Sabbath Thought – Fall Holy Days

By following God’s instruction and observing His Holy Days, we are given a basic understanding of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. Without this underpinning, mainstream Christianity leans more to tradition and following synchronistic teachings rather than what is written in God’s Word. These Holy Days are seen by many as “Jewish” or as relics of observances since done away.

God’s Holy Days show us how God is working with mankind and the plan of salvation he seeks for the pinnacle of His creation. With Christ as our Passover Lamb we have payment for our sins – that is, we don’t have to pay for those sins with our own blood. Because our sins are paid for, we can begin to come out of sin as pictured in the Days of Unleavened Bread. When we yield to God, repent and make the effort to come out of sin, then God can give us His Holy Spirit as we rehearse in the Day of Pentecost. 

The Spring Holy Days have been fulfilled in their meaning, while we still look for the Fall Holy Days to be fulfilled. The Feast of Trumpets is rich in meaning with the return of Christ pictured, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the transformation of those saints alive at His return. As Christ begins to re-establish God’s government on earth Satan must be removed from his continual influence over mankind – a time we rehearse in the Day of Atonement. As we look forward to the Feast of Tabernacles we long for the day of its fulfillment – a Millennial setting when the nature of animals and the natural world around us will be fundamentally changed and mankind will have direct access to Jesus Christ and through Him, the Father. Lastly, we look forward to the day pictured in the Last Great Day, when all who have ever lived and died will have the opportunity to know, for the first time, how to live a life that leads to true life. The balance of mankind will be able to clearly understand the differences between God’s way of life and Satan’s way of death.

There is much that we should keep in mind between our rehearsing of God’s yet unfulfilled Holy Days and when those days are fulfilled. We live in a world increasingly at odds with itself. We have wars and rumors of wars, the family structure (the underpinning of any stable society) is under attack and lifestyles rejecting God’s laws are promoted with increasing fanaticism. Economies are teetering on the brink of collapse and the world in general has a very dark future. Yet, in spite of all of that, God tells us to rejoice in the hope that His Holy Days picture. He tells us to rejoice in the physical keeping of His Holy Days – I believe to help us stay focused on the good to come, not the sadness of the present world.

Let us rehearse these coming Holy Days with a joy and anticipation like never before. Let’s grasp God’s vision of the future so that vision positively impacts our life even now. Let us love God, His Laws and His ways so that we take on His nature and so that we will have each other in the dark days to come. Let us “keep the Feast” and rejoice in our merciful God!

I wish you a spiritually refreshing Sabbath, and a very enjoyable and profitable Fall Holy Day Season.

Dan Dowd

5 September, 2026