App
September 5, 2025
Dear Brethren,
In less than three weeks, the Fall Festival Season begins with the Feast of Trumpets—on September 23. Because of the way the holy days fall this year, this is a combined September-October letter. Here are the dates for the Feasts this fall:
Feast of Trumpets, September 23
Day of Atonement, October 2
Feast of Tabernacles, October 7-13
Last Great Day, October 14
How Important Are the Annual “Appointed Times”? When God set the sun and moon in their final positions, He did so for the specific purpose of establishing the “appointed seasons” or “appointed times,” which are annual Sabbaths of God. “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for appointed seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. And God had made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night; and God had made the stars also. And God set them [in specific positions] in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:14-18).
The Sabbath and Holy Days of God: In the Scriptures, God declares that He has established His Sabbath and all the holy days and feasts for His people—holy convocations that we are commanded to keep in their seasons. Indeed, God created time. And by putting His presence into the first weekly Sabbath, He made it holy time from the beginning: “And by the beginning of the seventh day God finished His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [made it holy] because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Gen. 2:2-3).
Think about it: The weekly Sabbath and appointed seasons are part of God’s creation. If anyone could change the Sabbath or any of the holy days, he would have the authority to change the very creation of God—the sun, moon, and earth. Yet no man has that power! Man is the created, he is not the creator!
In the book of Isaiah, God demonstrates how utterly weak men are compared to Him: “Who [what man] has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with a span? And who [what man] has comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who [what man] has directed the Spirit of the Lord, and who [what man] was His counselor that he might instruct Him? With whom [what man] did He take counsel, and who [what man] instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and [what man] made known the way of understanding to Him? Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the scales; behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and vanity” (Isa. 40:12-17).
How can “less than nothing and vanity” change the very creation of God—the holy Sabbath of God and His appointed feasts and annual holy days? It is impossible! Remember that the next time you hear someone say, “The church changed the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week!”—utter foolishness, indeed!
When God gave the Sabbath commandment to the twelve tribes of Israel at Mount Sinai, He connected the Sabbath to creation. He Himself sanctified it. He commanded the children of Israel to “remember the Sabbath day,” showing the connection between God, the Sabbath, and His people: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger within your gates; for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it” (Ex. 20:8-11).
Not only did God sanctify the Sabbath and make it holy, He also declared that unless we keep God’s Sabbaths—plural, including the annual Sabbaths—we cannot understand that God has sanctified us! Notice: “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, “Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths, for it [the keeping of the Sabbath] is A SIGN between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies you.
“ ‘ “You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever” ’ ” (Ex. 31:12-17).
Sabbath-keeping is a perpetual, never-ending covenant between God and His people. Regardless of the arguments of men, theological reasonings, or proclamations of emperors, popes, ministers, or evangelists, God never changed the Sabbath day or His annual Sabbaths. Neither did He grant any man the power to change the Sabbaths of God, as evidenced by the fact that no man has the power to change the very creation of God.
The truth is that God made the Sabbath and His feasts to be a blessing for mankind, not a curse as alleged by the worldly “Christianity” of today. In fact, Jesus unequivocally declared that He is Lord of the Sabbath—He owns it. He declared: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore, the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). The Greek word for “man” is anthropos, meaning “man” in general or “mankind.” God made the Sabbath for all mankind so they could have fellowship with Him—through His Holy Spirit—to learn of His ways, His plan, and purpose for all human beings.
Paul and the Sabbath Commandment: In the book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul makes it clear that the people of God—Jews and Gentiles, those under the New Covenant—were to keep God’s Sabbaths. “There remains, therefore, Sabbath-keeping for the people of God. For the one who has entered into His rest [the seventh-day Sabbath], he also has ceased from his works [on that day], just as God did from His own works [when He created the Sabbath]. We should be diligent therefore to enter into that rest [the weekly Sabbath], lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience [of Sabbath-breaking, as did the children of Israel]” (Heb. 4:9-11).
The Greek word translated “Sabbath-keeping” is sabbatismos, which only means “Sabbath-keeping.” Therefore, this word includes all the holy days and feasts of God as well, because all of God’s annual holy days are also Sabbaths. Therefore, the term “Sabbath-keeping” applies to all the Sabbaths of God. It does not mean, as Protestants claim, that Jesus kept the Sabbath for us, in our stead, thereby relieving us from any obligation to keep the weekly Sabbath or the annual Sabbaths. Such twisted interpretations are based on the incorrect translation of Hebrews 4:9 in the KJV and other translations, which reads: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” The incorrect translation of the Greek word sabbatismos as a “rest” gives no indication of actual Sabbath-keeping. As a result, it is misinterpreted to mean a “spiritual rest from sin”—because of having one’s sins forgiven. However, sabbatismos has no such meaning. This verse is a literal command, not to be symbolically interpreted in order to justify Sunday-keeping.
Because of such faulty reasoning, “Christian” theologians and churches reject the seventh-day Sabbath, claiming that Jesus “fulfilled the Sabbath”; thus they are relieved from any obligation to keep the Sabbath. Such an erroneous interpretation could not be further from the truth. In the New Testament, God still commands us to keep His Sabbaths—weekly and annual. Jesus kept the Sabbath, as did the apostles and the entire early church!
Furthermore, the sun, moon, earth, and the stars in heaven are all used in the Calculated Hebrew Calendar to mathematically determine the correct time to observe the holy days and feasts of God. They were established by God at creation and remain an integral part of the creation itself.
Notice Leviticus 23, where all of God’s holy days and feasts are listed. He begins with the weekly Sabbath: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “Concerning the appointed feasts [plural] of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be HOLY CONVOCATIONS, even these are MY APPOINTED FEASTS [plural]. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings” ’ ” (verses 1-3).
It is important for everyone to understand that the Sabbath and appointed feasts belong to God—He created them and He owns them! Furthermore, God’s holy days were not given to the Jews only, as is mistakenly claimed. Beginning with God dealing with Abraham, we find types of the feasts and holy days well before the time that God gave them to the tribes of Israel at Mount Sinai. We also find that God commends Abraham because he “obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen. 26:5). These included whatever form of the holy days that God revealed to Abraham.
In Leviticus 23, God enumerates His feasts at their appointed times. Remember, since God’s law is perfect, He has given these feasts to His people for a blessing: “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons” (verse 4).
God also gave to the priests and Levites the knowledge of Calculated Hebrew Calendar—God’s Sacred Calendar—so they could determine when to proclaim and keep the annual appointed feasts that God created for His people. Today, we likewise observe God’s annual feasts and holy days according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. Technically speaking, when properly understood, it really was not through the Jews that this information was preserved. Rather, it was preserved by Levites within the Jewish community, because they were descendants of the priests and responsible for preserving that knowledge. Those of the tribe of Judah were not entrusted with preserving the Calendar. Rather, it was the Levites among the Jews who have to this day preserved the correct means of calculating these holy appointed seasons of God. Because they embrace Judaism for their religion, they are called Jews—in spite of the fact that they are actually Levites. All the annual feasts and holy days commanded in Leviticus 23 are listed below:
The Passover, on the 14th day of the first month—a feast, but not a holy day, verse 5.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15th through the 21st day of the first month, verses 6-8. The first and last days are holy days—annual Sabbaths.
Pentecost, or the Feast of Firstfruits. This holy day is determined by counting 50 days from the wave sheaf offering day, which occurs the day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (verses 9-11). Then seven weeks are counted—each week ending with a weekly Sabbath, making a total of 49 days. Then, on the day after the seventh Sabbath, or the 50th day, is the Feast of Pentecost, a special holy day. This holy day is also a Sabbath and falls in the third month of the year according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar, verses 15-21.
The Feast of Trumpets. This is the first day of the seventh month—early fall. It is a Sabbath, verses 23-25.
The Day of Atonement falls on the 10th day of the seventh month. It is a day of fasting and absolutely no work is to be done. This day is a Sabbath, verses 26-32.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a feast of seven days with the first day being an annual Sabbath day, verses 33-36.
The Last Great Day is also an annual Sabbath. In Leviticus, it is called the “eighth day,” verses 36, 39; but in John 7:37 it is called the Last Day, the Great Day of the Feast.
Toward the end of Leviticus 23, we find a summary of these annual feasts and holy days of God. Notice that all the holy convocations are called Sabbaths: “These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything on its day; besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord” (verses 37-38).
You can learn more about these tremendous annual feasts and holy days of God—their true biblical and prophetic meanings—in two vital books that we can send to you: Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? and God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days. In these two books you will learn the meaning of these days as revealed in the Scriptures—which is knowledge that has been hidden from the world, because they refuse to believe and obey God. Therefore, they are spiritually blinded and cannot understand the Bible!
Jesus Told His Disciples that they Would Know the Mysteries of the Kingdom: Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables because of their spiritual blindness and disobedience to God. On the other hand, He reassured His disciples that the mysteries of the kingdom would be revealed to them. “And His disciples came to Him and asked, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ And He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but TO THEM [in the world] IT HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN. For whoever has understanding, to him more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
“ ‘For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, “In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard’ ” (Matt. 13:10-17).
As it turns out, not only are we to understand the teachings of Christ, but the true knowledge of God and His plan are directly connected to loving God the Father and Jesus Christ, keeping the Sabbath, and keeping the annual holy days and feasts. When we properly study the Bible and rightly divide the Word of truth concerning the meaning of the Sabbath and holy days, God reveals this knowledge to us. But those who do not keep the Sabbath and holy days will never understand God’s plan, because that understanding only comes with faithful, loving obedience.
In the book of Psalms, we find that David deeply loved God and His holy Word. He wrote a most loving, magnificent Psalm about God’s Word, laws, commandments, testimonies, statutes, judgments, ordinances, and precepts. It is Psalm 119. Below are a few key verses from this important Psalm. Notice the tremendous attitude of faith, love, and obedience coupled with praise and the awe of God. We should all deeply study this Psalm, so that we may have a true, converted understanding of God’s Word. Since David was a man after God’s heart, he was a type of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we can conclude that the entire Psalm is also an inspired prophecy of Jesus’ attitude toward all of God’s Word. From Psalm 119:
“With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart, so that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes…. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law” (verses 10-12, 17-18).
“And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I have loved. And I will lift up my hands unto Your commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate on Your statutes” (verses 47-48).
“O how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep Your precepts. I have held back my feet from every evil way, so that I might keep Your word. I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way” (verses 97-104).
“It is time for the Lord to work, for they have made void Your law. Therefore I love Your commandments above gold—yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way” (verses 126-128).
This is the kind of attitude and love of God and His commandments and His Word that we all need to have in order to grow in understanding. And like David, we can also ask God to open our eyes to behold wonderful things in the Scriptures. Indeed, it is God the Father, through the power of His Holy Spirit, Who reveals His plan and purpose to us. It is not because we are great or important. Rather, He grants the knowledge of spiritual things to us because He loves us and we love Him and His Son. Paul wrote: “[God] having made known to us the mystery of His own will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself; that in the divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.
“Yes, in Him, in Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to His purpose, Who is working out all things according to the counsel of His own will; that we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the Christ; in Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:9-14).
God the Father through Jesus also gave to all the apostles the knowledge of His purpose—that we are to become the spiritual children of God. John wrote: “Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is” (I John 3:1-2).
Likewise, the apostle Peter fully understood God’s plan: “[The] elect … who … have been chosen according to the predetermined knowledge of God the Father, by sanctification through the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us, who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith, for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Pet. 1:2-5).
In his second epistle, Peter wrote that we are to completely shed our human nature and be transformed to receive the divine nature at the resurrection: “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue; through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Pet. 1:1-4).
Paul writes that at the resurrection our bodies will be completely transformed from flesh to spirit. Our inheritance will be to receive the divine nature as Peter describes, but also that our bodies will be made like Christ’s glorious body: “But for us, the commonwealth of God exists in the heavens, from where also we are waiting for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who will transform our vile bodies, that they may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the inner working of His own power, whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).
Again, Paul shows that we will be changed from flesh to spirit at the resurrection. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; accordingly, it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul’; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit. However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual. The first man is of the earth—made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, so also are all those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly one, so also are all those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
“For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. Now when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?’ ” (I Cor. 15:42-55).
Because of these great and precious promises of receiving eternal life and the divine nature with glory, we are not to compromise with the world and accept their false beliefs. We are to come out of the world and its practices and develop the mind and character of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Paul admonished the Corinthians, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? And what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what union does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols? For you are a temple of the living God, exactly as God said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; and I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty. Now then, beloved, since we have these promises, we should purge ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1).
As we head into the Fall Festival Season, let us keep these glorious promises in mind. Let us resolve to yield ourselves to God the Father and Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may continue to grow in grace and knowledge in order to change, overcome, and develop the mind of Christ and the character of God. May God the Father and Jesus Christ bless you in all the upcoming feasts and holy days.
Brethren, thank you for your love and prayers for us and all the brethren. We pray for you every day—for God’s blessing and protection, and for your health and healing. We thank you for your tithes and offerings to be used to serve the brethren and preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
