UNDERSTANDING THE JEWISH FEASTS Raymart Lugue Calendars that we have today are a normal part of the world of busy people. For the Jews, however, they were not that important especially in Moses day. Unlike any other civilizations, the children of Israel counted the months by the phases of moon, and watched the seasons come and go. In Genesis 1, light and darkness were not created to determine days, nights, months, or seasons. God created the celestial bodies to serve that purpose (Genesis 1:14). He gave the Jewish people seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night which shall not cease as the earth remains (Genesis 8:22). The Jewish calendar found in the Scriptures has several appointed days of spiritual activities and feasts which were ordained by God Himself. These were given not only to commemorate what God has done in the history of the Jewish people, but also to be a type or a shadow of what God will do in the future. FEAST OF THE PASSOVER References: Exodus 12, 13:6-8; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16; Deuteronomy 16:3-8 Key Verse: This month shall be unto you the beginning of the months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2) The feast of the Passover, done in the fourteenth day of the first month of every year (Leviticus 23:5), marks the beginning of the Jewish religious year. It is observed as a memorial of how God delivered the children of Israel from the curse of death that took the lives of the firstborns of Egypt. It is the sacrifice of the Lord s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses (Exodus 12:27). God commanded the men of Israel to take a lamb for each house (Exodus 12:3) in the tenth day of the first month. The lamb must be without blemish, a male of the first year (prime year) (Exodus 12:5). It must be kept until the evening of the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of Israel shall kill it (Exodus 12:6). They will then take the blood of the lamb and, using a hyssop, strike it on the two posts and on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they will eat (Exodus 12:6, 22). In the same night, the people shall eat the flesh roasted with fire. The manner of eating the flesh was also given they must eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8), they shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and they shall eat it in haste with their loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hands (Exodus 12:10-11).
The Feast of the Passover is a type of Jesus Christ and the death He experienced to provide salvation to humanity. The Bible says that Christ is the Passover sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7). It marks the beginning of the Jewish religious year. Likewise, the death of Christ on the Cross marks the beginning of the New Testament through His blood (Matthew 26:28). We also become a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). The lamb kept until the fourteenth day to be killed is a shadow of the years when the Lamb of God prepared for the ultimate ministry He had done at the Cross of Calvary. A lamb for each house signifies that the death of Christ and the salvation He provided is something personal. He is our personal Savior. Moreover, it also signifies that Jesus Christ provided salvation for each house. The fact that the whole assembly of Israel shall kill it is a prophecy that Christ will be killed in the midst of the assembly of the Jewish people. The blood on the doorposts signifies the public confession of faith in the Lamb of God. It also tells us about the salvation which is available to those who will call upon His name. Acts 16:31 says: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. The flesh roasted with fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread tells us about the bitterness of death and the sufferings that Christ experienced as the Lamb of God. The fact that no part of the flesh shall remain until the morning and that it must be eaten in haste means that the sacrifice must be consumed within a period of time until it loses its effectiveness. Christ died once and for all (Romans 6:10). There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins (Hebews 10:26). Lastly, the Jews were commanded to eat the flesh with their loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hands. This tells us about the reverence which God demands for the ultimate sacrifice He had done. This is what Paul considers discerning the Lord s body in I Corinthians 11:29. FEAST OF THE UNLEAVENED BREAD References: Exodus 12:15-20; 13:3-10; Leviticus 23:6-8; Numbers 28:17-25; Deuteronomy 16:3b, 4a, 8; Mark 14:1, 12; I Corinthians 5:6-8 Key Verse: Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
The feast of the Unleavened Bread follows immediately after the Passover and lasts seven days, from the 15 th to the 21 st Nisan (or Abib). For seven days, the children of Israel were commanded to eat unleavened bread alone (Deuteronomy 16:3). They were not only expected to eat unleavened bread, but also to search their houses using the light of a candle and put the leaven out (Exodus 12:15, 19). It is said that after their search, they will recite: Whatever leaven remains in my possession which I cannot see, behold, it is null, and accounted as the dust of the earth. 3 Whosoever, whether a stranger or a citizen, was found eating that which is leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel (Exodus 12:19). They also offer certain sacrifices during this seven-day festival. First is the usual morning and evening sacrifices, with their grain and drink offerings. Second is two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of their first year, with their grain and drink offerings. These were presented after the morning sacrifice. The children of Israel were also commanded not to work on the first and seventh day of the festival. Leaven (or yeast) makes dough rise. It produces fermentation, a very similar process to decomposition or decay. It also spreads and permeates the dough unseen. In many places in the Scriptures, leaven, depicts sin. Like yeast, it spreads and permeates the spirit unseen. When the sin, however, is finished, it brings forth a noticeable change death (James 1:15). The Feast of the Unleavened Bread has a great spiritual implication: First, Jesus Christ is the unleavened bread; His body is the Bread of Life (John 6:48, 51). He had no sin; a lamb without blemish and without spot (I Peter 1:19). It is important to take note that the eating of the unleavened bread followed immediately after the killing of the Paschal lamb. Christ, the Lamb of God, was killed and we were privileged to be one of the partakers of His flesh (bread) that we might receive life (I Corinthians 10:17). Eating the unleavened bread for seven days (number of perfection or completion) completes the effectiveness of the sacrifice in our life. The unleavened bread was also called the bread of affliction (Deuteronomy 16:3), which signifies the affliction or suffering that the body of Christ experienced to provide salvation for humanity (Isaiah 53:4, 7). Secondly, Christ, being the unleavened bread, set an example for us to purge out the old leaven (I Corinthians 5:7). God expects us to search our houses (or hearts) and put away all leaven (or sins). David said: Search me, O God and see if there be any wicked way in me (Psalms 139:23-24). We need to use the light of the Word of God (Psalm 119:105) that the leaven (sin) might be revealed in us (John 3:21).
It is important to note that the Feast of the Passover comes first before the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. The Paschal lamb was slain first before the children of Israel put away the leaven out of their houses. In the New Testament, Christ must be slain first before we get the privilege of being cleansed from our sins. Warren Wiersbe said: The people weren t saved from death and bondage by getting rid of leaven but by applying the blood of the lamb by faith. THE FIRST FRUITS Reference: Leviticus 23:10-14 The celebration of the first fruits occurs on the 16 th Nisan. It was the first harvest celebration of the year. This day was also called the day after the Sabbath ; and on it the sheaf of the first produce of the harvest (barley) was waved before the Lord (Leviticus 23:10-14). Preparation In the evening of the 15 th Nisan, just as the sun went down, three men with a sickle and basket were set formally to work. These workers ask the following questions three times each: Has the sun gone down? With this sickle? Into this basket? On this Sabbath? Shall I cut? Right after the affirmative answers of the priests, they cut down the barley to the amount of one ephah. The ears were brought into the Temple, threshed out, parched, and exposed to the wind. A sifting process will be done, and a prescribed amount was secured and offered on the 16 th Nisan. Actual Day The priest would wave a sheaf (omer) of green barley of the new harvest before the Lord. The manner of waving was north, south, east, then west. A male lamb was then sacrificed as a burnt offering, along with unleavened bread mixed with oil, and wine (Leviticus 23:13).
The Feast of the First Fruits is a type of Jesus Christ. He compared His death and burial to the planting of a seed (John 12:23), and Paul compared is resurrection as the harvest of the grain (I Corinthians 15:35-49). While the Feasts of the Passover and Unleavened Bread symbolize Christ s death and burial, the Feast of the First Fruit is a type of His resurrection. It is also important to note that the Passover and Unleavened Bread occurred first before the First Fruits; there will be no resurrection without the death and burial of Christ. On the day when the priests wave the sheaf, they also sacrifice a male lamb without blemish. Along with this burn offering was the unleavened bread and wine (Leviticus 23:12-13). These are the very symbols that Christ intended for us to recall His sacrifice (Matthew 26:26-28). Why First Fruits? The Feast of the First Fruits is not just an annual religious event that serves as a type of Christ, it is also serves as a promise to His people. The Bible says that Jesus is the first fruits of them that slept (I Corinthians 15:20). He was the first One who conquered the death through resurrection, but He will not be the last. Paul put it this way: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming (I Corinthians 15:23). Our faith is not in vain for we are looking forward to our blessed hope that we shall also be resurrected or changed on the day of His coming. FEAST OF PENTECOST References: Exodus 23:16, 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31; Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Acts 2; I Corinthians 16:8 The Feast of Pentecost is also known as the Feast of the Weeks (Exodus 34:22) and Feast of the Harvest (Exodus 23:6). It occurs on the 6 th Sivan (3 rd month), seven weeks (50 days) after the Feast of the First Fruits (Leviticus 23:11, 15-16). The feast marked the end of the wheat harvest. Instead of sheaf, two loaves baked with leaven were waved before the Lord (Leviticus 23:17). Along with this offering were morning and evening sacrifices with grain and drink offerings, burnt offerings (7 lambs, 1 young bull, 2 rams) with grain and drink offerings, and a kid of the goats and 2 lambs. On the day of the Feast of the Weeks, God commanded the children of Israel to rejoice with thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you (Deuteronomy 16:11). They were also expected to remember the poor as they harvest the grain: thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger (Leviticus 23:22).
Following the Feast of Pentecost was a four-month gap before the next feast. There is a significant event that occurred on the first Day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ the birth of the Church in Acts 2. It is not an accident; God intentionally chose the day of Pentecost as the day when He sent His Holy Spirit to His people. Originally, they were three main feasts the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. It is the Feast of the Passover that paved the way towards the Feast of Pentecost. Likewise, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ made the spiritual resurrection of the Church possible. Two loaves of bread baked with leaven were waved before the Lord on the Feast of the Weeks. These loaves of bread are a type of the Church Jews and the Gentiles which was conceived in sin (leaven), but was made acceptable through the blood of the Lamb. The four-month gap between the Feast of Pentecost and Feast of Trumpets is a type of the age we are living in today the church age. As prophesied by Joel, in the last days the church age where salvation is offered to the Gentiles this is the time where we celebrate the privilege of God s outpouring of His Spirit until the trumpet sounds when He will gather His church from all the corners of the earth. FEAST OF TRUMPETS References: Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6 The Jewish civil year begins in the fall, though the Biblical year begins in spring (Exodus 12:2). The first of the three Fall holidays is the Feast of Trumpets. Today, it is called Rosh HaShana, the Head of the Year. Rosh Hashana, and the other two fall holidays, occurs on the seventh month, Tishrei. There is a thirty-day period of teshuvah (repentance) prior to the fall holidays. The next ten days after teshuvah commences with the Feast of Trumpets, and ends with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Aside from the offerings required of God (Numbers 29:1-6), the Feast of Trumpets is characterized by one specific ritual the blowing of shofar (trumpet; ram s horn). According to the Jewish Talmud, morning prayer services are lengthy on this day, and focuses on remembrance and judgement. Rabbinical tradition tells us that the left horn of the ram refers to the first trump and the right horn as the last trump. A distinguishing feature of the celebration is the last, climatic
blast. Unlike the usual series of short blasts which signal a warning or bad news, the long blast signals victory or good news. The Second Coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ will be signaled by the sound of a trumpet (Matthew 24:31; I Corinthians 15:52; I Thessalonians 4:16). Contrary to what others believe, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will not be a silent coming. Every eye will see Him (Revelation 1:7), and there will also be a shout and voice of an archangel (I Thessalonians 4:16). His coming like a thief in the night does not mean He will secretly come; it rather refers to the lack of awareness and preparation of the unbelievers. Like a long blast of the shofar, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also signals victory or good news for the Church. The Second Coming is the rapture of the church where we will all be gathered together to meet Him and be with Him forever (I Thessalonians 4:17). Prior to that spiritual Feast of Trumpets, we also need to be in a period of teshuvah a time of preparation and repentance. No sin can be compared to that great day our blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. FEAST OF TABERNACLES References: Leviticus 23:33-44; Numbers 29:12-40 The Feast of Tabernacles, literally Feast of Booths (Sukkot) or Feast of the Ingathering, is celebrated on the 15 th to the 22 nd day of the month of Tishrei. It was one of the three Pilgrimage festivals during the existence of the Jerusalem Temple. In Exodus 34:22, the Feast of Ingathering at the year s end marks the end of the harvest time or the agricultural year in Israel. The children of Israel were explicitly commanded to do three things regarding the festival: 1. To gather the four species (Leviticus 23:40) boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook 2. To rejoice before the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:13-14; Leviticus 23:40) 3. To live in sukkah (Leviticus 23:42) It is expected for the Jews to participate in the building and/or decoration of a sukkah before the holiday begins. It is customary to decorate the interior of the sukkah with hanging decorations of the four species. This temporary booth will then be their home for the next eight days. The sukkah is used to remember the huts Israel lived in during their 40-year sojourn in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.
God promised that He will dwell with His people again (Micah 4:1-7). Like a Jewish man s marriage proposal to a lady, Jesus said: I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2-3). On that day when we will be with Him forever, He promised: where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:3). Like a bride waiting for her groom, we should be the Church that is waiting for Jesus Christ. Let s look at the following Jewish marriage customs and their spiritual significance: 1. Signing of Contract by the Parents Jesus made a new covenant with us (Hebrews 8:13), signed through the shedding of His own blood (Matthew 26:28). 2. Giving of Dowry to the Bride that Signifies His Return Jesus promised another Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, that is an inner witness of the Church that He will return (John 14:26). 3. Betrothal Period (Matthew 25:1-13) The bridegroom leaves for a season, but leaves a dowry that will signify his return. During this engagement period, the bride prepares herself until the groom s return. Likewise, the Church prepares for the coming of the Lord Jesus. 4. The return of the Groom with his male friends (Matthew 25:1-13) Usually a year later, the groom returns in a torchlight parade with his male friends and ends up at the house of the bridegroom. Likewise, Jesus will return and take us to the Kingdom of heaven. 5. Marriage Supper Itself (John 2:1-2; Matthew 25:10) The Feast of the Booths conveys an important message to us we are just sojourners or pilgrims on earth. This world is not our home. We desire a better country a heavenly city which is not made by hands, but whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:6). Jewish sages tell us that the four species signify our spine, eyes, heart, and mouth. This implies that our body, soul, and spirit must be preserved blames unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23). CONCLUSION The Jewish Feasts revolves around Jesus Christ, and His intention to save His people from their sins and to finally bring them to where He is. From the Passover (His death on the Cross) to the Feast of Booths (His dwelling with His people forever), the feasts tell us a remarkable truth we should be reminded of God orchestrated everything from the Old Testament to the New Testament to illustrate His love to His people and His faithfulness to His promises.
Bibliography Emil G. Hirsch, W. N. (n.d.). First Fruits. Retrieved from Jewish Encyclopedia: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6139-first-fruits Hirsch, E. G. (n.d.). Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3665-bread Lasor, W. S., Hubbard, D. A., & Bush, F. W. (1996). Old Testament Survey. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Parsons, J. (2017, February 2). Feast and Holidays. Retrieved from Hebrew For Christians: hebrew4christians.com/holidays/holidays.html Rich, T. (2017, February 02). Sukkot. Retrieved from Judaism 101: www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.html Unger, M. F. (1909). The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Oxford: Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Wave Sheaf Offering. (n.d.). Retrieved from Hebrew for Christians: http://www.hebrew4christians.com/holidays/spring_holidays/first_fruits/first_fruits.html Wiersbe, W. (2001). The Bible Exposition Commentary. Colorado Springs: David C Cook.