I am currently in a verse-by-verse
study of Leviticus and just completed chapter 23 concerning the feasts of
Israel. Considering that celebration of
the Spring feasts began recently, I thought it appropriate that we look at
these feasts in a couple of posts. As we
look at each of these feasts, I believe you will see that these feasts are
directly related to both the first and second comings of Jesus as Messiah and
King. They provide an overview of God’s
prophetic calendar.
Leviticus 23:1-3 And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which
ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be
done: but the seventh day is the
sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the
sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
In this chapter Moses addresses each
of the seven main feasts on the Jewish calendar. One should never lose sight of the fact that
these feasts were established to honor the Lord according to His command—“these
are my feasts.” Each is connected to
observing the Sabbath, an outward sign of one’s submission to God’s authority
and recognition of His provision and protection. Isaiah shares with us God’s heart concerning
the Sabbath.
Isaiah 58:13–14 “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of
the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou
delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places
of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the
mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
Leviticus 23:4-5 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall
proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth
day of the first month at even is
the LORD’S passover.
Verse 4 declares that these feasts
occur in seasons—Spring and Fall. This also
seems to me to make reference to their prophetic significance. Spring is associated with rebirth and new
beginnings. Fall is a picture of putting
off the old and making ready the new.
Jesus came the first time to make a way for our spiritual rebirth; He
will come again the second time to do away with the government of the “prince
of this world” and to establish a new government with Himself as King.
The first feast Moses identifies is
that of Passover; it is to be observed on the 14th day of the 1st
month of the religious or spiritual calendar year, Abib or Nisan. It was established in specific connection to
the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt.
Exodus 12:1–11 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land
of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year
to you…. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for an house…. And ye shall keep it up until the
fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of
Israel shall kill it in the evening….it is the LORD’S passover.”
When Jesus came to earth, He came
specifically to die as our Passover Lamb to atone for our sin and make a way
for us to be delivered from the judgment of eternal condemnation.
1 Corinthians 5:7–8 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth.”
Jesus was crucified as our Passover Lamb
on the day that the Passover lambs were slain.
According to Josephus, the
priests began slaying the paschal lambs at the temple at 3:00pm—the same time
that Jesus, our Passover lamb, died on the cross.
John 19:13-16 “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought
Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the
Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the
passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your
King!....Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.”
Mark 15:33–37 “And when the sixth hour was come, there was
darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour [3:00pm] Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?...And
Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”
Leviticus 23:6-7 And on the fifteenth
day of the same month is the feast of
unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
On the day after Passover the Feast of
Unleavened Bread began. It was
celebrated for seven days, and the first day of the feast was designated as a
Sabbath. Leaven is used as a type of sin
throughout scripture; it pictures how sin, especially pride, puffs one up to
think more of self than he/she ought.
Leaven also quickly permeates the whole and aptly depicts how sin left unchecked
will corrupt one’s character. For these
seven days no one was to eat anything containing leaven; in fact, the home was
to be thoroughly cleaned to remove any traces of leaven. This symbolized God’s expectation that His
people follow Him in complete submission and obedience.
It is only through the sacrifice of
Jesus that we can be cleansed from sin, made righteous and empowered to live
according to His will.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye
reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Leviticus 23:10-11 & 14 Speak unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto
you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the
firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before
the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest
shall wave it….And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green
ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
“sheaf” = a heap, i.e. a sheaf; also
an omer, as a dry measure
On the day after the regular Sabbath
after Passover, a sheaf of the firstfruits of one’s harvest was to be presented
to the priest as a wave offering to the Lord.
Nothing from your harvest was to be eaten until this offering was
made. This offering was indicative of
one’s faith in God to bless the whole harvest season, a picture of thankfulness
in advance.
Jesus rose from the grave as the
firstfruits of God’s great harvest of souls and was presented to the Father in
anticipation of the completion of the harvest.
1Corinthians 15:20-24 But now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power.
Jesus rose from the grave on the day after the Sabbath,
Sunday, the first day of the week, the day the firstfruits were to be offered.
(to be continued…)
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