This chapter is critical.

If you want to grasp what God is doing in the earth and what is next on His calendar, it’s right here. And it’s so simple.

God has scheduled “appointed times” to have “holy assemblies.” The terms “feast” and “festival” are a bit misleading because of what those words have come to mean. We read them and think “banquet” or “big crowds of people with music and food vendors.” Some of these appointed times involve fasting, not feasting. So it’s better to think of them in terms of an appointment for an assembly.

Do kids in school still have assemblies? I remember school assemblies to meet Smokey Bear or Woodsy Owl.

(Seems like the only dating I do is dating myself. 😏😆)

An assembly is when a group of people agree to meet together at a specific place and time for a shared purpose.

A crowd at an amusement park isn’t an assembly. It’s a bunch of people in one place but each is doing his own thing on his own time. And they aren’t all there by prior arrangement.

A crowd at a sport event is closer to an assembly because they share a designated time, place, and (mostly) purpose. But they aren’t all there by prior arrangement and they are not all agreed in their purpose. Some may have the purpose to cheer for the home team. Some may be cheering for the other. Some are there because they are players. Some are refs or coaches. Some are janitors or other staff.

Yahweh scheduled 8 Appointments in His appointment book. Eight times for His people to assemble. Let’s look at them.

1. SABBATH (weekly)

We generally don’t think of the Sabbath as one of the appointed times, but it’s very clear from the text that it is.

The Sabbath is not, and never has been Sunday. Let’s get VERY clear on that. I hear Christians all time refer to Sunday as the Sabbath. It isn’t. Verse 3 tells us that the 7th day is the Sabbath. Sunday is the 1st day of the week. Christians have been meeting on the first day of the week since the resurrection of Jesus, (Mark 16:9, Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2) but neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever said, “Sunday is the new Sabbath.” Even if you choose to rest on Sunday that doesn’t make it the Sabbath. The word sabbath means to rest, repose, take a break, cease from work, and yes, you can do that on Sunday but there’s actually no scriptural command to rest on the first day of the week. There is also no command to the NT Church to gather on the Sabbath.

The Jews assembled on the Sabbath for worship and study. We see it in the book of Acts. The Apostle Paul went to synagogue on the Sabbath to tell the assembly about the coming of Messiah Jesus. They usually kicked him out.

The church in Rome had both Jewish and Gentile believers. They seemed to have had some challenges coming to an agreement on what day was appropriate to worship. Paul wrote to them:

“One person prefers one day over another day, and another person regards every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who is intent on the day is intent on it for the Lord, and the one who eats eats for the Lord, because he is thankful to God, and the one who does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and he is thankful to God.” Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭LEB‬‬

If there was a divine command on which day was the “right” day to worship, the Apostle Paul absolutely dropped the ball here. He could’ve said, “You’re supposed to gather on ____.” But this isn’t a mistake. Paul’s refusal to pick a side day is intentional and Divinely inspired. The Church isn’t about legalism. It’s about Christ.

Paul sent this interesting tidbit to the primarily Gentile church in Colossae:

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you with reference to eating or drinking or participation in a feast or a new moon or a Sabbath, which are a shadow of what is to come, but the reality is Christ.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭LEB‬‬

The feasts and the sabbath point somehow to “what is to come.” In other words, they are prophetic pictures. And the reality of them is Christ. The feasts and the sabbath are telling us about the work of Christ.

The Sabbath is the 7th day. Remember how back at the beginning of this blog I said that the 7 days of creation would be important? The Sabbath originated then. Not here in Leviticus. And I believe it is a prophetic picture of the coming 7th millennium of rest.

Which… (checks watch) is set to begin in roughly 50 years, according to the Dead Sea Scroll calendar.

Hebrews 3:7 – 4:11 talks about sabbath in terms of resting in faith in Christ. Believing the Gospel equals entering into God’s rest. The work was done on the cross. “It is finished.” Those who trust in Christ enter into God’s own cessation from His work and every day is the Sabbath.

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APPOINTED TIMES IN SPRING

2. PASSOVER

Since we already went over Passover in detail back in Exodus, I won’t repeat it here. As a quick summary though, Passover is on the 14th day of the 1st month. Jesus is the Passover Lamb. His blood covers the ones who shelter beneath it. They are spared from death and set free from slavery to sin. Jesus fulfilled this appointment ON THE VERY DAY, in the flesh.

3. UNLEAVENED BREAD

This 7-day observance begins the day after Passover. No one eats anything leavened. Jesus was in the tomb and resurrected during this time. He fulfilled this appointed time as the bread of life without sin (leaven).

By the way, according to the Dead Sea Scroll calendar, this appointed time just concluded.

4. FIRST FRUITS

This is the only appointed time without a fixed date – except that it always falls on a Sunday. And it’s always right after Passover. In 2025 on the DSS calendar it’s on April 13.

Jesus is called the “first fruits” from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15: 20, 23. And he rose on the first day of the week. Sunday. He also fulfilled this feast by rising from the dead- like a harvest being taken up from the earth- on the actual day.

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APPOINTED TIME IN SUMMER

5. PENTECOST / SHAVUOT / WEEKS

This is the only appointed time in the summer. It is exactly 50 days after First Fruits (7 weeks plus a day). Two leavened loaves are waved before the Lord – kinda like what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. You have a church made of both Jews and Gentiles consecrated to the Lord. And Yahweh’s Spirit appears (on the day) and fills His people – the new Tabernacle.

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APPOINTED TIMES IN FALL

Now, if the LORD showed up for His first 4 appointments and fulfilled them in person, is it reasonable to expect He will likewise show up and fulfill the remaining 3 in person and on the exact days?

I think it is. As Paul said, the feasts were “a shadow of what is to come.” So the next one on the agenda is:

6. TRUMPETS 🎺 🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺

First day of the 7th month. (Not our 7th month. The Hebrew 7th month which is usually in September on our calendar). Nobody goes to work. Trumpets are blown. Things burn in fire. Take from that what you will.

7. DAY OF ATONEMENT

We just read the details on this one a few days ago. It’s the 10th day of the 7th month. So just 10 days after Trumpets. This is when sin is purged out of God’s priesthood and His sacred space. Blood is sprinkled before God Himself. A goat to whom sin is attributed is hauled away and banished.

If Jesus personally shows up to fulfill this, might it not appear in, say, the Revelation somewhere? Seems that would be a reasonable expectation. You might go look at Revelation 19:11 – 20:3. Jesus has blood on His garment – almost like someone sprinkled blood right in front of Him. There’s an awful lot of driving sin out. And there’s a being to whom sin is attributed being banished. (Ever seen a depiction of Baphomet? It’s a goat.) Just sayin. That’s a lot of similarities.

8. TABERNACLES / SUKKOT (TENTS)

This is the appointment called “tents.” It happens 5 days after the Day of Atonement.

Last year on a family camp out I had my first experience sleeping laying tossing in a tent all night. (Except for a family trip to Colorado & Wyoming when I was 2 which I don’t exactly remember.) It was cold. Like 38 degrees or something. And so quiet I could practically count the red blood cells squeezing through my capillaries. I’m sure that people who love camping must have a very different experience than what I did because there’s no way sane people find it pleasant or refreshing to do that much work just to lose a night of sleep. I can lose sleep at home. And even be warm. No need to haul gear or hike to a bathroom.

But I digress. 🏕️⛺️🏕️

At this appointed time they gather leafy branches and fruit to decorate the tent in which they will live for a week. There is rest and feasting. Sounds rather nice. It might even be the world’s first “glamping” reference.

It kinda reminds me of… Revelation 21-22.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling (literally: tent) of God is with humanity, and he will take up residence with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭3‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Camping with God. Guess I better work on my bushcraft skills.

God: Good morning, Lacy. How’d ya sleep?

Lacy: Well, you know that Psalm that talks about the ones who have the night shift?

God: Psalm 134?

Lacy: Yes. That’s the one. I might as well do that because I can’t seem to sleep in a tent.

God: I see. Well, no one is allowed to go to work today. And you’re tired. What did Ms. Cindy always tell you about rest?

Lacy: “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go take a nap.”

God: You do that. I’m going to go find Ms. Cindy and thank her.