Leviticus #5 - Feasts of the Lord
Leviticus 23 - Castle Hills Christian Ch.- July 11, 2010
This is the 5th in the Leviticus sermon series we’ve been having this summer. I’ve skimmed lightly over the book, but I want to give special attention to chapter 23. In this one chapter Moses gives special attention to 7 feasts of the Lord that the Jews were to celebrate together every year. These joyous times of celebration are stuffed FULL of meaning. Each of the 7 feasts had …
¨ historical meaning (looking back into the past),
¨ agricultural and spiritual meaning (which still apply to us in the present day)
¨ and prophetic meaning (some prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and some that are yet to be fulfilled)
These 7 FEASTS all point us toward Jesus Christ. They are like a shadow of the work Jesus would do for Israel and for all the world.
(A few years back, I studied these feast to teach a class…)
Today we’ll look at the 7 feasts in the order in which they happened on the Jewish calendar. We’ll focus on the historical, spiritual, and prophetic meaning of each feast. There is so MUCH we could say about each feast, but (because we need to beat the Baptist to lunch) I’m going to group the 7 feasts into their clusters. We’ll look at them in this way: spring feasts (3), summer feast (1), and fall feasts (3)
Spring Feasts: Leviticus 23:4-22 (First month)
During the spring, the Jews celebrated these 3 feasts…
¨ the Feast of the Passover (14th of Nisan, the first month of the holy calendar)
¨ the Feast of Unleavened Bread (this started the next day and lasted for 7 days, from the 15th to the 21st of Nisan)
¨ And the Feast of the First Fruits (which came during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was held on “the morrow after the Sabbath” which means on a Sunday between the 15th and 21st of Nisan)
First we’ll look at the Historical meaning of these 3 feasts. The Passover reminded the Jews of the 10th plague in Egypt, when God sent the death angel to kill the firstborn of every kind of creature. On that night, God instructed the Jews to kill a lamb and spread its blood on the door-posts of their homes so that the death angel would pass over their houses and spare the firstborn.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread involved a time of house cleaning when all leaven would be removed from the Jewish home. Only unleavened bread was served during this week-long feast. The Historical Significance of this feast was not specified … but it may have reminded the Jews of the years of wandering in the wilderness. The New Testament gives insight into its meaning. “Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven or malice and wickedness; with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” I Corinthians 5:8 The Feast of Unleavened Bread represents consecration and separation unto the Lord.
The Feast of the Sheaf of First Fruits commemorates Israel’s first harvest in the land of promise after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The Jews were forbidden to taste of the spring harvest until the Priest waved a lone sheaf of grain in the house of the Lord. This is the celebration that was held on “the morrow after the Sabbath” which means it was always celebrated on a Sunday.
Now, let’s look at the astounding way these 3 Spring Feasts were fulfilled by Jesus Christ himself. Not only did Jesus complete the meaning of these Feasts … he fulfilled all 3 on the actual DAY that feast was being celebrated in Jerusalem.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, 4 days before Passover. This was the same day when Jewish families would bring lambs into their homes to dwell with the families for 4 days before it would be killed in the temple and prepared for the Passover feast.
Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with his men on the day of preparation, which is the day the Galileans celebrated Passover. The next day was the 14th of Nisan … which was the day when Judeans celebrated Passover.
That means that at the very time when Jesus was dying on the cross, lambs were being slain in the temple for the Judean Passover meals. It is likely that Jesus actually heard the cries of the dying lambs in the temple courts as he hung on the cross. By the time of the Judean Passover, Jesus was already in the tomb.
We know that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday … the morrow after the Sabbath. In I Corinthians 15, Paul reveals the significance of Jesus rising from the dead on the day of the Feast of First fruits this when he says, “Christ is the First-fruits of the resurrected ones.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)
These 3 springtime feasts pointed to the key events in the life of the Jewish Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the prophetic meaning of these 3 feasts when he died on the cross … as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and when he rose again as the first fruits of the resurrected ones.
This is what WE remember in the feast that Jesus instituted. The LAST Passover that Jesus observed was the FIRST Feast of Remembrance that we observe every week.
When Jesus celebrated the Jewish Passover in the 33rd year of his life, he knew that this would be his Last time to celebrate the Passover on earth. He said to his disciples, I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. Luke 22:18
Jesus had celebrated the Jewish Passover every year since he was a little boy. Each time, he was reminded of the day the Angel of Death passed over the Hebrew homes … because they had applied the blood of a sacrificial lamb to their door posts.
Jesus knew he would be that lamb and that this Jewish Feast would take on new significance from this time forward. Luke 22 records that Jesus …took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
This Bread that Jesus broke is significant. At Passover a special cloth container with three pockets … called a Matzah-Tash … holds a loaf of unleavened bread in each of the three pockets. The middle loaf of unleavened bread (called Afikomets) is broken and then placed in another linen cloth and hidden away, or buried.
It is not difficult to see the parallel of the burial of Jesus, the Bread of Life, in white linen grave clothes, as recorded in the gospels.
In the Jewish Passover, 4 cups of wine are used. They symbolize the four redemptions promised in Exodus 6:6-7:
(Cup 1) "I will take you out of Egypt" … served upon arrival
(Cup 2) "I will free you from slavery" --- served before the main meal
(Cup 3) "I will redeem you with outstretched arm” … served after the meal,
and (Cup 4) "I will take you as my own people” … served after the final “Hallel” which is a recitation of Psalms of praise.
Luke 22:20 says, In the same way, after the supper Jesus took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
This would have been the 3rd cup - the cup of redemption - which took its full meaning the next day … when Jesus died to redeem us with arms outstretched on the cross.
What Jesus knew … and His disciples did not yet understand … was that on the next Sunday, Jesus’ resurrected body would fulfill the meaning of the first-fruits wave offering. Jesus is our Bread of Life; he redeemed us with his blood; and he is the first-fruits of ALL who will be resurrected to eternal life.
Summer Feast: Feast of Weeks (third month) (Exodus 23:15-22)
Now we come to the Summer Feast, the Feast of Pentecost --- which is also known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of 50 days.
Historically, this reminded the Jews that God had instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh, let my people go so that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. (Exodus 5:1, 10:9) The feast is a reminder of the nearly 2 month trek from Egypt, through the Red Sea, and ending at Mt. Sinai where God issued the Ten Commandments to His new nation of Israel.
The feast was held near the 5th of Silvan (the third month in the Jewish calendar.) Like the Feast of the Sheaf of First-Fruits, it was held on the “morrow after the Sabbath” In other words --- This Feast of Pentecost was celebrated on Sunday. Considering that so many special days happen on Sabbaths, it is surprising that God chose these two feasts to fall on first day of the week.
But it’s not so surprising once you realize that God is pointing to something in the future. The Feast of First-Fruits was fulfilled at Jesus resurrection … early on a Sunday morning. The Feast of Pentecost was fulfilled on a Sunday, 50 days later.
¨ It’s amazing to realize that 1,500 years after God gave the 10 commandments … on that very day of the Feast of Pentecost … God sent His Holy Spirit to write His Law on the hearts of believers.
¨ In Acts 7:38, the day that Moses met God at Sinai is called the birth of the “church in the wilderness.” On the celebration of that day, 1,500 years later, we see the birth of the church of Jesus Christ.
¨ On the day the Law was first given at Sinai, the Jews fell into sin --- and as a result 3,000 people died. 1,500 years later … at the Feast of Pentecost … 3,000 people were baptized … and given New Life in the Kingdom of God. Where the giving of the Law brought death, the birth of the Church brought life.
Here’s a fascinating detail. As part of the Feast of Pentecost, the priest takes two leavened loaves of bread and waves them before the Lord. When the Church was born during the Feast of Pentecost, the meaning of this ceremony was fulfilled.
Just as the Unleavened loaf represented the perfect Christ offering himself as a sacrifice --- the two leavened loaves represent that both Jews and Gentiles (hence TWO loaves) are presented to the Lord as part of His perfected Church … not because they are Perfect in themselves (thus the LEAVENED bread) but because they have been declared perfect by the Holy Spirit.
So far we’ve looked at 3 Spring Feasts and 1 Summer Feast --- all of which were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus. Now we’ll look at the 3 Fall Feasts
Fall Feasts – Feast of Tabernacles – 7th month (Tisri) - (Lev. 23:23-34)
These Feasts are …
¨ The Feast of Trumpets (on the 1st day of Tisri - the 7th month) Though there are other days when trumpets are blown, this is the most important day to blow the trumpets and call the people to prepare for the next feast, which is called …
¨ The Day of Atonement. It took place on the 10th day of Tisri --- 9 days after the Feast of Trumpets. On this day, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with a blood offering to atone for the sins of the people. This was the only special day that was NOT a feast. Instead it was a day of fasting and humility.
¨ The Feast of Booths is the final feast day. It starts on the 15th of Tisri and goes for 7 days. This is the harvest festival, celebrating the Grape Harvest --- which is the final harvest of the year. During these 7 days, the people dwell in booths or tents (either on their housetops of in the courtyards.) This is an historical reminder of the 40 year wandering in the wilderness when the Israelites had to dwell in tents. The Feast of Booths is like a big community campout, and it’s a time of great rejoicing.
The Spring Feasts pointed to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Summer Feast pointed to and the beginning of the church.
The Fall Feasts point to Christ’s second coming.
The first 4 feasts were fulfilled in amazing detail, and I have a feeling the fulfillment of the last 3 feasts will be just as exact and astounding. But we have to remember that when Jesus came the first time, no one had it all mapped out ahead of time. It was AFTER God fulfilled these prophecies that we could see the amazing way He brought it all together.
I believe it will be the same way with the second coming of Jesus. It’s likely no one will have the whole thing mapped out ahead of time. But when it happens, we’ll be astounded at how God brings it all together.
What I want to do today is share just a few ideas about what these Fall Feasts may foreshadow.
One thing that fascinates me is that Christ fulfilled the first 4 feasts on the actual dates of the feasts. Christ’s death, burial, resurrection --- and the birth of the church on Pentecost Sunday --- all these events coincided exactly with Feast Days. Could it be possible that the events of Christ’s Second Coming will coincide exactly with the dates of the Fall Feasts?
Could it be that Last Trumpet will blow, and Jesus will return on the day of the Feast of Trumpets? If so, the first day of Tisri (the 7th month in the Jewish calendar) could be the date of Christ’s second coming. We can’t know the year when this will happen, but perhaps we can know the date on the Jewish calendar.
Many people look at the Day of Atonement as the day when the Jewish nation will finally realize that Jesus Christ is their Messiah - 10 days after his second coming. If that’s the case, it will be a somber day of mourning and fasting as the Jewish Nation repents its lack of belief for so many years.
It would be the fulfillment of Zechariah12:10: “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
The final Celebration - the Feast of Booths - may foreshadow the millennial reign when Jesus will dwell with mankind as the King. The whole earth would rejoice together as the Kingdoms of this World become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Now, there’s something to celebrate!
CONCLUSION:
Meanwhile, all three of the fall festivals are reasons for us in the church to rejoice. We already celebrate Jesus death, burial, and resurrection in our Easter celebrations. We could learn to enjoy Pentecost as we celebrate the birthday of the church, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit on earth.
We can also look to the deeper meaning of the fall festivals which point to the second coming of Christ. We will be part of those events. We may even see them unfold with our own eyes while we are here on earth.
I can’t help but believe it will benefit us if we can see the amazing ways that the second coming will fulfill the last 3 Feasts of the Lord.
We know that when Jesus comes, his arrival will be heralded by the sounding of the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) along with a shout from Jesus himself, and the voice of an Archangel.
Then those who are still living on earth will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. We know that all these promises WILL one day be fulfilled. We know that every prophecy will come true.
We may not be able to predict everything about the Second Coming with accuracy, but one thing we do know for sure:
He is coming again! And it could be very soon!
