In the symmetrical literary chiasmus of John’s Gospel, the outermost elements that initiate and conclude the structure always direct us to the double center elements. This distinctive structure not only guides our comprehension but also unveils the intricate connections between sacred events and symbols. For instance, we’ve observed that Passover points to the Pentecost center, and the Eighth Day Holyday refers back to the Feast of Trumpets center. The midpoint of the chiasmus, a pivotal turning point or climax, is of profound importance in the narrative as it serves as the focal point of YHWH’s activity. The author, John, associates Pentecost with the Feast of Trumpets throughout the fourth and fifth signs, binding the two together as a seemingly single event. John achieves this by presenting the two signs at the center of His Gospel chiasmus with one continuous discourse and by using specific vocabulary. Both center signs depict Yeshua on a mountain (vv. 3, 15), show the crowd’s reaction of belief or unbelief (6:66, 7:31), and provide us with the testimony of men, Peter (6:68-69) and Nicodemus (7:50). In addition to the outermost signs leading us to the dual center, a chiasmus links the first to the last, the second to the seventh, the third to the sixth, and the fourth to the fifth. John’s middle axial signs also appear in the synoptic Gospels, which further enhance their center prominence in the holyday timeline. Unraveling John’s evolving discussion of the two signs opens breathtaking insights into these holydays.

The Scriptures are rich with verses that combine Yeshua’s first and second comings, presenting them as one monumental event. For example, in Zechariah 9, YHWH Elohim will blow the trumpet, and His arrows go forth like lightning and whirlwinds from the south. YHWH obliterates Israel’s enemies, yet her King comes to her riding on a donkey, humble and restoring peace and great abundance. In Acts 2, at the time of the morning sacrifice on Pentecost, there is the sound of wind and shaking, and tongues of fire appeared on the disciples, making each of them mini-Eden mountains, mimicking King YHWH’s morning descent upon Mount Sinai on the seventh Sabbath and His enthroned Presence on day fifty. Peter, on Pentecost, preaches a Feast of Trumpets theme from Joel about the day of YHWH coming with warfare, restoring Israel and pouring out His Holy Spirit upon them while displaying wonders in the heavens and in the earth of blood, fire, and pillars of smoke, the sun turning into darkness and the moon into blood (Joe. 2; Act. 2:14-36). Like the seventh Sabbath’s trumpet blasts announced Israel’s fiery God coming down upon the mountain with its flowing rivers, the Feast of Trumpets is a memorial of Israel’s King coming, but on the first day of the seventh month, Ethanim, the month of ever-flowing waters. In both the fourth and fifth signs, as John’s Gospel shows, the two centers of the Holyday chiasmus appear inseparable, emphasizing the unity and continuity of Yeshua’s comings.

In John’s fourth-fifth sign discourse for Pentecost/Trumpets, Yeshua, on the last great day of the feast (seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles), stands and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” an Eighth Day event of the new Jerusalem with its flowing river of life proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Jhn. 7:37-38; Rev. 21:9-11; 22:1-3), making the outermost ends of the chiasmus point to the pivotal dual center. In other words, by His Passover death, Yeshua was glorified by the pouring out of His Spirit that we might receive it and become a new eighth-day creation. At the end of the book in an Eden Eighth Day scene, “the Spirit and the bride say to the nations, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). Depicting Sinai’s Eden, the fourth sign’s grassy slopes of the Golan Heights drained into Bethsaida’s seaside valley, providing one-third of Israel’s water supply.¹ In the fifth sign, Yeshua and the disciples’ Eden-like destination was just south of where He gave the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s Gospel.

Only John uses the name Tiberias as a place name for the Sea of Galilee, and he only uses it in the fourth (Jhn. 6:1), fifth (Jhn. 6:23), and eighth (Jhn. 21:1) signs. An expanded definition of Galilee details humanity returning to God and His Tree-of-Life wisdom, הָכְמָה (letter sum 73). The root word in Galilee (and Gilgal) is galil, גלִָיל (letter sum 73), meaning “a wheel, circuit, to roll away or roll back, to turn or change back to a prescribed point” (Strong’s H1556). The Sea of Galilee is also named the “Sea of Chinnereth” (Num. 34:11), meaning “kinnor” (harp) because of its harp shape. (Called the “trumpet of jubilee,” the harp was played to express joy in celebrating battle victory, a solemn feast, and the nuptial ceremony. Israel played harp music accompanying worship and prophetic speech, DBI, p. 364–365.) Galilee was the place of turning, triumph, and most of Yeshua’s teaching. Luke used the term “the lake of Gennesaret” for the Sea of Galilee (Luk. 5:1). Gennesaret means “princely garden” or “garden of riches,” the name of a harp-shaped basin just southwest of Capernaum. The unusual thing about Gennesaret was that its fruits were “of high character, and trees that usually required diverse conditions, such as the walnut, palm, fig, and olive tree, flourished there together” (ISBE, Gennesaret). The description fits the Garden of Eden. In the fifth sign, after Yeshua walked on water, He and the disciples in the boat landed at their Gennesaret destination (Mat. 14:34). In the eighth sign, John only uses “Sea of Tiberias” for the “Sea of Galilee,” giving the sense of movement from the chiasmus center to the new beginning of the Eighth Day. Whereas the Sea of Galilee means “sea of galil” or turning, the Sea of Tiberias means “sea of good vision, navel.” Figuratively, “navel” stands for “the center of strength with an idea of twisting together” (Strong’s H8270). The eighth sign is about nourishing and seeing YHWH’s purposes being carried out on all the earth as they are in heaven, His good vision of His will.

Takeaway:
In proper chiastic literary structure, the dual center is the focal point of the Holyday timeline and the axis by which the elements of its second half are achievable. The outer members point to the center features, giving us a sense of the core’s far-reaching import. Throughout the Scriptures, Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets themes are woven into a single event, though they are distinct. The literary genius of biblical writers using chiastic structures guides us into stunning insights into YHWH’s work through His Holydays.

Fun Factors:
The Sea of Galilee (1443, 3 × 13 × 37); Sea of Tiberias (1859, 11 × 13²); Galilee (286, 11 × 26); and Tiberias (702, 3³ × 26, YHWH’s Holy of Holies cube; 702 = Shabbat) show metaphorically Galilee becoming Tiberias, telling of YHWH’s Passover sacrifice giving us access to YHWH’s holy place (Pentecost), basking in the light of YHWH’s Presence in an infinite Sabbath (Trumpets on the first of the seventh month). The first sign’s Cana (72) of YHWH’s covenant love, chesed (72), brings about the eighth sign’s Tiberias (702), Sabbath (702), reflexives of 27 and 207, light’s numeric signature.