“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (II Cor. 4:18)
The fall holy day season is rich with themes to meditate on…God’s final judgment, bringing both wrath and mercy. Humility, reconciliation, and redemption.
But there’s another theme that God clearly wants us to dwell on during this time, one that’s kind of “baked” into many of the other topics we talk about, but doesn’t often get the focus it deserves—the idea of impermanence, of the transitory and temporary status of EVERYTHING in our current frame of reference.
Now, I can hear some of you muttering, “But of course we talk about impermanence! It’s in the Feast of Trumpets when Jesus returns to earth, in Atonement when Satan is bound, and in the Feast of Tabernacles in the idea of temporary dwellings!” And you’d be right. So let me explain what I mean a bit more.
A lot of what we focus on during this time is the absolute destruction that will be inflicted on a rebellious and sinful world at the end of the age, during the time when Jesus Christ will return to take back dominion of the world.
As we meditate on the seals, the trumpet plagues, and the bowl plagues in Revelation, on the statue of Daniel, and other prophetic passages that give us a shrouded glimpse of what’s to come, it’s hard not to dwell on the devastation that must occur before God’s kingdom is set up. It’s easy to equate the theme of impermanence with this physical and societal destruction.
But what I’ve been meditating on this fall holy day season goes beyond that. Specifically, the fall holy days help us start to understand that this is about the impermanence of ANYTHING that is not directed by—and toward—God. It goes so far beyond just “who’s in charge”.
And in focusing on the physical downfall of the nations, we may be missing some of the deeper, lasting implications…ones that renew our hope and excitement for the eternal kingdom God has planned for us.
We’re told that even though God has “planted eternity in our hearts”, He also designed it so that we “cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Eccl. 3:11). But we yearn, and we study, and we imagine.
As we walk through the fall holy day season this year, I’m meditating on the impermanence of this world—not in the abstract, but on how fully God and Jesus Christ will tear down everything that keeps us from being at one with Them.
So here are some of the temporary things that will be utterly destroyed…
The governmental & societal structures of this world
Every year at the Feast of Trumpets, we commemorate a FUTURE victory, one that’s accomplished by the blowing of trumpets and a loud shout.
“Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet], and there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever’ (Rev. 11:15)
Trumpets pictures the end of this current kosmos—the “arrangement” of the world. In other words, how society is set up, how it functions, who’s in charge, what the norms are. In the vision of the statue in Daniel 2, the “stone cut without hands” crushes the statue (this world’s system) to dust, and we’re told that “the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found.”
Literally nothing will be left, because nothing is redeemable from this world’s governments, systems, or culture (Daniel 2). Daniel says:
“And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall…break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44).
What does this really mean? No more human government, corrupt rulers, insidious regulatory bodies and corporations out for their own gain. No more political or religious divisions, wars, exploitation, poverty, abuse, and crime.
Through the trumpets and bowl plagues, God and Jesus Christ will absolutely shred mankind’s illusion (delusion) that we can sustain ourselves, control ourselves—that we don’t need God.
And when this world has reached peak self-sufficiency and sin and rebellion, Jesus Christ will return to reclaim His rightful ownership of the earth. We’re told that the government will rest upon His shoulders, and “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). He will establish the government and kingdom of God for eternity.
Rabbinical tradition states that Adam was created on the Feast of Trumpets, giving man dominion over the earth…which he quickly handed over to Satan (Gen. 3). The fall holy days picture God breaking the power that sin has over humanity and reclaiming dominion of the earth from Satan.
Read next: Do Not Love the World: A Spiritual Application of Burning Platform Theory
Our frail human bodies
King David reflected that man’s days are like grass, flourishing quickly but then a wind blows through and it dies and is remembered no more. Our bodies are miraculous, intricate machines, showcasing the power and imagination of God.
But they are also incredibly impermanent. They break down constantly, especially in this corrupted world. They get diseases, injuries, aches, and are sometimes unable to do even the most basic tasks we need. They are merely an “earthly tent”, awaiting a more permanent structure (II Cor. 5:1).
On the Day of Atonement, we fast from sundown to sundown, focusing entirely on God and His plan for reconciling mankind to Him. Think about how you feel on Atonement…dry mouth, maybe a headache, weak, brain foggy. And this is after less than 24 hours!
This demonstrates not only our complete dependence on God, but also shows us how we should feel about HIM—having a hunger and thirst for the Bread of Life and the water of the holy spirit. We should have that same longing and complete focus on ingesting them that we do for physical food and water, and understand our absolute dependence on God in providing them.
Fasting pictures being cut off from the bread of life and living water. And in this period of denying our bodies what they so desperately want, it requires us to look to God for our sustenance and survival, and also reflect on our inability to provide for ourselves.
We see a similar parallel in the Feast of Tabernacles command to live in temporary dwellings for a week. These tents were made of palm branches, starting out green but gradually turning brown and brittle, providing less protection as the week went on because they’d been cut off from the life-sustaining tree (more on that here). And so we similarly wither and die when not connected to the Vine (John 15).
For God’s called and elect on this earth, the seventh trumpet represents the translation of our physical, mortal bodies into eternal spiritual beings (I Thes. 4:16).
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (I Cor. 15:51-53)
But this goes beyond just changing our existing bodies from easily-damaged temporary material into permanent and eternal spirit beings. What’s fascinating (and I don’t hear discussed about as much), is what Paul talks about regarding our bodies just before that last passage.
He raises a common question about how bodies of the dead, which decayed into dust centuries ago, were burned to ash, thrown in the ocean, or many other scenarios, can then be raised back to life. He calls it a foolish question (Paul can be a bit harsh), but then goes on to explain using a seed and planting analogy:
“What you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body He wants it to have…It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory…” (I Cor. 15:35-43, NLT)
“And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [Jesus Christ]” (verse 49, NKJV)
Just…WOW. Basically, just like a kernel of wheat or a tiny zucchini seed doesn’t give any indication of what the final plant and fruit will look like, so it is with us. Our current bodies bear no more resemblance to what we shall be, than a tiny acorn resembles a mighty oak tree. Our physical bodies are just a seed God is sowing, but we have no idea what our amazing eternal spirit bodies will be like!
Read next: Burnt Offerings to Living Sacrifices: What Worshipping a Holy God Requires of Us
Our striving for physical needs and security
We live in a world of striving, of hustle and worry and clawing to either meet our needs or accumulate as much as possible to be able to feel secure. But this, too, is impermanent.
The fall holy days remind us that the physical possessions we store up are not permanent. And that if we currently exist in a state of desperate need (which is the case for much of the world), that too is temporary. God has so much more planned for us.
This theme is teased out throughout the whole book of Ecclesiastes. The author (King Solomon, many think), shares all the different ways he strove after great accomplishments, hard labor, and seeking pleasure. But ultimately he found that, while it is good to be content and to enjoy the fruits of our labor, all of that striving was just “grasping for the wind”—a futile and frustrating endeavor.
The Year of Jubilee doesn’t get talked about a lot. But in ancient Israel, every 50 years on the Day of Atonement, the trumpet would sound and the Year of Jubilee was proclaimed. Debts were forgiven, inheritances reclaimed, and shackles were loosened.
“And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants…each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family…you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine…you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 25:10-end of chapter)
The passage goes on to describe how bondservants were released from their debts, inherited property was regained, the fields were given rest, and so much more.
What’s incredible about this command (in addition to the other sabbath years commanded), was that the people had to rely entirely on God providing their food. Because the 49th and 50th years were BOTH sabbath years, God says they had to rely on His blessing to bring forth enough produce to last them three years (Lev. 25:21-22). Those people forgiving debts or returning property they had legally purchased back to its original owner also had to trust that God would bless them and that it would not harm them financially.
The fall holy days provide a window through which we can look into this time of renewal and prosperity. Rather than chasing after physical possessions or relying on ourselves for physical or financial security, we will be able to trust in God’s provision and blessing on all fronts.
We’re told that when the kingdom is set up, the instruments of war will be turned into productive farming implements, and “everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid” (Mic. 4:4). Security and prosperity.
Read next: Through the Wilderness: The Journey of Our Lives
Our disconnect from God
From the minute Adam and Eve gave into the serpent’s temptation and ate from the forbidden tree, a separation has existed between God and man (Gen 3). In an instant, humans ceased to be the eternal offspring of God that they were intended to be, and death became an inevitability of the human condition (Heb. 9:27).
Our iniquities and sins have separated us from God since that moment in the garden, and whether we realize it or not, every single human being has felt that chasm, that gaping hole we have deep down. Mankind turned away from God and decided to try to do things our own way, and so we’re told that, “they do not know or understand; for He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot understand” (Is. 44:18).
The prophet Isaiah calls it the “covering cast over the world”, a thick veil that blinds the hearts and minds of humanity to God’s awesome power and mercy (Is. 25:7). Nothing could begin to bridge that gap until our perfect Savior paid the price for our sins (Heb. 10:12-19, I Pet. 2:24).
With that, Paul explains, “Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ…He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Eph. 2:13). For those God is working with today, that separation has been removed.
But that’s just the first step.
In Jewish tradition, it was on the Day of Atonement that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree and when man was subsequently cut off from the Tree of Life. It feels fitting, then, that the holy day pictures the reconciliation whereby the entirety of mankind will be restored to full relationship with God and able to eat of the Tree of Life again.
The day’s name of kippur and kaphar speaks to extending mercy, making amends, cancelling debt, and reconciliation. It is believed that the removal of Satan spoken of in Revelation 20:3, and then his permanent destruction in verse 13, are pictured by this day. The shackles of sin, of Satan’s chokehold on this world, will be removed.
God will destroy the veil cast over the world’s mind and His love and mercy will fill the gaping chasm with a true relationship with our Father…we will be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).
Read next: The Day of Atonement, the Veil, & Covering the World
Sorrow, pain, and death
When was the last time your heart broke? The last time you cried, your heart ached, you were hurt by someone or cried out in anguish at your circumstances?
Out of all of the topics we’re covering here, this one is perhaps the hardest one to grasp for me, because suffering, pain, and death are hallmarks of the human condition. But even they are temporary. There will come a time when we never have to deal with them again.
“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and HE will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3-4)
No more grief, anguish, or broken hearts. We’ll be reunited with the loved ones we’ve lost, the babies we never had a chance to hold. No more abusive relationships, marriages torn asunder, or children turning their backs on parents. God did not design the world to have those things, and when He recreates this world, they will no longer exist.
David says of God that He keeps track of our sorrows and collects all our tears in His bottle, recording each one in His book (Ps 56:8). There is not a single hurt that God doesn’t know about, and He promises to heal the brokenhearted and bind up our sorrows (Ps. 147:3).
When God’s eternal kingdom is established, God will destroy those things forever. Grief will lose its grip. Sorrow will change to shouts of joy. Like a parent reaching down to comfort a little child, He’ll wipe away every tear that has run down our faces and reach inside to heal the deepest wounds.
Read next: The Feast of Tabernacles & the Fleeting Nature of Man
All things.
We’ve looked at several aspects of our human existence that seem permanent but aren’t. But this goes beyond that. Because we’re told in Revelation that after the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth, after the entirety of humanity is resurrected, and after Satan and death are destroyed…that even reality as we know it will pass away.
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband…
Then HE who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new…I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son’” (Rev. 21:1-7).
John goes on to describe the mind-blowing New Jerusalem, with no sun or moon because the Lamb is its Light, the river of water flowing from God’s throne and the Tree of Life available to all. My mind truly can’t wrap around what this will look like or be like.
When ancient Israel kept the Feast of Tabernacles and built their palm branch temporary abodes, it’s said that they always made the roof where you could see through it—to indicate where our real dwelling is, and to caution against trusting in the physical shelter to protect them.
Even the millennial kingdom that Jesus establishes on the earth at His return is not permanent, because it’s still created out of physical matter. It is the final step showcasing the impermanence of man. Because when the thousand years are finished (pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles), God will DE-create the earth. This is the bookend to Genesis 1, the complete dissolution of the physical world.
Literally everything we know now will be destroyed. Everything we can see, understand, our frame of reference. Gravity. How our bodies function. The inevitability of death. My frustrating inability to teleport.
We don’t know much about God’s final holy day, the Eighth Day (also often called the Last Great Day). The number eight pictures the beginning of a new cycle, a fresh start—such as the beginning of a new week after the previous is completed.
The Eighth Day is the ultimate fulfillment of this, the beginning of a brand new cycle after the completion of seven thousand years (seven “days”) of mankind. The Eighth Day is something completely new. ALL things will be new.
Read next: “All Things Made New”: The Eighth Day in God’s Holy Day Plan
“Teach us to number our days”
In Ecclesiastes we’re told that this life and everything under the sun are vapor, little more than a breath. Temporary and quickly dissipating.
We know this, and yet this life feels so REAL, so…permanent sometimes. But these holy days force us to focus on the utter impermanence of every single thing that separates us from God—of the corrupt societal structures and government, of sorrow and death, our frail bodies, the distractions of chasing after physical security or wealth.
Through these days, God is showing us that none of that will matter in the end. Instead, we must focus on drawing near to Him and using the time we’re given here wisely.
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man to destruction, and say, ‘Return, O children of men.’
For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night…they are like a sleep, in the morning they are like the grass which grows up: in the evening it is cut down and withers…The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away…
So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long?…Oh, satisfy us early with your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days!” (Ps. 90)
So what, then, IS permanent?? “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (I John 2:17). The only things that are completely permanent are God and Jesus Christ, and the eternal kingdom that they will create.
Speaking of God’s promises to us as His eternal children and heirs, we’re told that “this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19). This hope isn’t merely a wish, but rather our sure expectation—we have complete confidence in it happening.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together…we also who have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:18-23)
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