Post by Gary on Sept 22, 2018 21:30:37 GMT -6
Some thoughts on this in no particular order:
1. There is no Scripture (that I am aware of) that requires the 1st day of the 7th month to happen after the autumnal equinox. In fact, I don't think there are any scriptures anywhere that refer to equinoxes or solstices, though there are certainly many references to seasons.
2. There is some scriptural evidence that mid-Nisan should occur in the Spring, which is accounted for in the modern Hebrew calendar. Passover and Unleavened Bread always occur after the Spring Equinox, but Nisan 1 sometimes occurs in the Spring and sometimes in the Winter.
3. The Bible does not explicitly say that the festivals have their ultimate fulfillment in chronological order, but Jesus clearly fulfilled the first four in order (His death, burial, and resurrection, and sending the Holy Spirit), thus it's not a bad assumption to think the chronology will continue. However, we would be wise not to be dogmatic about how this chronology plays out.
If we can assume the chronology will continue, shouldn't we also assume they will each be fulfilled in quick succession just as the first four were? That's why I tend to think we'll see Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot fulfilled, in order, when Christ physically returns to earth. As far as the rapture, God has planned from the beginning of time on which day it will occur, so we can only speculate. If He wants it to happen on a festival it will happen on a festival. I think it probably will, but I'm not dogmatic about that. If it does happen on a festival, I would rank the chance of which festival like this (this is purely for reasons of my own and how I understand the Scriptures):
1. Shemini Atzeret
2. Tabernacles Day #1 or Tabernacles Eve (they're equal in my mind)
3. Tabernacles Day #7 (Hoshana Rabbah)
4. Yom Teruah (Please note that the term "Feast of Trumpets" is not biblical) - It's technically the Day ("Yom") of Shouting ("Teruah").
5. Pentecost
6. Yom Kippur (if marking a jubilee)
7. First Fruits
8. Passover
9. Other days during Unleavened Bread (F.F. is Unleavened Bread Day #2)
10. Yom Kippur (if not marking a jubilee)
4. The Bible does not explicitly connect the Menorah (Golden Lampstand) with the festivals. That's sort of a modern invention I think. The Menorah has seven branches and seven is definitely a significant biblical number, but the Bible does not clearly describe seven festivals. As a matter of fact, it would probably be more accurate to say there are eight festivals:
1. Passover (1 day)
2. Unleavened Bread (7 days immediately following Passover)
3. First Fruits (Overlaps Unleavened Bread Day #2)
4. Pentecost (1 day) - technically "Feast of Weeks"
5. Yom Teruah (1 day)
6. Yom Kippur (1 day)
7. Sukkot / Tabernacles (7 days)
8. Shemini Atzeret ("The Eighth Day Assembly" - immediately follows Sukkot, but is not numbered with it - 1 day)
If you dig into Judaism and biblical scholarship, there is actually a pretty significant debate over whether Passover is actually Day #1 of Unleavened Bread and whether First Fruits should be considered separate from Unleavened Bread. So, counting a certain way, there could actually be as few as six festivals, but I digress.
5. In any case, I don't think the rapture has to be the final fulfillment of a festival, but it could be. If it's not, it doesn't matter if it falls on Tabernacles because the festival will find further fulfillment after the second coming. If it is, you can still fit the chronology a couple of different ways:
1. It could happen on Sukkot #1 or Sukkot Eve or Shemini Atzeret, but the fulfillment of Sukkot #2-#7 still await Christ's physical return. This could be likened to how Passover and Unleavened Bread already found fulfillment during the Exodus and how Teruah and/or Tabernacles already found fulfillment at the birth or conception of Christ. Those fulfillments clearly didn't force the chronology to move forward since Jesus' passion (death, burial, and resurrection) reset the clock so-to-speak. Likewise, the rapture could fulfill a feast, or part of a multi-day feast, yet the chronology is still fulfilled, in order, at Christ's return.
2. If we go by the candle-lighting order, reverse could make sense if you had 1. Tabernacles-Rapture, 2. Atonement-Second Coming, 3. Teruah-GWT/Final resurrection/etc. Or you might have 1. Tabernacles-Rapture, 2. Atonement-Israel turns to Christ sometime during the Great Trib, 3. Teruah-Second Coming.
6. Something that has been stirring in my mind a lot today, and one more reason I might add for Tabernacles being a high watch period, is that it is the one festival that the Gentile nations must keep during the Millennium. Think about that for a minute. Why Tabernacles? God doesn't fully "Tabernacle" with mankind until Rev 21 after the GWT, thus Sukkot is serving some other purpose during the Millennium and it's a purpose that directly connects to the whole world (both Jews AND Gentiles).
During the past two millennia the number #1 festival of the Church has been Christmas when we celebrate Christ's birth (the birth of the "Head"). Now, we clearly know that the rapture is when we are born from the dead, thus it is the birth of the "Body". When the Body is born into Heaven we are given individual shelters (Isa. 26:19-21; Jn. 14:1-3), which might connect to Tabernacles. Tabernacles is all about being sheltered and individual shelters. The Church will be sheltered in Heaven and then will return with Christ at the end of the Trib.
Gentiles are not required to keep any of the festivals during the Millennium, except for Tabernacles. It has some special significance for them. I would argue it might be because it will be the primary memorial of the birth of the Church and God's grace that the unbelieving world rejected. God may memorialize the rapture this way to remind the nations that 1. salvation is only via grace, 2. the world rejected His free gift, 3. creation had been waiting for the sons of God to be revealed and now they finally are, etc.
Christmas - Church Age - celebrated by Gentiles - birth of the Head
Tabernacles - Millennial Kingdom - celebrated by Gentiles - birth of the Body
Just a thought.
1. There is no Scripture (that I am aware of) that requires the 1st day of the 7th month to happen after the autumnal equinox. In fact, I don't think there are any scriptures anywhere that refer to equinoxes or solstices, though there are certainly many references to seasons.
2. There is some scriptural evidence that mid-Nisan should occur in the Spring, which is accounted for in the modern Hebrew calendar. Passover and Unleavened Bread always occur after the Spring Equinox, but Nisan 1 sometimes occurs in the Spring and sometimes in the Winter.
3. The Bible does not explicitly say that the festivals have their ultimate fulfillment in chronological order, but Jesus clearly fulfilled the first four in order (His death, burial, and resurrection, and sending the Holy Spirit), thus it's not a bad assumption to think the chronology will continue. However, we would be wise not to be dogmatic about how this chronology plays out.
If we can assume the chronology will continue, shouldn't we also assume they will each be fulfilled in quick succession just as the first four were? That's why I tend to think we'll see Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot fulfilled, in order, when Christ physically returns to earth. As far as the rapture, God has planned from the beginning of time on which day it will occur, so we can only speculate. If He wants it to happen on a festival it will happen on a festival. I think it probably will, but I'm not dogmatic about that. If it does happen on a festival, I would rank the chance of which festival like this (this is purely for reasons of my own and how I understand the Scriptures):
1. Shemini Atzeret
2. Tabernacles Day #1 or Tabernacles Eve (they're equal in my mind)
3. Tabernacles Day #7 (Hoshana Rabbah)
4. Yom Teruah (Please note that the term "Feast of Trumpets" is not biblical) - It's technically the Day ("Yom") of Shouting ("Teruah").
5. Pentecost
6. Yom Kippur (if marking a jubilee)
7. First Fruits
8. Passover
9. Other days during Unleavened Bread (F.F. is Unleavened Bread Day #2)
10. Yom Kippur (if not marking a jubilee)
4. The Bible does not explicitly connect the Menorah (Golden Lampstand) with the festivals. That's sort of a modern invention I think. The Menorah has seven branches and seven is definitely a significant biblical number, but the Bible does not clearly describe seven festivals. As a matter of fact, it would probably be more accurate to say there are eight festivals:
1. Passover (1 day)
2. Unleavened Bread (7 days immediately following Passover)
3. First Fruits (Overlaps Unleavened Bread Day #2)
4. Pentecost (1 day) - technically "Feast of Weeks"
5. Yom Teruah (1 day)
6. Yom Kippur (1 day)
7. Sukkot / Tabernacles (7 days)
8. Shemini Atzeret ("The Eighth Day Assembly" - immediately follows Sukkot, but is not numbered with it - 1 day)
If you dig into Judaism and biblical scholarship, there is actually a pretty significant debate over whether Passover is actually Day #1 of Unleavened Bread and whether First Fruits should be considered separate from Unleavened Bread. So, counting a certain way, there could actually be as few as six festivals, but I digress.
5. In any case, I don't think the rapture has to be the final fulfillment of a festival, but it could be. If it's not, it doesn't matter if it falls on Tabernacles because the festival will find further fulfillment after the second coming. If it is, you can still fit the chronology a couple of different ways:
1. It could happen on Sukkot #1 or Sukkot Eve or Shemini Atzeret, but the fulfillment of Sukkot #2-#7 still await Christ's physical return. This could be likened to how Passover and Unleavened Bread already found fulfillment during the Exodus and how Teruah and/or Tabernacles already found fulfillment at the birth or conception of Christ. Those fulfillments clearly didn't force the chronology to move forward since Jesus' passion (death, burial, and resurrection) reset the clock so-to-speak. Likewise, the rapture could fulfill a feast, or part of a multi-day feast, yet the chronology is still fulfilled, in order, at Christ's return.
2. If we go by the candle-lighting order, reverse could make sense if you had 1. Tabernacles-Rapture, 2. Atonement-Second Coming, 3. Teruah-GWT/Final resurrection/etc. Or you might have 1. Tabernacles-Rapture, 2. Atonement-Israel turns to Christ sometime during the Great Trib, 3. Teruah-Second Coming.
6. Something that has been stirring in my mind a lot today, and one more reason I might add for Tabernacles being a high watch period, is that it is the one festival that the Gentile nations must keep during the Millennium. Think about that for a minute. Why Tabernacles? God doesn't fully "Tabernacle" with mankind until Rev 21 after the GWT, thus Sukkot is serving some other purpose during the Millennium and it's a purpose that directly connects to the whole world (both Jews AND Gentiles).
During the past two millennia the number #1 festival of the Church has been Christmas when we celebrate Christ's birth (the birth of the "Head"). Now, we clearly know that the rapture is when we are born from the dead, thus it is the birth of the "Body". When the Body is born into Heaven we are given individual shelters (Isa. 26:19-21; Jn. 14:1-3), which might connect to Tabernacles. Tabernacles is all about being sheltered and individual shelters. The Church will be sheltered in Heaven and then will return with Christ at the end of the Trib.
Gentiles are not required to keep any of the festivals during the Millennium, except for Tabernacles. It has some special significance for them. I would argue it might be because it will be the primary memorial of the birth of the Church and God's grace that the unbelieving world rejected. God may memorialize the rapture this way to remind the nations that 1. salvation is only via grace, 2. the world rejected His free gift, 3. creation had been waiting for the sons of God to be revealed and now they finally are, etc.
Christmas - Church Age - celebrated by Gentiles - birth of the Head
Tabernacles - Millennial Kingdom - celebrated by Gentiles - birth of the Body
Just a thought.