The Fall Feasts are right around the corner, and given that I believe this feast season is extremely significant, I thought I would start blogging about their relevance.   So what’s the big deal about these Feasts?

God commanded the children of Israel to honor the Lord seven times a year through His “Feast Calendar”(Lev. 23). As a matter of fact, the Lord Himself referred to  these Feasts days as  “Convocations;” which when translated, means “dress rehearsals.” He called them “Holy” and gave specific instruction for each dress rehearsal.

The word “feast” in Hebrew is “moed,” which means “divine appointment.”

The importance of these “Feasts” dates that God established has NOT ceased, changed or become irrelevant, even though we now live in the Age of the New Covenant.  On the contrary, as believers, the invitation is actually more relevant to us now since we can see through the lens of the Old AND New Testament of how Jesus fulfills the blueprint. Honoring the Feasts aren’t a requirement for our salvation of course, but they do serve a kingdom purpose of a SIGN to the world of Christ as Savior and King.  In the years ahead, they will also be used as a measuring stick as to what nations are aligned with Christ in the Millennium:

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. ¹⁸ If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This shall be the ^[a]punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16-19).

The purpose of any dress rehearsal is to put into practice a production/show in its entirety before the “live performance.”  The children of Israel (representing those IN COVENANT WITH GOD) were chosen to be a part of the cast of what I am going to coin, the Lord’s “Redemption Production.”  In this production, the manuscript was written by the “finger of God,” and given to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai (Lev. 23).  Their role was to follow each Feast as instructed so that WHEN Christ came many years later, there was no doubt of who the Lord was.

We can read about the whole blueprint of the Spring Feasts going “LIVE” in the Gospels when Christ became the Passover lamb, died, rose from the dead, and sent the Holy Spirit as a promise of His return.  As the Spring Feasts come around each year now, believers can celebrate the memory of that “live performance,” and thank God for sending Christ to fulfill the script.

Today, believers have been given the privilege of participating in the cast of the second act of the “Redemption Production;”  preparing for the time when Christ will return as King.

The final three Feasts that we are waiting for the Lord to fulfill are celebrated in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, Tishri, and are known as the “Fall Feasts.” Given that ALL Christians have great hope and expectation of Christ’s return, it serves us well to study the manuscript so we understand our role and participate in the “dress rehearsal” so that our hearts are ready!

The Fall Feasts consist of the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Feast of Trumpets this year will begin at sundown on September 9th and marks the beginning of the celebration of these Fall Feasts.  Ten days later on September 18th, is the Day of Atonement, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles five days later on the 23rd.  The Feast of Tabernacles is an 8 day celebration, in which the last day is a corporate celebration on the 30th.  September will be a month of celebration.

Next blog:  Feast of Trumpets!