Israel’s God issued a challenge centuries ago --- to other beings men worship. “Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods” (Isaiah 41:23). His challenge remains unanswered. There is only eerie silence. What have other “gods” foretold? What have other “gods” fulfilled? Only Israel’s God can forthrightly say, “I have declared all things from the beginning that ye may know that I am God.” Only He has declared all things before time that man might say, “He is righteous!” (Isaiah 41:26). Only Israel’s God can say, “The former things [which I foretold] have come to pass” (Isaiah 42:9). Not only did Israel’s God foretell all things, but He fulfilled them in astonishingly powerful ways. The day will come when all men will acknowledge that Israel’s God alone gave full warning of His Works, and that He has brought them all to pass. Israel’s God loves all men equally. He mostly chose this people so He could demonstrate that His words and His works would always come to pass. He would bless them for righteousness; and He would curse them for rebelliousness. Thus all men would see that He is God. He promised this people a land. And He brought them to that land through marvelous miracle. He warned, if disobedient, they would be swept from the land. And because of their sins He fulfilled His word. They were swept from that land: not once but twice. He further warned He would scatter this people among all nations. Then, to witness to them and to all the world that He is ultimately a God of mercy, He brought them back to that Land as He foretold, not once but twice. Not to show they alone would inherit it. But to show that He fulfills His Word. His Love and Mercy were never limited to just one people. While He chose a land as a Promised Land to witness that He is a God who foretells and fulfills, He offers the Real Promised Land to all! His Real Promised Land is Eternal Life with Him! This Real Promised Land would also be inherited by miracle --- very great miracle. And He foretold how He would bring about those miracles. He foretold them through prophets sent to “Israel.” But he meant all men to receive their word. He also foretold precisely when He would perform His great miracles. He did so through the Holy Days He commanded Israel to keep.
Israel’s Holy Days: They Foretold God’s Great Miracles The Lord commanded Israel to keep certain Holy times, and He divided them into two groups. Each group was deliberately set at one of Israel’s major agricultural harvests. The first group was set in the spring at the time of the first harvest. The second group was set in the fall at the time of the final harvest. The Lord deliberately set these Holy observances at the times of physical harvests because those physical harvests would witness of His spiritual harvests --- when mankind would be gathered in to receive Eternal Life. Only Israel’s God could open the way to Eternal Life. He would do so through His own personal sacrifice, paying the price for men’s sins which kept them out. He opened the way through His own death --- then His own Resurrection. Thus, others might follow Him there. Israel’s God foretold through multiple prophets and multiple means, that He would suffer the most grievous of deaths --- crucifixion. His crucifixion was chosen as the means, for it was rife with symbolism of His salvation. Through crucifixion, He would be lifted up in death, but would draw all men unto Him in Restoration of Life. To add to the awe, He even foretold precisely when His crucifixion and resurrection would occur. He did so by commanding Israel to keep Passover.
Passover Foretold Christ’s Atonement and Death, and Their Timing The Lord arranged, deliberately, that ancient Israel would be saved from death through the blood of a sacrificed lamb (As told in Exodus 3-13). The blood of that Lamb would win their escape from bondage in Egypt too. The Lord then commanded that Passover be remembered by Israel --- as both the Way and the Time of their deliverance. But the truly wise did not only remember, they anticipated. They anticipated these events foretold of a far greater future deliverance. They anticipated a greater deliverance at the hands of a Greater Deliverer --- whom they termed, the Messiah. They were right in their anticipation. There would be a greater deliverance, and it would follow and fulfill the pattern set by their deliverance from death and bondage in Egypt. To testify of that deliverance, Israel’s God commanded the lambs sacrificed at Passover meet specific requirements. They had to be male, firstborn, without blemish, slain on a specific day and during specific hours, and roast with fire. No bones were to be broken. The lamb was always to be eaten with bitter herbs, and totally consumed, nothing to remain. After foretelling, Jesus Christ, Israel’s True God, fulfilled all these witnesses. He was the firstborn of God the Father. He alone among men was perfect; He had no blemish. He was slain on the specific day and during the specific hours that Passover lambs were still being slain. Many scholars say that Jesus ate a Passover Lamb at the last Supper before His death, yet was slain at the same time other Passover lambs were slain --- on a Second Day of sacrifice necessitated by a growing population. Other scholars say that the Last Supper was the final meal on which Jews feasted, but that Jesus’ death occurred on the following day, when Jews were sacrificing lambs as a Free Will offering. Both possibilities carry potent meaning. For Jesus did hang upon the cross as Passover lambs were being offered as sacrifice --- either by commandment, or by free will. The latter event would solidify the witness that Jesus’ offering of Himself as an atoning, sacrificed Lamb, was given of His own free will. The Passover Lamb was to be roast with fire. Christ foretold, and He fulfilled. He has since disclosed the fiery depths of what He endured by saying of His suffering , “How sore ye know not; how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.” For His suffering had caused Him, God, the greatest of all, to suffer fully in spirit as well as body. He said His suffering was so intense He literally bled from every pore (Doctrine and Covenants 19:15-18). And He warned that those who do not repent and call upon Him must suffer, just as He did, but for their own sins (D&C 19:15).
The Passover Lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs. Christ foretold, and He fulfilled. He faced a bitterness so great that He, though God, shrank from it. It was not death which caused His shrinking, but the terribleness of sin. He, who was innocent and pure as only God can be, who abhorred sin, had come to take upon Himself the vile, the horrible sins of all mankind, that they might be made pure. This was indeed a bitter cup. But He drank it, for the sake of our salvation. As final witness of this bitterness, He was given vinegar to quench His desperate thirst, caused by the loss of His sacrificed blood.
The Passover Lamb must have no bone broken Christ foretold, and He fulfilled. Crucifixion was a slow and agonizing death. Because no vital organs were damaged, those crucified hung upon the cross many hours, often days. Because the Sabbath was approaching, Jewish leaders asked the Romans to hasten death in this case, by breaking the legs of Jesus and the two thieves. They knew the shock would be fatal to those already weakened by the agonies of scourging. But when the soldiers came to Jesus, surprisingly, He was dead. He had of His own self yielded up His spirit. So though His blood was shed, No bones of His were broken, just as the Passover lamb had prophesied for centuries. But here was a marvelous witness that Jesus truly controlled His own death, and thus had power to restore His own life. Therefore, we are assured, He has the power to restore the lives of all who die!
The Passover Lamb was totally consumed. Nothing to remain. Christ had foretold, and He fulfilled. After Christ’s body was placed in the tomb, guards were stationed to insure His body would remain there. A great stone further denied any exit. And yet, a great and marvelous miracle occurred. And when His followers came to anoint His body, in spite of those guards, and the stone, the tomb was empty. Nothing remained. Not only Jesus spirit, but His body had risen from the grave. Here was further witness Israel’s God has power to raise mankind! Through all these witnesses commanded for Passover, Israel’s God foretold how He would become sacrifice for all men’s sins. Then He fulfilled those witnesses --- in exquisite detail. The final capstone of their reality was that He fulfilled them at the exact time Israel was in the process of keeping them. But this was only a small part of the foretelling and of the fulfilling of His great and marvelous works.
The Offering of the First Sheaf of the Harvest. The Lord also commanded Israel to offer the first sheaf of the harvest at the time of Passover. The barley was deliberately planted seventy days beforehand, so that it would be ripe at the time of Passover. The first harvested barley sheaf was cut down by priests in the evening of Passover and was always lifted up to the Lord as an offering the morning after the following Sabbath. Here was another foretelling which Israel’s God fulfilled. As the sun was setting, Jesus --- now cut off from the living, was taken down from the cross. It was at the same time that a group of priests went out, as commanded, to cut down the very first sheaf of barley. Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb. And the first sheaf of barley was taken to the temple. There it was prepared as an offering. After the Sabbath was over, early in the morning, the first fruit of the harvest was “lifted up,” an offering to God in the Heavens. This was in beautiful and awesome harmony now with its fulfillment. For that morning Jesus the Christ arose in the resurrection. He arose as the very first fruit of the harvest of the dead. Paul so testified, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20.) Israel’s God, through Passover, had foretold the very time of His Crucifixion, and fulfilled it. Through the offering of the first fruit, He foretold the very time of His Resurrection. Then He fulfilled it!
The Beginning of His Church and Its Harvest of Souls Israel’s God commanded that Israel hold a special Feast fifty days after the offering of the First Sheaf of barley. This feast would thus fall at the time of the wheat harvest --- a much larger harvest. Again, this was a foretelling of a great event, which Israel’s God would fulfill. For forty days after Christ’s resurrection, Jesus taught his disciples, preparing them for their ministry. By that time they were nearly ready for the great work that lay before them, which was to take the word of His salvation to every people and every nation. But one vital step remained. He commanded them not yet to leave Jerusalem, but to wait that they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost would give them the power they needed to bear witness to the ends of the earth. As Israel’s God, He had already foretold the time of their receiving the Holy Ghost --- through His Holy Days. The Holy Ghost was bestowed on Pentecost, the Greek name for the fiftieth day, the observance which celebrated the beginning of the great wheat harvest. Elders of Israel from many nations had come, as previously commanded, to keep this feast. The apostles, as faithful elders, had gathered too. Israel’s God sent the Holy Ghost at this feast. It came as cloven tongues of fire. Because of the power bestowed through the Holy Ghost, the apostles stood and bore witness that Jesus was the Messiah, for whom the Jews had waited for centuries. Because of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the apostles were able to speak in tongues --- in the many tongues of those Jews who had come up from many nations. Because of the power of the Holy Ghost, the hearts of many were penetrated. And that day, nearly three thousand persons were baptized. And thousands went back to their distant lands, testifying that the Messiah had come. The first sheaf of barley cut down and offered fifty days earlier was symbolic of Christ as the very first fruit of the harvest. But on this day, the time of the wheat harvest, the first converts obtained through the witness of the spirit began to be gathered in. Thus began the great harvest of souls occurring at the time of Christ‘s first coming to men. The special events of this day had been foretold. And they had been fulfilled. They had become “A Feast of the Firstfruits of Christ’s First Harvest.” Israel’s God had indeed foretold all those vital things which would occur when He first came down among men. Through the Holy Days he had commanded, He foretold that He would be Crucified, that He would be Resurrected, and that He would begin, through the Holy Ghost, a great harvest of all those who were willing to follow Him into His True Promised Land --- Eternal Life. And He fulfilled His word on the very days that the Jews were celebrating His Holy observances. How magnificent are the works of Israel’s God! But His great work of Foretelling and Fulfilling extend beyond even these.
The Second and Final Harvest God also commanded Israel observe three Holy times during Israel’s last agricultural harvest. Through those observances, He foretold a second and final spiritual harvest --- which He would complete when He came once more to dwell with men. These three holy times are the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShana); the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). To solidify the importance of the Harvest connections, we will discuss the Feast of Tabernacles first.
The Feast of Tabernacles The Lord commanded that in the middle of the seventh month, after Israel had gathered in the fruits of the land, they should keep a final feast for seven days, with a solemn assembly on the eighth. This feast God will again fulfill, but the commandment it be observed for seven days, reveals it will not be fulfilled in just one day. Most Jews and Christians look forward to a final golden age of a thousand years. While there are other foretellings of this great time, the observation of The Feast of Tabernacles is among them. The rituals contained in this feast foretell what will occur in that Golden Age. These future events were further confirmed by Christ himself when He first dwelt among men, and through the prophecies of many of His prophets.
The Time to Accept God as King Jews living in other nations were to come up to keep this feast. They came to pay tribute to the King. They offered seventy bullocks as sacrifice, in addition to many others. The number seventy signified, for Jews and early Christians, all the nations of the earth. Therefore, this feast actually foretells that during the Millennium, the peoples of all nations will bow down to worship the true God of the earth --- and bow before Him as their God and King. Zechariah reinforced this prophecy. “And… every one that is left of all the nations …[after the last great worldly battle] shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16.)
God will be our protective shelter During this great feast, Israel built booths covered with boughs from which hung fruits of the harvest. They dwelt under these booths. Those dwelling places prophesy that in the Millennium, our shelter and wonderful dwelling will be in the presence and full protection of Israel’s powerful God, enjoying the fruits of His harvest! When Jesus Christ was on earth, these prophecies were confirmed during His final entrance into Jerusalem. Because He miraculously raised Lazarus from the dead, multitudes now believed he was their long-awaited Messiah. They waved palm boughs and laid them before Him. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Both acts acknowledged His Kingship, for it was long foretold the Son of David would assume the throne in the Messianic Age, and His reign would be forever. It was acknowledgement that He would be the great protective King whom men would honor in that great time of the Millennium. They gave this obeisance, not knowing he was indeed a descendant of King David, and thus the true heir to Israel’s throne, later shown by his genealogies. But His Real right to Kingship came as divine son of His Eternal Father in Heaven. Ancient Israel dwelled under boughs of trees in prophecy. Multitudes strewed boughs before their King, temporarily believing. John added firm witness when he revealed the future: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.” Jesus Christ will be our King and our Shelter in the Millennium.
The Living Fountain A great ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles was the pouring of water on the altar, to supplicate the Lord to send the next essential rains. Many Jews had come to understand that the Feast of Tabernacles did in fact bear witness of their expected Messianic Age. Therefore, using this belief, Jesus sought to testify He who would fulfill its prophecies. Using the very moment of the pouring of the waters, He stood among them and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” John’s “Revelation,” confirms Jesus will fulfill this foretelling. In the Millennium will come “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal” originating as a fountain from the very throne of God. And Jesus will mercifully, “give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Jesus Christ will fulfill, in the Millennium. But His fulfillment will be more than pure physical waters. His great fountain will be righteousness and truth in abundance, to fully satiate man’s spiritual thirsts.
The Light of the World Giant candelabra were lit at the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus used that foretelling to cry out His own, “I am the light of the world.” John confirms He will fulfill it. “And [God’s city which will be set up has] no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God [will] lighten it, and the Lamb [Jesus Christ] is the light thereof.” In the Millennium, men will cease to stumble due to darkness. The Savior will fully disseminate His pure light of truth.
There Will Be Joy in the Completed Harvest The Feast of Tabernacles foretells the Millennium, which has everything to do with Christ’s completed harvest. At the beginning of the Millennium, we will comprehend the extent of what harvest has already been brought in, and rejoice in it. It will include the righteous of the earth who have entered into and kept sacred covenants. It will include the deceased who have been taught the gospel in the spirit world, accepted it, and for whom the necessary sacred ordinances have been done. But the fully completed harvest will not be until the end of the Millennium. By then, through God’s great love, every soul who has ever lived on the earth will have had the opportunity to hear His beautiful gospel truths, to repent, and to accept Christ’s atoning sacrifice for their sins. All necessary ordinances will have been done. And those who have proven sufficiently worthy will enter into God’s true Promised Land --- Eternal Life. There will be rejoicing never known in any harvest. Christ will be victorious! By the end of the Millennium, all but a few will have come to understand and accept the truth, and be sufficiently worthy to enter one of three Heavenly kingdoms. Only a few, who still rebel against Him, will be cast out. All the witnesses the true God gave in the Feast of Tabernacles are yet to be fulfilled. But they will be fulfilled --- in that great golden age known as the Millennium.
The Beginning of the Final Harvest --- The Feast of Trumpets There were two other Holy Days which preceded the Feast of Tabernacles. Their very placement before that Feast was a Foretelling. And One has been fulfilled. While the Feast of Tabernacles signifies the End of the Final Harvest, one was set at the beginning of Israel’s final harvest. One of its names is The Feast of Trumpets. It foretold when Israel’s Final Spiritual Harvest would begin. And it did. The marvels of God’s foretelling were not fully known to a young prophet, foreordained to begin Christ’s great Latter-day Harvest. But he was visited by an angel on September 21, 1823. Among other things which this angel told Joseph was that the last great harvest was to begin. He quoted: “For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” [Meaning, the unrighteous will be left without any Eternal connection to their families.] Joseph Smith was also told of a record which He was to bring forth to the world. It was a record of peoples who had lived in the Americas. It promised that this land too was chosen to be a teaching tool, by serving as a great, promised land to its peoples. This record would verify the truths contained in the Bible, and show that prophets on the American continent had also foretold the coming of Christ. But Joseph waited four long years, maturing, and being instructed and tutored by the angel. On September 22, 1827, Joseph Smith was allowed to receive this record. While Joseph had no way of knowing these things, and it was not discovered until in the 1990’s, September 22, 1827 fell on the Holy Day of Rosh HaShanah --- the time of the beginning of the final harvest. While this Feast day had long been referred to as The Feast of Trumpets, that meaning has far more significance today --- as the angel Moroni stands throughout the world on newly built Latter-day Saint Temples, with a trumpet to his mouth, proclaiming to the world with joy and a warning --- the final harvest has begun! The work required of Joseph and his followers is clearly understood as a work of harvesting. “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not…” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:4) The great work of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is spreading the message of God’s Love throughout the world, calling all to be gathered as part of His final harvest, that they might inherit His true Promised Land --- Eternal Life. Precisely because of the connection between the Feast of Trumpets and the beginning of the harvest, some Jewish rabbis and scholars have, through the centuries, taught the final spiritual ingathering of Israel would begin with the Feast of Trumpets. And it did, on September 22, 1827! But this day had other meanings as well. One of its first names was actually, “The Day of Remembrance.” It was understood that this was the day that God would remember His promises to re-gather His scattered people, Israel. Israel’s history and its traditions, support this understanding. And its scriptures also verify this foretelling. “And it shall come to pass in that day [meaning the time of the re-gathering of Israel] that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt.” (Referring to scattered Israel. Isaiah 27:13). Because of this scripture and others, many Jewish scholars and commentators, through the centuries, have taught the trumpet sound on the Feast of Trumpets would one day act as signal for Israel’s return from worldwide scattering. A great portion of those subsequently gathered into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are indeed descendants of the original House of Israel. But all peoples are sought and welcomed! Finally, the Feast of Trumpets signals the final time to prepare for the Millennium. Significantly, the last three feasts of Israel --- the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles are called The Days of Awe. It would be during these times that God would perform great works of Awe, with messengers coming directly from heaven to restore His truths. But even greater times of awe lay ahead.
The Day of Atonement Israel’s God foretold how He would cleanse men from their sins, thus opening the way to inherit Eternal Life. He would atone for the sins of men during His mortal life. But He would fulfill the final witnesses of the Day of Atonement at His return. The Day of Atonement foretold the way man could enter God’s presence. On this day, Israel was to take two goats. One goat was sacrificed as an offering to God. The blood of this goat was taken through the veil of the temple into Israel’s Holiest sanctuary. There the blood was sprinkled on the “mercy seat,” as offering for the sins of the people. Thus the people could be forgiven of their sins. But these sins did not just disappear as if unimportant. Rather, those sins were placed upon the second goat. The second goat, bearing those sins, was then let loose into the wilderness. Significantly, the original name for this goat was actually the escape goat, because it escaped death. However, it also came to be called the scapegoat, because it innocently bore the guilt of others. The fate of both of these goats foretold what God would fulfill. When Christ first came among men, He fulfilled the essential witness of the Day of Atonement. He made the first sacrificed offering by shedding His blood. He gave that blood as an offering to His Father in a plea of mercy for forgiveness for the sins of men. As Jesus’ atoning work ended upon the cross, the scriptures record, “the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom.” The veil of the temple signified the barrier between God and man. When the veil was rent, it witnessed the Savior and His sacrificed blood had now opened the way that we might pass through the veil, entering God’s presence -- as the Day of Atonement had foretold. Christ also fulfilled the role of the second goat. For the second goat, both as scapegoat and escape goat, had also taught of Him. As scapegoat He took upon himself men’s sins, and bore them away. But as escape goat, He escaped the finality of death --- through the resurrection. When Jesus Christ comes again, all the final meaning of the Day of At-One-ment, which actually means “to make One” will be fulfilled. For on that day, multitudes, now cut off from God, will actually, in physical reality, enter God’s glorified presence. We have already noted that the Feast of Tabernacles, which follows, signifies the completed harvest --- Christ’s Millennial reign, which will then be ushered in. Israel’s God did foretell. He foretold His two great times of harvest of souls. He commanded Israel to keep The Feast of Passover, the Offering of the First Sheaf, and the Feast of Firstfruits. Through these Holy Days the Lord bore powerful witness of His first harvest. He fulfilled them by His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, and His Harvest of Saints in the Early Days. All were fulfilled at the very time they were foretold. He also foretold His final harvest. He commanded Israel to keep The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Through these Holy Days, the Lord foretold the Beginning of His Harvest in the last days, His Second Coming, and His Millennial Reign --- the time of the completion of all Harvests. Israel’s God has challenged, “Which of all of those claiming to be God has foretold and then fulfilled?” The answer is, only God the Eternal Father, whose fulfillment came through the ministry of His Beloved Son, Jesus the Christ. And all things will yet be fulfilled.