Bible Studies

Seasons of Light

by Darlene Kennedy
11/23/18
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What if I told you there was a way you could absolutely know the plan of God? What if I told you He revealed it through the inspired scriptures thousands of years ago, that it has been there all along, yet has remained hidden from the majority of mankind, due to Satan's clever deceptions? Your first thought might be that I am crazy! You might be inclined to click off this page and go on with your life. However, if you will continue with me, I hope to guide you into the discovery of the most awesome, most inspiring and most enlightening knowledge attainable to man. This knowledge has the power to set your life on a new course, to give you meaning and purpose unmatched by anything you have experienced until now. It will increase your faith, give you courage for whatever lies ahead and prepare you for a future so mind-bending you will scarcely be able to fathom it. 

God chose to reveal this plan through one nation of people, the children of Israel. The Old Testament contains the record of their calling and the purpose for which they were set apart. The Lord freed them from the slavery of Egypt and led them on a journey through the Sinai desert into the land of Canaan, a land promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, many years earlier. During their wilderness wandering, He taught them laws, statutes, and judgments for righteous living. He also revealed to them seven annual feasts or festivals, which they were instructed to keep in their seasons upon their arrival in the promised land. These festivals were rehearsals of God's plan of redemption for mankind through Christ, a foreshadow of good things to come. They were celebrated in an agricultural context, the first four associated with the spring harvest season, the last three with that of the fall. They are at the same time both historical and prophetic, and all contain within them the role of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The first four teach the events of his first coming, which have already been historically fulfilled. The last three teach the events that will surround his second coming yet in the future. You will find them outlined in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, but their deep meaning is revealed throughout both the Old and New Testament writings, and are in fact the theme of the entire Bible. 

If we would increase in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, and in the purpose of our very creation and future glory, the study of these seven annual festivals will yield much understanding. They contain within them vital keys that we must have to unlock the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. Traditional Christianity has dismissed them far too long, as countless millions have been taught that they were old Jewish feasts, not having any relevance in our worship today. Nothing could be further from the truth! "And the Lord spoke 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 (KJV). Much knowledge and understanding are to be gained for those who study the feasts as they were celebrated by Israel. It's amazing how God used each of these feasts to highlight, step by step, his plan for mankind and our salvation. These were only shadow pictures though of the reality. Jesus Christ is the reality, and that is what I want to highlight in this article. I want to focus on these feasts as they are fulfilled in the Son of God. 

We begin with Passover, which pictures the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. The apostle Paul reveals that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The penalty of sin is death. Under the law, Israel was required to offer sacrifices to atone for their sins, but only as a figure of the only sacrifice that could satisfy. Hebrews 10:1 (KJV) says, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect". Verse 3 continues, "But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year". Only a sinless life could satisfy the demands of the law, so our Savior came to take upon his own body the penalty for sin in our stead and redeem us from the law of sin and death. John the Baptist declared of Jesus at his baptism, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world", John 1:29 (KJV). I Peter 1:19 speaks of Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish. I Corinthians 5:8 tells us that Christ is our Passover, sacrificed for us. 

Immediately following Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a seven-day festival which pictures the removal of leaven or sin out of our lives. The first and last days are holy convocations or commanded assemblies unto God, but the entire feast is to be celebrated by eating unleavened bread. After accepting the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, we are to repent and turn from all unrighteousness and follow him into newness of life. Hebrews 10:26 (KJV) tells us, "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins". When believers repent, they are to flee the slavery of sin by removing leaven from their lives. Our bodies are spiritually the temple of God and we house the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 3:16). Paul instructed the believers in Corinth, "Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth", I Corinthians 5:7-8 (KJV). Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. He implores us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. 

The morrow after the weekly Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread is the Feast of Firstfruits. This festival pictures the resurrected Christ and his ascension to the throne of God to be accepted as the firstfruits of mankind. I Corinthians 15:20 (KJV) tells us, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept". Continuing in verses 22-23 we see, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming". 

Fifty days following the Feast of Firstfruits is the festival of Pentecost. After Christ's ascension, it was the day that the early Church received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Jeremiah prophesied of this day, speaking of a time when God would make a new covenant with His people, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people", Jeremiah 31:31-33 (KJV). This feast celebrates those who are the first to trust in Christ. They receive the firstfruits of the Spirit, according to Romans 8:23. James tells us, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures", James 1:18 (KJV). Revelation speaks of these as they who "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb", Revelation 14:4 (KJV). As we read in I Corinthians 15:23, they are those who are Christ's at his coming. 

These conclude the Spring festivals. As I mentioned earlier, these teach the events of Christ's first coming and have already been historically fulfilled through him. He came to this earth to redeem mankind from the slavery of sin by his own death. Those who have accepted that sacrifice have turned from sin and walk in newness of life with Him. He has ascended to heaven, as the firstfruits from the dead, where he is seated at the right hand of God in His role as our High Priest. He has sent the Holy Spirit to abide in our hearts and minds, that we might be instructed in the ways of righteousness until we are ushered into the soon-coming Kingdom of God. 

The final three feasts are celebrated in the Fall of the year. The first of these is the Feast of Trumpets. Trumpets or shofars were frequently used in ancient times as announcements. They were sounded in battle, they were used to announce the beginning of festivals, the coronation of kings, the start of the Jubilee years and many other occasions. The greatest trumpet blast will usher in the return of Christ to this earth to set up the Kingdom of God. I Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV) says, "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: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord". I Corinthians 15:52 (KJV) tells us, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed". Revelation speaks of seven trumpets that will sound at the end time, the seventh of which will announce the establishment of the Kingdom of God. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever", Revelation 11:15 (KJV). 

The second Fall festival is the Day of Atonement, picturing the role of Christ as our High Priest. Historically, it was the only day the high priest was allowed behind the veil into the holiest place inside the temple. On this day he offered sacrifices for the cleansing of the nation and the sanctuary. Christ, as our High Priest, has entered the holy place once and for all, where he has obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). While the first tabernacle stood, the way into the holy place was closed to us, but Christ has opened the way to the Father, that we may have access to the throne of grace. Very soon now, the entire earth will finally be redeemed from the curse of Satan, who will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit where he can deceive the nations no more (Revelation 20:1-3). 

The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, is a seven-day festival picturing the reign of Christ upon the earth. His followers will rise to live and reign with him a thousand years as kings and priests in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 20:6). The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God. This is the sabbath-rest spoken of in Hebrews, chapter 4. God has allowed man six thousand years to perform all his labor upon the earth, but the seventh-thousand year is the sabbath of the Lord. Those who have accepted Christ as their Savior will be allowed to enter into that rest. The remaining dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished (Revelation 20:5). This is the meaning of the Last Great Day, also known as the eighth day, which follows immediately after seven days of Tabernacles. 

What beautiful revelations God has given us through these annual festivals. Our creator wants a relationship with His creation. He wants to share His desire for us as His family and the method through which this will be accomplished. It's a shame that the religions of the world have replaced these shadow pictures with man-made celebrations containing no revelation of our Savior's role in restoring paradise to this lost world and uniting mankind to our heavenly Father.  

The apostle John, who wrote the book of the Revelation, was given a vision of the culmination of God's eternal plan for mankind. Revelation 21:2-3 (KJV) "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."  

What an awesome God we serve! That His desire is to live with His creation, to be in a relationship with us is more than I can dare fathom. But He has revealed this very desire to us through His festivals which outline every step along the way. For those of us who have discovered the blessings of celebrating them in their seasons, the journey home takes on a whole new meaning. Their revelation adds depth to our worship and our understanding increases with each passing year. The Bible takes on a new dimension unknown to those locked in the man-made customs and traditions of a religious system that long ago veered off the path that leads to life. God has not left us in the dark. Through these beautiful shadow pictures, He has illuminated the path for us from beginning to end, from Passover to the Last Great Day. I encourage all readers to look into the revelation embedded in each of the feasts and discover for yourselves a fresh awakening from the Holy Spirit, unlike anything you have ever experienced