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There is no way to completely explain these seven special celebrations
of Israel in just a few pages of notes. However, what we will do is give
you an outline which will help you to do your study in this area if God
so directs. Although the feasts are mentioned elsewhere in the word of
God, God has chosen to put the guidelines together in just one chapter -
Leviticus 23. The children of Israel had no excuse to not study
and learn these special days. All that he had to do was learn this one
chapter. If they made just one mistake in the celebration of the feasts
it meant banishment from their people. Therefore, the Jew should have
been very careful to follow the instructions closely. There is great
significance in these feasts for the child of God today. (a
graphic representation is insert at the bottom of this article)
Rooted in the events of Exodus Chapter 12 this feast begins the
festival year for Israel. . In
Exodus 12 God passes over the households of Egypt which are
protected by the Blood of an Innocent Lamb. (As a note of interest
there is no Death Angel in
Exodus 12, God does the killing) God used a lunar calendar
of 30 days to ensure that all would know when Passover would occur.
Passover always occurs the first full moon after the blossoming of
the almond trees of Israel in the Spring of the year. This feast
represents our Salvation. Jesus Himself was sacrificed at the
Passover. It was His blood of the New Testament shed for the
remission of sins.
Matthew 26:27;
John 1:29
This
is a seven day feast that always starts the next day after Passover.
The Jewish family must use pure unleavened bread during the week
following Passover. Leaven always symbolizes sin and lack of purity
in the word of God.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8. The Unleavened Bread of the New
Testament is the body of Jesus. He was the Bread of Life.
John 6:33 If you could see a Jewish matzo you would see
that it is striped.
Isaiah 53
The first Sunday following the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread is the Feast of First Fruits. During this time the Jewish
family would acknowledge the fertility of the land which the Lord
had given them. It speaks of the Day of Resurrection that we
Christians celebrate.
1 Corinthians 15:23 Jesus was the First to be
resurrected, and then we, in his order, will experience this
resurrection.
1 Thessalonians 4-16-17
It was exactly fifty days after the beginning of the previous Feast
of First Fruits. We call this Pentecost. Note the two wave loafs
baked with leaven. They represent man with his sin. One for the Jew
and one for the Gentile, and they comprise the church today.
Acts 1:3 - The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
Acts 2:1 cf
Exodus 32:28. 3 thousand saved and 3 thousand killed
when the law came down. At this point in history, 2000 A.D., all of
the above feasts have been fulfilled. The remaining feasts have yet
to be fulfilled.
God used trumpets many times in the Old Testament. Remember reading
about Jericho and how God brought the walls down?
Joshua 7 How about the trumpets in the Year of Jubilee?
Leviticus 25. This feast occurs on the first day of the
month Tishrei, or the seventh month. It occurs in the fall -
September/October. The trumpets were blown on the walls and all of
the harvesters in the fields would stop and come in to the city.
This one is clearly associated with the Lord calling in His people
from the harvest fields.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17;
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The tenth day of the seventh month, it was a day of confession. This
feast is not to be fulfilled during the church age. The church needs
no atonement. It is exonerated and cleansed by the blood of the
Lamb, Jesus Christ our Lord. It was a day of rest and speaks of the
restoration of Israel.
Romans 11:26
The fifteenth day of the seventh month. This is the one spoken of in
Nehemiah 8. This speaks of the sheltering power of God where God
will provide a dwelling place for His children in the world to come.
Zechariah 14:16-19 God sets up His "booth" in
Jerusalem, and all of the inhabitants of eternity will come to
appear before the King of Kings to worship Him.
Ezekiel 37:26-27
This lesson has been an abbreviated history of the main feasts of Israel
as described in
Leviticus 23. There are several more feasts and holy days that
have been instituted and observed over the centuries since Moses wrote
about these in
Leviticus 23.(Hanukkah, Purim, Yo-Ha-sho'ah,and Yom
ha-Atma'ut.) We will leave these to your studies if you decide to do
more research. The information that I have gleaned comes from "The
Feasts of Israel:Seasons of the Messiah" by Bruce Scott.
This
is a seven day feast that always starts the next day after Passover.
The Jewish family must use pure unleavened bread during the week
following Passover. Leaven always symbolizes sin and lack of purity
in the word of God.
