Christian Churches of God
No. 49z
Summary:
Seven
Days of the Feasts
(Edition 2.5 20040327-20150904)
Keeping the Seven Days of the Feasts is often not understood and even when understood is too often ignored. Each individual is responsible for attending the Feasts and dedicating themselves to God.
Christian Churches of God
(Copyright © 2004, 2015
Wade Cox)
(Summary edited by Wade Cox)
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Seven Days of the Feasts
People of many countries have been called to be spiritual Israel, having been corrected in truth and brought to repentance. We are the Church of THE God, The Yahovah of Hosts, and are given to Messiah. To remain in the congregation of God as a Holy People the requirement is to be sanctified, i.e. to be hallowed, set apart for Holy use, separate from the profane and dedicated to God. It means to be free from the guilt of sin; to be purified internally by renewal of commitment.
The Bible tells us to sanctify the congregation with a fast (Joel 1:14; 2:15,16).
From 1 Abib we pray and study and on 7 Abib is the fast for the Simple and Erroneous. Thus by study of the truth, the Word of God, we are sanctified (Jn. 17:17).
The priests are also required to be sanctified (Ex. 19:22), and if they are not doing so they can be saved by our prayers.
We must be preparing to take the Passover and keep the seven days of Unleavened Bread diligently. This cleansing process of sanctification is symbolised by the removal of yeast from our homes, and we go to Passover, where, in the ceremony of the foot washing, the year’s sins are washed away. In John 13:10 Jesus shows that those who have been washed clean in baptism for past sins, need only to have their feet washed at the Lord’s Supper. This is taken in the evening at the commencement of the 14th of Abib, the Preparation Day, and the day of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, which Christ was.
Keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread for the seven days is critical to the restoration of the congregation (see the paper The Seven Great Passovers of the Bible (No.107)). The failure of the priests to be sanctified affected the congregation, but the restoration could be achieved by the faithful ones who were sanctified, and by the fast on 7 Abib for such people.
Exodus 12:14-20 shows we have to cleanse our houses of leaven (symbolic of cleansing our consciences of sin) and keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There are Holy Convocations on the First and Seventh days of Abib.
To “keep the feast” translating from the Hebrew carries the idea that one is a pilgrim on a pilgrimage to a sacred place chosen by God. In these days the Church chooses the venue, and the congregation is required to attend at that place. This is carried out 3 times a year as Exodus 23:14-18 stipulates and offerings are mandatory.
Without our obedient participation we cannot have Yahovah our Elohim tabernacle with us (Ex. 29:42-46).
The Bible demands we keep the Feast of the
Passover away from our dwellings for 36 hours from the evening of 14 Abib to
the morning of 15 Abib. We are then allowed to return to our ‘tents’ (or
temporary accommodation) on the morning of the fifteenth. That does not mean we
are allowed to resume our normal vocational activities (Deut.16:5-7). We do not
return to our normal abodes until the seven days of Unleavened Bread are
completed (Ex. 23:15).
Ezekiel’s comments in Ezekiel 45:21-24 show the prince is required to supply the offerings for the seven days and the people are present for the full seven days.
The text in 2Chronicles 30:20-27 covering Hezekiah’s restoration shows the success was due to the zeal of the people for the feast, even to keeping a further seven days with gladness. In Hezekiah’s restoration we see it is the Lord who healed the people, but the people had to be sanctified and gathered to Jerusalem.
In Luke 2:41-52 we see that Jesus and his parents went to Jerusalem every year for Passover and the seven days of Unleavened Bread.
God’s three Feasts show the significance of the number of perfection, which is seven. There are seven days of Unleavened Bread, seven perfect Sabbaths to Pentecost, and seven days of Tabernacles. Only by obedience is understanding given (Prov.16:3).
Leviticus 23:5-14 shows us that we are required to keep this seven day period and make an offering unto the Lord for seven days (Lev. 23:7, 8-21, 34-44).
The restoration of Josiah saw the feasts kept seven days in the spirit of the law as well as the letter (NAS. 2Chr. 35:1-19).
Leviticus 23:9-14 covers the Wave Sheaf offering, and verses 15-22 cover the count of the Seven Perfect Sabbaths to Pentecost when we receive the Holy Spirit in power. Only by keeping the Wave Sheaf offering during the Feast of Unleavened Bread can we commence the journey in obedience.
The Feast of Tabernacles also follows the seven-day sequence (Lev. 23:34-44). See also Numbers 29:12-34 and Exodus 23:16b, 34:22b.
The seven days of Tabernacles are followed by the eighth day, which is the Holy Day of the White Throne Judgment, taking place at the end of the millennial system.
The Feasts of the First and Seventh months are preceded by fasts. The fast in the first month is for the sanctification process and the one the seventh month represents reconciliation to God.
The sequence of the Holy Days is to prepare us, in the Holy Spirit, so that we may experience the Messiah and the millennial system symbolised by the Feast of Tabernacles. The two seven-day periods of Passover and Tabernacles begin and end with an eighth day; one being the Lord’s Supper where we commence the gift of grace, and the Last Great Day where we complete that gift of grace and assist in the extension of the Holy Spirit to others in perfect judgment.
The sequence in Abib to the seventh day extends sanctification to the simple and those in error (see the paper Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous (No. 291)). The Last Great Day extends the gift of eternal life to all mankind, through Jesus Christ and His Church.
The seven days of each Feast are God’s Holy time. We can enjoy the company of brethren, eating together, and freedom for activities together. We are, however, to focus on the meanings of the Feasts, which show the plan of God and what He has determined for us.
God clearly states there are blessings for
obedience, and anyone not complying courts the curses and removal from the Body
of Christ and will not be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God at the First
Resurrection.
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