Monday – October 3, 2016
Greetings from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publication. We are off to another wonderful week to perfect the will of God in the earth, in our lives, expanding the Kingdom of God. If you are thinking, “well my week is not particularly wonderful” and we have all been there, it means that our primary focus is on the circumstances of our life and not our Heavenly Father and His Word. God is so good.
At 6 pm on the 2nd of October 2016 was the start of the Feast of Lord called Rosh Hashanah. There are seven feasts of the LORD, four in the spring and three in the fall. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the three fall feasts.
Leviticus 23:1-2 (KJV)
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 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.
The Hebrew word feast transliterated to English as ‘moed’ means an appointed time of assembly for a specific purpose. Also notice that these feasts or moeds are the Lords’ feasts. They are appointed by Him for His purposes. His purposes will always have great benefit for His people. These appointed times of assembly for a set purpose are established by the LORD forever. Although Rosh Hashanah starts on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei) it is the first day of the Civil New Year. The number seven represents Spiritual completion and the number one represents unity, in this case spiritual unity with God. This could very easily be represented by the Rapture.
Leviticus 23:23-25 (KJV)
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 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.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
The four spring feasts are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost were prophetic of and fulfilled by the first coming of Jesus. Therefore we might conclude that the three fall feasts are prophetic of and will be fulfilled by the second coming of Jesus. In this case when I say second coming I am referring to the End of Day’s events that include the Catching Away (Rapture), the Second Coming (when Jesus returns to earth), and the thousand year reign of Christ (Millennial Reign). The centerpiece of the Feast (Moed) of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the trumpet or Shofar. A Shofar is a ram’s horn. This is first seen in the testing of Abraham when God asks him to sacrifice Isaac. Let’s take a look at that Scripture.
Genesis 22:12-13 (KJV)
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Does any of the nomenclature in verse twelve sound familiar? Until Calvary and the Resurrection of Jesus, Jesus was the only begotten Son of God but now you and I are sons of God, perhaps an innumerable number. Under the Blood Covenant because Abraham (Blood Covenant partner with God) was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, for God, God had to be willing to sacrifice His Son for Abraham, all of mankind. And if He didn’t have one, He needed to make one. Thank you Father, thank you Jesus. Notice in verse thirteen (13 = rebellion and depravity) that the ram (adult male lamb) was caught by his horns. These horns are used as trumpets that are blown on Rosh Hashanah and other events. The blowing of the horn (shofar) heralds or announces the coming of a person or event. In the case of Abraham and Isaac this ram caught by his horns heralded that the sacrifice was present speaking of the coming One who would be the substitute, the sacrifice for all of mankind providing redemption for us all just as that ram was a substitute for Isaac that day. Mankind needed a Savior, a redeemer from the rebellion and depravity that started in the Garden of Eden.
The Shofar is blown on Rosh Hashanah to announce the beginning of the Civil New Year in Jewish Synagogues. This feast involving the blowing of the Shofar is prophetic of the Catching Away of the Church. The Catching Away or Rapture is when the trump of God will be blown and the Church is caught up into the air to meet the Lord Jesus and then on to Heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV)
16 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:
17 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.
What a wonderful day this will be! Look at a couple of other passages that declare this wonderful event, part of our hope, our call, and our inheritance.
1 Corinthians 15:51-54 (KJV)
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
We get brand new bodies, this time they do not age, they do not wear out, and they are absolutely indestructible. There will be no more physical death. Oh, what a glorious day! Our focus is not on that day, for now our focus is on the will of God for us in the earth, our assignment from Heaven. We are not trying to get to Heaven, Heaven is our home, and we are on assignment from Heaven. Let us run our race to completion that we receive the reward our Heavenly Father intended from the foundation of the world.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
