Salvation and the First Three Biblical Feasts

About eight years ago, I wrote a post on the triple nature of man, how we are made up of three parts (body, soul, spirit, see 1 Thess 5:23), and how each part is saved through the redeeming work of the Messiah. You can click here to read it.

When sin entered the world, so did death. The immediate death was spiritual - the severing of the bond that God had with man. It was a one time deal. Spiritual death.

Death continued to take a toll on mankind as people descended into depravity, their minds becoming more and more corrupt. Death of our souls. An ongoing death.

The final death to come to man is of course physical death at the end of life. Death of our physical bodies. 

This threefold nature of death is reversed in the same threefold manner when we are redeemed by Yeshua.

Salvation of our spirit: this happens the moment we receive Yeshua as our savior. It’s an instant redemption, a one-time deal, and we are given the Holy Spirit as a downpayment. Justification.

Salvation of our soul (our mind, will, and emotion): this is an ongoing, lifelong process; walking with Messiah, taking thoughts captive, day by day becoming more like Him. Sanctification.

Salvation of our body: this happens on the day of resurrection. We get new, imperishable bodies (and I have come to believe that the Spirit of God that was breathed into Adam will be fully restored at this time as well... The fulfillment of that Holy Spirit down payment). Glorification. The final restoration.

Because Passover is upon us, I have had some thoughts swirling around in my mind this week.  I’m just putting them down here in virtual paper.

I’ve been marveling how these the appointed times clearly demonstrate our complete salvation.

Passover, a one day feast, represents our justification. It is the appointed time of Messiah’s death as our Passover Lamb. 

The feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Passover and lasts seven days. This appointed time points to our sinless Messiah, our Bread of Life, being buried in the ground - just as a grain of wheat must fall to the  ground and die before new life is possible. In the same way, the seven appointed days of Unleavened Bread represent our lifelong process of dying to self and becoming more like our Messiah every day as the sin (leaven) is rooted out of our lives. This feast demonstrates our sanctification. (Seven is the number of completeness).

The third appointed time takes place in the middle of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the sabbath. This little-taught Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled on the most important day of human history... when Yeshua defeated death and rose from the grave. This glorious appointed time also looks forward to the day that Yeshua will return for his bride and we too will be resurrected with glorified, imperishable bodies. The Feast of Firstfruits foreshadows our glorification. On that day, our salvation will be complete.

These Biblical appointed times are so rich and full of meaning, and they all point to the Messiah. They are worth knowing.

The Four Cups of Passover

Passover is just around the corner, that joyful celebration of deliverance from physical bondage in Egypt and spiritual bondage from sin.

The four cups of Passover are deeply symbolic.  They have been around in Jewish tradition for thousands of years.  Two cups are drank before dinner, and the other two after dinner.

The cups are based on the four "I Will" statements from Exodus 6:6-7.  Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

The first cup is the cup of Sanctification.  That word means holy, or set apart.  God set apart the Israelites as His chosen people.  In the Seder, the first cup is called the Kiddush, which comes from the same root word as Kadosh, meaning holy.

The second cup is the cup of Judgement.  When Yeshua was praying in the garden, He asked his father to take this cup from him.  But to do His father's will, He agreed to "drink of it" so that we would not have to. 

The third cup is the cup of Redemption.  Just as the Lord God redeemed Israel from Egypt with an outstretched arm, so too did Yeshua redeem us with His outstretched arm on the cross.  During the Seder that night, Yeshua instutited the new covenant, which had been promised to Israel in Jeremiah 31:31.  Luke 22:20 tells us, Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  Jesus was literally sealing the new covenant promise with this third cup of the Seder, the Cup of Redemption.  He did not drink of it Himself, therefore excluding Himself from redemption so that He could become redemption for us.  He gave the cup to His disciples to drink, in order to seal the deal with them.

The fourth cup, called the Cup of Praise, is reserved for the future wedding of the Lamb.  This is why Yeshua promised that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine with them until the Kingdom of God is set up on Earth when He returns.

Jesus came to Earth to become our sacrificial Passover Lamb.  This is the pivotal point of all history, the fulfillment of God's promise in the garden to send a redeemer who would crush satan's head. 

 

Unfortunately, the church was overtaken by Rome in the fourth century, and all Jewish forms of worship were made illegal. The rich, Biblical foreshadowing of what Yeshua fulfilled at Passover (and Unleavened Bread, and Feast of Firstfruits) was swapped for a pagan festival named after a Babylonian fertility goddess.   "Easter" (or Ishtar, or Ashtoreth, or Astarte, or Eostre - they are all the same) had been celebrated by pagans for thousands of years before Yeshua came to Earth to redeem us.

I was an adult before I knew that the "Last Supper" was a Passover Seder. 

I don't know about you, but it seems quite incongruous to me to celebrate our redemption by the Passover Lamb with an Easter Ham... just sayin'!

Pesach, Matzah, Bikkurim!

It's the time of year again to begin the Feasts of the Lord!  The first feast, Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) , is today.  Our savior fulfilled this God-appointed time through his sacrificial death on the cross.  He became accursed and took on sin for us.  


Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says this:  If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,  his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.


Tomorrow begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzah in Hebrew), which lasts seven days.  Yeshua fulfilled this feast through His burial.  The first and last days of Unleavened Bread are Sabbaths.  The disciples, knowing the above scripture about the body remaining overnight on the tree (and also being aware of the approaching Sabbath) requested that the body of Yeshua be released to them for burial.  He was buried just as the Feast of Unleavened Bread was about to begin.


The Feast of Firstfruits (Bikkurim) always follows the regular Sabbath of Passover week.  The days of the week for Passover and Unleavened Bread change from year to year according to the Hebrew calendar, but Firstfruits always falls on the first day of the week.  THIS is the feast that found fulfillment when Yeshua rose from the dead!  On this day, the priests at the temple were to wave the first sheaf of barley as an offering to the Lord God.  Yeshua, as the Firstfruits of all creation, was "waved" before His Father as an acceptable offering on our behalf.  Leviticus 23:10-11 says, ...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.  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.  


In John 20:17, Yeshua said to Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”  The waving of the sheaf by the priest at the temple took place at 9:00 am, at which time Yeshua also became the acceptable offering before His Father.  No one could touch Him before the appointed time.


I just love the way these three Feasts go together, and how Yeshua fulfilled them all so beautifully.  It is no mistake that the Lord commanded Passover to be a pilgrimage feast under the Law of Moses, when all the Israelite men were required to be in attendance in Jerusalem.  I believe He wanted to make sure that all were in attendance when the fulfillment took place!

Shavuot's Coming!

Here comes Shavuot, or "Pentecost" in Greek.  What is it?  It is the fourth feast that is commanded in scripture.  We saw how Yeshua perfectly fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, and we are currently in the process of "counting the omer" for 50 days until Shavuot.  Today is day 45.

This is the only feast out of the seven that is dateless.  Why is that?  We are to count 50 days from the extremely significant feast of Firstfruits - the day that Yeshua was raised from the dead.  As we are counting, it causes us to look back upon that Precious Day!  Day 5 since Firstfruits.... day 17 from Firstfruits, day 26 from Firstfruits, etc.  Firstfruits is the feast that changed the world, so it is no wonder that God would give us a special way to focus on it.

If you missed my posts on Firstfruits, go back and read them if you have time.  What the gentile church calls "Easter" is really a beautiful scriptural feast day that was foretold and commanded in the book of Leviticus, and offers a magnificent picture of the resurrected Messiah.

Note:  The Jewish people today calculate Shavuot from the day after Passover, which is why on the Jewish calendar, Shavuot begins this year on June 7.   However, Leviticus 23 tells us how to correctly calculate Shavuot:  ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: (Firstfruits) 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.

I had just returned from Mexico on Yom HaAliya, which is the Ascension Day of Yeshua, and was unable to post.  But I have been pondering it.  Why did Yeshua ascend on Day 40, during the counting of the omer?  What is significant about the 10 day period between the ascension and Shavuot, which occurs on Day 50?

In scripture,  the number 40 is very significant and occurs many times.  The number can mean generation, probation; trial; discipline.  Yeshua was on "trial" or "probation," appearing during this time to over 500 people to prove His resurrection. 

After He ascended on Day 40, there was a 10-day period of waiting.  Could the 10 possibly signify the 10 commandments, the commandments that were written in stone on Sinai and commemorated annually on Shavuot since that time?  Could those 10 days be preparing the disciples to have the commandments written on their hearts?  Ten is a number of completion or divine order, as well as responsibility on earth.

And 50!  Well, 50 represents Jubilee, perfect deliverance; (7 x 7 + 1)  - continued deliverance following the perfect consummation of time.  If that isn't a picture of Shavuot, I don't know what is.  Watch for more on Shavuot this week.

By the way, thanks to Maranathalife.com for their wonderful insight on symbolic meanings of various numbers, objects, and substances.
http://www.maranathalife.com/teach-ot/simbolos.htm

Firstfruits, Firstfruits, Firstfruits!

Happy Firstfruits!

In the book of Ruth, Naomi and Ruth arrive back in Israel at this time of the barley harvest.  The story of Ruth and Boaz becomes a beautiful picture of the future redemption of humankind through the Messiah, when Boaz becomes her kinsman redeemer. 

Ruth, the gentile from Moab, attaches herself to Israel:  “Wherever you go I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge.  And your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

Does anyone else find it tragic that this is not the Feast we celebrate today?  God’s word teaches us so beautifully!  If we would just look into these things which are written, we wouldn’t need plastic eggs for teaching aids.

Feast of Firstfruits

I never even heard of the Feast of Firstfruits until just a couple years ago.  But bear with me, and hopefully you will see what an absolute treasure it is, and how foundational to our faith.

Firstfruits falls during the 8-day celebration of Passover/Unleavened Bread.  According to Leviticus 23:15, it falls on the day after the regular Sabbath during the festival.  So this Feast always falls on a Sunday, whereas the first day of Passover falls on 14th day of Nisan according to the Hebrew calendar, which could be any day of the week.

The feast, as given in Leviticus 23, is to be a wave offering from the barley harvest.  This barley harvest is the very first harvest in the agricultural year of Israel.  Yeshua (Jesus) represents the firstfruits from the dead. 

1 Cor 15:20-23  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

This is the very day that Jesus rose from the dead.  The Resurrection Day that we celebrate today is really the fulfillment of the ancient Feast of Firstfruits!  Because of this monumental, eternity-altering event, we too can be raised unto eternal life.