The Feasts of the Lord
Introduced by the phrase, “these are My feasts” (Lev. 23:2) they are listed in Leviticus chapter 23. The weekly feast is the Sabbath; separated from the annual feasts by a fresh identifying phrase, “These are the feasts of the LORD”. (Lev. 23:4) Of the annual feasts, four are in the spring cycle and three in the autumn cycle. The first four are the Feast of Passover (Hag HaPesach), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzoth), the Feast of First Fruits (Hag HaBikkurim) and the Feast of Weeks (Hag HaShavu’ot). The autumn cycle contains the Feast of Trumpets (better known as Rosh HaShanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Hag HaSukkot). These feasts observed by the Jewish nation, were God’s fingerposts to future events, which would have implications for both the nation of Israel and the whole of humankind. That which was foreshadowed in the spring cycle has already happened, while that which was foreshadowed in the autumn cycle is yet to come. The Sabbath, while of a different character (a weekly feast celebrated in the home), also has implications for the future.
Some of the annual feasts were for one day – Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement. These identify single great acts of God. Other feasts, that were of seven or eight days’ duration, characterize longer periods in the unfolding purposes of God.
Three of the annual feasts were pilgrim feasts; Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. All Jewish males were required to attend at a place appointed by the LORD and bring a gift to reflect how they had been blessed of the LORD. While the men were absent from their homes during the festivals, God promised to protect their land and possessions. “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.” (Exod. 34:23,24)
Jesus of Nazareth, Israel’s Messiah, was a Law abiding Jew who kept the festivals in accordance with the Mosaic covenant, always observing the Sabbath and journeying to Jerusalem to celebrate the compulsory pilgrim feasts. As laid down in the Mosaic code, He afflicted His soul on the Day of Atonement, and rejoiced during the Feast of Tabernacles.
It is intended to consider how Israel celebrated the feasts of YHWH, and then how they impacted on the life the Messiah, and note the special significances of Passover when He died, the Feast of Unleavened Bread when He was buried, the Feast of First Fruits when He rose and the Feast of Weeks when He sent the Spirit of God. The Messianic significance of the autumn feasts, the fulfillment of which still lies ahead, will also be identified and considered.
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| Passover Haggadah |
FROM MOSES TO MESSIAH
Israel, from the dark womb of Egypt, was brought to birth as a nation, and called the firstborn of YHWH. ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn”. (Exod. 4:22) But crisis is inevitably followed by process, and for Israel, they were not only to be delivered from the land of Egypt, but from everything Egyptian. As a birth is followed by growth, so the separation from Egypt was to be followed by a separation to God. A consecrated walk with YHWH, growing in the knowledge of Him and His purposes, was to be the process. But the process proved to be more difficult than the crisis. To repeat an old adage, ‘you can get Israel out of Egypt, but it is more difficult to get Egypt out of Israel’.
The deliverance of the nation was to be so momentous that YHWH re-ordered the calendar. “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exod. 12:2) Their religious year was to begin with the month of Abib.
YHWH memorialized the deliverance of the nation with a festival, a festival that was to commemorate Israel’s birth as a nation, and to celebrate their subsequent new life in His care. This first festival of the spring cycle was the Passover. “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover”. (Lev. 23:5) The requirements imposed on Israelite households on the night they began their escape from their Egyptian prison, are given in Exodus chapter twelve. God’s instructions through Moses were very particular. Each household was to kill, roast and eat a lamb or kid as their last meal in Egypt. The animal had to be a male, one year old, in good health, with no visible defects – only a healthy animal would be suitable as a sacrifice to YHWH and only such an animal could be the substitute for someone who was to be consecrated to the Lord. Though they did not know it at the time, only such an animal could foreshadow the Messiah, the true Lamb of God, who is holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.
They were to daub the blood of the animal on the door surround, as evidence that the household had obeyed God’s instructions and fulfilled the necessary conditions for salvation. Then when God visited Egypt with judgment, the blood of the substitute protected the Israelite homes, while Egyptian homes, that had no such protection, suffered the death of their firstborn. The Hebrew word for Passover (pesach) comes from a verb meaning ‘to pass over’, and clearly refers to the means by which they escaped the judgment that fell on Egypt. They were to eat the meal dressed for their journey, and be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
The animal, chosen on the 10th of the month Abib or Nisan as it was later known, was to be slain on the 14th. The head of each household was to slay the lamb at twilight. These men would occupy the office of priest, and thereby constitute Israel as a nation of priests.
The commandment required the use of hyssop to paint some of the animal’s blood on the side posts and lintels of the door of each residence, as part of an act of expiation. Hyssop, an insignificant flower with spaced whirls around the stem was eminently suitable to use as a brush, and would often be used in such rites. There would be no blood on the threshold. Already the imagery is important – the blood covered the firstborn of Israel but it was not to be trampled underfoot. The application of the blood to the entrance of each Jewish residence was relinquished after Moses transferred the slaying of the lambs to the Sanctuary. From then on, the blood was dashed against the altar.
The lamb or kid was to be cooked in one way only, roasted over the fire. No bone of it was to be broken. Furthermore, they were instructed to have unleavened bread and bitter herbs as accompaniments to the lamb. Nothing of the lamb should remain until morning – what was not eaten had to be burned – none of the lamb was allowed to see corruption. In addition, only those covered by the Abrahamic covenant could be admitted to the Passover meal.
To be continued
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