Ancient Paths - GOD'S Festivals/Seasons

Both Jews and Gentiles are in a season of return.  If we look back to Genesis…what was GOD's original plan for mankind?

He gave man authority over all His creation…GOD had perfect communion with mankind….but sin caused a separation between GOD and man

The Lord had a plan from the very beginning to bring mankind back into covenant relationship with Him….when we are born again of water and the Spirit…we  begin our journey back into fellowship and proper relationship with GOD.

The Season of Teshuvah for all born again believers is now…we are all in the process of returning to the Lord! 

For the Jewish people as a nation have been returning to the Lord since the first century when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD…for almost 2000 yrs the Jews have been in exile from their homeland

Then suddenly in 1948 they became a nation again and in 1967 Jerusalem once again was under Jewish control.  The fig tree that had been barren for so long  budded and began to bear fruit again! 

Why?....because it is the Season of Return…return to GOD, return to the lover and creator of our souls!

Now let’s get into this….The season of Teshuvah or the season of repentance starting on the 1st day of Elul the 6th month going all the way thru Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement).  Teshuvah is not a Biblical feast but a season (based on Biblical timeframes) that Rabbis (Jewish teachers) gave to the people to prepare them for their High Holy days which were given by GOD in Lev 23. This is a wonderful example of how the Lord worked thru these teachers to help ensure the people were spiritually ready for the High Holy days.

We see Elul the 6th month in the Jewish year being used as a time of prep. Leading to the 7th month Tishri….dispensationally, the 7th day represents the millennium period or time when Jesus (Yeshua) will rule and reign on the earth

It’s important we notice the pattern that is represented here….1) There is a period of repentance leading to Tishri 1 (seen as the day of Judgement, the day of the awakening blast (which speaks of the resurrection of the dead), the day when the gates of heaven are opened,  2) in between RHS and Yom Kippur is a period known as the days of awe or time of Jacobs trouble (great trib)….3) Yom Kippur, which is final judgement, closing of the gates (Neilah)

If we look Revelations we identify this same pattern in what may be the most misunderstood book of the the whole Bible

GOD always warns His people of impending Judgement….and allows a period of time for repentance….again, He is not willing that any should perish!

Teshuvah is that annual season set aside for just that purpose (to repent, to return to HIM)….in preparation for His Return

Isaiah 26 speaks of a resurrection, then there is a hiding of the righteous (Bride) in a secret chamber while YHWH’s judgment (indignation) is being poured out on the wicked, then in Joel 2 we see the Bride and Bridegroom coming out (together) from the hiding place (chamber or honeymoon suite). 

So let’s take a quick look at this same pattern that is also reflected in the book of Revelation. First in Revelation 2-3 we see the church age as depicted by 7 different types of churches, next in Revelation 4 – we some interesting things happening: 

4 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was[a] like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns...

So there is a door opening in heaven, a voice like a trumpet that said “come up”…then suddenly or immediately (in a moment...) John was in the Spirit,...(compare with I Thess. 4:15-17)  and He was at the throne of God in heaven…where worship was taking place and there was a select group of people involved. 

Revelation 5 tells us who there are…they are the redeemed from all ages (both Jews and Gentiles) - 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us[d] kings[e] and priests to our God;
And we[f] shall reign on the earth.”

Next in Revelation 6 – 18 we see the Tribulation period and the judgments of YHWH being poured out on the earth for 7 years….then in Rev 19 - 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had[e] a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,[f] followed Him on white horses.-

Here we see Yeshua (Jesus) coming out of heaven followed by the redeemed Saints back to the earth….”together”!....then in Revelation 20 – 22 comes the 1000 reign of Messiah on earth….then the creation of New Heavens and earth….and eternity!

Very simple if you understand the “festival pattern” presented in the Fall festivals.

TESHUVAH HELPS US TO RETURN TO OUR REAL SELVES….IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT YHWH INTENDED FOR US TO BE!  WE PREPARE FOR THAT DAY WHEN WE MEET HIM FACE TO FACE….A TERM THAT REFERS TO HOLIEST DAY OF THE YEAR…THE DAY OF ATONEMENT....THE FINAL JUDGEMENT OF ALL MANKIND!

 HOW DO WE KNOW THESE THINGS – HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT PASSOVER REALLY REPRESENTED?  PENTECOST….REVEALED TO US IN THE SCRIPTURES

THE END TIME PATTERN IS THERE….THE SYMBOLISM IS THERE….WE HAVE TO SEEK IT OUT.

 As it was it the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man!

 This scripture in 2 Peter 3 teaches the same message of repentance and forgiveness before the Day of the Lord as Zeph 2:1-3. Let’s look at it:

Zeph 2:1-3 (NKJV) Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, {2} Before the decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the LORD'S fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger comes upon you! {3} Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD'S anger.

Both show us a way to obtain a place of safety from the wrath of GOD upon a sinful earth. David also refers to these prophesies in Psalm 27:5.

Ps 27:5 (NKJV) For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Elul is a 30-day process of preparation through personal examination and repentance for the coming High Holy Days. The shofar is blown (purpose of Shofar?) after every morning service. Psalm 27, which begins with "The Lord is my light and my salvation," is also recited at the end of the morning and evening liturgy. The message from Elul 1 to Rosh HaShanah is clear: Repent before Rosh HaShanah. Don't wait until after Rosh HaShanah, or you will find yourself in the Days of Awe.

Look at Psalm 27 – verse 5  “IN the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion…

 We shouldn’t set dates or get distracted studying prophecy…but we still need to be children of light…men and women who know the times! (Daniel 1)

 WHAT OF THE SCRIPTURE:  NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY NOR THE HOUR

 This phrase is actually the Hebrew idiom for Rosh Hashanah", that is, "Yom Teruah" / "Feast of Trumpets/Shouting". This is the only feast day that you do not know in advance exactly when it is going to start because it happens on the day of the new visible crescent moon of the 7th month. It is the only feast on the new moon.

 Matthew 24: No Man Knows The Day

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:36-37).

Note that in Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus is referring to the same "coming of the Son of man" as when he says "immediately after the tribulation of those days... they shall see the Son of man coming" (Matthew 24:29-30). Jesus isn't teaching a 3rd coming. Note that he is speaking to the same believers, the same "ye," in Matthew 24:15 that he is speaking to in Matthew 24:42.

Note the exact correlation of the phrase and tense of "knoweth no man" in Matthew 24:36 and 1 Corinthians 2:11-12: "Even so the things of GOD knoweth no man, but the Spirit of GOD. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of GOD." See also: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth... and he will shew you things to come" (John 16:13).

Jesus said his coming would be "as the days of Noah were" (Matthew 24:36-37). GOD told Noah when the flood would come before it came: "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (Genesis 7:4). He told him because: "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

Note that Jesus comes on people at an hour they will not know only "if" they aren't watching: "IF therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" (Revelation 3:3). Paul said that if we watch for the 2nd coming it will not overtake us as a thief: "Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night... But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief... let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch" (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4, 6). Note that between the 6th and 7th vials, at the very end of the tribulation, Jesus is still exhorting us to keep watching for his coming: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth" (Revelation 16:15).

Before the 2nd coming, at the abomination of desolation, I believe those of us alive and still watching will know that we'll have to wait 1,335 days until Jesus comes: "From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days" (Daniel 12:11-12).

There is an abundance of information available regarding the Jewish festivals that will help you understand the seasons and prophecies of the Lord.  More importantly, they will help you draw closer in relationship to the Lord because of the intimacy of the information that is contained within the festivals.  I've always thought that to know Yeshua is to love Yeshua (because He is Love) and to know Him more is to love Him more!

Here is a helpful link to a Hebrew roots site that really contains everything you ever wanted to know about the Jewish festivals and many other things.  As always, you will need to filter everything thru the Word of God and Holy Spirit -

http://www.hebroots.org/