THE PROPHETIC IMPLICATION OF THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL TO THE CHURCH – Part 1

By

Wole Olakunle

Any attempt to interpret the Bible especially the conclusion of all things, without a solid grasp of the hidden timelines in the scriptures such as the Feasts of Israel, the tabernacle patterns leading to final evolution of the Temple, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar about the kingdom, the 70 weeks of Daniel among others will lead to an inaccurate conclusion that is way off from the divine intent. Literal interpretation is good and vital but divine mysteries are concealed within the scriptures and wrapped in symbolic form. Lased in the scriptures are prophetic themes intricately woven together. Hence it will take an absolute comprehension of the scriptural lines to be able to decode these keys. Ever since God drove man from the garden, the interpretation of this event shifts from its original literal form to assume a spiritual dimension. No longer will they be fulfilled literarily but now expressed spiritually. Hence if we can understand their literal appearance in scripture and functionality, then a gentle view with the eye of the Spirit will unveil its spiritual code.

If the church continually focuses only on the literal forms of scriptural appearance, it will only settle for the secondary expression and not the primary intent. The symbolic code unveils the Most holy place as the ministry of the cherubim is at work to drive out intruders. The so called end times or Divine conclusion can not be located with three or four scriptures but to understand the divine theme of the entire Bible. How the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed and how the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed. Both testaments speak the same thing. They are a build up on one another. Divine confirmation must run through both. The divine intent are cased and concealed in the two so that they both agree and bring confirmation to hidden prophecy. The theme builds itself together through the intricate weaving of The Spirit progressively from the first Book Genesis until we arrive at the final book Revelation which contains the key to the final puzzle. No wonder it is the most difficult to understand. The whole divine project is to bring the restored man back to the garden to be filled completely with the glory earlier lost. We call it re-genesis that is bringing man back to the garden. Let’s bear in mind that the Cherubim was given the assignment to keep the fallen man away from the garden so as not to eat the tree of life in his fallen nature

Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

This ministry is still at work till date. The veiling of scriptures is to drive away intruders with heavy, difficult-to-understand symbols. So only those who are able to decode the symbols can unveil the divine intent. This is given to disciples.

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (Matthew 13:9-17)

The Greek word for disciples is mathētēs which means a learner, that is, pupil: - disciple. Kingdom mysteries are only given to those with this attributes, not those who are filled with the error of their ways, those who believe they know everything. We must come afresh before the Lord, to be taught of Him, not to condemn what we do not understand. Quite a sizeable number in the church might not be very familiar with this topic, but the wrong response will be to begin to criticize or fight against it instead of sitting down to learn. We must check the Spirit not the flesh ensuring that the Word of God becomes the evaluation standard. The Church will keep adjusting, reaching to new positions in the Spirit until we are totally like Christ.

Having said that, you will find diverse symbols in Scriptures especially the Book of Revelations such as the day of the Lord, trumpet, the lamb, New Jerusalem, beast, white horse, dragon, book of life, Lamb's wife, the city was pure gold , the street of the city was pure gold, cloud, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven , meet the Lord in the air, descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and the angel of the church among others. They are veiled Metaphoric symbolic codes. Any literal interpretation will lead to wrong conclusions which are inconsistent with Bible themes.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, (Rev 1:10)

Isaiah 58:1 ¶Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

The voice as a trumpet clearly indicates a message because the voice is a medium for giving message.

Therefore the book of Revelation captures in another form the events leading to the fall, leading us back to the place of our fall to herald us to the finish. That re-genesis means the tree of Life leading to immortality is hidden in the book of revelation. Once man can break the seal in the book, the access to the tree of life will now be granted. Continual feasting of the tree of life will produce eternal life leading to the emergence of the immortal sons and death is defeated.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Rev 2:7.

The word paradise in that scripture also means EDEN.

The feasts are so strategic and important that it formed part of the reasons God instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh in Egypt TO LET His people go.

“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the LORD Israel is my son, even my firstborn, and I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn (Ex 4: 22-23). “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, thus saith the LORD God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness (Ex 5:1).

Clearly, their Exodus from Egypt was connected to a feast. They must leave Egypt to worship the Lord. Their migration from Egypt actually signified the beginning feast called Passover. Hence hidden in the feast is the core issue of migration or Exodus.

The feast points to divine movement which eventually becomes our movement. Passover became the foundation for the unveilings of the other feasts. Feasts details God’s movement in seasons aptly termed dispensations. Feasts are distant markers. They calibrate divine events. Feasts unveil hidden divine events. They bring about their prophetic fulfillment once they are discovered by prophetic eagle eyed men like Daniel who discovered that the 70 years desolation of Israel as prophetically spoken by Jeremiah has ran out its due course and Israel was due for restoration. They are divine timelines. They are dispensational oriented.

Incidentally the last feast, Tabernacles also celebrated Israel’s journey in the wilderness, how they lived in booths (tabernacles) on their way to the finish (Canaan). Feasts carry divine phases of movements from the beginning (Passover) to the ultimate finish (Tabernacles).

The time of divine completion of all things or finish has to do with a solid understanding of the feast. They carry more divine weight than their literal outlook. God hides divine things in that literal encasement. Therefore they are symbolic representation of a divine mystery. The Lord Jesus on several occasions prefers to use earthly literal symbols to explain spiritual realities referred to as parables. The Feasts of Israel is one of the unlocking keys to understand the finish. The Tabernacle of Moses and the evolution to the Temple, the 70 weeks of Daniel, the message of the 7th Trumpet among others are the other keys to immortality door called the finish. They all come under the Gospel of the Kingdom which is the gospel we subscribe to.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE FEASTS

Any serious study of Bible prophecy should begin with the feast days of Israel that are found in the law. The feast days provide us with the basic outline of the plan of God of salvation for the individual, as well as an outline of God's plan (as Paul states) to "put all things under His feet." Too many books on Bible prophecy show very little understanding of the feast days, resulting in some popular but misleading views.

-- STEPHEN JONES

The feasts were yearly gatherings or holy convocations of the people of Israel for worship at Jerusalem. The laws regulating these assemblies were given to the Children of Israel by God on Mount Sinai. The feasts were given as seasons of divine appointments with God for worship and they were established as eternal ordinances that were to be observed by every generation of Jews. The spiritual significance of these feasts has been lost by the church because they were looked upon as Old Testament observances. Nevertheless, the truths relating these feasts to the life of the church are now being restored and we now know that these feasts spiritually foreshadow specific aspects of the God’s plan of Salvation for humanity.

SAMUEL OYELESE

SEVEN MAJOR FEASTS OF ISRAEL

Leviticus 23:1-44

1. FEAST OF PASSOVER – Lev 23: 5, Exodus 12: 3 – 14
2. FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD – Lev 23: 6 – 9
3. FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS – Lev 23: 10 – 14
4. FEAST OF PENTECOST OR WEEKS – Lev 23: 15 – 22
5. FEAST OF TRUMPETS – Lev 23: 23 – 25
6. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT – Lev 23: 26 – 32
7. FEAST OF TABERNACLES OR THE INGATHERING – Lev 23: 33 – 44

Leviticus 23:1 ¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 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.

3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

4 ¶These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

FEAST OF PASSOVER

5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

FEAST OF PENTECOST OR WEEKS

15 ¶And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

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.

FEAST OF TRUMPETS

23 ¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

24 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.

25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

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.

29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 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.

FEAST OF TABERNACLES OR THE INGATHERING

33 ¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

34 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.

35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.

39 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.

40 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.

41 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.

42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:

43 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.

44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

(To be continued in the next edition)

Sources:

Sam Oyelese – The Mountain of God

Stephen Jones – The laws of the second coming