The Spring Feasts of the Lord

Passover - Unleavened bread - First fruits [Barley harvest]

Turn to Psalm 118

Much thanks to all those helped out yesterday

We appreciate all you did!

Well it’s Palm Sunday - a tradition that began in 383 AD in preparation for Holy Week or Passion week. The custom was to bring Palm branches to remember the Lord’s triumphal entry mentioned in the gospels. Also the fulfillment of

Zechariah 9:9 LSB

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.

Also the children cried “Hosanna, blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord” a fulfillment of a messianic Psalm 118:20-28- let’s read it.

Now there’s a lot here but the gate in verse 20 refers to the East Gate Jesus came through that day but it was later sealed shut in AD 1540–41 by order of Suleiman the Magnificent, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire to prevent the Jewish Messiah from gaining entrance to Jerusalem at His second coming and verse 20 says we will go through it with Him, giving thanks for He is our salvation, but for the religious leaders Jesus was the stone that they rejected even though He was the chief cornerstone for the nation. So you recall Jesus wept and said “If you knew in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! Only the kids understood crying out “Hosanna or save now!” and the Pharisees and some in the crowd said “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered and said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out!” And to this day when you go to Israel, the rocks indeed cry out as most of the Jew remain stuck in the past.

FLIP BACK TO DEUTERONOMY 16

Deuteronomy is also called “second book of remembrance” a restatement of the law for the new generation who would make it into the Promised Land....

If you read Exodus 12 you find that the Passover procedure was simpler. Just as the early church was simpler in nature.

But what God made simple, religious clergy and orthodox rabbis tend to embellish by adding many customs or commercial traditions.

For instance, scripture makes no commands to observe the Lord’s birth, His death or His resurrection the way we celebrate it today.

Christmas, Good Friday and Easter are added customs not commands in Scripture. And sadly much of these sacred events have become very commercialized.

I think its good to remember these events but they’ve been cluttered with the likes of Santa, Rudolph, Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs.

So let’s see what God tells the next generation about Passover.

“Keep the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 “And you shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where Yahweh chooses for His name to dwell. [Which will become Jerusalem] 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 “For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh or meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5 “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your gates of the towns which Yahweh your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where Yahweh your God chooses for His name to dwell, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the appointed time that you came out of Egypt. 7 “And you shall cook and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. [Notice, not where they wanted] In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work on it.

So not much had changed from Exodus 12 except the location.

A special Sabbath day was commenced the day before Passover later called the Day of preparation so leaven could be removed from their houses during the day before the Passover evening commenced.

Passover includes three observances within themselves starting on the 14th of the first month - Abib means  "green ears (of grain)" later changed to Nisan after the Babylonian captivity. 

They were inspect the lamb until the 14th day of the same month, [Just as they inspected Jesus from Palm Sunday to Passover - probably Wednesday] then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel would slaughter it at twilight. [Just like the illegal trial set up to arrest and interrogate Yeshua and hand him over to Pontius Pilate crying “Crucify Him}”. On the first Passover they were to smear the blood of a lamb on the lintel and doorposts so when the Death Angel “passed over” [forming a cross] and that home would be delivered or saved by the blood. [Just as John the Baptist cried out “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”]

All those who did not have blood applied on their lintel doorposts, their first born would die. [Just as all those who reject His sacrifice will face eternal death]

The second observance: was the day after Passover called the feast of Unleavened Bread lasting a week. At first it commemorated God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, reflecting the haste of their departure but later once they were in the Promised Land, a thorough search was done in one’s dwelling, including closets, drawers, and shelves, to ensure no leaven remained!

But as the old saying goes - The Old Testament concealed - the New Testament revealed! These reflect our Passover Lamb!

Leaven represents sin, corruption, or evil influence which why Jesus told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. But for us, unleavened bread is a symbol of our repentance and purity before the Lord. Paul put it this way.

1 Corinthians 5:7–8 LSB

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So both Passover and Unleavened Bread speak of how Jesus died for us as a sinless man.

The third observance? Feast of first-fruits BUT it missing in Exodus 12 and Deuteronomy 16?

This particular feast was to be established as soon as Israel moved into the promised land.

Leviticus 23:10–11 LSB

“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, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

What’s interesting about this feast is it happened “the day after the Sabbath” or the first day of the week, but the Lord commanded that the firstfruits of barley be waved before the Lord to be accepted - this wave “formed a cross”.

Prophetically it speaks of the resurrection and why we meet on the first day of the week otherwise known as the Lord’s Day.

So Passover, speaks of our deliverance from this world through His sacrifice! The lamb who took away our sins! The New Covenant in His blood.

Unleavened Bread speaks of His perfect nature. And His sinless body was broken for us!

2 Corinthians 5:21 LSB

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So Christ is our First fruits, the Resurrection and the life - we are the harvest of His work as confirmed in Romans 8

Romans 8:23 LSB

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

Another Sabbath day was commenced on the last day of Unleavened bread - a day of rest to go back to normal life.

50 days from now we will study the next feast called “the feast of weeks” on June 8 later known as Pentecost or celebrating the wheat harvest - Then in the Fall or 7th month; the feast of trumpets or later became Rosh Hashanah, Head of the year, then 10 days later - Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement ten days and then Feast of booths five days later.

Then in the Fall or 7th month; the feast of trumpets or later to become Rosh Hashanah, Head of the year, then 10 days later - Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement ten days and then Feast of booths five days later.

You see, there’s a reason why these are called “The Lord’s feasts” not the Jewish or Hebrew feasts.

When it comes to any of the seven feasts God commanded, the Apostle Paul tried to clarify the misconception of the Judaizers trying to bewitch the Gentile Christians that they must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. So Paul stated this:

Colossians 2:16–17 LSB

Therefore, no one is to judge you in food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

So the Old Testament gives us a mere shadow of Who Yeshua would be in substance.

Hebrews 10:1 LSB

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect or complete those who draw near.

So we’ve all heard of tree-huggers but in the church world we have law huggers who want to hug the shadows of Christ but why hug the shadow when you have access to the real thing? Let’s hug someone we can embrace!

SO.....Be a Jesus hugger! He fulfilled the Law and gave us the gift of grace through faith! Hug Jesus, He more than a Day, He is the real rest for the soul!

Hug Jesus! He is our Passover lamb who delivered us out of this world’s system so we could receive His promises of God which are yes and amen!

Call up worship team

So as I stated: Palm Sunday commemorates our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His final week on earth.

But did you know the first thing He did when He came through the gate that day?

Luke 19:45–46 LSB

And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.”

Because of Jesus, we are temples of the Holy Spirit and He’s cleaning our house from robbers of joy and salvation and making us houses of prayer!!

As we have communion I pray you will take special time this week to spend time with the Lord.

This week I hope you can join us for our “He is Risen” worship hour with a full fledged choir on Wednesday at 6:30pm! Gonna be fun!

COMMUNION Dan and his team will be up here to pray with anyone who needs it!! In this blessing we see the Triune work of God!

“The LORD bless you and keep you; [the Father blesses and guards us]

The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; [the Son shines through our faces by His grace]

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” ’ [Holy Spirit lifts our whole body with peace]