Of what was the Day of Atonement a type?
(Nehemiah 8:1-18; Lev. 23:23-43; Psa. 119:105; Acts 8:26-38) Blog 03-9 Nov, 2019
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the return of the exiles to Judea. Three Persian kings made decrees for their return: Cyrus in 538 BC; Darius in 520 BC; and Artaxerxes in 457 BC. In 444 BC, Nehemiah joined Ezra in Jerusalem. The temple had been completed in 516 BC with the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, so they directed their efforts towards rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall and gates. They were men of strong faith and diligent effort whom God chose at an important time of prophetic history. In their efforts to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall they faced opposition from without and from within while also dealing with internal disputes.
The Feasts of the Seventh Month (Lev. 23:23-39)
1. What Jewish festival is celebrated on the first day of the seventh month? The Feast of Trumpets.
2. For what is the Feast of Trumpets a preparation? For the Day of Atonement, before which all sins should be confessed & an attitude of humility be entered into.
3. What Jewish festival is celebrated on the tenth day of the seventh month? The Day of Atonement.
4. What Jewish festival began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month? The Feast of Tabernacles.
5. To what did the Feast of Tabernacles look back? To God’s deliverance of his people from Egyptian slavery & their wilderness wanderings.
6. How long did the Feast of Tabernacles last and how was it celebrated? It lasted seven days & was celebrated by living in booths made from tree branches.
The Seventh Month with Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 8:1-12; Psa. 1:1-2; Acts 8:26-38; 1 Pet. 1:19-21)
7. After Jerusalem’s wall and gates were rebuilt what did God’s people do on the first day of the seventh month? They gathered in an open area of Jerusalem & asked Ezra to read from Holy Scripture to them.
8. What factors must have created such an interest in the Word of God among the people in Judea? The continual instruction in the Word by Ezra over a period of 13 years together with the manifold evidence of God’s leading in the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall & gates during 52 days of Nehemiah’s leadership.
9. Who gathered for the Feast of Trumpets in Jerusalem when the wall was rebuilt? Every thinking person among God’s people.
10. According to Psalm 1, what kind of people love God’s Law and continually meditate in it? Those that don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.
11. Besides reading from God’s law, what else did the Levites and Ezra do all morning long? They not only read the Word of God, they also explained its meaning & applied its instruction to the lives of those present.
12. Does the Bible say that we are to interpret it? No, it says that we are to understand & obey it but not to interpret it. Notice how many times the word “understand” is mentioned in the first 14 verses of Nehemiah 8.
13. If we are not to interpret the Bible who is ordained to do that work? No human being or group of humans is given the work of interpreting the Bible – that work belongs to the Holy Spirit alone who uses the Bible itself to interpret itself.
14. Why did Israel’s leaders tell the people not to morn but rather to rejoice? Because the wept considering their sins but were to rejoice that God loved them & had forgiven their sins since this was a holy day.
The Seventh Month in Antitype (1 Cor. 5:7-8; Col. 2:13-14; Rev. 8:1)
15. Are God’s people today to celebrate the feasts that were prescribed to the children of Israel? No, all those ceremonial laws were nailed to the cross & are not binding on Christians today.
16. Do the feasts prescribed to Israel have application to the Christian era? Yes, for they were all types of the ministry of Jesus in our salvation.
17. Of what was the Feast of Passover a type? Of the death of Christ after which his people should continually live removing the leaven of sin from their lives.
18. Of what was the Feast of Pentecost a type? Of the day of Pentecost when Christ’s disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
19. Of what was the Feast of Trumpets a type? Of the announcement of the arrival of the hour of God’s judgment given in the 1830s.
20. Of what was the Day of Atonement a type? Of Christ’s investigative judgement as announced in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; & Revelation 14:6-7.
21. Of what was the Feast of Tabernacles a type? Of the seven prophetic days mentioned in the seventh seal of Revelation when Christ seals the covenant with his sealed people just prior to his coming in glory.
22. How can God’s people today carry out the principle of the Feast of Tabernacles? By gathering to a Bible campmeeting every year.