1992 Issue 4 - Christ and the Feasts: The Fall Feasts - Counsel of Chalcedon

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


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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


4/4

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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.. --

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1992 Issue 4 - Christ and the Feasts: The Fall Feasts - Counsel of Chalcedon

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