The appointments you may have been missing are probably not completely unfamiliar to you. I think you have heard of some of them. You probably don't think they apply to you. Before I try to show you that they are relevant, I need to tell you something about them.

The festivals are pivotal times in the history of man. They are appointments God has kept. They are the days on which God has intervened powerfully in our affairs. Here is a striking example: On the Festival of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, in 30 A.D., God gave His holy spirit to the Church in a stunning display of power. The event is recorded in the second chapter of Acts:

ACT 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The early church kept this appointment and was rewarded with an awe-inspriring miracle and an important gift imparted by the spirit of God. They were able to communicate with people of other nations through the gift of languages.

Before Christ went to heaven to send us the holy spirit, only a few of God's servants, David, the prophets and several more, were given this power. God chose an annual Sabbath, Pentecost, to grant it's power and gifts to the Church in general. Peter explained this to the crowd that gathered on that day:

ACT 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Pentecost is the third annual Sabbath, or Holy Day that occurs in the cycle of annual Sabbaths. The festival season that preceeds Pentecost was also an occasion when God intervened in man's affairs. The festivals that occur in the spring of the year are known as the Days of Unleavend Bread. They include the Passover feast (which is a feast day but not a Sabbath) and two Holy Days (they are annual Sabbaths). The Holy Days are simply known as the first and last Days of Unleavened Bread.

In the fifteenth century before Christ, God brought the mighty nation, Egypt, virtually to destruction through many incredible and powerful miracles. He did this to force Egypt to release God's people, Israel, from generations of slavery. The plagues God set on Egypt must have taken about a year to run their course, but Pharaoh finally relented and allowed the descendents of Israel, in their millions, to leave Egypt. Incredibly, Israel finally gained their freedom from more than two hundred years of slavery on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. Furthermore, Exodus tells us that Israel went out of Egypt on the 430th anniversary of God's promise to Abraham (Gen 15:13), TO THE DAY!!!

EXO 12:40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

Jamison, Fausset and Brown's commentary states,"- even the selfsame day--implying an exact and literal fulfilment of the predicted period." Apparently, this "appointed time" had been a Sabbath for hundreds of years, at the very least. A week later, on the last Day of Unleavened Bread, Israel crossed the Red Sea. God intervened again on this Holy Day to save His people from their enemies. Paul taught that the Exodus and Red Sea crossing are types of Christian repentance and baptism (1Cor 10:1-2).

The spring festivals played another important role in the fulfillment of a prophetic event of vital significance to every Christian, for it was on the Passover day that our Savior, the Lamb of God, Christ, our Passover (1Cor 5:7), was sacrificed on our behalf, to take away our sins. God planned well in advance for this to occur on the Passover. He had it in His appointment calendar for many centuries.

Only in retrospect did the early Christian Church begin to understand the fullness of the meaning of the Passover season, the Days of Unleavend Bread and the other Holy Days. They began to see that they were not just harvest festivals, but that they provided a framework and an outline for the plan of God in the project of man's redemption and salvation. The early Church continued to observe the Passover as Christ had commanded (Luk 22:15-19) with a new understanding that this important day and ceremony had always pointed to Jesus, our Passover Lamb.

1CO 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast [he means the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread], not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We will see that the scope of all the annual Sabbaths and festivals is clearly Christian and not merely Jewish.

Thus far, we have discussed two festival seasons, two groups of annual Sabbaths. There are actually three festival seasons given by God to man. We have seen that it is in the festival times that God has chosen in the past to work mighty miracles to bring HIs plan to fruition. We have covered the spring and summer festivals. These have been fulfilled to some degree by heavenly intervention. There remain yet four appointments on God's calendar which are scheduled for future meetings with humankind.

Learn the Prophetic Meaning of the Next Four Appointments
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