If you have not read The Introduction To God's Holy Days And Feasts may I suggest you read it before continuing. It will help explain how this study is written.
As previously mentioned in the Introduction Page, the Old Testament Feasts and Holydays foreshadows an event in the New Testament. This is called a "type" or "foreshadowing" of a future event. The fulfillment of that earlier Old Testament Holyday or Feast is known as the "antitype". It will be found in the New Testament. The type and anti-type describe the relationship connecting the New Testament and Old Testament. The type actually serves as a prophetic symbol of what is coming and is usually filled with physical customs, rituals, and actions. The antitype is really the fulfillment of what was foreshadowed. Keep this in mind as you read about these special times and events.
Passover was actually about when God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. After the failure of 9 plagues upon Egypt, God sent a final plague of killing all firstborn sons in Egypt. The Israelites were told to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. The blood was a sign for God to "pass over" these houses, sparing their firstborn children. This plague actually caused Pharaoh to Give Israel their freedom. God commanded the Israelites to observe Passover every year on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan), by eating a special meal based on unleavened bread, roasted lamb, and bitter herbs, all with symbolic meanings related to the original Passover. Up until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Passover celebrations actually involved the sacrifice of lambs at the Jewish Temple. Modern celebrations no longer include animal sacrifices. The Passover really served as a powerful reminder of God's deliverance and the Israelites' identity as His chosen people.
"On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover." (Lev 23:5)
"So this day will be to you a memorial; and you will keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You will keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance".(Ex 12:14)
"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month every man will take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.... Your lamb will be without blemish, a male of the first year.... Now you will keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill it at twilight. And they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they will eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they will eat it.... And thus you will eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you will eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover." (Exodus 12:3-11)
For Christians today, Passover really symbolizes Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, actually changing it from a "memorial" of physical deliverance for Israel to one of "spiritual salvation and redemption" for all people. Christians see Jesus as the "Lamb of God" who actually delivers those who accept Him and His ultimate sacrifice, from the results of our sins, eternal death in Hell. As Jesus observed His last Passover meal with His disciples, with the new emblems of bread and wine, He showed us what to do as Christians to observes this special day, no longer requiring the killing and eating of the lamb.
"When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." (Luke 22:14-20)
We find the command received directly from Jesus, and delivered to Christians to observe Passover in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice for us, with the new emblems of bread, which symbolizes His broken body, wine which represents His blood shed for the forgiveness of sins, and self-examination to see what our sins are, and what they did to Jesus on the Cross.
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." (i Corinthians 11:23-34)
The church actually tried to abolished the New Covenant Passover at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. They did so because of a strong Anti-Jewish sentiment that had developed, increasing pressure to just celebrate Easter, and Roman Emperor Constantine's opposition to Jewish customs in Christian worship. The Council's decision effectively replaced God's commanded Passover observance with Good Friday and Easter Sunday. While successful in this effort in mainstream Catholic, and later Protestant churches, a small number of Christian churches continued to obey God and observe Passover every year as commanded. True Christians who believe what God actually says in the Bible, as opposed to an erroneous decision by fallible men in a counsel 2,000 years ago, continue to observe Passover today, exactly as Jesus instructed us at His last supper with His disciples.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was an important 7 day festival stat started the day after Passover, to commemorate the hasty exodus from Egypt by the Israelites. It served as a memorial of the deliverance of the Israelites by God. Unleavened dough represented the speedy departure as Israel left Egypt, allowing no time for their dough to rise. Removing leaven from their house symbolized their desire to remove sin from their life. The 1st and 7th days of the Feast Of Unleavened Bread were special, annual Sabbaths different from the weekly Sabbath. They were to assemble for sacred worship services on these 2 days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated every year, starting on the 15th day of the first month (Nisan), so the Israelites would never forget that God gave them deliverance from their bondage in Egypt.
"Seven days you will eat unleavened bread. On the first day you will remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel. On the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work will be done on them; but that which everyone must eat, that only may be prepared by you. So you will observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread,.... Therefore you will observe this throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you will eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses .... You will eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you will eat unleavened bread." (Ex 12:15-20)
Today the Feast of Unleavened Bread takes on new significance for Christians. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is all about removing sin from our lives and becoming more like Jesus. The manna God gave to the Israelites was unleavened, with leavening symbolizing sin, flat like frost.
"And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground." (Ex 6:14)
"Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat." (John 6:31)
The New Testament uses a passage in 1 Corinthians to illustrate how a small amount of leaven, (sin), can affect us. As Christians we should remove the "old leaven" of sin and celebrate with "unleavened bread", symbolizing righteousness through Jesus' shed blood. Unleavened bread represents the sinless nature of Jesus. Again it is clear that Paul is commanding the Corinthians, a Gentile people, to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread which includes two of God's annual Holydays.
"Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 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." (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)
These verses emphasize the necessity of believers purging sin from our lives and trying to live sin free like Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus occurred during this Feast. It symbolizes the new life we have through the power of the resurrected Christ living in us to help us remove sin in our life.
In the Old Testament, Pentecost was known as the Feast of Weeks. "Pentecost" is from the Greek word "penekoste," and literally means to "count 50". It occurred 50 days after Passover as a time to present to God the firstfruits of the grain harvest. Two wave loaves were offered to God as firstfruits of the wheat harvest, along with wine, and various lamb and goat offerings. Farmers were also instructed to leave parts of the fields unharvested at Pentecost for the poor to gather food. The Feast of Weeks was a celebration of God's provision for His Chosen People and served as a reminder of this for His people. God said that it is a law forever!
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, 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. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."
"And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: 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. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations."
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God." (Lev 23:10-22)
The events of Pentecost transformed the Jewish harvest festival into a celebration of the birthday of the Christian Church, and the Holy Spirit empowering the followers of Jesus to begin spreading the Gospel. The Gift of Tongues was given on Pentecost that enabled the disciples to speak in various languages to all nations. Peter's preached a powerful sermon on Pentecost resulting in the conversion of about 3,000 people.
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
"And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? .... We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God" (Act 2:1-11)
During his powerful Pentecost sermon Peter said what was spoken by the prophet Joel had come to pass that day.
"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions". (Joel 2:28)
2 Thessalonians also describes True Christians as Firstfruits, highlighting their special position as the first to believe in and follow Jesus "IN THE TRUTH". This is not talking about Sunday morning, seat warming church goers just enjoying a worship service. The Firstfruits, as you will see are special Christians who believe the truth of what God actually says in the Bible and obey Him.
"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." (2 Thessalonians 2:13) NIV
True to God's word spoken in Leviticus 23...."It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.", the followers of Jesus were gathered together on Pentecost just as God had commanded. Because they were obeying what God said, they were in the right place at the right time, and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit as a result.
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." (Acts 2:1)
This first New Testament Pentecost occurred shortly after Jesus died, but Paul was still talking about Pentecost and keeping it among Gentile congregations 2 decades later.
"Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost." (Acts 20:16)
The Day of Pentecost is all about Christians being "holy to the Lord", even as the "sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest" was as the Wave Offering. True Christians are the "Firstfruits", made possible through the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church on Pentecost.
As you can see in this study about the Spring Feasts and Holydays, there is much that most of us Christians were never taught by our churches about what religious "holidays" God wants us to celebrate. Please click this link....Should Christians Celebrate The Fall Holydays And Feasts, to learn about the incredible meanings of the Fall Festivals and the joy that awaits those who will celebrate them. It's important for us to know the truth and live our lives according to God's "WILL", not ours.
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Gateway To Jesus Ministries - Bible Study #25. Average Reading Time:12 minutes.