introduction to the 'fall' feasts

Approaching Midnight for Israel

Introduction to the ‘Fall’ Feasts:

These “forever” festivals are both for celebration and rehearsal for the climactic event of the ages.

- John D. Garr, Ph.D., Th.D

Feast of Tabernacles,Heart of David Ministries,

Gold Coast 2010

The Fall Feasts & Israel's Return - Presented by Paul Herring

Quiz:

1. What chapter of what prophet speaks of observing Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) in the Kingdom of God?

2. Jesus’ first (known) words in public ministry?3. What was Jesus’ mission statement?4. What was Paul’s shortest summary of God’s

instructions to man?5. What scripture in the Hebrew Bible (OT) was he

summarizing? 6. What Hebrew Bible or OT scripture is the most

quoted and alluded to (23+ times) in all of the NT?


7. What Bible did Jesus read and preach from?8. What Bible did Paul read and preach from? 9. Who was to blame for the Roman control of Israel in

the days of Jesus?10. When Jesus was preaching in Israel, there were

(according to Josephus), four main sects of the proto-Judaism of the day. They were the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots. While Jesus was clearly unique, which of the four groups did he most closely align himself to?


An Overview of the Feasts

There are 7 special or Holy Day/Appointed Times on the Biblical Calendar.

1. Passover/Pessach2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread3. Firstfruits (celebrated during the Feast of Unleavened Bread)

4. Shavuot/Pentecost/Festival of Weeks5. Yom Teruah/ Day of Shouting/Feast of Trumpets6. Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement7. Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles or Booths or

Shelters/Feast of Ingathering


“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me” (Ex 23:14).

Firstly for Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits – they were there for the crucifixion; & the inauguration of the new Priesthood;

secondly for Pentecost – they were there for the great outpouring of the power of God;

Third - for the Day of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths.

For?? I will argue, the return of the Messiah; the Day of Judgment and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!


The first three occur together as do the last 3.

There are also some interesting parallels in theirstructure: The First 3:

◦ 1st day of 1st Month or Nissan (Start of year – 1st Biblical Month – was called Aviv)

◦ 10th Day of Nissan – The Lamb enters the house for 4 days◦ 15th Day of Nissan – Passover (7 days with ceremonial sabbaths

on 1st and 7th day◦ Firstfruits (Wave Sheaf offering) – 1st day after the Weekly

Sabbath of Passover

50 days later comes Shavuot/Pentecost (Greek for 50)


The Last 3:

1st day of 7th Month – ‘Shouting’/Trumpets/Yom Teruah 10th day of 7th Month – Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur 15th Day of 7th Month – Feast of Booths/Sukkot (7 days

with ceremonial sabbaths on 1st and 8th day)


The ‘Fall’ Feasts: Repent

◦ Yom Teruah & the 10 Days of Awe Redeem

◦ Yom Kippur - The Judgment and Redemption Rejoice

◦ Sukkot – the Marriage Supper and the inauguration of the Millenial Reign.


Yom Teruah: The Day of Trumpet Lev 23:23-25 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the

people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.

You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to Yahweh.


Numbers 29:1-6 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation.

You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering,

for a pleasing aroma to Yahweh: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without

blemish; also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an

ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs;

with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to Yahweh.


Yom Teruah actually means a day of SHOUTING

[#8643 TERUAH: clamor, acclamation of joy, the blowing of the Shofar (ram’s horn) from #7321 RUA: to ROAR, to split the ears with sound, shout, blow an alarm, joy, triumph].

See Numbers 10:9-10 to see how both these extremes of warning and triumph are relevant.


The shofar (whose root in Hebrew means beauty) was blown to:

proclaim the Year of Jubilee; on Feast days and New Moons; at the dethroning of wicked leaders; to escort processions (bridegrooms or kings);

◦ In the traditional Hebrew wedding ceremony a shofar blast and a shout that he is coming preceded the bridegrooms procession. Yeshua is coming to have the wedding supper with his Bride.

at the assembling of the tribes; and at the coronation of the King.


John in Revelation tells us that Adonai’s voice sounds like the shofar (Rev.1: 10).

Also, we read in Numbers 10:5 the shofar is sounded to signal the start of the journey in the Wilderness.

In Jeremiah 4:19; 49:2 & Zec 1:16 it is sounded as a summons for war.

We see another reference to the ‘shouting’ of the ram’s horn, the shofar) in Joshua 6:◦ It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and

when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:5)


The Messianic Significance of Yom Teruah:

Matthew 24:29-31But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet (shofar), and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.


1 Cor 15:51-52Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 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 will be changed.

1 Thess 4:15-16For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.


Rev 10: 5-7 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on

the land raised his right hand to heaven 6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.


Zeph 1: 14- 16 The great day of the LORD is near, and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.


In Judaism the 10 days from Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), are called the ‘The 10 Days of Awe’.

Some Rabbi’s argue that the 10 Days of Awe match up with the 10 Words.

Consider, the first day, Yom Teruah will surely be the Day when Israel will say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ‘ - Luke 13:35, and in Ps 118: 26


Luke 13: 35◦ Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see

me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Ps 118: 22-26 ◦ The stone that the builders rejected has become the

cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!


Israel’s Return in ‘belief’ or ‘unbelief’?

The Lord will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.

And the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.◦ Deuteronomy 30:3-5


Once the Jews are re-established in their land, "they will never be rooted up again" (Amos 9:14-15).

The prophecies of re-gathering appear to fall into three categories: 1) A few relate to the return from Babylonian captivity

(Jeremiah 25:10-12 and 29:1-10).

Most of these prophecies appear to involve two end time re-gatherings from all over the world,

2) One in unbelief before the Lord Messiah returns (Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 36:22-28) and,

3) the other in belief after the Lord returns?? (Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and Ezekiel 37:19-28).


First the Return in belief.

Isaiah 10-12: 5 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the

club of my wrath! 6 I send him against a godless nation,) his purpose is to destroy, to

put an end to many nations. …

20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.


Isaiah 11: 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give

decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

…10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.


The time of the restoration of all things: Acts 3: 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that

times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which

God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Romans 11:25-27 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery,

brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.


Hosea 3: 4-5 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king

or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear Adonai and His goodness in the latter days.

We see a 3 step process here:1. A return from a long time without a king (and therefore without

a land and without a temple to give sacrifices at.)2. A seeking after God and His King or Messiah3. A Fear of God in the last days i.e. a return to belief!


Jeremiah 3:14-17 Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your

master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, The ark of the covenant of the LORD. It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.


Jeremiah 23 3-4

Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.


Jeremiah 23:6-8 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will

dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.

7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

8 but As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them. Then they shall dwell in their own land.


Ezekiel 34:13-1613 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”


Ezekiel 36:24-28

24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.


It may even be that step 2 involving seeking after the commandments of God may fit the pattern Paul tells us in Gal 3 24:

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Who will one of these teachers be?

Malachi 4:4-64. Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”


This was endorsed by Yeshua in Matthew 17:11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is

coming first and will restore all things.

Many orthodox Jews also believe that they are living in the last days and that 1948/67 etc are a fulfillment of prophecy

Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20 in Romans 11.

Is 59:20 “ The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob who turn from rebellion,” So says Adonai.


A Messianic Jew makes gives an interesting perspective on exiles and returns of the Jewish people:

There is a ladder of God's blessing and punishment, which has four major stages:1. Full conquest and kingdom dominion2. Economic and military defeat reducing the borders3. Division of the nation in two4. Exile

In our generation God is restoring the nation of Israel. In so doing, He reverses the process of the

exile. Restoration (or national redemption) is the opposite of exile.

Therefore the process of restoration has the same four stages in reverse:1. Return from exile2. Half the nation restored3. Expansion of military and economic influence4. Full kingdom conquest


Here is how that restoration ladder has been partially fulfilled in

the last century:

1. The return from exile started in 1881 at the first Aliyah of the "BILU" movement and continues unto today.

2. Half of the nation was restored in 1947 and at the UN partition and establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

3. In 1967 and 1973, territory was expanded through military conflict. From 1977 until the present there has also been economic growth in Israel.

4. Ultimately, as the nation returns to its Messiah and the Messiah returns to His nation, the full kingdom will be restored.

◦


Jeremiah 31:10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the

coastlands far away; say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Ezekiel 36:8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your

branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. …I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.


24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols

34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. 35 So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’

Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”


Joel 1: 1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and

Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

Zech 13: 8 In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-

third will be left in it….

Zech 14:2 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The

houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives


What about prophecies in the New Testament: Firstly, Jesus Himself spoke of the scattering and latter-day re-gathering of

the Jewish people: Luke 21:20-28

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. …24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.


What about those prophecies that appear to speak of a return in ‘belief’:

Ezekiel 37:19-28: but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

Jeremiah 30 is another possible prophecy but again it is after God has brought them back that they give thanks, not before.


Deuteronomy 30:1-10: 1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things

come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,

2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,

3 that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.

4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.

5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.


6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

7 “Also the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.

8 And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and do all His commandments which I command you today.

9 The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,

10 if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Torah, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.


A website called “Bible Revelations” quotes Deut 30:2 as below:

Deuteronomy 30:2 "...if you Return to YHVH your God, if you obey His Voice with all your heart and soul in everything I enjoin on you today (i.e. the Laws, Statutes, Precepts and Commandments of YHVH), then YHVH your God will bring back your captives ('shav et Shevoet' - restore you, set you free from bondage, reconcile you to His Covenant relationship)".

http://www.revelations.org.za/Captivity.htm



Israel's Return & the great reunion - Presented by Paul Herring

Approaching Midnight for Israel –what should we do:

A fearful time approaches!We can: Support the root demonstrate our love not our judgment; pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6); develop relationships; make the Jewish people jealous in our devotion and

faithfulness to God! ◦ Rom 11: 11-15 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God

forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Love them even when we don’t understand them or their relationship with their God and ours, the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

introduction to the 'fall' feasts

Spiritual

paul herring

fall feasts israels

day of trumpets

day ofatonement

day of nissan passover

day ofsolemn rest

feast days

days of jesus