Leviticus 23 points to the final work of redemption in the three final feasts. The first four spring feasts (Passover through Pentecost) begin the biblical year and typify our salvation in Messiah Jesus. The fall feasts in the seventh month is a time of completion, with each feast illustrating a facet of the fulfillment to God’s redemptive program.

  Yom HaTeruah
The day of Trumpets (yom hateruah, lit. “the day of blasting,” Lev. 23:23-25) is commonly called Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Why is that? When the Jewish people came out of Babylonian captivity, they adopted the Babylonian civil New Year as their own. So, even though it falls on the first day of the seventh month, it is called New Year’s day.  Because there is very little Biblical information on this feast, Jewish tradition teaches that this mysterious Feast of Trumpets recalls the ram’s horns Joshua and the Israelites used at Jericho, and of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of Isaac. Scripture notes a time when Israel is gathered back to the land by the “blowing of the great ram’s horn” (Isa. 27:13), and in the New Covenant Paul explains this mystery as a time when all believers will be gathered to Messiah (1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:16-18). And because none of us know the exact time of this future “blowing of the trumpet,” the Feast of Trumpets should motivate us to readiness and service. Remembering “our blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), we want people to believe now, before the day of wrath appears (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9). Right now we must be ready to be with the Lord (Revelation 22:7, 12, 21).

Yom Kippur
The next time is Yom Kippur, or day of Atonement. In Jewish tradition, this day is for Jewish individuals to ‘get right’ with God. Biblically, it was a day for Israel to be restored to God as a servant nation (Lev.16 and 23:26-32). Prophetically, it points to the time when Israel as a nation will be gathered to Messiah Yeshua. At the end of the Tribulation, Israel as a nation will “look on Me [Messiah] whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for a firstborn son” (Zech. 12:10). In that day, all Israel will receive “cleansing from sin and impurity” (Zech. 13:1). In that day, the great confession of national Israel will be lamented, “All we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on Him (Messiah) the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). And in that day the natural branches will be grafted back into “their own olive tree,” and “thus all Israel will be saved!” (Romans 11:23-26).
The day of Atonement reminds us that this national gathering of Israel is coming. Let us be hopeful and be sharing Messiah especially to the Jewish people and equally to the Gentiles. Let us not be merely religious, but truly restored to the Lord ourselves.

Sukkot
Finally comes the feast of Sukkot, or the feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43). This harvest festival is called “Booths” because Israel would live in booths each year during this feast, to remind us that in the wilderness the Lord alone was our protection and security. When the Tabernacle and the Jerusalem Temple stood, seventy bulls were ceremonially sacrificed (Numbers 29:12-32). Early Jewish teachers saw the number of bulls representing the nations of the world (Sukkah 55b).
In current times, the lulav (a palm branch along with other branches) is waved in four directions since God is sovereign and will be acknowledged one day as King throughout the four comers of the earth. This hope is prophesied in Zechariah 14:9:
“The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day it shall be ‘the Lord is One... and his name One.”

This feast marks the final gathering together of all people before God and will be celebrated with the most joyous celebration of all time (Revelation 7:9-15). All nations will be gathered before God, waving “palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9) and will be covered by “the Lord’s tabernacle” (Rev. 7:15). Every nation, tribe, people, and language will give honor and praise to the Lamb, the Lord of hosts. We will rejoice with His sovereign rule over our lives!

The Great Gatherings of God
We see the seventh month as a time when God completes His redemption plan: the gathering of the Body (Feast of Trumpets), the gathering of the nation of Israel (Day of Atonement), and the gathering of all nations (Feast of Booths). If we have trusted in His Passover salvation, we’re ready for Him, restored to Him, and ruled by Him. Let’s be mindful of this season to reach out and share His message while we still can! Invite a friend and gather with us for special services celebrating these great fall festivals!