The feasts of the Lord - Don't miss your apppointment
Leviticus • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 16 viewsThe feasts of the Lord - Don't miss your appointment
Notes
Transcript
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
These are My feasts - a fixed time or season; specifically a festival
· Root word – to make an appointment
These are God’s appointments with the children of Israel - (significant)
Seven feasts on the Jewish calendar of extreme significance
you shall proclaim to be holy convocations
you shall proclaim to be holy convocations
Convocation - something called out, that is, a public meeting; also a rehearsal
rehearsal for what?
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Shadow - an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object
never an exact representation
depending on angle of light - casts a long or short shadow
Always dark - just see the shape, not the object itself
The festivals are a shadow cast from an object -
the object? - Christ
Substance is of Christ
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
This morning:
The feasts themselves - “the shadows”
The prophetic fulfilment - “the substance”
We see Jesus Christ being pictured in different ways throughout each of the feasts
But these also point to prophetic events “Appointments”
Specific events in the timeline of history
significant - life changing events
My goal this morning is to identify these prophetic events.
Seven major feasts
4 in the Spring and early Summer March-April (1st 3) and May-June (4th)
3 in the Fall (September-October)
The first 4 have been prophetically fulfilled in the 1st coming of Christ
The last 3 have not been prophetically fulfilled yet
b
They will be prophetically fulfilled in what is collectively termed Christ’s second coming
Before the Lord instructs Moses about the 7 feasts, first reminds him to observe the Sabbath
Leviticus
‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
Like the feasts of the Lord:
Leviticus 23:3-4
Sabbath is a shadow cast from an object
Like the feasts of the Lord - the Substance of the Sabbath is of Christ Jesus
Sabbath:
Reminded the children of Israel how God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th.
Likewise they were to work 6 days and rest on the 7th.
it was a day of rest
But by the time of Christ’s ministry - it was distorted and misapplied by the Scribes and Pharisees
They made it so that you had to work very hard at resting
being careful to not violate it in some minute way.
Like the feasts of the Lord:
Sabbath was a holy convocation - a rehearsal
For the rest that can be found in Christ Jesus
When we rest from trying to earn our own righteousness through works
So, Children of Israel were reminded to also observe the weekly Sabbath day of rest.
You’ll notice the phrase “In all your dwellings” Throughout this Chapter.
The Jewish writers interpreted this to mean - in all places, everywhere in Israel or outside of Israel.
Speaks of the universal application of these to all people everywhere.
The literal observances - the Shadows - applied strictly to the Jewish people
The Substance - Christ’s prophetic fulfillment of these feasts apply to everyone
Passover - “Pesach” -
Passover - “Pesach” -
Leviticus 23
On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.
Commemorated the Angel of death “Passing over” the dwellings of the children of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt.
If the angel of death saw The blood of a lamb brushed onto the door posts and lintel of a house, the firstborn son in that home would be spared.
As real and significant this event was for the children of Israel who were slaves in Egypt at the time -
It was still a shadow of a prophetic event that would be fulfilled in the Crucifixion of Christ Jesus “The Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world !
By his shed blood on a wooden cross, he spared all those that repent of their sins and put their trust in Him - from eternal death.
The passover lamb was to be chosen on the 10th of Nisan (1st month on the Jewish calendar)
It would be inspected for blemishes/defects until it was slain between the evenings of the 14th of Nisan.
Jesus Christ presented Himself to Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan
the very day passover lambs were being presented in Jerusalem for inspection.
One year - Josephus records that, when Cestius requested the high-priest to make a census, in order to convince Nero of the importance of Jerusalem and of the Jewish nation, the number of lambs slain was found to be 256,500 (2.5 million people)
The Scribes and Pharisees, Pilate, Judas Iscariot, The Roman centurion at His crucifixion - all proclaimed Jesus to be unblemished/defect -free !
He was crucified between the evenings of the 14th of Nisan
Christ’s Crucifixion is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Passover
Christ’s Crucifixion is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Passover
Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
At the time of the flood - the seventh month was Abib on the original Jewish calendar
By the original Jewish calendar Passover is held on the 14th of Abib.
But with the Passover - God reset the calendar for Israel
“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
14th of Abib was now the 14th of Nisan
If you go by the new calendar instituted at the first passover, the ark rested on the 17th of Nisan
Jesus Christ was crucified on the 14th of Nisan and rose from the dead on the 17th of Nisan
The SAME day of the year the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.
Why bring this up?
When the flood ended - that was a new beginning for Noah and his family
Nisan is in the Spring - the time of new beginnings
Christ’s resurrection marks a new beginning for all those who put their trust in Him for salvation !
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Feast of Unleavened Bread - “Hag haMatzah”
Feast of Unleavened Bread - “Hag haMatzah”
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
Immediately following Passover - feast of unleavened bread
Commemorates when the Children of Israel had to leave Egypt in haste, following the passover - they did not have time to let their bread rise.
leaven - picture of sin
Even today - part of this feast is searching the house for any yeast
parents leave a little for the children in the house to find.
Also even today - the Matzah (Unleavened bread) used in the feast has stripes from the oven and is pierced.
They use 3 pieces of Matzah
One in the middle is broken, wrapped in a cloth, and hidden.
Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.
When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.
Matthew 27:
Jesus Christ - the unleavened, sinless One :
I am the bread of life.
Christ’s death and burial is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Christ’s death and burial is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Feast of Firstfruits
Feast of Firstfruits
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:9
Would begin on the day following the Passover’s Sabbath (First day of the week - Sunday)
Most likely the Firstfruits of Barley harvest
Commemorated the bountiful harvests the Children of Israel experienced when they left Egypt and entered the promised land which flowed with milk and honey.
This feast was one of thankfulness and expectation of a greater harvest to follow the firstfruits.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Crucified on Passover
Body laid in the tomb on feast of Unleavened Bread
Early in the morning on the first day of the week
Feast of Firstfruits the women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty !!
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
The Jewish writers interpreted this to mean - in all places, everywhere in Israel or outside of Israel.
Speaks of the universality of these
Feast of weeks - “Shavout” a.k.a Feast of Pentecost
Feast of weeks - “Shavout” a.k.a Feast of Pentecost
‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Leviticus 23:15
The date year-to-year was fixed by the date of the Passover for that year
Start at the Passover sabbath - count 49 days (seven weeks) plus one = Feast of weeks
Always on a Sunday !!
NT - “Pentecost” (50th day)
This was associated with the wheat harvest
An interesting aspect of this was they were to bake two loaves of bread with Leaven and wave them before the Lord.
The Jewish writers believed the two loaves of bread commemorated the giving of the two tablets of the Law (Mt Sinai)
Which is interesting because leaven being a symbol of sin seems to not fit God’s law -
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
So for the Jewish writers - feast of weeks commemorated the birth of the Nation of Israel at the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai.
Recall what happened there:
Gold calf
Levites killed 3000 of their fellow Israelites
But the leaven doesn’t seem to fit the picture for the law… the “Shadow” seems to be a long shadow....
Until we consider the substance.... the prophetic fulfillment
When we get to the book of Acts - that first Pentecost feast after Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven...
Recall what happened THERE:
Holy Spirit descended upon the believers gathered there
3000 people put their trust in Christ for their salvation
“…For the letter (the law) kills but the Spirit gives life”
who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor
(2 Corinthians 3:6)
Those of us who have put our trust in Christ Jesus for our salvation
The birth of the church at Pentecost is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks.
The birth of the church at Pentecost is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks.
When we consider the prophetic fulfillment - the two loaves of Leavened bread perhaps makes more sense...
The two loaves presumably containing the same ingredients made from the same lump of dough - the church is now made up of two groups of people
Jews and Gentiles
both saved the same way
both given the Holy Spirit at their rebirth
The loaves baked with leaven makes more sense now too....
Look around - don’t know if you realize this yet or not....
The church is not perfect - because it is made up of sinners.
Now there is a long gap in the Hebrew calendar of feasts until the Fall...
The Feast of Trumpets - Yom Teruah
The Feast of Trumpets - Yom Teruah
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”
First day of the 7th month - Tishri
Start of Israel’s civil year - Rosh Hashana (“Head of the year”)
It is observed for 2 days on Tishri 1 & 2 but is called one long day. Begins a 10 day season of repentance known as Ya'Amin Nora'Im or the “Days of Awe”. Ends on Tishri 10, which is Yom Kippur. https://www.ariel.org/resources/feasts-of-israel
marked by the blowing of trumpets
Precise instrument not mentioned here
some believe - silver trumpets
others - Shofar (long Ram’s horn)
Commemorated the week of creation
It was a new year’s celebration
The horn was blown long and steady as a call for the gathering of the people
Some believe this is prophetic of the regathering of the Jews to the land of Israel.
Certainly do not doubt that being a prophetic fulfillment of that...
However… I believe
The Rapture of the Church is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets
The Rapture of the Church is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets
seventh month - 7 number of completion
· Regathering of Israel
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:
How long does the church age (inaugurated at Pentecost) last?
· Rapture of the church
Or another way to phrase it - when does the rapture of the church occur?
In the Jewish calendar it is a long time between the 4th ma
No one knows....
Except - hint: This feast occurs in the seventh month - 7 number of completion
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Date setting for the Rapture of the church is foolish....
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
If the Son of Man doesn’t even know - I think it is foolish to assume we can figure it out.
However.... There is nothing on God’s prophetic timeline preventing the rapture of the church to be today....
This is God’s appointment for His church - you DO NOT want to miss this appointment.
How can a person miss this appointment?
One question you need to ask yourself
Is Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior?
Yes - you won’t miss it
No - …?
let me put it this way… you can have whatever is left in our fridge at home....
You always wanted to be the pastor of this church - go for it…
Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur
Leviticus
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
The Holiest of all days on the Jewish calendar
10th of Tishri - lasts two days
The only day the High Priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle
The day two goats were selected
One goat - sin offering
other goat - scapegoat
So much of this points to the finished work of Christ on the cross
His death tore the veil that separated us from the Holy of holies
We can boldly approach the throne of grace by the blood of the Lamb
He is not only our sin offering
But like the scapegoat - His sacrifice not only provides a way for us to be forgiven of our sins
but the complete removal of them as well.
When you think of a feast - this doesn’t seem like such a time for rejoicing
“you shall afflict your souls”
Therefore, I believe the time known as the time of Jacob’s Trouble is a prophetic fulfillment of this feast...
The Great Tribulation is a prophetic fulfillment of the Day of Atonement
The Great Tribulation is a prophetic fulfillment of the Day of Atonement
After the rapture of the church - the events of the 70th week of will take place
God is not finished with the nation of Israel
A time of great affliction
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
The remnant of Jews who survive the Great Tribulation will
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
According to Paul in - at that time - All Israel will be saved
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Last of the major feasts of Israel...
Feast of Tabernacles - Feast of Booths - Succoth
Feast of Tabernacles - Feast of Booths - Succoth
Leviticus
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.
‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
Joyous time - All the harvests had been completed - crops had been long stored
Joyous commemoration of Israel’s redemption from Egypt
A reminder of the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring them into the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey
Made booths out of tree branches and slept in them during this feast
Reminder of their wilderness wandering
Finally, I believe the Thousand year reign of Christ on the earth ...
The Millennium is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles
The Millennium is a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles
Fascinating to read ,, and 14
Interestingly - the feast of Tabernacles will be a required feast that everyone will be required to go to Jerusalem each year to observe during the Millennium !
And in this mountain
The Lord of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
The first four feasts - Spring and early summer
Springtime in California vs. Minnesota
you really have to pay attention in CA - easy to overlook it.
The last 3 feasts - Fall
Fall in California vs. Minnesota
signs are evident - leaves changing, beginning to drop
Jesus is returning
Day of Atonement 26-32
· Affliction – Time of Jacob’s Trouble – Great Tribulation
· Repentance of Israel – at Christ’s second coming
Days getting shorter
Feast of Tabernacles 33-44
you have to start thinking about getting ready for the change from Summer to Winter
· Memorial of Israel’s redemption from Egypt
So it is with us… we need to discern the time that we are living in
Days are growing shorter
things are beginning to reach a ripeness we have never seen before...
What are we to do?
Look up, your redemption is drawing nigh !
Live expectantly
Communion
· Prophetic of her regathering and restoration at the Second coming – Millennial reign of Christ
· Required feast to be observed during the Millennium
Until we consider the substance.... the prophetic fulfillment
