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Seven Holy Feasts of the Jews (continued)
The Jewish leaders have failed to notice that Jesus was raised on the Sunday following Passover (or they have assumed that this is a fabrication of the New Testament intended to give the story credence to the Jews). Christians call this day Easter rather than Fruitfruits and perhaps also miss the ultimate significance of the prophetic feast. It is not only that Christ was raised; we will all be raised, and so we celebrate! He was the firstfruits, but we will all follow in due time.
Again, however, this resurrection concerns only "they that are Christ's" (1 Corinthians 15:23).
The Jews do not celebrate Firstfruits at all anymore. Passover and Unleavened Bread have become one eight-day holiday, and the Sunday within this time span, despite all its Biblical significance, is not noted in any special way.
We might pause to realize a wonderful truth before going on to the remaining feasts. The feasts give us the Christian experience in chronological order.
First we had Passover, the blood sacrifice of Christ. Then we had Unleavened Bread, the celebration of His bodily sacrifice and the events connected with it during that final week of Christ's ministry. Then we had Firstfruits, celebrating both Christ's resurrection and ours to follow.
What would we expect next?
When Jesus was about to leave His disciples He promised them that they would not be left alone. The complex doctrines He had taught them would be refreshed in their memories, and their guidance through the difficult times ahead would be accomplished.
To do this the Lord was going to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
4. THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (Leviticus 23:16)
The Spirit came as Christ had promised, at the Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost occurred fifty days after Firstfruits on the Jewish calendar (usually in May or June). The disciples anxiously waited for this miracle. Christ had rejoined them for forty days after His resurrection, but then He ascended to His Father. As He departed He instructed them to go to Jerusalem and await the fulfillment of His promise.
Sure enough, after ten days, when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit came upon the worshippers at the Temple.
The deeper significance of this miracle is that it too fulfilled an Old Testament feast. The Spirit did not come on just any day, but on Pentecost, the beginning of the fullest harvest season. God's great harvest, the church age, was getting underway!
It is fascinating to realize that exactly 3000 people were saved on that remarkable day when the Spirit was given, while exactly 3000 people died on the day the Law was given on Mount Sinai! Truly, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6)! Interestingly, in modern Judaism the Rabbis teach that Pentecost, or Shevuoth (a week of weeks, or seven weeks) marks the day when Moses received the Law on the Mount. The Scriptures do indicate that this occurred in the third month (Exodus 19:1), after the exodus from Egypt (Nisan 14, of course), but the exact date is not given.
In the old observance of the feast, the priest was to wave two leavened loaves (Leviticus 23:17). These symbolize the Jew and Gentile together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).
So Pentecost, the fourth feast, the birthday of both the Law and the Spirit, starts the church age, God's mighty harvest of human souls.
How does this period end? Because crops are planted in the spring and gathered in the fall, we should find a great harvest being brought in at the end of the age. And, true to our chronological schedule, the next feast symbolizes the Rapture of the believers!
5. THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS (Leviticus 23:24)
On the first day of the seventh month (late August or September on our calendar) was scheduled the Feast of Trumpets. This harvest-time feast is now clearly seen to represent the Rapture, the culmination of the church age, the final gathering of souls to God.
We now see the position of the Feast of Trumpets on God's calendar, and the reason why a trumpet sounds at the Rapture. God's placing of symbols is very beautiful indeed!
We will discuss the details of this thrilling feast in the next chapter and its full implications through the rest of the book, but we should point out here that in one sense the trumpet signals the beginning of the end. In unique and separate ways the trumpet will culminate God's plans for both the Jews and the church.
The Feast of Trumpets symbolizes regathering for both the church and the Jewish nation. The Rapture will culminate the redemption of the church, of course. But the trumpet will also regather the Jews to their land. Many years ago Isaiah heard God's trumpet (Isaiah 27:12,13) and foresaw a great homecoming of exiled Jews. More on that later.
The beginning-of-the-end aspect of the trumpet is expressed by the nature of the next feast, the solemn Day of Atonement. On this day the Jew made a special appeal for forgiveness, and by means of extraordinary effort he attempted to gain redemption.
Seven Feasts conclusion |
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