Introduction - The Feasts (or Moedim) of YahwehThe Feasts of God (YHWH) are a gift to us! He gave them to teach us about Him and His plan. Please don't disregard these gifts but learn and enjoy them!!! Many Christians believe that the Feasts mentioned in the Bible are "Jewish Feasts". In reality they are called God's Feasts. The Hebrew word used in the Scripture for these "times" is Moed, or the plural Moedim. The meaning of this word is literally, "appointed time" as in an appointed time of meeting. YHWH (God) gave us these times to show His plan and His character to us. These are the times that He "meets" with us to teach us the Truth of His Word. Now why would anyone not want YHWH's people to learn about Him and His plan that He shows through these "God appointed times"? It is very telling that in Dan 7:25 it says of the Anti-Christ "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." The term "times" used here in the first instance is Moedim. The Anti-Christ will think to change the Moedim or Appointed Times of meeting and the Laws or Torah. The evil one does not want us to meet with our Heavenly Father in these Feasts because he knows we will learn of YHWH and His character through these, and be better able to discern the deception written about in Mark 13:22 "For false Messiahs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." Indeed, these are not "Jewish" Feasts only given to those from the tribe of Judah, but given to all who choose to follow the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Still don't think you'll ever keep any of these "Feasts" or Moedim? You will if you are raised up to rule with Yeshua in His kingdom! For it says in Zech 14:16 " And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith YHVH will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." Does it make sense that the Feasts were only for the Jews before the Messiah, and now in the "enlightened age of grace" we don't need them anymore, but yet in the millennial reign they will be valid again? No offense, but no, it does not make sense. Let YHWH be true and every man a liar, for He said these Moedim are for "all generations". |
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Passover and Unleavened Bread Feast of First Fruits Pending Articles Pentecost Yom Kippur Sukkot |
Yom Teruah - Feast of Trumpets
The Feast of Trumpets is actually called in Scripture "The Day of Sounding the Shofar". It states in Leviticus that the shofar blown on this day was as a reminder. Lev 23:23 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 23:24 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.
Lev 23:25 ‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.’ ”
Psalm 81 says it is a reminder of going through the land of Egypt, all the way to entering the Promised Land.
It is interesting that it is written in the new Testament that Jesus will return with the sounding of a Trumpet. When He returns He will usher in the Messianic Age and His millennial reign. Just as the Spring Feasts (Unleavened Bread, Passover and First Fruits) were prophetic of Jesus' first advent, The Fall Feasts of God, (that's what God called them, only men call them jewish feasts) which are Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles, are prophetic of His second coming and what happens thereafter.
Trumpets were also blown as a warning. Why would a warning be needed if Jesus is coming back? Well, He is coming back for His Bride who is dressed in white, pure and unblemished. A warning is needed for those who are not ready as His pure Bride. And for those who believe they are ready, to ensure that they evaluate themselves through introspection. Making sure they are indeed ready.
So, the trumpet is sounded to us, as a warning that His return is imminent. We should ensure we are ready so that we are not caught unprepared. The Scripture says that His return will be as "a thief in the night" for those who are unprepared.
Mat 24:42 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.
Mat 24:43 “And know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Mat 24:44 “Because of this, be ready too, for the Son of Aḏam is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.
Mat 24:45 “Who then is a trustworthy and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them food in season? Mat 24:46 “Blessed is that servant whom his master, having come, shall find so doing.
And again...
1Th 5:1 Now, brothers, as to the times and the seasons, you do not need to be written to.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of יהוה comes as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
Yom Teruah is a reminder to us, a wake up call, to be ready for His return. Are you ready?
Lev 23:24 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering.
Lev 23:25 ‘You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.’ ”
Psalm 81 says it is a reminder of going through the land of Egypt, all the way to entering the Promised Land.
It is interesting that it is written in the new Testament that Jesus will return with the sounding of a Trumpet. When He returns He will usher in the Messianic Age and His millennial reign. Just as the Spring Feasts (Unleavened Bread, Passover and First Fruits) were prophetic of Jesus' first advent, The Fall Feasts of God, (that's what God called them, only men call them jewish feasts) which are Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles, are prophetic of His second coming and what happens thereafter.
Trumpets were also blown as a warning. Why would a warning be needed if Jesus is coming back? Well, He is coming back for His Bride who is dressed in white, pure and unblemished. A warning is needed for those who are not ready as His pure Bride. And for those who believe they are ready, to ensure that they evaluate themselves through introspection. Making sure they are indeed ready.
So, the trumpet is sounded to us, as a warning that His return is imminent. We should ensure we are ready so that we are not caught unprepared. The Scripture says that His return will be as "a thief in the night" for those who are unprepared.
Mat 24:42 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.
Mat 24:43 “And know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Mat 24:44 “Because of this, be ready too, for the Son of Aḏam is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.
Mat 24:45 “Who then is a trustworthy and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them food in season? Mat 24:46 “Blessed is that servant whom his master, having come, shall find so doing.
And again...
1Th 5:1 Now, brothers, as to the times and the seasons, you do not need to be written to.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of יהוה comes as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
Yom Teruah is a reminder to us, a wake up call, to be ready for His return. Are you ready?
Passover And Unleavened Bread - Yahweh's Commanded Feasts
I decided to let the scriptures speak for themselves. The Passover is spoken of all through the Gospels. Yeshua is our Passover Lamb. They have continued to celebrate the Passover. The Old Testament states that these are to be "observed throughout all generations." If our Creator is "the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow" and we can see that these feasts were continually held all throughout the scriptures, then where or when did the world justify not celebrating and/or teaching them when the scriptures emphatically tell us to do otherwise? What rich heritage we have missed out on not understanding the incredible richness in the teachings they provide!
One thing I would ask is that you keep in mind the verse in Matthew 5:17-19, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens." (If I'm not mistaken, heaven and earth are still here, I think.)
Exo 12:1-28 - And יהוה (Hebrew characters for Yahweh) spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt) saying, This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month each one of them is to take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the beings, according to each man’s need you make your count for the lamb. Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’ĕl shall kill it between the evenings. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts. And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire. And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of יהוה. And I shall pass through the land of Mitsrayim on that night, and shall smite all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim, both man and beast. And on all the mighty ones of Mitsrayim I shall execute judgment. I am יהוה. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I shall pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to destroy you when I smite the land of Mitsrayim. And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall observe it as a festival to יהוה throughout your generations – observe it as a festival, an everlasting law.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. And on the first day is a set-apart gathering, and on the seventh day you have a set-apart gathering. No work at all is done on them, only that which is eaten by every being, that alone is prepared by you. And you shall guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, whether sojourner or native of the land. Do not eat that which is leavened – in all your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.’ And Mosheh called for all the elders of Yisra’ĕl and said to them, “Go out and take lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and slaughter the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin, and you, none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. And יהוה shall pass on to smite the Mitsrites, and shall see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and יהוה shall pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever. And it shall be, when you come to the land which יהוה gives you, as He promised, that you shall guard this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ then you shall say, ‘It is the Passover slaughtering of יהוה, who passed over the houses of the children of Yisra’ĕl in Mitsrayim when He smote the Mitsrites and delivered our households.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and did obeisance. And the children of Yisra’ĕl went away and did so – as יהוה had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so they did.
1Co 5:6-8 "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the entire lump? Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Passover was offered for us. So then let us observe the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
***We have been having a yearly Passover for approximately 16 years. It is our favorite Holy day. The amazing lessons and symbolism will astound you as you realize that Jews have been doing this since they left Egypt and can't see the very obvious signs of Messiah in their traditional Passover meal. The weeks prior, we clean all the corners of the house and seek out the leaven in the cupboards to be eaten up before Passover. Remember leaven represents sin and hunting for the leaven in our physical homes is representative of hunting out the sin within us. Passover arrives, a meal has been created fit for a King, we set a beautiful table with our finest tableware, the story of the exodus is read, children ask questions, waiting in anticipation of their hunt for the hidden matzah wrapped in linen. It is a joyous time of fellowship. The tradition it has brought to our family will last for generations to come, instilling a rich heritage of our Messiah. If you've not been to a Passover, you're missing out. If you can't find one, go to the library and learn about doing your own. Make a new tradition for your family; one that is given to us by the King of Kings. You will be blessed! I guarantee it!
One thing I would ask is that you keep in mind the verse in Matthew 5:17-19, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens." (If I'm not mistaken, heaven and earth are still here, I think.)
Exo 12:1-28 - And יהוה (Hebrew characters for Yahweh) spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt) saying, This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month each one of them is to take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the beings, according to each man’s need you make your count for the lamb. Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’ĕl shall kill it between the evenings. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts. And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire. And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of יהוה. And I shall pass through the land of Mitsrayim on that night, and shall smite all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim, both man and beast. And on all the mighty ones of Mitsrayim I shall execute judgment. I am יהוה. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I shall pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to destroy you when I smite the land of Mitsrayim. And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall observe it as a festival to יהוה throughout your generations – observe it as a festival, an everlasting law.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. And on the first day is a set-apart gathering, and on the seventh day you have a set-apart gathering. No work at all is done on them, only that which is eaten by every being, that alone is prepared by you. And you shall guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, whether sojourner or native of the land. Do not eat that which is leavened – in all your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.’ And Mosheh called for all the elders of Yisra’ĕl and said to them, “Go out and take lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and slaughter the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin, and you, none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. And יהוה shall pass on to smite the Mitsrites, and shall see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and יהוה shall pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever. And it shall be, when you come to the land which יהוה gives you, as He promised, that you shall guard this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ then you shall say, ‘It is the Passover slaughtering of יהוה, who passed over the houses of the children of Yisra’ĕl in Mitsrayim when He smote the Mitsrites and delivered our households.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and did obeisance. And the children of Yisra’ĕl went away and did so – as יהוה had commanded Mosheh and Aharon, so they did.
1Co 5:6-8 "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the entire lump? Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Passover was offered for us. So then let us observe the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
***We have been having a yearly Passover for approximately 16 years. It is our favorite Holy day. The amazing lessons and symbolism will astound you as you realize that Jews have been doing this since they left Egypt and can't see the very obvious signs of Messiah in their traditional Passover meal. The weeks prior, we clean all the corners of the house and seek out the leaven in the cupboards to be eaten up before Passover. Remember leaven represents sin and hunting for the leaven in our physical homes is representative of hunting out the sin within us. Passover arrives, a meal has been created fit for a King, we set a beautiful table with our finest tableware, the story of the exodus is read, children ask questions, waiting in anticipation of their hunt for the hidden matzah wrapped in linen. It is a joyous time of fellowship. The tradition it has brought to our family will last for generations to come, instilling a rich heritage of our Messiah. If you've not been to a Passover, you're missing out. If you can't find one, go to the library and learn about doing your own. Make a new tradition for your family; one that is given to us by the King of Kings. You will be blessed! I guarantee it!
Feast of First Fruits
Once again, I must stand aside and let the infallible Word speak for itself.
Lev 23:9-14 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה (Hebrew Characters for Yahweh), for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it. ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה, and its grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine. ‘And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Feast of First Fruits falls on the day after the weekly Sabbath after Passover. The high priest would bring in a pre-marked shock of grain into the temple, wave it before God, and pray that we trust God to bring in the rest of the harvest. This is prophetic of the time of Jesus' (Yeshua's) resurrection.
Jesus was executed on the tree, died and was buried. When he died, there were tombs of some of the saints of old that were opened up.
Mat 27:52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the set-apart ones who had fallen asleep were raised, Mat 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the set-apart city and appeared to many.
These opened tombs are the reality of the shadow that was completed for many generations before, when the priests would mark various barley plants for the first fruits harvest. These saints rising from the dead after Jesus' resurrection are the reality of the shadow of the shock of grain being waved before God in the temple. Jesus is the High Priest, when He arose He ascended into the true Temple in heaven and presented these risen saints as the "First Fruits offering", trusting that God will provide for the rest of the harvest.
What a beautiful picture God has given us of our Hope! The fact that He already raised a first portion of His people means we can trust Him to also raise those who are His in the next resurrection! Praise Yah!!!
1Co 15:22 For as all die in Aḏam, so also all shall be made alive in Messiah .
1Co 15:23 And each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits, then those who are of Messiah at His coming,
The Messiah has been raised, the first-fruits have been raised. Now, we only have to wait until His coming when we shall be raised, if we are of Him!
Lev 23:9-14 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה (Hebrew Characters for Yahweh), for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it. ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה, and its grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine. ‘And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Feast of First Fruits falls on the day after the weekly Sabbath after Passover. The high priest would bring in a pre-marked shock of grain into the temple, wave it before God, and pray that we trust God to bring in the rest of the harvest. This is prophetic of the time of Jesus' (Yeshua's) resurrection.
Jesus was executed on the tree, died and was buried. When he died, there were tombs of some of the saints of old that were opened up.
Mat 27:52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the set-apart ones who had fallen asleep were raised, Mat 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the set-apart city and appeared to many.
These opened tombs are the reality of the shadow that was completed for many generations before, when the priests would mark various barley plants for the first fruits harvest. These saints rising from the dead after Jesus' resurrection are the reality of the shadow of the shock of grain being waved before God in the temple. Jesus is the High Priest, when He arose He ascended into the true Temple in heaven and presented these risen saints as the "First Fruits offering", trusting that God will provide for the rest of the harvest.
What a beautiful picture God has given us of our Hope! The fact that He already raised a first portion of His people means we can trust Him to also raise those who are His in the next resurrection! Praise Yah!!!
1Co 15:22 For as all die in Aḏam, so also all shall be made alive in Messiah .
1Co 15:23 And each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits, then those who are of Messiah at His coming,
The Messiah has been raised, the first-fruits have been raised. Now, we only have to wait until His coming when we shall be raised, if we are of Him!