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A Little Background Let's back up: the Spring festivals are all tied to His program of redemption for Israel and the nations. In the first month, Passover, followed by First Fruits and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we retell how God first brought us out of slavery. We also remember the redemption in the Lamb of God and His resurrection; this was all fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua (John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:6-8, 15:20). Fifty days after Passover comes Shavuot, which was fulfilled through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, beginning the Jewish-Gentile body of Messiah (Lev 23:16; Act 2:1-4). Now we want to understand why the final three feasts come in the seventh month of the biblical calendar (Lev. 23:24-44). Many Sevens Though we don't want to overly speculate about numbers in the Bible (numerology, Bible codes, gematria), the text clearly instills the number seven with symbolism. "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," making the seventh day to be the Sabbath (Gen. 2:2-3; Ex. 20:8-11). Seven times, God said His creation was "good" (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The Scriptures conclude with seven beatitudes in the final book of the Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14). The number seven in the Scriptures generally refers to completeness, fullness, or perfection. Seven is also used to speak of God's complete judgment, as well as God's complete provision for Noah (Gen. 4:15, 24; 7:2). In the Tabernacle and Temple offerings there were seven lambs for the monthly offerings, seven for the Passover offering, seven for the Shavuot offering, seven for the Trumpets offering, and seven for the Yom Kippur offering (Lev. 23:18, Num. 28:11, 19, 21, 27, 29; 29:2, 4, 8, 10). Then there were fourteen lambs - 'a double seven' - for each day of Sukkot, and seven on the eighth day of Sukkot (Num. 29:13, 36). And, when Temple worship was restored under Hezekiah "they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah" (2 Chr. 29:21). Without seven, the offerings would have incomplete. Even in eternity this same number and meaning is represented by the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, showing that He has complete power and knowledge (Rev. 5:8; Isa. 11:2). Is it any surprise that "in Him you have been made complete" (Col. 2:10)? To highlight that seven symbolizes completion, in Hebrew the word for "seven" is the same word for "vow," sheva. In a sense, when you make a vow, you make a "seven," dedicating it to completion. For example, Abraham had seven lambs as the symbol of the vow of witness with Abimelech. They called the well and area around it Beer Sheva, which can mean either "well of seven" or "well of vow" (Gen 21:27-32). A Month with Two Names? The seventh month is commonly called Tishrei ("beginnings" in Aramaic). The word Tishrei is not used in the Bible. We learn from tradition that this name came with us out of Babylon in 536 BC, as it was the beginning of the Babylonian year (Genesis Rabbah 48:9). Hence, our people adopted the tradition for the feast of Trumpets as the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) when we came back to the land. Now, the biblical name for the seventh month is Etanim (1 Kings 8:2). Etanim in Hebrew means "steady flowings," taken from the fall rains that would come during this month. From its usage etanim signifies permanence or enduring. So also, the Lord's dwelling place, the nation of Israel, and the foundations of the earth are said to be "enduring" (Num. 14:21; Jer. 5:15; Mic. 6:2). In the Septuigant, the Greek translation by the Rabbis, the word is the same used in Mark 8:25 when through Yeshua's hand the sight of the blind man was "restored." Another Greek word used for Etanim shows up when Messiah tells us that our lives built upon His words will be like building a house upon a foundation of rock (Luke 6:48). Indeed He is the true eternal foundation for everyone, "for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Cor. 3:11). With Abraham, we too are "looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God" (Heb. 11:10). Completing and Restoring God's redemptive program has the last of the seven feasts concluding in the seventh month, as His unalterable vow to completely redeem His lost humanity. Just as the Spring festivals pictured the establishment of our salvation in Messiah and our sanctification in the Holy Spirit, so the three Fall Feasts are God's "finale rally," concluding His work of gathering His people to Himself. Next month we'll dig a bit deeper into these fall feasts, but we may preview them now: the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, which literally means "day of blowing," or Rosh Hashanah) finds significance in the last trump that gathers the Body of Messiah to be with Him. The Day of Atonement marks Israel's repentance that gathers the people of Israel in national revival to their God. The Feast of Tabernacles gathers the nations of the world as the completed harvest of God. What sin has destroyed, God's grace in Messiah can restore to its original purpose. God concludes His redemptive program in Messiah in the seventh month (Etanim) by bringing humanity back into its original state of enduring permanence with Himself. By Messiah's completed work God's grace is a 'steady flow' through those lives that are yielded to Him. May both the number and the name of this month encourage you serve in the Harvest field eagerly awaiting the culmination of God's redemptive program! Y |
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