like manner, Satan and his demons will be banished to a place that will prevent them from influencing mankind (Revelation 20:1-3).
We have been given the power through Jesus Christ to cast Satan out of our lives now. As John wrote, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1John 4:4).
Paul wrote, "If God is for us, who can be against us? . . . We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:31,37).
"And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly . . ." (Romans 16:20).
Christians should continually celebrate the significance of the Day of Atonement. We rejoice in its importance in bringing peace and rest to the entire creation and our reconciliation to God made possible through Christ's sacrifice.
Feast of Tabernacles
The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew succah: "hut" of woven boughs) was observed by Israel after the fall harvest. The Israelites were commanded to leave their houses and build temporary dwelling places (booths) to live in as they rejoiced before the Eternal.
Because the feast was held after the great fall harvest, it was also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16). The Feast of Tabernacles was the most meaningful of all the feasts in that it reminded them of Passover and how they dwelt in booths after God brought them out of Egypt.
It was a time associated with rest, peace and prosperity. The needs of all people including the stranger, the widow, the poor and the Levite were provided for at this feast. The people were commanded to rejoice before the Eternal for seven days.
A high point of the Feast of Tabernacles occurred in the year of release in the seven-year cycle. "At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing" (Deuteronomy 31:10,11).
It was the responsibility of the Levites to teach and expound the law of God throughout the year, but in the year of release there was special emphasis placed on the law of God. This was evidently done to remind the people that God was the source of all blessings and the Author of rest and release.
The prophets Isaiah and Hosea wrote of a time in which all of God's creation will be at rest and peace. The nations will beat their swords into plowshares, and even the enmity between man and beast will be removed. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
All of the types of Israel's keeping the Feast are contained in these prophecies for the future kingdom of God. In that day the nations shall go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall be taught the ways of God. The peoples of all nations will learn the way of love, joy and peace in God's kingdom (Zechariah 14:16-19; Isaiah 2:2-5).
The resurrected saints will be made priests of God and Christ, and they will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:6). Thus the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the rule and reign of the saints in the kingdom of God.
Judgment is now on the house of God. The saints are being prepared to become kings and priests in the kingdom of God. In that thousand-year period, the saints and converted humans will help bring all nations into a relationship with God, Christ and each member of the family of God. It will be a time of judgment for all the world. The Feast of Tabernacles parallels the doctrine of judgment (Hebrews 6:2). This judgment is not to be construed as a final sentencing, but a time for salvation.
The Feast of Tabernacles is rich in meaning for Christians today for many reasons. We who have entered into His spiritual rest in this church age are given the opportunity to preach the good news of the kingdom of God here and now. We are given the opportunity to demonstrate to the nations the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness so God may be glorified in the day of their visitation (1Peter 2:9-12).
Last Great Day
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, `If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink'" (John 7:37).
During the time of Christ's ministry on earth, the Jews drew out water from the pool of Siloam and poured it on the altar every day, but on the last great day of the Feast they circled the altar seven times and poured out the waters of Siloam the last time. The waters of Siloam represented healing for the people. Jesus interrupted their ceremony and identified the Spirit of God as the source of eternal life.
The apostle Peter wrote that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Yet countless thousands of members of the human race have died having never heard the name of Jesus Christ, much less been given the opportunity for salvation.
Is God a respecter of persons, or will all humans who have ever lived be provided with an opportunity to drink of the living waters?
The Scriptures reveal that there is a first resurrection of the firstfruits and then a second resurrection for those who were not called to salvation in this age. "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28,29).
The prophet Ezekiel foretold a time in which God will open the graves of the dead and give them physical life (Ezekiel 37:13,4).
For all the qualities and characteristics of God's will and character to be fulfilled, it is incumbent upon him to allow every person who ever lived to enter the process and plan of salvation. He "desires all men to be saved" and is "not willing that any should perish" (1Timothy 2:4; 2Peter 3:9).
The fulfillment of the Last Great Day will provide this opportunity. "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:5). All of those who have died, cut off from the precious saving knowledge of God and the gift of His Spirit through repentance and faith in Christ, will be resurrected to physical life and given this priceless opportunity.
God calls each person at the time that is best for that person. Today is not the only day of salvation. If it is, God's purpose and plan for humanity have been miserable failures. But, praise be unto God, this is not the only day of salvation. "I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in a (not the; see Isaiah 49:8 and original manuscripts for verification) day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2Corinthians 6:2, KJV).
The Last Great Day parallels the doctrine of judgment and going on to perfection (Hebrews 6:2). It will be a time in which all humans who ever lived can know God and go on to perfection. We who have been called to salvation in this age must go on to perfection now, thereby fulfilling the intent of the Last Great Day.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, `Come!' And let him who hears say, `Come!' And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" Revelation 22:17). That's the purpose and plan of God as revealed by the Holy Days. O the depth and the riches of God! GN
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Keywords: festivals holydays God's plan mankind, purpose of purpose of life salvation, plan of
Holydays - Jesus' fulfillment: