God's Fall Feast

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Leviticus 23:23-44
I want to give a little review for you tonight. Leviticus 23 is one of the great prophetic chapters in the Bible. This chapter gives us the seven feast days in the religious calendar of the Jewish people. Seven special religious holidays. These days are organized around the number seven and around the idea of the Sabbath.
The first four of these feast days we studied last Sunday night. I call them God's spring festivals. They took place in the first month and in the third month.
Then there is a gap in verse 22 of this chapter.
We'll talk about that. You move over to the seventh month on the Jewish religious calendar, and you have the last three of those feast days. They were celebrated in the fall.
So the first four holidays were spring festivals and they took place in March and April. The last three took place in the fall in September and October.
The first of those festivals was The Passover feast in verse 5. Points to the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Jesus was crucified during the Passover feast.
The second of these festivals is The Feast of Unleaven Bread in verse 6.
In the New Testament the Passover and the feast of the unleaven bread merge together. The Passover took place on the fourteenth day. The feast of unleaven bread took place on the fifteenth day. So they merge together by the time you get to the New Testament.
At the feast of the unleaven bread they would eat the bread that had no leaven in it. Pictured that after you have been redeemed by Jesus, then you need to get the sin out of your life. You need to cleanse your life.
The third of these festivals is The Feast of the Firstfruits in verse 10. It is the feast of the firstfruits when the first grain of the harvest came in. They were to take that grain to the tabernacle and the priest would wave it before the Lord. That firstfruits festival was a picture of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was the firstfruits of the resurrection. Because of His resurrection, because He rose again on the first day of the week (that's why we worship on the first day of the week), you and I are going to be resurrected one of these days, too. The firstfruit is the guarantee that the rest of the harvest is going to come in. That was the third festival.
Fifty days after that they had the fourth festival The Feast of Pentecost in verse 16. It says, "fifty days." That's the feast of Pentecost. In the book of Acts, chapters 1 and 2, we are told that Jesus was on the earth forty days. He ascended back to heaven. The disciples met in the upper room and prayed for ten days. Then in Acts 2, verse 1, it says,
Acts 2:1 KJV 1900
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come." The Holy Spirit was given and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
All of those first four feast days are past history in terms of where you and I are tonight. Back in Leviticus 23 they were all looking forward to the future. Now, those four have been fulfilled in the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Tonight we are going to look at the last three of these feasts. Before we do, we have to look at verse 22 for a moment and then we'll come back to it at the end of the message.
This is after the first four of these feast days had been celebrated. Verse 22 says,
Leviticus 23:22 KJV 1900
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
"And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest, thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger, I am the Lord your God."
There was a period of time between those first spring festivals and those last three fall festivals. There was a gap there, A Period of Harvest Time. You are I are living in that gap. You and I are living in the harvest time. God is doing a particular work in the earth tonight. His particular work in the earth tonight is to get a harvest out of the Gentile nations of the world. Bring souls out of the Gentile nations of the world.
Acts 15, verse 14, explains these days in which we live.
Acts 15:14 KJV 1900
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
"Simeon has declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name." That's why we call the age we are living in right now the age of the church. It's the church age, or the present age, or the age of grace. God is working primarily among the Gentile nations.
Does that mean no Jews can be saved now?
Of course not. Romans 10, verse 13, says,
Romans 10:13 KJV 1900
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
How are Jews won to Christ?
The same way anybody else is won to Christ. If Jewish friends will receive the Lord Jesus, call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be saved. But God is not primarily working among our Jewish friends at this particular time. He has the Jewish nation in a kind of holding pattern. That's why in Romans 11, verse 25, we are told this.
Romans 11:25 KJV 1900
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
"For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."
Many of our Jewish friends, when you witness to them about the Lord Jesus Christ, seem to have a veil there. There seems to be a blindness in terms of their understanding. So right now the Jewish nation is in a holding pattern. But God is making predictions in these last three feast days of what He is going to do in the future.
The first four are the Passover, the feast of the unleaven bread, the feast of the firstfruits, and the feast of Pentecost. Then you see a gap which is the present age. Then you drop down into the seventh month and you have three feast days. The feast of the trumpets, the feast of atonement, and the feast of tabernacles.
We are going to look at those three, and those three are still in the future. Those three are still to be fulfilled. They will be fulfilled around the second coming of the Lord Jesus. The first four were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus. We are in a gap, the church age, now. But we are looking forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Around the second coming of our Lord these three final feast days will be fulfilled.

I. THE FEASTS OF TRUMPETS (EXPECTATION)…

Awaiting the sound of trumpets!
There was to be a feast day known as the feast of trumpets. Let me give you a word we will use to wrap our thoughts around this feast of trumpets. The word I want to use is the word "expectation."
In the Old Testament you will find that God used trumpets. They weren't quite exactly like we have today, but God had some silver trumpets. Turn to Numbers, chapter 10. These trumpets were used in special ways for the people of God in the Old Testament. Verse 1 says this.
Numbers 10:1–3 KJV 1900
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3 And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
You have Two Purpose of this trumpet given right there.
When the people were to be assembled together, they would blow those silver trumpets.
Or when it was time for them move on, there would be the sounding of the trumpets.
There was a third reason for the sounding of the trumpets. Look at verse 9.
Numbers 10:9 KJV 1900
9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
"And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets."
There was a fourth reason in verse 10.
Numbers 10:10 KJV 1900
10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.
"Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices..." When they had a feast day, they would sound those silver trumpets.
In I Corinthians 14, verse 8, the Apostle Paul said this.
1 Corinthians 14:8 KJV 1900
8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for battle?" They had clear distinct trumpet sounds.
You and I are to be gospel trumpeters for the Lord Jesus. We are to give a good clear certain sound of the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me give you three applications of this feast of the trumpets. The first one has to do with

The RAPTURE of the church.

The evacuation of God's people from this world when Jesus comes! We find that one in I Thessalonians 4.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJV 1900
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God."
When that trumpet sounds, the Bible says that all believers who have died before Jesus came back will be resurrected. All believers who are alive when Jesus comes back are going to be caught up to meet them and the Lord in the air. You and I are waiting for the trumpet of evacuation. The trumpet will sound, and we will be caught away.
There is a second application to this feast of the trumpets. When the church is caught away in the trumpet sound, the trumpet will sound not only to call the saints back to home, but it will also sound

To Call angels down to the earth to do battle.

In Revelation 8 you begin the sounding of the seven trumpet judgments during the Great Tribulation. There will be the sounding of these trumpets that bring judgment on this earth during the Great Tribulation.
There is a third application to this sounding of the trumpet. It is a future application that has to do with the children of Israel. We know, according to the Scriptures, that God said to the children of Israel, if you disobey me you will be scattered. You can go to Deuteronomy 8 and read how God said if they disobeyed Him that they would be scattered. We know that exactly came to pass. But God also predicted that one day His people who had been scattered would be gathered. God would bring them back to the land. God would gather them back to the land.
Look at Isaiah 27. This is the primary application of the feast of the trumpets so far as the prophecy for the future. Expectation for the children of Israel. Here is a specific prediction made in verses 12 and 13.
Isaiah 27:12–13 KJV 1900
12 And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, And ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, That the great trumpet shall be blown, And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, And the outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
"And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel." There is going to be a stream of returning or gathering.
Verse 13 says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem."
God is saying that one day this feast of trumpets is going to be fulfilled and

The Children of Israel are going to be GATHERED BACK.

Go to Matthew 24. I love what the Bible says about prophecy. You can see so much of it that has already been fulfilled. Jesus is talking about the return of the Lord to this earth after the tribulation on the earth. Verse 31 says this.
Matthew 24:31 KJV 1900
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other."
The prediction is made that when Jesus Christ returns again there will be a gathering back of the nation of Israel to the land. That's why in 1948 Israel was established as a nation again and many Jews went back. Since that time there has been a steady stream of Israelites coming back to the land of Israel. There has been so much excitement on the part of God's people. All of these are indications to us that we are close to the end time.
I'm not going to predict the date of the coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells me not to do that. I don't know when the Lord is coming back, but we can look at the signs of the time. We should pray for Israel. It appears to me that the whole Middle East is getting ready to go up in a conflagration of hostilities.
All of these events, the gathering of Israel, which has precipitated so much of the turmoil and strife in that area, are an indication that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ might be very, very soon.
The feast of the trumpets has an application to the nation of Israel as well as to you and me.
Let's look at this sixth feast day

II. THE FEASTS OF DAY OF ATONEMENT (REALIZATION)

in verse 27 of Leviticus 23.
Leviticus 23:27–28 KJV 1900
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement. It shall be an holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord you God."
The nation of Israel is going to come to a realization, an understanding, about something that they did not understand previously in their national history.
We've read about the Day of Atonement back in Leviticus 16. The high priest would go in on the Day of Atonement and offer the blood on the mercy seat one day a year. There the emphasis on the Day of Atonement was as it related to the priest. That was fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ our Savior.
The word "atonement" means to cover over.
When they did that Day of Atonement in the Old Testament, they just pushed the sins of the people one year further toward Calvary. But when Jesus died on the cross, Jesus Christ didn't just roll the sins one year forward, Jesus Christ paid in full for our sins on Calvary's cross. So in terms of our salvation and our redemption, the Day of Atonement has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is also going to be a future application for this Day of Atonement that will apply in particular to the nation of Israel. There is going to come an experience of realization in the nation of Israel. They will understand what they did when the engineered the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. For the most part, the Jewish people have rejected Christ as the Messiah. But the Bible predicts there is going to come a day when they will realize that He indeed is Messiah.
Turn to Zechariah, chapter 12. There is going to be a Day of Atonement, a day of afflicting their souls, a day of mourning. That's what the people did on the Day of Atonement. They afflicted their souls. They mourned because of their sins. There is going to be a future day when Israel will mourn for what they have done.
Verse 10 talks about the return of the Lord and how His feet are going to stand on the Mount of Olives (that's in chapter 14), but all of this is tied around the coming of Jesus. Look at what will happen in verse 10 of chapter 12.
Zechariah 12:10–11 KJV 1900
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The spirit of grace and of supplications: And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications, and they (the nation of Israel) shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon."
That verse of Scripture predicts that there is going to be a future mourning on the part of the nation of Israel because they are going to look upon Him who they pierced. Who did they pierce? Who was nailed to a cross? Jesus! The Lord Jesus Christ!
Down in chapter 13, verse 1, it says this.
Zechariah 13:1 KJV 1900
1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem For sin and for uncleanness.
"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."

III. THE FEASTS OF TABERNACLES

In John, chapter 17, we are told that Jesus was at Jerusalem on the feast of the tabernacles. They had added a couple of ceremonies to the feast of the tabernacles. During the feast of the tabernacles, in the time of Jesus, they would take a basin of water and pour that water out. That symbolized the fact that God provided water for them in the wilderness experience. They would also light four golden candlesticks in the courtyard of the temple. That symbolized that God gave them light by the pillar of fire at night and the cloud in the day. So on the feast of tabernacles, during those two things,
Jesus said in John 7, verse 37, when they poured the water out,
John 7:37 KJV 1900
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Fulfilling the tabernacle.
In John 8, verse 12, He said,
John 8:12 KJV 1900
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
"I am the light of the world." Jesus is saying, "I fulfilled the tabernacles." There is going to be a future fulfillment of this feast of tabernacles. It's going to be a time of great celebration for the children of Israel.
Zechariah 14, verse 16,
Zechariah 14:16 KJV 1900
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations Which came against Jerusalem Shall even go up from year to year To worship the King, the Lord of hosts, And to keep the feast of tabernacles.
predicts that during the millennial reign of Christ on this earth the children of Israel will celebrate this feast of tabernacles and the fulfillment of that feast will be there in the person of none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
So we are looking forward to three of these feasts being fulfilled in the future. Looking back, four of them have already been fulfilled.
Conclusion:
Look at verse 22. What is going on here?
What is to go on between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus?
What are we to be doing?
What do you find in verse 22? They are harvesting the field. There is a harvest going on. God wants you and me to be harvesting between the first coming and the second coming of Jesus. He doesn't want us to be neglecting the harvest. He doesn't want us to just be standing and watching the harvest. He wants us to share in the harvest. That means he wants us to win some people to Christ.
Psalm 126, verse 6, is my life verse.
Psalm 126:6 KJV 1900
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
"He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bring his sheaves with him."
I don't know how much longer we have, but until Jesus comes, you and I need to be involved in the harvest of getting people to Christ.
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