Is the Feast of Trumpets Being Fulfilled In Our Day? - Brian Hennessy ISRAEL TODAY

Is the Feast of Trumpets Being Fulfilled In Our Day?

Thursday, March 09, 2017 |  Brian Hennessy  ISRAEL TODAY

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Jerusalem

As most Christian lovers of Israel now realize, the three major feasts or holy convocations God gave to Israel all pointed to a New Covenant fulfillment in Messiah. The Hebrew word for “convocation,” mikra, implies a “dress rehearsal.”

They were preparations for a deeper spiritual reality.

Although grouped into three convocations, there were actually seven feasts in number, requiring all Israel to be present in Jerusalem at the time of their celebration. They are Pesach (Passover, Leavened Bread, First Fruits), Shavout (Pentecost) and Succoth (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles). Those clustered around Passover and Pentecost are known as the Spring Feasts. Those connected to Tabernacles were the Fall Feasts. Taken together, all seven represent the salvation plan of God in Messiah.

Now we know the Spring Feasts have already had their New Covenant fulfillment.

Passover was fulfilled in Jerusalem when Yeshua was crucified for our sins on the very day the feast was celebrated. And his followers were born again. Pentecost too was fulfilled on the very date, the seventh Sunday after First Fruits, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church.

But Tabernacles still awaits its spiritual fulfillment, which will no doubt also occur in its assigned season. And also take place in Jerusalem.

The question is, could we have actually witnessed the fulfillment of the first of the three fall feasts associated with Tabernacles, namely Trumpets, without realizing it?

I believe so.

It dawned on me recently that when Israel won the Six-Day War and recaptured Jerusalem and the Temple Mount on June, 7 1967 had to be the fulfillment of Trumpets on God’s calendar.

Here’s why.

When the Jews regained control of Jerusalem after 2000 years of exile it was like the blast of a shofar (trumpet) that sent a shockwave that resonated throughout Israel and around the world. Aside from the pure emotional excitement of the event, four major spiritual awakenings trace their beginnings to that day. All were in keeping with God’s assigned purposes for the blowing of trumpets, which were to announce special times, gather His people together, break camp or go to war.

The first awakening took place among assimilated Jews in Russia who suddenly rediscovered their Jewish heritage and wanted to go home to Israel. When Russia refused to let them go they were termed Refuseniks. Their courage in face of great persecution eventually won them international support and permission to emigrate.

A second awakening also occurred among the Jews, primarily in the West, when suddenly thousands began to believe in Yeshua as Messiah. That was the start of the Messianic Jewish Movement.

The third awakening erupted in the Christian world. After seeing the miraculous way Israel recaptured Jerusalem, tens of thousands of Christians suddenly realized God was fulfilling the ancient prophecies of Israel’s restoration. This led many to rediscover the Hebraic roots of our faith, inspiring the Christian Zionism Movement that has done so much to bless Israel as of late.

The fourth big awakening also took place among Christians and became known as the Charismatic Movement. Nominal Christians from the dead mainline churches were born again and began to move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If I am correct in this, it means we are on the verge of seeing the fulfillment of the next holy convocation, which is the Day of Atonement. Called Yom Kippur by the Jews, it is the holiest day on their religious calendar and occurs ten days after Trumpets. Historically on that day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the whole nation. Also, every fiftieth year on that date the trumpet was blown to announce the Year of Jubilee “when you shall proclaim a release [from all debts]… and each of you shall return to his own property” (Leviticus 25:10). It is the verse inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia celebrating the 50th anniversary of the city’s founding.

It really gets exciting when we realize Jun. 7th of this year will be the fiftieth anniversary of the recapture of Jerusalem! Could that mean the Ten Days of Awe following Trumpets are over and God’s Yom Kippur could begin to be fulfilled this very year? Could we actually be on the verge of seeing Zechariah 12:10–14 come to pass in our day?

And one more thing. Could the election of Donald Trump(et) signal the final shofar sound of this feast day ? And if so, will he become the new King Cyrus who many Christians are likening him too? The one who released the Jews from Babylon and helped them restore their temple? Or will he prove to be the new Constantine, “that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts… who was waging war with the saints and overpowering them?” (Dan. 7:20,21) Will he be the Great Deceiver “who’ll take his seat in the temple displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess.2:4)?

Stay tuned.

Brian Hennessy is the author of Valley of the Steeples

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SEASONS OF HARVEST – THE FIRST FRUITS Feast of Tabernacles

SEASONS OF HARVEST – THE FIRST FRUITS

Feast of Tabernacles

"Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread  […] and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labours which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labours from the field.” (Exodus 23:14-16)

Three times a year the people of Israel were required by God to come to Jerusalem for a holy convocation. Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles are the three great pilgrimage feasts which the Israelites were instructed to celebrate. All three biblical feasts were celebrations of thanksgiving for the different seasons of harvest in Israel’s calendar. In this and coming issues of the Word From Jerusalem magazine, we will feature a three-part teaching series that looks at the important lessons these festivals teach us about “Harvest”, which is the theme of this year’s Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Jerusalem.

First Fruits
The Passover feast was the first of the three great harvest festivals, and it was also called the feast of the first fruit or chag habikurim.

"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (Leviticus 23:10-11)

Every Passover, “on the day after the Sabbath”, a sheaf of firstfruits (bikurim in Hebrew) were to be waved before God. The firstfruit represented not only the very first produce of each year, it also represented the entire harvest. Paul explains this in Romans 11:16, saying, “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy…” This means that through the offering and the setting apart of the firstfruits, the entire harvest was set apart.

Waving the firstfruits before God was a declaration that all the produce of the coming year belonged to Him. He owns it all, and His blessing on the seed is crucial as it is also He who gives the increase.

The same was true for all cattle and even for each family. God said, “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, […] it is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2) So for each first child, there was a symbolic sacrifice brought to the Temple to represent the firstborn of the family.

By honouring God with our firstfruits, we declare that our families and all our possessions belong to Him. This holds a great potential of blessing for us. If we decide to dedicate our family and our possessions to God, we submit them to His Kingship and place everything under His hand of blessing. It means that we give our best to God, just as Abel gave the firstborn (bikurim) and it found favour and acceptance with God (Genesis 4:4).

Israel the firstborn
God called Israel as a nation His firstborn. “Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn.” (Exodus 4:22)

This means that Israel has been given by God the rank of the firstborn among the nations. In saying so, God declared in a beautiful way His intention to bless all the nations of the earth. Remember what Paul said: “If the firstfruit is holy then the lump is holy.” (Romans 11:16)

In calling and blessing Israel as His firstborn, the Creator was declaring that He was also going to call and bless a redeemed people from all the nations. This corresponds to the election God placed upon Israel from the beginning: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

And indeed it was through the one “seed” of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah, that this blessing came to all humanity (Galatians 3:13-16).

But Israel’s calling as the firstborn among the nations also gives hope for the restoration of Israel. Being the firstborn assured the privilege of a double blessing (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).

The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed: “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, […] I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:8-9)

Other Hebrew prophets foresaw a future restoration of Israel which indeed involves a double blessing on the nation (Isaiah 61:7; Zechariah 9:12).

As the inheritance of a firstborn is ensured by God, in the same manner we know that He will fulfill all His promises given to Israel.

Jesus, the firstborn from the dead
During the Passover week, “on the day after the Sabbath” – that is, the first day of the week – the firstfruit offering was waved in the Temple. The Gospels record that it was on that very day when Jesus rose from the dead.

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb…” (Matthew 28:1). Jesus thus became “the firstborn from the dead,” (Colossians 1:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Jesus was the first to overcome death, and as such he entered the heavens and presented himself to the Father. But he did so not just for himself but in him, as the firstborn, were presented all the millions who would “believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

That is why the Bible calls him “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15) and thus has the supremacy in all things (Colossians 1:18). Even though we can call him our elder brother, we honour and worship him as our King, Lord and Saviour.

Conclusion
We end part one of this teaching series with the thought that the firstfruits are a representation of the best that we have and of all we own. If we present this back to God with a thankful heart, He promises us His blessing.

“Honour the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)

Be encouraged to give God your very best!

Book of Ruth Comes Alive in Antique Photos Taken 100 Years Ago

In Honor of the Jewish Holiday Shavuot, We Re-post -- The Book of Ruth Comes Alive in Antique Photos Taken 100 Years Ago Posted: 13 May 2013 11:55 PM PDT "Ruth the Moabitess" The Jewish holiday ofShavuot-Pentecost will be celebrated this week.  The holiday has several traditional names: Shavuot, the festival of weeks, marking seven weeks after Passover; Chag HaKatzir, the festival of reaping grains; andChag HaBikkurim, the festival of first fruits.  Shavuot, according to Jewish tradition, is the day the Children of Israel accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  It is also believed to be the day of King David's birth and death. Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to  leave you, to return from following  you, for wherever you go, I will go... Your people shall be my people, your  God my God" The reading of the Book of Ruth is one of the traditions of the holiday.  Ruth, a Moabite and widow of a Jewish man (and a princess according to commentators), gave up her life in Moab to join her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, in the Land of Israel.  She insisted on adopting Naomi's God, Torah and religion. And Naomi and Ruth both went on  until they arrived at Bethlehem A central element of the story of Ruth is her going to the fields where barley and wheat were being harvested so that she could collect charitable handouts.  She gleans in the fields of Boaz, a judge and a relative of Ruth's dead husband (as such he has a levirate obligation to marry the widow).  The union results in a child, Obed, the grandfather of King David.  Ruth came to a field that belonged  to Boaz who was of the family of  Naomi's deceased husband  Boaz said to his servant, who stood over the reapers, "To whom does this maiden belong?" The members of the American Colony were religious Christians who established their community in the Holy Land.  They were steeped in the Bible and photographed countryside scenes that referred to biblical incidents and prohibitions. Boaz said to Ruth, "Do not go to glean in another field...here you shall stay with my maidens" Boaz said to her at mealtime, "Come here and partake of the bread..." He ordered his servants "Pretend to  forget some of the bundles for her."  We present a few of thedozens of "Ruth" photographs found in the Library of Congress' American Colony collection. Ruth carried it to the city and Naomi saw what she had gleaned Ruth came to the threshing floor and Boaz said, "Ready the shawl you are wearing and hold it," and she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley.... A major effort was made by the photographers to re-enact the story of Ruth.  "Ruth," we believe, was a young member of the American Colony community; the remaining "cast" were villagers from the Bethlehem area who were actually harvesting, threshing and winnowing their crops.  We have matched the pictures with corresponding verses from the Book of Ruth. See more of the pictures here. Unfortunately, we don't know when the "Ruth and Boaz series" was photographed, but we estimate approximately 100 years ago. Click on the caption to view the original.  Full article: Picture A Day: Book of Ruth