Concerning the Fall Feasts in 2018 (Modified)
Dates
As some of you heard me mentioned it before, I think that 2018 is a very special year in the work of the Lord in the age of man (this creation), especially concerning the Feast of Tabernacles. To date the details:
- Jewish New Year for 5778, a year of Jubilee, started on the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) on September 20, 2017. The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah, High Sabbath) for 5779 is sundown on
Sunday, September 9 to sundown on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.
- Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, High Sabbath) for 5779 is sundown on Tuesday, September 18 to sundown on Wednesday, September 20, 2018.
- Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, first day – High Sabbath) for 5779 is sundown (evening) on Sunday, September 23, to sundown September 30, 2018. It lasts for a week.
- Then the 8th Day, the Last Great Day of the Feast, Shemini Atzeret, will begin sundown on Sunday, September 30 and ends sundown on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.
Prophetic Significance and Some Personal Insight
To put this year in a brief historical and prophetic context:
- 2018 is the 70th year after Israel’s independence. A great event in the history of Israel this year is when United States just moved its embassy officially to Jerusalem.
- It is also the 50th year after the Jerusalem Day being celebrated (May 26, 1968).
To add a brief exposition of its spiritual significance.
- 70 years. This period of time signifies the end of the time of exile for the spiritual people of God (the True Church or God’s remnants) in the end time, like the Babylonian Exiles as prophecies by Jeremiah and understood by Daniel. It indicates that the Spiritual Jerusalem or Mountain Zion (Hebrews 12:18-29), has still being refused by peoples of the world as the rightful worship and government capital of God’s people. In the heavenly and spiritual realm, there is an “anointed generation” (Psm. 22: 30-31, Psm, 118), like David and his people had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5), at this “appointed time”, will take back the spiritual Zion, as prophecies in Revelations 11:15-12:17. The remnants have returned to rebuild of God’s house (Haggai 2:6-9) .
- 50 years. A time of refreshing and renewal.
I don’t have the time to expound the concept of God’s remnants or that of the Feast of God’s Word. So allow me to be brief, in essence, God will raise up a company of His sons to teach or minister His undiluted word of life in order to prepare (sanctify) a Bride for Christ. Put in the full spectrum of God’s work in the history of mankind (7 colored or covenanted periods), it is the time of the Great Turn into the End of All Ages of the Old Creation or the Age of Man. That is the administration of God’s grace for the Church Age is coming to an end, and the new Administration Grace for the Kingdom Age will begin. Just like the day of Pentecost, the grace of God for the Jewish people started to dwindle and the time of Gentile had started, even thru the ministries of the early Church, esp. that signified by the ministries of Peter and Paul (Gal. 2, 2 Pet. 3:10-18).
We are coming to a New Day, which is God’s governmental or kingly grace will manifest. If the past age is a grace symbolized by the lamb of suffering (for the sins of the world) and mercy (to the penitent and repented), the new grace for the coming days , or God’s people in the end time will be like the lion of triumph (over the enemies of God) and judgment (upon the wicked and disobedient).
In sum, the time of Gentiles will come to an end. The time of God’s Holy Remnant will commerce.
Further information Fall Feasts
(The Following is quoted from The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Emphases added by Immanuel.)
Three feasts occurred in the month of Tishri:
- The Feast of Trumpets called for repentance.
- The Day of Atonement sought redemption.
- The Feast of Tabernacles, a pilgrimage feast, remembered the fulfillment of the redemption from Egypt (Glaser, Fall Feasts of Israel, 16).
Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)
The Feast of Trumpets signaled a call for repentance. Leviticus says that it should be announced with the blast of trumpets and be treated as a holy convocation. A food offering was included in the celebrations alongside the prohibition against work (Lev 23:23–25). The meat offerings of the feast were the same as those of the Feast of Weeks, but with only one bull (Num 29:2).
The Feast of Trumpets marked the beginning of a new agricultural year. It was unusual in that the trumpet, likely the shofar, would announce the feast and assemble the people. This feast dedicated the new agricultural year to God for His provision. Psalm 81 may allude to the Feast of Trumpets (Psa 81:3) in the context of the deliverance from Egypt. The psalm ends with a call for repentance, reminding the people to call upon the Lord as those in Egypt did (Psa 81:11–16).
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
The Day of Atonement was the most holy of the feasts—the one time each year when the high priest could approach the mercy seat to make atonement for the nation’s sins. It occurred on the tenth day of Tishri, and was treated as a Sabbath (Lev 16:29). The Day of Atonement, described in detail in Lev 16, contained precise procedures and sacrifices:
- The high priest had to be properly bathed and attired for the ceremony (Lev 16:4).
- A bull was offered as a sin offering for the high priest and his household. Since the high priest made intercession for the nation, this purification was particularly important. Purification for the high priest is repeated four times: Lev 16:6, 11, 17, and 24.
- Two goats were placed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. One was sacrificed as a sin offering and one would be the scapegoat sent to Azazel (Lev 16:7–10). A sin offering for the people was offered at least three times: Lev 16:10, 17, 24.
- After the offering of the bull, a censer of fire and incense was presented in the most holy place. The blood of the bull was then sprinkled upon the mercy seat of the Ark (Lev 16:12–14).
- The goat for the sin offering was sacrificed and its blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat to make atonement for the most holy place (Lev 16:15–16). The blood from both the bull and the goat was then spread on the horns of the altar seven times (Lev 16:18–19).
- The high priest touched the scapegoat and confessed national sins over the animal. It was then set loose into the wilderness (Lev 16:21–22).
- The high priest changed to normal priestly robes, bathed, and then offered burnt offerings for both himself and the people. The fat of the sin offering was burnt. The remains of the sin offerings were removed from the camp and burned (Lev 16:27–28).
- The individual(s) who led the scapegoat to the wilderness washed their clothes and bathed before returning to camp (Lev 16:26).
There were 15 sacrifices total (three sin offerings and 12 burnt offerings) and the scapegoat.
The peoples’ impurity demanded the purification of the tabernacle and the altar. Sin and purification were the focus of the day’s events (Rooker, Leviticus, 211–13). The Day of Atonement was the only fast day commanded in the Mosaic Law.
Feast of Tabernacles
The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the period of the wilderness wanderings directly following the exodus from Egypt. It lasted seven days, beginning on the 15th of Tishri. It is also called the Feast of Ingathering, since it gathered the people together after the harvesting season and was the final pilgrim feast of Israel.
The feast opened and closed with convocations of the people. There were daily sacrifices. The final day of the feast may have had the same rules against working as the Feast of Unleavened Bread (MacRae, “Meaning and Evolution of the Feast of Tabernacles,” 258). The remembrance of the wilderness wandering was considered an occasion of joy, connected to God’s saving work on Israel’s behalf. A large number of sacrifices were offered during the week’s celebration (Num 29:12–38).
Ram’s Horn
Marriage Feast
To quote
“In a spiritual sense, the Feast of Sukkot is all about finally dwelling with the Almighty after the end times. When we are gathered to the Messiah, there will be a great feast (during the feast of Sukkot, of course). The Bible likens it to a wedding feast and calls it the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6) . The groom is Messiah and we are like a bride that has waited for him.”