In each blog, I often reference many different topics that I've already covered (or will soon cover), and maybe you've missed. Please review my blogs to read more...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
________________________
In Part 1 we saw an introduction to the seven feasts of Leviticus 23. These are God's appointed times and they paint a picture for us to recognize the timing of His events.
Below, we'll take a look at the four spring feasts, and in Part 3 we'll review the three fall feasts.
_______________________
[1] The Feast of Passover - Pesach (Nisan 14)
See Exodus 12
Every Hebrew family in Egypt was required to spread the blood of a lamb on their doorposts to assure their deliverance from the tenth plague - which was the death of the first-born.
Jesus, the Messiah was clearly pictured as our Passover Lamb:
Joh 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
His life was required to be spotless and without blemish:
1 Pet 1:18-19 ... knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
During the time of Jesus, Unleavened Bread was called the Passover. Passover was referred to in the Gospels as Preparation Day.
Four days before Passover, the high priest would go to Bethany to secure the Passover lamb, which had been set aside on Nisan 10 (Exo 12:3). The high priest, followed by an entourage, would then enter Jerusalem as they all sang "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord".
Jesus and His followers also journeyed from Bethany.
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As Jesus and His followers journeyed in to Jerusalem, they also sang the Hallel (Psa 115-118, Luk 19:38), exclaiming:
Psa 118:26 Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the LORD...
What's really interesting about this is, that it very well may be that these two processions met along the way! The high priest with Passover lamb, and his followers, and the True High Priest, the True Passover Lamb, on the donkey and Jesus' followers!
It's no wonder that the leaders of the Temple were ticked off:
Luk 19:39-40 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him [Jesus], "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples. But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"
For four days the Temple officials would examine the sacrificial lamb for spots and blemishes. If any were found the lamb was disqualified from serving as the national Passover lamb (Exo 12:5-6). At the end of those four days, if the lamb was found to be unblemished, the high priest would declare "I find no fault in him".
Ring any bells?
For four days, Temple officials also examined Jesus in an attempt to discredit Him and His Mission.
Mat 26:59-60 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward.
What happened on the fourth day? Pilate announced "I find no fault in Him [Jesus]"
Joh 19:4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and said unto them, "Behold, I bring Him [Jesus] forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him."
On the morning of Passover (Nisan 14), at the third hour (9:00am), the high priest took the national Passover lamb and tied it to the Temple door... at the ninth hour (3:00pm) the lamb's throat was slit, and the high priest cried out "It is finished".
All were required to witness the killing of the Passover lamb (Exo 12:6).
Jesus was nailed to the Cross at 9:00am and at 3:00pm:
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished": and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
Jesus fulfilled and embodied all of the Passover Feast just as God had prescribed to Israel many years beforehand.
In Jesus' case, He wasn't a Passover Lamb for Jews only, but for all of mankind (1 Cor 5:7).
This same Passover Lamb will be recognized in glory again one day:
Rev 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
[2] The Feast of Unleavened Bread - Hag HaMatzah (Nisan 15)
See Leviticus 23:6-8
This feast is celebrated the day after Passover and continues for seven days. The first and seventh days are recognized as "High Holy Days" (Sabbaths, even when not falling on a Saturday).
Israel remembers their immediate departure from Egypt when they ate their unleavened bread without haste... no time to wait for the bread to rise, deliverance was now.
Throughout Scripture, leaven is symbolic of sin. Therefore, all Israelites had to remove all leaven from the house before the annual feast began.
Prophetically, this removal of leaven pictured Jesus cleansing the Temple:
Mat 21:12-13 And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves".
This is also a picture of the Body of Jesus as He was without sin (no leaven). His Body did not decay while in the grave (Psa 16:10, Act 2:27). Jesus Body went to grave without leaven (sin) and He would rise from the grave without leaven.
[3] The Feast of Firstfruits - HaBikkurim (Nisan 15-21)
See Leviticus 23:10-11
This feast is celebrated on the day following the Sabbath.
Here's where things get a little sticky... there is a long-standing controversy regarding the correct definition of Sabbath in Leviticus:
Lev 23:10-11 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest [barley], then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
The question becomes: is the seventh day of the week (Saturday) meant, or is it the Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread - as seen above, also another Sabbath day known as a "holy convocation" (Lev 23:7).
In Jesus' day, the Pharisees interpreted this to mean the first day of Unleavened Bread.
The Sadducees argued for the regular, weekly Sabbath day (Saturday).
Why does it matter?
By following the Pharisees, Firstfruits would always occur on Nisan 16 regardless of which day of the week it was.
By following the Sadducees, Firstfruits would always occur on Sunday, the day following the typical Sabbath (Saturday).
I believe the Sadducees were correct as seen in the description of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
Lev 23:15-16 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering [Feast of Firstfruits]; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath [seventh weekly Sabbath]; then you shall present a new grain [wheat] offering to the LORD.
This is why Firstfruits occurs on different calendar days but is always on Sunday (the day after Sabbath). Sunday is the first day of the week which begins on Saturday evening at sundown and ends Sunday at sundown.
The purpose of Firstfruits is to present to God the "first sheaf" of the winter barley harvest. This first sheaf was cut on Saturday evening which is the beginning of Firstfruits.
The priest would cut the first sheaf and wave it before God for His acceptance. According to the Talmud, the barley is then processed into fine flour throughout the night.
When morning came, the high priest would then wave the processed barley (flour) during the Temple ceremony. This symbolized God's acceptance and His pledge of an abundant harvest.
Jesus, Himself is the Firstfruits. I've covered this passage in many different blogs when speaking of the order of resurrection:
1 Cor 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming...
Jesus rose from the dead, cut free from death at the same time the barley sheaf was cut and waved to God in the field on Saturday evening (the start of Sunday morning - first day of the week).
Jesus is the Firstfruits... the First to be resurrected from death.
1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Jesus completely fulfilled the prophetic message of this feast initially observed by all of Israel... He is the Firstfruits.
[4] The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - Hag HaShavuot or Shavuot
The timing for this feast is determined by counting seven weeks from the weekly Sabbath, immediately before Firstfruits and "then on the day after".
So... this would be 49 days + 1 day = 50 days total (Lev 23:16).
As seen above with Firstfruits, Pentecost is always celebrated on the first day of the week - Sunday (beginning Saturday at sundown).
This feast signifies the conclusion of the spring season, commonly referred to as the Passover Season, and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest.
Prophetically, this feast symbolizes the passing of the Old Covenant and the fulfillment of God's promise to His people of a New Covenant:
Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
At this time, it is important to point out that this feast could not be celebrated without the occurrence of the previous three. These feasts are inseparable.
Peter fully understood the significance of Pentecost:
Act 2:38-39 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
They all represent God's redemptive plan through Christ Jesus.
With the passing of Pentecost, the spring feasts are concluded. All four feasts speak of the coming Messiah (in His first advent) as the suffering Servant who laid down His life to pay the penalty of sin.
The timing and precision of these feasts (given long ago) were played out perfectly when Jesus came to earth the first time.
Israel waited during the long hot summer for the fullness and the bounty of the coming fall harvest.
We, too are waiting with great anticipation for the coming time of the fall harvest.
_________________
Let's move on to Part 3 and the fall harvests.
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
________________________
In Part 1 we saw an introduction to the seven feasts of Leviticus 23. These are God's appointed times and they paint a picture for us to recognize the timing of His events.
Below, we'll take a look at the four spring feasts, and in Part 3 we'll review the three fall feasts.
_______________________
[1] The Feast of Passover - Pesach (Nisan 14)
See Exodus 12
Every Hebrew family in Egypt was required to spread the blood of a lamb on their doorposts to assure their deliverance from the tenth plague - which was the death of the first-born.
Jesus, the Messiah was clearly pictured as our Passover Lamb:
Joh 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
His life was required to be spotless and without blemish:
1 Pet 1:18-19 ... knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
During the time of Jesus, Unleavened Bread was called the Passover. Passover was referred to in the Gospels as Preparation Day.
Four days before Passover, the high priest would go to Bethany to secure the Passover lamb, which had been set aside on Nisan 10 (Exo 12:3). The high priest, followed by an entourage, would then enter Jerusalem as they all sang "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord".
Jesus and His followers also journeyed from Bethany.
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As Jesus and His followers journeyed in to Jerusalem, they also sang the Hallel (Psa 115-118, Luk 19:38), exclaiming:
Psa 118:26 Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the LORD...
What's really interesting about this is, that it very well may be that these two processions met along the way! The high priest with Passover lamb, and his followers, and the True High Priest, the True Passover Lamb, on the donkey and Jesus' followers!
It's no wonder that the leaders of the Temple were ticked off:
Luk 19:39-40 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him [Jesus], "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples. But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"
For four days the Temple officials would examine the sacrificial lamb for spots and blemishes. If any were found the lamb was disqualified from serving as the national Passover lamb (Exo 12:5-6). At the end of those four days, if the lamb was found to be unblemished, the high priest would declare "I find no fault in him".
Ring any bells?
For four days, Temple officials also examined Jesus in an attempt to discredit Him and His Mission.
Mat 26:59-60 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward.
What happened on the fourth day? Pilate announced "I find no fault in Him [Jesus]"
Joh 19:4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and said unto them, "Behold, I bring Him [Jesus] forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him."
On the morning of Passover (Nisan 14), at the third hour (9:00am), the high priest took the national Passover lamb and tied it to the Temple door... at the ninth hour (3:00pm) the lamb's throat was slit, and the high priest cried out "It is finished".
All were required to witness the killing of the Passover lamb (Exo 12:6).
Jesus was nailed to the Cross at 9:00am and at 3:00pm:
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished": and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
Jesus fulfilled and embodied all of the Passover Feast just as God had prescribed to Israel many years beforehand.
In Jesus' case, He wasn't a Passover Lamb for Jews only, but for all of mankind (1 Cor 5:7).
This same Passover Lamb will be recognized in glory again one day:
Rev 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
[2] The Feast of Unleavened Bread - Hag HaMatzah (Nisan 15)
See Leviticus 23:6-8
This feast is celebrated the day after Passover and continues for seven days. The first and seventh days are recognized as "High Holy Days" (Sabbaths, even when not falling on a Saturday).
Israel remembers their immediate departure from Egypt when they ate their unleavened bread without haste... no time to wait for the bread to rise, deliverance was now.
Throughout Scripture, leaven is symbolic of sin. Therefore, all Israelites had to remove all leaven from the house before the annual feast began.
Prophetically, this removal of leaven pictured Jesus cleansing the Temple:
Mat 21:12-13 And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves".
This is also a picture of the Body of Jesus as He was without sin (no leaven). His Body did not decay while in the grave (Psa 16:10, Act 2:27). Jesus Body went to grave without leaven (sin) and He would rise from the grave without leaven.
[3] The Feast of Firstfruits - HaBikkurim (Nisan 15-21)
See Leviticus 23:10-11
This feast is celebrated on the day following the Sabbath.
Here's where things get a little sticky... there is a long-standing controversy regarding the correct definition of Sabbath in Leviticus:
Lev 23:10-11 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest [barley], then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
The question becomes: is the seventh day of the week (Saturday) meant, or is it the Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread - as seen above, also another Sabbath day known as a "holy convocation" (Lev 23:7).
In Jesus' day, the Pharisees interpreted this to mean the first day of Unleavened Bread.
The Sadducees argued for the regular, weekly Sabbath day (Saturday).
Why does it matter?
By following the Pharisees, Firstfruits would always occur on Nisan 16 regardless of which day of the week it was.
By following the Sadducees, Firstfruits would always occur on Sunday, the day following the typical Sabbath (Saturday).
I believe the Sadducees were correct as seen in the description of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
Lev 23:15-16 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering [Feast of Firstfruits]; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath [seventh weekly Sabbath]; then you shall present a new grain [wheat] offering to the LORD.
This is why Firstfruits occurs on different calendar days but is always on Sunday (the day after Sabbath). Sunday is the first day of the week which begins on Saturday evening at sundown and ends Sunday at sundown.
The purpose of Firstfruits is to present to God the "first sheaf" of the winter barley harvest. This first sheaf was cut on Saturday evening which is the beginning of Firstfruits.
The priest would cut the first sheaf and wave it before God for His acceptance. According to the Talmud, the barley is then processed into fine flour throughout the night.
When morning came, the high priest would then wave the processed barley (flour) during the Temple ceremony. This symbolized God's acceptance and His pledge of an abundant harvest.
Jesus, Himself is the Firstfruits. I've covered this passage in many different blogs when speaking of the order of resurrection:
1 Cor 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming...
Jesus rose from the dead, cut free from death at the same time the barley sheaf was cut and waved to God in the field on Saturday evening (the start of Sunday morning - first day of the week).
Jesus is the Firstfruits... the First to be resurrected from death.
1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Jesus completely fulfilled the prophetic message of this feast initially observed by all of Israel... He is the Firstfruits.
[4] The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - Hag HaShavuot or Shavuot
The timing for this feast is determined by counting seven weeks from the weekly Sabbath, immediately before Firstfruits and "then on the day after".
So... this would be 49 days + 1 day = 50 days total (Lev 23:16).
As seen above with Firstfruits, Pentecost is always celebrated on the first day of the week - Sunday (beginning Saturday at sundown).
This feast signifies the conclusion of the spring season, commonly referred to as the Passover Season, and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest.
Prophetically, this feast symbolizes the passing of the Old Covenant and the fulfillment of God's promise to His people of a New Covenant:
Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
At this time, it is important to point out that this feast could not be celebrated without the occurrence of the previous three. These feasts are inseparable.
Peter fully understood the significance of Pentecost:
Act 2:38-39 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
They all represent God's redemptive plan through Christ Jesus.
With the passing of Pentecost, the spring feasts are concluded. All four feasts speak of the coming Messiah (in His first advent) as the suffering Servant who laid down His life to pay the penalty of sin.
The timing and precision of these feasts (given long ago) were played out perfectly when Jesus came to earth the first time.
Israel waited during the long hot summer for the fullness and the bounty of the coming fall harvest.
We, too are waiting with great anticipation for the coming time of the fall harvest.
_________________
Let's move on to Part 3 and the fall harvests.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
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