Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 AKJV)
The Hebrew word sôḏ (sode) is translated secrets, but means secret counsel. God
reveals His plans to those whom He calls as prophets. The Word of God, from the
Old Covenant to the New, Genesis to Revelation, paints a complete picture of
His entire plan for mankind. Hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled by the first
coming of Jesus, yet God’s people, Israel, failed to recognize the events as
they unfolded.
The fulfillment of the prophecies occurred during what the Bible translates as “feasts” but literally means “appointed times.” The Lord instructed Moses:
“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD'S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations--My appointed times are these:” (Leviticus 23:2 NASB)
Feasts are more than a time to eat and celebrate. The Hebrew word miqrā’ (mik-raw’) translated “holy convocation” or “sacred assembly” means a “dress rehearsal.” The Jews would act out through the festivals, a dress rehearsal for what God would bring about. God's number of perfection in the physical is seven and there are seven feasts God has instructed His people to celebrate forever:
- Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- First Fruits
- Pentecost (Weeks)
- Trumpets
- Atonement
- Tabernacles (Booths)
The first four of the seven feasts occur during the springtime: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost (Weeks). The final three holidays (Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles) occur during the fall. The four spring feasts were fulfilled literally and right on the actual feast day in connection with Christ’s first coming. Likewise the three fall feasts will be fulfilled literally in connection to the Lord’s second coming.
Here is the prophetic fulfillments of the
first three feasts:
Passover (Pesach - pas’-khah)
The Bible tells us that after many decades of
slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were
subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, God saw the people’s
distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth My people, so
that they may serve Me.” Despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed
God’s command.
Moses proclaimed ten plagues upon the land to Pharaoh and each came true, devastating and afflicting the Egyptians, destroying everything from their livestock to their crops. At the stroke of midnight after the last prophecy was given, God sent an angel to kill all of Egypt's firstborn while sparing the children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the feast.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. (Leviticus 23:5 AKJV)
The New Testament points to the Messiah as our Passover lamb:
The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 AKJV)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:19 AKJV)
Jesus is a “lamb without blemish or defect”
and He was sacrificed so that we would be redeemed by His blood which was shed
for our sins.
Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)
Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. (Leviticus 23:6 AKJV)
The week after Passover is known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The hebrew word for unleavened bread is azymos (ad’-zoo-mos) meaning bread without leaven, however the word used for this feast is hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mos’) which means consecration or holiness. Metaphorically speaking, in the word of God, leaven represents sin. Before passover, time is spent removing leaven from the household and kept from the house for the entire week. This represents keeping our lives free of sin as the house is kept clean of leaven. When we dedicate our lives to the Lord who has redeemed us, we should endeavor to keep it free of sin.
...Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 AKJV)
We should learn God’s ways and be determined to keep sin far from us. Having “a little” sin is not okay. We should be willing to closely examine our lives and remove anything that doesn’t line up with what God tells us we should do.
First Fruits (Bikkurim bik-koor’)
...When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest... Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. (Leviticus 23:10 & 14 AKJV)
In ancient times God’s people would tie a string to the first buds in a field each year marking them as the “first fruit.” The offering was brought to the temple when it was ripe. This was usually about one-sixtieth of the crop. The actual feast was held at the conclusion of the week we call Passover.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:20 AKJV)
Jesus was resurrected on this very day, which
is one of the reasons that Paul refers to him as the “first fruits from the
dead.” Just as our Lord was resurrected and brought into Heaven after He died,
so shall we be when we die.
Weeks or Pentecost (Shavuot shaw-voo’-ah)
You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15-16 AKJV)
The Church was actually established on this day when God poured out His Holy Spirit and 3,000 Jews who responded to Peter’s great sermon and his first proclamation of the gospel. This feast occurs between two sets of three feasts: fifty days after the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and before the feast of Trumpets. The first three feasts were all linked together, as the last three feasts will be as they are fulfilled.
Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah roshe
ha-sho-nah )
The very first fall feast is Rosh HaShanah which means Head of the Year. It is technically the first day of the Hebrew year, yet fate for the next year is not sealed until the end of Tabernacles. Many believe that this is about the rapture or the “catching away” of God’s people because of two things:
- The final day of the feast is held on one of two days, so the exact day is unknown.
- It is about blowing a shofar
Let’s look into the scriptures concerning
these items:
Rapture (Catching Away)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 AKJV)
This is the first letter written by Paul. In every chapter of this book, Paul talks about the return of the Lord. The Greek word keleusma (kel'-yoo-smah) is translated “trump” or “shout.” The fuller meaning is with a loud summons, a trumpet call. This definition is confirmed by another of Paul’s letters:
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 AKJV)
Here it specifies what type of call it will be, a trumpet call. Does this mean that this will occur in the Feast of Trumpets? We need to look at what else is said to understand more about this event.
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night… (1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV)
This seems to say that we will have no way of knowing when the “rapture” will happen, however, if we continue to read just two more verses, Paul clarifies:
But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light…(1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 ESV)
The day when the trumpet is blown, it will only come like a thief if you are in darkness! All those who are abiding in Christ, who is the Light, should see that the time is near. In order to see if the Feast of Trumpets can be applied to the rapture, we must understand what this feast means!
Say to the Israelites, On the first day of the seventh month, you shall observe a day of solemn [sabbatical] rest, a memorial day announced by blowing of trumpets, a holy [called] assembly. (Leviticus 23:24 AMPC)
Notice it says trumpets, not a final single
trumpet. On this day the trumpets were blown as a memorial (to remember) the
giving of the Law of Moses. This was God’s system of justice before Jesus came.
It was also when God made His ways known to His people.
When referring to Trumpets, most people are
only aware of the actions that happen on the actual day of the feast: the
shofar is blown 100 times then the last blast is blown at sunset on the new
moon. Because of the difficulty in pinpointing which day the new moon would
arrive on, Israel celebrates trumpets on two days, though the original
intention was to celebrate it only on one day. These blasts are said to be
blown to arouse God’s compassion and to confuse Satan so that the feasts can
occur without persecution from the enemy.
For orthodox Jews, this feast actually starts
on the first day of the month of Elul: the days most people know as the Feast
of Trumpets occurs on the first day of the next month. For thirty days prior to
this, a trumpet is blown every day to remind Israelites to wake up to God and
make right any sins against their brothers to avoid judgement.
Just like the Spring feasts, these Fall feasts are intertwined in their meaning. “The Complete Story of Tishrei” tells us that the 40 days before the Jewish Feast, Yom Kippur (Feast of Atonement), are a special time of Divine grace and forgiveness culminating on that day. This means three of the feasts are linked in their meaning:
- Feast of Trumpets - 1st of Elul
- Days of Awe - 1st - 10th of Tishri
- Feast of Atonement - 10th of Tishri:
- Feast of Tabernacles - 15th of Tishri - the 22nd of Tisri
These 40 days represent the days Moses spent
on Mount Sinai receiving God’s Law. The sounding of the trumpet on the days
preceding Yom Kippur are telling us to return to God and His ways. It is a time
of repentance and preparation. It is a time of growing close to God through
prayer and finding mercy, “Like a new-born innocent child.”
According to the Jewish website Chabad.org,
“The shofar calls unto us: Wake up! Wake up! There's work to be done! You have
been lulled into mental lethargy by unimportant earthly things; you have
neglected your spiritual needs! Wake up now! Give your soul a chance, too!” And
it also states: “The shofar was sounded when war was waged against a dangerous
enemy… it is a call to arms like war drums.” One of the idioms for this day is,
“The Day of the Awakening Blast.”
This makes it clear that the blowing of the
shofar for the Feast of trumpets is about waking up, not a “final trumpet” to
call us home. It represents the Awakening is past and the Outpouring has begun.
The fulfillment of the final fall feasts will occur on the actual day of the feasts, however, there is evidence that the days in between are years, not days. For more information concerning this topic, see the Revelation classes at the Courts of Heaven Academy.
Ten Days of Awe
The first ten days of the month of Tishrei are
known as the Ten Days of Repentance. The Feast of Trumpets occur on the first
two of these ten days. During this time, God is known for being especially
close to the Earth so it is easy to receive forgiveness for our sins. To make
sure they escape judgement, God’s people spend more time in the Torah and less
time focused on worldly endeavors in order to escape the judgments of the
coming year.
The recent revelation of God as the Judge of Heaven and Earth and our rightful place in the Courts of Heaven through Jesus will be greatly used during the Ten Days of Awe. When the Outpouring of God’s Glory begins, He is close to the Earth and we can quickly receive mercy from our sins. This is a critical piece that needs to happen before the Tribulation can begin. In the book of Revelation it clearly states that:
“...they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death…” (Revelation 12:11 NKJV)
Overcome is the Greek word nikaō which may mean when one is
arraigned or goes to law, to win the case, maintain one's cause. Because the
legal term, “testimony,” is also used in the same sentence we know this is the
right definition for these words. We must know about and overcome the enemy in
the Courts of Heaven before the end comes. Every time we go into the courts and
give testimony, the enemy loses ground. As this revelation spreads, so will the
victory of the Body of Christ until Satan is truly overcome!
Many scriptures are read in the first few days
and the last part of this time period is when “it is a time for doing what we
have learned.” The sabbath during the between Trumpets and Atonement has an
interesting name: Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of Return). According to Hebrew
tradition (Chabad.org):
It is customary in almost all Jewish
communities for the rabbi of the city or congregation to expound on teshuvah,
(repentance, return to a Jew’s true essence) and to emphasize the severity of
transgression so that the people turn their hearts toward repentance.
If we had left during Trumpets, why would we need to return to God’s ways? The message on this sabbath could easily be seen as the two witnesses who give testimony and urge God’s people to repent, to turn away from sin and turn back to God’s ways. Everything about this time period speaks of events that take place before the rapture, so it is looking unlikely that the Feast of Trumpets will be the removal of God’s faithful from the earth.
Atonement (Yom Kippur)
...On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. (Leviticus 23:27-28 AKJV)
At the end of Ten Days of Awe is the Feast of
Atonement. During the Days of Awe, God’s people tried to amend their behavior
and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against Him and against other human
beings. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the
coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until
Yom Kippur to “seal” the verdict.
The service concludes with the closing prayer, which begins shortly before sunset, when the “gates of prayer” will be closed. Yom Kippur comes to an end with a recitation of the typical closing prayer and the blowing of the final shofar or trumpet. This marks the Feast of Atonement as the time of the rapture. Since when the trumpets begin, we cannot be totally sure if it is the first or second day of the Ten Days of Awe, the Feast of Atonement could occur eight or nine days later.
Tabernacles/Booths (Sukkot)
The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein. (Leviticus 23:34-35 AKJV)
This feast celebrates two specific items, one current and one past:
- Temporary dwellings are made to remember the passage through the wilderness when they were guided by God
- after they left Egypt
- before they entered the Promised Land
- The harvest is brought as an offering
Every day four kinds of food are brought
before the altar and waved while prayers are said praising God. Then prayers
are said requesting divine assistance. On the seventh day the seal verdicts are
finalized upon the signed fate. This is a joyous celebration, culminating as
the focus is on God and what the next will bring as fate is released at the end
of the Feast.
Since Tabernacles is celebrating the journey
through the wilderness into the harvest, it makes sense that Christ would not
be ruling: Israel was not yet in possession of the land because when they lived
in booths they journeyed toward the promised land. All the other Feasts were completely
fulfilled. This one will be too. This means Christ will return at the end of
it, somewhere in that last day.
In the first Revelation class in the Courts of Heaven Academy we have seen that there are actually nineteen years left in God’s timeline before Christ returns to rule. The countdown will begin with the seven year Tribulation known as Daniel’s Week. That will leave twelve years:
7 years of Tribulation5 years before Tabernacles begins
+ 7 years of Tabernacles
________________________________
19 years of Daniel’s prophecy of weeks.
Because we cannot be sure if the Feast of Trumpet
began on the first day or second day, we cannot know when exactly the
Tribulation will begin. All we can do is wait and see. We will know if the
trumpets have really sounded if the leader of Syria signs a seven year peace
agreement in the next two years. When that event occurs we know that the Feast
of Atonement is on the way in the next decade!
Passover 2021
The Shabbat before Pesach is called Shabbat Hagadol or the Great Shabbat.
The reading from the prophets in many communities on this Shabbat speaks of the
coming of the Messiah, and refers to the day of his arrival as the “great” and
awesome day of the Lord.
Every nine years, the Passover Feast will fall
on the day after the Sabbath. This creates unique challenges in the
organization of the ceremonies since Israel doesn’t work on the Sabbath and
there is much preparation required for this feast. The preparation will begin
the Friday before the Sabbath with special provisions of bread remaining for
necessities of that day. This means that there are actually nine days involved
in this group of feasts.
The next feast on God’s list of fulfillment is
the Feast of Trumpets. Much of the body of Christ believes this has occurred in
2020, that the Outpouring of God’s glory has begun. Could God be showing us
that we only have nine years remaining before the Feast of Atonement? Is it
time for the Body of Christ to begin preparing for the return of their Lord by
removing sin from their lives?
One small fact to consider: After the Tribulation, there will be some years left before Christ returns:
5
years before Tabernacles begins
12 years before the Lord returns to rule after the Tribulation.
Are you sure you know about the rapture? Who
will go? If there is even a chance of being here during the twelve years, we
should definitely look into it! We will explain all of these items in the
Revelation series.
More Articles on the Courts of Heaven can be found in the:
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Many people think of boot camp as a place you train for combat. Any veteran will tell you that basic training is about three things:
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Volume 1: Why Doesn't God Speak to Me?
Eager hearts cry out, hoping for a single word to confirm that He hears us. Yet, many times the only sound is silence. Over the years I have heard several reasons why God speaks to some and not to others. One night, as I tossed and turned, I brought each of these reasons before the Lord, stating why each of them did not line up with who I thought He was.
Words rose from my soul, pleading for Him to reveal why He has remained silent when a single word from Him would mean so much to so many. For the next few hours, God used things I learned about years ago and things I had just discovered to show why He talks to some and why He doesn’t, and in demonstrative ways.
In His grace, He also showed me how people could hear more from Him. Basic instructions on how to hear more from God and how to be led by Him are included in this book. Thank you for taking time to consider the answers I received and share with you now.
Keys to Authority for Every Believer
There is untapped power that is easy for every Christian to access in the form of authority. The keys to this authority will unlock weapons we can use to free ourselves from the attacks of the enemy. We must be intimately aware of the bounds and limitations of our weapon if they are to be used effectively.
Find out about your authority:- Why you need it.
- Where it comes from.
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There is untapped power that is easy for every Christian to access in the form of authority. The keys to this authority will unlock weapons we can use to free ourselves from the attacks of the enemy. We must be intimately aware of the bounds and limitations of our weapon if they are to be used effectively. - Why you need it.
- Where it comes from.
- What you can do with it.
- How to get more.
