At the same time God gave ancient Israel the Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai, after He freed them from the Egyptians, He also gave them seven annual festivals to celebrate throughout the year. The world, at large, is unaware of these festivals.
Jesus and the Apostles in the decades following the crucifixion observed these festivals, the annual Holy Days, which God gave to ancient Israel. Paul, in writing to the Gentiles at Corinth, encouraged them to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) as they picture Christ’s sacrifice and the need for us to respond to that sacrifice by putting sin out of our lives, which is pictured by putting leaven (yeast) out of our homes for a week. (See Bible Insights Issue 373 What Does The Feast Of Unleavened Bread Mean For Christians for more information.)
The Apostle Paul told the gentiles at Colosse the feasts (outlined in Leviticus 23) were a shadow of things to come (Colossians 2:16-17). When properly understood, some of the festivals picture events that have already occurred this year in God’s plan such as the Passover (Christ’s sacrifice) and Pentecost (the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church), while the latter festivals picture future events starting with the second coming of Jesus Christ.
God used the harvest seasons of Israel to teach us the proper sequence of events and key elements of His plan of salvation for humanity. The first of the two great harvest festivals is Pentecost. The New Testament refers to God’s church, the first small harvest of souls, as His firstfruits in James 1:18. In Exodus 34:22 we read: “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering [also called the Feast of Tabernacles] at the year’s end.” The Feast of Ingathering represented the great ingathering at the end of the agricultural year – the second and greater of the two harvests. The spiritual meaning of the second harvest is the great harvest of souls that begins with the millennium following the return of Jesus Christ.
In contrast to the festival of Christmas, observed by mainstream Christianity, which lasts only one day, the Feast of Ingathering or Tabernacles lasts for a week and symbolizes the 1,000 Millennium to take place at Christ’s return. (See the following article What Is The Millennium? In this issue for more information.) I eagerly look forward to it, along with thousands of other members of the United Church of God each year. It is a time to learn how to better fear and respect God (Deuteronomy 14:23). To this end there are church services each morning with informative messages followed by afternoons and evenings to spend with friends who have come together for the festival. Some festival sites where we meet for these seven days are small while others have hundreds of members, many of whom have travelled from interstate and even overseas. In 2026 the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed from September 26 to October 2, with September 26 being the Holy Day, observed from sunset to sunset.
From: https://www.ucg.org.au/learning/bible-insights/the-feast-of-ingathering-feast-of-tabernacles?
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