The Fall Feasts – How do we observe these days today?
The Fall Feasts – How do we observe these days today?
As the second half of the Seven Festivals of the Messiah reveals the second coming of Yeshua (Jesus), interest in these holy days has increased in these last days, with many Christians wondering how to celebrate that which seems so foreign. There are many who have recently kept the Passover and want to continue learning about the Feasts of Adonai, but are lacking the resources needed – most notably some of the traditions surrounding these festivals.
The first of the three fall festivals is Rosh HaShannah/Yom Teruah. Originally the Day of Blowing Trumpets, this holy day has developed into a celebration of the beginning (head) of the New Year. The most common tradition associated with this first day of the seventh month is the blowing of the shofar (or trumpets) to awaken us to repentance.
Tashlich, a Hebrew word that means “casting off,” is traditionally associated with Rosh HaShannah, although these prayers may be said anytime during the ten days between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur. The traditional tashlich service involves a moving body of water (not stagnant) and either rocks or bread crumbs, which represent our sins. These prayers can be done either alone or with a group of people, and most often include private confessions over each one. Many Jews will recite the following verses as they begin to throw the rock or bread into the water:
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)
Those who throw bread crumbs will often say (while watching them float away):
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12)
Confession is good for our soul; no one understands this basic principle better than our Creator and that is why He schedules times of repentance into the holiday schedule. Remember Adonai’s holidays are actually Holy Days, with holy intentions. We are all sinners, each and every one of us, but as we confess our sins, and move away from the bad behavior, we find ourselves drawing closer to Adonai.
Repentance, prayer and charity (love of mankind) are the themes associated with Rosh HaShannah/Yom Teruah, so any activity that includes these three elements would be sufficient. The food served at any gathering would often feature apples and honey (for a sweet new year) as well as any locally harvested foods, for it is a harvest festival. It is the beginning of the harvest, while Sukkot (Tabernacles/Booths) celebrates the end of the harvest season. Most importantly, these festivals reveal the Lord of the Harvest.
So food is plentiful at any one of these holy days, with the obvious exception of Yom Kippur/The Day of Atonement. This is the day (according to the scribes) that the books are closed and we have no more chances to petition Adonai on behalf of our many sins. We are instructed to deny ourselves, so that is precisely what we should do.
“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.” (Leviticus 16:29-31)
There are many who argue that Messianic believers need not keep Yom Kippur, as our sins have been atoned by Yeshua’s sacrifice. However, the words “permanent statute” combined with Yeshua’s statement that He did not come to rid us of these holy days (Matthew 5:17) says, “Obey” to me. Besides, we all need to learn how to humble our souls, so that we may be cleansed from all our sins, ready to meet Yeshua when He returns.
It is through the trials and tribulations of our lives, causing us to repent of our bad behavior, we can seek His forgiveness and then turn our steps to fall in line with His – this is how we are washed clean; this is how we prepare to become His bride, spotless and ready for His arrival. Sometimes the old garments need to be cast aside; family curses and addictions can be thrown off like an old coat or a pair of worn-out trousers. When we do, Yeshua clothes us in His righteousness, allowing us to walk as a new man, without the burdens handed to us by those who came before.
Repentance, confession, and forgiveness are a way of life to the child of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; if they are not, then we need to get on the ball, for they are more important now than ever before, as The Day approaches. Daily prayer, consisting of times of confession, intercessory prayer and adoration, should be seen as the daily washing of our souls, as we daily wash our bodies. Yom Kippur is the only day of the year when Adonai calls us to humble ourselves, or as the King James puts it: you shall afflict your souls.
The Orthodox will go the entire day without any food or water; for many of us with heath issues, this is simply not an option, as fasting could do more harm than good. Adonai created us and knows our bodies better than we, extending grace to those whom love Him. Ask Adonai what He would have you offer up as a sacrifice to Him, and He will show you. For a child it might be television or computer time; an adult might give up coffee or some other daily indulgence that we feel we simply cannot do without. Whatever the offering, it must be something that costs us dearly – otherwise it’s not an acceptable offering.
The beginning of the fall season’s focus on repentance is perfectly illustrated in the book of Jonah, which is why it is traditionally read on Yom Kippur. Chapter three is the heart of the teaching:
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10)
When the Word tells us that we’ve got judgment coming, and we continue to live our lives, hoping for the best, we invite calamity. This was a point in time when Nineveh believed God’s Word and turned away from their sinful ways, and He relented. The time was not too distant, however, and all of that would change; by the time of the prophet Nahum, the people of Nineveh no longer believed God.
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts; “And I will lift up your skirts over your face, and show to the nations your nakedness and to the kingdoms your disgrace. I will throw filth on you and make you vile, and set you up as a spectacle. And it will come about that all who see you will shrink from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?”
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; your nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains and there is no one to regather them. There is no relief for your breakdown, your wound is incurable. All who hear about you will clap their hands over you, for on whom has not your evil passed continually? (Nahum 3: 5-7; 18-19)
This is the lesson we must learn: If we confess our sins, and truly repent, turning from our sinful ways, Adonai will forgive us, and will relent from our punishment. However, if we do not turn from our sin, instead insisting that we are innocent…
Yet you said, ‘I am innocent; surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ (Jeremiah 2:35)
There is judgment coming, and we all deserve it – each and every one of us. We are all guilty of selfishness, for starters, and the list goes on from there; there is not one person on the face of this planet who has not disobeyed the teachings of the Lord at some time or another. We all must fall on our faces and repent not only for our own sins, but for the sins of our fathers – passed down from one generation to the next – and for the sins of our society as a whole. Each and every one of us needs to humble ourselves and fall down on our faces and truly grieve for the abominations occurring all around; from the four corners of the globe to the abominations coming from our television sets into the hearts and minds of our family, we need to cry out to the Lord our God, Yehovah Elohenu, and He will deliver us from His wrath.
Each of these feasts has sacrifices associated with them – usually a certain number of lambs, some bread, and an ox or two – but without the Temple we cannot keep this part of the statute. However, Adonai did not leave us without recourse:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalms 51:17)
This is the lesson of Yom Kippur – and here is the reply our hearts receive from our Maker and Master of all:
For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)
Once our hearts have been broken, brought low by our sins and the sins of the world, Adonai Yeshua can come and breathe new life into our hearts, reviving us and filling us with the joy of His salvation, causing us to celebrate the new life we have in Him.
Indeed, that is just what Sukkot – the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths – is all about! It is time for us to celebrate with Him all of the good things He has provided for His people and to remember that we were all slaves once, and that it was only through His mighty hand that we are no longer thus. The last of the three pilgrimage feasts, Sukkot is the time of the gathering together of the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Called to the “place where I established My name,” the children of Israel would gather together at the Temple in Jerusalem and celebrate in the presence of the Living God, just as He commanded through Moses.
Since Sukkot is associated with travelling, and because we are commanded to live in tabernacles/booths, many people today celebrate this holiday by camping, either away with a group of people or alone in their own backyards. There are multiple reasons for this. First, we are commanded by Moses to live in temporary dwellings for seven days (Lev. 23: 33-43); second, the command is given so that we will remember that our ancestors lived in tabernacles/booths when they came out of Egypt (verse 43); and third, there will come a day when we will again be called to live in tabernacles/booths, and this last reason has the same basis as the ones before – to cause us to humble ourselves and remember that the only reason we have any value is because Yeshua gave it to us.
But I have been the LORD your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of the appointed festival. (Hosea 12:9)
This festival is the culmination of all which have come before. The planting of the seed, the long, dry summer followed by the harvest celebration has been a part of every culture since the seasons began, but this celebration is the only one ordained by God Himself and put into place to celebrate Adonai and His gift of life. If you want to celebrate the birth of Yeshua, do it during Sukkot – it is believed that He was born on the first day and circumcised on the eighth day of this wonderful festival, and that the “manger” was actually a Sukkah (tabernacle/booth).
In the end, after all the wars have been fought and won and Yeshua reigns supreme, we who are called by His name will have the pleasure of residing with Him forever. Do you know what the very first thing we will be doing in that day?
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:16-19)
For those who live in cooler climates, and cannot travel, the traditional Sukkah, large enough to eat in, is considered appropriate. Eating all of our meals outside, and even cooking them in the open air, reminds us of how our ancestors lived and prepares us for the day when we might find ourselves doing the same. A foreshadowing of what is to come in the Greater Exodus, Sukkot prepares us so that we may be ready when He gathers together His people once again, just as He said He would.
“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 20:33-38)
Celebrating these three festivals, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, prepares us for the coming time of Jacob’s Trouble, which is coming soon upon the earth. Any preparations done must include spiritual preparations, and this is how we prepare spiritually – by confessing our sin and turning again to His statutes. He has promised a place of safety for His people, but only if they are prepared… let’s not be foolish virgins, without extra oil when it’s needed the most!
