The biblical calendar begins around March / April our time with the month of 'Nisan'. Passover occurs on 14 Nisan and the counting of the omer - 50 days - brings us to Shavuot (Pentecost) which for us - is TODAY 8 June 2011 or on the Hebrew calendar
6 Sivan 5771.
The biblical year is for the purpose of counting the reign of kings .
God has seven ordained feasts which are outlined in the Torah
[the first 5 books of the Bible – still living and active].
These feasts have not ‘passed away’ - they are still living and active - -eternal, perpetual — and we are called to yet ‘keep the feasts’. God does his part and we do ours. All these feasts – Christ fulfills in each’s appointed time - but of the seven feasts - WE: YOU & ME - are commanded to celebrate three annually perpetually.
1 Passover: Christ crucified
2 Unleavened Bread: Christ, the unleavened bread of heaven
....living the Christian life in sincerity and truth [1Co 5:8]
3 Firstfruits: [1Co 15: 20-34] Christ the firstfruits of the dead,
...afterward those who are his at his coming.
4 Shavuot / Pentecost: the day the law was given on Mount Sinai
....Christ rose from the dead
....and walked the earth for 40 days and then ascended to His father in heaven.
....Ten days after his ascension the Holy Spirit was sent –
....it is the day of receiving the Holy Spirit [Acts 2].
5 Rosh ha Shanah / Feasts of trumpets: ten days of blowing the shofar (tribulation)
....that your name may be inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
....This feast signals the wedding and the coronation of Messiah (Christ) King.
....Sabbatical and jubilee years begin at this time.
6 Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement: Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d,
....not for sins against another person.
....To atone for sins against another person,
....you must first seek reconciliation with that person,
....righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.
....That must all be done before Yom Kippur.
....Yom Kippur is a complete fast and complete Sabbath;
....no work can be performed on that day. (a 7th day rest)
7 Sukkot / feast of tabernacles: The feast of booths - -
....noting our temporary soujourn in the wilderness of the world.
....It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays of the year
....to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly
....referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu ,
....the Season of our Rejoicing. Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim
....(three pilgrimage festivals).R'galim means 'to walk'. Like Passover and Shavu'ot,
....Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural.
....Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which
....the children of Israel were wandering in the desert,living in temporary shelters.
....Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as
....Chag Ha-Asif ,the Festival of Ingathering.
....It is the ‘time of abiding’. [1John 4:13, 2 John 1:9]
Abiding is OBEDIENCE, living in 'spirit and truth'. It is DEVOTION that is TRUE DEVOTION, coming face to face with the CROSS, crucifying the flesh. We, as the body of Christ, are commanded to keep Unleavened Bread, Shavuot and Sukkot - - daily, annually, perpetually. When our life is ‘in Christ’ the ‘feasts keep us’ and thus we keep the feasts. But if our lives are out of God’s order – and that we need no one to tell us as we each know where we fall short – the feasts bring us to reconciliation of the cross. As of today, we are now in the season of the Holy Spirit, living in 'spirit and truth', declaring the gospel 'by our life'. The Word tells us that ‘If TODAY you hear His voice to ENTER the rest’. Most important is that we cease from sin, from gratification of the flesh. It is interesting to note that God’s feasts lend themselves to fasting / the flesh under control of the Spirit, while the world’s feasts promote feasting and gratification of the flesh.
Pray to receive the HOLY SPIRIT - in experiential truth.
Shalom!
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