Our Theme Verse for 2017 1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1
Rainbow Forest Mission Statement Connecting the Disconnected to Christ, Community and the Call Our Purpose To glorify God in everything we say and do 2
Connecting Through the Word Celebrating and Rejoicing at the Feast Leviticus 23-24 Leviticus 23:1-4 1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. 3 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places. 4 These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 3
1 Peter 1:6-8 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, God gave Israel a calendar that was tied to the rhythm of the seasons and the history of the nation. It was an unusual calendar because it not only summarized what God had done for them in the past, but it also anticipated what God would do for them in the future. The salvation work of Jesus Christ, the founding of the church, and the future of the people of Israel are all illustrated in these seven feasts. 4
It is important to note the order of these seven feasts, for they give us a "prophetic calendar" for both Israel and the church. The Feast of Passover The Feast of Unleavened Bread The Feast of Firstfruits The Feast of Pentecost The Feast of Trumpets The Day of Atonement The Feast of Tabernacles The Feast of Passover Leviticus 23:4-5 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. The feast of Passover speaks of the salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus. 5
Exodus 12:1-3 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers houses, a lamb for a household. Exodus 12:11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD s Passover. Exodus 12:14 This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 6
The Feast of Unleavened Bread Leviticus 23:6 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. The second feast deals with Separation because leaven in the Bible is a symbol of sin. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 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. 7
The Feast of Firstfruits Leviticus 23:9-11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "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. The Feast of Firstfruits The feast of firstfruits, speaks of our sanctification, or our being set aside of the Lord. It speaks also of resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:20 "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." 8
The Feast of Pentecost Leviticus 23:15-16 15 '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. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 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. This feast speaks of the Spirit-filled life. Fifty days after the feast of firstfruits Fifty days after the resurrection of Christ was the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2) That's when the Holy Spirit descended upon that church and that was the birthday of the church. 9
Two loaves One for Israel and One for the Church. Jews and Gentiles. There is leaven in this offering There's sin in the church. We're not perfect. It is after Pentecost that we have the long gap when there are no feasts. There are three feasts in the first month and three in the seventh, with Pentecost between. This long gap speaks of the present age, the age of the church. Israel has rejected her Lamb; she cannot receive the Spirit until she receives her Messiah; and she is scattered across the world. She has no temple, no priesthood, no sacrifice, and no king. What is her future? It is seen in the next three feasts. 10
The Feast of Trumpets Leviticus 23:23-24 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. Remember The first feast, Passover - salvation The second feast, Unleavened - separation The third feast, Firstfruits - sanctification The fourth feast, Pentecost - the Spirit coming The fifth feast, Trumpets - the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 11
Isaiah 27:13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur Leviticus 23:26-27 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 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. 12
Israel's future Day of Atonement is described in Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. It will be a day of mourning for sin, a day of cleansing by the blood of the Lamb. We believe that this will take place at the very end of the Seven Year Tribulation. Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 13
Romans 11:25-27 25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob ; 27 and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) Leviticus 23:33-34 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 14
For seven days, the Jews were to live in booths, reminding them of God's provision and protection when they were in the wilderness. But there is also a future Feast of Tabernacles for Israel that will take place when the King has been received and the nation restored. Zechariah 14:16-18 16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 15
This feast speaks of the future millennial kingdom that God has promised the Jews. This feast followed the harvest (v. 39), which teaches us that God will have gathered all of His harvest before Christ establishes His earthly kingdom. This was to be a feast of rejoicing, not sorrow; and certainly all heaven and earth will rejoice when Christ reigns from Jerusalem. The Feast of Tabernacles is about that time when Jew and Gentile, brother and sister, father and mother, are going to be gathered together. And the Bible says in Revelation 21:3, that God will tabernacle with us. That is God's going to camp with us for all eternity. 16
Revelation 21:1-4 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 17