Pictures of Messiah's Divine Plan
We have all heard or used the phrase: “A picture is worth a thousand words”. How true that is! While I was talking with my wife the other day, we made a parallel with this statement and how it makes so much sense when applied to the Biblical Festivals. More often than not, when we are trying to explain something to a friend, we realize that words alone are not enough. I believe that Yahweh placed the Festivals in our lives to give us a picture of His divine plan, rather than simply having us try to interpret the Scriptures through reading the text alone. It is for this same reason, that, we too, often take snapshots of important people and special events during our own lives! A picture is a visual prop, to help remind us, or show us the fine details of a thought. While the picture itself is not the real thing, that doesn’t mean the picture is any less important or mean that we should throw the picture out. For example, when my wife leaves the house, my daughter and I love looking around the house and pointing out all of the pictures of her. But when she returns I don’t go around and take all the photos down and throw them away! The pictures all have meaning to us and show us where we have been and what we have done. The same is true with our relationship with Yeshua. We will never forget what He has done for us by going and dying a horrible death on a cross. And to remember this event we keep His Passover followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread to remind us of His sinless body as an example for us to live by. Likewise, we believe that Pentecost points us to the time when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Yahweh’s people and that we too can have this supernatural power in our lives as well. While these Spring Festivals have already been fulfilled, we still keep them as a reminder.
There are also things that are still yet to happen. Everyone who is a follower of Yeshua knows that there will come a day when He will return. This is an important event to remember and look forward to, so you would think that Yahweh would have pictures/Festivals that look forward to this event…and He does! We are currently entering into the Fall Festivals, which represent what will happen when Yeshua returns! Today is the Feast of Trumpets and it represents the day in which Yeshua will return. In Leviticus 23:23-25 it says about this day: “The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the LORD.” It is interesting because Yahweh does not really say why we are to keep this day, but that we are to blow trumpets. However when we come to the New Testament we see that the blowing of trumpets is tied together with Yeshua's returning! You may also remember Yeshua telling us that the day and the hour of his return are not known to us. It says this in Matthew 24:36, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” What he says here is interesting because in Yeshua's day, the Feast of Trumpets became known as the day in which the day and hour were not known because it was the only biblical festival that fell on the first day of the month and was determined by the new moon and when it was seen. Therefore it was not a day that they could plan and know exactly on which day it would fall.
Another fall festival is the Day of Atonement. This day is considered by many to be the holiest day of the year. On this day we are to afflict our soul and fast and pray. It is a time to take a good look at who we are and who we need to be. Yeshua died to atone for our sins and He is also our High Priest in Heaven pleading our case to the Father. To sum it all up, the Day of Atonement is not only about the forgiveness of sin, but it is a picture of the removal of the primary cause of sin, Satan.
The last festival of the year is the week long Feast of Tabernacles ended with The Last Great Day. This is a time when we set up temporary dwellings that we eat, do devotions, and our daily activities in. This temporary dwelling is to remind us of our own body (physical dwelling place on earth) and that we should not get too comfortable here on earth, because we will receive glorified bodies after Yeshua returns. Concluding this festival, we are reminded that, in spite of our material possessions, we are still mortals in need of a literal transformation so we may possess eternal life. At the end of this festival is the final period of Judgment.
Yahweh knows that we as humans need many reminders such as pictures to show us what He is like. But as I stated before, He also wanted to give us a picture of what His divine plan in this world is; the blueprint of salvation. We believe this is exactly why Yahweh gave His people several festivals/Holy days to observe. These Holy days are spread out through the whole year, and each one has it’s own unique purpose for being celebrated and that purpose revolves around and is found in our Lord and Messiah Yeshua!
Posted By: Jeremy Gipe
No comments:
Post a Comment