Narrow is the Way
Yahweh’s Appointed Holy Days (High Sabbaths)
By
Thom Milnor
One of Satan’s biggest deceptions has been the duping of the entire “Christian” world into observing his pagan holidays while ridding it of Yahweh’s appointed holy days (High Sabbaths). Nowhere in all of scripture can it be found that Yahweh’s holy days should not be kept. And, nowhere in scripture can it found that “Christians” are to keep pagan holidays. In fact, Yahweh makes it abundantly clear that observing such holidays are to him, abominations .
False Christian teachers try to use Colossians 2:16-17 to justify their erroneous teachings, so let’s dispel that fallacy right off the bat:
Colossians 2:16-17 Let no man judge you therefore in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath: [17] which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Messiah.
This passage is probably one of the most misinterpreted passages in the Bible used by those rejecting Yahweh’s Sabbaths and appointed holy days to support their false beliefs. The Apostle Paul was not preaching against these things. What he was doing in this passage was countering a local heresy. He was actually confirming to the Gentile Believers the value of the holy days, the new moon as the reckoning of times, and Yahweh's true Sabbaths based on His reckoning, not man's. He was explaining that the things he spoke of, were a foreshadow “of things to come”. In other words, he was explaining that the focus is on the future.
Let’s examine what Paul actually had to say about Sabbaths, new moons, and holy days in those two verses:
Understand that Paul was confronting a heresy. The congregation in Colosse had been infiltrated by Satan’s false teachers who had influenced the Colossian believers. They did this by introducing their own religious beliefs. We see earlier in verse 8, Paul gave this warning:
Colossians 2:8 Take heed that lest there be anyone that makes spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after the Messiah:
Christian teachers today are very adept at taking scripture out of context to make their points. Paul was encountering humanly devised tradition, not the revealed instructions of Yahweh’s word. He was impressing upon them that their focus was to be on Yahshuah as the head of the body. But these false teachers in Colosse were trying to convince the congregation to direct their worship toward angels.
Colossians 2:18 Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels…….vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.
Isn’t it a bit odd that the false teachers do not include this verse when they present their deceptive doctrine? Paul is warning them not to be influenced by the imaginations of men. He characterized the Colossian heresy as “vain deceit”.
It was the Colossian heretics who introduced various man-made prohibitions such as “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch” (verse 21) against the enjoyment of physical things. Satan’s false teachers disdained any type of eating or drinking for enjoyment. These were man-made ordinances, not Yahweh’s. They especially objected to the pleasurable aspects of Yahweh’s festivals, especially the eating and drinking aspects that are commanded in the scriptures (Deuteronomy 12:17-18 and Nehemiah 8:12).
So what Paul was saying in verses 16 and 17 was not about what they were eating or drinking, or for observing Yahweh’s Feasts (holy days) or the Sabbath. Just the opposite, he was warning them about the false teachings of the deceivers who had infiltrated their congregation. The Colossian deceivers who had no authority to judge or determine how the Colossians were to observe Yahweh’s festivals. Succumbing to the judgmental influence of those Gnostic heretics is what Paul condemns, not the observance of Sabbaths and Feast days.
Why the holy days and what are they?
Yahweh has a great master plan for mankind. The plan although very simple, is understood today by only a few in relation to the billions who inhabit the earth. The mystery of that plan is laid out in the yearly cycle of his Feast Days (holy days). Unlike the shallow pagan traditional holidays “Christians” observe. Each of the seven Feasts is significant to man’s salvation. Because of the deception, the majority of Christian churchgoers view the biblical festivals as irrelevant to their relationship with Yahweh, when in fact, they are the key to his master plan and to Yahshuah‘s central role in that plan. You might call it Yahweh’s “Blueprint for salvation”.
Following is a list of Yahweh’s festivals:
Passover (Begins at sundown, not a Sabbath)
Feast of Unleavened Bread (The first and last day of the Feast are high days, annual Sabbaths).
Pentecost (A high day, an annual Sabbath).
Feast of Trumpets (A high day, an annual Sabbath)
Day of Atonement (A high day, an annual Sabbath, a day of fasting)
Feast of Tabernacles (The first day of the Feast is a high day, an annual Sabbath)
Last Great Day (This day is the next day following the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a high day, an annual Sabbath)
These are the Feasts believers are commanded to keep, not Valentine’s Day; Ash Wednesday; Lent; Good Friday; Easter; Halloween; and Christmas. Those are all pagan holidays and/or traditions of men. They are abominations to the Sovereign Yahweh. The sacred festivals listed above were commanded by Yahweh to make known the correct sequence of events of his master plan for man’s salvation. They also reveal the structure on which biblical prophecy is based.
Anciently, these festivals were given as harvest festivals but today represent the spiritual harvest of men. And so we see throughout scripture, analogies and parables that represent aspects of Yahweh’s plan to bring humanity to repentance and into his kingdom. One of the best illustrations of this is the parable of the sower and the seed (Matthew 13:3). In the land settled by ancient Israel (later known as Palestine and now occupied by the modern state of Israel), there is a small spring grain harvest followed by a much larger late summer and autumn harvest. These yearly agricultural harvests are symbolic of Yahweh's spiritual "harvests" of mankind!
Today, we can understand from the teachings of Yahshuah and the apostles that Yahweh intends the spring festivals to illustrate that all those He has called to become His Spirit-begotten children before Yahshuah’s Second Coming are only the "firstfruits" harvest (Jas. 1:18), only the relatively small beginning of His spiritual harvest of individuals into His divine Family.
The festivals of the much larger autumn harvest season picture Yahweh's calling of thousands of millions of humanity to salvation and Sonship in His glorious Family after Yahshuah's return. In Leviticus 23, we find a summary of all these annual festivals. The first three, beginning with the Passover, are memorials of the first part of Yahweh's Master Plan. They picture the firstfruits of Yahshuah's labors. The last four, the autumn festivals, look forward to the future and show how and when Yahweh will reap the great autumn harvest of mankind into His Family!
The ancient Israelites, in general, did not understand Yahweh's great purpose for mankind. Nor did they understand the spiritual significance of the steps within Yahweh's Master Plan as pictured by His annual holy days. Yahweh did not reveal this spiritual understanding to them (Eph. 3:4-5) because it was not yet His time to give them His Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that the "oracles", the Old Testament Scriptures, which include the knowledge of Yahweh's seventh day Sabbaths, annual Sabbaths and festivals, were given to Israel to be passed on from generation to generation. The Israelites, as we read in Acts 7:38, "received the lively oracles to give unto us [New Testament Believers]." The whole story of Yahweh's marvelous plan is to be reenacted year after year by Spirit-begotten children, by spiritual Israel today. The observance of these days reminds us of His great Master Plan and our part in it.
So then, let us begin with the springtime harvests that start with the Passover:
Passover
This is what Passover meant to ancient Israel:
Exodus 12:24 And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and your sons FOREVER [25] And it shall come to pass, when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. [26] And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What do you mean by this service? [27] That you shall say, It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he destroyed the Egyptians, and delivered the houses.
The ancient Israelites knew that the firstborn in each family was spared from death only because Yahweh could see the blood of sacrificed lambs on the doorposts of their houses.
This is what Passover should mean to believers today:
I Corinthians 5:7 ………for our Passover also has been sacrificed, even the Messiah:
I Peter 1:18 Knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; [19] but with perishable blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of the Messiah [20] who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of times for your sake, [21] who through him are believers in Yahweh, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope may be in Elohim.
The slain Old Testament Passover lamb foreshadowed the death of Yahshuah as our sacrifice for sin. Yahshuah’s sacrifice for our sins is the beginning of Yahweh’s master plan for our redemption and ultimate gift of eternal life. Yahshuah’s supreme sacrifice by His crucifixion occurred precisely on the biblically commanded Passover date. Hence, the Passover, not Good Friday commemorates and is a memorial to His death. Therefore its observance by taking of the bread and cup representing his body and shed blood should be but once a year, on the Passover.
Yahshuah instituted these new symbols of his suffering and death, unleavened bread and wine, which are to be taken as a memorial to His sacrifice. Following are the instructions as to how believers are to keep the Passover, and they come not from the Old Testament, but from the New::
I Corinthians 11:23 For I received of the Master that which I also delivered to you, that the Sovereign Yahshuah in the night in which he was betrayed took bread: [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: do this in remembrance of me. [25] In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: do this, as often as you drink, in remembrance of me. [26] For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the Master’s death until he comes. [27] Therefore, whoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of Yahshuah in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the blood and body of Yahshuah.
Eating the bread and taking the cup other than on the Passover and in an unrepentant attitude, is doing so in an unworthy manner.
Yahshuah gave one new command regarding the observance of the Passover:
John 13:1 Now before the feast of Passover, Yahshuah knowing his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. [2] And the supper being set out, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son to betray him, [3] Yahshuah, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from Yahweh, and goes to Yahweh, [4] rises from supper, and lays aside his garments; and he took a towel, and girded himself. [5] Then he pours water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
After washing the disciples feet, Yahshuah goes on to say:
John 13:14 If I then the Rabbi and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. [15] for I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
By washing their feet, Yahshuah was illustrating to His disciples that He had come to earth to serve mankind. Shortly afterward, He proved the extent of His extreme service to this world when He gave His very life for the sins of all mankind. Foot washing depicts the attitude of humility and service to others that Yahshuah desires every true believer to have. Foot washing should be made a part of the Passover observance.
Yahshuah did not abolish the Passover, He merely changed the symbols. The New Testament Passover is to be kept as an annual memorial of Yahshuah's death. It reaffirms year by year "till he come" (I Cor. 11:26) the true believer's faith in the blood of "Yahshuah our Passover" (I Cor. 5:7) for the remission of sins, as symbolized by the drinking of wine. As Yahshuah Himself commanded, true believers today observe the Passover on the eve of the day of His suffering and death--on the 14th day of Abib, the first month of Yahweh's calendar, in the evening, after the beginning of the day.
Seven is Yahweh's number symbolizing completeness, we are to follow the Passover with seven days of unleavened bread!
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
This is what the Feast of Unleavened Bread meant to ancient Israel:
Deuteronomy 16:3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it (that is, with the Passover sacrifice); seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
And:
Exodus 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall be no leavened bread be seen with you, in all your borders. [8] And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
To the ancient Israelite coming out of Egypt was symbolically, the coming out of sin which is what Egypt represented to the Israelites.
This is what the Days of Unleavened Bread should mean to believers today:
Once we have repented of our sins and have been forgiven by Yahweh, we must strive to forsake sin completely. We must come out of this world's ways of sin just as Israel was supposed to do when it left Egypt (Egypt being a type of sin). And so for today’s believer, leaven, during the Feast of Unleavened bread, symbolizes sin. Therefore the removing of leaven from our lives during this Feast impresses upon us the need to remove sin from our lives. We must be striving to put all sin away from us. That is our part in Yahweh's Master Plan.
To help keep us in the knowledge of the second step in Yahweh's plan, the first step having been the Passover, Yahweh gave us this second annual Feast. The observance of this Feast reminds us annually that we must strive not to return to the sins Yahshuah paid for with His shed blood.
I Corinthians 5:6 Do you not know a little leaven leavens the whole lump? [7] Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For our Passover also has been sacrificed, even the Messiah.
The Apostle Paul was telling the Corinthian congregation to put out spiritual leaven, just as they had already put out all physical leaven in preparation for this festival. They were to keep the Feast not only with unleavened bread, but also with the spiritually "unleavened" attitude of sincerity and truth.
The Israelites were not merely to remove all leavening and leavened foods from their property. That would have only symbolized putting out sin. They were also commanded to eat unleavened bread during the Feast. This act of eating unleavened bread symbolizes the opposite of sin, it demonstrates active obedience to Yahweh!
Christian churches today do not understand or teach what sin is, they do not teach that sin must be put away, and the true believer must live a life of overcoming sin, enduring unto the end, and that the over-comers shall reign with Yahshuah as kings, and priests, in His Kingdom.
If we are to become Spirit-born members of Yahweh's Family, we must prove that we will obey him here and now by striving to get the spiritual leaven of sin out of our lives and keep it out!
Pentecost
“The Feast of Firstfruits“, and, sometimes referred to as, “The Feast of Weeks“:
The word "Pentecost" is a Greek word, used in the New Testament, but not in the Old. In the Old Testament It signifies "fiftieth" and is called "Feast of First Fruits," and "Feast of Weeks". The problem arises for Jews and Christians alike because they count to Pentecost improperly as a result of their keeping a cyclical Sabbath (every Saturday or Sunday as the case may be) rather than the Torah based Sabbath as ordained. Leviticus 23:15 And you shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall there be complete (16) even to the day after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days; Here is the time of the wave-sheaf offering: Leviticus 23:9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, (10) Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I will give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest: (11) and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. This is when the count to Pentecost begins. This is what Feast of Firstfruits (Pentecost) meant to ancient Israel:
Here is the proper counting to Pentecost:
Anciently, the Feast of Firstfruits only anticipated a converted body of believers but who had not yet been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. According to Jewish tradition, it was on Pentecost that Yahweh established Israel as his holy people through His covenant with them. This was after He spoke the Ten Commandments from Mt Sinai and a special relationship between Him and Israel was sealed. They then became known as the “congregation of Yahweh”.
Numbers 27:15 And Moses spoke saying, [16] Let Yahweh, the Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, [17] who may go out before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Yahweh be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
Pentecost to ancient Israel was also known as the “Feast of Harvest, the first-fruits of your labors”. This name foreshadowed the establishment of the New Testament congregation of true believers who have the firstfruits of the Spirit and are redeemed among men by the sacrifice of Yahshuah.
This is what Pentecost should mean to believers today:
Pentecost is the anniversary of the new Testament congregation of believers under the New covenant and represents Yahweh using this congregation, those who are converted and transformed by His Spirit, to do His work in this current age. That being, to preach the Gospel of His coming Kingdom to all the world (Matthew 24:14). Many have been called during this time, but only a few have actually been chosen, and still fewer will remain faithful to the end. 2Thes 2:3 let no man beguile you in any wise: for except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.
Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place…..[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,……[21] And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.
False Christian ministers use Acts 2:21, totally out of context “And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of ’Jesus’ shall be saved”. Pay attention! This is very important. Those being spoken to here were the believers who were gathered together on that first day of Pentecost and WHO HAD received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit is required to be saved. In other words, the Holy Spirit must be in you. And how do you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit today?
Acts 2:38 REPENT and be BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of Yahshuah Messiah to the remission of your sins; and YOU SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Emphasis mine)
REPENTANCE and BAPTISIM are the key components needed for salvation. Do the false Christian ministers tell you that? And by the way, dabbing or sprinkling the head of a 6 month old infant is NOT BAPTIZING! Nor does a 6 month old infant have anything to repent of nor does he or she have the ability to repent. This is another false teaching and another subject for another time. Unless you as an adult have repented of your sins and have been fully immersed in baptism, you have not received the gift of the Holy Spirit and, YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SAVED! You will not be a part of the harvest of firstfruits no matter how much any false minister tries to convince you otherwise! Your resurrection will come on the Last Great Day as part of the White Throne Resurrection. That is when the great harvest will take place. It is also known as “Judgment Day”.
Now let us look at the Autumn harvests that start with the Feast of Trumpets:
The Feast of Trumpets:
To the Jew, this festival is known as Rosh Hashanah. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This is based on the Jewish SECULAR calendar where they have the new year beginning in the fall, not based on Yahweh’s SACRED calendar where he quite naturally and accurately has the new year beginning in the spring when everything is new. The Jews do not know why this feast is a holy day, therefore, they base it on their secular calendar and use it as their new year.
You will not find the title “Feast of Trumpets” in your Bible. The name is derived from the act of blowing trumpets to warn of impending danger during ancient times, and is observed as an appointed holy day by the New Testament believers based on the listing of the holy days in Leviticus 23 and the various mentions of trumpet soundings throughout the New Testament. Regardless of whether it was named a feast in scripture or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that it is a major part of Yahweh’s great master plan.
This is what The Feast of Trumpets meant to ancient Israel:
Leviticus 23:24 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you (an annual Sabbath), a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
Notice, unlike the Jew that keeps this as his New Year, with Yahweh’s reckoning of time, this is the seventh month, not the first month or the new year as the Jews unfortunately misinterpret.
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month…..[9]…This day is holy to Yahweh your Elohim.
This is what the Feast of Trumpets should mean to believers today:
The bulk of prophecies in the book of Revelation are represented by the blowing of the seven trumpets. The sounding of those trumpets in Revelation warns of impending disasters just as did the blowing of the trumpets in ancient Israel. The thunderous blast of the seventh trumpet signals not an Impending disaster, but the announcement of Yahshuah’s second coming to establish His Father’s kingdom on this earth forever.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded (the last prophetic trumpet); and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Yahweh, and of his messiah: and he shall reign forever and ever.
Here is pictured for us that next blessed event in Yahweh's redemptive plan, when Yahshuah shall come again, in clouds with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of Yahweh (I Thessalonians 4:14-17). It shall be "at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall [all] be changed" (I Corinthians 15:52).
Yahshuah directly intervenes in world affairs at the seventh or the last trump. He comes at a time of worldwide war when the nations are angry! As soon as the work of gathering in the firstfruits (pictured by Pentecost) is completed at the end of this present age, Yahshuah will begin to set up again the tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16) to set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people (Isaiah 11:11) to search out and to find His lost sheep that the ministers of the churches have failed to search out and save during this period (Ezekiel 34:1-14).
Notice exactly when this takes place!
Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY, that the great trumpet shall be blown; and they [Israel] shall come which were ready to perish...and they shall worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Because the churches have forgotten the Festival of Trumpets, many think that the return of a part of the Jews to the Holy Land and that the setting up of the modern nation called Israel was the fulfillment of this prophecy!
The next holy day we come to in Yahweh’s plan of salvation is the Day of Atonement:
The Day of Atonement: (at-one-ment with Yahweh) A day of fasting
This day to the Jew is known as Yom Kippur
This is what The Day of Atonement meant to ancient Israel:
Each year on the Day of Atonement, ancient Israel was figuratively cleansed of its sins.
Leviticus 16:29 And it shall be a statute forever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls (by fasting), and shall do no manner of work ….. [30] for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall you be clean before Yahweh.
In ancient Israel two goats were figurative bearers of guilt. Both symbolically had all the sins of the people placed upon them and were ceremonially set apart to represent reconciling the people to Yahweh. One goat was sacrificed, the other, Azazel, representing Satan, was banished to the wilderness. The sacrificed goat represented the crucifixion of the Messiah (Yahshuah) taking on himself the penalty for the peoples sins. This sacrifice symbolized the cleansing of their sins, even those committed in ignorance.
It is not possible for animal sacrifices to cleanse us from our sins.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away our sins.
Only Yahshuah‘ sacrifice, not the sacrifice of animals is able to atone for our sins. The Day of Atonement to ancient Israel signified that Yahshuah would become the atoning sacrifice for mankind. The sacrificing of the goat symbolized His sacrifice.
This is what the Day of Atonement should mean to believers today:
Yahshuah died for the sins of all humanity so that the entire world can at last be reconciled to Yahweh. At-one-ment with Yahweh then is the appropriate context as to how everyone holding up those signs at football games and the like should employ this next scripture:
John 3:16 For Yahweh so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
If those people think that scripture ends there, then they really should continue reading on, and put the verse back into proper context:
John 3:20 For every one that does evil hates the light (Yahweh’s laws and statutes, Yahweh’s truths), and comes not to the light, lest his WORKS should be reproved. [21] but he that does the TRUTH comes to the light, that his WORKS may be made manifest, that they have been WORKED in Yahweh. (Emphasis mine)
This means keeping Yahweh’s commandments, all of them, including the third: "You shall not make wrong use of the name of Yahweh your Elohim: for Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man that misuses his name".) and the fourth "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as Yahweh has commanded you. Six days shall you labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your Elohim"., which somehow the Catholic Church has managed to do away with and so the whole Christian world has followed suit. I am confident that few if any holding up those signs, (1) use the sacred names of Yahweh and Yahshuah, and (2) keep the true seventh day Sabbaths as ordained in Leviticus 23, lunar based, not cyclical, and Yahweh’s appointed annual Sabbaths as also commanded in Leviticus 23. Therefore, Yahweh says, “their works are evil” (John 3:19). That’s not me saying that folks, that is Yahweh saying that. Sorry if that offends anyone but if it does, then perhaps you need to go back and reread verse 21 and think about making some changes in what you have been taught to believe.
The Day of Atonement symbolizes the time when Yahweh will reconcile humanity to himself through Yahshuah. This is necessary because:
2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the mighty one of this world (Satan, the god of this world) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the good tidings of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of Elohim, should not dawn upon them.
Satan has blinded the world to Yahweh’s truths. He has filled their minds with false teachings and false doctrines. He has masterfully filled their hearts and minds with lies. If you challenge them, you will be labeled a cultist and shunned. When Yahshuah comes back and establishes his Father’s kingdom on this earth forever, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and will be no more. Then and only then will the resurrected masses of humanity be able to be truly reconciled with their maker.
In this time and day, humanity as a whole is alienated from Yahweh because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.
Ephesians 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of Elohim, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart.
When Satan, symbolized by the goat was banished to the wilderness, it was a temporary banishment, just as he was banished to the “bottomless pit” during the thousand year reign of Yahshuah that took place in heaven. When Yahshuah returns, Satan, who has been let loose for a short time and is among us now, will bear the blame for the sins of all mankind and will be banished forever. His deceptive and destructive influence will forever be removed. Yahshuah will then begin dispelling the hardness of heart caused by ignorance and human nature. Everyone will then learn how to repent.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Now we come to the festival of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths the sixth festival. Let us notice the instruction concerning this occasion:
Deuteronomy 16:13-17 You shall keep the feast of tabernacles seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress: [14] and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter. . . . [15] Seven days shall you keep a feast to Yahweh your Elohim in the place which Yahweh shall choose; because Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful . . . [16] and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty: [17] every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your Elohim which he has given you.
This Festival of Tabernacles is to be kept for seven days, beginning the 15th day of the seventh month of Yahweh's sacred calendar. Generally, this is in late September or early October.
Leviticus 23:33-35 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, [34] Speak to the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days to Yahweh. [35] On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:40-41 "On the first of these days is a holy convocation, a commanded assembly. No work is to be done. ". . . And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim seven days. . . . It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: you shall celebrate it in the seventh month"
Notice: IT IS COMMANDED FOR EVER!
To the modern day Jew, this is a "holiday" known as Sukkot: This festival of booths commemorates the Biblical period of wandering in the desert, and is commemorated by building a temporary shelter (called a sukkah, usually rhymes with "book ah") in the yard and eating meals in it. Some spend considerable time in the sukkah, even sleeping there.
This is what The Feast of Tabernacles also known as The Feast of Ingathering meant to ancient Israel:
This Feast was a commemoration of the peace and safety Yahweh had promised if they would diligently obey him. It was the great autumn harvest festival that people from all of Israel came together to observe. During this harvest season they set aside animals and produce in preparation for this special week of rejoicing. During this week long feast, everyone enjoyed an abundance of food, drink and fellowship.
Ancient Israel was able to enjoy the fruits of their harvest for a week of celebrating and rejoicing. But this was only a mere representation of what Yahshuah will bring to all humanity when he assumes the role of King of kings at his return and establishes Yahweh‘s kingdom right here on this earth. What a great and glorious time that will be. HalleluYAH!
This is what the Feast of Tabernacles should mean to believers today:
To portray His plan, Yahweh took the yearly material harvest seasons in ancient Israel as the picture of the spiritual harvest of souls. The Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Ingathering represents the time during which Yahweh will gather the great harvest of humanity into his family. The time when Yahweh offers salvation to everyone.
This Feast pictures the final culminating events in Yahweh's great plan: after Yahshuah has died for our sins to redeem mankind, after Yahweh has sent us the Holy Spirit and picked out a people for His Name to become kings and priests through the thousand years of Yahshuah's heavenly reign, after Yahshuah's glorious second coming, after He has finally restored the redeemed by placing all the sins upon the head of Satan, their real author, and separating both him and the sins from the presence of Yahweh and His people, thus finally perfecting the at-one-ment, making us finally joined in one, then we are ready for that final series of events, the commencement of the "Marriage of the Lamb," the actual making of the New Covenant, the establishment of the Kingdom of Yahweh on earth and the reaping of the great harvest of souls.
The book of Zechariah will help us to understand this more thoroughly. In the 12th and 13th chapters we have a picture of Yahshuah returning and the reconciliation of the world commencing. Here the meaning of the Festivals of Trumpets and Atonement is made plain.
Next, notice the 14th chapter. The time is when Yahshuah has established Yahweh’s Kingdom on the earth: "And Yahweh shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall Yahweh be one, and his name one . . . [11] there shall be no more utter curse (destruction); but Jerusalem shall dwell safely" (verses 9, 11). It is the time when "living waters, salvation, the Holy Spirit "shall go out from Jerusalem" (verse 8). The "waters" are literal as well as figurative. Yahweh often pictures His spiritual plan by material events.
In that day, when the earth is safely inhabited, when the Holy Spirit is granted to all mortal flesh, what happens? "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles" (verse 16).
Even when the Kingdom of Yahweh is ruling over mortal nations, the people will be only heirs to the Kingdom. They must overcome and grow in knowledge and wisdom to inherit the promises and eternal life.
The Feast of Tabernacles is only the sixth festival. There is yet one more, the seventh!
The Last Great Day
Leviticus 23:39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day (The Last Great Day) shall be a solemn rest.
The first day of the seven days is an annual Sabbath and the opening day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The eighth day, is the next day after the Feast of Tabernacles ends. The eighth day is The Last Great Day and an annual Sabbath.
Let us also read Nehemiah as a supporting scripture:
Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he (Ezra) read in the book of the law of Elohim. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.
The Last Great Day represents the seventh and final step in Yahweh’s great master plan of salvation for man. It is the concluding aspect of that plan. Unfortunately, the modern day Jew has no idea as to what this day represents. They call it Shemini Atzeret and describe it as “sort of an extra day tacked onto the end of Sukkot“.
This is what The Last Great Day meant to ancient Israel:
Although ancient Israel did not know the meaning of this day other than it was a Sabbath of Elohim and a day for a solemn assembly, they were given a vivid account of its future meaning. To grasp the significance of this, the reader is urged to read the 35th and 36th chapters of Ezekiel. Here we will deal only with the finality of it:
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of Yahweh was upon me (upon Ezekiel), and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh (that is, by a vision), and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. [2] And he caused me to pass by them all around: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry (they had been dead for a very long time). [3] And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Sovereign Yahweh, you know. [4] Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. [5] In this manner says the sovereign Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live (this is the resurrection of all the dead who ever lived of the entire house of Israel and of all the gentiles grafted into them). [6] And I will lay sinew upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
This is what the Last Great Day should mean to believers today:
Here is what the Apostle John says in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened; which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their WORKS. [13] And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and the grave gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged every man according to their WORKS. [14] And death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (In order to have a second death, there had to be a resurrection to life. i.e.; Ezekiel 37), even the lake of fire. [15] And if any was not found in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
John 5:28 Marvel not at this time: for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, [29] and shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
The belief among most people is that Yahweh sends those who die unsaved to an ever burning hell to be tormented forever. What an atrocious belief and one so masterfully perpetuated by Satan. This is simply not true. When a person dies, he or she remains in the grave until this great resurrection to life or to judgment. He or she neither goes to heaven nor to the hell that christians teach. (Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 6:5). The judgment will take place over time as these people hear and learn Yahweh’s truth for the first time without the deceptions of Satan.
John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Yahshuah stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. [38] He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.
A resurrection to judgment does not mean one is automatically thrown into the lake of fire and is no more. Everyone who has ever lived will be given the opportunity to repent and learn Yahweh’s truth without Satan’s influence for Yahweh is not willing that any of his children should perish. Everyone will be given the opportunity to have the gift of eternal life. This time of judgment will conclude when the incorrigibly wicked, when those who refuse to repent and accept Yahweh’s ways, are cast into the lake of fire.
Once the final judgment has been completed, then we have this wonderful new beginning:
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and the sea is no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Yahweh, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of Yahweh is with men, and he shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be his peoples, and Yahweh himself will be with them, and be their Elohim. [4] and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more (Why? Because everyone will now be spirit beings, not flesh and blood.); neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, anymore: the first things have passed away.
Yahweh has thought out every detail of his great and wonderful plan for our salvation. His seven festivals celebrate the seven stages of that glorious plan.
Summary:
Passover: Pictures the penalty for sin being paid for by Yahshuah great sacrifice.
The Days of Unleavened Bread: Symbolically when Believers remove sin from their lives.
Pentecost: For the Believer it pictures Yahweh giving his Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism.
The Feast of Trumpets: Pictures the return of Yahshuah and the firstfruits at his return being changed into spirit beings as part of Yahweh’s Family.
The Day of Atonement: This symbolizes Yahshuah’s sacrifice for the firstfruits, and for the sins of mankind being placed totally on Satan.
Feast of Tabernacles: After Yahshuah’s second coming, Satan will have been thrown into the lake of fire, and Yahshuah will establish Yahweh‘s kingdom on the earth for ever. During this time those humans who live in the flesh will be taught Yahweh’s way of life and offered salvation.
The Last Great Day: Here we see the culmination of Yahweh’s Plan of salvation, when all of mankind will have either been saved, or, in the case of a few individuals, have chosen death in the lake of fire in rebellion against Yahweh.
But, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. This is the end of the beginning of Yahweh’s great Master Plan, one which will give a great future to us all.
HalleluYAH, Praise Yahweh!