'Tis the Season

Another season is upon us. What season am I speaking of?....the beginning of the LORD's appointed times!

In the Scriptures we read about the feasts of the LORD, His Sabbaths, and other holy convocations. These are all times that HE has appointed for His people to gather before Him in praise and worship.

And it all started around the end of this past week (approx. Mar. 26th) with the New Moon. The New Moon is the beginning of each new month, according to God's time keeping, and last week's new moon started what is called the month of Abib, or "tender", as in a tender ear of grain. This happens in the Middle East around this time every year.

In Exodus, as God was instructing Moses and Aaron about the Passover, and preparing them to go, He told them when the start of each year would begin,

"Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.'"
Exodus 12:2

"On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go forth."
Exodus 13:4

The month of the Passover, the very month they were leaving, was the month of Abib. That month is the beginning of the new year. It makes sense when we look at His creation that He would start each new year in the spring, when life begins to bloom again. What never made sense to me was why we celebrate the new year in the middle of winter (when every thing is still dead) or why some pagans (and the Jews) ackowledge the new year in the fall when everything is getting ready to die. God's way always makes sense.

So why is this so important? Because we can plainly see just from this one thing that our way of looking at time is vastly different than the way the Creator keeps time. Not only does the start of our year begin in the spring, but it's the rest of the LORD's appointed times that make up His yearly cycle of gathering before Him.

The word for appointed is:
appointed
H4150
מועדה מעד מועד
mô‛êd mô‛êd mô‛âdâh
mo-ade', mo-ade', mo-aw-daw'
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).

They are HIS appointed times, not ours. It is about how HE views things, not how we see them. And as Paul says in Galatians 1, are we seeking to please men (and by implication ourselves as well) or are we seeking to please God?

Now certainly we can, and should, worship the LORD daily, but that doesn't mean we are to disregard HIS times of meeting! Who made up time anyway....us or the Lord of heaven and earth?

So in the very first month of the year what do we come to? The LORD's Feast of Unleavened Bread, which included Passover and Firstfruits. This feast is NOT the feast of the Jews, but HIS feast (Leviticus 23). For so many years we looked at them as belonging to Israel, but the LORD said they are His feasts. They are His holy convocations.

What are holy convocations? The word 'convocation' actually has the meaning of being like a rehearsal. The Strong's definition says it well:

convocation
H4744
מקרא
miqrâ'
mik-raw'
From H7121; something called out, that is, a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the palce); also a rehearsal: - assembly, calling, convocation, reading.

So a holy convocation is a meeting that is sacred and set apart, for the LORD and His people. It is a holy rehearsal. So what are we rehearsing for? The only thing that we truly look forward to....the marriage of the Lamb and His bride (us)!

We are rehearsing for an eternity with our God and King! Every Sabbath, every feast day is another time of rehearsing for that Day when we will be with our Savior, the Bridegroom! Hallelujah!!

These times of meeting are, as I said before, appointed by the LORD. God has specifically set aside times throughout the year just for meeting with, and worshiping, Him. Of course we can do that on a daily basis, but we can't forget the fourth commandment that says we must work six days and rest the seventh. So the LORD has given us a pattern of working through the week and gathering before Him on His weekly appointed time - the Sabbath.

His feasts are another opportunity to fellowship with Him and those of His body. The feast of Unleavened Bread is coming soon, in the middle of the month of Abib during the full moon. It is a time of reflecting on how we can get rid of the leaven in our house, a perfect picture of ridding ourselves of sin. Leaven represents sin, and "cleaning" out the "house" involves diligence and watchfulness. We must call upon the Spirit of the LORD to help us crucify our flesh and reckon ourselves dead so that we may live to God. This is what the Feast of Unleavened Bread is about....that and realizing that the perfect, sinless Lamb of God offered Himself up so that we might have the chance to be saved and live for Him!

The day of Passover begins this feast and it is all about His sacrifice for our sins and the atonement that came with that. Following the High Sabbath (first day) of Unleavened Bread, after Passover, we count three days and come to First fruits. This day is the most glorious day when our Lord conquered the grave and was risen from the dead!!

These "old testament" feasts are for the people of God and are according to HIS time, not ours. Wouldn't we be wise to seek Him according to His design, His time, His ways?

"Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
1 Corinthians 5:7