Parents, Jesus Fulfills the Fall Feasts
It’s back to school time which means field trips to apple orchards, pumpkin patches, leaves changing color, and that fresh, crisp excitement of the season changing as we settle into fall. It’s truly beautiful how God has aligned His eternal purposes for His people with the order He put into creation. What if this season amid excitement for fresh apple cider, donuts, and pumpkin spice lattes your heart grew with eager expectation for the return of Jesus and feasting with Him eternally in the New Jerusalem? I want to invite you to look at scripture and the fall season in a new way; remembering God’s faithfulness to His people Israel and how He perfectly prophesies to fulfill each of the Biblical fall feasts at His return.
As a former Christian elementary school principal and teacher, I’m always on the hunt for the perfect picture book to teach about a certain topic, season, or holiday. Last fall, I purchased a few board books for my toddler about the fall feasts, they were a great introduction to the Jewish elements of the feasts. However, I had yet to find any books on the Biblical fall feasts and how Jesus fulfills them, so I decided to write one. Teaching our children about the Biblical feasts outlined in Leviticus 23, from a Messianic perspective, is a high priority for our family. And after all God does command us to celebrate His feasts. So, what are the fall feasts all about?
Feast of Trumpets
At the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) we recount God’s covenant with His people Israel. God manifests His presence in smoke and fire on Mount Sinai as He came to covenant with His people amidst the sound of a trumpet that caused the people to tremble. The Israelites in turn promised to do everything the Lord commanded them to do. This event would be commemorated year after year by sounding trumpet blasts to remind Israel that they were a people under covenant; a nation who had committed to being God’s people.
The Feast of Trumpets will be fully fulfilled when Jesus appears in the sky at the 7th trumpet and “gathers” His Bride. This moment that is to come is our blessed hope as we will be transformed, ready to eternally covenant with Jesus. We long for this moment with hope and anticipation. Jesus will return at the Feast of Trumpets, the Bride will be gathered to meet Him in the air, receive new bodies and the Kingdom of God will be inaugurated.
Day of Atonement
On the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur we recount Moses coming down from the mountain with the 10 Commandments and finding the Israelites worshipping a golden calf which they had made. In Moses’ anger, he breaks the tablets signifying Israel breaking the covenant which the Lord had just made with them. Moses pleads with the Lord to not consume and destroy them and seeks to make atonement for their sin.
Yom Kippur was the one day each year that the high priest could enter the holy of holies to make atonement for the people’s sin and ask for God’s forgiveness on behalf of all the people of Israel. Throughout the year, the tabernacle absorbed all the sins of the people in sacrifice after sacrifice, day after day, but Yom Kippur is like pushing the “reset” button – disinfecting the place from all the sin of the people over the year and going back to zero.
On Yom Kippur, the high priest took off his typically glorious robes and exchanged them for simple white linen garments in order to go into the holy of holies, the white to symbolize the holiness of the day and God wiping away the people’s sin. This was a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus, our great high priest putting aside His robes of heavenly splendor and putting on human flesh to become one of us. On the final Yom Kippur when Jesus returns, He will remove the sin and iniquity of Israel, they will look on the one they have pierced, mourn and lament and cry out to Him and He will redeem Israel.
Feast of Tabernacles
The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot is a reminder of Israel’s wandering in the desert dwelling in tents. The word sukkot means “tabernacles” or “booths”. It is the seventh and final Biblical feast mandated by the Lord and brings completeness. It is a reminder of God’s covenant with His people and the future picture of oneness when the Lamb returns and marries His bride.
Conclusion
Isn’t it beautiful how God weaves the plan for Jesus’ return into the fall feasts celebrated year after year? As you recall these familiar stories and themes from the Old Testament paired with the knowledge of Jesus’ return, I hope you are able to look at the fall season with renewed hope. Parents, Jesus fulfills the fall feasts, let’s teach our kids about them!
To purchase Jessica’s new book The Fall Feasts and How Jesus Fulfills Them, click here.
Jessica AcMoody is a wife and stay at home mother of two. Through a small web-based ministry she enjoys creating and sharing resources for families to grow together in the Lord. She recently released a children’s picture book The Fall Feasts: And How Jesus Fulfills Them. For a decade, before becoming a mother, she was an urban Christian school educator. Serving first as an elementary school teacher at Tree of Life School in Kalamazoo, MI and then as founder and school principal of River of Life School in Benton Harbor, MI. You can follow her ministry page “Elemental Faith” on both Facebook and Instagram for more resources and Bible-based content.
Well all I have to say is… AMEN & AMEN & AMEN & MARANATHA My brother!!!