On Faith: It’s time for Feasts of the Lord

Brent Emery

On Faith

As fall approaches, we once again see the arrival of the Feasts of the Lord.

Many Christians are unaware that a different calendar lies buried (and long ago forgotten) in the pages of their Bible. This Biblical calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar and, today, the church celebrates holidays prescribed to us by the Catholic church.

Thus we have holidays like Christ-Mass and All-Hallows-Eve along with days to honor saints given this status by the Catholic church (Patrick/Valentine).

I write to encourage a return to the Biblical calendar.

I know what I’m asking is radical and goes against the grain of tradition.

Many people think this calendar is “Jewish” or “Israeli,” but the truth is, these Holy Days belong to our G-d, and He has given them to everyone who places their faith in His Son Yeshua (Jesus).

Allow me to introduce you to the Holy Days of the Biblical calendar known in Hebrew as “moedim.”

The word “moedim” means “an appointed time,” and the complete listing can be found in Leviticus 23.

There are five major Biblical moedim, with two in the spring and three in the fall.

The two spring feasts are Passover and Shavuot.

Passover celebrates the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt.

Told to sprinkle blood on their doorposts, the death angel “passed over” the houses covered by the blood.

Fast-forward to the Apostolic Scripture (New Testament) and the death of Yeshua occurs at Passover.

The next feast is Shavuot, which takes place 49 days after Passover. The word “Shavuot” means “weeks.”

At the first Shavuot, the Torah (instruction for life) was delivered on Mount Sinai.

Fast-forward and the Holy Spirit is poured out (see Acts 2) on Shavuot (known in Greek as Pentecost).

The spring feasts give us the timing of the first coming of our Messiah Yeshua, and that means the fall feasts give us the timing of His second coming.

Let’s examine the three remaining feasts that occur in the fall.

The first feast we encounter is Yom Teruah.

The word “yom” means “day” an the word “teruah” means “blowing,” so Yom Teruah means the day of the blowing.

The blowing of the ram’s horn (known as the shofar) was used to call the people to remember that the Holy Days had arrived so they could prepare their hearts with repentance and forgiveness.

In modern times, this moedim is known as Rosh HaShanah, which means “head of the year.” I believe the moedim of Yom Teruah is the day that Yeshua will return to this earth to begin His reign as King of Kings.

The second of the fall feasts is Yom Kippur and means “day of atonement.”

That’s the day of fasting as we recall the sacrifice of Yeshua on our behalf and await His second coming.

For those who wish to do more study on the day of atonement, I would encourage you to read Leviticus 16.

The final fall feast is Sukkot, or what is commonly called Booths/Tabernacles.

Sukkot once again reminds us our eternal destiny is to live with our G-d forever.

For seven days, we prepare little booths or huts and live in them as a memorial of G-d’s provision for us when we departed Egypt.

I have argued in the past that the Feast of Sukkot is the Feast on which Yeshua (Jesus) was born. In fact, major events in the life of Yeshua “happened” on Biblical Feast days.

According to the Prophet Zechariah (see chapter 14), there will come a day in the future when everyone who believes in the Lord will celebrate the Feast of Sukkot.

Over time, the Biblically based Feasts of the Lord were replaced and then forgotten.

With a proper understanding of the Biblical Feasts, we have a blueprint for the first and second coming of Messiah Yeshua.

Within the feasts, we can celebrate the birth, death, resurrection and return of the Messiah without ever looking at a Gregorian calendar.

A study of the calendar is far too deep to do it justice with this column, but I hope I have piqued your interest and that you will investigate these Holy Days.

As the days of Messiah’s return draw closer, we must know and understand the times, and that can only happen if we are educated in the Calendar of G-d.

The calendar was established for us in Genesis 1:14, where we are told that the sun, moon and stars are placed in the heavens for us so we will know the “seasons” (Hebrew word is Moedim).

If one studies the Apostolic Scripture, these feasts are not replaced or abolished but marked by the believing community of faith.

My brothers and sisters, I implore you with all I have to investigate these Holy Days, for in them are the times of our G-d.

The reference of ‘G-d’

Some readers have contacted The Peninsula Gateway curious about Brent Emery’s reference to God in his On Faith column.

The following is an explanation from www.jewfaq.org:

“Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better ... Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing ‘G-d’ instead of ‘God.’ ”

On Faith columnist Pastor Brent Emery can be reached at Congregation Beit Tefillah or by e-mail at torah4today@comcast.net.