More on the Feasts

 

Jewish Holy Days and Feasts

God gave seven biblical holidays to remind Israel of His faithfulness in the past. These Jewish holy days are a foreshadowing of God’s plans for the future. They reveal the Messiah’s sacrifice and foretell of His reign. Let’s explore the biblical feasts of Israel.

Passover (Pesach)

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover.” (Leviticus 23:5)

“Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old…” (Exodus 12:5)

The first feast is the Passover, during which an unblemished male lamb is sacrificed. The blood of the lamb symbolized the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It was by the blood on the doorposts that they were saved from the plague of death. Today, the blood of the Lamb of God delivers anyone who believes in the Messiah from slavery to sin and spiritual death.

Watch how the Passover foreshadows the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Messiah, in the following Passover celebration by Jewish Messianic believer Zola Levitt. It was during the Passover that Jesus died (Luke 22-23).

Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot)

“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.” (Leviticus 23:6)

The next feast is the Feast of Unleavened bread. For one week following Passover, Jewish people eat only pure unleavened bread (bread made without yeast). Leaven or yeast symbolizes sin in the Bible; unleavened bread symbolizes purity. It is interesting that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “House of Bread”. If we look at a piece of Jewish matzah, we see that it is striped and pierced.

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

The Jewish unleavened bread symbolizes the sinless Messiah who was “pierced through for our transgressions”, and “by His scourging we are healed”. Furthermore, during the modern Passover ceremony, there are three pieces of unleavened bread. The custom is to break and hide (or bury) the middle piece, and later find (or resurrect) it again. The three pieces of bread symbolize God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus, the Son of God, who was broken for us and who rose from the dead.[1]

First Fruits (Bikkurim)

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.'” (Leviticus 23:9-11)

The Feast of First Fruits occurs on a Sunday during the week of Unleavened Bread. First Fruits represent the early crops of spring. It is a day of celebration to God for His provisions. It is on this day that the Messiah was resurrected. He was the First Fruit who was presented to God as an offering.

“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week… the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.'” (Matthew 28:1, 5-6)

Christians gave the name Easter to First Fruits. But the word Easter is not biblical. The name we should be using is First Fruits.[2] Just as the priest “shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted”, so Jesus was offered to God in order that we may be accepted.

Harvest or Weeks (Shavuot)

“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:15-17)

The fourth festival is the Feast of Harvest. It is celebrated fifty days after First Fruits and represents a greater harvest than the spring-time harvest of first fruits. During the Feast of Harvest, an offering of two leavened loaves of bread are presented to God. This represents two groups of sinful people, Jews and Gentiles, who are redeemed from their sins and offered to God.[3]

The Feast of Harvest occurs on the same day as Pentecost in the New Testament Bible. It was during this feast that the Holy Spirit came upon the church, and He gathered a harvest of three thousand people (most of them Jewish) who accepted the Messiah.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit….” (Acts 2:1-4)

“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.” (Acts 2:5-6)

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41).

Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah)

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.'” (Leviticus 23:23-25)

While the first three holidays occur during springtime and the Feast of Harvest occurs in early summer, the Day of Trumpets is celebrated in autumn. The blowing of trumpets signify a gathering of people and an announcement of a great event. Often, trumpets are used to announce a new king in Israel (e.g. 2 Kings 9:13, 2 Kings 11:14, 2 Chronicles 23:13).

For example, a trumpet was blown when Solomon became king. “Zadok the priest then took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!'” (1 Kings 1:39)

Hence, the Day of Trumpets represents an announcement of the coming Kingdom of God and a new King to reign on earth, the Messiah.

This holiday is also known as the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, meaning “Head of the Year”. Even though biblically it occurs in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, today the Jewish New Year is celebrated on the Day of Trumpets. In a way, it signifies the beginning of something new, and brings to mind a new kingdom made without hands, spoken of by Daniel the prophet:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44)

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23:27-28)

While the Day of Trumpets heralds God’s reign on earth, the Day of Atonement reminds us to be prepared for His coming. Jewish people were commanded to afflict their souls or confess their sins for 24 hours every year on the Day of Atonement.[4] Jesus taught His disciples to confess their sins in prayer to God:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:9-12)

When Jesus, the Messiah, comes to reign on earth, those who pierced Him will mourn and afflict their souls. Zechariah prophesied:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” (Zechariah 12:10-11)

In the future, people will repent on a Day of Atonement and the Bible says, “all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26).

Tabernacles or Booths (Sukkot)

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord….You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.'” (Leviticus 23:34, 42-43)

The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths reminds the Israelites how God had provided shelter for them in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt. On this holiday in autumn, devout Jewish people still build shelters for themselves outside their homes and worship in them for seven days.

Looking forward, the Feast of Tabernacles represents God’s shelter to come when the Messiah reigns on earth.[5]

“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.” (Zechariah 14:16)

“I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

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From the seven feasts of Israel, we see God’s great faithfulness and His plans for the future. What a wonderful gift He has given to the Jewish people! May the Messiah come again quickly and let’s all say together: “Next Year in Jerusalem!”