TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Key Steps in God's Plan

We have discovered God's master plan to "bring many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10). Now let's consider the specific steps needed to fulfill that plan. Those steps become clear when we understand the awesome purpose of God's seven annual festivals and the weekly seventh-day Sabbath.

What Is Your Destiny? These special sacred days are listed in Leviticus 23. They give us a concise view of God's master plan. Each festival focuses on one major facet of that plan. By observing these festivals we can gain a much deeper understanding of the essential steps in God's plan for the salvation of humankind (Psalm 111:10).

God's feast days

In Leviticus 23 we find God's command to observe the weekly Sabbath and specific festivals throughout the year. This command still applies. God said, "These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations [sacred assemblies] which you shall proclaim at their appointed times" (verse 4). Notice that they are God's feasts, not just Israel's national holidays. However, God gave them first to the people of Israel. God's intent was that should they set the example for all other nations (Deuteronomy 4:6).

What is even more important to us is that Jesus Christ kept these days (Matthew 26:17; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:16, 31; John 7:8-10, 14, 37). The early Christians also kept these festivals and the seventh-day Sabbath (Acts 2:1; 12:3-4; 16:13; 18:4, 19, 21; 20:6; 27:9; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). They are vital reminders of God's plan for us.

Prophecy shows that, after Jesus Christ's return, all nations will keep these festivals to honor and worship God (Zechariah 14:16-19). Speaking of that time, Isaiah 66:23 records the words of God Himself: ". . . From one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me." This shows that the entire world will be required to observe these days once Christ returns. They will be part of the laws of His Kingdom.

Therefore, we need to seriously consider the significance of these feasts in their proper sequence. We need to understand their relationship to the fantastic destiny God has planned for us.

The weekly Sabbath

The listing of God's festivals in Leviticus 23 begins with the weekly Sabbath-the seventh day of the week, which begins Friday at sunset and lasts until Saturday at sunset. One of the Sabbath's purposes is to remind God's people every week that the God they worship is the Creator of the heavens and earth (Exodus 20:8, 11).

But it also has a prophetic aspect. In Hebrews 4:4-9 the weekly Sabbath rest is related to the 1,000-year time of peace during Jesus Christ's reign on earth (Revelation 5:10; 11:15; 20:4-6). That will be the time salvation will be made available to all mankind. The comparison of the weekly Sabbath to Christ's millennial reign concludes with "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9, NIV).

God commands His people to keep the Sabbath so they will never forget He has promised a time of international peace when Christ will offer salvation to the whole world. The Sabbath is also a special time, sanctified by God, during which His children are to learn and grow in the knowledge and character that is expected from the members of His family. (For further understanding, please request our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest.)

The meaning of the Passover

In addition to the weekly Sabbath, God commands the observance of His annual festivals. The first, in sequence, is the Passover (Leviticus 23:5). It was first instituted at the time of Israel's exodus from Egypt, when all the firstborn not protected by the blood of a lamb died. Only the households that had sacrificed a lamb and placed its blood on their doorposts were spared from death (Exodus 12:12-13).

The lambs slain by ancient Israel represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for humanity (1 Peter 1:19). That sacrifice of Christ as our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7) is the first and most important step in God's plan for mankind's salvation.

But why is the Passover so important for us to remember and observe? It is because our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2), and the "wages of sin" is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus, as the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29), sacrificed His life to pay that death penalty for us so we can be reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20). Reconciliation with God is the first step toward salvation.

The plan of God could not exist as we know it without Christ's atoning sacrifice. The events pictured by subsequent festivals depend on Jesus Christ's sacrifice, symbolized by the New Testament Passover.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, lasting seven days, immediately follows the Passover. God commands that, during this feast, no one eat bread containing leaven (such as yeast), nor even allow it into his home (Leviticus 23:6-8; Exodus 12:15-20).

Initially this festival was instituted as a memorial of Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Today its significance is far greater. It teaches us that Christians, who are delivered from their sins through the sacrifice of Christ, with God's help must purge wickedness from their lives and replace it with righteousness.

Paul compares sin to leaven, noting that, as leaven spreads to affect a lump of dough, so sin spreads to affect many areas of one's life as well as the lives of others. Then he concludes: "Therefore let us [Christians] keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

This feast symbolizes the Christian's commitment to put sin out of his life. It also calls his attention to the forgiveness of sin that is possible through baptism. Paul wrote that the Israelites' crossing through the Red Sea (at the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread) was their symbolic baptism and an example for Christians today (1 Corinthians 10:2, 6).

Once our sins are forgiven, we must move forward to build in our lives the same character that our Deliverer, Jesus Christ, showed us by His personal example (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:5; 1 John 2:6). Jesus said that He is the "bread of life" (John 6:35). Observing the Days of Unleavened Bread represents a Christian's commitment to emulate the "unleavened" or perfect, sinless life of Jesus Christ.

The Day of Pentecost

The next commanded festival is Pentecost, observed 50 days from the weekly Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:15-16). Its significance is clear from Acts 2. Having waited in Jerusalem as they were commanded (Acts 1:4-5), His disciples received God's Spirit as promised on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

The Holy Spirit filled the disciples with power from God. Through their inspired preaching, others repented, were baptized and received God's Spirit (verses 37-41). That was the beginning of the New Testament Church. Calling a body of converted believers out of the sins of this world is the third step in God's master plan of salvation.

The Feast of Pentecost represents God's people—the Church of God—being transformed and revitalized by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides believers into God's truth (John 16:13), leading them into a transformed life (Romans 8:4-14). Without that Spirit, we cannot belong to God and Christ (verse 9) and cannot be a part of God's Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Receiving God's Spirit is an essential step to fulfilling our destiny as members of His family: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14).

The Feast of Trumpets

The Feast of Trumpets, so named because it was marked by the special blowing of trumpets, is commanded in Leviticus 23:24-25. This festival heralds the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth at the sounding of the "last trumpet," described in the book of Revelation.

At that time those who have died in Christ will be resurrected and, along with those Christians still living, will be changed into immortal spirit beings (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 11:15). Revelation 20:6 says, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

Although the Feast of Trumpets heralds the return of Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace, the process of peacemaking won't be complete until God restrains Satan the devil, the author of confusion, chaos and war, from influencing humanity for 1,000 years. That brings us to the fifth step in God's master plan.

The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement, observed by fasting and assembly as commanded in Leviticus 23:27-32, marks another milestone in God's plan. It relates to the Passover, since Jesus Christ as our Passover is also our Atonement. In ancient Israel the emphasis for this festival was on cleansing the nation of its sins (Leviticus 16:32-34); its future application is for the world in general.

To cleanse humanity from sin, God must first depose Satan, who constantly tempts us to sin. Then all men and women can receive the atonement of Jesus Christ to cleanse them from their sins. For this reason, one of Christ's first acts at His second coming will be to bind Satan for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). Then the reconciling of the world through the atoning sacrifice of Christ can begin in earnest. Once Satan and his deceptions are out of the way, all people can be reconciled to God.

The Feast of Tabernacles

The next commanded festival, in Leviticus 23:33-36, is the Feast of Tabernacles. It pictures the 1,000-year rule of Christ as King of Kings to continue the harvest of human lives into eternal life (John 4:35-36). This is the sixth step in God's master plan.

The reign of Christ will begin at Jerusalem and spread to every nation. Isaiah calls it the time during which "many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:3-4).

During this time of worldwide peace, every living person can learn God's ways and have the opportunity for salvation. "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). The knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas (Isaiah 11:9).

The Last Great Day

Finally, as commanded in Leviticus 23:36-39, a separate one-day festival immediately follows the Feast of Tabernacles. This day depicts the Great White Throne Judgment, the seventh step in God's plan as described in Revelation 20:11-13. People who have died having never heard about their incredible potential will have their true destiny revealed to them at that time.

Here is how it will happen. All the dead who have ever lived-people like the queen of Sheba, inhabitants of ancient Nineveh and the people of Christ's own time-will be resurrected together (Matthew 12:41-42). That resurrection of thousands of millions of people back to physical, temporal life is detailed in Ezekiel 37:1-14. These are the "rest of the dead" spoken of in Revelation 20:5. Billions of humans will repent of their past sins and receive the gift of everlasting life, attaining their ultimate destiny.

God's plan is all-encompassing. During this time the vast majority of human beings will receive the opportunity for everlasting life. Remember, God "desires all men to be saved" and is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Through His wondrous plan, all of humanity will be given the opportunity to learn God's truth, come to repentance and receive salvation. (For a more-complete explanation of the festivals, be sure to request our free booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.)

What a marvelous plan! It unveils the incredible destiny of all who, through Jesus Christ, surrender to God and receive eternal life—who will share God's nature as children in His own family. God has promised, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (Revelation 21:7). Just think! God had it all planned before the beginning of time.

Act on what you have learned

What Is Your Destiny? This brings us back to where we began, to King David's reflections in Psalm 8:3-4: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"

The Bible has shown us why God is mindful of mankind: He planned our awesome future. We have seen that our ultimate destiny, the purpose of our physical existence, is to become the immortal children of God, who is our Father. The keys to understanding our destiny, and that of all humankind, are revealed step by step through God's annual festivals.

This is where you and I—and all of humanity—are headed. God will not permit His perfect plan to be foiled by human or satanic manipulation. The Bible, backed by the guarantee of Almighty God and Jesus Christ, promises us it will all come to pass.

Here is a final scripture regarding our astounding future: "Many of those who sleep [are dead] in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever" (Daniel 12:2-3, NRSV).

This is your destiny! May God grant you a heart willing to surrender your will to Him so you may receive the wonderful gift of eternal life in His family.

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