Divinely Appointed Times and the Next Full Moon

Greetings everyone,

This past full moon of Sept. 17 was called the Harvest Moon, named this way because this moon graces the skies during the harvest season each year. As we observed the lunar cycle, we are reminded the next full moon will signal the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles.

This is very appropriate, as God says in Leviticus 23:39 regarding the Feast of Tabernacles: “Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land [your harvest], you shall keep the feast of the LORDfor seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.”

The Holy Days center around and teach us about God’s plan for all mankind and the centrality of Jesus Christ’s role in every step toward its completion. And the cycles of the moon help us determine the time of God’s festivals. Yet for most of traditional Christianity, these biblical feasts are thought to have been kept only by the Jews and are considered meaningless for Christians.

Festival meanings have sadly escaped most Bible readers for the last 2,000 years. But they teach us about the Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ, and how He accomplishes God’s incredible plan for humanity.

In Genesis 1:14 we read: “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years’” (emphasis added).

God’s Feasts were intended from the very beginning of creation. How do we know? The word for seasons in this verse is the Hebrew word mo`ed {mo-ade’}. It can be translated as feast, season, appointed, or time.

Strong’s Concordance says mo’ed means appointed place, appointed time, sacred season, set feast, appointed season, appointed meeting or appointed place.

And so, we begin with the very first chapter in the Bible pointing to the way the heavens are created to designate the seasons, or sacred festivals of God. We must acknowledge that God intended for all humankind to keep His festivals, His feast days.

In Isaiah 66:23, a prophecy of the Millennium, we read: “‘And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the LORD.”

How are people going to be keeping time in the future? How will they know of the appointed times of God? We will be using what God gave us to measure His time.

Today we live by the Roman calendar, but it is helpful and inspiring to see the phases of the moon and to realize we are keeping God’s Holy Days in the time He designates. We need to be aware of the biblical months so we can time the Holy Days. In fact, there is one new moon that is a Holy Day—the new moon of the seventh month, the Day of Trumpets—so we need to keep track of the new moons to make sure we observe the Feast of Trumpets on the right day! That's just 14 days from now. We are keeping time according God's calendar.

And so we will faithfully come before God on the next new moon, on the Day of Trumpets. After that we will observe the Day of Atonement. And as we have seen the full moon this week, we look forward to the time of the next full moon—when we will all be gathered together at the Feast of Tabernacles—when the moon is full and bright.

May we all draw closer and even more faithful to Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven during this Holy Day season.

—Peter Eddington, Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

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Daily Bible Reading Program Reminder

Don’t forget to participate in the special daily Bible reading program we introduced three weeks ago. In unity, the entire Church is reading through the book of Deuteronomy.

Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity for daily Bible reading and study. The reading schedule is available by going to the ucg.org home page and clicking on the link for “Daily Bible Reading: The Book of Deuteronomy” or by clicking here: ucg.org/members/news/daily-bible-reading-the-book-of-deuteronomy. Be sure to read the chapter and commentary with your family and discuss it together.

Let’s take advantage of this special activity as the entire Church throughout the world reads and meditates on the same passages each day.

—Steve Myers, Operation Manager, Ministerial and Member Services

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UPDATE: Reaching those Incarcerated

On April 19 of this year, Media and Communications Services began airing Beyond Today television in U.S. prisons through the Edovo app. A total of 950 correctional facilities are now carrying our content on the app.

Edovo is a non-profit organization providing educational, vocational and rehabilitative curriculums and content to incarcerated people. While the Church pays for this service, it is available at no cost to the incarcerated learners. More than 700,000 learners view content on the Edovo platform daily, and more than 35 million hours of content has been viewed.

Since April 19 our content has been watched in 743 different prisons, with 42,700 unique program starts and 29,400 unique program completions. So, 69 percent of the programs were viewed to the very end, which is a very good percentage.

The most-watched programs so far are (starts/completions):

• Globalism and Prophecy – 5,218/3,321
• Russia and Bible Prophecy – 3,758/2,818
• Have the Ancient Gods Returned? – 3,456/2,236
• You Become What You Think – 3,190/2,119
• Hell Unleashed: The Spirit Behind the Hamas Attack – 2,870/1,990

Please pray that preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to those serving in almost a thousand prisons across the United States will have a positive impact on those persons’ lives, and that the Father will call to salvation those whom He will.

—Peter Eddington, Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services