Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23/John 7-8)- The Last Great Day (7th Day) & Shmini Atzeret (The 8th Day)

Shabbat shalom, friends. My name is Chadwick Harvey, and you've reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us tonight as we celebrate and proclaim the conclusion of the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is called Hoshana Rabbah, and also the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is called Shmini Atzeret, as we enter into this holy Sabbath at sundown.

Before we get into the teaching tonight, we would like to congratulate all of the hostages and their families for being returned home today on this beautiful seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles. We also mourn with those who have not received their loved ones back — the ones who have been murdered over in Gaza. Our hearts go out to them as well, as we rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Congratulations to the twenty living souls who have been returned, and our hearts go out to the families of those who have not. We would also like to congratulate the entire Middle East for this war coming to an end, and give credit to President Trump, all of the Arab nations, and everyone involved in stopping the bloodshed and violence in the promised land.

Thank you for being with us tonight as we celebrate and proclaim this beautiful ending to the Feast of Tabernacles. The seventh day is called Hoshana Rabbah — "the great salvation" — and we are going to look at what Yeshua said on this day in the scriptures. We will also examine what he said on the eighth day, which is equally paramount. When we read the New Testament, or the second writings, we must understand it from the perspective of the feast day calendar. Only then do we fully grasp the message in John 7 and John 8, which directly correlates to the teaching tonight.

For those who are new to the biblical calendar, that is perfectly fine. We will go through a quick summary, as we have done with all the other feast days. This evening will be the culmination of the feast season. The feast day we are entering — Shmini Atzeret, the eighth day — carries great historical and prophetic significance, as well as deep personal revelation.

Let us trace the trajectory we have been on since the Feast of Passover and tie it into this final feast of the season. We began this process on Nissan 1, the beginning of the biblical calendar as established in Exodus 12:2. We celebrated Passover, when Yeshua was crucified for all of our sins. The next day began the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when he was laid in the tomb. Three days from Passover, on the feast of First Fruits, he was resurrected — on the exact divine appointment ordained in Leviticus 23.

From First Fruits, we embarked on a fifty-day divine appointment with the Almighty, counting week by week and day by day unto Shavuot — the Feast of Weeks, or what most people know as Pentecost. This fifty-day journey mirrors the Exodus from Egypt, when the children of Israel traveled from their departure to Mount Sinai. On Shavuot, we celebrated both the giving of the Torah and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit described in Acts 2.

After Shavuot, we moved to the seventeenth of Tammuz — a fast day mentioned in Zechariah 8, called the fast of the fourth month. This is not a reference to the Gregorian calendar but to the biblical calendar. It is a fast day because it marks when the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf, forty days after Shavuot. They grew impatient with Moses and built the calf in his absence. When Moses descended and saw what they had done, that day became a fast in history, as confirmed by Zechariah 8.

The seventeenth of Tammuz begins what are called the three weeks of sorrow, or the dire straits, lasting until the ninth of Av — the fifth month. The ninth of Av is the most cursed day in biblical and Jewish history: both temples were destroyed on that single day. The Lord calls us to remember, during those three weeks, why both temples were destroyed — because of disobedience. This carries enormous personal revelation through Zechariah 8, warning us so that our own personal temples are not destroyed when the Lord returns.

After the three weeks of sorrow — from the fast of the fourth to the fast of the fifth — we arrive at Tu B'Av on the fifteenth of Av, which is the day of love. You might think of it as Valentine's Day, without the paganism. Then we enter the month of Elul, the month before Yeshua will return on Tishri 1 at the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah.

Elul 1 begins the forty days of testing, or the forty days of repentance. This mirrors Moses going back up the mountain for his final forty days to intercede for the children of Israel, receiving the favorable and righteous verdict on Yom Kippur — that the sin of the golden calf was forgiven — after which they began building the tabernacle on the Feast of Tabernacles. It also mirrors Yeshua, who was tested for forty days and forty nights beginning on Elul 1, returning from the wilderness on Yom Kippur and beginning his ministry. And it mirrors the prophet Jonah, who entered Assyria on Elul 1 and brought the Ninevites to repentance over forty days, upon which the Lord relented on Yom Kippur.

This is the importance of the month of Elul, the month of repentance. After it, we celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, which marks the second coming events of Yeshua. Then come the ten days of awe — ten days of personal and national judgment, during which the Lord opens the book of each individual and each nation to determine the verdicts for the coming year. Those verdicts are sealed on Yom Kippur, the day on which he will return in Revelation 19, riding with all of us in the clouds, to redeem the children of Israel and all who are his. He will then begin to establish the millennial kingdom on the Feast of Tabernacles, Tishri 15 — Sukkot — the first day of the feast. For a thousand years, the millennial kingdom will reign. And then, after a thousand years, on the eighth day of the assembly — Shmini Atzeret — we will enter the New Jerusalem, into eternal life. This is totally amazing.

That is the trajectory we have been on, and it is vital to be in alignment with the Almighty — with Yeshua, with the Ruach — as we move through his calendar for personal purification, refinement, and revelation. Many people, myself included, have come to the calendar over the past ten or eleven years, and it has been a complete paradigm shift — a life-changing one. I cannot imagine my walk with Yeshua without the calendar, because the calendar is about him. The feast days are all about Yeshua the Messiah. When we speak of the calendar and the feast days, we are speaking of our Savior, because these are the times and seasons the Father has ordained for his first coming events and his second coming events. The Lord has given us this revelation in the Holy Bible so that all set-apart believers can be in alignment with him, on his schedule and his timing, so that we are not caught as a thief in the night.

Think of the children of Israel leaving Egypt in the Exodus. They had to undergo a purification journey. They were filled with idolatry and uncleanness from their years in Egypt. He wanted to refine them, mold them, and purify them so they would be ready to receive his holy instructions — what many call the Torah, though "law" is a mistranslation. The Torah is really the instructions of the Almighty Father for us to be good people and to walk in his ways, ways that are everlasting, as the prophet Habakkuk, King David, and many other great prophets have declared.

The trajectory of the biblical calendar — from Nissan 1 to Shmini Atzeret — is what it is all about. This is not to say the other months are unimportant; we will go through those as well as we continue the journey. But these first seven months hold the fullness of it, from Passover and the crucifixion through all the feast days to Shmini Atzeret, when he returns and we enter the New Jerusalem.

Now let us look at the scriptures. Consider what we have just outlined. Passover, Nissan 14 — the crucifixion. Unleavened Bread — laid in the tomb. First Fruits — the resurrection. Fifty days later — the outpouring of his Spirit on Shavuot, Pentecost. He fulfilled those first four spring feast days to the exact day, exact hour, and every ceremonial detail prescribed in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23. Totally amazing.

For the second coming events, the Feast of Trumpets is the first feast day to be fulfilled when he returns — that is when he pierces the clouds. Isaiah 63 describes the lightning from east to west. He returns for his day of wrath, his day of vengeance, as the prophets have declared: a day of gloom and darkness, with the sword going out against all the nations and peoples who stand against him, lasting ten days. Then, on Yom Kippur, he comes with all of us in the clouds, as described in Revelation 19. How do we know it is a Yom Kippur event? Because we are all clothed in white, riding white horses — and white is the Yom Kippur garment. The high priest wore white only once a year, and that was on Yom Kippur. He is clothed in white as well.