Unlocking the Secrets to the Biblical Fall Festivals
By: Kelsey Joy
Tags: Christian, Jewish, Fall Festivals, Sukkot, Biblical Holidays

As readers of the bible, Christians might notice certain seasons in the Old Testament that were observed by the nation of Israel. Still to this day, most Jewish people maintain traditions first laid out to them by God in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible). It is most common for western Christians to breeze past these practices as “Jewish” or “Old Fashioned” or “Part of the Law.” To read my article on why I think Christians should care about the Biblical festivals, head over here.

Now, assuming you have either read that article or are simply curious about these biblical feasts, holidays and festivals, I’m going to give an overview of the 3 that occur in the fall. Feasts are extremely important for readers of the Bible to study because of both their historical and prophetic significance. In the feasts we unlock secrets hidden for the ages, mysteries God reveals to those who have ears to hear. We learn about the character of God, the history of his people, and the coming end of days.

When I eventually write my article on the 4 spring feasts, or if you choose to do a study on your own, you will find that Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits and Shavuot, all had a prophetic meaning, pointing to Jesus’ first coming. These prophecies hidden within the feasts were all fulfilled on the exact day of the feast. A brief example is that on Passover, the Isralites sacrificed a perfect lamb to take atonement for their sins. Jesus, the perfect lamb of God, was killed on the exact day of Passover, at the exact time of day the local families would have been slaughtering their lambs, not knowing that THE lamb was at that very moment taking away the sins of the entire world.

As I explain the fall festivals to you, I will also show you how they too contain secrets and prophecies, to be fulfilled in Jesus’ second coming. Perhaps even on the exact day of the feast.

To listen to my podcast series on the Biblical Festivals, listen to episodes 19–11 HERE.

I’m writing this on the eve of Yom Teruah 2021, the first of the fall festivals. Eight days following Yom Teruah is Yom Kippur, and finally, five days later there is Sukkot (my personal favorite.)

Yom Teruah

In Hebrew the word “Yom” means “Day.” The rest of the translation of this particular holiday is disputed. Some call it “Day of Trumpets” or “Day of Judgement” or “Day of Shouting” or “Day of Coronation.” This festival is listed along with the other 6 annual holidays, plus Shabbat, in Leviticus 23, but it has the shortest description and is only mentioned a few times throughout the entire Bible.

“The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”- Leviticus 23:23–25

This is the only one of the 7 festivals that the Israelites are not told why they are to celebrate it. We know it is a day of rest and it is sacred and is to be commemorated with trumpets, but we don’t know what they are to remember or look forward to. Until, that is, the revelations of the New Testament.

A brief study on the meaning of trumpets in the culture of the Israelites reveals they are used many times and in many circumstances, but always in the context of gaining the people’s attention. A shofar blast is loud and disruptive and commands that those around pay attention to what is about to occur. If one were to study trumpets in the prophecies concerning Jesus’ second coming, you would find them quite significant.

1 Corinthians 15:52 says the last trumpet blast will signify one of the resurrections in the Last Days.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 reinforces this idea and connects it with the rapture of the church.

Matthew 24:31 Jesus tells his disciples that his return and the rapture will be accompanied by a trumpet blast.

And finally in Revelation 8–11 we find a sequence of 7 trumpet blasts, the final of which signifies the coming of the Lord.

If I were to right now tell you “and there we have it, we know that Jesus will return on Yom Teruah!” most likely the largest argument raised would be “but we do not know the day or the hour, so it can’t be on this specific holiday!” You are correct, which is what makes this feast so fascinating.

Matthew 24:36 and 25:13 records that Jesus himself, and certainly not us, knows not the day or the hour of his return, this is a secret known only to the Father. However these verses are also accompanied by equating the coming Last Days to the days of Noah, Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Talents. The purpose of all of these allegories is to urge “those who have ears to hear” to not be caught sleeping. To be searching for signs of the times and seasons that we are living in.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” — Matthew 24:32–33

We are commanded to keep watch, be aware of the signs just as in the days of Noah, keep our lamps filled with oil, and be good stewards of the master’s resources until the day of his return.

Which brings me to my most interesting point about Yom Teruah. No one knows the day or the hour it is meant to be celebrated. It is actually celebrated over the course of two days because this is such an intense debate!

So not only is it possible for me to say “I have no idea what year Jesus is coming in,” I still must say “I also don’t know the day or even the hour!” We can still keep watch for Jesus’ second coming around the Day of Trumpets, while it still being a complete mystery. In my opinion, the trumpet blast announcing the coming of the Lord and the rapture of the saints, will occur on Yom Teruah sometime in the future.

One brief sidenote, this holiday nowadays is known as “Rosh Hashanah” which means “Head of the year.” It is the Jewish new year according to the calendar year they started keeping in Babylon during their 70 years of exile. If you were to ask a Jew about Yom Teruah, or even google it, most often it is directly equated with Rosh Hashanah, even though their meaning is completely different. I believe the holiday of Yom Teruah was masked under the shadow of Rosh Hashanah because of its profound impact on eschatological prophecy. Some of the most important prophecies in scripture were intentionally buried in metaphor, symbolism and parable, so that as Jesus says, “Those who have ears, let them hear.” They weren’t meant to be understood or uncovered by everybody.

Yom Kippur

Eight days after Yom Teruah comes the “Day of Atonement.” This is largely believed to be the most Holy Day for Jews. It is their day of fretting and repentance as they strive to get their names into the Book of Life before it closes, according to their tradition. According to scripture, this is how Yom Kippur was given:

“The Lord said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”- Leviticus 23:26–32

(“Deny Yourself” = fasting)

To read a much more in depth description of the ritual around this event, read Leviticus 16. It gives the High Priest very specific instructions on how to enter the Holy Place of the tabernacle. This is also the chapter where you can find a description of the meaning of the phrase “scapegoat.” Aaron the High Priest is given instructions on how to cleanse himself, make atonement for himself and his family, burn incense, sacrifice offerings, and make atonement for the people of Israel so that he can enter into the Holy Place, (or later, the Holy of Holies) which was the only place God’s presence could be. If someone were to enter the Holy of Holies on any day but Yom Kippur, under any circumstances except the cleansing and sacrifice rituals recorded in the Torah, then they would be killed instantly because the power of the presence of God would be too strong.

This holiday, being a solemn occasion, is when all Israel is reminded of their need to make atonement for their sins, and their discrepancy before the Lord. Even now, the Jews who do not believe Jesus was their promised Messiah, spend the day praying and repenting and begging God to write their name in the book of life.

Prophetically, when we look forward to the Day of the Lord, we see that following the seven trumpets there are seven bowls of God’s wrath. This is when those left on the earth are cleansed in preparation for the coming Kingdom. Just as sinful people could not withstand the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies lest they be struck dead, so the unbelievers on earth will not be able to withstand the wrath of the Lord in preparation for his return.

This holiday is certainly not a festival of joy, but a true Holy-Day.

Sukkot

The moment we have all been waiting for, the coming of our Lord and the establishment of the Kingdom is represented through the festival of Sukkot. This one really is a festival of joy and celebration! Sukkot, or The Festival of Tabernacles (temporary dwellings) is commanded following Yom Kippur in Leviticus 23 but my favorite description of it is in Deuteronomy:

“Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”- Deuteronomy 16:13–15

“Your joy will be complete”… this festival is not only meant to remind the Israelites that they used to live in temporary dwellings, relying solely on the Lord in the desert for 40 years, but it also reminds us to look forward to the establishment of God’s Kingdom which endures forever and ever. This world is not our home, we look forward to a kingdom with foundations whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:10) We remember that our joy will be complete when we are with our Lord Jesus in his righteous and just authority on earth. This coming kingdom is foretold in Revelation 20 and is described as a time when Satan is bound up, the martyrs are resurrected and the saints rule with Christ for 1000 years in Jerusalem.

Following this Millennium Kingdom we are promised a New Heavens and a New Earth where there is no more sorrow, no more death and no more suffering. In the bright light of Jesus’s glow, we live in a garden city with a river flowing from the throne and the tree of life whose leaves are used to heal the nations. What a wonderful and glorious day it will be, and we are given the chance to look forward to it during the annual celebration of Sukkot.

Not only are we given Sukkot as a way to look forward to the Millennium Kingdom, but we are also told we will continue to celebrate sukkot within the Kingdom,

“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.” Zachariah 14:16–19

In Conclusion

I think there are many takeaways from the teachings of the festivals, and I myself learn something new every year that I meditate on the rich meanings of these God-given celebrations. But here are a few I think are the most predominant: