The Feasts of God Introduction:  Part II – The Spring Feasts

We have studied together the Jewish calendar and its prophetic significance. More recently, the Feasts of God were introduced. Continuing with the introduction, let’s dive in just a little deeper in Part II, focusing on the Spring Feasts, and then we can wrap up the introduction with the Fall Feasts in Part III.

We set the backdrop in Part I, relating that the Feasts of the Lord were set at appointed times and are very important visual aids for the Jewish people and for us.  Their timing and frequency reveal the overall prophetic plan of God. Each feast pointed the Jewish people to their Messiah and a particular aspect of His life and ministry, working together to form a complete picture of the person and work of Jesus.  

The Bible records that Jesus celebrated at least some of these festivals (Luke 2:40-43; Luke 22:7-8; Luke 22:14-15; John 7:1-10; John 7:37-38). Fifteen hundred years before He was born, these feasts foretold every major redemptive event that would occur in His life. In fact, each of these events occurred on a feast day. As gentile believers in Jesus, these foreshadows help us internalize the redemptive work of Jesus in our lives; we can learn a great deal about Him through the feasts.

The significance of these feasts from a Jewish perspective will be addressed, along with the prophetic implications. From a prophetic standpoint, the Spring Feasts have already been fulfilled by Jesus.  Let’s revisit how this is so by looking at each one individually.

The Feast of Passover (Pesach)

Passover occurs in the spring on the 14th day of the Hebrew month, Nisan (March/April). It is the foundational feast as the 6 feasts that follow are built upon it.  The Feast of Passover (Pesach) celebrates God delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It commemorates the night when the angel of death “passed over” the houses of the Israelites and struck down the firstborn sons of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:24-27).

On that night, a lamb was sacrificed, and the blood was applied to each doorpost and lintel (Exodus 12:7). This was done in faith and obedience to God’s command so that the home was ‘passed over’ and the life of the firstborn son was spared. [You see, salvation has always been through faith, not works (e.g., Abraham willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac; Noah building the arc; the Israelites applying lambs blood on doorposts, etc.). Works are birthed from our faith.] All subsequent observances of Passover have been memorials of this first true Passover. For both events, redemption could not occur without a cost. Blood had to be shed.

In the same way, there was only one occasion when the Messiah was pierced, and his blood spilled, on the cross for the sins of all mankind. Like the Feast of Passover, the Lord’s Supper is an ongoing memorial of that one momentous occasion (Matthew 26:26-28). All the lambs sacrificed in Egypt (one per household) pointed to the one true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is the Passover Lamb, whose blood protects believers from judgment and brings deliverance (1 Corinthians 5:7) . He was crucified during Passover (Matthew 26: 1-2), of which the Christian equivalent observance would be Good Friday.

The Feasts of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)

On the 15^th day of Nisan, the very next day after Passover, was another feast appointed by God, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:17).  This feast was to last for 7 days. On the fist night and again on the seventh, there was to be a time of meeting between God and man. Passover and Unleavened bread are so intimately related that over time, the Jewish people observed them as one holiday.

This week-long feast commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites left Egypt in haste and had to bake unleavened bread as there was no time for the bread to rise (Deuteronomy 16:3). In the Bible, leaven symbolizes sin. Leaven is the agent that causes fermentation. Like leaven, if sin is not dealt with, it will permeate and affect everything. This festival signifies removing sin from our lives.

Passover symbolizes the Lord’s death on Calvary and the Feast of Unleavened Bread proclaims that Jesus was without sin and that His physical body would not experience the consequences of death while in the grave. There was no decomposition of His flesh. His body was exempt from the divine pronouncement that from the dust of the ground man came and into the dust of the ground he shall return (Genesis 3:19; 1 Corinthians 15:47-49). This is prophetically spoken of by the psalmist ”You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; ). During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was buried and His body did not decay, just as leaven represents decay.

The Feast of Firstfruits (Yom Bikkurum)

The third feast occurs on the 2^nd day (16^th of Nisan) of the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (the Christian equivalent is Easter Sunday). The Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the first harvest of barley. The barley harvest, the first crop planted in the winter, begins to ripen in the spring. The first sheaf (first fruits) of the harvest is cut and, in a carefully prescribed and meticulous ceremony, presented to the Lord. The Lord’s acceptance of the first fruit is an earnest or pledge on His part for a full harvest (Leviticus 23:9-14).  

On the Feast of Firstfruits, Jesus rose from the dead, representing Himself as the first fruits of the resurrection of the righteous (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). In both the Old and New Testaments, there were people who were raised from the dead. However, in time, they died again.  Jesus was the first to be resurrected from the grave, never to die again. He alone is the firstfruits because death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24). It is almost beyond comprehension that this is the future that awaits us….that we will not experience a second death (1 Corinthians 15:50-58).

The Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot)

The fourth feast is known as Shavuot, which is Hebrew for weeks. It is the feast of weeks because God specifically told the Israelites that they were to count 7 weeks from Firstfuits and then on the day after, the Feast of Weeks was to be observed (Leviticus 23:15-16).  This is 49 days and then add one day, the day after, and it brings the total to 50 days, which is why this feast is also referred to as Pentecost (Acts 2:1).  The Jewish people celebrate the first fruits of the wheat harvest in the month of Sivan (May or June on our calendar), occurring 50 days after Firstruits. Many believe this feast commemorates God giving the Torah on Mount Sinai.

The Israelites were not only to bring the firstfuits of the wheat harvest to the Temple to dedicate to God, but also two loaves of leavened bread.  You read that right…leavened bread. These two loaves were to be baked with fine flour and leaven (Leviticus 23:17).  This all pointed to the coming of the Holy Spirit in the birth of the church.  The Son of God arose from the grave on (and as) Firstfruits.  He spent 40 days with his disciples and post-resurrection ministry (Acts 1:3). He told them it was necessary for Him to ascend to His Father, but that He would not abandon them. He would send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, who would come alongside to guide them in His absence (John 14:16-17).

The disciples waited 10 days and then it happened; the Spirit of God descended on those first century believers. This was the birth of the church. On the Feast of Pentecost, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower His followers, marking the birth of the church (Acts 2:1-4). 

Just a bit more on the significance of the 2 loaves of bread. There was to be leaven in the loaves foreshadowing that the believers will not yet be glorified. During the church age, there would still be sin within the church.  Jesus, the Messiah is the head and is unleavened, without sin. The church, the body, still has leaven within her. Why two loaves you may wonder?  They represented the Jew and Gentile, both now one in the Messiah with the coming of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul stated, Jesus made both Jew and Gentile one by breaking down the wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14-15). God has a different plan for each in the future, but together, they form the body of Christ.

What an amazing plan God established. Passover speaks of redemption. Jesus, the Passover lamb was slain for us.  Unleavened bread speaks of sanctification. Jesus was set apart, sinless. His body would not decay in the grave. Firstfruits speaks of the resurrection of Jesus of the firstfruits of the righteous. And Pentecost speaks of origination, the coming of the Holy Spirit which brought on the New Covenant in the church age which Jesus instituted in the upper room during the last supper (Matthew 26:2-29). The wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles was shattered. From the two, Jesus called out His church, the body of Christ. Absolutely remarkable!

Each major event in Christ’s first coming occurred on the precise date of the appropriate Jewish holiday. It only stands to reason that each of the three major events to be associated with His second coming will also occur on the appropriate Jewish holiday.  The three fall feasts – Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles, will be our focus in Part III.   Thanks for reading. Until next time….Shalom!