Feasts of the Lord

This month, we will explore the profound significance of the Feasts of the Lord as outlined in Leviticus 23. Although these divine appointments God gave Israel almost 3500 years ago hold historical, agricultural, and cultural importance, their most significant value is God’s revelation of His redemptive plan for humanity. As Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ stands as the substance of understanding for the Feasts of the Lord (Colossians 2:16-17).

Before we dive in, we've outlined some helpful definitions, concepts, and verses to help orient our exploration.

The Feasts of the LORD

The Feasts of the Lord include one weekly observance—the Sabbath—and seven annual celebrations divided into Spring and Fall. The Spring feasts are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost, while the Fall feasts are Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. The Spring Feasts have seen their perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Passover was fulfilled in the death of Christ on Calvary’s cross as our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). The feast of Unleavened Bread found fulfillment in the perfect, sinless sacrifice of God’s only Son. The resurrection of Jesus, the promised Messiah, gloriously fulfilled the Feast of First Fruit as the first fruit from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20). Concluding the Spring Feasts is Pentecost. Fifty days following the resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit came, His Church was formed, and the promise was fulfilled. In Christ, the Spring feasts have been fulfilled on the exact day given by the Lord in Leviticus 23. Just as the Spring Feasts were fulfilled in Christ’s first advent, our confident hope rests in His second advent, perfectly fulfilling the Fall Feasts. To miss seeing Jesus as the Feast’s substance and fulfillment is to miss God’s divine voice and purpose.

This October blog series will introduce the Fall Feasts of the Lord: Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles.

The Feast of Trumpets

God is not random or reactionary. As Creator of heaven and earth, He is not bound by time but chooses to enter our finite time to reveal His plan of eternal salvation. God’s feast days are specific and set in time. Significant events happen on the divinely appointed feast days throughout God’s Word. Most miss it, but God’s sovereign, purposeful will is undeniable when it comes into view. Some significant biblical events occurring on Tishri 1, The Feast of Trumpets, are:

• Noah verifies the flood waters have dried up. (Genesis 8:13)
  • Note: The month of Tishri was the first month until God changed Israel's calendar in Exodus 12, where Tishri would become the seventh month.
• The sons of Israel returned to Jerusalem and began restoring the temple after being exiled for 70 years. (Ezra 3:1-7)
• God brought a national revival to Israel in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day (Nehemiah 8).

The Feast of Trumpets, Yom Teru’ah, is the fifth of the seven annual feasts given in Leviticus 23:23-25 and repeated in Numbers 29:1.

Leviticus 23:23-25

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.“‘You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’” 

Numbers 29:1

Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.

On this first day of the seventh month, Israel was to rest, blow trumpets, assemble as a nation before the LORD, and make burnt, sin, grain, and drink offerings to the LORD.

The Blowing of the Trumpet

The day-long blowing of trumpets is unique to this feast and serves practical and prophetic purposes. Since God provided a ram on Mount Moriah as a substitute for Isaac’s life, the shofar (ram’s horn) has been sounded on Jewish special occasions. It is played for the coronation of Israel’s kings, to sound war’s battle cry, to call people to assemble, to announce a Jubilee year, and to fill the temple with praise, to mention a few. As you can see, the shofar was integrated into the people’s hearing. The manner and means of its sounding instructed and informed the people. So, having a feast called Trumpets points to a significant occasion.

The trumpet blasts on this day served the practical role of ending the work of the hand and beginning a holy season for the heart. People would rest from their labor as the shofar sounded forth as the agricultural year ended, bringing much joy. This joy was accompanied by solemnity because the people’s hearts were faced with God as Judge. The Feast of Trumpets began ten days of repentance, known as the “Days of Awe.” These ten days of repentance came to a final crescendo on the Day of Atonement. The Feast of Trumpets was a call to return to God through repentance. The blowing of the shofars was a call to prepare to meet their King and give an account.

The Call of the Trumpet

Another unique element to the Feast of Trumpet is the day of the month it occurs. This is the only feast on the first day of the month. In biblical times, a Hebrew month had 29 or 30 days, based on the moon cycle. (As a reminder, the Jewish 24-hour cycle begins and ends at sundown.) As the sixth month, Elul, came to a close, observers could estimate the start of the seventh month, Tishri, but not the exact day. Tishri began when two witnesses confirmed sighting the new moon, marking the start of the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Teruah. Because the seventh month’s exact start day was known only after the fact, this fifth Feast of the LORD gives a prophetic view into God’s redemptive plan.

The shofar’s blasting surprised the people. They knew the day was close but did not know of its arrival until the shofar sounded, confirming that the day had indeed arrived.

Jesus proved Himself to be the substance of the Spring Feasts, and He will prove to be the essence of the Fall Feasts.

Colossians 2:16–17

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

At His first advent, Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the Fall feasts in divine timing through His death (Passover), burial (Unleavened Bread), and resurrection (First Fruit). The Feast of Trumpets represents the day of His second advent when the last trumpet will sound. It will be when the harvest ends, and Christ gathers us to Himself.

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. 

Like Noah, our eyes will be filled with joy to see judgment has passed and our eternal home awaits. Like a people finally released from flesh’s frailty, we will stand as one people raised imperishable. Like the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, God will change our hearts to be forever His.

Until Then

Until then, we wait in confident hope for the shofar to blow. While waiting for the Trumpet’s blast, we fill this earth with the praise of Christ our Lord. We stand readied and dressed in Christ's righteousness, awaiting our Bridegroom's return.