Most people don’t know of this feast as it isn’t acknowledged in Christianity, and in Judaism it is called by a different name, “Head of the Year”, or more colloquially, the “Jewish New Year.”
I’m not going to get into why it is called and celebrated as the New Year in Judaism. Rather, what importance can it possibly have to Christianity?
First, you have to realize that God gave us a calendar that, among other things, shows a sequence of events. This calendar is His Feasts, or as He calls them, His Appointed Times.
It starts off with Passover, where Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified.
Immediately afterwards starts the week of unleavened bread, which is all about showing us what it means to not be “under the law of sin and death” and what it means to be “in His Kingdom!”
During this week of unleavened bread, the barley waving happens. The first fruits of the year, where, early in the morning, the barley is waved before God. Yeshua rose on this day! (And did you ever wonder about that odd story in the gospels where, early in the morning, Mary is at the tomb but she does not recognize Yeshua as He appears to her; When she does recognize him, she grabs on to him, but Yeshua answers, “Do not hold on to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father”? The answer is simple: Yeshua is keeping the feast of ‘barley waving,’ and as the first fruits of those risen, no one is to touch him until after he is risen to the Father, just as no one was to touch the new barley until after it was waved before Yehovah (the LORD). See Leviticus 23:14. )
Then, some weeks later, comes Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit is poured out, just as promised as part of the new covenant (see Jeremiah. 31:31-34; Joel 2:28-29). It is also, by ancient Jewish custom, the day that God spoke on Mt. Sinai as He was giving the 10 statements (called ’10 commandments’ in Christianity, but not in scripture). Do you see a connection?
Then, after many more weeks, comes the Feast of Trumpets. It is followed, 10 days later, by the Day of Atonement, and then 5 days later by the week of the Feast of Tabernacles. The day after Tabernacles is a single day, “the Eighth Day.”
To date, Yeshua has done nothing special on those days.
But what does Paul say in 1 Thess 4:16 and 1 Corin. 15:52? That Yeshua (Jesus) will return at the sound of the trumpet and a cry of command!
The Feast of Trumpets is, well, a feast where the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) is sounded, and shouts of praise are given to Yehovah (the LORD)! Do you see a connection? The trumpet call is calling God’s people to prepare for what is coming! Prepare with praise, repentance, and joy!
Atonement and Tabernacles fit in to the events of the end times as well. Atonement can be viewed as that time when Yeshua finishes “removing the spots and wrinkles from the church” (see Ephesians 5:27), and also possibly when all of Israel recognizes the Messiah! Tabernacles is then a good picture of the “wedding feast of the Lamb!”
Another way of looking at the feasts is to see the full story of the gospel (see Exodus 6:6-7) and salvation! Yet another aspect is to see God revealing Himself completely through the events surrounding each feast! There is also a more ‘mundane’ meaning to the feasts, a giving of thanks for all that we have here on earth!
There are other ways of looking at these feasts. The facts about what Yeshua (Jesus) did on Passover, waving of the barley, and Pentecost are irrefutable though.
So why has Christianity thrown these feasts out, that are so full of meaning on different levels, and replaced them with feasts of man’s making? What are they afraid of?
So, take the opportunity to start enjoying the feasts God has given us, and at the same time learning what the gospel truly says and its impact on His followers! And know, that each time you do, you are completely in His will – a wonderful place to be!
Shalom!