The Fall Feasts of Israel

Leviticus 23 gives a road map for God’s plan, and the fall feasts point ahead to the second coming of Jesus. The spring feasts show what Messiah fulfilled in his first coming: the Passover Lamb, the sinless bread, the first fruits of resurrection, and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The fall feasts show what is still coming, and they call believers to see that God has not forgotten his promises.

Yom Teruah, often called Rosh Hashanah, begins with the blast of the shofar. The trumpet is not just a victory sound. The trumpet is a wake up call, telling the camp that something is happening and that they need to get ready. Repentance stands at the center of those days leading up to Yom Kippur, just as Jesus began his ministry with, “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.” The shofar points toward the arrival of the King, when Christ descends with a shout and the trumpet of God.

Yom Kippur shows the deep need for atonement. Israel’s high priest humbled himself, laid aside his royal garments, entered with sacrificial blood, and made atonement for the nation. The two goats displayed both sacrifice and the carrying away of sin. Jesus fulfills both pictures. Christ is the sacrifice who bore griefs, sorrows, transgressions, and iniquities, and Christ is the great High Priest who entered the holy place once for all by his own blood. Romans 11 keeps hope alive for Israel, because the partial hardening is not the end of God’s covenant purposes.

Sukkot brings the whole picture into joy. The booths remind Israel that God dwelled with his people in the wilderness, led them by cloud and fire, and never abandoned them. The wilderness was not just homelessness. The wilderness was the place where God took care of his people. Sukkot also points toward the kingdom, when God will dwell with his people again and the nations will come up to worship the King.

Jesus did not first come to establish the kingdom in its fullness because atonement had to come first. The Transfiguration gave Peter a taste of that coming kingdom, and the fallen booth of David will be raised up under the King of Kings. Christ will return, Israel will look upon the One whom they pierced, and both Jew and Gentile will find salvation in Messiah. The raging of nations does not undo this promise. Jesus will reign.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The shofar is a wake up call. Yom Teruah calls the camp to get ready because the King is coming. Repentance is not a vague religious feeling but an honest turning toward God before judgment arrives. The trumpet reminds believers that history is moving toward Christ’s return, not wandering without purpose. [08:52]
• 2. Atonement requires more than good deeds. Yom Kippur exposes the fact that prayer, effort, and religious activity cannot remove sin by themselves. The blood of the sacrifice points to the cost of reconciliation with a holy God. Jesus enters as both High Priest and sacrifice, obtaining eternal redemption by his own blood. [21:42]
• 3. Jesus bore the sins of all. Isaiah’s suffering servant carries the full weight of human rebellion, not merely the failures of one group. Christ’s prayer for forgiveness shows that the cross was not God abandoning his people but God making a way to restore them. The mercy of Messiah reaches even those who did not yet understand what they had done. [20:42]
• 4. God has not forgotten Israel. Romans 11 refuses the idea that God’s promises to Israel have failed or disappeared. The partial hardening has a purpose and a limit within God’s redemptive plan. Hope in Jesus means trusting that God remains faithful when human eyes see only loss. [22:52]
• 5. Sukkot promises God dwelling with humanity. The booths remember a wilderness where God stayed with his people through every failure and complaint. The coming kingdom fulfills that picture in a greater way, when God dwells with his people under the reign of Messiah. The future is not escape from God’s world but restoration under God’s King.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:37] - The Fall Feasts and God’s Plan
• [04:11] - Jesus Fulfills the Spring Feasts
• [05:18] - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Teruah
• [06:44] - The Shofar as a Wake Up Call
• [08:17] - Repentance Before the Holy Day
• [09:48] - The King’s Return at the Trumpet
• [12:24] - Yom Kippur and National Atonement
• [14:48] - The High Priest’s Humble Work
• [17:47] - The Two Goats and the Scapegoat
• [19:23] - Isaiah 53 and Messiah’s Suffering
• [21:04] - Jesus the High Priest and Sacrifice
• [22:52] - God’s Promise to Save Israel
• [24:07] - Sukkot and God in the Wilderness
• [27:46] - The Transfiguration and Coming Kingdom
• [29:21] - Sukkot and Christ’s Future Reign

Bible Reading

Leviticus 23
“The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, "The LORD’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover. Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect as a burnt offering to the LORD. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD. Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD for the priest. On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'" Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.'" The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath." Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. These are the appointed times of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day’s matter on its own day— besides those of the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the LORD.” [03:29]

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” [10:25]

Romans 11:25-27
“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” [22:14]

Observation questions

1. In Leviticus 23, what practices mark Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, and how does each feast call God’s people to respond?
2. What was the purpose of the trumpet blast at Yom Teruah beyond celebrating a victory? [07:11]
3. What actions did the high priest take on the Day of Atonement, and what did the two goats represent? [17:41]
4. According to Romans 11:25–27, what has happened to Israel, how long will it last, and what does Paul say God will ultimately do? [22:14]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does the trumpet imagery in Yom Teruah fit with Paul’s description of Christ’s return in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17? What kind of readiness does this picture call for? [09:35]
2. Why is it significant that Jesus fulfills the role of both the sacrifice and the High Priest, rather than merely being an example of a good and humble person? [21:17]
3. Yom Kippur emphasizes that prayer, repentance, and good deeds cannot by themselves remove sin. Why can sincere religious effort still fall short of true atonement? [16:17]
4. How does Romans 11 guard Gentile believers from pride or hopelessness when thinking about God’s continuing purposes for Israel? [22:37]

Application questions

1. The shofar was a wake-up call to the camp. What patterns, sins, distractions, or spiritual sleepiness might God be calling attention to in your life right now? What would honest repentance look like this week? [08:33]
2. Jesus’ return is presented as both a source of comfort and a call to readiness. Does thinking about Christ’s return bring you peace, urgency, fear, or something else? Why? [10:36]
3. It is easy to try to deal with guilt through good behavior, religious activity, or trying harder. Where are you tempted to rely on your own efforts instead of resting in Christ’s finished atonement? [21:42]
4. Jesus bore the sins of all and prayed for forgiveness even for those who did not understand what they were doing. Is there someone you find difficult to forgive or to pray for? What would it look like to bring that person before Jesus this week? [20:21]
5. Sukkot remembers that God cared for His people in the wilderness, even when they complained and felt unsettled. Where have you seen God provide for or remain with you during a difficult or uncertain season? [24:25]
6. God’s faithfulness to Israel reminds believers that His promises do not fail when circumstances look dark. What current news, personal burden, or fear do you need to place under the promise that Jesus will reign? [30:03]