St George's Anglican Church
A Traditional Episcopal 1928 Prayer Book Parish
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The Church Kalendar (Continued from last Sunday)
Each of these observances commemorated something God had already done for Israel and also looked forward to a future time when God would do a greater work.
3. Pentecost. The gift of the Holy Ghost completed the harvest of souls because we are raised from the dead through the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is given to us in our baptism (cf. Romans 6:2). The gift of the Holy Ghost also fulfills the Law given to Moses. In the Old Testament the law was written in stone. In the New Testament the law is written in our hearts through the Holy Ghost (Jeremiah 31:31).
4. Rosh Hashanah points to the end of time and the beginning of the new creation. The trumpet or shofar of Rosh Hashanah is the trumpet of the end of time in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thess. 4:16, Revelation 8:2).
5. Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. The annual sacrifices on the Day of Atonement were fulfilled by the death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. Read Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 for an extended discussion of how Jesus fulfills the various details of the Yom Kippur observance.
6. Succoth/Booths/Tabernacles points to final gathering or harvest of souls at the Second Coming of Jesus.
A note on the later Jewish feast of Hanukkah. In the time between end of the Old Testament age and the coming of Jesus (c.170 B.C.) Israel was invaded by a Syrian general named Antiochus, who desecrated the temple with pagan sacrifices. Certain valiant Jews fought back and won independence for Israel. They rededicated the temple and that rededication is celebrated on the feast of Hanukkah, which is also called the Feast of Lights (cf. 1 Maccabees 1-4).
The Birth of Jesus (Christmas) has theological correspondence with the Feast of Light or Hanukkah. Christ is the new and rededicated temple of God. He is the place where the glory of God now dwells among mankind (cf. John 1:14). His advent renders the old temple obsolete and replaces it with a new and better temple, the temple of His Body. This fulfills the promise of the rededication of the temple at Hanukkah.
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Anglican Province of Christ the King - Diocese of Southwestern States
