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!

Spring Cleaning!

This week, observant Jewish people all over the world will be cleaning out the "chametz" from their homes. What does this mean? Here is a brief commentary on the custom from about.com:

Before Passover, the house needs to be cleaned so that all chametz (leavened products) are removed. Don't forget the bag of baby crackers in your diaper bag. What about the Purim treats your 3rd grader has stashed away in her desk? Gotta lift the sofa to get all that popcorn vacuumed up. While you are at it, you might as well throw some Spring cleaning in there - get out the summer clothes and put away the winter blankets and coats.

Spring cleaning is always a good thing.  I'm doing quite a bit of it myself.  Physical and spiritual cleaning.  The clutter in the closet and the clutter in my heart have to go.  Spring is a time for new birth.  However, trying to get all the leaven out on our own is absolutely impossible, and fortunately, we are not expected to do it all on our own.  In fact, in removing the leaven (which spiritually represents sin) prior to Passover, we are, in fact, doing it backwards.

In a week, we will celebrate the Feast of Passover.  Passover was fulfilled by Yeshua, who by His sacrifice paid for the sins of all who will trust in Him.   The seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the one day of Passover.  The number seven (sheva) represents completeness.  Those seven days are a picture of the rest of our life.   After our sins have been forgiven at the cross, we are commanded to live a holy life - to spend the rest of our lives becoming more and more like Jesus.  In other words, getting rid of the leaven day by day.

Hebrews 10:14 says, For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 says this:  Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Like I said, spring cleaning is good.  Self-examination is good.  But don't forget that we have One who forgave us once for all, the moment we trusted in Him at the cross.  He will help us get the leaven out!

More on Unleavened Bread

Resurrection Sunday (aka Easter) has come and gone, and today is the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Unleavened Bread is the feast celebrated for seven days following Passover.  Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled Passover with His sacrificial death as the Lamb of God, and He fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits with His resurrection on the first day of the week (see Leviticus 23 for more information). 

Since leaven represents sin in scripture, we are reminded that Yeshua, the Bread of Life, lived His life perfectly, without sin, and therefore fulfilled THIS feast as well.  The number seven in scripture represents completeness (ie:  the seven days of creation).  It can be said that the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread represents the rest of our lives... becoming sanctified and more like Yeshua every day as we root out the sin in our own lives.

Sanctification doesn't happen all at once - it is a lifelong process.  I tried to give up leaven for the week, which isn't easy when you are traveling (and staying with a friend who happens to be one of the best bread bakers I have ever known).  I stumbled several times, just as I do throughout life.  But praise God that He is faithful and forgives us when we repent and turn back to Him!

The counting of the omer began yesterday, on the Feast of Firstfruits.  We now look forward 50 days to the next biblical feast:  Shavuot (or Pentecost).   Keep tuning in for more information on this "Counting of the Omer" and its significance in the lives of believers.

Was the Messiah crucified on a Friday?

Here is a question that really challenged my traditional way of thinking.  I came across this scripture:  Matthew 12:40 - "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  These are the words of Jesus. 

But Friday late in the day to Sunday morning doesn't come close to this.  I was perplexed.  One explanation I read was that the Hebrews believed that even a part of a day could be construed as a day and a night.  But that just didn't make any sense to me. 

Each of the four gospel accounts holds a clue to this puzzle.

Scripture says that the disciples wanted to remove the body of Jesus from the cross prior to the Sabbath.  The weekly Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday, so hence a Friday crucifixion seems to make sense, right?  The gospel of John helps to shed some light on this issue.  John 19:31 speaks of this being a high, or special Sabbath.  Verse 42 brings more clarification:  it was the Preparation Day.  The first day of Unleavened Bread (the day following the Passover) was a special Sabbath according to Leviticus 23:7.

But was it also a Friday?  Bear with me as we let scripture interpret scripture.  The key is in the women who brought spices to the tomb early on the first day of the week according to Luke 24:1.  

Where and when did they get these spices?  Luke 23:56 tells us that they prepared spices and THEN rested on the Sabbath.  Mark 16:1 tells us that they bought spices AFTER the Sabbath.  They would never have purchased spices ON a Sabbath day.  The answer is that there were two Sabbaths!  The high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, a day in between, and the regular weekly Sabbath.  This causes all the scriptures to fit together beautifully!

This means that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, and was removed from the cross before the high Sabbath began at sundown.  Following the high Sabbath (the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was on Thursday), the women purchased and prepared their spices on Friday, before sundown.  Then they rested on the regular weekly Sabbath - Saturday - and went to the tomb Sunday morning.  But of course, Jesus had already risen... which I believe happened as the sun set after the weekly Sabbath, when the first day of the week was beginning. 

This gives Him three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, just as He said in Matthew 12:40.  And it matches the time that Jonah spent in the belly of the fish according to Jonah 1:17

Introduction, Passover, Unleavened Bread

Today is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  I am not Jewish, so you may ask, why is this important?  Let me start at the beginning (and I'll try to be brief).

I began to have interest in the Jewish roots of my Christian faith several years ago.  It began slowly, but then it began to pick up momentum as I kept gaining new insights.

A number of years back, I began to ponder why Christmas seemed to be of more importance to Christians than Easter.  Wasn't it Easter that represented the very culmination of our faith?  And why did the celebrations of these holidays leave me with an empty feeling?  Where did that word "Easter" come from, anyway?  The Lord put it upon me to go look up the origins of these holidays.  That I was surprised at what I found would be putting it mildly.  Our most important holiday of the year gets its name from a Babylonian goddess?  Really?

I discovered that virtually every holiday that we celebrate as Christians has its roots in paganism.  The ancient church, led by Constantine, removed the biblical celebrations (even making them illegal), and creating new "Christian" holidays based on the pagan celebrations of ancient Rome.  Christmas, Easter, Lent, All Saints Day, even Valentine's Day, for crying out loud!

So my question then became, "Is God ok with all this?"  A thorough study of scripture shows Him to be a jealous God.  The Israelites were warned over and over again to keep themselves pure and not mix in pagan customs of the nations surrounding them.  It made God angry.  They faced consequences every time they adopted the customs of the nations.  Does it still make Him angry today?  We claim that God is the same from glory to glory, never changing.   So did He change, or did we?

I began studying the ancient feasts of God, given to Israel in scripture (the Lord God says, "These are MY feasts... Leviticus 23:2).  And I have found a deep, beautiful, ever-unfolding picture of His love, mercy, and amazing plan for all of humanity.  All these feasts point to Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah our Savior, in such a detailed way!  There is such depth to His amazing word that I am constantly discovering new insights. 

Whether you decide that it is right or wrong to celebrate Christmas and Easter, you simply cannot glean these awesome truths from the man-made customs of decorated trees with stars on them, advent candles, plastic resurrection eggs, and chocolate bunnies (delicious as they may be).

So if you are still with me and haven't clicked the red X in extreme annoyance, let's take a brief look at Passover and Unleavened Bread.  Leviticus 23 is a good place to start studying.  The seven feasts of the Lord, as well as the Sabbath, are outlined here.  Passover and Unleavened Bread are the first two of the seven.  The first three (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits) take place over an 8-day period and are often lumped together as one feast. 

Jesus fulfilled Passover by becoming our perfect sacrificial Lamb.  His Passover seder took place the eve before he died, as Passover was beginning.  Although he wasn't crucified until the next afternoon, it was still Passover because the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before.  When he died at 3:00 pm, that was the very hour that the Passover lambs were being sacrificed at the temple (which were to be eaten at the second seder.  Even today Jewish people celebrate first seder and second seder).  Can you imagine the furor at the temple when that curtain ripped from top to bottom the moment Jesus died?  The temple would have been very crowded at the time.

Jesus, the Bread of Life, was laid into the tomb just as the Feast of Unleavened Bread was about to begin.  His life had been perfect; free of sin, so that before God he could pay the price of sin for us.  Throughout scripture, leaven represents sin.  Our Bread of Life was born in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread" in Hebrew.  On the cross, he became sin for us and took the penalty that we deserved (See 2 Cor 5:21)   The disciples wanted to bury him before the Sabbath, and this was not the regular weekly Sabbath.  John 19:31 tells us that this was a high Sabbath; that is, the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

1 Cor 5:7-8 tells us, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth."  This scripture refers to both Passover and Unleavened Bread, and the fulfillment of them by Jesus.
Do these insights of the biblical feasts, and how Jesus perfectly fulfilled them, excite you as much as they do  me?  If so, then you'll want definitely want to keep reading.  My next post will highlight the Feast of Firstfruits.  If you are like me, you'll say somethng like "Wow!!"