The Light of Torah
Messianic Congregation
Faith of Our Father Series
Prepared by P. R. Reid
Article Nine
July 27, 2022
“Are YaHaVahs’ Festivals Still Relevant Today?”
We will employ the following hermeneutical tools in this article:
- The Rule of First mention
- The Rule of Complete mention
- Covenant language i.e. “keep my commandments”
- His perfect will for creation
- PaRDeS (THE RULES OF PARDES INTERPRETATION *
- Ancient Hebrew pictograph
- Simple gematria
The four levels of interpretation are called: Pashat, Remez, D’rash & Sud. The first letter of each word P-R-D-S is taken, and vowels are added for pronunciation, giving the word PARDES (meaning “garden” or “orchard”). Each layer is deeper and more intense than the last, like the layers of an onion. (http://www.yashanet.com)
PART ONE
The short answer is yes, emphatically, yes! You know me by now, the short answer will never satisfy me and hopefully you as well.
The glorious long answer to this question was well established during the fourth day of creation. Imagine, if you will, that the festivals of YaHaVah were so important to Him, that He created the sun and moon and stars for that very purpose.
Ge. 1:14 – 19: “Then God said, ‘let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth’ and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light (אֶת־הַמָּאוֹר ) to rule the day, and the lesser light (אֶת־הַמָּאוֹר ) to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
Signs
The fourth day of creation was designed for signs and seasons. What are the signs and seasons? We’ll break down each word and examine them.
The Hebrew word for “signs” is אוֹת. This word is comprised of an Aleph, a Vav and a Tav. In its ancient form, אוֹת would read: “It is His strength we secure our self to revealing we are in covenant.” We could say then, that the fourth day of creation was to reveal those who were in covenant.
The numerical value of “owt” is 407; 4 + 7 = 11. Eleven is a number associated with Yeshua. The signs of day four have a connection then, to our King Messiah.
This word, “owt,” can also be defined as a pledge or token. Ge. 1:14 is the first mention of “owt.” The complete TaNaKh, Old Testament mention is found in Ez. 20:20: “Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.”
Recall the signs and wonders YaHaVah sent to this earth before He brought the “mixed multitude” out of Egypt. These signs were designed to get Pharaohs attention and issue judgment.
There is a particular sign recorded in Ex. 12:13: “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood (אֶת־הַדָּם ) I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” **In this case, the token or sign was the pascal blood of King Messiah.
Thank you Father for The Blood of our King Yeshua HaMashiach! The blood of Messiah Yeshua leads us to the very first festival of YaHaVah, that being the covenant festival of Pesach/Passover.
Ex. 12:1 – 2: “Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘this month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.’”
This Scripture tells us that we must be watchful of time. The new month is determined by counting the new moons, the Rosh Chodesh. If we fail to count or keep time in accordance with His clock, namely the fourth day of creation, we can altogether miss this extremely important festival. The official count begins at the sighting of the first Rosh Chodesh of the first month of the New Year. If the count is incorrect, then the first four festivals will be held on the wrong day thus missing our appointment with the Father.
Ex. 12:3 – 13: “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘on the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.’ Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood (אֶת־הַדָּם ), I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
There was nothing relating to “sin” in the above narrative. There is only the blood of the lamb or goat that shows Him those dwellings were in alignment with Him OR judgment.
The first of Yahs’ festivals, Pesach/Passover, is a “covenant festival.”
There is one way to confirm this reality, that is the way Pesach is spelled. The Hebrew word for Pesach is פֶּסַח. Pesach is spelled with a Pey, Samech and Chet.
The letter Pey is a picture of a mouth and means to speak. Its numerical value is 80. The Samech is a picture of a hand or staff and means to support, twist or turn. Its numerical value is 60. Finally, the Chet is a picture of a fence or wall and means to divide, separate or to be private. Its numerical value is 8. The combined numerical value is 148; 1 + 4 + 8 = 13. Reducing to a single digit; 1 + 3 = 4. Four is a number that also connects us to Yeshua.
The ancient meaning of Pesach would read: “With the mouth we support His division.” Rom. 10:9: “If we confess with our mouth the Lord Yeshua, and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved.” ** If we are confessing with our mouth we have separated ourselves from the world and fully support the completed work of our Mashiach.
We know that Pesach is a “covenant festival” for the following reason. Take a minute and re-visit the first word of Scripture, Bereshit. Recall Bereshit speaks to The Fathers will which is to make a covenant with mankind. That is what this word spells, a covenant with fire in the center.
The first word then, speaks to a covenant relationship. The first festival, Pesach, is that covenant entering festival. The instrument of that covenant entering festival is the blood of Yeshua HaMashiach. His blood ratified the Abrahamic covenant and it is His blood that ratified the restored Abrahamic covenant. Pesach/Passover is not a pilgrimage feast because it is meant to be shared with family and/or neighbors at your own home.
Ex. 12:14: “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance (חֻקַּת עוֹלָם ).” **In our day and hour, when we celebrate this wonderful covenant festival, we are reaffirming our commitment to YaHaVah and our belief and acceptance of the completed work done by our Mashiach.
Seasons
Day four was created for signs and seasons. The Hebrew word for seasons is “mo-ed,” מוֹעֵד. In its ancient form “mo-ed” would read: “The mighty will be added to those who watch for the pathway.” The numerical value of “mo-ed” is 120; 1 + 2 = 3. Three refers to the “pure seed” Yeshua. Those who observe His seasons are aligning themselves with Yeshua, the “pure seed” from day three.
‘Mo-ed” is defined as an appointed place, appointed time or meeting. At these unique meetings, The Father is present and His believers are present. Since none of us want to miss an appointed time, we need to watch and count the progression of the Rosh Chodesh, the head of the month. The luminaries were a creation, a way for mankind to tell His time, long before mankind was created on day six.
Lev. 23:4 – 8: “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.” **Holy convocations are commonly referred to as High Shabbats.
Hag HaMatza is the second festival of YaHaVah. It is also the first of the three pilgrimage feasts. On the sixteenth day of the first month we begin “counting of the Omer.”
The sixteenth day of the first month is also the third festival which is called Hag HaBikkurim.
Lev. 23:10: “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 (אֶת־קְצִירָהּ ), then you shall bring a sheaf (אֶת־עֹמֶר ) of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.”
We have come to the point in this teaching where further explanation is necessary. I am going to explain the word “hag” and the highlighted words above.
The Hebrew word “hag” which means festival or feast is spelled thus, חג. “Hag” is spelled with the letters Chet and Gimel.
We discussed the letter Chet in Article Seven. The Chet is a picture of a wall or fence and means to divide, to separate or private. The numerical value is eight. The gimel is a picture of a foot or camel and means to lift up, walk or carry. The numerical value is three. The ancient picture of “Hag,” is; “Those who have separated themselves will walk like Messiah Yeshua.”
Eight plus Three = 11. Eleven is a number that gives us a numerical connection to Yeshua.
The ancient picture of this word, along with its numerical value teach us that each feast or festival is associated to King Messiah. If Yeshua is eternal then also are the festivals of YaHaVah, all of which relate to Him.
Aleph Tav
Within the Hebrew narrative, some words are connected to, via the hyphen or dash, to another word. This creates a “construct” word. In my opinion, we can make further assertions in the Scriptural narrative by examining these “constructs,” namely the Aleph Tav.
In the Revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach to John, Yeshua identifies himself as the Aleph and the Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet; these references are found in Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13.
Our modern translations read “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” However, the words Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Since Messiah Yeshua is a Hebrew man and not a Greek man He would have said “I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the ending.”
This is the Aleph, א , and the Tav, ת . In its ancient form the Aleph Tav would read “strength of the covenant.”
The Harvest and the Sheaf
The words “harvest” and “sheaf” both had the Aleph Tav attached. Both words then, connect us to the “strength of the covenant.” Let’s examine a familiar parable to further make the connection.
Mt. 13:24 – 30: “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.’ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘an enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘no, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, first gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The wheat harvest are those who have entered into covenant by observing, from year to year, the Pesach festival. The Aleph Tav “sheaf” represent a single covenant believer. The tares are those who have chosen to walk with another god.
As I said, the second festival is Hag Matza/Unleavened Bread. This is “bread” that has no leaven; leaven is a representation of sin. This sinless bread is a foreshadow of Yeshua as the “bread of life.” The “bread of life” connects us to the second day of creation and Yeshua the mediator, who is the Aleph Tav “Raquia.”
Recall, the 16th day of the first month, after the first High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, is the third festival of YaHaVah. The third festival of YaHaVah is Hag HaBikkurim, Firstfruits.
The festival of Firstfruit is a feast that lasts only one day. As I said, it is the beginning of the “omer” count.
1 Cor. 15:20 – 23: “But now Messiah is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiahs’ at His coming.”
We can connect the third word of Scripture, Elohim, to firstfruits. In part, the “im” plural ending speaks to The Father raising Yeshua from the dead.
Ex. 34:22: “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.”
The “omer” count continues for 49/50 days. Forty nine days is equal to seven weeks, hence the name Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Weeks is called Shavuot and is the fourth of YaHaVahs’ festivals. Shavuot is the festival that directly relates to the Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah. Shavuot is the second pilgrimage feast and it is a High Sabbath. This festival also relates to the “covenant people.”
There is a second witness to this understanding which is found in the spelling of the word. The Hebrew word for “weeks” is Shavuot, שָׁבֻעֹת. In its ancient form Shavuot would read: “The divine presence rests on the family who supports His covenant.” **Those who observe this festival will certainly be honoring His covenant feast.
Shavuot, The Matan Torah, is the culmination of Yahs’ covenant proposal to “the people” and their acceptance. The festival was concluded with a blood sacrifice and a covenant confirming meal. All of which are requirements for a sealed covenant and are recorded in Scripture as part of the Book of the Covenant.
Shavuot is aligned with the fourth word of the first line of Scripture, את, the Aleph and the Tav. We have already discussed that the Aleph Tav is Yeshua. The fourth word of Scripture, the את, tells us that the first advent of Yeshua will occur the 4000 year mark.
It would be at His first advent that Yeshua would shed His blood for mankind which would then ratify the restored Abrahamic covenant.
Part Two
- We discussed the 4th day of creation.
- We discussed the signs.
- We discussed seasons.
- We discussed the first four festivals, Pesach, Hag HaMatza, Hag HaBikkurim and Shavuot.
- The fifth festival is Yom Teruah, the Day of the Awakening Blast or blowing.
Numbers 29:1-2 and (see also Leviticus 23:23-25)
“Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing [teruah] (trumpets). You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to YaHaVah…”
In this case, the Hebrew word being used is “teruah,” תְּרוּעָה which means alarm, signal, and sound of tempest, shout, shout or blast of war, alarm or joy. There is very little recorded about this all important feast day, however it has a most significant purpose. At a future time and day, the blast of the shofar will be blown announcing the arrival of King Yeshua. Yom Teruah lasts only one day and precedes what is known as the ten days of awe. Ten days to prepare yourself before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonements.
The Hebrew word “teruah” תְּרוּעָה is spelled with a Tav, Resh, Vav, Ayin and Hey. In its ancient form “teruah” would read: “They will be sealed from the beginning, those who choose to add themselves to the one we watch for, the one to be revealed.”
Eph. 1:4: “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” **He chose us because He knew we would choose Him.
This festival is all about “watching” for His second return. This is also the festival Scripture describes as “the day and hour no one knows (Mt. 24:36).” This is true because this festival is completely dependent upon sighting the seventh Rosh Chodesh of the year.
The Matan Torah
Exodus 19:10-11, 16-20: “YaHaVah also said to Moses, ‘go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day YaHaVah will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people…
…So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet [shofar khazaq meod] sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because YaHaVah descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet [ha-shofar] grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. YaHaVah came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and YaHaVah called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”
The shofars were blown at Mt. Sinai as The Almighty Supreme Being rested upon it.
Shofar and the Coronation
If Yom Teruah was to be a reminder of the return of the King, then the coronation imagery in the Tanakh (Old Testament) helped support the symbolism. When David gave instruction on how to coronate his son, he included the shofar:
1 Kings 1:32 – 35: “Then King David said, ‘call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.’ And they came into the king’s presence. The king said to them, ‘take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel,’ and blow the trumpet [ba-shofar] and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” (hebrewwordlessons.com)
2 Kings 9:4-6, 13
“So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said, ‘I have a word for you, O captain.’ And Jehu said, ‘for which one of us?’ And he said, ‘for you, O captain.’ He arose and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, ‘thus says YaHaVah the God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of YaHaVah, even over Israel’”…
Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet [ba-shofar], saying, ‘Jehu is king!’”
Shofar and the Call to War
Judges 7:16-23: “He [Gideon] divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets [shofarot] and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. He said to them, ‘look at me and do likewise.’ And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet [shofar], then you also blow the trumpets [ba-shofarot] all around the camp and say, ‘For YaHaVah and for Gideon.’” So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets [ba-shofarot] and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. When the three companies blew the trumpets [ba-shofarot] and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, ‘a sword for YaHaVah and for Gideon!’ Each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled. When they blew 300 trumpets [ha-shofarot], YaHaVah set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. The men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.”
Imagine hearing this blast of trumpets, then one day, in the perhaps not so near future Rev. 19:11 occurs. “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
At His second advent, Yeshua HaMashiach descends from HaShamayim, the heavens. The day of the awakening blast connects us then, to the fifth word of the first line of Scripture.
Lev. 23:26 – 32: “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.’”
The Hebrew word for “kippur” is כִּפֻּר and means expiation or atonement. The numerical value is 300. The numerical value tells the whole story as our atonement comes from the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach.
The first mention of “kippur” is recorded in this Scripture. The complete mention is recorded in Rom. 5:11. It’s an interesting fact that the word atonement is only used in this verse, only in the KJV, in the entire Brit Chadasha. The Greek word used is usually rendered “reconciliation.”
The Book of Hebrews is the biblical narrative for Yom Kippurim. It’s interesting to me that most of this book speaks to Yeshua as the High Priest of the order of Melchizedek. This is a necessary narrative because it is only the Melchizedek Priesthood who is ordained and sanctified to administer the Book of the Covenant.
Heb. 9:11: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Yom Kippurim is the sixth of Yahs’ festivals and aligns with the sixth word of the first seven words of Scripture, the Aleph Tav. This tells us that the second advent of Messiah Yeshua will occur at the six thousand year mark.
Yeshua HaMaschiach shed His blood in order to reconcile us to The Father and restore mankind to its perfect order, a covenant relationship with YaHaVah. His blood was shed for the second time in order to institute the restored Book of the Covenant.
Heb. 7:24 – 28: “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”
Yom Kippur = Day of Redemption.
The word Kippur (ransom / redeem) as used here means to atone by offering a substitute.
The root of Kippur is the word kafar, which derives from the word (כֹּפֶר ) kofer, meaning ransom ( Strong’s H6299). This word is parallel to the word (פָּדָה ) padah meaning to redeem / ransom (Strong’s H3724).
The above definitions all speak to the completed work of Messiah Yeshua.
Lev. 23:33 – 36: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.’”
V41 – 43: “You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
The seventh of Yahs’ festivals is the Feast of Booths, Sukkot. The Hebrew word for “booths” is סֻּכּוֹת. This festival perfectly aligns with the seventh word of the first line of Scripture which is “the earth.”
The seventh festival speaks to the second exodus, the final ingathering and the thousand year millennial kingdom of Messiah Yeshua. His kingdom will be “on the earth,” which is commonly referred to as the “millennial kingdom.”
Rev. 20:1 – 6: “Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years. The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.) Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Yeshua and because of the word of God.
These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”
Zech. 14:16 – 18: “Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and then the rain will not fall on them. And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then the rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.…(Berean Study Bible)”
Forever
The Hebrew word for “forever” is עוֹלָם. The definition of עוֹלָם is continuous existence or perpetual. With regard to the festivals of YaHaVah, “Olam” is used four times; Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
In its ancient form “Olam” would read: “Watch for and secure yourself to the One who comes in His authority to deliver us out of spiritual chaos.”
Even though the word “forever” was not used with regard to the instructions for Pesach, Ex. 12:14 reads: “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.” It is, however, the same Hebrew word.
In conclusion, at least the five festivals of YaHaVah mentioned, namely: Pesach, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, Yom Kippur and Sukkot are an ordinance forever.
In my opinion, Yeshua fulfilled festivals one, two, three, four and six at His first advent. The only remaining festivals to be fulfilled are Yom Teruah and Sukkot, His second advent.
Not only did Yeshua fulfil these festivals, He actually is the festivals. The Aleph Tav Blood was His blood at the first Pesach. He said He was the “bread of life,” which is Unleavened Bread. He was the first fruit of the resurrection, namely First Fruit. He is the living Word of Yah, Shavuot. Again, His blood paid for our reconciliation to YaHaVah. A future Yom Teruah will announce His second advent and finally Sukkot will be His millennial reign on earth.
A little something extra!
In my opinion, we can look at the festivals thus:
Pesach, the “first” of Yahs’ festivals which is a covenant festival, fulfilled by Messiah Yeshua at His first advent.
Yom Kippur, the “sixth” of Yahs’ festivals, also fulfilled by Yeshua at His first advent, acted as our kinsman redeemer.
One and Six = Seven, a number signifying completion.
This is at least one thing Yeshua meant in His final words, “it is finished!” The Abrahamic covenant has now been restored and His own blood offering provided that necessary reconciliation between Yah and mankind for the previously broken covenant.