Understanding the Significance of God's Festivals: The Key to Unveiling Prophecy and Restoring Israel
It is impossible to understand God’s festivals (His feasts) and the Lord’s high holy days without knowing God’s Hebrew calendar and prophecies. We must have the heart to understand God’s Kingdom’s purposes for the nation of Israel. Many Christians have asked me: “Why should I celebrate the feasts in the Old Testament? Are we not under a New Covenant?” Yes, we are. However, our understanding of these feasts is essential to the church.
Most of the Jewish people have yet to receive their Messiah and are, therefore, still veiled from their Messiah. They remain under the condemnation of sin and death and the judgment of the Mosaic Law. Because Gentile Christians are grafted into the natural branches, believing Israel, how the Lord deals with the unsaved Jewish people directly influences what happens with the nations. As Christians, we eagerly await Christ’s return and should seek to understand events pointing to this return. These prophetic signs correlate with the Lord’s Hebraic calendar and feast cycles and give us this understanding.
Yeshua said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32, NKJV).[i] In other words, Israel is the time clock of God’s prophetic calendar and the key to understanding latter-day events that point to the imminent return of Christ.
The church will actively engage in God’s prophetic plans to restore Israel before and after the rapture. She is commissioned to establish and ultimately administer God’s earthly Kingdom—the center of which is the nation of Israel and God’s holy city, Jerusalem. Therefore, once again, the church should seek to understand prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel and Christ’s return.
The Lord divided Israel’s days and years into intervals of seven. Seven days is a week, and seven years is a week. The seventh day is the Sabbath (Shabbat), and the seventh is the Sabbatical year (Shemitah). Therefore, seven is the number of Divine fulfillment and completion.
Yeshua’s ministry in Israel lasted for three and a half years, and God’s dealing with Israel’s rebellion concludes with another three and a half years at the end of the age. These bookends total seven years, the number representing completion in the creation. These last three and a half years are the great tribulation and time of Jacob’s sorrow.[ii] We also find in scripture seven annual festivals and high holy days the Lord has ordained, four in the spring and three in the fall.[iii] He explicitly declared these holy convocations (Moadim) to be His feasts and ordained times of prophetic fulfillment.[iv]
The spring festivals coincide with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (the Passover) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the celebration of Shavuot (Pentecost). The Passover also points to a future time of redemption for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. The fall high holy days and festivals that come during the Hebrew month of Tishrei (September and October) are comprised of three convocations—the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, the Day of Blowing), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). On the Feast of Trumpets, the Shofar (ram’s horn) is traditionally sounded one hundred times, and on the Day of Atonement, the Shofar is blown one last time.
Thirty days leading up to the Feast of Trumpets is the observance of the month of Elul—traditionally a time of introspection and repentance to evaluate one’s deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and to prepare for the upcoming “Days of Awe” and repentance that are required on the Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement. During these thirty days, the Shofar is blown once during the Morning Prayer services, except Saturdays and the morning before the Jewish New Year. These three convocations prophetically point to Christ’s Second Advent. We will describe them in more detail and how they correlate with fulfilling Biblical prophecy.
The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) aligns with the seventh seal in the book of Revelation where it says, “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15).
The rabbis teach that Rosh Hashanah is “the holiday when the new moon is covered” and not seen. In a spiritual context, this implies that the source of the light is withdrawn and concealed.[v] They consider the moon’s light to animate the world and its created beings. We know this light to be the prince of this world, who is Satan. But after the Shofars are blown, the rabbis say that a new and superior light is elicited. Who could this light possibly be? It is none other than the light of the world who is the Son of God. This day, therefore, prophetically represents the revealing and coronation of our King—Yeshua.
The Day of Atonement is the Jewish people’s holiest day of the year. It is a solemn day where we afflict our souls, but it is also joyful in knowing that God will forgive our sins. It commemorates the day when God forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf. But it also represents the day when Yeshua physically returns to the earth; as it is written, “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east…” (Zechariah 14:4).
On that day, the Lord will make final atonement for His land and His people, Israel. As it is written, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people” (Deuteronomy 32:43). Paul, therefore, declared: “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27).
The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, called the festival of ingathering) represents the return of the remnant of the Jewish people to the land of their inheritance. It also denotes the marriage celebration of the Lamb, where all the nations come up to Jerusalem to worship the King and celebrate God’s marriage to Israel and His church.
Collectively, we are the great assembly of all who are in Christ; as it is written, “In this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 25:6-8). This feast, therefore, initiates the Messianic age and the Millennial Kingdom.
All the men of Israel were required to come up to the Temple in Jerusalem three times per year and assemble before the Lord (Aliyat Ha’regel). The Hebrew for assembly is Kahal, and in Greek is Ecclesia; the same word translated into English as “church.” These assemblies were commanded for the Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). It is interesting to see how the Lord assembled His people to witness the first two significant events—the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ during the Passover and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And again, the Lord will gather the Jewish people from the ends of the earth, uniting them with Himself and His church at the Feast of Tabernacles.[vi]
God has a calendar and a prophetic timeline. He has determined that Israel is His prophetic time clock,[vii] and it is our responsibility to align with His time and His purposes, not the other way around. While the festivals were explicitly given to Israel as part of the Mosaic Covenant, we learn from scripture that the early church (which included Gentile believers) celebrated the feasts.[viii] The Lord also spoke prophetically when all the nations would come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.[ix]
As it is written, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16). “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). Therefore, it should be clear that the feasts were not solely for the Jewish people, but all God’s creation.
God ordained the Feast of Passover during the exodus from Egypt before giving the Law on Mount Sinai. The Passover and three other holy convocations (Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles) are referenced in scripture as eternal. God’s convocations are neither established nor can the Old Covenant annul them. And they existed before the Law was given to Israel. In other words, they are transcendent—beyond or outside of time and creation.
Just as God’s moral Law is eternally one with Him, so is His Law of atonement; as it is written, “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Therefore, we should understand that Yeshua was crucified before Adam was created before Abraham was born and before the nation of Israel came into existence.
All the festivals and high holy days, including the Sabbath, were given to the nation of Israel as a gift as part of the Mosaic Covenant. Israel was simply the vessel through which God would bring His redemptive purposes and salvation to the world. As Yeshua declared: “For salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). And Paul asked the Gentiles this question: “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2).
What is an oracle? It is merely a person of priestly authority that God uses to declare His prophecies concerning the future. Israel’s prophecies are revealed in scripture but hidden in the feasts; they concern the First and Second Advents of Christ and His future Kingdom. And we, the church, are that Kingdom.
The Jewish people are still to keep God’s commandments, including His written word and ordinances (His feasts and high holy days). Therefore, Israel’s calling remains to teach the nations to follow God’s laws. As it is written, “Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). This verse, essentially, provides God’s instruction to the Gentiles.
The Lord warned the church to watch eagerly for His imminent return.[x] And He never intended to become separated from Israel. It was always God’s intention that the Gentiles would be grafted into “true” Israel, the natural descendants of Abraham who, by faith, have received their Messiah.
Therefore, the Gentiles and Israel are joined together to form one cultivated olive tree and “one new man” in Christ.[xi] As it is written, “For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
The Jewish people, by and large, are still living in blindness to their Messiah. And the culmination of God’s wrath against Israel’s sin occurs during the great tribulation, as it is written, “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” (Zechariah 14:2).
But the church is called to provoke Israel to jealousy,[xii] and more importantly, I believe she has been chosen to intercede for the nation of Israel. As we read in the Bible how, one day, all the nations will come against the remnant of Israel on the Day of Atonement with an evil inclination to destroy them, the church will cry out from heaven and intercede for the Jewish people.
The Lord declared: “Gather the people [Israel], Sanctify the congregation…. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, ‘Spare Your people [Israel], O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them.’ Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people” (Joel 2:16-18). At that time, Yeshua will return with the armies of heaven (His angels and His church) to destroy the nations that have come against Israel. As it is written, “Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle” (Zechariah 14:3).
It is clear from scripture the church has been called to provoke Israel to jealousy and intercede on her behalf. And ultimately restore and rebuild the nation of Israel itself. The Lord declared: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders” (Isaiah 49:22). “The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy on you” (Isaiah 60:10).
So, the answer to our first question: “Why should I, as a Christian, celebrate the festivals of the Lord?” Because it is the church, and predominantly the Gentile Christians, who will rebuild God’s Kingdom and restore His heritage, Israel. And for this work, the church has been promised the kingdoms of the earth as an inheritance; as it is written, “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me” (Isaiah 45:3-4).
I pray that we all understand everything God has intended for our lives and that we walk in humility and obedience to fulfill His calling. This purpose centrally includes the salvation of the Jewish people and the restoration of Israel. The timing for this restoration is prophetically connected with God’s Hebrew calendar and His Holy Convocations.
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] Jeremiah 13:7, Matthew 24:21.
[iii] Leviticus 23.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, elucidated by Rabbi Yosef Wineberg. Translated from Yiddish by Rabbi Levy Wineberg and Rabbi Sholom B. Wineberg. Edited by Uri Kaploun. Published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society. Chabad. Org.
[vi] Jeremiah 23:3.
[vii] Matthew 24:32.
[viii] 1 Corinthians 5:8.
[ix] Zechariah 14:16.
[x] Matthew 24:42, Mark 13:35, Luke 21:36, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 1 Peter 4:7, Revelation 3:3, 16:15.
[xi] Romans 11:25, Ephesians 2:15.
[xii] Romans 11:11.