[E-1] God's Holy Days -- A Study of The Revelation

An Introduction

It took Jesus six days to create the heavens and the earth and everything and every living creature in them; but since that night nearly 2000 years ago when Jesus spoke the words recorded in John's gospel He has been preparing a place for us in heaven!

In I Thes. 4:14-18, we are commanded to comfort one another with words of our Lord's return. Repeatedly, God's word tells us not to be ignorant concerning things to come which our Lord has made known to us in scripture. The study of the Revelation and future prophecy is one of the most exciting studies in all of scripture. The Revelation itself gives a promised blessing on all who read it {Rev. 1:3}.

My first year of teaching school (1977) I was in the teachers' lounge during my conference period reading and taking some notes on the Revelation. A teacher asked me what I was doing when I told her, she said to me: "Doesn't that book scare the day lights out of you?" I told her, "No, because I've read the last chapter and I know how it ends." We are on the winning side! Jesus IS KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS. If this were not so, we'd have no desire to study His word. The more we study His Word, the more like Him we become, and the more eagerly we await His return.

Many are scared off from studying the Revelation because so much if it is written with symbolism, however, that symbolism is often explained within the same chapter, or is taken directly from the Old Testament. At times it is necessary to go back to the Old Testament to see the original meaning of symbols. Therefore understanding the Revelation requires a knowledge of the Old Testament. For these reasons we will be covering many topics in this study. However, head knowledge is not enough. The devil knows everything presented in these notes, but that will not save him on the day of judgment. Knowledge of the future is not a comfort to those who have never accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The purpose of this study is four-fold: first, to help each of us draw closer in love to our heavenly Father and His only Son; second, to give us confidence in our salvation through Jesus Christ; third, faith and trust that our Lord is in complete control; and fourth, that every single letter and word of scripture is important and all will be fulfilled.

The pages contained in this book are far from complete. Much of the research described here {the Jewish holy days, the numbers of Daniel on the Old, New, and Prophetic Jewish calendars, etc.} raises excitement and awe at the meticulous detail worked out by our Lord long before the first human was ever created. At the same time it reminds us that there is still much to learn and much that will not be known until our Lord chooses to reveal it.

Note: These are not the Jews' holy days {although even today, I sometimes catch myself as referring to them as Jewish holy days}, but God's holy days! In this study, we will note the fulfillment of the first of God's holy days: Passover, First Fruits Offering, and Pentecost and the future fulfillment of the rest of God's holy days: the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Seventh year, and the Year of Jubilee.
We will also examine the prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others as they relate directly to our study.