I want to begin this with a question: Why does Paul the apostle have the understanding that the literal celebration of the feast of the Lord are forbidden? And here’s why.
Galatians 4:10-11 Says “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.” Paul got a revelation of Jesus that had everything to do with discernings of the Spirit of God. The Jews of that day observed feast days, months, times and years. Paul was observing the same days until he received a revelation from the Spirit of God: Isaiah 1:13-14 says “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.” And in Amos 5:21 he says “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.” Paul began to discern the heart of God. Christ was already foreordained before the foundation of the world to die inside of time for sin, so here in the books of Isaiah and Amos he declares his heart as to why he hated these feasts, in the Lords words “it is iniquity”! Jesus was that sacrifice that would be manifested in time that the shadow of the feasts represented. Repentance not only deals with turning from sin, but turning from the shadow to the one casting the shadow who stands in the light that no man can approach unto, nor can see, nor has seen, Jesus (1Ti.6:16)! Paul saw this light on the road of Damascus that literally blinded him, but would sustain him throughout his lifetime. The Spirit of God does not move by a time date system. He doesn’t move according to a calendar. He gives us gifts to regulate our lives that operate according to the Spirit. Jesus says something so powerful in Luke 12:56 saying “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?”
Here are the feasts of the Lord as it relates to their fulfillment by Christ and the church.
There were three feast that all the males of Israel were to appear before the Lord continually: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These three feast represent the Son as the Passover Lamb. The Holy Spirit on Pentecost coming into our lives. And the Father who will Tabernacle with us for all eternity.
There are actually twelve feasts and not just seven; but seven were called the feasts of the Lord. So here is a timeline of the feasts compared to Church history.
The Jewish feast and their significance:
1.Passover / Jesus’ death/ Friday, Nisan 14th A.D.33 Leviticus 23:5
2.Unleavened Bread/Burial/Saturday, Nisan 15th A.D.33 Leviticus 23:6
3.Sheaf of firstfruits/ resurrection/Sunday, Nisan 16th A.D.33 Leviticus 23:11
4. Pentecost, feast of weeks/ birth of the church/Sunday, Sivan 6th A.D.33 Leviticus 23:15-16
5. Feast of trumpets/Tishri the 1st, the tribulation period (first Century A.D.66 ended A.D.70) Sabbatical cycle A.D.65-A.D.72, first Jewish Roman war A.D.66. Masada A.D.73 falls within the Sabbatical year of A.D.72/73. The Betar fortress falls in the Sabbatical year of A.D.135. The first temple in 586 B.C, the second temple A.D.70, and the Betar Fortress in A.D.135 all fall in the month of Av, 7-10. Lev.23:24, Num.29:1
6. Feast of atonement, Tishri the 10th, Christ’s Word Judge’s Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (way opened and souls under the altar enter heaven, their bodies await the resurrection). No resurrection in A.D.70, the resurrection happens when Christ returns which is still in the future. Lev.23:27
7. Feast of tabernacles/ Tishri the 15th! The 1000 yr reign of Christ in heavenly Jerusalem. The 1000 years, which are symbolic for an extended period of time; would be a time of Salvation for the Gentiles, the blindness of Israel from believing in Christ, the binding of Satan from deceiving the Gentiles; and the promised reign of Christ on the throne of David in the heavenly Jerusalem. The heavenly Jerusalem comes down in the Spirit, but waits to be revealed when Christ returns. The Parousia (arrival) of Christ comes after the millennium. Present day. Lev.23:34
8. The year of Release, Tishri the 15th-21st. The solemnity of the year in feasts of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy 15:1-9, 31:10. In the Sabbatical year (Tishri) of 1947/48 was the birth of the nation of Israel in 1948.
9. Feast of the dedication, Kislev the 25th (Hanukkah). 1 & 2 Maccabees, and John 10:22 (Antiochus IV)/Gog and Magog defeated (Hitler) Race wars continue to rise and great tribulation until Christ’s coming. The dedication because of the return of the nation of Israel in 1948.
10. The Jubilee Trumpet, Tishri the 10th, the second coming of JESUS! The atonement (body/soul/spirit unites with new body) the resurrection! Leviticus 25:8-11.
11. Feast of the defeat of Nicanor, Adar the 13th/ satan is cast in the lake of fire. Esther 9:17 day of great gladness (1 Macc.7:39).
12. Feast of Purim, Adar the 14th, the coming, judgment, eternal joy with the father and the lamb Jesus. The new heavens and earth revealed! Esther 9
Colossians 2:16-17 says “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Anthony D. Booker
The GATHERING Place 