The history of the amazing growth of the Worldwide Church of God is linked closely to Mr. Armstrong's decision to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Church leaders discovered that those members of the Church who attended the Feast at the national sites like Big Sandy, Texas, grew substantially more than others. The WCG meteoric growth rate started with the keeping of the Feast, until about 1972, when internal plots against key leaders took root. Other factors were decisions by Mr. Armstrong to go on the radio in 1934 and starting Ambassador College in1948. But clearly, for individual growth, attending the Feast was decisive.
God's ways are a blessing so it is understandable that the keeping of the Holy Days is vital to spiritual growth. Exodus 31 and Leviticus 23 lists all of God's appointed times, His Holy Days, starting with the weekly Sabbath, and then the annual Sabbaths. They are markers to identify God's true worshipers. They are God's days not just the days of the Jews.
Exodus 31:13-16 NKJV 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
14 'You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you...16 'Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
Note that this verse also says that more days, besides the weekly Sabbath, are holy to God. The plural of the word Sabbath means all of them. This would include the annual ones as well. One of the most significant of the annual Holy Days was the annual Fall Festival Season. The Feast of Tabernacles would allow the people of God to leave home and live in temporary quarters and enjoy the bounty of their harvest for eight exciting days. An eight day spiritual revival is meaningful to everyone.
Acts 18:20-21 NKJV 20 When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, 21 but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus.
The Apostle Paul went out of his way to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. Further, Jesus Christ attended the Feast and even spoke there, though the authorities were trying to murder him. If someone ever had an excuse not to attend, that would be it. Paul further told the Colossians who were living in a gentile environment, not to let anyone judge them for keeping these Biblical Holy Days. Note John 7:1-10 and Col. 2:16. For further evidence that the Holy Days given in the Bible, are God's Days, not the days chosen by the Jews, see verses below.
Leviticus 23:1-4 NKJV 1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. 3 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
This pronouncement by God includes the annual feasts as well the weekly.
Leviticus 23:41 NKJV 41 'You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
JESUS CHRIST IS THE HEART OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The Day of Atonement will help the growth and development of believers as well. This fast, right before the Feast of Tabernacles, will prepare our hearts for the revival of the Feast. Christ is the Heart of the Day of Atonement. Who really atoned for the sins of Israel? Who atones for the sins of the world, Jesus Christ does. Note John 1:29 and 1:1, 14. Understanding that The True Sacrifice Goat and Scapegoat Are the Fulfillment of the Day of Atonement Sacrifices are revealing. The high priest used two goats for the Day of Atonement sacrifices for the entire nation of Israel. Note Lev. 16:7-8.
Leviticus 16:7-9 NKJV 7 "He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 "Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 "And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering.
THE SCAPEGOAT IS OUR PARTNER IN SINFULNESS
The high priest had to cast lots to determine which goat to sacrifice for the sins of all the people and which to let go free into the hot desert. The obvious meaning is that normal human beings cannot always discern good from evil at the spiritual level. Many are so deceived that the devil and his workers are perceived to this day as “angels of light”. See II Cor. 11:13-15.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NKJV 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Many deceived clerics in this world serve paganism and spiritual forces that oppose the true God. However, some do it knowingly unfortunately. The first goat represents our Lord’s sacrifice for our sins. The other goat, representing Satan, is not killed or sacrificed but is cast away into the vast hot desert wilderness. Our Savior exchanged His sinless purity for our horrible sins. During Bible times, scapegoat did not have the meaning of an innocent goat taking the blame for something it did not do. Today it would be better rendered ‘escape goat’. The goat that escaped death. This goat is sinful and evil, but not sacrificed. A sacrifice for our sins must be pure and sinless like Jesus Christ. Lev.16 points out Christ's role as the ultimate sacrifice for all the nations sins. The escape goat is removed from the people. The complete removal of the source and encourager of sin, the Azazel Goat is part of God's plan.
THE SCAPEGOAT AND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE ATONEMENT SACRIFICE CHRIST
Luke describes how Pilate wanted to free Jesus. He knew the religious leaders were so jealous of Christ that they wanted him killed. So he tried to release Christ. But the mob, stirred up by the leaders yelled for Jesus' crucifixion. Pilate released a murderer, Barabbas. He let him go while Jesus, the Lamb of God was sacrificed. See Luke 23:22-25. Christ represented the sacrificed goat who was not released. Barabbas filled the role of the scapegoat, the sinful goat let go and sent into the desert. This is a clear match to the drama played out in the temple annually on every Day of Atonement. See also Mark 15:12-15. Satan Is Not an Innocent Scapegoat But Our Partner in Sin. God's adversary Satan promotes sinfulness in very clever manners. He has seduced our society to promote defiance of God. Yet most people think they are serving God. The removing of the Devil would help our world immensely.
Leviticus 16:21-22 NKJV 21 "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into
the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
The goat that is set free is our partner in sin. GTA often said that Satan is our partner in crime. Would Eve have disobeyed God without Satan’s seduction? Satan was, at the minimum, her partner in crime. He and his minions are constantly seducing mankind into further sinfulness every day. They have led mankind astray since the Garden of Eden. Note Rev. 12:9.
Revelation 12:9 NKJV 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
We people have no idea of the totality of the depravity and destruction that Satan has caused mankind. The ‘escape goat’ did carry guilt out of Israel. He carried the guilt to a hot wilderness. This is symbolic of the bottomless pit and lake of fire where Satan does not die but is confined forever, like the scapegoat lost in the hot desert. See Rev. 20:1-3.
Revelation 20:1-3 NKJV 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
The Devil is released for a short while then back into the bottomless pit forever.
WE CANNOT BLAME ALL OUR SINS ON THE DEVIL
We all have human nature. The devil is the author of rebellion and pushes and nudges us in the directions we often wish to go. Paul, when he was disappointed in himself, admitted the carnality of his nature. Jesus is the only one that can save us from our sinful nature. See Romans 7:23-25; 8:1-3 . Every year on the Day of Atonement we should all repent of our sins, commit to avoiding evil, and satanic worldly influences as much as possible. Another point of great importance is to forgive others that have sinned against you. God will not forgive you if you don’t forgive others their trespasses against you. Satan loves hatred and revenge. Resist and repentantly follow Jesus, wherever He leads us.
Romans 8:1-4 NKJV 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Fasting on the Day of Atonement can help us appreciate the sacrifice of Christ and us resist the flesh.
