Posted by Author Unknown, et al on 8/10/2001, 5:22 pm

Posted by Author Unknown on 6/1/2001, 2:36 pm Remember that pesky chapter on the Feast Days? I did not steal from Don. Don freely gave me his understanding on this subject. However, Don and I do not agree on this subject. Here is my understanding. PS, I left this chapter somewhat ambiguous. To state the Truth, I was so unhappy with how the COA handled my research on this subject that my heart for this chapter died. This is perhaps the worst chapter in my book. I’m not mad. I’m just stating the Truth! Chapter 10 THE FEAST DAYS—NOW AND THEN “The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies” (Leviticus 23:1-2, NIV). God commanded the Children of Israel to observe the springtime Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Weeks, also known as Pentecost. In the fall, Israel was commanded to observe the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. These holy days revolved around Israel’s agricultural seasons with the harvesting of the various crops of wheat, corn, olives, figs, and grapes. In this chapter we will look into these Jewish feast days and their spiritual counterparts in the new covenant. The material things used in old covenant rituals—the lampstands, the veil in the Temple, even the Temple itself—represent spiritual designs in the New Testament. Also, every old covenant ordinance represents a new covenant model in this dispensation. The lamb sacrifice represents Jesus Christ in his role as Savior—His blood atonement is the true ransom for man's sins! The Old Testament lamb sacrifice was a mere shadow of the real design whose substance is Christ, and the same holds true with the Jewish Feast Days. The Passover feasts are rituals that point to the Messiah; they also transcend the singular Christ and center on His collective body [the Church] at the end of time. The Feast of Passover Passover celebrated the destroying angel sent by God passing over households in Egypt, sparing the first born males from death, both man and animals. The Israelites were warned by the LORD to apply the blood of a lamb to their doorposts; so all the households that had the blood in place would be spared as the angel of death passed by. The Messianic fulfillment is straightforward: the Passover lamb was slain on the first day of this feast; it was on this day approximately 2,000 years later that Christ was slain. Jesus died on Golgotha's hill. At that time, the ritual slaying of the Passover lamb was fulfilled. We now observe Passover by figuratively putting the blood of Jesus on the doorposts of our hearts. The leaders of Israel at the time of Christ did not want to crucify him on Passover: “They plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people” (Matthew 26:4-5, NIV). However, the prophetic typology present within that feast was to be fulfilled on schedule—it was essential that Christ die on that very day. The years of Israel mimicking the real event with mere lambs was now over: the True Lamb, Jesus Christ was slain. In the Church age, this feast takes on spiritual meaning. Passover speaks of Christ’s atonement—in a sense this is symbolic of our salvation experience as we apply the blood of the Lamb, figuratively speaking, and enter into a covenant with God. It also has an application with the children of Israel [the church] during the Time of Trumpets, when the destroying angel will pass over all those who have been “sealed” (Revelation, 9:4, NIV). The Feast of Unleavened Bread Many theologians believe The Feast of Unleavened Bread represents Christ’s body and how it did not rot in the grave, because bread without yeast lasts much longer than leavened bread. This understanding of the feast may have an application with Christians at the end of time: “Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth” (Revelation 11:8-10, NIV). Is it possible that our bodies also will not rot in death before we are resurrected and ascend? “But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on” (Revelation 11:11-12, NIV). This feast also has an application in the Christian’s life: after finding salvation in Jesus, [Pentecost], we feed on his teachings, [Unleavened Bread]. This feast represents us partaking of Christ and purging yeast [sin and false doctrine] from our hearts. It also corresponds with the exact day God brought Israel out of Egypt. The Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world. God through Moses delivered Israel from Pharoah’s hand and through a greater Moses—Jesus Christ has delivered us from Satan’s domination. The Feast of First Fruits The Feast of First fruits is an illustration of God’s early harvest of souls [the first resurrection]. During this ceremony, the first sheaf of the barley harvest is cut and presented to the Lord. This symbolizes Christ: He was the first to be resurrected. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:20). It also depicts those in Christ [the church] “But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” (I Corinthians 15:23). During this feast, the first of the crop’s fruit was waved before the Lord to be blessed by God, insuring a full harvest. The Day of Pentecost The Greek word for Pentecost means fiftieth: it means that there are fifty days from the Feast of Firstfruits to the Feast of Pentecost. Held at the end of the wheat harvest, this one-day feast is also called the Feast of Weeks because seven weeks pass between the two feasts. The numerical symbolism—seven days times seven—is that of completion to the highest degree. As far as the Messiah is concerned, it was on this day that Jesus “received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:33, NIV). Jesus is now glorified: he has completed the design God had for him. On the Day of Pentecost, God’s design for Israel was also completed as the New Testament Church was born. No longer was the gospel only preached to the literal descendants of Jacob. The Apostles soon realized that God had now granted the “Gentiles repentance unto life.” Perhaps this is why in the original feast Israel was commanded to bake two loaves of leavened bread. Could the two loaves represent the Jewish and non-Jewish nations coming together to form one assembly? This would answer the question of why he had them bake leavened bread (bread with yeast); it’s also possible that this represents the sin and false teaching which has plagued the church from its beginning. The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost The Scriptures disclose a principle for us to consider, as shown in the King James Bible: “The day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1). The Greek word fully in the text, “sumpleroo,” means to accomplish fully, or fill up. In the Emphasized Bible this verse reads: “And when the day of pentecost was filling up [the number of days].” That saying demonstrates that the years Israel spent mimicking the spiritual event God was illustrating through ritual were now over; the real substance of Pentecost had arrived. On that day, as recorded in Acts, the Holy Spirit descended. It was the beginning of a whole new era for mankind. Pentecost was the day Joel had recorded in Bible prophecy. It was on this day the Spirit of God was to be poured out upon all flesh. This gift of the Spirit empowers the Christian to be a strong witness for Christ as recorded in God's Word. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV). The feast day from the Old Testament that we call Pentecost had to do with a move of God's Spirit in the New Covenant—in this instance, at the very beginning of the church's formation. Pentecost will have another more perfect fulfillment at the end of this age. A look into Joel's original prophecy from the Book of Joel depicts this Pentecostal outpouring of God's Spirit transpiring around the time of the sixth seal in the book of Revelation. Prophecy has applications in the church age at the end of time that fit the scriptural context better than their earlier partial fulfillment’s. In fact, Joel's prophecy will have its final fulfillment in the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth. Let’s look at small portion of this prophecy: “…‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (Joel 2:28-31, NIV). This brings us back to the mortgage scroll in the book of Revelation, because when Jesus opens the sixth seal on that scroll, the sun turns to darkness and the moon to blood.