The weeks before heading into the fall holy day season are an appropriate time to review what the church has learned over the decades about God’s appointed times and how they fit into His plan. Generally, God uses the agricultural harvests to picture His plan for humanity’s salvation.

Passover and the spring holy days—the two high days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost—center on Jesus Christ and His work with the elect during this present age. The four fall holy days primarily picture the great harvests of human beings at His return and beyond.

The commands to keep the Sabbath, Passover, and all the holy days appear in Leviticus 23 (and separately elsewhere), along with their dates on the Hebrew calendar. There, in this season, God instructs us to keep:

» The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of Tishri, the seventh month.

» The Day of Atonement falls nine days later, on Tishri 10.

» The Feast of Tabernacles lasts an entire week, from Tishri 15 to Tishri 21.

» The following day, Tishri 22, is the year’s final holy day, traditionally called “the Last Great Day,” but more correctly, “the Eighth Day.”

The Feast of Trumpets

God’s command to keep the first fall holy day appears in Leviticus 23:24:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.”

These trumpets refer to a shout of joy, alarm, or triumph. Psalm 81:3 also refers to blowing the shofar on the first day of the seventh month. One commentator compared its blast to an air-raid siren, alerting the people to imminent danger and compelling action. Fittingly, the shofar is also blown at a king’s coronation, and Psalm 150:3 commands it to sound in praise of God.

In both Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1, the phrase “blowing of trumpets” can be translated as “shout of the shofar,” meaning that the Feast of Trumpets could be called “a day of shouting.” Numbers 10:9, in its explanation of Israel’s use of trumpets, speaks of a specific usage during wartime, highlighting salvation by the hand of God:

When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

In I Corinthians 15:52-53, Paul prophesies that God will resurrect and change the saints to incorruptible and immortal at the last trump. Jesus says in Matthew 24:31, “And [the Son of Man] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” I Thessalonians 4:16 reads similarly, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5-6)

Finally, Revelation 11:15 describes the blowing of the seventh trumpet: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” As King of kings, Jesus, with His resurrected saints, will intervene to stop mankind’s self-destructive actions.

Thus, the Feast of Trumpets sounds an alarm of war and a peal of deliverance, salvation, and victory. It pictures the triumphant return of our Savior to defeat His enemies, resurrect His elect firstfruits, and establish God’s Kingdom on the earth.

Atonement

God’s instruction on keeping the Day of Atonement appears in Leviticus 23:27-28:

[T]he tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.

Isaiah 58:3 shows that we afflict our souls by fasting. On this holy day, we neither eat nor drink for the entire 24-hour period. The Hebrew word, ‘anah, means “to afflict, humble, and force ourselves.” We humble ourselves before God to seek His guidance with as little human resistance to His instructions and urgings as possible. In a different but parallel context, the apostle Paul concludes, “For when I am weak [physically], then I am strong [spiritually]” (II Corinthians 12:10).

Another aspect of this day is God’s emphasis on our doing no work at all on this holy day. Not needing to prepare a meal or do other “necessary things” we might normally do on a weekly Sabbath or holy day, we can spend the day in sincere introspection and communion with God. We are to recognize that God accomplished our atonement without our aid. We cannot save ourselves through works; our salvation is by grace (Ephesians 2:8).

Fasting puts us in the right frame of mind and reminds us of the One who provides all things and whom we must obey. Isaiah 66:2 says that God will look favorably “on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at [His] word.” The Day of Atonement pictures a thoroughly humbled mankind submitting to God and His direction for their lives. Salvation and unity between God and man is God’s doing. Without His revelation and calling, we could do absolutely nothing worthwhile spiritually. Jesus’ rule on the earth and the humble unity and cooperation of all humanity with God and each other will result in a glorious, prosperous, peaceful world.

The Feast of Tabernacles

The third fall holy day, the Feast of Tabernacles, is a pilgrimage festival held at a place God Himself chooses (Deuteronomy 16:16). God commands in Leviticus 23:34-36:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.”

God instructs His people provide for this time away from home by setting aside a full tithe of their income throughout the year to allow them to fulfill His command to rejoice during the Feast (see Deuteronomy 14:22-27). Faithfully saving this tithe provides an amount equal to many times a person’s weekly salary to use during these eight days. Such abundance symbolizes the prosperity and abundance of the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. Unity, cooperation, and prosperity will expand to all mankind over that thousand years.

In church services every day of the Feast, members learn more about the way of God. A unique feature of the Feast is God’s command to Israel to dwell in tents, tabernacles, or temporary dwellings, picturing the transience of this world and God’s people’s journey through it to the Kingdom of God. This world has its beauties, but God’s elect must seek Him and His way of life because the world’s glory will not last (I John 2:15-17).

The Eighth Day

As we read, Leviticus 23:36 tells us about the final fall holy day, the eighth day of the Feast, which represents the concluding step in God’s plan. After the Millennium, the thousand years of Christ’s rule, all who have ever lived will be resurrected to physical life and given God’s Spirit and understanding of His Plan. For a hundred years, they will practice living as God intends.

This period is a second resurrection, the resurrection of “the rest of the dead” mentioned in Revelation 20:5. Jesus reveals in John 5:25, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” In Revelation 20:11-13, this time centers on the Great White Throne Judgment, when all the dead will rise from their graves to be judged according to their works.

Isaiah 65:20-21, 24-25 describe this time:

“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. . . . It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

This Eighth Day pictures a time of judgment when all of humankind from all of history, both Gentile and Israelite (see Matthew 12:41-42), will have an opportunity to accept salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice is so effective that it is more than sufficient to save all the billions of humanity from Adam and Eve onward.

Ezekiel 37 speaks of God resurrecting the entire house of Israel to physical life and given new, vigorous, healthy bodies and minds, ready to receive instruction in God’s way. Isaiah 35 prophesies that people who were blind, lame, or infirm with any physical or mental impairment will be healed. To these people, God will open access to His Spirit to enable their understanding of His Word and way of life. Over a lifetime, they will learn to live by God’s commandments. As Jesus says, those who hear and respond will live—truly live!

Sadly, there will be some who refuse to bow their knees to Christ and reject salvation, unwilling to repent of their sinful lifestyles. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire, suffering the Second Death (Revelation 20:14-15). Some have called this event the third resurrection.

New Heavens and New Earth

God says that He desires that all men be saved (I Timothy 2:4; II Peter 3:9). His commanded fall holy days show us the steps He is taking to accomplish His plan of salvation, not leaving anyone out who desires it and is willing to accept the terms of His New Covenant.

In summary:

» The Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the victorious return of Jesus Christ to this earth and His installation as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will resurrect His saints to eternal life and give them incorruptible bodies.

» The Day of Atonement pictures Christ’s work of atonement for all humanity. His blood pays for human sins, and He removes them “as far as east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). His finished work allows for unity between God and humble people.

» The Feast of Tabernacles pictures the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. It depicts what life is supposed to be like under the blessing of God when people faithfully obey His instruction.

» The Last Great Day shows how God will offer salvation to all of blinded humanity, regardless of era, sex, ethnicity, nationality, or prior religious belief.

Once these steps are complete, God’s harvest of souls will end. The effects of 6,000 years of disobedience will be wiped away, and all mankind will either be members of His Family or have been annihilated in the Lake of Fire. The time of the New Heaven and New Earth will come, death and pain will be no more, and God will dwell with humanity (Revelation 21:1-7). May He speed that day!