Monday – October 17, 2016
It is Monday and welcome back to The Three Minute Word and Eastern Gate Ministries International. I hope that your weekend was pleasant and relaxing as you walked with Him. Last evening at 6pm was the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. Recall that these Feasts of the Lord are a commandment of the Lord and are to be observed forever. This is a time that God has appointed for a Holy Assembly for a specific purpose. These Feasts (Moeds) are also powerful prophetic tools the Lord has given to us.
Before we jump into The Feast of Tabernacles I believe the Lord would like me to present a little review. There are seven Feasts of the Lord, four are in the spring months and three are in the fall months. The four in the spring are the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. The three fall feasts are Rosh Hashanah, Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. The four spring feasts were a celebration of God bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt and the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. They also were prophetic of the first coming of Jesus as our (and their) Passover Lamb. If you search back in the Archives for this blog you will find the first three Feasts discussed in late April and Pentecost in mid-June. If this first cluster of Feasts is so wonderfully prophetic of the first coming of Jesus Christ then it would follow that the three fall feasts would give us wonderful insight into the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s do a brief review of the two fall feasts I have already discussed.
First is Rosh Hashanah which I believe corresponds with the catching away of the Church and this event is commonly referred to as the Rapture and is a part of the First Resurrection. This is when disembodied Christians who have gone on to Heaven will once again have a body (like His) and we who are alive at His coming will have our bodies changed to be like Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (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.
Philippians 3:21 (KJV)
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
The next Feast, which is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is not for another ten days. It is commonly thought that the Tribulation (Jacobs Trouble) occurs immediately after the catching away of the saints and is a seven day (day = year) event. That being the case, what about the other three years (3+7=10). It is my opinion that there is a three year gap between the catching away and the Day of Atonement which allows time for the Anti-Christ to consolidate power and to persuade Israel to enter into the seven year treaty which covers the Tribulation period. It may also include the war described in Ezekiel thirty-eight. The Tribulation period is the final week of Daniel’s seventy weeks.
Daniel 9:27 (KJV)
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
At the end of the Tribulation is when Jesus returns physically to the earth whereas the Catching Away (Rapture, Great Assembly) is when He meets the Saints in the air. This is the great Day of Atonement when the Jews will receive Jesus as Messiah.
Zechariah 14:4 (KJV)
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
The Feast of the LORD known as the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur starts on the 10th day of Tishrei followed by the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th of Tishrei. When Jesus returns to the earth the blindness of the Jewish people will be lifted and every Jew will be saved due to the Covenant God has with them.
Jeremiah 23:6 (KJV)
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Romans 11:26-27 (KJV)
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
The Feast of the Day of Atonement is a five day Feast bringing us to the next feast of the LORD known as The Feast of Tabernacles. This five days is likely to be five years from the setting of the Lords foot on the Mount of Olives and the official onset of this feast. This is likely a time period in which the Kingdom of our God is being established in all the earth, that the Kingdom of Israel is being established with the borders God intended from the beginning and likely a mirror of the Garden of Eden. This brings us to the Feast of Tabernacles or otherwise called the Feast of Booths. (Notice the picture at the beginning of this post)
Leviticus 23:34 (KJV)
34 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.
This Feast of the LORD is prophetic of the millennial reign of Jesus the Christ. A study of Isaiah 11 will give us some insight of what things will look like during this one thousand year reign of Christ, commonly called the Millennial Reign.
Revelation 20:6 (KJV)
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
I hope that this brief review of the fall feasts (moeds) which are the Feast of Trumpets also known as Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Atonement also called Yom (day) Kippur (atonement), and the Feast of Tabernacles (or booths) has been helpful and has clearly illustrated the prophetic nature of these Feasts. God is so good, He has laid His plan clearing before us and it is a wonderful plan of redemption and nothing but His goodness for our future. Remember we are free-will beings and we must choose this wonderful future. Choose Him as Savior today that you may be a productive part of the Kingdom of God, avoiding the wrath to come for those who spurn the call of God, and the precious Blood of Jesus.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
