The Holy Day Shadows, What Do They Represent?
The Passover (read Exodus 12)
was a shadow of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb,
who paid for the sins of the whole world, past,
present and future. He is the real Passover lamb
of Atonement, reconciling man to God. Jesus death
and shed blood paid the penalty for the sins of
the whole world. Just as the ancient Israelites
were protected from the death angel by covering
their door-posts with the blood of their Passover
lambs on that fateful night back in Egypt, so
we who are in Christ are covered by Jesus Christ's
blood, and in similar fashion we are protected
from the second death. For we have passed from
death into life with Christ. The early Christians
observed this New Testament Passover service on
the 14th Nisan as it was first kept
by Jesus as described in Matthew 26:14-30; Mark
14:12-25; Luke 22:14-38; and John 13 through 18:1
[Evidence of this is recorded in the "Post & Antinicine
Fathers" which has preserved letters of Polycarp
and Policrates, successors of the Apostle John
in Asia Minor, one of them having actually been
trained by John himself.]. This Passover was kept
24 hours before the Jews observed their Passover
Sedar meal instituted by Moses on the evening
of the 14th/15th Nisan and
used the symbols of the broken bread and wine
instead of the lamb, as we do today in communion
services. Most Christian denominations now observe
this as communion or the breaking of bread, observed
either on a monthly or weekly basis. The Messianic
Jews and the Worldwide Church of God still observe
this service on the 14th Nisan, which
is all right. The Bible doesn't prevent us from
observing these glorious shadows, but we should
understand that they have their ultimate fulfillment
in us through the Holy Spirit who dwells within
us. So if we are in Christ, our sins are covered
by his blood and we are saved from eternal death.
Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the
Passover is lived in us 365 days of the year.
Let's look at the next set of Holy Days, which
came right on the heals of Passover. (By the way,
this New Testament Passover or the breaking of
bread, along with the ordinance for Baptism are
the only two rituals commanded by Jesus for new
covenant Christians.)
The Days of Unleavened Bread (read Leviticus
23:4-8). The early Christians lived the
meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread as well
as observing them. In the New Testament, most
of the references to leaven show it as symbolizing
sin. I think there is only one reference to leaven
mentioned in the New Testament which gives it
a good connotation, in one of Jesus' parables.
It's an apt symbol for sin. A little leaven leavens
the whole lump as Paul said, referring to how
one habitual sinner allowed to remain in the group
would spread his sinning attitude to the whole
group--just like a very small amount of leaven
will spread throughout a whole batch of bread
dough. Satan is called the prince of the power
of the air. He broadcasts his sinful attitudes
around the world, in much the same way we put
radio signals through the air, virtually filling
the atmosphere with them. Leaven spores are to
be found everywhere in the air around us. If you
leave bread dough out for a period of time in
the open air, it will become leavened all on it's
own from the leaven spores in the air. The Egyptians
found this out and leavened their bread this way.
The Days of Unleavened Bread were days where the
ancient Israelites were commanded to remove all
leaven from their homes and not consume any leavened
product for a seven day period coming right after
Passover. This was a shadow of how Jesus living
in our lives through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit (read all of John 14) continually puts
sin out of our lives, convicting us of sin, revealing
it, and helping us put it out. Jesus is our Unleavened
Bread of Life. That is the other key symbol that
is fulfilled by the indwelling of Jesus in us
through the Holy Spirit and by the reading of
the Word of God. Read John 6 where he said,
"I am the Bread of Life. He who feeds on me will
never die." Unleavened Bread symbolizes our Christian
walk, where we are constantly putting the leaven
of sin out of our lives through the power of the
indwelling Holy Spirit and feeding on Jesus our
unleavened Bread of Life. How is Jesus our unleavened
bread? In John 6 Jesus says that he is the Bread
of Life, and that we must all partake of him,
eat his flesh. If Jesus is the Bread of Life,
it is unleavened bread, for leavened bread represents
sin and our sinful life. There was no sin in Jesus,
so he must be the Unleavened Bread of Life we
are supposed to eat and partake of. What else
is Jesus called in Scripture? In John 1, Jesus
is called the Word of God, or in the Greek, the Logos,
which means the Word. The Bible is the Word of
God in print. So when we study God's Word, we
are also eating the Unleavened Bread of Life,
Jesus in print, the Logos in print. Our
Bible studies can and should be a partaking of
the Unleavened Bread of Life in print, the Word
of God. If you look carefully, these wonderful
symbols fill the Bible.
As those know who have observed the Days of Unleavened
Bread, all leaven is put out before the actual
Days of Unleavened Bread are celebrated. This
is symbolic of how we, once baptized in the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus (i.e. his Passover
sacrifice applied to our lives at baptism), must
put the leaven out of our lives, that is, repent
of our habitual sins, before we can feed upon
the Unleavened Bread of Life, who is Jesus Christ.
Didn't we in Worldwide learn to put the leaven
out before the Days of Unleavened Bread? It all
fits! As I said before, the Messianic Jews and
some within the Worldwide Church of God still
observe these days out of custom and deep reverence
for what they picture--how Jesus helps us put
the sin, the leaven out of our lives, and how
we partake of putting Jesus our Unleavened Bread
of Life into us. As far as putting the leaven
out of our lives, the reality is lived in us by
the indwelling Holy Spirit who performs the work
of putting the sin out of our lives. It may seem
like work to us, but in reality we could never
succeed in putting sin out to the degree that
we do without God's help through his Holy Spirit
in us. Neither could we put on Jesus on our own.
John 14 describes how Jesus dwells in us by the
indwelling Holy Spirit he gives to us and places
within us. Our part is the constant daily study
of God's Word, eating, partaking of the Unleavened
Bread of Life, the Logos, the Word of God in print.
Seven denotes completeness, and seven days of
unleavened bread probably symbolize a Christian's
lifetime commitment to partaking of Christ both
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and
the serious daily study of the Word of God, which
is Jesus in print.
The Day of Pentecost: In ancient
Israel, the Law of God was received by the Israelites
on Mount Sinai on the day of Pentecost. In the
New Testament, the Church was born by the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit on the 12 apostles and the
120 gathered together on this day. Then it was
poured out on 3,000 more that very same day. (Read
Acts 2:1-47.) The Holy Spirit, the third person
of the Godhead, now enabled the Law of Christ
to be written on their hearts and minds, enabling
a more perfect spirit-led obedience. Matthew 5:17-48
details what law is written on a Christians heart,
which is now under the direct influence and guidance
of the Holy Spirit, putting Jesus in us (cf. John
14). So the Day of Pentecost is another shadow
of God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us and what he
does in us. It is also the birthday of the New
Testament Christian Church, which was born on
that fateful day in 31 A.D. The Apostle Paul talked
quoting Jeremiah 31 when the Lord said he would
make a new covenant between himself and the House
of Israel and the House of Judah. Paul in Hebrews
8 showed that the sign of this new covenant being
active was the writing of God's eternal law on
the hearts and minds of his people. Right now,
Paul showed, those who show this sign of having
the eternal law of God written on their hearts
are already in this new covenant agreement with
the Lord. The way the law of God is written on
the hearts and minds of God's people is through
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. On the Day
of Pentecost, then, the new covenant became fully
active in and applicable to Christians. It won't
be for the House of Israel or the House of Judah
until the Lord returns, as Jeremiah 31 indicates.
Pentecost was also the smaller of the two harvest
feasts, which revolved around the two harvest
seasons of Palestine. The smaller winter wheat
harvest was wrapped up just before the day of
Pentecost. The larger harvest feast was in the
fall, right after the fall harvest. God planned
it this way for a reason. He designed the harvest
seasons in Palestine to have a deeper meaning.
The early Pentecost harvest symbolizes the harvest
of souls in the church age, spanning from Pentecost
31 A.D. all the way to Jesus' second coming. The
large fall harvest symbolizes the larger harvest
of souls which will occur during the Millennial
reign of Jesus and his kingdom on earth, which
will start upon his return to earth. When the
knowledge of God's expanding plan of salvation
for mankind which he revealed in prophecy is taken
into account, we see that the Pentecost harvest
of souls is perhaps the smaller of the two. We'll
have to wait and see for sure, but it appears
that way.
There was a legitimate question in one Christian
church as to the size of each harvest, the Pentecost
and the Fall Harvest which Tabernacles revolves
around. They were saying that the Pentecost harvest
was larger and so the analogy about one harvest
representing the church age (Pentecost) and one
representing the Millennial kingdom harvest age
(Tabernacles) wasn't valid. I sent an email inquiry
to Dr. David Hocking, a noted authority on Israel
and biblical Israelite history. I asked him "I
would like to know from which was the larger of
the two harvests and why? I received this response
back by email. "Yes, I am back from Israel...Firstfruits
is the beginning of the barley harvest, and Shavuot
(Pentecost) celebrates the end of the barley harvest
and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The latter
harvest is always much bigger in terms of harvesting
crops." So we see here, Dr. Hocking is saying
that the harvest occuring just before the Feast
of Tabernacles was always larger than the harvest
occuring at Pentecost. Some people just don't
like to research the facts far enough, because
it doesn't fit their chosen doctrinal stance."
The Feast of Trumpets: In Leviticus
23:23-25 it says, "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.'" If
Pentecost is the earlier spring harvest and represents
the harvest of souls up to Jesus Christ's second
coming, and as we'll see, the Feast of Tabernacles
represents the fall harvest and perhaps the larger
harvest of souls, the Feast of Trumpets and Day
of Atonement must represent--prophetically speaking--two
events to come just in front of this great fall
harvest called the Feast of Tabernacles. What
two major events just precede this great fall
harvest? The answer is found in Revelation 11:15-18;
Revelation 19:11-21--the second coming of Jesus
Christ, and Revelation 20:1-3--the putting away
of Satan and his demon cohorts, and more importantly,
the application of Jesus' sacrifice on the whole
surviving world. The first event before the Feast
of Tabernacles harvest season can begin--the Millennial
rule of Jesus and the kingdom of God on earth,
is the second coming of Jesus Christ. The second
event is depicted right after the second coming
in Revelation 19 and is found in Revelation 20:1-3,
the putting away of Satan and by inference (see
Zechariah 12-13) all of the demons. The Israelites
were commanded to blow the rams' horn at certain
special times in the camp of Israel. One type
of trumpet blowing was to warn of impending attack
and war. The trumpet used was always the rams'
horn. And this is the very trumpet specified to
be blown during this Holy Day found in Leviticus
23. How fitting that this feast represents the
event of the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet in
Revelation 11:15-18, and the resulting battle
which comes on it's heals in Revelation 19 which
depicts the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.
That's the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Trumpets
that the Messianic Jews understand, and some Jews
understand, as well as some Christian groups.
(send for Chuck Missler's "Feasts of Israel" cassette
series. This series is available online by clicking
on http://www.khouse.org , scroll down to the box that says
"Visit Our STORE" (near the bottom left of the
page) and click on it. On the left side of the
page that comes up under the title "BROWSE", click
on
"briefing packs". On the page that comes up are
listed the various tape series
"briefing packs". The first one, titled "Basic
Bible Studies" has a briefing pack named "Feasts
of Israel". Calvary Chapel and Chuck Missler are
one of the major new Christian revivals that firmly
believe the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 have prophetic
meaning or significance. Some within the Worldwide
Church of God do as well.)
But is there a new covenant meaning to this Holy
Day, a shadow of the good things that have been
done in us by the Holy Spirit? Yes there is. Symbolically
true Christians have already experienced the second
coming of Jesus Christ in their lives! How? They
have received Jesus into their lives. For them
and all true Christians, Jesus has already had
his 2nd coming in their lives through
the coming of the Holy Spirit into them. This
is a mystery that most of the world and even some
Christians don't understand. John 14:15-18, 21,23
states, "If you love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he will give you
another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you
and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you...He who has my commandments
and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he
who love me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and manifest myself to him...Jesus
answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word; and my Father will love
him, and We will come to him and make
Our home with him." The Feast of Trumpets
is the Holy Day which symbolizes the coming of
the Messiah to save the world from genocide and
bring the Kingdom of God to physically and spiritually
rule over the entire world in love (Zechariah
14:9). Jesus Christ has done that in the lives
of true Christians everywhere, and they now live
under the government of that glorious kingdom and
have actually crossed over into that Kingdom through
the indwelling of the Spirit of God who rules
in the minds of true Christians (whether they
be members of one Christian fellowship or another).
The world will experience the joy of living under
the government of God in the future after Jesus
Christ's 2nd coming--we can now in
type through the power of God's Holy Spirit dwelling
in us, giving us peace from within. Jesus Christ
has taken over the rule of his true followers--Christians--and
rules in their lives, thus he has had his second
coming in their lives. This is the symbolic meaning
of the Feast of Trumpets for those of us living
in this present dimension of the Gospel of
the Kingdom of God. Again, the Feast of Trumpets
is a shadow of what Jesus has done in us through
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and also a
prophetic shadow of how he will return to save
mankind from himself and genocide during a massive
world war the likes of which the world has never
experienced, and no never will again.
The Day of Atonement: True Christians
have had, in part the Day of Atonement fulfilled in
their lives also. On the Day of Atonement in ancient
Israel two very significant things happened to two
goats. In Leviticus 16 the ceremony is detailed for
us. The sins of all of Israel were paid for by the
sacrifice of one goat, but the sins were actually placed
on the head of the other goat. Almost as if one goat
paid the price for the sins, but the other goat had
the responsibility for all the sins placed on his head.
And the interesting thing is that this second goat
who had the sins of all Israel placed on his head did
not die, but was banished into the wilderness. We know
that Jesus died to pay the high price for the sins
of the whole world (John 3:16). But who has been responsible
for the sins of the world, ultimately? Read Genesis
3 and Revelation 12:9. Isn't it Satan? And we see that
Satan is ultimately banished from our presence and
the presence of the world (Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10.)
Leviticus 16:1-34 details this ceremony that the High
Priest performed once a year on the Day of Atonement.
Jesus was sacrificed to pay the penalty of the sins
of the world. Satan has yet to be put away and banished,
but it will be done (Revelation 20:1-3; Zechariah 12-13).
But even now, for true Christians, Satan no longer
has a claim on their lives. For the world, this event
will not occur until a little after the 2nd coming
of Jesus Christ. The actual event is depicted in Revelation
20:1-3, just after Revelation 19:11-21 depicts Jesus'
2nd coming. So in reality, a spiritual reality,
if Jesus Christ has already had his 2nd coming for
those who are baptized and have the Holy Spirit dwelling
in them, Satan's influence and hold over them is gone,
he has been banished out of their lives. Then spiritually,
they are already in the Kingdom of God. This may be
a hard concept to grasp, but this is a spiritual reality
nonetheless. Again, the physical observance of the
Day of Atonement is a beautiful shadow for one more
thing Jesus has done and does inside us through the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Also the blood of the
other goat, the one which was sacrificed by the High
Priest, symbolized Jesus Christ's atoning blood that
covers all our sins, and the sins of the world. The
banished goat symbolizes Satan, who will be banished
along with all his demon cohorts. The sacrificial goat
had his blood sprinkled on the altar, again symbolizing
what Jesus did for us. Read Leviticus 16:1-34 for yourself.
Let the symbolism sink in. (Some say that this interpretation
of the two goats can't be accurate because Satan is
unholy, spiritually "unclean" and goats are ceremonially "clean" under
the law of Moses. But that doesn't quite hold water,
because if you look up Ezekiel 28:12-15 and Isaiah
14:12-17, especially in Ezekiel 28:15, God said of
Lucifer was "You were perfect in your ways from the
day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you." Lucifer
started out "clean" in God's eyes. The two goats are
a symbolic picture, where one turned evil and the other
one represented Jesus Christ. One was sacrificed and
one was banished.)
Note about the meaning of Trumpets: Many Jews
and Christians say there is no significant meaning
attached to the Feast of Trumpets in Leviticus
23:23-25. The Jews actually call the day Rosh
Hashanah meaning first day, because they made
this day the first day of their civil calendar,
not knowing what other significance the day had.
But the actual meaning can be deduced by the meaning
Scripture, Old Testament and New, attaches to
the Day of Atonement found in Leviticus 16 and
the actual event of the banishing of the azazel goat
in Revelation 20:1-3. The Day of Atonement, which
by definition of Leviticus 16 symbolizes the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ and the banishing of Satan, the azazel goat.
Revelation 20:1-3 shows the literal banishing
or locking away of Satan, which symbolically occurred
by this banishing of the azazel goat
on the Day of Atonement. If the Revelation 20:1-3
banishing of Satan, the azazel goat,
is symbolized by the Day of Atonement, and the
previous major prophetic event depicted in Revelation
19 is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ,
and the Feast of Trumpets is the Holy Day just
preceding the Day of Atonement, then the Feast
of Trumpets can be deduced as representing the
second coming of Jesus Christ. The Jews, not accepting
New Testament Scripture, understandably, can't
accept this explanation, but Christians should
clearly see this day as representing the 2nd coming
of Jesus Christ, by mere simple deductive logic--nothing
hard about it. Some chose not to. That's O.K.
too. This is a secondary matter in the knowledge
of Salvation, compared to the gospel of Christ.
But they're overlooking a beautiful facet of God's
Plan as outlined through His ancient Holy Days,
given to Israel to keep in the old covenant.
[To read a well researched article on the meaning
of the Feast of Trumpets, CLICK
HERE.]
The Feast of Tabernacles--the Great Fall
Harvest Festival: In Leviticus 23:34-44
the command is given for the observing of this
great fall festival, taking place just after the
fall harvest in Palestine. Like I pointed out
earlier, it pictures prophetically, the great
harvest of souls that will take place during the
Millennial rule of Jesus and the saints in the
kingdom age. This takes place after Jesus has
returned to earth and put down all opposition
and put Satan away, locked up for 1,000 years.
Revelation 20:4-6, Isaiah 11:4-16; Isaiah 2:1-4;
Ezekiel 34:11-31; 36:1-38; Jeremiah 30-31 all
picture this glorious kingdom age Jesus will usher
in. In the New Testament, Jesus said each of the
twelve apostles would be a king over one of the
tribes of Israel. In the Old Testament prophecies,
king David is promised to be the king over Israel,
all 12 tribes (Ezekiel 34:22-23), while we see
Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, King
of the world (Zechariah 14:9). (Some discount
this saying the big harvest in Palestine is the
spring harvest, but Israel is a land of fruit
trees and her major staple in her historic times
was fruit and olive oil--all grown from trees.
Some like to tear the prophetic meaning of these
days down for whatever reason they may have, maybe
a motive of no longer wishing to observe them.
Calvary Chapel does not observe them, but recognizes
their deep significance. We have that total freedom
in Christ to both believe or not believe a certain
way in these secondary areas, and to observe or
to not observe, again in these secondary areas.
That is our freedom in Christ, and don't let anyone
tell you differently. Now if you want to believe
that Jesus was just a nice man and not God in
the flesh, the second member of the God-head or
Trinity, then I take exception to your belief
and this belief may disqualify you from being
a Christian--it's just that serious.)
For true Christians, with Jesus now dwelling in
their lives through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit (John 14), and Satan no longer having a
claim on their lives, they are now spiritually
in this glorious kingdom. So says Paul in Colossians
1:13-14. "He has delivered us from the power of
darkness [cf. Revelation 20:1-3] and translated
us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins." [cf. Revelation 20:4,6.]
For the world, this event will not occur until
a little after the 2nd coming of Jesus. The true
kingdom attitude will spread over the surviving
world after Satan and his demons are locked away,
no longer able to broadcast and influence mankind
and society, and when Jesus and the saints start
to call and evangelize all who remain alive at
this time. It is these who will repopulate the
world, and a massive harvest of souls will take
place throughout this 1000 year period of time.
We haven't been told exactly how, but we do see
that the Holy Spirit is promised to come upon
surviving Israel in Ezekiel 36:25-26, as well
as in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Now Paul quoted Jeremiah
31:31-32 in Hebrews, showing that we Christians
now live under this new covenant agreement with
God. The old is passed away for us. But for Israel
and Judah and the world that survive into the
kingdom age, this covenant won't apply to them
until then. The new covenant and it's blessings
do not apply to the unconverted, those who do
not have the indwelling Holy Spirit. They're still
under the old, with all it's penalties and curses
for disobedience. And we see those curses being
exacted in society all around us. Read Leviticus
26 some time. So we see the Feast of Tabernacles
truly pictures this time of plenty and peace which
will cover the entire world after Jesus returns.
The ancient Israelites were commanded to save
a whole 10 percent of their incomes to bring to
this fall harvest festival. It was quite a feast,
picturing this time of plenty that will come to
pass after Jesus returns, restoring the Kingdom
and government of God to the earth. I have observed
this Festival in the past, spending 10 percent
of my income in those 8 days. You truly feel like
a king, and put on a few pounds as well. It pictures
the time when Jesus Christ the King and true Christians
now made immortal and ruling as kings and priests,
will lift the burdens of Satan's corrupt and evil
world from off the shoulders of mankind. It will
be a time of glorious abundance and joy. The central
highlight of that Kingdom on earth will be the
mercy and love coming down from it to the subjects
of that Kingdom. Jesus Christ, was the Good Samaritan,
and true Christians are a reflection of Jesus
Christ, and must be good Samaritans also--thus
reflecting the glorious light of the Kingdom of
God onto those in this evil age and society of
man which will pass away.
Zechariah 14:16-19 shows that this festival will
become a commanded observance during the kingdom
age. By extension, then, all of Leviticus 23 will
also be in force. That is what Zechariah 14:16-19
indicates. We'll learn more about this after Jesus
returns. There are also Scriptures, prophecies,
in the Old Testament showing the Levitical priesthood
will be set up in the kingdom age, administering
and serving around the temple. Beyond that, we
don't know much, except we'll be kings and priests
in that temple, the headquarters of Jesus Christ,
who will be King over the whole world (Zechariah
14:9; Revelation 5:9-10).
The actual Holy Days listed in Leviticus
23 are a shadow of good things to come, as well
as the good things Jesus has done for us and currently
does for us through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. We live their meaning every day of our
lives through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us
if we are Christ's. The strict observance of God's
Holy Days (which were commanded to ancient Israel
in Leviticus 23 according to the old covenant
letter of the Law) is no longer a requirement
for new covenant Christians, but they are being
observed voluntarily in a new covenant manner
by some Christians who understand the deep significance
of what they stand for. The actual meaning of
the Holy Days is being fulfilled in true Christians
by the Holy Spirit who dwells inside them every
day of the year. So you see the Holy Days
and Sabbath day have been transformed inside of
us by the Holy Spirit, not eliminated! A literal
interpretation of Matthew 5:17-19 indicates that
all of the 10 Commandment Law of God--Sabbath
day and Holy Days included--must be observed by
Christians. Most old covenant Christian churches,
The Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong,
the Seventh Day Adventists etc, were under this
particular understanding. Proper understanding
of what the Holy Spirit does in us, and what Paul
said in Hebrews 4 about these days being shadows
of the reality in us which is Christ, shows that
we are already observing them, internally! You
can still voluntarily physically observe them
if you so desire, for the beauty of what they
stand for. Many within the Worldwide Church of
God do, and so do the Messianic Jews, both new
covenant Christians. It is entirely up to you.
But understand, their rich meaning, the reality
of Christ in us, is already being lived out in
us by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The days
themselves are just a shadow of what the Holy
Spirit is doing in us, as Paul stated in Hebrews
4, and a shadow of prophetic events to come.
"[To read another well research article on the
Feast of Tabernacles CLICK
HERE.]"
The Question of Matthew 5:17-19
Recently
I've wondered about Matthew 5:17-19 which states
that the Law of God is not done away, and wondered
how this squares with others who possess the Holy
Spirit and are Christians by definition of not
only having the Holy Spirit but show the evidence
of being actively led by the Holy Spirit (Romans
8:9-17). If taken literally, Matthew 5:17-19 says
that Christians need to be observing all the 10
Commandments, including the Sabbath Command, the
4th commandment, along with the Holy
Days, which Leviticus 23 show are part of the
Sabbath command. Does Matthew 5:17-19 really imply
that those who don't observe the Sabbath and Holy
Days are not Christians? But we've just seen that
Hebrews 4 gives us another way to interpret Matthew
5:17-19. The Sabbath and Holy Days, according
to Matthew 5:17-19 are not done away. But Paul
shows us in Hebrews 4 that these days have been transformed and
that the reality of them is lived in us by the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When I was considering
all this, I remembered a wonderful person who
was our family's cleaning lady when I was growing
up. She died recently, and at her funeral I heard
one of the most beautiful eulogies a person could
have spoken about her. If the minister wasn't
just laying it on deep, and I knew Beatrice Berry,
so he wasn't, according to his eulogy and what
he said about her, she clearly exhibited the fruits
of the Holy Spirit. So was she fulfilling Matthew
5:17-19 in her life? She never observed a single
Old Testament Holy Day in her life. She didn't
even know about them, as far as I knew. Her day
of worship and Christian fellowship was Sunday
and not the Old Testament Sabbath which is on
Saturday. Let's plug what we know about the Sabbath
and Holy Days into Beatrice's life and see if
she wasn't fulfilling them even without knowing
of their importance and deep symbolic meaning.
She was a woman who was at peace spiritually,
in spite of having three hellion children to deal
with as she tried, and succeeded to clean our
house. She was in the Sabbath-rest Paul spoke
of in Hebrews 4, without a doubt--so she was living
in the reality of the Sabbath 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Also with the Holy Spirit dwelling in her, she
was covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and
thus was living the New Testament Passover and
the deep symbolic meaning of the Old Testament
Passover, 365 days a year. The Holy Spirit in
her helped her live a life of overcoming sin,
so she lived the Days of Unleavened Bread 365
days a year also.
When the Holy Spirit entered her, she was now
fulfilling the Day of Pentecost, the day on which
the Holy Spirit first anointed Jesus Christ's
disciples and entered 3,000 souls, thus starting
the New Testament Christian Church. Also when
the Holy Spirit entered her, Jesus Christ had
his 2nd coming in her, so she was observing
the reality of the Feast of Trumpets. Also when
the Holy Spirit entered her, she was no longer
under the influence of Satan and his world. Satan
no longer had a claim on her life. So now she
was also living the meaning of the Day of Atonement
in her life. With the Holy Spirit in her, she
had now entered into the Kingdom of God spiritually
and thus was fulfilling the meaning of the Feast
of Tabernacles. Without ever having any significant
knowledge of God's Old Testament Holy Days listed
in Leviticus 23, Beatrice Berry was living the
reality of each Holy Day, and the Sabbath as well,
each day of her life. The actual observance
of the Seventh Day Sabbath and Holy Days is a mere
shadow of their fulfillment in us by the
indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. So my
question about Matthew 5:17-19 is answered by
the knowledge that we are living the reality of
the meaning of the Holy Days and Sabbath by the
indwelling of God's Holy Spirit, and
thus fulfilling the law in the reality of the
spirit, whether we ever physically observe an
Old Testament Holy Day or not! Most new covenant
Christians don't even understand that. I fully
expect to see Beatrice Berry in the first resurrection
to immortality at the literal 2nd coming of Jesus
Christ. I'm not even sure of the Church denomination
she was a part of. Does it matter?
So what is the real New Testament
meaning that God is trying to convey to us through
these Holy Day shadows? Each and every one of
them is like a particular facet or side of a precious
diamond, and that diamond is Jesus Christ in us
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit--Jesus
Christ covering our sins (Passover), Jesus Christ
continually taking us out of sin (Days of Unleavened
Bread), Jesus Christ writing the precious Law
of God (read Matthew 5:17-48) in our hearts and
minds (Pentecost), Jesus Christ having his second
coming in us (Trumpets), Jesus Christ taking us
out of Satan's influence and into his glorious
influence (Atonement), and the effect of all of
this takes us in advance, spiritually into his
glorious kingdom of light, the kingdom of God
(the Feast of Tabernacles). [Colossians 1:12-13]
Does God require that we keep the physical shadows,
as beautiful as they are, if we chose not to,
or if they are not a part of our particular custom
of worship? No, not at all. The new covenant has
no such requirement.
I have written a short paper defining spiritual battle fatigue and the cure for it, quite similar to physical battle fatigue and its cure. This will eventually be placed in front of James Wilson's book "Principles of War", because in the spiritual battles we find ourselves in, on the spiritual battlefields we're engaged on, we all suffer from spiritual battle fatigue. When we recognize this, we should all understand how to properly deal with it and minimize its deadly effects.
editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM
Christian Retreats and Holy Days, What Can They Do For Us?
(A short paper on the effects of spiritual warfare--battle fatigue, and some good suggestions for countering it.)
First of all let's realize that according to the Bible, we are all in a dangerous spiritual warfare that can tax our abilities more than we realize. Paul states in Ephesians 6:10-13, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Many times we can draw very accurate pictures of spiritual warfare by looking at its physical counterpart, especially in the psychological areas of warfare, what it does to our psyche and ability to fight. All through these verses (through verse 19), Paul shows us the weapons of our warfare come from putting on Christ through prayer and Bible study. But constant spiritual or physical warfare without sufficient re-supply, rest and recuperation has a powerful negative effect on the soldier, be he in an army of this world or a Christian soldier of Jesus Christ. I came across a very good description of what effect continued warfare has on the average soldier in the U.S. Army fighting its way up Italy during World War II. I found this description in the late Ernie Pyle's BRAVE MEN, written and published in 1944. I will quote from pages 84-86. If you see yourself in this description, you are in serious need of spiritual R & R. Oftentimes (during World War II) an army would go as long as 28 days in continuous battle on the front lines, without rest for its soldiers. Ernie describes the psychological result of this continuous warfare on the mind of the average soldier. I'll let Ernie tell it from here. "Outside of the occasional peaks of bitter fighting and heavy casualties that highlight military operations, I believe the outstanding trait in any campaign is the terrible weariness that gradually comes over everybody. Soldiers become exhausted in mind and in soul as well as physically. They acquire a weariness that is mixed up with boredom and lack of all gaiety. To sum it all up: A man just gets damned sick of it all.
The infantry reaches a stage of exhaustion that is incomprehensible to folks back home. The men in the First Division, for instance, were in the lines twenty-eight days--walking and fighting all that time, day and night.
After a few days of such activity, soldiers pass the point of known human weariness. From then on they go into a sort of second-wind daze. They keep going largely because the other fellow does and because they can't really do anything else.
Have you ever in your life worked so hard and so long that you didn't remember how many days it was since you ate last or didn't recognize your friends when you saw them? I never have either, but in the First Division, during that long, hard fight around Troina, a company runner one day came slogging up to a certain captain and said excitedly, "I've got to find Captain Blank right away. Important message."
The captain said, "But I am Captain Blank. Don't you recognize me?"
And the runner said, "I've got to find Captain Blank right away." And he went dashing off. They had to run to catch him.
Men in battle reach that stage and still go on and on. As for the rest of the Army--supply troops, truck drivers, hospital men, engineers--they too become exhausted, but not so inhumanly. With them and with us correspondents it's the ceaselessness, the endlessness of everything that finally worms its way through us and gradually starts to devour us.
It's the perpetual, choking dust, the muscle-racking hard ground, the snatched food sitting ill on the stomach, the heat and the flies and the dirty feet and the constant roar of engines and the perpetual moving and the never settling down and the go, go, go, go, night and day, and on through the night again. Eventually it all works into an emotional tapestry of one dull, dead pattern--yesterday is tomorrow and Troina is Randazzo and when will we ever stop and, God, I'm so tired.
I noticed this feeling had begun to overtake the war correspondents themselves. It is true we didn't fight on and on like the infantry, that we were usually under fire only briefly and that, indeed, we lived better than the average soldier [except for Ernie, who kept up with the front lines, almost as a matter of pride. Only one who had been through this himself could so accurately describe this psychological effect on the soldiers]. Yet our lives were strangely consuming in that we did live primitively and at the same time had to delve into ourselves and do creative writing.
That statement may lay me open to wisecracks, but however it may seem to you, writing is an exhausting and tearing thing. Most of the correspondents actually worked like slaves. Especially was this true of the press-association men. A great part of the time they went from dawn till midnight or 2 A.M. I'm sure they turned in as much toil in a week as any newspaperman at home in two weeks. We traveled continuously, moved camp every few days, ate out, slept out, wrote whatever we could and just never caught up on sleep, rest, cleanliness, or anything else normal.
The result was that all of us who had been with the thing for more than a year finally grew befogged. We were grimy, mentally as well as physically. We'd drained our emotions until they cringed from being called out from hiding. We looked at bravery and death and battlefield waste and new countries almost as blind men, seeing only faintly and not really wanting to see at all.
Suddenly the old-timers among the correspondents began talking for the first time about wanting to go home for a while. They wanted a change, something to freshen their outlook. They felt they had lost their perspective by being too close for too long.
I am not writing this to make heroes of the correspondents, because only a few look upon themselves in any dramatic light whatever. I am writing it merely to let you know that correspondents, too, can get sick of war--and deadly tired." [What Ernie Pyle has described here in 1943 in Italy is clearly known now as battle fatigue, a very real psychological malady. Ernie Pyle transferred over to the Pacific theatre to continue his coverage of the war, this time against Japan. He was killed in action by a sniper on the island of Okinawa. He died a soldier's death, amongst the ones he loved so much, and lived with and wrote about for so long.]
When I was a member of the Worldwide Church of God, we would observe what is called in Leviticus 23 and Zechariah 14:16-19, The Feast of Tabernacles. We would save what amounted to a (second) tithe of our earnings and go to a nice resort area where the church was meeting for the Feast, and then we'd spend it during those eight days. We lived liked kings, ate like them too. We heard eight days worth of spiritually nourishing sermons. The Feast was a spiritual high point, a time of spiritual and physical refreshing. For Messianic Jewish Christians these days can provide the same kind of spiritual refreshing—as observing the other Holy Days can to a lesser degree. For Gentile Christians, Christian retreats can also fill this huge spiritual need we all have for spiritual R & R. It was learned from such observations of Ernie Pyle and those like him, that soldiers needed to be rotated from the front lines on a regular basis, where they could rest and recuperate from the grind of continuous battle. This kept them and the army they fought with fresh and on their toes. The Sabbath for Messianic Jewish Christians, or Sabbatarian Christians, and Sunday for Gentile Christians is an important spiritual recuperation day, or else it should be. Christians should plan on going on Christian retreats on a regular basis, at least once or twice a year, bare minimum. For those who do still keep the Feast of Tabernacles, this time can also be used as a spiritual time of refreshing, before going back into spiritual battle again. If you see yourself in Ernie Pyle's description, you need to do something about it, and fast. You can't go on like that. You'll crack, or become some sort of spiritual zombie, living in that condition Ernie called second-wind daze. If you're doing a work for the Lord, day in, day out, without letup, and are sort of out there on your own (many of us Christian web-publishers are in this boat [or spiritual bomber-aircraft]), you are very prone to this type of burn-out. Pastors and ministers are also very prone to this type of burn-out. It is very real, and comes with the territory, of being in constant spiritual warfare. I clearly saw my own emotions mirrored in Ernie Pyle's description here. It's real. You can't ignore the symptoms, they won't go away. Others will see them in you before you do. But Ernie describes the identifying feelings pretty well, so you can readily recognize them in yourself if they're there. Most churches have planned retreats. If you feel this way, sign up for the next scheduled retreat and take the time to refresh yourself in the Lord before you go back into battle. If you are a pastor, deacon, Christian web designer, writer, or serve others in the body of Christ in any way, others depend on you. It's hard to be an effective tool in the hands of the Lord to help others, if you suffer from spiritual battle fatigue.
The Beauty of the Feast of Tabernacles
Near the beginning I mentioned the Feast of Tabernacles that the Worldwide Church of God kept. I would like to discuss that a little more, since it proved to be such a powerful time of refreshing for those of us who observed it. The beauty of the Feast of Tabernacles wasn't to be found in the legalistic keeping of it, nor with any of the other Holy Days we observed--sundown to sundown [i.e. no work, manual labor, sundown to sundown as spelled out in OT law]. The beauty of observing the Feast of Tabernacles for us was in the Holy Spirit who flared up in born-again believers fellowshipping, working, playing, feasting together at restaurants--that was the beauty that came out of the Worldwide Church of God's Feast of Tabernacles and Holy Day observances.
When burning coals are placed together they multiply heat, fire and energy beyond the sum total of their individual contribution. The inverse of that is when you take a coal away from other coals, it dies down almost immediately. When Holy Spirit led and filled individuals congregate and fellowship, not just in their local church services on a Sunday or Saturday, but at day-long observances of a Holy Day, meals included--spiritual coals of fire share and multiply spiritual heat and energy. I found this especially true, having to get to a rented hall, or sometimes a restaurant with a function room we'd rent, to help the sound crew I worked with to set up for services. Solomon said in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." When we had these days, using them in such a way--we came out of the world and its influence for a time of tremendous spiritual refreshing and strengthening. Follow with me for awhile. I'm trying to get to the heart of something important here--and it isn't about the legalistic observing of Old Testament Holy days. It goes much deeper.
The hidden contribution of following the legalistic application of the biblical "sundown to sundown" requirement of the old covenant Law was that it merely gave us "lively coals of fire" more time to remain together and get refreshed. While some, perhaps many, fell into the legalistic trap, in my personal opinion our old covenant Worldwide Church of God had at least 45 to 50 percent having the Holy Spirit indwelling in them--a probable average of Holy Spirit filled people in any spiritually alive and active Christian church. For those Christian groups that observe the Old Testament Holy Days--Messianic Jewish Christians and some Sabbatarian Christian groups--these observations I'm making here should be heeded so that a huge spiritual resource and opportunity for spiritual refreshment is not lost through lack of understanding and proper application of these spiritual principles. Again, to the Christian churches and denominations that observe traditional orthodox days--you will have to supplement for not having as many days to refresh spiritually [understand something about Christmas and Easter, these two days have become highly secularized and commercialized]--you have to plan to have many periods of time called "Christian retreats" to achieve this same level of spiritual refreshment and rejuvenation outside of the world's evil influence.
Let's look closer at the Worldwide Church of God's Feast of Tabernacles observance and what made it possible for these Christians to achieve this rejuvenation. It takes money to go someplace for eight days. To observe the Feast of Tabernacles the way we did in the old covenant Worldwide Church of God, we saved a biblical 2nd tithe of our incomes, spelled out in Deuteronomy 14:22-26, which states, "Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord shall choose to set his name there [for us, the Feast site locations, for the Jews when this was written, Jerusalem], when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then thou shalt turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth [desires] after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink [the Bible teaches extreme moderation in alcohol consumption, not total abstinence. Some denominations teach total abstinence which is fine, as long as they don't try to say that that is what the Bible teaches], or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy household, and the Levite that is within thy gates..." This, Bible scholars know, is a second tithe, a Feast tithe, that Israelites were supposed to save so they would have the funds to travel to Jerusalem and live for the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the other Holy Days when they traveled to Jerusalem. [To better understand the old covenant tithe system, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/gifts4.htm .] In reality 7.5 percent of a Christian's net income should suffice to provide for this wonderful spiritual opportunity of rejuvenation and strengthening. I don't want to go back into legalistic observances again, but I do think we ought to try to recapture the spiritual essence of why it was good, for our continued spiritual benefit.
So to the Messianic's I say this, you have a tremendous resource here in the traditional Holy Days you still observe. But understand, in not being Jewish, Mr. Herbert W. Armsgtrong did not follow the "traditional" way of allowing a Jewish family to fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles requirements by building a Sukkot tent in their backyard--which ignored the greater old covenant command to 'save a 2nd tithe and take it to the place the Lord had set his name upon and observe the Feast of Tabernacles for eight days'. The "Sukkot tent" custom sort of circumvented the old covenant command to save a second tithe and take it and go to the Feast of Tabernacles for eight days. In circumventing a tithe law--which had fallen into disuse after the destruction of the temple and subsequent wholesale slaughter and scattering of the Levitical priesthood in 70AD--a custom arose which prevented the Feast of Tabernacles from being observed to the fulness of it's original intent. Then from 1934 to 1986 Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, mistakenly and legalistically applied old covenant law (which was designed and given for the ruling of a theocratic nation) to a Christian church. This enabled that church to practice and taste the fruits of the proper observance of the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. The spiritual fruits of this were stunning, in spite of the legalistic trappings. As explained just previously, the spiritual fruits of observing the Feast of Tabernacles in its original prescribed manner were that many "lively coals of spiritual fire" came together for tremendous spiritual refreshing and rejuvenation.
Many members of the Worldwide Church of God, not being wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, never had sufficient funds to have a regular family vacation apart from the Feast of Tabernacles, so the Feast of Tabernacles became their family vacation, and the church attending the Feast of Tabernacles became their extended family. Christian singles, often not in great number back home in their local congregations, met other Christian singles in far greater number. Relationships often started, and subsequent marriages took place--all because one man mistakenly applied old covenant theocratic "nation of Israel" laws to a Christian church [i.e the full three tithe system set of laws and Holy Day observance (read Leviticus 23, whole chapter)]. The spiritual benefits were huge. Sadly, the casting off of these days, I believe, have contributed to the decreased spiritual vitality of the Worldwide Church of God and it has nothing to do with the casting off of legalistic requirements. Mr. Armstrong stumbled onto a great spiritual principle through the misapplication of several old covenant laws given to the "nation of Israel". That principle is found in Hebrews 10:25, "By observing one another, let us arouse ourselves to rival one another's love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together as some do, but let us encourage one another, all the more as you can see the great Day is coming nearer." [Goodspeed translation]
The
photo below is an old scanned postcard of the
Worldwide Church of God Feast of Tabernacles
Feast site located in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
(property now sold). You can see for yourself
how large the site was. It held up to 4,000
people in the main building. Two very large
parking lots are visible, and another large
one was below the bottom of the photo at the
end of the entrance road leading up to the administration
building. We had two services on the two Holy
Days of the Feast, and one a day on ordinary
Feast days. The Feast lasted eight days, as
called for in Leviticus 23.
Recently the tiny Messianic congregation I attend started a mid-week Bible study, which includes a period of group prayer. After about three weeks, I myself, as well as the others have noticed our spiritual walk is more lively, our strength to face the world is increased. Sometimes, just doing what a you can as a congregation to double the amount of time members spend together will yield tremendous spiritual dividends for those who take advantage of these spiritual resources. It’s not like every group can go right out and keep a Feast of Tabernacles. That Feast took tremendous planning on the part of all the ministry and HQ church of the Worldwide Church of God, as well as the combined faithful saving of funds by everyone who attended. Often times, vacation time was used to be able to attend. Parents and children alike had hassles with school departments for taking kids out of school for about 10 days in the fall. The cost of observing this feast was huge, in many ways, but the spiritual dividends were huge as well. As this world grows colder and colder spiritually, as Matthew 24:11-13 says it will, Christian Retreats, Sunday or Saturday church services, mid-week Bible studies and prayer meetings are crucial periods of time for recuperation and strengthening the parts of the body of Christ we are a part of, regardless of the days of worship your group observes or doesn’t observe. Time is a gift of God. Use it wisely. Redeem it, as the times grow more evil.