Dear Members and Friends,
When you receive this letter, the first of the Holy Days in the Fall—the Feast of Trumpets—has already passed. To stay within the symbolic relevance, Jesus Christ has returned and the final battle between the forces of good and evil has been fought. Shortly, Satan and his demons will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit and banned from influencing mankind, and Christ’s rule on and over this earth will begin. These events are pictured by the Day of Atonement (when it becomes possible that all of mankind will be reconciled with God) and the Feast of Tabernacles (when God’s Kingdom will be established on earth).
We, under Christ, will then have the opportunity to teach man God’s Way of Life. Man, having been deceived by Satan the Devil, will learn what it means to love God and neighbor and to live in peace. Man will be able to acquire a new mindset, realizing that “it must be indeed of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” That re-education process will take some time, but ultimately, man will “beat their swords into plowshares,” and they will not learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:4). They will worship the Prince of Peace who will have come to make wars cease to the end of the earth (Psalm 46:9).
Even though the UN has adopted the passage in Isaiah 2:4, as referred to above, as their motto, there has NEVER been a time when man has not experienced violence and war. There is a reason for that. God did not create man as war-mongering creatures, but Satan kidnapped man to follow his evil devices, and Satan IS called a liar and a murderer from the beginning. He is the AUTHOR of war, and he taught mankind the LIE that war can bring peace. It never has, and it never will. Man has been fighting wars for many Satanic reasons. And so, mankind must be and will be taught that war never brings success and lasting peace; and that war and peace are diametrical opposites.
As Satan and his demons are responsible for much of the evil in the world, they will have to pay. They will be imprisoned in the abyss, but that is not their final fate. Ultimately, they will see how all their works and “accomplishments” will come to an end, being burned up in the fire (2 Peter 3:10-13), and they will become wandering stars, living forever in total darkness (Jude 13).
But this has not happened yet. So far, Christ has not returned; Satan is still on his earthly throne; and Christ’s rule on and over this earth has not yet begun. The autumnal festivals show us, however, that the time is near, picturing events which will surely come to pass.
We, who are called out of this present evil world, are described as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20). We are to announce what will happen soon, showing by our lifestyle how the world will live in a few years from now. We are to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom or Government of God—the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). We are to preach repentance (Luke 24:47)—a change of mind and heart. But not only that, we also are to live by what we preach.
God’s Church is observing the annual Holy Days with the understanding of what they picture. As mentioned, the Day of Atonement points to Satan’s banishment, and the Feast of Tabernacles includes the message of Satan’s literal imprisonment. Satan knows it too, and he has great wrath, realizing that his time is short.
Satan has spiritually imprisoned this world since Adam and Eve, as he and his demons are spiritually imprisoned as well by everlasting chains under darkness (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). But as they will also be literally imprisoned in the bottomless pit, so they have begun to literally imprison this world through lockdowns and other measures of isolation. In addition, they are trying tirelessly, through their human agents and governmental officials, to prevent God’s people from observing His weekly and annual Holy Days. Make no mistake! Satan and his demons will continue, as much as God allows it, to use human rulers and their followers to persecute the saints (Revelation 13:7; 12:13-17), knowing full well that the saints will replace them as rulers over this earth.
What a beautiful time that will be when the Millennium has begun. The Holy Days remind us of God’s Master Plan, but we could forget if we become negligent or cease altogether from observing these days. Many, who once kept these days and don’t keep them anymore, have lost the precious knowledge of God’s Truth in so many ways. The reason is: When we abandon God’s Way of Life, God will remove from us His understanding which He had given us.
Christ warns us that this could even happen to His saints. He said in Matthew 24:4: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” He adds in verse 12 that in many of us, God’s love (which is keeping His commandments) will grow cold. He states in verse 24 that false christs and false prophets will arise—obviously due to Satan’s inspiration—“so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” The
German Menge Bible makes the intended meaning clearer: “… so as to possibly [or perhaps] deceive also the elect.”
When we follow Satan’s evil devices in NOT properly keeping God’s weekly and annual Holy Days, we have already developed a lukewarm attitude and have already begun our descent into deception. In fact, we have already begun the process of walking away from God, “having been taken captive” again by Satan “to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).
It is that serious. On the other hand, if we stick to the “trunk of the Tree” and do what is right in God’s eyes, including observing God’s Holy Days in the proper way, we “will never stumble, and an entrance will be supplied to [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11).
And so, appreciate, enjoy and celebrate God’s Holy Days as never before, for we know that Jesus will return very soon to bring the wonderful life that is ahead in the Kingdom of God!
With Christian love,
Norbert Link
