The Appointed Festivals
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
http://biblelight.net/feasts.htm
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
The Passover lambs brought atonement to the believing Jewish households on that signal night of judgment and redemption.
The Passover lambs brought atonement to the believing Jewish households on that signal night of judgment and redemption.
The First Passover Exodus 12:7
5The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
5The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
…6'You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.…
"For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.
A Prophetic Picture of the Deliverance of God's Chosen Ones on the First PassOver
The Exodus Exodus 12:31-42
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”
33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[b] was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.
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| Salvation |
THE APPOINTED FEASTS
An in-depth understanding of the festivals was a big key to unlocking the mystery of Salvation.
The apostle Paul (Rav Sha'ul) wrote to the Gentile believers in Colossae that the feasts of the L-rd, the new moon, and the Sabbath (shabbat) days were a shadow of things to come to teach us about the Messiah (Mashiach) (Colossians 2:16-17). Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus, which means "salvation") was the substance or fulfillment of the greater plan that G-d revealed and foreshadowed in these seven important festivals.
The apostle Paul (Rav Sha'ul) wrote to the Gentile believers in Colossae that the feasts of the L-rd, the new moon, and the Sabbath (shabbat) days were a shadow of things to come to teach us about the Messiah (Mashiach) (Colossians 2:16-17). Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus, which means "salvation") was the substance or fulfillment of the greater plan that G-d revealed and foreshadowed in these seven important festivals.
Leviticus 23
So when Jesus was eating his Passover meal it was after dark on the first part of the day on the 14th of Abib. After the meal he was arrested that same night, tried early the next morning and crucified from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Then Joseph took down his body, prepared it for burial, and put the body into his own tomb before Passover day was ended by sunset starting the next day. As the Bible counts time, Jesus died on the same day that he ate his Passover meal.But why were the Jews referring to a Passover night twenty-four hours later, on the 15th of Abib? God set aside two days of memorial and celebration side by side. One, the 14th, marked the final plague upon the Egyptians and the saving of the Israelites on Passover night. During the morning part of the 14th the Israelites plundered the Egyptians as wages for their 430 years of bondage, then packed their meager belongings, and quickly baked unleavened bread to eat on their journey. When sunset marked the beginning of the 15th the Israelites left Egypt by night with a pillar of fire leading the way! God ordered the Israelites to remember that day every year as The First Day of Unleavened Bread. He told them they were to keep it as a day of rest and worship. It was a yearly "Sabbath" but it could fall on any day of the week. They were to prepare for it ahead of time. So there were TWO separate events to remember side by side. One was the night the Death Angel passed over because of the blood of the lamb, the 14th of Abib. The second event was the following night when they left Egypt free at last due to the great power of God!
Over the years some Jews began to merge the two events together and observe the Passover on the 15thﾅ\the night set aside to remember coming out of Egypt. Some Jews remained true to the original orders of God. The Jews at Qumran, made famous by the Dead Sea Scrolls, observed the 14th as Passover and the 15th as The First Day of Unleavened Bread.[1] In the first century time of the early Christians there was a disagreement among Jews about which day should be called Passover. [2]Jesus kept Passover on the 14th as God originally decreed. http://www.churchofgoddfw.com/monthly/jesus.shtml
When John the Baptist saw Christ, he pointed to Him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus is the “Passover lamb” in that He was silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7) and in His death bore the wrath of God, preserved the lives of all who trust Him, and gave freedom to the former slaves of sin.
Every one of the Old Testament sacrifices typified Christ. The Passover, or paschal, sacrifice was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb was to be a male, without spot and blemish, and not a bone was to be broken. Jesus fulfilled this picture perfectly. As the Israelites applied the blood of the sacrifice in faith, so we today apply the spotless blood of Christ to the “doorposts” of our hearts. In all these ways, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Ezekiel 9:4
The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a feast that is generally mistaken for Passover. Passover however is only one 24 hour period while Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days.On the evening after Passover God told the Hebrew people exiting Egypt not to allow their bread to rise, but to grab everything and leave.
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| Sanctification |
In the Bible, leaven is almost always symbolic of sin.
Matzo has a special way it is made now. It has stripes that look like bruises and is pierced thru.Jesus was beaten and bruised and pierced for our sins. He was and is the only sinless person on this planet and His body is represented by the matzo. Matzoh, means "bread or cake without leaven.
Immorality Rebuked 1 Corinthians 5:7
…6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the festival, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.…
The second chapter of John explains that during the Passover, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem, made a whip of cords, and drove out the money changers who were doing business there. He also poured out the money and turned over the tables (John 2:13–15). Jesus said to those who sold doves, “
Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2:16).
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) also tell of Jesus entering the temple, driving out those who bought and sold, overturning their tables, and telling the crowd that they had turned the temple into a “
den of thieves” (Matthew 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46).
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| Resurrection |
Levitcus 23:10-11 Resurrection
Festival of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest -
The feast of First Fruits takes place on the 16th of Nisan, 2 days after Passover which begins on the twilight of the 14th. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th of Nisan and ends on the 21st, seven days later. Therefore on the 16th of Nisan, both First Fruits and Unleavened Bread are celebrated.
The day following the first day of Unleavened Bread is called Reshit Katzir (רֵאשִׁית קָצִיר) the "beginning of the harvest" (sometimes confusingly called the Feast of Firstfruits). In ancient times, on this day a sheaf (omer) of barley (the first grain crop to ripen) was waved before the LORD in a prescribed ceremony to mark the start of the counting of the omer, thereby initiating the forty nine day countdown to the harvest festival of Shavuot:
In other words, on this day the priest would wave a sheaf (omer) of green barley of the new harvest before the LORD (north, south, east, then west) as a symbolic gesture of dedicating it to Him. A male lamb was then sacrificed as a burnt offering to the LORD (olah) along with a minchah (unleavened bread mixed with oil) and wine (Lev. 22:13). Only after the wave offering was performed, could the crop could begin to be used (Lev. 23:14).
It is altogether remarkable that on this day a defect-free male lamb was to be offered along with bread and wine - the very symbols Yeshua used to recall His sacrifice...
The feast was to be celebrated on "the day after the Sabbath..." This will be important as we look at how this applies to Messiah and resurrection day. They were to reap the harvest - and then bring "the sheaf of the First Fruits of your harvest to the priest" - notice here it does not say - "a sheaf" but rather - "the sheaf" - it is one marked off as the First Fruits of the harvest. This too will come into play as we relate this to Messiah and His resurrection. The priest would then - "wave it " before the Lord. Torah also stipulated that when Israel entered the land - no fruit was to be gathered from newly-planted trees for the first three years, and that the Firstfruits of the fourth year were consecrated to the Lord (Lev. 19:23-25). This too has Messianic implications.
Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; then the culmination, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power. (1 Cor. 15:20-24)
Feast of Pentecost
The day called Pentecost is named after the Greek word pentekostos, which means 50th. It is the festival observed by Jews, Shavuoth, sometimes called in the Old Testament the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:15; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:9-12). Other names for the day are the Feast of the Harvest and Day of First Fruits (Exodus 23:16; Numbers 28:26). Pentecost was to be observed in ancient Israel on the 50th day after the priest waved a selected sheaf of the first grain that had been harvested in the spring (Leviticus 23:15-21). Seven weeks elapsed between the day of the wave sheaf offering and the beginning of Pentecost, thus the name of the festival — the Feast of Weeks. This festival had come to signify for Jews the commemoration of the giving of the Law of Moses (the Torah) at Mount Sinai in the third month after the Exodus Passover (Exodus 20–24).
From the second night of Passover until the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the Jewish people engage in an unique mitzvah called Sefirat HaOmer (counting of the Omer). We count the days to show our excitement at again receiving the Torah (as we do in fact receive the Torah in a renewed sense every year).
We also learn that this period is meant to spiritually prepare and refine ourselves. When the Jewish people were in Egypt nearly 3,400 years ago, they had assimilated many of the immoral ways of the Egyptian people. The Jews had sunk to an unprecedented level of spiritual defilement, and were on the brink of destruction. At the last possible moment, the children of Israel were miraculously redeemed. They underwent a spiritual rebirth and quickly ascended to the holiest collective state they had ever reached. They were so holy, in fact, that they were compared to angels when they stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah.
It was during that 49-day period that they underwent such a radical transformation. From the lowest lows to the highest heights in just seven weeks!
The cleansing of the temple is also referencing to the body of Christ (the temple in our time).
After Jesus' resurrection, he appeared to his disciples and instructed them for 40 days, after which he ascended to heaven. While with them, he said: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5). That baptism of the Spirit would be called the birthday of the church.
If Firstfruits, or the bringing of the Reshit Katzir, did not begin on an actual Sunday (“on the day after the Shabbat”), then you could not count off seven Sabbaths. The Lord said that it must be exactly 50 days, ending “the [Sunday] after the seventh Sabbath.” In other words, while Passover day is considered to be a day of total rest—a Sabbath—whatever day fell 49 days after that would not necessarily be a Sabbath, as the day of the week would change every year.
The first Three feasts in Spring, in the month of Nisan: Passover; the Feast of Unleavened Bread; and the Feast of First Fruits. Follow Fifty days later by a fourth feast, Shavout, or the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost. These have been fulfilled by the first coming of Christ.
There are three remaining feasts in the fall, in the month of Tishri: the Feast of Trumpets; the Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement); and the Feast of Tabernacles. [There are two reckonings of the Hebrew year: the civil year starts in the fall on the First of Tishri; the religious calendar starts in the spring in the month of Nisan.]
Colossians 2:16-17:
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come.
This brings us to the understanding of the second coming of Christ. The events for the fall feasts have yet to take place but it will forshadow the events that will happen in the Day of the Lord.
Feast of Trumpets
The First of Tishri on the Hebrew calendar, which begins the Jewish New Year, is the celebration of Rosh Hashana ("The Head of the Year") and also the Feast of Trumpets. This day begins Israel's civil year and is celebrated for two days (the second day was added by the rabbis around 500 b.c.).
Everything in the Torah (or the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses) has a prophetic as well as historical significance and merits our careful attention. Jesus indicated this in Matthew 5:17:
Think not that I am come to destroy the Torah, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
Paul also emphasized this in Romans 15:4:
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning. . .
The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.
In the rabbinical literature, there are many details that are quite provocative. Among the most significant is the use of the shofar, the ram's horn, instead of the usual silver Temple trumpets. (If you visit the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, you can see the silver trumpets that have been fashioned for use in the coming Temple.)
The shofar is associated with the Akedah, Abraham's offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah, as detailed in Genesis 22. Rabbinical tradition associates the left horn of the ram as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump".
A distinguishing feature of the celebration is the last, climactic blast, the Teki'at Shofar. This is not the usual series of short bursts, signalling alarm or bad news. Rather, it is a long blast, signalling victory or good news. It is this last blast that is referred to as the last trump.
Paul's Mystery
In Paul's Resurrection Chapter, I Corinthians 15, he describes that strange event which has now become known as "The Rapture" of the Church:
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
What did he mean, "the last trump"?
Some have tried to link this phrase to the Seventh Trumpet Judgment in Revelation.
The other feasts following the Feast of Trumpets are the Yomim Noraim, the seven "Days of Affliction" in anticipation of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on the 10th of Tishri (October 4). Five days later, the 15th of Tishri (October 9-17) begins the Succoth, or the Feast of Tabernacles.
In the autumn of the year and on the first day of the Tishrei moon trumpets are blown to announce the Hebrew holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Biblical Christians refer to it as the Feast of Trumpets. It is the 5th of the Seven Feasts of Israel. The ultimate New Covenant fulfillment of this future Jewish New Year, (Tishrei 1 on the Hebrew calendar), will be spectacular beyond words. The feast will explode into holy history. And it will be a blockbuster. Moses declared and prophesied that it would become a "memorial of blowing of trumpets" (Lev. 23:24,25) It seems that many faithful saints will suffer at the hands of the powers when they blow the trumpet of alarm on Yom Teruah, that awesome future Rosh Hashanah. (Ezek.33) That epic coming feast day will see the faithful watchmen of Israelfaithful to the call. And "they will not be silent". This 5th feast was instituted by Moses at Sinai approximately 3,500 years ago. It marks the first day of the Hebrew (civil) new year. 'Rosh Hashanah' means 'head of the year'. The Feast of Trumpetsis the first of the three, yet to be fulfilled,Fall Feasts of Israel. These Autumn Feasts relate to Kingdom/political issues rather than the High Priestly/religious matters that we saw Messiah address in the spring feasts during His first coming 2,000 years ago. Back then we saw Him ride into Jerusalem on a donkey as the 'Suffering Servant'. But when Messiah returns this next time He will come as the Conquering King. After Trumpets on Tishrei 1 comes the "Ten days of awe" which lead on to Yom Kippur on Tishrei 10 which is the Day of Atonement. This is the most solemn day of the year. On this awesome Day of Reckoning all accounts between YHVH-God and all His covenant people are settled. The Jubilee Year is also announced on this same tenth day of Tishri. Trumpets are also blown during special times of national crisis. God's covenant people are summoned to gather themselves together in a solemn assembly before the God of Israel. Trumpets are sounded during battle in times of warfare. Trumpets also announce the approach and soon arrival of a king.
On a future Rosh Hoshanah, on the new moon of Tishrei, the shofars will begin to sound on a day like no other. The ultimate epic futureFeast of Trumpets will burst onto the world stage and into holy history. This will be an awesome day of mixed celebration and alarm. YHVH-God's determined times for Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks will resume in earnest. All of God's covenant people fromboth houses of Israel will be "called out", summoned to solemn assembly at YHVH-God's new and revamped 'ekklesia', His new 'congregation', 'synagogue', or 'church' of the 70th Week". The saints will be crying out to God and this will spark the climactic End-Time Revival that Joel saw. (Joel 2:28,29,30,31,32)We now have very strong evidence that this future Rosh Hashanah will mark the terminus of the "Roadmap to Peace". This will be the day when Israel signs the seven year peace covenant written about in Daniel 9:27. Israel will agree to divide and sell the Holy Land and their national sovereignty for a pocketful of promises of "peace and safety". Moses spoke of this final dalliance of Israel and predicted the ensuing Great Tribulation. Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach, said that they would reject Him who came in His Father's Name and said that His covenant people would consort with a false messiah, a man who came "in his own name". John 5:43. Seven momentous years will then bring in the end-time witness.
On a future Rosh Hoshanah, on the new moon of Tishrei, the shofars will begin to sound on a day like no other. The ultimate epic futureFeast of Trumpets will burst onto the world stage and into holy history. This will be an awesome day of mixed celebration and alarm. YHVH-God's determined times for Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks will resume in earnest. All of God's covenant people fromboth houses of Israel will be "called out", summoned to solemn assembly at YHVH-God's new and revamped 'ekklesia', His new 'congregation', 'synagogue', or 'church' of the 70th Week". The saints will be crying out to God and this will spark the climactic End-Time Revival that Joel saw. (Joel 2:28,29,30,31,32)We now have very strong evidence that this future Rosh Hashanah will mark the terminus of the "Roadmap to Peace". This will be the day when Israel signs the seven year peace covenant written about in Daniel 9:27. Israel will agree to divide and sell the Holy Land and their national sovereignty for a pocketful of promises of "peace and safety". Moses spoke of this final dalliance of Israel and predicted the ensuing Great Tribulation. Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach, said that they would reject Him who came in His Father's Name and said that His covenant people would consort with a false messiah, a man who came "in his own name". John 5:43. Seven momentous years will then bring in the end-time witness.
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful,even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on the 10th of Tishri
Then comes the final awesome Day of Atonement. Trumpets of Jubilee will herald the opening of the Day of the Lord which opens on the very next day. Angels of wrath will pluck up the wicked as tares for the fires. (Mat.13:30) At some unknown time in those ensuing days before the Feast of Tabernacles comes into its fulfillment the last trumpet will sound and all of God's Elect, (singular), will be gathered. The climactic future Resurrection-Rapture will see Messiah gather His Chosenfrom the nation of Israel and from among the heathen gentiles. All the saints, the quick and the dead, from every nation, race, and tribe, from both sides of Calvary will be there. And they will all enter the glory together. (Isa.49:6 and 1Thes. 4:15,16,17.
Feast of Tabernacle or Succoth
Tabernacles is unique in that the Gentile nations were invited to come up to Jerusalem along with the Jewish people to worship the Lord at this "appointed time". The Lord told Moses to father all men, women and children, along with the foreigners in their land, so they can learn to fear the Lord (Deut. 31:12).
When Solomon later dedicated the Temple at Sukkot, he asked the Lord to hear the prayers of any foreigners that would come there to pray (2 Chronicles 6:32-33). It may surprise some, but Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles as well. On the last "great day of the feast", he stood in the Temple and cried 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.” (John 7:37-38)
Remembering God's Past Provision
The most visible symbol of Sukkot is the small booth the Israelites are commanded to dwell in for the eight days of the Feast (Leviticus 23:33-43). Jewish families build these makeshift huts on their patios and balconies, and decorate them with colourful fruit, ribbons and pictures. Some families eat their meals in thesukkah and even sleep there at night. These flimsy booths are a reminder to Israel that they once dwelled in temporary shelters during the forty years in the Wilderness, totally dependent on the Lord. God is faithful and He continues to provide all we need to walk upright before Him still today.
Tasting the Joy of the Age to Come
Zechariah foretold of a time when all nations will ascend to Jerusalem each year to "worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (14:16). Thus we also keep Sukkot now because of this future prophetic purpose. Throughout the Messianic Age, the entire world will celebrate this feast because it will mark the return of Jesus to the earth. But for now, Christians flocking to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles is a powerful statement of faith demonstrating that we believe the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus is coming.
| Spring Festivals | Fall Festivals | |||||||
| The First Coming | The Second Coming | |||||||
| Passover | Unleaven Bread | Pentecost | Trumpets | Atonement | Tabernacles | |||
| 14th Day 1st Month (Abib/Nisan) | A Week Long Festival 15th to 21st Day 1st Month (Abib/Nisan) | 50 days from 15 Nisan (6 Sivan) | 1st day 7th Month (Tishri) | 10th Day 7th Month (Tishri) | An Eight Day Festival 15th to 22nd Day 7th Month (Tishri) | |||
| Erev Pesah | Pesah 1st Day of Festival | Omer Firstfruits | Yom Tov 7th Day of Festival | Shavuot Feast of Weeks or Firstfruits | Rosh Ha-shanah | Yom Kippur | Sukkoth 1st Day of Festival | Shemini Atzeret 8th Day of Festival |
| 15th Day 1st Month (Abib/Nisan) | 16th Day 1st Month (Abib/Nisan) | 21st Day 1st Month (Abib/Nisan) | 15th Day 7th Month (Tishri) | 22nd Day 7th Month (Tishri) | ||||
| Not a sabbath | A sabbath No servile work | Not a sabbath | A sabbath No servile work | A sabbath No servile work | A sabbath No servile work | A sabbath No work | A sabbath No servile work | A sabbath No servile work |
| Crucifixion | Resurrection | Outpouring Of Holy Spirit | Warning | Pre-Advent Judgment | Second Coming Ingathering | |||
In Jerusalem
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In Jerusalem
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In Jerusalem
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| Barley Harvest | Wheat Harvest | Fruit Harvest | ||||||
| Latter Rains | Early Rains | |||||||
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