The Feasts of the LORD, Part 1 (Leviticus chapter 23) by David Curtis

Does truth matter? Absolutely! Since truth matters, we should be on a quest to do all we can to understand God's Word. Today the church around the world is celebrating Easter. There are sunrise services, choral productions, and special messages. The name "Easter" is derived from a Canaanite pagan, spring, fertility deity, Asherah. Easter is the Persian name for Asherah; she is the goddess of orgy. She was symbolized by the egg and the bunny. The Easter celebration is pagan, even the name comes from a pagan god. It is quite interesting that in the context of the feasts, God gave this commandment to Israel:

God told Israel not to even mention the name of pagan gods, but the church has a celebration that is named after a pagan god.

What is Christian about Easter? Nothing! Easter is a pagan holiday. There is nothing about Easter in the Bible. Easter is never mentioned by the Lord or the apostles, nor was it ever observed by the early church!

Today is a very important date in History. It is the first Sunday after the Passover, which was called the "Feast of First Fruits." Let's not let the significance of the Feast of First Fruits get lost in all the nonsense of the Easter celebration. This day is not about bunnies, colored eggs, or dressing up; this day is about the resurrection from the dead.

Old Covenant Israel had seven holidays that were prescribed by God. These seven holidays are discussed throughout the Bible, in both Testaments. But only in Leviticus 23 are all seven holidays listed in chronological sequence. These seven holidays are called the "Feasts of the Lord."

The word "feasts" is the Hebrew word mow'ed, which means: "to keep an appointment" or "appointed times." The word "holy convocation" means: "rehearsal." In other words, the feasts of the Lord were appointed times of worship for Israel that would serve as "dress rehearsals" in God's prophetic calendar.

These feasts are not just part of the heritage of Israel, there is something much deeper going on here. Fundamentally, these seven feasts represent and typify the sequence, timing, and significance of the major events of the Lord's redemptive career. They commence at Calvary, where Jesus voluntarily gave Himself for the sins of the world (Passover), and climax at the consummation of the Messianic Kingdom at the Lord's second coming. These seven feasts depict the entire redemptive career of the Messiah. These seven feasts were divided into the spring feasts and the fall feasts. The number "seven" is the biblical number of completion.

The study of the feasts is a study in Typology. Typology is the interpretation of Scriptural events, persons, and ceremonies as signs which prefigured Christ's fulfillment in the New Covenant with the church:

The Greek word used of "festival" here is heorte, which is the normal word used for referring to the feasts of the Lord. Colossians 2:17 indicates that the feasts are shadows to teach us about the Messiah. When we study the feasts of the Lord, we are in reality studying the Messiah. Each Feast is a prophetic picture of the Messiah.

Also notice from Colossians that the feasts are a shadow of things to come. "To come" is from the Greek word mello, which means: "to be about to." So, at the time of Paul's writing of Colossians, the feasts, all the feasts, were all about to become shadows. The realities were "about to" come.

I believe the seven annual feasts, or holy days, of physical Israel, which take place in the first seven months of their agricultural year, were all fulfilled both prophetically and spiritually in the period from the cross to the fall of Jerusalem, which equates with the return of Jesus Christ, the end of the Jewish age, the resurrection of the dead, and the consummation of the kingdom of God in A.D. 70.

These feast must be viewed in their strategic order. Judaism today treats Trumpets as the New Year, and that is wrong. It is not the New Year. By doing that, they can never really understand prophecy. The feasts have to be viewed in their order from Passover through Tabernacles. The feasts actually convey two forty year exodus periods. The first exodus period is one familiar to all of us: Israel, after the flesh, was removed from bondage to Egypt at Passover, and they were put in the wilderness on a physical journey to a physical promise land. Now the more important and the spiritual exodus we are not so familiar with: This exodus runs from the Cross to A.D. 70. In this exodus, Israel, after the Spirit, left its bondage to the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2) and begins a forty year spiritual journey to a spiritual inheritance: the Kingdom of God, or the New Heavens and New Earth.

Passover is the foundational feast. The other six feasts that follow are built upon it. Passover occurs in the spring of the year, on the 14^th day of the Hebrew month, Nisan(ni-zon) (March/April). You'll remember that the first Passover was observed when Israel was about to be delivered from slavery in Egypt. God had spoken through Moses, demanding that Pharaoh release His people, but in spite of a series of devastating plagues, Pharaoh refused to do so. And so now, in preparation for the final and most terrible plague, the death of every first-born, God gives Moses specific instructions for how the Israelites are to be saved. If you'll turn with me to Exodus 12, we'll look at the first Passover:

In the first verses of this chapter, we see the significance of this feast in that the Lord changes the calendar with its introduction. There are two primary calendars in the Bible. The first is called the civil calendar and is used from Genesis 1:1 to Exodus 12. The first month in the civil calendar is Tishrei. The first day in the civil calendar is the beginning of the new year; this is known in Judaism as Rosh HaShanah. Biblically ,it is called the "Memorial of Blowing of Trumpets" or the "Feast of Trumpets." The second calendar in the Bible is the religious calendar. The religious calendar is used from Exodus 12 to Revelation 22. Prior to God's establishing the month of Nisan as the first month in the religious calendar, it was the seventh month in the civil calendar.

Right in the middle of the year, God gives them a new beginning. The relevance, of course, has to do with redemption. Because, it doesn't matter whether it's June, October, or March, when you trust the Lord's sacrificial death to pay for your sins, it is right then the first moment of a brand new life for you!

We also need to be aware that the Hebrew community, taking its cues from Genesis 1 where the Bible says, "...the evening and the morning were the first day, "observes their days as starting at sundown; normally at 6:00, but formally at sundown. They do not view midnight to midnight as a day, as we do.

As we look at the Passover, please keep in mind that it is a type, or picture of something much greater, it pictured the redemption of God's elect through the sacrifice of the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is the anti type of the lamb? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. A lamb is rather symbolic in Christological interpretation. How do we know this? We learn this in the New Testament. When Jesus first appears publicly, John the Baptist introduces Him as the "Lamb of God":

John was speaking to a 1st Century Jewish audience. The image of "Lamb" would have communicated to them a lamb as a sacrifice. The term "OF GOD" adds to this communication referring to the official sacrificial system of Israel. And the phrase "who takes away the sin of the world" would have communicated the idea of atonement.

To the 1st Century Jewish reader/hearer, John's words would have brought to mind the sacrificial system performed by the Levitical Priesthood for centuries in the Temple for the atonement of sin. Jesus is the SACRIFICE (Lamb) OF GOD (in the same way that the sacrificial system of Israel was "of God"). And He is sent to take away not only the sin of Israel, but the sin of THE WORLD. The "world" in the New Testament usually means "nations outside of Israel." Jesus' first introduction by John highlights His destiny as the Lamb of God who is to die for our sins.

Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul draws the parallel for all time when he says:

God commanded Israel to take a lamb on the tenth day of Nisan and set it aside until the fourteenth day:

These four days were fulfilled by Jesus during the Passover week. Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the Temple, which was the house of God, and went on public display there for four days, from Nisan 10 to Nisan 14. During this time, Jesus was examined by many in fulfilling this Scripture, including: The chief priests and elders (Matthew 21:23); Pilate (Matthew 27:1-2,11-14,17-26); Herod (Luke 23:6-12); and Annas, the high priest (Luke 3:2; John 18:13,24).

Our text says that the lamb is to be killed "at twilight" the literal Hebrew reads: "between the two evenings." The lamb was to be killed "between the evenings."

The Biblical day (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) is divided into two 12-hour periods. The evening runs from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The morning runs from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Each 12-hour period is divided into two smaller portions. From 6:00 a.m. to noon is the morning part of the day. From noon to 6:00 p.m. is the evening part of the day. The phrase, "between the evenings" (from Exodus 12:6), refers to the period of the day that goes from noon to 6:00 p.m., which is exactly 3:00 p.m. This would be the ninth hour of the day, counting from 6:00 a.m. Jesus died at the ninth hour of the day:

In the evening of the fourteenth day, at exactly 3:00 p.m., the lamb was to be killed. And Jesus, our Lamb, was killed on the very same day, at the very same time as the Passover lamb. This is no coincidence!

The typical significance of the Passover is very clear in the New Testament writings. Probably no Mosaic institution is a more perfect type than this. The first Passover was celebrated on the 14^th of Nisan. And almost two thousand years later, Jesus Christ was crucified on the 14^th of Nisan. While Israel was celebrating their Passover, Jesus, the true Lamb of God, was being crucified. He was the Lamb of God, which the ancient Passover lamb typified. He died to save us from God's judgments, just as that lamb died instead of the first-born.

Passover was a shadow, or type; the anti-type was Calvary. Passover was celebrated on the 14^th of Nisan, beginning the first exodus. And Jesus Christ was crucified on the 14^th of Nisan, beginning the second exodus to the promised land of the New Heavens and New Earth.

Passover is the beginning of the redemptive process. Let's look at the Mount of Transfiguration in:

Moses and Elijah appear in glory, and they speak of Jesus' departure. The word for "departure" is the Greek word exodos. There was an exodus that was to begin at the cross and started another forty year journey.

God appointed another feast that was to begin the very next day after Passover, on the fifteenth of the Hebrew month, Nisan. It is called the "Feast of Unleavened Bread." It was to last for seven days. On the first night, and again on the seventh, there was to be a holy convocation, these were high Sabbaths.

On this feast they would put grain in the ground and then pray to God to bring the harvest for the coming year. The Hebrews would pray, "Give us life out of the earth." as they put the grain in the ground. What was happening to Jesus on this feast as every Israelite was praying, "Give us life out of the earth"? They were burying Him. Think about that!

Josephus says, "We keep a feast for eight days, which is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread." The Israelites merged these two feasts, but it seems, from the original intent, that God viewed them as separate feasts.

As with the other feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23, the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is found in the work of the Messiah. Passover pictures the substitutionary DEATH of the Messiah as the Passover Lamb. The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the BURIAL of the Messiah, and the feast that follows, which is FIRST FRUITS, pictures the RESURRECTION of the Messiah. Do you see the Gospel in the feasts?

What date is this feast to take place on? Passover was to take place on the 14^th of Nisan. The feast of Unleavened Bread was to take place on the 15^th of Nisan. What date is First Fruits? There is no date given. The inspired text says that this third feast occurs "...on the day after the Sabbath..."! Most scholars say the Feast of First Fruits took place on the 16^th of Nisan. They take the Sabbath here to be the Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. But I believe that the Sabbath referred to here is the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Let me try to explain why: If "First Fruits" occurs on the 16^th of Nisan, and it pictures Christ's resurrection, this does not allow for Jesus to be in the grave 3 days and 3 nights:

I take this to mean 3 full days, or 72 hours. We know that Jesus was buried at the end of the 14^th of Nisan. He was in the tomb on the 15^th of Nisan and would have remained in the tomb until the 18^th of Nisan. There is no date given in Scripture for the Feast of First Fruits, because it is always on a Sunday! So, the date would change from year to year, but it is always on a Sunday, the first day of the week. What is interesting is that on the year that Christ was crucified, there had to be three days between the 14^th and the first day of the week. And it just so happens that there was.

If Christ spent 3 days and nights in the grave, this would mean that the traditional idea of Christ being crucified on Friday is incorrect. I believe that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, was buried by the end of the day. He was in the grave from Thursday at sundown until Saturday at sundown, which is 3 days, and 3 nights, or 72 hours. He rose from the dead on Sunday--sometime after sundown on Saturday evening.

14^th of Nisan--Jesus was tried early morning and declared faultless by Pilate (Wednesday). He was hung on the Cross from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Jesus dies the same time the Passover lambs are being slaughtered in the Temple. He is prepared for burial and placed in tomb just before sunset.

15^th of Nisan--the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which was a High Sabbath), Jesus is In the tomb. 1st night and 1st day (Thursday).

16^th of Nisan--Jesus spends the 2^nd night and 2^nd day in the tomb (Friday).

17^th of Nisan--Jesus spends the 3^rd night and 3^rd day in the tomb ( Saturday of the Jewish Sabbath).

18^th of Nisan--Jesus is resurrected at the close of the Sabbath, beginning the first day of the week. This is the day of First Fruits. Jesus' body could not be found, the tomb was empty (Sunday).

Remember that the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a special High Sabbath, and no work is to be done. We assume they had to get Jesus' body in the tomb before the weekly Sabbath, but it wasn't the weekly Sabbath, it was the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.

So, Passover occurs on the 14^th; Unleavened Bread occurs on the 15^th (and lasts till the 22^nd); and "First fruits" occurs on the day after the weekly Sabbath ,or Sunday, the first day of the week. So First Fruits is ALWAYS on a SUNDAY. As to the significance of the Feast of First Fruits, as with the other feasts, there is no room for doubt or speculation; it represents Christ's resurrection:

On one particular morning, the Feast of First Fruits were being waved before the alter in the Temple, and that particular morning some women were heading to an empty tomb.

Note, this is the first fruits of the barley harvest. This is a reference to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. The first fruits were transferred to the Lord and an assurance of Divine blessing on the harvest.

FIRST FRUITS pictures the RESURRECTION of the Messiah. This feast took place after the weekly Sabbath ,or Sunday, the first day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Are these just coincidence, or was God teaching us the history of redemption?

In the study of the feasts, we see that every single piece of the Christian Bible falls right into the framework of the Hebrew world. The whole Christian message is in the feasts.

So hundreds of years before Christ was ever born, God was teaching His people that their Messiah would come, and He would die for them on Passover, the 14^th of Nisan. Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God was teaching His people that for three days Jesus would be in the tomb, and that He would arise from the dead on the first day of the week, the very day that Israel celebrated the Feast of First Fruits. Jesus became the first to raise from the dead.

Fifteen hundred years before Christ's resurrection, God predicted in type and shadow that Jesus would be crucified on the 14^th of Nisan and would rise from the dead three days later on the first day of the week, and it happened exactly as God said it would.

The fourth feast is known in Hebrew as Shavuot. It is called the Feast of Weeks, because God specifically told the sons of Jacob that they were to count seven weeks from First Fruits, and then the day after, this fourth feast was to be observed:

Seven weeks are 49 days. Add one day ("the day after"), and it brings the total to fifty days. This fourth feast was to occur precisely fifty days after First Fruits (Jesus' resurrection).

Shavuot marked the BEGINNING of the SUMMER WHEAT HARVEST even as Israel's earlier Feast of Firstfruits marked the beginning of the SPRING BARLEY HARVEST.

In the Greek language, Shavuot was known as Pentecost, meaning: "fiftieth," since it was celebrated on the 50th day from the Feast of First fruits. Fifty days has the fragrance of Jubilee. Jubilee is a fifty year concept that has to do with releasing the captives. And although I can't prove it, I believe that A.D. 70 was a jubilee year. From the works of Josephus, there is recorded that 69-70 was a Sabbatical year, which could suggest that A.D. 70 could have been a Jubilee year.

In the third month after the Jews left Egypt, they arrived in the Sinai desert and camped opposite Mount Sinai. Moses was then told by God to gather the Israelites together to receive the Law. Moses then gave the Jews two days to cleanse themselves, wash their clothes, and prepare to receive the Law on the third day. At the same time, Moses told them not to come too near Mount Sinai. From early morning, dense clouds covered the peak of the mountain. Thunder and lightning were frequently seen and heard. The sound of the shofar (ram's horn) came very strong, and the top of the mountain was enveloped in fire and smoke. The Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai stood in great awe:

Moses then went up alone on the mountain, and as he neared the top, a mighty voice announced the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:20-25; 20:1-21). No date is actually associated with it in the Bible. Yet, ask any observant Jewish person concerning Shavuot, and he will answer that it is always celebrated fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits.

So, a very notable historical event happened on the first Shavuot, and that was the giving of the Ten Commandments. The Rabbis have gone through the careful arithmetic in the Torah and have come to the conclusion, thousands of years ago, that the law was given at Sinai on Shavuot; which was fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits. So, they associate the Feast of Weeks as the feast that gave them the Torah. This is seen as the birthday of God's covenant relationship with Israel. So, Judaism tells us they were born on Shavuot .

So far we have seen that very significant Christian events happened on these Hebrew holidays. What significant Christian event happened on Shavuot? The Israelites associate the Feast of Weeks as the feast that gave them the Torah. What did Christians receive on Shavuot? We also received the Torah, the new Torah written on our hearts. The Church was also born on Shavuot, or as we call it, "Pentecost."

Shavuot is called the season of the giving of the Torah in Hebrew, because this is the literal day that God revealed Himself to the people of Israel as they stood at the base of Mount Sinai.

When you hear the word "Pentecost," what do you think of? Acts 2? Tongues? Charasmatics? What should come to your mind is the birth of the Church; the beginning of the New Covenant. Jesus was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits. Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the promised New Covenant arrived:

Tacitus, the Roman historian, speaking of Pentecost, wrote, "The Holy City, with a population then of about six hundred thousand, exploded into between two and three million because of the pilgrims."

Shavuot was a particularly important Jewish feast in Bible days. Of the seven divinely appointed feasts that were given to Israel, THREE were decreed by the Lord as "SOLEMN FEASTS." During these three feasts, all Jewish males were required by the Lord to appear before Him in the Temple. These were known as Pilgrim Feasts because of the required pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Shavuot was the SECOND in this exclusive triad.

The people had gathered for the festival, and it was all for maximum effect that the Lord chose this time to fulfill prophecy, and this was, indeed, God's prophecy. We read:

They may well have come for the festival, but our Lord had something else, something far more spectacular, for these people. This day they were to become the first fruits; members of a new Church, God's Church, the Church of Jesus the Messiah. There was a new message for a new people, it would be heard in every language and by every people. Christian scholars mark that historic Pentecost in Jerusalem as the "spiritual birthday of the church."

Fifty days after the first First Fruits feast in Egypt, the Law was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, written upon tablets of stone. Fifty days after the final First Fruits, the Resurrection of Christ, the Law was given to the Church, "Israel of God", written upon their hearts by the Spirit of God (II Cor. 3:3).

Both the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai and the giving of the New Covenant through the Holy Spirit to the 120 in the upper room were events that occurred on the very same day of the lunar calendar, the Day of Pentecost.

To natural Israel, Passover was their freedom from the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 12). Unleavened Bread was the separation from the land of Egypt into the immersion (baptism) in the Red Sea and the Cloud in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). Finally, God led the people to Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1), where they experienced Pentecost, and God revealed Himself to the people in a deeper and greater way than He ever did previously.

As we have seen, these four spring festivals were fulfilled by Jesus, who was our Passover Lamb; died on the day of Passover. He was, without doubt, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus was in the sepulcher on the day of Unleavened Bread, and He was the kernel of wheat that was buried in the earth. Jesus arose as "First Fruits" of the barley harvest, He Himself being the first of those to rise from the dead. Finally, the promised New Covenant arrived during the Feast of Pentecost to gather all believers in Christ to be God's spring harvest in the earth. As these four feasts describe in detail the significant events during the first coming of Messiah, we will find that the fall festivals give us tremendous insight and understanding concerning the events of Jesus' second coming.

The remaining three feasts are the fall feasts, which were a prophetic foreshadowing of the second coming of Christ. The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles started about 4 months after the end of the spring festivals. We'll look at these in two weeks.