The Fall Feasts

Our theme for 2024 is “Possessing the Land”

One of the things that I wanted us to do this year was to be in the moment.

Cerebrate holidays and holy days as a way of being present in the times in which we live.

I wanted to take time out from our series on 2 Corinthians to celebrate the fall feasts mentioned in the Bible.

These are not just Israel’s feast, they are God’s feasts.

However we also have a number of guest speakers this falls, so the three feast are being condensed to one message.

The feast of trumpets was last week- Wednesday evening into Thursday.

Yom Kippur will be this coming Friday evening into Saturday.

Sukkoth will be from Wednesday October 16- Thursday October 24.

I believe Dave and Vicki will be covering each of these in more detail during the Sunday School hour, but I wanted to also talk about them from the pulpit.

As we celebrate the feasts it is a time to reset, refresh and refocus on our relationship with God.

Rosh Hashana - The Feast of Trumpets

Leviticus 23:23–25 ESV

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “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. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

This feast commemorates the beginning of a new year.

Rosh Hashanna literally means “head of the year”

It is a new moon festival which commemorates the first day of the seventh month.

It is not the beginning of the calendar year, but is in the 7th month - part of a cycle of sevens which celebrates completion.

It is a sabbath of months - the end of the harvest - the beginning of a new agricultural year.

It is time to celebrate what has been and prepare for what is to come.

It is a time for rest and reflection .

It is signalled by the blowing of the shofar or of trumpets at sundown.

Psalm 81:1–3 ESV

1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

It’ like the last buzzer of a game. The time is up! Regular time is over. This is now sacred time- or overtime!

When we begin our service with the shofar - it is to signal that this is now time to meet with God.

This is sacred time and sacred space - a time and a space set apart for rest and reflection.

Psalm 81:8 ESV

8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

Coming to a place of rest has a purpose - so that we can hear what God will say to us.

It is a time for repentance and renewing commitment.

Joel 2:15–17 ESV

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

Rest and reflection should lead to repentance.

Do you know why we have such difficulty with rest in our society?

Because rest leads naturally to reflection.

And reflection leads naturally to regret - there are things that we would rather not remember!

So it is easier to just keep going than to stop and remember and experience the remorse that goes with it.

But God has given us a gift of repentance!

We can recognize our mistakes and repent of them - and He forgives us!

Repentance is not about punishing ourselves, but about releasing our guilt to God!

The Bible talks about a last trumpet that will sound - and when it does, we will all be changed!

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 CEV

51 I will explain a mystery to you. Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed. 52 It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again.

The good news is that if we make a regular habit of reflection and repentance - we won’t fear judgement.

If we have been listening to the trumpet - the last trumpet won’t catch us off guard.

We will welcome the sound, because for us it is the sound of freedom!

Yom Kippur - The Feast of Atonement

This feast is actually a fast.

The feast of trumpets is accompanied by feasting.

Apples and honey are especially symbolic - wishing each other a sweet new year.

But on this one day, it is not a feast day, but a fast day.

It is the day that the High Priest makes a sacrifice for the sin of the people.

Leviticus 16:16 ESV

16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

God does not not punish us for our sin as we deserve, but there must be a punishment for sin.

Justice demands it.

Sin deserves death - something or someone has to die for sin.

In this case it is a goat.

Actually it is two goats - one is sacrifice and the other is let loose to signify bearing our sins away.

Of course this all point to Jesus - the great High Priest and the perfect sacrifice.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NLT

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Jesus, the great high Priest, entered the heavenly tabernacle and presented His own blood as our sacrifice.

And that means that we go free!

It is a day to deny yourself.

Leviticus 23:26–32 ESV

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “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. 28 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. 29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 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.”

What is this about “afflicting yourself?”

The day of atonement is a glorious time of being pardoned from sin, but we don’t take that lightly.

Yes, Jesus pain our debt - but we also want to learn what it means to follow Him.

Matthew 16:24 ESV

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

We need to learn to deny ourselves in order to follow Jesus.

That should not be a new thought.

The Jews have been doing it every day of atonement for over a thousand years.

Jesus paid for our sin, but we still need to learn how to tell ourselves “no!”

No, I am not going to sin, because that isn’t what God wants me to do.

No, I am not going to give in to temptation, because that is not consistent with who God made me to be and who I am becoming in Christ.

No, I am not going to wallow in self-pity and shame, because that is from the sin of my past, Jesus is making me new and has given me a new future in Him.

The day of atonement is a day set aside to remind us to make that shift from being self-centered to being Christ-centered.

It is a time of purification.

The day of atonement is the culmination of ten days of self reflection from the feast of trumpets until atonement is accomplished.

We can spend a lot of time and energy in reflection and repentance - but there comes a time where we just have to release it to God and call it done.

If you are waiting for a time where you no longer experience temptation - you may be waiting a long time.

If you think that you are never going to fail again, even in some small way, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and defeat.

Yes, it is possible to walk in victory over sin, but what that looks like is not that you are never tempted or never fail -

but that when you are tempted or if you fail, you get up and you get right back on track.

Be cause you are not defined by your failure - that is not who you are.

Any confusion, temptation or relapse you experience is just a momentary set back - your goal is still clear.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

You are already made righteous in Christ - your High Priest who atones for you.

You don’t have anything to prove.

What you do, you do in response and in gratitude for what He has already done for you.

Sukkoth - The Feast of Tabernacles

Leviticus 23:33–36 ESV

33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

So you have the first day of the month off for the feast of trumpets.

Then you take the tenth day off for fasting and prayer.

Then days 15-21 are set aside for feasting again and for celebration together with family, friends and neighbors.

You have a special outdoor structure - a sukkah- meant for hosting parties.

Leviticus 23:39–43 ESV

39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

It is a time to remember what God has done.

The purpose for building temporary structures is to remember Israel’s wilderness journey.

Do you ever take time to remember the journey?

Do you reflect on and celebrate what God has brought you through?

This August, Karie and I attended a reunion of some people from my Bible school days. As we worshiped together and sat under the teaching of one of my former professors, it took me back to those Bible school days.

I just wanted to serve God with my whole heart. I wanted to commit myself totally to Him and that maybe, somehow, God would use me for His kingdom. Attending this reunion was like going back to that place of surrender.

It also reminded me that was a long time ago. I’m older now. I have children, even a grandchild. I have travelled all over the world. I have served as a missionary, and associate pastor and as a pastor. I’m writing a book and working on a doctorate.

But I always need to come back to that place of complete surrender before God. It’s not about accomplishments, its about the relationship that I have with Him.

John 1:14 YLT

14 And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

By the time we get to the feast of tabernacles, you should remember, not only what God has done, but the relationship with Him that is the source of every good thing in your life.

Enjoy the fruit of your labor.

In this feast, the people are commanded to rejoice!

Leviticus 23:40 AMP

40 And on the first day you shall take the fruit of pleasing trees [and make booths of them], branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

So what are all of the branches and the fruit for? - besides shelter and food.

It is to remind you that the harvest is done - it is time to enjoy the fruit of your labor.

One of my professors in seminary paraphrased this text as “thou shalt party!”

Celebration is considered a spiritual discipline.

We need, not only to reflect and repent, but to experience joy and gladness - to rejoice in what God has done!

Nehemiah recognized this, when Israel was repenting for not having celebrated the feasts, he recognized that they also needed to be able to celebrate.

Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Celebration and joy is healing.

People who experience trauma are more likely to heal if there is also joy and laughter and a supportive community.

There is a time for sorrow, but then there is also a time for joy.

Psalm 5:11 NLT

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

The feast of tabernacles is a feast of thanksgiving.

It is a harvest feast and a time of rejoicing.

It is a time to eat good food, share fellowship and rejoice together.

Allow yourself to be refreshed.

Sukkoth is also a time to pray for rain.

This is held during what is typically a dry season.

The sukkah has an open roof - its not a permanent shelter.

But it is considered and extra special blessing if a few raindrops fall during the seven day feast.

In fact, during the time of Jesus, there was a special water pouring ceremony that took place during the feast.

It involved pouring out water from a sacred pool as an offering asking for rain for the next season.

I guess it was like “priming the pump” of heaven.

Jesus took this opportunity to make a declaration about himself.

John 7:37–38 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Do you need refreshing today?

You don’t need to prime the pump - Jesus has already done that for you.

He is the one who poured Himself out as an offering, so that you can be refreshed and renewed.

Yes, we need to do the hard work of reflection and repentance.

But in the end, it is really all about what He has done.

And we receive the benefit of being refreshed and renewed in our spirits from His life.

Peter summarized this in his sermon at the Temple:

Acts 3:19–21 NLT

19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Jesus is coming again - the fall feast all point to it.

There is going to be a trumpet announcement.

There is going to be last judgement.

And there is going to be a wedding feast.

If we are making a regular habit of doing these things - none of this is going to seem new or strange.

It is part of our walk with God to have these regular times of renewing our commitment and being refreshed in our spirits.

Questions for reflection:

Do you set aside time for God on a regular basis? Each day? Each week? Each month? How about every seventh month?

Do you know what it means to deny yourself? Are you intentional about it or do you avoid it? Does it help to know that Jesus already did it for you?

Do you know how to be refreshed? Is there a season where you enjoy the reward of your labor? Can you celebrate God’s goodness and be thankful?