8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Christ and the Feasts: The Fall Feasts - Counsel of Chalcedon
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1)
The Day
ofAtonement took
place
on the tenth
day
of the
seventh
month
(Tishri).
It
was
to be a
day of fasting,
showing
true repenrance, as
well asa
ay
of
rest
(Sabbath). It was a time of re
dedication
of
one's
life to God.
Spedal
offerings were presented to Jehovah
(Num. 29:8-11). This was Israel's only
required last day
(albeit
there
were
other non-mandated days offasting; cr.
Zech.
8:19);itwasadayof humbling
[or
afflicting] of
the soul (whichiswhatthe
Hebrew anah
[ last )
means; Lev.
16:29-
31;
:23:27-3:2) .
:2 This teast day was considered the
holiest
day
of the year, because itwas on
the tenth of the seventh , .
monththatthehighpriest ' :
God. Here blood
was
: .
sprinlded on the mercy ::
seat
(or propitiatory ), :
to
propitiate
the
wrath of
:.
God.
3) The ceremony of
this
day
involved the
use
. of
wo goats.
One goat
was sacrificed for
the sins of the people.
The
other
goat
underwent the priestly
laying
on of
hands.
At
this point the sins of Israel
were CsymbolicaIly)
transferedto
thegoat,
after which he was driven off into dle
wilderness
.
In
this ceremony,
Israel's
sins
were
forgiven
and
remembered
no
more. But even
here, on
Israel's
most
sacred
of days,
in her most
holy
of
sacrifices,
the
Day
of Atonement
was
merely symbolic of the uue
sacrifice:
Jesus Christ
(Heb.
8-10).
4) The
Day
of Atonement preceded
the
greatestfeastdayoftheyear, the Feast
of Tabemacles, which was symbolic of
the Kingdom of God (see below).
Likewise,
it is significant that the year of
Jubilee
began
on this most holy
of
days
(Lev.
:25:9).
New Testament
New
Testament passages
regarding
this Feast
are
found
in: Mark 15::22-41;
Romans
324-:26;
Hebrew
9:7;
10:3,19-
n Astudy of these verses reveals the
following:
1) Ezekiel
(40:
1)
prophesiedthat the
Day of
Atonement
would usher in the
Kingdom of
God.
This, of course, was
fulfilled in the personand
work of
Christ
CMkI5::22-41;Mt.4:17; U:28). Itisthe
frugality ,md
sobriety, so that
as far
as
possible it bears some resemblance to a
fast. l
But the Christian life is
also
to be a
continual feasting on Jesus Christ (Mt.
n:I-14 .
Zecheriah8prophesiedoffuis
time in redemptive history, when the
church's fasting and weeping would be
turned into a great, continual
feast.
And
even
though this will only be ultimately
fulfilled
in he eternal state, the Christian
has already begun to partake ofthis
feast
due
to
his relationship with Christ CMt.
:2:2:1-14; :26::29; Rev. 19:7-9).
4) In
His person and work, the Lord
jesus
fulfilled
the role ofbothgoats ofthe
::,:': . .: Day ofAtonement. He is
..' ....... :
. :.
the Great High Priestwho
, : . :
;
madetheultimatesacrifice
..
(Himself)
in the
Holy
of
H::
Holies(Heb.5:1-1O;9::l3-
, :
.
25). InHissacriliceblood
, . . , was shed for the for-
,.:jll::ii :
h e ~ ~ ~ ~ : : : ~ ~ ~
., .
,
...
,.
.
, . in that He was sacrificed
cross
work ofChristthat
causes
the
elect
outside the camp (in the wilderness)
totrulymoum theirsins andtum toHinl
for
covering
(see Zech. 1:2:
10-13:
1; cpo
Mt.
:27:54;
Acts :2:23,37).
2)
Ukewise, jubilee
began on [his
day, which prefigured
the
fullness
ofthe
Messianic Kingdom.
3) In
Mark
:2:18-:22,
the Lord
Jesus
taught
that the lastdayshave been fulfilled
in
Hinl
. This does not mean that
the
church
is
neverto fast (d. Mt
6:16-18),
but there is no longer
one
'mandatory
day,
as
onthe
Day
of Atonement. Indeed,
according
to john Calvin: the whole
Christian
life oughtto be
tempered with
CHeb.
3:
U). Due to the completeness
ofChrist's cross work, God has forgiven
the elect theirsins, and remembers them
no more
(cr. Heb. 8:1:2;
10:16,17).
Tabernacles
ld
Testament
OldTestament passages on this feast
are found in: Exodus
:23:
14- 17;
34::22;
Leviticus :23:33-36,39-43; Numbers
:29:U-34;Deuteronomy 16:13-17;31:9-
13; Haggai
:2:1.9; and Zechariah 14:16-
21.
The follOwing can
be
understood
from a study of these
passages:
April,
1992 t
TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon
t
9
8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Christ and the Feasts: The Fall Feasts - Counsel of Chalcedon
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1) Thdeast
: h e l d on
the 15th-
22nd
of
me seventhmont (TlShri)
of
t:h.eJewishyear. Iiwasca1led
Tabernacles,
BoothS,
and Ingathering. Theweek long
festiVal
was
Ii
celebration
for t n ~
harvest
fruit crop,includingthe odoil. At
this
ti)ne,a
tithe
from
the crop was
biough.f (0JerusiUem.
',Tabernacles symbolized God's
protection of aodprovision for
His
people. Itcomtrtemoratedthetimewhen
He kept Israel safe and soundduring the
fonyyeatS of herwilderness wandering,
aftercommgoutofEgypt.lSraeUteswere
to be mindful of the fact that
God
had
continually dwelt as Immanuel in
the
presence of His people
sanctuary of Israel (thus Ingathering).
Thisconceptstemmedfrom Genesis
10,
:where
sevenry
nations were numbered
as representative
of
all
of the peoples
of
the
world.
It
is
also
likely
that Exodus
15:27 is
symbolic of the rwelve tribes of
Israel
watering
the seventy
nations.
The
pOint is that the sacrifice had
eschatological significaoce. Zechariah
14:16-21
supports
this. Here
we
read
of
the nations of the world coming
(gathering)
to
the Peast of Booths to
worship Jehovah.
5) In
Deuteronomy
31:9-l3,weleam
that every
seventh
year, on the occasion
ofthis festival, the law was to be
read
to
~ t r r ~ ) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ l : ; ~ i ili ;.' (thetrueredemptiontha
t
. . was accomplished by
Christ.
now beenboundso'that
heisnolongerable
to deceive
the nations
CRev.20:1-3). Thus,ourLordcouldand
did give the great . onnnission.
to
His
church,
to evangelize
the nations of the
world (Mt. 28:18-20).
3) Revelation7picturesthefulfiUmem
ofBooths.
Hereweseethesahu:SwaVing
palm branches
at
tbe
harvest
home
feast
in glory.
Elect
from every nation
ate
worshipping
the God of Scripture.
4) Revelation 7 s to be viewed as that
which
will
take
place
in ts ultimate furm
inthe etemalstate, the
Kingdom
ofglory.
But we must .recognize that God's
Kingdom has already
come.
The
L o ~ d
ushered in this Kingdom at His first
8/12/2019 1992 Issue 4 - Christ and the Feasts: The Fall Feasts - Counsel of Chalcedon
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advent(Mk
1:15)
.
Thenewheavensand
earth came,
in
seed
Conn, at
that time
(Gal. 4:26; Heb.
12:22-24).
This can
be
seen through
the
fulfllhnent of Haggai 2.
Haggai's second
prophecy(vv.I-9) came on the last
day
of
the
Feast of
Booths
(just
before
the
sacred assembly of
the 22nd day -
v.
1).
He
spoke
of a coming
day
in which the
glory
.of God would
once again fill the
temple; theLordwould
shake
theheavens
and the earth.
The
author of Hebrews
(12
:
22-29)
teachesus
that the fulfillment
of
this prophecy OC01rred
at
the
first
advent of Christ, and the intitial stage
of
the coming of His Kingdom, Its
consummation will
take
place at the
second
coming
in
the
Kingdom
of
glory
(Tit. 2:13; Rev. 7).
.
Notice
also
that
Zerubbabel
(Hag.
2:4,23)isa Christ type
(v. 23; Mt.1:13)
.
The remple restoration of Haggai's
day,
underZerubbabel,
wasmerelytypological
of
the
building of the New Testament
temple,
the church
CEph. 2:19-22; 1Pet.
4:4-10),
by
the LordJesus
.
The
temple
of
Haggai's day
did not
contain the
ark of
the
covenant, nor was it ever
filled
with
the
Shekinah glory
of God (as was
Solomon's
temple; d. 1 Kgs. 8:10-12).
These
things
were
beingreseri;ed
for
Christ, the true
temple
incarnate
On.
2:19), and His church (which as the
body of Christ is the New
Testament
temple). Jesus
came as
the
Shekinah
gloryofGodincarnateOn. l:14).AndHe
is the
true
ark of the covenant,
as
the
Propitiatory/Mercy
Seat incarnate (Rom.
3:25;
1 In. 2:2). He is the personal
embodiment of
Immanuel,
God
with
us, who tabemacles
in the
midst of the
new Israel
On
1:14)
.
5)
The
gospel
of]ohn
reveals
Christ
as the fulfillment of Tabernacles in
9:Iapters 7
and 8.
Here we
read
of the
Lord attending the feast
in Jerusalem
7:i). On t)le last day
of this
feast (7:37),
Jesus
proclaimed
that
He is the
living
water (not just a libation from Siloam)
'from
which
a
man
l\lust drink if he
would
have
etemallife
. Ukewise,jesus
taught
(8: 12) that He
is the light of
the
world (not
just
the
Menorah)
to which
men must yield if hey would
leave
the
domain of darkness for the Kingdom of
light(Col.l:13).Asthistookplaceonthe
final day ()fBooths;
we
understand that
the Lord was
evealing that
He
saw
Himself, and His. already pr.esent
Kingdom, as the fulfillment of Haggai's
prophecy (see Hag. 2:1).
6) The Zechariah 14: 16-21
passage
is
to
beunderstoodasfulfilled
(progessively)
in the New
Testament age
.
The nations
of
the
world,
as
stated
above, are
now
being
evangelized
into the
Kingdom
of
God; they are going up to the new/
heavenly Jerusalem to
worship (Heb.
12:22-29).
Peter
understood
the
implications of
this fulfillment on the mount of
Transfiguration, when he suggested that
booths
be rnade for Jesus, Moses; and
Elijah (Mt. 17:4). Peter's exegesis was
correct,
but
his timing was wrong.
He
recognized the
fulfillment
ofTabernacles
in
the
person ofChristand
the
coming of
HisKingdom.
Buthehadnotyetgrasped
the
fact
that
the
growth
of this
KingdOni
was
to be
gradual in
this
age, as per
Matthew 13:31- 33,
andeonsummated
in glory
(Rev. 21,22).
7) The Deuteronomy 31:9-13 law
reading requirement is
fulfilled
in
the
New
Testament
age by
the internalizing
of the W ord of
God (Heb.
8:8-12).
8) The New
Testament
also sees the
fulfillment
ofTabernacles
in the fact
that
the present age is considered the last
days
of redemptive
histOry (Heb. 1:1-
3). Thus,asthisOldTeslament
feastwas
the last daysof the
liturgical
year, with
its
ceremony, sacrifices, etc.,
so
the last
days ofredemptive history
have brought
an
end
to the
entire sacrificial system, in
Christ. God has provided forand fully
protected
His
people
through the
person
and work
)eHis Son.
9)
Just as lsraelbrbught
the tithe of
wineandoilfromthefruitCfOpatBcoths,
so the New Testament sees this fulfilled
in Christ.
In
Mark 2:18-22,]esus
taught
that He
was the one
who
came to
pour
new wine intO new wineskins. The new
creation had
commenced,
in seed form,
at His (first)
coming.
Ukewise, Jesus promised that
He
would give
Hispeople
the Holy Spirit
to
complete the
work
that
He
had begun
Gn. 16:8-15). The Spirit, often
symbollzed by oil (1 Sam, 16:13; Heb.
1:9
with Mk. 1: 10), was pOured
out on
the church at Pentecost in Acts 2.
10) As
mentioned
above, the Feast
of
Tabernacles
was
a time when
Israel
gave
thanks for the land
of
CanaanwhichGod .
had
given her. For
the New Testament
implications
ofthissee
the laterarticle
on
Canaan
and
the
Kingdom o God
Endnotes
l.SeeJohnCalvin,Institutes)V
:
12:18.
Apm, 1992 TH COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon
f 11
-
.. --
-
.
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