EDITED Hh-6. The FEAST DAYS of the LORD! It was recently asked of me if I believe that Jesus will return ON one of the FEAST DAYS of the Lord since Jesus fulfilled the first four feast days at his first coming. Now while I had studied a little on the feast days prior to this person asking me this question I had not as yet done any in-depth studying on this subject, as of yet. Now, many or most of my studies are done while I am writing them. I usually begin by asking God what he would like me to study next and within a day or so the answer comes as to the direction of what God desires me to study. This direction comes through either a person asking me a specific question or by the leading of the Holy Spirit in the way of a deep desire to know the truth of a certain matter. However, in this case, it is a combination of several things. For one thing, I desired to know if what I have studied earlier by reading the studies of others is, in fact, the truth or if it is not the truth. For you see, I had not had time, or at least I had not taken the time to look into it as yet as thoroughly as I like to do. That is to say, there are the conclusions that others have drawn and I desire to know if these conclusions of others are based on SOUND Biblical evidence. Also, I wanted to complete an earlier study that I started on the feast days by searching the Bible on the names of the MONTHS that God had given to his chosen people Israel, which many DIFFER from the names given to the months in today's Jewish calendar. And thirdly, this leading by the Holy Spirit to study in this area seemed to be confirmed to me when this person asked me about the coming of Jesus and the feast days of the Lord. So then, let us begin this study in God's word by reading the verses found in the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, pertaining to the MONTHS of the year and the NAME for each month that God gave to his people Israel in the Bible. And if you could care less about the ABSENCE or no mention of two months of the year then skip down to section two of this study in God’s word. SECTION ONE. Please read Exodus 12:1,2 which teaches us that God CHANGED the FIRST month to another month by saying that this month in which God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt SHALL BE the FIRST month of the year to them, or the BEGINNINGS of months. In other words, there was a certain month of the year that Israel was brought out of the land of Egypt that we are not given the name and God CHANGED this month of time of the year to be the BEGINNING of the year or the beginning of MONTHS. Whatever month or time of the year it was or used to be, God now CHANGED this time to be the FIRST month of the year. Exodus 12:1,2. “And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2. THIS MONTH (Speaking of the month that I bring you out of the land of Egypt or the land of BONDAGE) shall be unto you the BEGINNING of months: it shall be the FIRST month of the year to you.” Esther 3:7. “In the FIRST month, that is, the month NISAN, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the TWELFTH month, that is, the month ADAR.” So then, the FIRST month of the year, also called the BEGINNING of months, God has given the NAME of the month to be NISAN, which was once the TIME of the year called the month of ABIB. Now we do not know from what we have read so far WHAT month of the year used to be the month of ABIB. All we know for sure, at this point, is that this TIME of the year was CHANGED to be known from this point on as the FIRST month of the year and the NAME was CHANGED from the month of ABIB to the month of NISAN. Also, we know for sure that the TWELFTH month of the year is called the month of ADAR. In other words, we know the new NAME of the FIRST month and the name of the TWELFTH month. And we also know the name of ANOTHER month that is the month of ABIB. But we do not know what order of the year this month of ABIB used to be. And that is ASSUMING the month of ABID was even a name of a certain month before God said to the children of Israel, “this month in which you came out of Egypt shall be the FIRST month or the BEGINNING of months to you” from now on. So really, all we know for sure is that the month of NISAN may have been the first month of the year and NOW the name of the FIRST month of the year is called ABIB. OR the month of ABIB that is unknown as to what number of the month was CHANGED to become the FIRST month of the year and then later the NAME was changed to Nisan. For ME, I do not see God simply changing the NAME of NISAN to the name ABIB, but rather I see God CHANGING the ORDER of the months. In other words, let us say or ASSUME that the first month of the year called Nissan was equivalent to our month of January in the WINTER and Israel was brought out of Egypt in the SPRING of the year. Then God said to Israel since I brought you out of bondage in the SPRING of the year this time of year shall be the BEGINNINGS of months to you. In other words, this MONTH in which you came out of Egypt shall be the FIRST month of the year to you. And at THAT time that month was named ABIB. Please read Exodus 12:1,2 and Exodus 13:3,4 again as one continuous passage of scripture. Exodus 12:1,2...Exodus 13:3,4. “And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2. THIS MONTH (The month that I bring you out of the land of Egypt or the land of BONDAGE) shall be unto you the BEGINNING of months: it shall be the FIRST month of the year to you… ...3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember THIS DAY, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of BONDAGE; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4. This day came you out IN the month ABIB.” So then, to ME, I am seeing that THIS DAY was KNOWN to Israel as being IN the month of ABIB which we know today as being in the SPRING SEASON of the year. In other words, whatever SEASON of the year that the month of NISAN USED to be, as the first of the year, is now CHANGE to the SEASON of the month of ABIB. To say this another way the SEASON od the first month of the year was CHANGED to no BEGIN in the SPRING of the year. With that being said, let us continue on in this study in God's word to see if we can find the NAMES that God gave to the remaining months of the year. We find in 1 Kings 6:1 that the name of the SECOND month is called ZIF. Kings 6:1. “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month ZIF, which is the SECOND month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” In Esther 8:9 we read that the name of the THIRD month is called SIVAN. Esther 8:9. “Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the THIRD month, that is, the month SIVAN, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.” Now, the FOURTH month, FIFTH month, and SIXTH month are not so easily found by simply doing a word search on phrases such as “fourth month”, “fifth month”, or “sixth month”. So we will skip over these three months for the moment and move on to the SEVENTH month and then come back to these months. We read in 1 Kings 8:2 that the name of the SEVENTH month is ETHANIM. 1 Kings 8:2. “And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month ETHANIM, which is the SEVENTH month.” Then in 1 Kings 6:37,38 we read where the foundation of this house of God was laid in the month of ZIF, and then in the EIGHTH month which is called BUL was the house of God finished. 1 Kings 6:37,38. “In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month ZIF: 38. And in the eleventh year, in the month BUL, which is the EIGHT month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.” We then read in Zechariah 7:1 that the name of the NINTH month is called CHISLEU. Zechariah 7:1. “And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the day of the NINTH month, even in CHISLEU;” Then in Esther 2:16 we read that the name of the TENTH month is called TEBETH. Esther 2:16. “So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the TENTH month, which is the month TEBETH, in the seventh year of his reign.” In Zechariah 1:7 we read that the ELEVENTH month is called SEBAT. Zechariah 1:7. “Upon the four and twentieth day of the ELEVENTH month, which is the month SEBAT, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,” And if you remember in Esther 3:7 we were given the names of TWO months. The name of the OLD SEASON of the first month was NISAN and the name of the TWELFTH month is called ADAR. Or again, it may be that the OLD name for the first month was ABIB and now is called NISAN. The Bible does not clearly come right out and plainly state that this month that Israel came out of Egypt shall NOW be CALLED ABIB. So to ME, it can go either way. But since we do NOT see any month on the Jewish calendar called ABIB that I am leaning towards the NAME of the month of ABIB being CHANGED to NISSAN which also changed the SEASON in which the BEGINNING of the year now begins. Esther 3:7. “In the FIRST month, that is, the month NISAN, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the TWELFTH month, that is, the month ADAR.” So then, so far we have the NAMES of nine of the twelve months of the year that God has given us thus far that we have found. The FIRST month is NISAN, that was previously called ABIB. Or as another option. The FIRST month is now ABIB, that was previously called NISAN. Again, I am leaning toward the first month being NISAN and the NAME of the month of ABIB no longer being used but changed to another name. But I leave it as an option for you to decide for yourself as to the name of the first month. Perhaps the name of the first month is BOTH Nisan and Abib, in that the actual name is Nisan but it can be REMEMBER as being Abib. You decide. The FIRST month is ABIB / NISAN The SECOND month is ZIF. The THIRD month is SIVAN. The FOURTH month is unknown at this point in our study. The FIFTH month is unknown at this point in our study. The SIXTH month is unknown at this point in our study. The SEVENTH month is ETHANIM. The EIGHTH month is BUL. The NINTH month is CHISLEU. The TENTH month is TEBETH. The ELEVENTH month is SEBAT. The TWELFTH month is ADAR. But WHAT are the NAMES of the FOURTH, FIFTH, and SIXTH months? Well. in Nehemiah 6:15 we find the NAME of ANOTHER month given to us, but in this particular passage of scripture we are NOT given the NUMBER or the ORDER in which this month appears in relation to the other months. Here is what Nehemiah 6:15 tells us. “So the WALL was FINISHED in the twenty and fifth day of the month ELUL, in fifty and two days.” In Nehemiah chapter 6 and verse 15 we see that the WALL was FINISHED on the 25th DAY of the MONTH of ELUL. In verse 1, however, we see that Nehemiah had not yet placed or set up the doors upon the gates of the city on the walls. Nehemiah 6:15. “Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the WALL and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that TIME I had NOT set up the doors upon the gates;)” Then in the next chapter, Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 1 through 5 we are given a CLUE as to what month this month NAMED ELUL might be. Nehemiah 6:1-5. “Now it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, (In other words, when the wall was FINISHED completely in the month of ELUL by the doors of the gates being set up) and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, 2. That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. 3. And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house. 4. Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built. 5. And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein,” Then if we skip down past the reading of the genealogies and we read in Nehemiah 7:73 about the COMING of the SEVENTH month. Nehemiah 7:73. “So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel dwelt in their cities; and when the SEVENTH month CAME, the children of Israel were in their cities.” Now, keeping in mind that we were just speaking about the 25th day of the month of ELUL in the previous chapter and now in this next chapter, we see that the SEVENTH month has COME. We can safely ASSUME that the month of ELUL is the SIXTH month, which obviously immediately precedes the seventh which JUST CAME. In the very next chapter, we read that it is the very FIRST day of the SEVENTH month. Please read Nehemiah 8:1,2, which says. “And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. 2. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the FIRST day of the SEVENTH month.” Therefore, to ME, given the context, I am going to conclude for now that the SIXTH month is the named ELUL. So then, if my conclusion is correct we now have TEN of the twelve months named in the Bible itself. But what are the NAMES of the FOURTH and FIFTH months? Well, to this question I personally cannot find the answer from the 66 authorized books in the Holy Bible that have been accepted as the canonized books by the church. You can do a word search on the word MONTH yourself. When I searched all the verses with the word month in them, I personally only found ELEVEN different NAMES of the months. And of course, the month of ABIB is now renamed to the month NISAN. Therefore, we have the NAMES of only TEN months in the authorized Canon of the 66 books of the Bible. So then, ASSUMING that ELUL is the SIXTH month we still need to know the NAMES of the FOURTH and FIFTH months. I suppose that it is possible that the names of NISAN and ABIB could have been switched or interchanged. For example, if April, which is the SPRING time of the year were to be changed to the FIRST month of the year and named JANUARY and APRIL became WINTER. This would also now mean that our MARCH would be the TWELFTH month of the year. But to ME, this becomes very confusing. I may be wrong, but again, to ME, it seems as if the NAME of ABIB was CHANGED to NISAN and whatever month this month of ABIB used to be, this DAY or TIME or SEASON of the year is now known as the BEGINNING of the months or the FIRST month of the year. It MAY be that I have it backward and the first month USED to be called NISAN and now the FIRST month is called ABIB. I will leave this for you to decide for yourself as to whether the FIRST month should be NISAN or ABIB. But the evidence from the Jewish calendar points to NISAN as being the FIRST month of the year. The question still remains as to WHAT are the NAMES of the FOURTH and FIFTH months, according to the Bible ITSELF. Again, the possibility that ONE of these months MAY be ABIB because it is the only other NAME given to a month in the Bible itself. But the Jewish calendar does not support that theory. Now for ME, I have to ask the question as to WHY? Why did Almighty God take the time to give to us the NAMES of just TEN of the TWELVE months of the year? WHY did NOT God give us the NAME of these OTHER TWO months? Or DID HE? Could it be that in one of the many books that were rejected by the church and NOT included in the AUTHORIZED list of canonized books of the Bible has the NAME of these OTHER TWO months that I personally have NOT found in the 66 books of the Bible? Or did I just OVERLOOK these names somehow? This is just a thought that to mind every now and then. The Catholic Bible has 73 books as opposed to the 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You see, at the time of Jesus, there was no such thing as an official Canon of the books of the Old Testament established by the church. This process of forming a list of books or defining the canon did not come to be until the third, fourth and fifth centuries when disputes arose among the church. Now, even during the time of Jesus, there were a few different collections of Scripture of the Old Testament in circulation among the Jews. The two most widely accepted collections of Old Testament writings at that time were number one, the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the Old Testament. This collection of manuscripts contained 46 books as opposed to the now 39 accepted books. Here is a list of the name of the 46 books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Another collection of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and this collection of manuscripts contained just 39 books. This collection in Hebrew omits or does not contain the following books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, and 1st and 2nd Maccabees. This Hebrew collection of manuscripts ALSO does NOT contain chapters 10-16 of the book of Esther. And the three sections of the book of Daniel are not found in the Hebrew manuscripts as well. In Daniel chapter 3 verses 24-90 are not in the Hebrew manuscripts. And as well chapters 13 and 14 are not found in the Hebrew manuscripts. These books, chapters, and verses are called the deuterocanonical books, meaning “second canon”. So either these books, chapters, and verses were ADDED later in the Greek manuscripts, OR these books, chapters, and verse were OMITTED in the Hebrew manuscripts. This is something that has been debated for centuries and has caused much division and strife among believers. The point of this study is not to solve this debate nor do I wish to stir up more strife. But rather, I am just proposing to you, the reader and the seeker of the truth, the question of WHY did God NOT give us the NAMES of the fourth and fifth months in the 66 books of the ACCEPTED Protestant Bible? Did God just leave these names out for whatever reason? Did I just overlook these names? Or are these names recorded in one of the books that are not accepted by the Protestants? It may be that the names of these books are not found in the accepted books of the Catholic Church either. I do not know, because I have not looked as yet. It may be that the names of these two months are found in other books such as the book of Enoch or Japeth. Again, I do not know, because I have not searched these other books as yet. For now, I will leave this task to you if you find yourself intrigued with this question as to why God did not give us ALL the names of the months in the 66 books of the Bible. Well. enough said for now on the NAMES of the months of the year as given by Almighty God in the Holy Bible. SECTION TWO. THE FEAST DAYS OF THE LORD. Let us now turn our focus upon the FEAST DAYS of the Lord. There are SEVEN feast days of the Lord which are as follows: The feast of PASSOVER. The feast of UNLEAVENED BREAD. The feast of FIRST FRUITS. The feast of WEEKS. The feast of TRUMPETS. The feast of ATONEMENT. The feast of TABERNACLES. The Bible teaches us that these feast days are “APPOINTED” days or appointed times that are to be kept by the children of Israel throughout THEIR generations. The word of God also teaches us that the things written in the Old Testament were for our example and that they were TYPES and SHADOWS or FIGURES of things to come. In other words, these feast days of the Lord are PROPHECIES of things to come. They are a SCHOOLMASTER to lead the children of Israel to their Messiah whom we, as Christians, KNOW to be Jesus. And that is why we, as Christians, do not keep the feast days. Now, to refresh your memory, the question that was asked of me was, “Since Jesus fulfilled the first FOUR feast days at his FIRST coming, will Jesus fulfill the remaining three feast days at his SECOND coming?” The short answer is YES. But to answer this question with sound Biblical teaching let us briefly examine the first four feasts that Jesus has already fulfilled at his first coming. The feast of PASSOVER was fulfilled by Jesus being the Passover LAMB. The feast of UNLEAVENED bread represents Jesus being offered WITHOUT SIN. The feast of FIRST FRUITS is a figure of the RESURRECTION of Jesus being the first fruit unto God. And the feast of WEEKS was fulfilled on the day of PENTECOST. You can read about all seven feast days in Leviticus chapter 23 either now or later on your own. Most of us know that Jesus is the LAMB that was slain from the foundation of the world. And most of us have heard the account of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt and how God told them to apply blood to the post and lintels of the house so that the death angel would PASSOVER them and no harm would come to them. For those Christians who may not know or remember let us read Exodus 12:1-15. Exodus 12:1-15. “ And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2. This month shall be unto you the BEGINNGING of months: it shall be the FIRST month of the year to you. 3. Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a LAMB, according to the house of their fathers, a LAMB for a house. 4. And if the household be too little for the LAMB, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the LAMB. 5. Your LAMB shall be without blemish, (Representing Jesus as our LAMB that was WITHOUT SIN) a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6. And you shall keep it up until the FOURTEENTH day of the SAME month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the EVENING. 7. And they shall take of the BLOOD, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. 11. And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S PASSOVER. (It is Yahweh’s FEAST day or day of CELEBRATION because it is Yahweh who DELIVERED all of mankind who BELIEVE in HIS PASSOVER LAMB, Jesus) 12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13. And the BLOOD shall be to you for a token (Or for a SIGN) upon the houses where you are: and when I see the BLOOD, (Speaking of the TRUE BLOOD of the TRUE LAMB who we, as Christians, KNOW to be the shed blood of Jesus) I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (So you see dear children of God the feast days are SHADOWS, FIGURES, and TYPES pointing to Jesus. And that is why we, as Christians, do not keep the feast days. For you see, we are keeping the TRUE Passover by our faith and trust IN Jesus as being our Messiah to whom the feast was POINTING) 14. And this day shall be unto you (Speaking TO the children of Israel) for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout YOUR generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.” Then in 1 Corinthians 5:7 we read where Jesus Christ IS our PASSOVER that was SACRIFICED for US. In other words, Jesus FULFILLED the feast of PASSOVER for us being our SACRIFICE or LAMB that was SLAIN for us. The BLOOD of Jesus was given as a token for us to FORGIVE us of all our sins, therefore we as BELIEVERS no longer KEEP the feast of the Passover because Jesus has FULFILLED this feast being our Passover LAMB. Now some may argue that the early church did keep the Passover AFTER Jesus died and rose again because the very next verse says that we are to KEEP the feast not with leaven bread but rather we are to KEEP the feast with UNLEAVENED bread. However, if we read this verse in CONTEXT we can clearly see that Paul was teaching us that we are to KEEP the feast as in keeping our LIVES without SIN. Please read 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 where we see that Paul is teaching the church to PURGE out the old LEAVEN that is among us so that we are UNLEAVENED bread of sincerity and TRUTH. 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is NOT so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2. And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that has so done this deed, 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5. To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6. Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little LEAVEN leavens the whole lump? (Or know you not that allowing a little SIN among you will spread among you to the whole congregation) 7. PURGE OUT THEREFORE the OLD LEAVEN, that you may be a new lump, as you are UNLEAVENED (Or you are CLEAN and WITHOUT SIN). FOR (Or BECAUSE) even Christ our PASSOVER is SACRIFICED for US: 8. THEREFORE (Or for this reason) let us KEEP the feast (Or let us KEEP OUR PASSOVER, which is Jesus Christ being OUR SACRIFICE that made us CLEAN and UNLEAVENED or WITHOUT SIN, let us KEEP our LIFE), not with old leaven (Or let us not keep our life with our old man of SIN), neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the UNLEAVENED bread of sincerity and TRUTH. 9. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company (Or not to KEEP company) with fornicators: 10. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of THIS world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must you needs go out of the world. 11. But now I have written unto you not to KEEP company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat. (In other words, Paul is clarifying what he meant in his previous epistle or letter to not to KEEP company with those in the church who are among the brethren who commit SIN. To say this another way, when a brother or sister is living in a lifestyle of sin then we are to treat them as being LOST. This does NOT mean that we are to SHUN them. But rather we are to do all we can to lead them back to the Lord and to FORSAKE their sin because IF they were to DIE while living in sin then they will NOT receive eternal life in the world to come) 12. For (Or because) what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not you judge them that are within? 13. But them that are without God judges. THEREFORE (Or for this very reason) PUT AWAY from among yourselves that WICKED person.” The Bible teaches us that the things written in the Old Testament were for our examples and they were figure of things to come. In other words, the feast days were FORETELLING of the coming of Jesus as our MESSIAH, or Lord and savior. The Jews kept the PASSOVER as a feast day pointing to the day that their MESSIAH would come, but they did not DISCERN that day when Jesus came to be their PASSOVER LAMB. Therefore, God turned to the GENTILES in order to provoke his people Israel to jealousy. Jesus THEN became OUR PASSOVER LAMB for whosoever BELIEVES. Jesus then became our SACRIFICE that was sacrificed ONCE and for ALL TIME for WHOSOEVER BELIEVES. So, therefore, WE, the GENTILES, who have BELIEVED upon this SACRIFICE of Jesus as our PASSOVER LAMB do NOT KEEP the feast of Passover the way that the Jews keep the feast of Passover. Jesus IS our PASSOVER. Jesus IS our SACRIFICIAL LAMB that was SACRIFICE for the SINS of the whole world that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES will be saved. Now, I stressed that Jesus is the PASSOVER LAMB for the GENTILES to make a point that Jesus FULFILLED the feast of the PASSOVER for ALL who BELIEVE. Now, the ALL who believe of course ALSO includes the Jews or Israel. Therefore when any Jew becomes a Christian, then he or she NO LONGER must KEEP the feast of the Passover in the traditional way of offering a LAMB to God every year because JESUS is their PASSOVER LAMB. In the SAME way, Jesus ALSO has FULFILLED three other yearly feast days as well as the weekly feast of the Sabbath, which I cover in the study called “SUNDAY WORSHIP verses SABBATH KEEPING”, but for now let us take a look at the feast of UNLEAVENED BREAD. This feast was ALSO fulfilled by Jesus who became the FIRSTFRUITS unto God. The feast of Passover was fulfilled on the 14th day of Nisan and the feast of unleavened bread begins on the 15th day of Nisan. The feast of unleavened bread lasts for seven days. However, the feast of FIRSTFRUITS begins on the 17th day of Nisan. So to ME, the feast of unleavened bread represents the spotless Lamb of God being in the grave for three days and three nights. Then early in the morning before dawn on the 18th of Nisan Jesus was raised from the dead. I know that this can be confusing because we count our days from MIDNIGHT to MIDNIGHT and in the Bible, a new day starts at SUNSET. So then, on Wednesday Evening at SUNSET was the start of Nisan 15. And just before sunset, which would be the start of the HIGH SABBATH day of the feast of unleavened bread they placed Jesus in the tomb. Now let us count the three days and the three nights that Jesus was in the tomb. Jesus was crucified on the third hour on Nisan 14 and gave up the Spirit on the ninth hour Jesus said it is finished and died or he gave up the ghost. The ninth hour is 6:00 PM or just before sunset. Then from sunset on Wednesday to sunset on Thursday is Nisan 15 which is the HIGH SABBATH day called the FIRST day of the FEAST of UNLEAVENED BREAD. So then, at SUNSET on Thursday began the 16th day of Nisan which would be Friday. Then on Friday at SUNSET began the weekly Sabbath day on the 17th of Nisan which would be our Saturday. And SUNSET on Saturday would begin the 18th day of Nisan which would be our Sunday. So then, from sunset to sunrise on Thursday, Nisan 15, would be ONE NIGHT. Then from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, Nisan 15, would be ONE DAY. Then from sunset to sunrise on Friday, Nisan 16, would be TWO NIGHTS. And from sunrise to sunset on Friday, Nisan 16, would be TWO DAYS. Then from sunset to sunrise on Saturday, Nisan 17 would be THREE NIGHTS. And from sunrise to SUNSET on Saturday, Nisan 17 would be THREE DAYS. And that would fulfill the words of Jesus to be in the heart of the earth for three DAYS and for three NIGHTS. Then sometime AFTER the weekly Sabbath that fell on the 17th day of the month of Nisan had ENDED Jesus was resurrected. In other words, AFTER the weekly Sabbath day had already PAST at SUNSET but BEFORE the sun rose that Sunday morning, Jesus arose from the dead AFTER being in the heart of the earth three FULL days AND three FULL nights just like the whole word of God clearly and plainly teaches us. To say this another way, the 18th of Nisan began at SUNSET Saturday evening of the 17th of Nisan. And, therefore, Jesus rose from the grave on the 18th day of Nisan AFTER the weekly Sabbath day had ENDED. But Jesus got the VICTORY over death for all who BELIEVE during the three days and three nights that he was in the grave. And that THIRD day that Jesus took the keys of death from the enemy is the 17th of Nisan which is the FIRST day of the feast of weeks which ended fifty days later on the feast of Pentecost. Now since the first four feast days pointed to the first coming of Jesus and there is no evidence of the last three feast days having already been fulfilled, then it is believed by many Christians that the three fall feast day will be fulfilled at the second coming of Jesus The three remaining feasts occur in the fall season of the year. There is the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Trumpets is on the FIRST day of the SEVENTH month.
The Day of Atonement is on the TENTH day of the SEVENTH month
The Feast of Tabernacles begins on the FIFTEENTH day of the SEVENTH month.
And it is believed by many Christians that the rapture of the church will take place on the feast of TRUMPETS. And then the children of Israel will repent and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved alive in their mortal bodies on the Day of ATONEMENT. And this will BEGIN the Millennium which is represented by the feast of Tabernacles for the children of Israel. God promised to pour out his Spirit to dwell in all flesh and the COMPLETION of this promise will take place DURING the 1000 year reign of Jesus. And after the Millennium Almighty God, the Father himself will come down and TABERNACLE with his NEW CREATION.
Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God. Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT
|
|
|