The Jewish Fall Feasts and the Christian Road to Salvation
Roads are rather important. They provide a way leading from one place to another, helping people get from point A to point B. You and I travel on paved roads daily and think nothing of it.
Yet, if we use our imagination and ponder life without roads, our way instantly becomes much more complicated and our wandering much more likely.
Conceptually, a road may be defined as a series of events or a course of action that will lead to a particular outcome.
In ancient Israel, the fall feasts of Israel conceptually provided a distinct path for the Jewish people. They were a road to redemption!
In Leviticus 23, the Lord will institute the Feasts of Israel, including the Fall Feasts, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts” (Leviticus 23:1-2).
The Fall Feasts of Israel occur on the holiest month on the Hebrew calendar, the sacred month of Tishri, beginning on the first day of Tishri with Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, which will begin at sunset the night of Sept. 22 and end at nightfall Sept. 24. Ten days later, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will begin the night of Oct. 1, while five days later, at sundown of Oct. 5, Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day festival, begins.
Interestingly, these Fall Feasts of Israel also thematically picture the beautiful road to redemption for us as followers of Jesus, the Messiah.
Let me explain.
Specifically, the fall feasts are unique among God’s appointed times because they form a natural progression of thought. Writes Mitch Glaser in his book The Fall Feasts of Israel
“The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), teaches repentance; Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, redemption, and Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, rejoicing. On the Feast of Trumpets, the sound of the ram’s horn calls upon each Jew to repent and confess his sins before His maker. The Day of Atonement is that ominous day when peace is made with God. On the feast of Tabernacles, Israel obeys God’s command to rejoice over the harvest and the goodness of God. It’s necessary to pass through repentance and redemption in order to experience His joy.”
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and literally in Hebrew means “head of the year.”
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord’ ” (Leviticus 23:23-25).
During this time the Shofar is sounded, beginning what is known as the Ten Days of Awe, a time of repentance, a time when Jewish people would and still do examine their lives and repent of sins.
Similarly, the pronouncement of Jesus’ mission and the content of His own message was a call to repentance. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, calling out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” a theme Jesus himself repeated throughout His earthly ministry (Matthew 3:2; 4:17).
After Rosh Hashanah, it’s with a repentant heart that the Jewish people approach the day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
‘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 your God.
For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath’ ” (Leviticus 23:26-32).
The word Yom means “day.” Kippur means “atonement,” which comes from the Hebrew word Kapper, to cover. All day, Jewish people fast and implore God for forgiveness, asking Him to place their name in the Book of Life. In Judaism, if your name was recorded in this book, it would mean you were a member of good standing in the Divine Commonwealth.
We first find this idea biblically presented in Exodus 32:31-32, when Moses laments after the Israelites worship the golden calf:
“And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, ‘Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.’ ”
Daniel 12:1-2 mentions the Book of Life, while David wrote in Psalm 69:23 about his enemies: “May they be blotted out of the book of life, And may they not be recorded with the righteous.”
In the New Testament, we find the Book of Life, with believers in Messiah Jesus specifically mentioned as being included in this book.
For example, in Philippians 4:3, the Apostle Paul refers to the book, “And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow labourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Additionally, there are six verses in the book of Revelation that refer to the Book of Life. Specifically, In Revelation 3:5, Jesus promised that the names of all believers will not be erased from the Book of Life.
As Christians, we celebrate in the redemption accomplished through the person and work of Jesus – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). And because we have been redeemed, our names are inscribed in the Book of Life, as the New Testament reveals.
Lastly, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot in Hebrew, occurs five days after Yom Kippur:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.
And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God’ ” (Leviticus 23:33-34, 39-43).
As the sun goes down marking the end of the Day of Atonement, Jewish people begin to build the Sukkah booth. In Biblical times, this was a joyful celebration of the final fall harvest.
The Feast of Tabernacles also commemorates God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt and their 40 years of wilderness wandering, when they dwelt in tents. God’s tabernacle was with them.
We remember and rejoice in God’s faithfulness and His provision!
As believers, we remember and rejoice in God’s provision of salvation found in the person and work of our Jesus, who has delivered us from sin’s bondage, and in His continual faithfulness to us as we journey life’s road on our way to our own promised land – the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).
So, as we’ve discovered, our salvation journey follows a similar thematic progression as the Fall Feasts of Israel. We repent of our sins, experience God’s redemption as we put our trust in Jesus, and rejoice in His salvation!
This is a wonderful season to be praying for and witnessing to Jewish people in your lives, as spiritual sensitivity toward things of God is elevated, even for many who are nominally religious or even irreligious.
Additionally, as we ponder our road to redemption and the joy our salvation brings, may that joy be a powerful witness to those who’ve not yet recognized Jesus as the Way. Amen.
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