The Fall Festivals
According to Hebrew thought these seven festivals are also “rehearsals”, rehearsals for the coming of the Messiah. The four spring festivals teach us about the first coming of the Messiah and the three fall festivals teach us about the second coming of the Messiah.
We saw in the post on The Crucifixion that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the first three spring festivals – Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits - literally to the day and the hour.
We also saw in the post on The First Pentecost that Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks was also fulfilled literally to the day when the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles on that first Pentecost.
The fall festivals teach us about the second coming of Jesus.
These festivals can also have different names associated with them. For example, Rosh Hashanah means “First of the Year” but it can also be called “The Day of the Awakening Blast” or “The Feast of Trumpets”.
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
According to Hebrew thought at the sound of the trumpet of God (or the sound of the awakening blast) the dead in Christ will rise and all believers, both those who are living and those who were dead, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This “catching away” of the believers is known as the rapture in Christianity and it will occur on Rosh Hashanah.
Matthew 24:7, 8
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
Rosh Hashanah also starts the birth pangs of the Messiah or the days of awe or the tribulation as it is known in Christianity. It is a seven year period based on the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks (see Daniel 9:24-27) where judgment will come upon the earth as described in Matthew chapter 24 and in the Book of Revelation. And while the tribulation is taking place on earth three things will be happening in heaven.
First, the believers who were raptured at the start of Rosh Hashanah will receive their reward, perhaps not unlike the parable of the slave and the five talents….
Matthew 25:19-21
“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”
Second, the believers will become the Bride of Jesus and attend the marriage supper of the Lamb…
Revelation 19:7-9
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
Third, the believers will attend the coronation ceremony of Jesus when He is made the “KING OF KINGS”…
Revelation 19:13-16
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Seven years later on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jesus will return to the earth with His Bride to defeat Satan and judge the world. The beast (or the false Messiah or the anti-Christ) and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire…
Revelation 19:20
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
And Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for one thousand years…
Revelation 20:1, 2
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
Then on Sukkot, the Feast of Nations or Tabernacles, Jesus will establish a new kingdom on earth where He and His Bride (or priests) will reign for 1000 years…
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
There will be peace and joy on earth and all of the nations will be blessed…
Revelation 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
For more information on the fall festivals please click/tap on the following links…
Hebrew for Christians - Ten Days of Awe
Hebrew for Christians - Birth Pangs of the Messiah
The following YouTube videos are from the television program “In the Footsteps of Messiah”. The first video is the first of a ten part series on Rosh Hashanah and the second video is the first of a four part series on the coronation of the Jesus…
In the Footsteps of the Messiah - Rosh Hashanah Part 1
In the Footsteps of the Messiah - Coronation of the Messiah Part 1
Final note: Just as the four spring festivals were fulfilled literally to the day and the hour there is no reason to believe that these three fall festivals will not also be fulfilled literally to the day an hour.
