The Seven Feasts ⅤThe Seven Feasts in Leviticus 3Leviticus 23:23-445) The Feast of TrumpetsLeviticus chapter 23 introduces the Feast of Trumpets, when the blast of the trumpets summoned the Israelites to gather for a holy convocation. This feast does not appear in Exodus chapter 23 or chapter 34. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”  Leviticus 23:23-25Before Jesus came to this world and died, the Jews were awaiting the coming of a Messiah who would win the victory and bring to an end the period of the Gentile Empires. During that long period of about six hundred years when they had suffered continually, they must have waited eagerly for the Messiah to come. Yet, when the Messiah actually came to his land, he looked very ordinary and unattractive. As a result, he was despised and misunderstood, and was put to death at the hands of the Jews and the Romans. Nevertheless, this was in complete fulfilment of the Old Testament, and through the suffering and death that he first endured, he saved everyone in the world from the punishment of the eternal hell which is far more terrible than the oppression of any Gentile empire. He obeyed where Adam had disobeyed and thus brought about the complete forgiveness of sin, and God raised the obedient Messiah from the dead in an immortal, eternal body. Now the risen Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, waiting for the time to come when the nations of the world will submit to him completely and he will reign as king over this world. In the meantime, the work of salvation is being carried out on this earth: the age of the church which is the age of the gospel of grace began, and the church is being completed. When the age of the church led by the Helper—the Holy Spirit—comes to an end, it will mark the beginning of the period of seven years tribulation in this world. People will go through plagues and great wars during that period of tribulation, but just before this all begins, the Holy Spirit will gather the church together and set it before Jesus in the air. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17First Jesus will gather up the church. The Bible promises that we will meet him “in the air,” although we cannot know precisely where that is. At that time, those who are saved will hear the sound of the Lord’s trumpet resounding in their ears. Those who are dead in Christ will rise first, and then the saved people who are still living on this earth will also be taken up into the air. Those who are called up in this way at the sound of the trumpet will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be appraised in regard to the way in which they have lived after realizing the fact that their sins are forgiven, and each person will receive a reward accordingly. The church that is the body will be united with Jesus who is the head and they will be together from that time on and forever. When the seven years of tribulation comes to an end, Jesus will come a second time to this earth. At that time, he will come engulfed in a tremendous majesty that no one will be able to deny. For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.  Isaiah 66:15Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  Matthew 24:29-31At this time, the sound of the trumpet which seven years previously had only been heard by the members of the church will resound in the ears of the people of Israel and all the other people in the world engulfed in the horrors of the tribulation. The Feast of Trumpets that is introduced in Leviticus chapter 23 alludes in advance to the Messiah when he comes in his glory and the people of Israel and all the nations gather before him. In this way, Jesus will come to this world a second time in order to bring rest to the Israelites who are suffering in the tribulation. Let’s read one more time what Leviticus chapter 23 says about the Feast of Trumpets. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”  verses 23-25The first day of the seventh month (Tishrei) of the Jewish calendar is around mid-September according to the solar calendar, the time when the fruits are ripe for harvest. This was when the olive and fig harvest began. As in Exodus chapters 23 and 34, Leviticus chapter 23 does not mention any agricultural endeavors; it simply says that they gathered together and it was a day of rest.You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: “The Lord will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 25:30-31Some day, the Feast of Trumpets that the Israelites kept every year will become a reality in the course of history in this world. At that time, Jesus will judge the acts of disobedience to the work that he carried out on this earth when he came to provide forgiveness for the sins of all mankind; the Gentile powers that have trampled on Israel, God’s chosen people; and those who have bowed down to the statue of the antichrist. He will judge them “like those who tread grapes.”And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” . . . Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.  Revelation 14:9-11, 17-20According to the Jewish calendar, the seventh month was the time when the grapes that had been ripening over the summer were crushed to release their juice. This passage contains an explanation of how God’s will that will unfold in the future is hidden away within the daily lives of the Israelites.Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  Matthew 24:29-31It is only when Jesus comes again that all the tribes of Israel will recognize the Christ who came to their ancestors long ago, and they will mourn. As though harvesting the remainder of the grain or picking the fruit from the trees, at that time, Jesus will gather from every corner of the earth all those who have obeyed God’s word during the tribulation.And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten—two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the Lord God of Israel. In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.  Isaiah 17:4-7Jesus will return to this world to gather and comfort the Israelites who are warn out from living through such an arduous history and horrific tribulations. At that time, each individual will see with his own eyes the One who created them and chose Israel.6) The Day of AtonementAnd the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”  Leviticus 23:26-32The Day of Atonement is on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is nine days after the Feast of Trumpets. This is also a day of holy convocation. Yet the Israelites were commanded to “afflict” themselves, and every individual was to do this. This is related to the matter of fa

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