The Feasts of the Lord: Everything Is Moving Toward Rest
We notice right from the outset that God has a structure of seven.
And it is always moving toward rest.
Six days, then a day of rest.
Six years of cultivating the land, then in the seventh year the land rests.
Then we have the Year of Jubilee: seven cycles of seven, followed by the 50th year and total economic release.
The Feast of Weeks follows the same pattern: seven full weeks and then the feast on the 50th day.
From Firstfruits we move forward until we reach Tishrei, the seventh month, where we find the great cluster of the fall feasts.
In short, everything is moving toward rest.
The Pattern of Seven in Personal Testimonies
What about the personal testimonies recorded throughout Scripture?
After Elijah’s victory on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, he prayed for rain. He told his servant to go and look toward the sea. Nothing happened—until the seventh time.
In 2 Kings 5, Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan.
At the walls of Jericho we find:
Seven priests.
Seven horns.
Seven days.
Seven times.
When Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son in 2 Kings 4, the boy sneezed seven times and was restored to life.
Are We Knocking at the Door?
Peter warned that in the last days there would come scoffers asking, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
If we were to model the week of creation as a picture of the time until Jesus comes, we are knocking at the door.
6,000 years — then the 1,000-year Millennium.
Again, everything is moving toward rest.
The Feasts: A Shadow of Things to Come
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
The feasts are a shadow of things to come.
And the substance is Christ.
Passover — Jesus Our Passover Lamb
Nisan 14
“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.”
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”
Jesus is our Passover Lamb.
Unleavened Bread — Jesus in the Tomb
Nisan 15
“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.”
Following Passover comes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, pointing us toward Jesus in the tomb.
Firstfruits — Jesus Raised From the Dead
The Feast of Firstfruits takes place on the first day of the week—Sunday—immediately following the weekly Sabbath that occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Jesus was raised from the dead on Firstfruits.
“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 he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
The Feast of Weeks — Pentecost
Seven Full Weeks — The 50th Day
After seven full weeks comes the Feast on the 50th day.
“Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.”
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
God Himself inserted the Church into the Feast at Pentecost.
The Feast of Trumpets
Tishrei 1 — Yom Teruah — Rosh Hashanah
The Feast of Trumpets begins on the first day of the seventh month.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.”’”
This year, the Feast of Trumpets falls September 11–12 and begins at sunset Friday.
There will be no trumpet blasts because it falls on Shabbat. The year will start on Shabbat and end on Shabbat.
There is much concern because of the past when the Day of Trumpets began on Shabbat.
But it can also be viewed as a day of double blessing.
When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, it is actually viewed as a time of greater protection. The enemy has no power at all on Shabbat, and the battle is turned from outward to inward.
When Shabbaton—the Day of Trumpets—converges with Shabbat, it is an alignment when the physical world converges with the world to come.
The Shofar and the Accuser
The shofar is said to have the power to confuse Satan.
Satan stands before God accusingly. He has a list of humanity’s sins. When the shofar is blown, it mimics the wailing of broken hearts.
This causes people to repent and return to God, dismantling his case.
It confuses his strategy by invoking God’s mercy.
What Do the Shofar Blasts Mean?
There are four kinds of blasts associated with the Feast of Trumpets.
1. Tekiah — The Coronation of the King
One long, steady note.
Tekiah represents the coronation of the King.
2. Shevarim — Brokenness and Repentance
Three broken blasts.
Shevarim represents brokenness and repentance—a crying out to God for mercy.
3. Teruah — Wake Up!
Nine piercing, short blasts.
Teruah is an alarm.
Wake up!
It is a call to shake people out of their spiritual slumber.
Judgment is approaching.
4. Tekiah Gedolah — The Great Long Blast
One final, massive, long note held for as long as the trumpeter has breath.
We remember the trumpet blast on Mount Sinai—the Great Trumpet. It became louder and louder.
Prophetically, it points toward the last trumpet that gathers God’s people into final victory.
“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.”
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Will the Rapture Occur on the Feast of Trumpets?
So what do I think?
I’ve argued with myself over this a lot.
Will the Rapture occur on the Feast of Trumpets?
One argument immediately comes to mind:
“But it’s Israel’s feast!”
No! It’s the Lord’s Feast!
He inserted the Church into the Feast Himself on Pentecost.
“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.’”
The Day of Atonement points us toward God’s dealings with Israel and the taking away of their sins.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Finally, we come to the Feast of Tabernacles.
I believe Tabernacles will be fulfilled in the Millennium, when Christ reigns.
We barely get to touch on Tabernacles and Atonement, but when we step back and look at all of the feasts together, an incredible picture begins to emerge.
The First Four and the Final Three
The first four feasts point us toward the work of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost:
Passover — Jesus, our Passover Lamb.
Unleavened Bread — Jesus in the tomb.
Firstfruits — Jesus raised from the dead.
Pentecost — The Holy Ghost poured out.
Then we come to the final three fall feasts:
Trumpets.
Atonement.
Tabernacles.
Just as the first four feasts were fulfilled in one season, I believe the last three fall feasts will be fulfilled when Jesus returns.
Everything Is Moving Toward Rest
From the beginning, God established a pattern.
Six days — then rest.
Six years — then rest.
Seven cycles of seven — then Jubilee.
Seven weeks — then Pentecost.
Six thousand years — then the Millennium.
From Genesis to the Feasts of the Lord, the pattern continues to point us forward.
Everything is moving toward rest.
And as we watch the prophetic picture unfold, the message of the trumpet should still speak to every one of us:
Wake up.
Repent.
Reconcile.
Be ready.
We must be ready for the King to come!
— SB