Introduction to God’s Fall Feasts (Moedim) of Leviticus 23
By Sandra Teplinsky, 2010
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen.1:1) Jewish tradition teaches that the birth date of the world took place on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri. Rosh Hashana, which literally means “head of the year” begins this year (2010) at sunset on September 9,and marks the beginning of the Jewish year 5779. Note that the traditional Jewish year begins not with the call of Abraham, nor with the call of Moses, nor with the establishment of the Davidic monarchy, but with the creation of the world. This is because Biblical Judaism is by its nature universal, applying to all humankind through Messiah Jesus (Yeshua).
Rosh Hashana is a type of judgement day distinguished by reflection, prayer, and repentance. It is a solemn event that deals with the soul and future of humanity. It is the first of 10 “Days of Awe,” during which observant Jews reflect upon their lives and recommit their ways to God. The tenth and last day of the Days of Awe is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Biblically, Rosh Hashana is known as the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah). Shofars (ram’s horns) were and still are blown as trumpets throughout Israel. Their piercing blasts call the people not only to repentance, but to battle, physically and spiritually. The shofar is associated in Scripture with revelation at Mt. Sinai; calls to war; summons to assemble, praise and worship; the coronation of a king; the end times ingathering of the Jewish people; admonition against sin; Israel’s restoration; judgement of the nations; and final judgment of all humankind.
In fact, Yom Teruah is actually not a new year at all according to Scripture, which sets Nisan 1 as the biblical new year. (Exodus 12:2) It came to be seen as the new year by extra-biblical tradition, most likely associated with Israel’s first exile.
In any case, the shofar ultimately foreshadows the return of Messiah Yeshua to earth, and according to many Christians, the Rapture. He is coming to judge the nations, deliver Israel from genocidal warfare against her, and usher in His glorious, millennial reign of peace.
Listen to shofar sounded at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Rosh Hashana:
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is observed on the 10th of Tishri, corresponding this year (2010) to September 18. It is known as the Day of Atonement, and the conclusion of 10 preceding “Days of Awe.” Traditional (extra-biblical) Judaism believes that on Rosh HaShana/Yom Teruah, God decides and writes in His Book of Life the names of all those who will live or die in the coming year. But not until 10 days later is His book sealed shut. During the 10 days (“Yamim Noraim)”, He gives us gracious opportunity to repent and realign with Him. In Temple times, these 10 days of prayer and repentance culminated with a holy, very elaborate and atoning sacrifice offered on Yom Kippur.
On Yom Kippur, certain prescribed animals without spot or blemish were offered to God on behalf of Israel (and the nations). The animals received, in our stead, the wages of our sin which is death. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make ‘atonement’ for your souls” (Leviticus 17:11).
To atone for Israel’s sins, the nation’s high priest set apart two goats. The first he sacrificially slaughtered, after first undergoing elaborate cleansing and atonement for himself. He confessed the sins of the people over the second goat, known as the scapegoat. The scapegoat was to be taken outside the community and set free, a tangible picture of sin being removed from Israel. According to tradition, however, the goat was usually “set free” by pushing it over a desert cliff to ensure it could never return to the community.
Prophetically, Yom Kippur foreshadows the day of Israel’s national salvation. (Romans 11: 26). In the future, we as a nation will “look on Him, the one they have pierced, and mourn for Him as … one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10)
Sukkot
Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) is the third fall feast and final, seventh feast in the Jewish calendar year. Whereas the seventh day of creation was a day of rest, the seventh Levitical feast is a type of feast of rest. Sukkot also occurs in the seventh month (counting from Nisan, the month of Passover) and lasts seven days (followed by a day of holy convocation). It commemorates Israel’s wandering through the desert, while living in tents, for forty years.
On the night Yom Kippur ends, we begin happily preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles, which starts five days later. “Sukkot,” which is Hebrew for “booths,” are built as an integral part of the celebration. Honoring God’s mandate, we sleep and eat inside these booths for seven days. The temporary dwellings not only serve to remind us of Israel’s ancient desert wanderings, but of the truth we all sojourn this earth in temporal tabernacles or bodies. Reflecting this reality, a sukkah is said to be properly built only if stars are visible at night through its roof, indicating our human frailty and our need to trust fully at all times in God.
The sukkah also signifies God’s agricultural provision for His people. The Feast of Tabernacles marks the culmination of Israel’s harvest season. Grapes, olives, dates, figs, pomegranates and other crops were gathered into storehouses to prepare for winter. Therefore, the holiday was, and remains, one of thanksgiving and anticipated ingathering.
Sukkot is one of three Biblical pilgrim feasts when all Jewish men were to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. It was on Sukkot that Yeshua said, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'” (John 7:37-38) Could Yeshua’s words have alluded to a global ingathering harvest?
Prophetically, Sukkot represents the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Messiah will come with the sound of Yom Teruah’s trumpet as a conquering warrior-bridegroom-king. He will gather His elect ones from across the earth and establish His holy throne. He will cleanse His people Israel and institute His just and righteous, glorious rule over every nation. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as water covers the seas as He tabernacles with us (Is. 11; Hab. 2:14, Zech. 14:4, Rev 20:6).
And so the biblical fall feasts conclude with a holy cry, “Maranatha!”