It has been pointed out many times here and elsewhere that the festivals outlined in the Torah were associated with the agricultural cycle of the original homeland of the Jews. Indeed, this connection has long been recognized by the Jewish people as being an essential element in understanding the meaning of these days. In an article (Why Are Jewish Holidays Pegged to the Agricultural Cycle?) for Chabad.org, Lazer Gurkow observed: "The festivals are named after the miracles that they commemorate...In addition, G‑d gave these festivals names that reflect the seasons in which they fall. Passover is called the festival of ripeness, Chag HaAviv, because it falls in the early spring, when the crops have just begun to ripen. Shavuot is called the Festival of the Harvest, Chag Hakatzir, because it occurs in the late spring during the harvest. Sukkot is called the the Festival of Gathering, Chag HaAsif, because it is celebrated in the fall when the crops are gathered. On the face of it, the connection between our festivals and the seasons they are in is tenuous. The festivals celebrate miraculous events, while the seasons during which they fall appear to be coincidental. Yet the Torah emphasizes this link, and goes so far as to manipulate our calendar to ensure that the holidays are always celebrated in their respective phases of the harvest cycle."
Of course, this connection also did not escape the notice of the authors of the New Testament. Christ and his followers were repeatedly associated with the Spring harvest in those writings - the "firstfruits" of God's spiritual harvest. Likewise, according to those same writings, the salvation of the vast majority of humankind would be associated with the great harvest of the fall. Unfortunately, this differentiation in the timing of when folks would be welcomed into the Kingdom led one Herbert Armstrong to think of these festivals in terms of a past, present, and future fulfillment of God's plans to save humankind. Armstrong reasoned that the Holy Days must picture a chronological progression of the events outlined in Scripture because of this clear distinction between the two harvests. However, while the harvest analogy is unmistakable for Christians, we must also remember that the New Testament makes EVERYTHING in the Torah point to Jesus of Nazareth and his work on our behalf. In other words, whatever meaning we ascribe to these Jewish festivals - chronological or otherwise - it must focus on Jesus Christ!
Now, as we have just finished the fall festivals (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles), I thought it would be appropriate to summarize and make a few additional observations about how these symbols relate to Christ. In times past, this blog has talked a great deal about how the Day of Atonement pictured Christ's work of reconciliation on our behalf. In brief, we have discussed how Christ's sacrifice covered our sins and reconciled us to God by removing the very things which had alienated us from him (those same sins). Likewise, we have underscored the symbolism associated with the Shofar, and how that related to Christ's return and the resurrection. And, we have examined how Christ tabernacled in the flesh for a little while and made it possible for us to someday exchange these tabernacles which we currently inhabit for a more permanent home. Nevertheless, we often forget that Scripture is very often like an onion - with several layers of meaning to peel back and expose. In this connection, I have focused a great deal of attention on the meaning of the Day of Atonement. Hence, I have felt compelled to offer a few more observations about Trumpets and Tabernacles in particular.
In their article on Rosh Hashanah, Chabad.org points out that the Jewish people think of this day as "The Jewish New Year, anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, a day of judgment and coronation, and sounding of the shofar." Moreover, there are several elements of this Jewish perspective on the day which should be of particular interest to Christians. The same article goes on to relate that "the central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar." They continue: "The blowing of the shofar represents the trumpet blast that is sounded at a king’s coronation. Its plaintive cry also serves as a call to repentance. The shofar itself recalls the Binding of Isaac, an event that occurred on Rosh Hashanah in which a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to G‑d." In the article Why Are Shofars from Rams' Horns? by Yehuda Shurpin (same website), we read: "The ram’s horn recalls the binding of Isaac, when Abraham was ready to sacrifice his only son, stopping only when an angel showed him a ram whose horns were entangled in the nearby thicket. Thus, the Talmud tells us, when we blow a ram’s horn, it is as if we are reenacting this amazing act of devotion." (Emphasis mine)
Now, Christians have long recognized a connection between this story about the sacrifice of Isaac and the narrative about the sacrifice of Christ. For Christians, just as God provided a substitution for Isaac in the form of a Ram, God provided Jesus as a substitution for us - a sin offering on our behalf! Likewise, Christians have long noted another connection to Jesus in the Genesis account of this story. In God's instructions to Abraham, we read: "Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you." (Genesis 22:2, emphasis mine) Likewise, after the angel had prevented Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice, we read: "This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you." (Verses 16-17, emphasis mine) This phraseology is of particular interest to us when we compare it to this famous passage from the Gospel of John: "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17, emphasis mine). It should also be noted here that the King James Version's "only begotten Son" comes from the Greek word monogenes which literally indicates the ONLY child of the parent(s). Moreover, this association between the two narratives is reinforced by a number of other New Testament passages (see Hebrews 11:17 and I John 4:9).
Also, the Jewish notion that the sounding of the Shofar was related to the coronation of a king is of particular interest to Christians. This, of course, is directly related to the Christian belief that Jesus was David's heir (the Root of Jesse) and will return to this earth as "King of Kings" (a position which he will have already received from his Father in heaven).
As for the Feast of Tabernacles, I would like to leave those of my Armstrong Church of God friends who still believe that this festival pictures the Millenium with a few questions to consider. How does the inauguration of the Kingdom of God (an eternal, never ending phenomenon) relate to the strong symbolism of temporariness associated with this festival (even if we allow that one thousand years is a finite period of time)? Should we associate the materialistic promises made to Abraham and his descendants with the spiritual promises made to us through Christ? After all, doesn't Scripture clearly contrast those materialistic promises with the spiritual ones and characterize them as "better"? In other words, aren't Christians consuming a vastly superior food and drink to what the Israelites consumed from the tithe of their crops and livestock at Jerusalem? And, finally, doesn't the putting off of this temporary tabernacle apply to everyone who inherits salvation? In other words, doesn't your Tabernacle and Last Great Day symbolism suggest that these days represent BOTH spiritual harvests?
Whatever conclusions you may reach about the meaning of these Jewish festivals, I hope that we can all agree that Christ fulfilled their meaning for us. Even though Christians are operating under the terms of the New Covenant, we have much to learn from the provisions outlined in the Old Covenant. As I have said many times in the past here, the Hebrew Scriptures were the ONLY Scriptures available to the First Century Church! Moreover, it should be clear to ALL of us that ALL of the authors of the New Testament interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures through the lens of Jesus of Nazareth. Hence, for those of us who profess Christ, there is no escaping this heritage - this reality! What do you think?
In Armstrongist theology, it is asserted that Hebrews 6:1-2 provides a roadmap in sequence to the meaning of the holy days. No other theology that I know of makes this startling attribution. For instance, Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread equate to “repentance from dead works and faith toward God (NRSV).” “Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment” would encompass Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.
ReplyDeleteI do not know the history of this insight but it is quite astute. In particular, I do not know if the symbolism of the holy days was understood first among Armstrongists and this became a hermeneutic for interpreting Hebrews 6:1-2. Of if it was the other way around: Hebrews 6:1-2 was understood first and mapped onto the holy days. What is clear is that the exegesis is not Judaic in origin but clearly Christian. It is worthwhile to add that nobody knows who wrote the book of Hebrews. It is understood that the person who wrote it was a Christian scholar and that it is distinctively not Pauline. Some argue that it came to us as a sermon from Paul through an amanuensis. It seems to have been written around 63 AD while the Temple was still standing.
Hebrews 6:1-2 is recognized in Christianity about being the basic principles of the doctrine of Christ without reference back to the holy days. (It is interesting that if the holy days were supposed to still be kept in the Christian movement, Hebrews 6:1-2 would the perfect place to make this assertion especially since the Book of Hebrews concerns itself extensively with the comparison between the Old and New Covenants and the change in the priesthood. But nothing is mentioned.) In Christianity, the verses are not about the harvest or the exodus but directly about the events in the process of salvation. If one makes a connection to the holy days, it means that the holy days are steeped in the accomplished work of Jesus on this earth. And Sukkot is about the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment in the Christian context more than about material abundance in the Millennium.
I have shared here numerous times that the anonymous book of Hebrews is my favorite book of the Bible. I believe that anyone who would use this passage (Hebrews 6:1-2) to interpret the symbolism of the festivals is reaching. I agree with you that the passage in question is about the elemental principles of the Christian religion (what precedes it, and what follows it, confirms this), The context makes plain that God expects Christians to dig deeper and move beyond these basic understandings.
DeleteLikewise, as your own remarks suggest, it is ironic that anyone would make this connection to the Holy Days; because so much of the book clearly addresses itself to how the ritual outlined in the Torah relates to Christ! Indeed, as I have suggested in other posts here, Armstrongists would do well to consult this book for their understanding of the Day of Atonement in particular! I think that we should always be guided by the understanding of the authors of the New Testament canon in trying to understand how the old relates to the new.
A few days back I ran into a video on youtube that is relevant to my comment of October 24th. It was a 2013 lecture by Dan Rogers of GCI about Adventism. I was startled to hear that the early Millerites developed the concept that the holy days map the plan of salvation. I had thought this was probably an innovation of HWA or Hoeh.
ReplyDeleteInstead, it was a notable Millerite named Samuel Snow who developed this idea. He presented the idea in 1844 at a Millerite conference in Exeter, New Hampshire. The Millerites were in "fall back and regroup" mode because they had missed two dates for the Parousia already. Snow innovated the idea that Miller's timeline was essentially correct but needed the addition of the schedule of the Hebrew holy days. He believed that the Parousia would happen on the Day of Atonement in 1844. The Day of Atonement figured prominently in the Jubilee year. So a new date was set for October 1844 - which then became what we know in Adventist history as the Great Disappointment.
The checkered history for this idea does not induce me to abandon it completely. I believe that many scriptures in the Bible are not univocal. In fact, many flaws in theology have been introduced by men who taught that all scripture is univocal and they personally and egocentrically had the one and only true meaning. But I do recognize it as a minority view - mostly due to the lack of any integrated exposition of this idea anywhere among the NT writers. Precisely how the holy days foreshadow Jesus, their only remaining function, needs to be kept under study. I have enjoyed Miller's exposition on this.