THE APPOINTED TIMES OF THE LORD

                                                                CHAPTER FIVE

                   THE APPOINTED TIMES OF THE LORD     

The Everlasting Covenant requires that we observe and celebrate certain special, appointed, decreed and anointed holy moments, days and/or seasons.  The following are The Appointed Times of the Lord which we must celebrate at their appointed times without failure:

(1)   During the Levitical times, the priest would offer the morning and evening sacrifices around 9am and 3pm every day. It did not matter how special the day was whether it was a Sabbath or a feast day but everything had to wait and give way for these sacrifices to be offered. When Jesus abolished sacrifices and offerings, those times were converted into official prayer times by God in heaven.

We need to revive and reform to accommodate observance and acknowledgment of those holy moments of prayer. One does not need to attend some Church service somewhere but can even whisper a prayer in the course of their work or wherever they may be. Those are the moments when God and Jesus literary meet in heaven to audit and plan for the day’s work.

We are also called upon to hold parallel or simultaneous prayers in recognition of God’s meeting with Jesus every day in heaven at those times. Try Jesus in this and you will not regret it. I have tried Him already and I have seen the benefits. Can you remember when Peter healed the cripple outside the temple? They had gone to the temple at 3pm for the evening prayers (Acts 3:1).

(2)   The next appointed time of the Lord is the 7^th day of the week which always falls on Saturdays. This is the holy Sabbath day. Every seventh day in heaven, God summons a general meeting of all the inhabitants of heaven to audit the work of a whole week of seven days. We are required to hold simultaneous or parallel assemblies here on earth in recognition of God’s heavenly meeting or holy assembly.

(3)   The next special appointed moment is called New-Moon day. This is the first day of the month when God expects us to have special moments of thanksgiving for the gift of a new Month and to celebrate the successes of the previous Month or mourn its failures. This is the day when the moon is totally obscured and there is no crescent visible at all. We say it is the time of the lunar conjunction when the earth, sun and moon are on a near straight line. This is a day that assembling of the saints is required but not to the tune of Sabbath sacredness because it is not an officially designated Sabbath day. This is a day one can choose to fast or dedicate to God in one way or another. This day should not just pass like any other day for the saints.

(4)    The other appointed time of the Lord is the annual time of the 7-day Passover Festival. This Festival plays host to three different feasts within those seven days. The first of those feasts is the Passover Feast after which the Festival is named. This is supposed to be celebrated from the twilight of the 14^th day of the first Month. The same night should be a mandatory Passover night vigil until the morning of the 15th day. Jesus was arrested while observing the Passover night vigil. It is during the night vigil that the saints are supposed to take the Passover as instructed by Jesus during his last Passover here on earth. Remember one has no freedom to change the times appointed for the celebration of any of these feasts.

(5)   The next appointed time of the Lord is the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is a seven day event running from the 15^th to the 21^st day of the first Month. The 15^th and the 21^st days are reckoned as holy Sabbath days with all the sacredness of the seventh day Sabbath whether or not they fall on the Saturday Sabbath days. During the seven days of the feast, the saints are supposed to break bread every evening. Remember the bread should not be taken alongside the cup like is the case on the Passover night in the 14^th day of the same Month. When Jesus resurrected on Sunday, that evening He broke bread at Cleopas place in keeping with the requirements of the Feast of Unleavened bread which had started on the Friday of crucifixion and was extending up to the following Thursday (Luke 24:30).

(6)   The next appointed time of the Lord is the Feast of First-Fruits which is always held on the day after the seventh-day Sabbath which comes immediately after the Passover Feast on the 14^th day of the first Month. This means the Feast of First-Fruits is supposed to be celebrated on Sundays all the time.

(7)   The other appointed time of the Lord is the Pentecost Festival which is observed exactly 50 days from the Sunday of the feast of First-Fruits. This is a one day Festival and plays host to only one feast. This day is reckoned as a holy Sabbath day although it is always on a Sunday. The disciples were celebrating this Festival when Jesus endorsed it by sending the promised Hoy Spirit during the celebrations. In future the Church will be given the latter rain in the course of their Pentecostal Celebrations one Sunday morning.

(8)   The next appointed time of the Lord is the Festival of Tabernacles at the close of the religious calendar in the 7^th month of God’s original calendar. This Festival plays host to three different feasts spread across 21 days of this final 7^th Month. The first feast is the Feast of Trumpets which is always held on the first day of the seventh month.  The whole day is set apart as a Sabbath day whether or not it falls on Saturdays.

(9)   The next appointed time of the Lord is the Feast of The Day of Atonement which is held every tenth day of the seventh month. This day is set apart as a holy Sabbath day. It is a day when fasting is a must since it is the most solemn feast of all the seven.

(10)                        The next appointed time of the Lord is the seven -day feast of Tabernacles which is held from the 15^th to the 21^st days of the seventh Month. The 15^th and the 21^st days are set apart as holy Sabbath days.

(11)                        The next appointed time of the Lord is the seventh or Sabbatical year. The 7^th year is always a Sabbatical for the land.

(12)                        We also have the 50^th year which is set apart for the Jubilee celebrations. It is therefore another appointed time of the Lord which we need to observe as a Church.

     

It is only when we faithfully observe all the appointed times of the Lord that we can be said to be walking together with God as Enoch did. The following facts show how important the appointed times are in our journey to heaven and also explains the important role that those times play in our lives.