The Feasts of Israel

Jesus In The Jewish Feasts

Question: "How did Jesus fulfill the meanings of the Jewish feasts?"

Answer: The way in which Jesus fulfilled the Jewish feasts is a fascinating study. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish prophet Amos records that God declared He would do nothing without first revealing it to His servants, the Prophets (Amos 3:7). From the Old Covenant to the New, Genesis to Revelation, God provides picture after picture of His entire plan for mankind and one of the most startling prophetic pictures is outlined for us in the Jewish Feasts of Leviticus 23.

The Hebrew word for feasts (moadim) literally means "appointed times." God has carefully planned and orchestrated the timing and sequence of each of these seven feasts to reveal to us a special story. The seven annual feasts of Israel were spread over seven months of the Jewish calendar, at set times appointed by God. They are still celebrated by observant Jews today. But for both Jews and non-Jews who have placed their faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, these special days demonstrate the work of redemption through God’s Son.

The first four of the seven feasts occur during the springtime (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Weeks) and they all have already been fulfilled by Christ in the New Testament. The final three holidays (Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles) occur during the fall, all within a short fifteen-day period.

Many Bible scholars and commentators believe that these fall feasts have not yet been fulfilled by Jesus. However, the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) for all believers in Jesus Christ is that they most assuredly will. As the four spring feasts were fulfilled literally and right on the actual feast day in connection with Christ's first coming, these three fall feasts, it is believed by many, will likewise be fulfilled literally in connection to the Lord's second coming.

In a nutshell, here is the prophetic significance of each of the seven Levitical feasts of Israel:

1) Passover (Leviticus 23:5) – Pointed to the Messiah as our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) whose blood would be shed for our sins. Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover at the same hour that the lambs were being slaughtered for the Passover meal that evening.

2) Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6) – Pointed to the Messiah's sinless life (as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible), making Him the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus' body was in the grave during the first days of this feast, like a kernel of wheat planted and waiting to burst forth as the bread of life.

3) First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10) – Pointed to the Messiah's resurrection as the first fruits of the righteous. Jesus was resurrected on this very day, which is one of the reasons that Paul refers to him in I Corinthians 15:20 as the "first fruits from the dead."

4) Weeks or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16) – Occurred fifty days after the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and pointed to the great harvest of souls and the gift of the Holy Spirit for both Jew and Gentile, who would be brought into the kingdom of God during the Church Age (see Acts 2). The Church was actually established on this day when God poured out His Holy Spirit and 3,000 Jews responded to Peter's great sermon and his first proclamation of the Gospel.

5) Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24) – The first of the fall feasts. Many believe this day points to the Rapture of the Church when the Messiah Jesus will appear in the heavens as He comes for His bride, the Church. The Rapture is always associated in Scripture with the blowing of a loud trumpet (I Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:52).

6) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27) – Many believe this prophetically points to the day of the Second Coming of Jesus when He will return to earth. That will be the Day of Atonement for the Jewish remnant when they "look upon Him whom they have pierced," repent of their sins, and receive Him as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:1-6, 25-36).

7) Tabernacles or Booths (Leviticus 23:34) – Many scholars believe that this feast day points to the Lord's promise that He will once again “tabernacle” with His people when He returns to reign over all the world (Micah 4:1-7).

Should Christians celebrate these Levitical feast days of Israel today? Whether or not a Christian celebrates the Jewish feast days would be a matter of conscience for the individual Christian. Colossians 2:16-17 tells us “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Christians are not bound to observe the Jewish feasts the way an Old Testament Jew was, but we should not criticize another believer who does or does not observe these special days and feasts (Romans 14:5).

While it is not required for Christians to celebrate the Jewish feast days, it is beneficial to study them. Certainly it could be beneficial to celebrate these days if it leads one to a greater understanding and appreciation for Christ’s death and resurrection and the future promise of His coming. As Christians, if we choose to celebrate these special days, we should put Christ in the center of the celebration, as the One who came to fulfill the prophetic significance of each of them.

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The Feast of the Tabernacles

The Water of Life

By Francis Schaeffer

When Jesus attended the Feast of the Tabernacles in his final year, the time of his popularity was past. Once great crowds had followed him everywhere. The feeding of the five thousand had been the high point of this kind of popularity. After that, however, as he stressed more and more who he was and what his work really was, the crowds dwindled. He went through a period of retirement in Galilee just prior to the Feast, and then at this time Peter uttered his words of confession. The context in which this is recorded emphasizes that many had turned away: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:66-69). Peter stands in sharp contrast to those disciples who left Jesus and to the crowds who turned away, for he said, “We believe and know [know is better than are sure for this Greek verb] that you are the Christ.”

As the Feast of the Tabernacles approached, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said to him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him. (John 7:1-5)

Many who become Christians have difficulty with their unbelieving families. They can be comforted by realizing that Jesus himself experienced the pain of such a situation. Those children born to Mary and Joseph did not believe on him until after his resurrection; his own brothers gibed at him harshly.

To understand what came next, we must visualize Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacles. It is estimated that well over a million people from all over the known world, both Jews and proselytes, poured into it. People milled about like ants on an ant hill. The city was full of religious fervor. The crowd was a great mixture, including God-fearers and formalists, Sadducees (the rationalists) and Pharisees (the orthodox who had allowed their orthodoxy to become formalized and dead). True believers would have been in it – people who waited for the Lord’s redemption through the Messiah, like Simeon and Anna. Some were there merely to sell trinkets. Prostitutes undoubtedly walked up and down the streets. The city reflected both the glory of the Old Testament prophecies and the low level of Jewish religious life at that time.

Jesus walked into this scene and associated the Feast of the Tabernacles with himself. (In Luke 22:19 he did the same with the Passover, so when we apply these feasts to Jesus we do so on his authority.) And during the festival he received challenge after challenge to his ever-clear teaching about who he is.

The Great Day of the Feast

The Feast of the Tabernacles was so named because God had commanded the Jews to live in tabernacles during this period each year to remind them that they had had to live in temporary abodes as they moved through the wilderness after the exodus. Through the centuries since then, and still today, the Jews have enacted this reminder. During the wanderings, God twice provided water from a rock, so the feast reenacted this, too. In fact the remembrance of this had developed as a technical part of the festival and had tremendous importance. On the final day, “the great day of the feast,” came the great rite of pouring out water in the presence of the people to represent God’s provision in the desert. Non-biblical sources reveal that the force of the fervor that built up as people waited for this outpouring, the sheer religiosity of the situation, was almost unbearable. As the water was poured out, the Feast came to its climax.

It was just at this point in the festival that Jesus stood up (he must have stood in one of the raised places in the temple area so he could be seen) and gave what was probably the boldest invitation of his entire ministry: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). He said this, we note again, in the context of the remembrance in every Jew’s mind that God had twice given rivers of water from a smitten rock.

He clearly appealed here to the innermost cravings of men and women. The word thirst connotes severe longing. We immediately think of idioms like “a thirst for knowledge” and “a thirst for life.” In the former idiom, thirst communicates a craving for knowledge that will not tolerate being unsatisfied and will do whatever is necessary to have the knowledge. The latter reminds us of tremendous exploits like those so rich in the memory of the Swiss, of men falling into huge ice crevasses and even with broken hips digging themselves out with an ice axe, taking hundreds of steps while suffering horrible pain simply to hang onto physical life.

Those who have experienced a shortage of water always link water most closely with the desire for life. An American Indian from the Western desert was invited to New York many years ago. When he had seen everything, he was asked, “What impressed you most?” He walked to a water tap, turned it on and replied, “Water whenever you want it.” Such a reaction is typical of people who have known thirst.

We can see this in Spanish architecture. When the Saracens came into Spain with its abundance of water, they never forgot the lack they had known in North Africa. They made the magnificent fountains of Seville, which spring up on every side as you walk along the streets and through the palace grounds. The alabaster fountains, which with little water produce the sound of much water, are marvels of Saracen craftsmanship.

And so it was in Palestine. The connection of water with life was deeply imbedded in the collective consciousness of the Jewish race. All Jews remembered the need for water. The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been forced to move their flocks to find it. Hezekiah had had to come up with a tremendous engineering feat, a tunnel, to provide water in order to withstand a siege of Jerusalem. Water always brought to the Jewish mind their own struggle for survival.

David in his psalms uses the image of thirst to represent a total, rather than half-hearted, following after something. In Psalm 42 he cries out, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1-2). In Psalm 63 he declares, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (Ps. 63:1). And, of course, we cannot forget Psalm 23, two verses of which involve thirsting and understanding what it means to have water in abundance: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.... My cup runneth over” (vv. 2, 5). The Lord provides ample waters fit for his sheep to drink.

The sources of this imagery, which the Jews had as part of their consciousness and understood deep inside themselves, were both the quest for physical life and the yearning after God. So when Jesus used the word thirst it had a double significance, coming from their culture and from Scripture: It was a strong word literally meaning really-reaching-out-for and metaphorically suggesting spiritual longing.

A Meaning for Life

Jesus, then, was not just using water in its physical sense. What he was talking about has reference to both present life and life after death. Orthodox Christians have always stressed the life after death, and quite properly. This is emphasized much in Scripture. Perhaps we have not stressed sufficiently, however, the meaning for life now, which the aspirations of our own century remind us is also in Scripture. In the Bible these two are never set against each other but are carried together.

Jesus reminded his hearers of this most intense physical longing and related it to the most basic need beyond that for physical life – the necessity for a present meaning to life as we live it. In this sense, the word existential is a good one: Men want an existential meaning for life – a meaning for life at this tick of the clock, at this point in space and time. Then they want a horizontal projection of it into the afterlife.

These are the real aspirations of men. We find them expressed in prehistoric caves and in modern studies in comparative religion. As we examine the cultures of the world, we find individual atheists but no really atheistic society. Atheism is the official position of the Soviet Union, but the mass of people have yet to be seen living out its implications. There remains in men of all cultures a universal longing for both – meaning to life now and life after death.

Walk through the metaphysical strata of men’s philosophies and you find exactly the same thing. It is a special annoyance of mine that men try to separate philosophy and religion. This is a false separation, because both ultimately seek the meaning of life.

As we walk with men from the past and the present, with simple men and complicated men, with men of the East or the West, it makes no difference – wherever men are, they search for a meaning to life. St. Augustine framed this thinking as he addressed God in the well-known words, “Thou hast created us for thyself, O God, and we cannot rest until we find our rest in thee.” Augustine knew the Greek thinking and the metaphysical and religious thinking of his own day, but he spoke from the Judeo-Christian perspective and let in light on man’s search for purpose. He related meaning to a personal God who is the Creator and who is there. At the Feast of the Tabernacles Jesus spoke in this framework.

Man’s thirsting can only be satisfied within a framework that answers two questions: What is the meaning of man, and why is he in the dilemma he is in? The Scripture had already outlined for the Jews the reason for man’s dilemma, namely, man’s Fall, his rebellion against God. It is not because there is no one to speak with that men are lonely, but because they are cut off from the one who can fulfill their loneliness. If man is a being kicked up by chance without any intrinsic meaning for his life, then Jesus’ words would not have been blasphemous, for there would be no one to blaspheme; they would simply have been ridiculous – only one more banner to follow in a hopeless crusade. But Jesus spoke in a definite framework, affirming that man is lost but not intrinsically lost, because he was not made to be lost.

Man is guilty, but there is a solution. Jesus stood up on the great day of the Feast and, in a solid framework which he shared with the other Jews, offered himself to fill the real needs of men: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” “I am the answer,” Jesus was saying. “I am the water of life.” This must have caused upheaval in that intense setting.

Jesus’ Exclusive Message

It is essential to understand that Jesus’ message was completely exclusive. He offered himself not as a solution to life but as the one who can fulfill man’s innermost longings. He was saying, “I am the water of life.” This, of course, parallels many other times when he hammered home the definite articles with great clarity, saying, for example, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Jesus had given promises like the one at the Feast before, but never in an official capacity. In almost exactly the same words, he had offered this satisfaction to the woman at the well: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that sayest to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.... Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 14). Though the woman was a Samaritan, she understood that according to the Old Testament Scriptures a personal Messiah was to come in history; therefore she responded, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things” (John 4:25). Then Jesus made a clear declaration of his person: “I that speak unto thee am he” (John 4:26). Jesus said exactly the same thing as at the Feast. The difference is that the one was a personal saying to one person, the other an official declaration.

Later he made this promise to a group of people rather than to an individual, but again it was not an official statement to the nation: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Further on he said to them,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him. (John 6:53-56)

So at least twice before the Feast of the Tabernacles, Jesus had declared himself to be the water of life, the one who can quench the real thirst of men.

Jesus’ statement at the Feast was different in one important respect: It was a regal proclamation to the whole nation gathered at the religious center of the world. If Athens is the metropolis of learning, Jerusalem is the metropolis of true religion. It is Zion, the city of God. It is Jesus’ city, and one day he will rule there. As the people of his nation crowded into this chosen scene, Jesus held himself aloft as fulfilling the tremendous Old Testament prophecies. We could think, for example, of a statement by Isaiah, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is. 55:1).

So on the great day of the feast that commemorated the wilderness wanderings, with the Jewish nation assembled to watch the water being poured out to remind them of miraculous water given twice from a rock, Jesus stood and, in the face of rising opposition to his claim, made one of the strongest statements of his entire ministry: “I am the true water. Come unto me and drink.”

The Meaning of Drinking

What did Jesus mean when he spoke of drinking? Is this simply an incomprehensible metaphor? Not at all, for he himself made the meaning clear. He immediately followed the statement “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” with the phrase “He that believeth on me.” And John’s inspired editorial comment leaves no doubt that Jesus was talking about faith: “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive” (John 7:39). He was not speaking of a sacramental drinking, in the sense of a cup to be quaffed, but of something much more profound – believing on him.

In his less formal statements about being the water of life, he also made plain who he is. Jesus always connected teaching about his person, who he is, with teaching about his work and his ability to fill men’s needs. In the dialogue recorded in John 6, five times he referred to himself as the one who came down from heaven (vv. 33, 38, 41, 42 and 51). And verse 62 makes it impossible for anyone to maintain, “Oh, he’s only saying he’s an especially heavenly man,” for it puts this description in the special framework in which he meant it: “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” He is not saying he is a bit more heavenly than other men, but he is making a claim about his own nature, his own person – that he really came from heaven, that he is the second Person of the Trinity, that he is the Son of God. The Jews understood his message well enough to shout, “Blasphemy!”

More than that, some of these listeners would see him going to heaven in a special sense on the day of his ascension. When modern men try to cut out his official leavetaking, they attack Jesus’ own teaching of who he is.

In this conversation in John 6 he also emphasized what it means to eat and drink him. When the people asked, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28-29). There is only one way for a fallen man to work the work of God, and that is to believe on him whom the Father has sent. Jesus made plain that the eating and drinking is not a sacramental eating and drinking at a communion service: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). It is not by eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper that we are saved. It is believing on Christ that matters.

A Personal Decision

Each person who heard Jesus’ invitation on the great day of the Feast was faced with a decision – would he believe or not? And every person who hears the invitation of Jesus Christ in the second half of the twentieth century is faced with the same decision. Whether you hear it through the preached Word of God or through reading the Scriptures (Jesus himself related his invitation to the Scripture: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said....”), this invitation gives you only two choices: to accept or reject him, to believe on him or cry with the crowd, “Not Christ but Barabbas. Crucify him!” There is no neutrality, no alternative, no third choice. They could not say, “He is a nice man.” On the basis of Jesus’ claim, either the Jews had to believe on him or they had to cry out against him.

A Spiritual Torrent

When we accept Christ as our Savior, do we receive only a streamlet of blessing? Is it only like the few drops which drip out of a pipe after the water is turned off? As D. L. Moody once remarked about this verse, “No, a thousand times no.” Jesus promised, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly [his innermost parts] shall flow rivers of living water.” A river, a torrent, a Niagara – this is what flows.

From whence does the river come? From someplace to which I must make a pilgrimage? Must I go to some special place, for example, Huemoz? Happily, no. When a man believes, it is out of himself that the rivers of living water flow. John gives the explanation in an inspired form so we do not need to guess at Jesus’ meaning: “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39).

It is made plain that Jesus must be struck once before the rivers can be given. In the wilderness, when the water was given, the rock had to be struck once, but it was wrong to strike it twice (Ex. 17 and Num. 20). This was because when the rock was struck once that finished the picture of the work of Jesus Christ. In order for the work of salvation to be accomplished and the Holy Spirit to be given, Jesus had to be struck once, but he will not be struck twice. Jesus appeared at the right time and died once for all on Calvary’s cross in space and time. When he was done, he said, “The work is finished.” Later the same testimony was given by Peter and by the writer of Hebrews: Jesus’ death was once for all.

Jesus was hung on the cross, he was pierced, he died. Though he cried out from Calvary, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” this was not his last word. Rather, he said “It is finished” and turned to the Father, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The work is done, and since Pentecost every person who believes on Jesus as his Savior has the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of truth – all these are words for the same Person – living within him. The Holy Spirit, not some inner strength or psychological integratedness, is the source of the overflowing rivers of living water. There are to be living waters, a watered garden in the time of drought. The Holy Spirit lives within!

Not only are these rivers to be copious, they are also to be diffused; the “rivers of living water” are to flow, flow out to others. The Holy Spirit is not to be kept selfishly within myself, like a treasure clutched in a small child’s fist. The waters are not to be dammed up until they become a stagnant pool. They are to be a flowing, flowing, flowing river.

Nor are the rivers to be contaminated before they flow forth to others. As the rivers flow from us, if we are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, they are not to be contaminated with either impure doctrine or an impure life, both of which bring contamination. There was a day when the Delaware River (I was raised in Philadelphia so the Delaware River means something special to me) was rich in fish. You cannot find a fish there now no matter how hard you try. The contamination in the upper Delaware has killed them all.

I could take you to a stream near Huemoz where women used to go to wash their clothes. They could take pails and carry them home full of clear water. This stream was once teeming with life. Now it is contaminated, defiled by the waste of Villars and Chesieres. I hate to cross it, and I try to find ways around it so I do not have to be reminded that this creation was once beautiful. It still flows, but the life is gone.

Dr. Tom Lambie, one of the great missionaries to Africa, concluded that the height of a civilization can be measured by the amount of contamination in its drinking water. Think of the modern pollution of our water supplies! I would say to you in the name of Jesus Christ that the degree of the infidelity of an individual Christian or a Christian group to the Word of God in doctrine and life is shown by the amount of contamination in the water which flows forth.

So let us ask ourselves as Christians how we contaminate the waters that flow from us. The Bible does not promise perfection in this life. But, by God’s grace, let us stop quenching the Spirit who lives within us so that our lives may show forth the Spirit’s fruit. How terrible it is to be Bible-believing Christians, to fight for orthodoxy, to fight for the evangelical position, and then to contaminate the water we hold out to others. How terrible – for these waters have been given to us without cost, brimming over, pure, directly from the fountainhead!

Are you still thirsting? Christ gives the invitation not only to others but to you. He is the fountainhead. He has died and is risen. He offers the only way to eternal life, asking only that you admit your needs, raise the empty hands of faith and accept his gift. What is eternal life? It is meaning in life now as well as living one’s life forever. Drink deep. Jesus offers a brimming cup.

Wine or Juice?

Is Drinking Wine Forbidden?

Q. How do you interpret Proverbs 23:34 and reconcile it with it being okay to drink alcoholic beverages? It seems if one should not even look upon wine when it is fermented (as Proverbs 23:34 says, and I believe this means to look upon in in the light of desiring to drink it), then God does not want us to drink it at all because of the sin and degradation it leads one into.

Many go to the wedding feast where Jesus turned the water into wine to justify drinking alcoholic beverages because if it wasn’t okay then surely Jesus would not have turned water into wine. But has anyone thought it possible the water that Jesus turned to wine was not fermented wine? In light of Proverbs 23:34, I believe Jesus turned the water into the pure juice of the vine (not fermented). Otherwise, Jesus has contradicted His own words. I don’t believe Jesus would do something God said not to do. I don’t believe Jesus would have provided fermented wine to those at the wedding feast knowing there would be some who would consume too much and end up drunk and committing other sins that drunkenness leads to. If that were the case, then Jesus himself would have been a stumbling block and a hypocrite.

Paul said it was okay to “take a little wine for thy stomach’s sake” (medicinal purposes). I believe that would be the only occasion to take of alcohol during biblical times. Now days we have so much “medicine” for various illnesses that does not contain alcohol that there is no excuse to consume alcohol in any form.

Can you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus turned the water into (fermented) wine?

A. The Bible repeatedly warns of the dangers in drinking too much and its first mention of wine described the sorry outcome of Noah’s drunkenness. (Genesis 9:20-27) But it doesn’t forbid drinking.

Proverbs 23:29-35 refers to someone who drinks too much, a drunk. This is indicated by the fact that the writer describes someone who lingers over wine (vs. 30), has hallucinations while drinking (vs. 33), feels no pain even when beaten, and whose first thought upon regaining consciousness is for another drink (vs. 35).

As for the wedding feast, the master of the feast complimented the wine Jesus provided as being superior to the wine the groom served. Jesus drank wine (Luke 7:34) and at the Last Supper gave some to His disciples.

As for proof, in John 2 the Bible says wine, not juice. The primary dictionary definition of wine is “the fermented juice of grapes, made in many varieties, such as red, white, sweet, dry, still, and sparkling, for use as a beverage, in cooking, in religious rites, etc., and usually having an alcoholic content of 14 percent or less.” The Greek word John used appears 32 times in the New Testament and is translated wine every time. On the two occasions when the Bible refers to wine that hasn’t had time to ferment, it always adds the prefix “new”. That’s good enough for me.

While I agree with your sentiments about the dangers of drunkenness, we can’t re-interpret the Bible to accommodate them.

Is Alcohol A Sin?

Q. I was brought up to believe that there are two forms of Wine in the bible. One that is alcoholic and one that is not. Talking to a friend recently, he believes that it is not a sin if it is used casually, and you’re not getting drunk. So the question is: Is alcohol a sin? Could you provide me with verses that tells us that there are 2 different forms of Wine in the Bible. Thank you. I really like your site, and plan to visit it often.

A. The Bible contains 238 references to wine, new wine, sour wine and wine vinegar. We presume that new wine had not yet fermented and therefore was non-alcoholic.

The drinking of wine and other alcoholic beverages is mentioned through out the Bible in such a way that God could not have considered it a sin. He authorized the Israelites to use their tithe money to buy wine or other fermented drink in celebrating the Fall Feast. (Deut. 14:24-26)

Ecclesiastes 9:7 says, ” Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do”.

During the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) Jesus turned water into wine for the wedding banquet. Whether Jesus drank any Himself or not is irrelevant. He couldn’t have provided wine for the guests if it was a sin to drink it. (James 1:13) In Matt. 11:18-19 He said people accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard because He did enjoy food and drink. He was obviously referring to fermented drink.

Paul encouraged Timothy to have a glass of wine for his stomach problems (1 Tim. 5:23)

The danger is in misusing alcohol to a point where our inhibitions are relaxed causing us to sin in ways we wouldn’t if sober.

Should We Consume Alcohol Or Not?

Q. My question is on Alcohol. I get really confused on whether we should consume alcohol or not. I know drunkenness is a no no and is not an issue for me, but I do like a beer every now and then. Should I feel guilty about doing this?

Also if you could explain the wine/new wine issue. I’ve heard some preachers say it was grape juice, but isn’t there a verse that says don’t get drunk on new wine? Great site by the way.

A. There is no Biblical prohibition against wine or any other fermented drink. As you say, the problem is with drunkenness. The Lord authorized using tithe money to purchase wine or other fermented drinks for the Feast of Tabernacles. (Deut. 14:24-26) And Paul cautioned us to avoid causing a weaker brother to stumble by drinking in the presence of one who can’t handle alcohol or feels that drinking is wrong. (1 Cor. 10:31-33) By this he was implying that drinking was OK under the right circumstances.

Wine Or Juice?

Q. Some Christians believe it is a sin to drink wine, and that whenever the Bible refers to wine, it really meant grape juice. I always thought that new wine was juice, and “wine” meant just that. We know that Jesus turned water into wine, and Col. 2:16 tells us not to let another judge us in food or drink. Can you please clarify this?

A. The sin in drinking is drinking too much. The water Jesus turned into wine at Cana was so good that the master of the banquet thought it better than the wine the groom’s father had provided. The Lord authorized the Israelites to use their tithe money to buy wine or other fermented drink for their Feast of Tabernacles celebration. (Deut. 14:26)

It’s not a sin to drink, but we are admonished not to drink in the presence of someone who has an alcohol problem, or who would be put off by it. (1 Cor. 10:31-32) The safest thing to do if you’re going to have a drink is to have it at home. Then you don’t run the risk of offending someone.

Was It Wine Or Juice?

Q. Did Jesus create wine at the wedding, saving the best for last? Or did he create Grape Juice out of water? Its my opinion that he made wine. What’s yours?

A. Either way it would have been a miracle, but the closest thing to grape juice back then was something called “new wine” or “sour wine.” It was imbibed primarily as a thirst quencher since as it’s name implies it was decidedly tart. The wine served at weddings on the other hand was a fermented drink, and therefore sweeter, meant to help the guests feel and express their joy at the new couple’s union. By his comments in John 2:10, the Master of the Banquet identifies the results of the Lord’s miracle as not only wine, but wine of the finest quality.

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com

3 days 3 nights?

Solving the Three Day Three Night Mystery

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

In Matthew 12:38 Jesus is asked for a sign that He’s the promised Messiah. The religious officials had just accused Him of using the power of Satan to perform His miracles, and so He described the only sign they would see. “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,” He said, “So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40).” By this He meant that because their hearts were hard they would only know for sure that He was their Messiah after they had killed Him, but His response resulted in a 2000 year controversy surrounding the time of His death.

What’s a Sabbath?

Actually the controversy exists largely among gentile believers. Most people familiar with the Jewish religion and culture figured it out long ago. But to gentiles who don’t know about these things, the phrase in John 19:31 identifying the day after the Crucifixion as a special Sabbath means that Jesus had to have been crucified on a Friday, because even gentiles know that the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday. Many otherwise competent resources (such as the Study Bible I use) make that mistake. And everyone agrees that He rose again on Sunday. There isn’t any way you can put three days and three nights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. Hence the controversy.

So let’s get it straight. Sabbath means holy day. There is one every Saturday in Israel, but there are also several during the year that are date specific. That means they are always observed on a specific calendar date, regardless of the day. They’re like our Christmas. It always comes on the 25th of December no matter what day of the week that happens to be.

The special Sabbath John referred to is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it’s a date specific holy day; always observed on the 15th of the month they call Nisan, which corresponds to March/April on our calendar. So the first thing we learn is that the special Sabbath mentioned in John 19:31 wasn’t a Saturday.

In fact there are three special Sabbaths (or Holy Days, if you prefer) in the month of Nisan alone; Passover on the 14th, the Feast of Unleavened Bread which begins on the 15th and runs through the 22nd, and the Feast of First Fruits on the Sunday morning following Passover. Of the three, only Unleavened Bread prohibits work like the weekly Sabbath, but all have both a historical and prophetic purpose and like all days in the Jewish calendar they begin at sundown, following the pattern of Genesis 1. (This also confuses Gentiles since our day begins at midnight.)

The Passover Lamb

The next issue we have to address is the sequence of events in the week we call Holy Week. In Exodus 12, where the Passover was ordained, we learn what that sequence was. God told the Israelites to select a lamb on the 10th day of the month and inspect it for defects until the 14th. This means through the end of the 13th. Then at twilight they were to slaughter and roast it, eating it that same evening. Using some of its blood they were to paint their door posts red to protect them from the plague coming upon Egypt at midnight.

Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy of the Passover Lamb, to save from death everyone who applies His shed blood to their lives. The only day He ever allowed the people to hail Him as King was on the day we call Palm Sunday, and as we’ll see it was the 10th day of the month. He did this to fulfill the selection process for the Passover Lamb. When the officials told Him to quiet His disciples, He said that if they became quiet, the very stones would cry out (Luke 19:40). For this was the day ordained in history. It was the day He officially became the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. It was 483 years to the day from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet as the day the Messiah would present Himself to Israel. (Daniel 9:25) A little while after the officials spoke with Him, He condemned Jerusalem to utter destruction because they did not recognize the day of His visitation (Luke 19:41-44).

The next three days were filled with the most aggressive debate and confrontation with the officials in His entire ministry. He was being inspected for any doctrinal spot or blemish that would disqualify Him as the Lamb of God. They found none, and finally no one dared ask Him any more questions. (Matt. 23:46)

Tradition, Tradition

Some years before the birth of Jesus the Passover celebration had been changed and in the Lord’s time called for a brief ritual meal of lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs (horseradish) to begin the 14th followed by a great and leisurely festival meal on the 15th, when the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. This tradition is still followed today.

The 14th became known as Preparation Day (Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:31), because on it they made ready for the great feast day beginning at sundown, after which no work was permitted. Matthew identifies the day after the Crucifixion as the day after Preparation Day (27:62) so all four Gospels agree. Jesus died on Preparation day, the 14th of their month Nisan, which is Passover. He ate the ritual meal with His disciples in the Upper Room, and then was arrested, tried, convicted, and put to death; all on Passover. He had to be, in order to fulfill the prophecies of the Passover Lamb.

So just like the Lord had commanded in Exodus 12, He was selected on the 10th, inspected on the 11th, 12th, and 13th, and executed on the 14th of Nisan.

How Do We Know This?

A little over 100 years ago a believer named Robert Anderson was head of Scotland Yard’s investigative division. He became intrigued by the three days and three nights issue and enlisted the help of the London Royal Observatory to investigate the problem since astronomers can locate the exact position of the planets and stars on any date in history. Since Passover always falls on the 14th, and since the Jewish calendar is lunar (moon) rather than solar (sun) oriented, there is always a full moon on Passover. This fulfills Genesis 1:14.

Plotting the course of the Sun and Moon they documented the day and date of every full moon. The Royal Observatory discovered that the first Palm Sunday was the 10th of Nisan, the day when Exodus 12 says to select the lamb. Therefore Passover, the 14th, was Thursday. The Feast of Unleavened bread began on Friday the 15th, Saturday the 16th was the weekly Sabbath, and Resurrection Morning was also a Sunday, the 17th. From Thursday to Sunday there are three days and three nights. Here’s how it works. It’s a little confusing to our way of thinking because the Hebrew day changes at sunset, which means that night precedes day. But read carefully and you’ll see that it makes sense.

As I’ve said, Jesus had to die on Passover to fulfill the prophecy. Early that Thursday morning the Jewish leadership gotten permission to crucify Him. (Matt. 27:1-26) His fate was sealed and He was hanging on the cross by 9 AM, as good as dead. His actual time of death was about 3 PM and His body was laid in the tomb sometime later, since the officials wanted it off the cross before sundown brought the Feast of Unleavened Bread, after which no work was permitted. By then Jesus had been in Sheol for several hours. Thursday was day one.

Because in Jewish reckoning the night precedes the day, at sundown it became Friday the 15th, night one, and the special Sabbath John mentioned began (John 19:31). At sunrise it was Friday day, day two. The next sundown brought Saturday night the 16th, night two, and the regular Sabbath began. As of sunrise it was Saturday day, day three. At sundown on Saturday it became Sunday night the 17th, night three, and sometime before sunrise Jesus rose from the tomb. Three days and three nights. When the women arrived to anoint His body, He was already gone.

So in the week Jesus died two Sabbaths that permitted no work were observed back to back: The Feast of Unleavened Bread on Friday the 15th, and the regular weekly Sabbath on Saturday the 16th. In Matthew 28:1 we read that at dawn on the first day of the week (Sunday the 17th) the women who were close to Jesus went to the tomb. Luke 24:1 tells us they were going to anoint His body for burial. The two Sabbaths had prevented them from doing so earlier. But He wasn’t there. He had risen. Being the Sunday after Passover, at the Jewish Temple it was Feast of First Fruits. At the Empty Tomb it was Resurrection Morning.

Some people try to equate his time of death with the burial of His body and say you can’t count Thursday as day one, because His body wasn’t laid in the tomb until sunset was upon them. But that doesn’t make sense. A person’s death always precedes his or her burial, sometimes by several days. In the Lord’s case it was several hours.

Others argue that this view doesn’t permit three full days and three full nights in the tomb but that’s not what the Scripture says. It simply says three days and three nights. If you move his death up to Wednesday like some teach to get three full days you violate the Passover Lamb prophecies. The Thursday date is the only one that will accommodate both the Passover Lamb and the three day three night prophecies. Selah

Yet Another Three Day Three Night Question

Q. RE: Solving the Three Day Three Night Mystery. So if He died on a Thursday how did we start to celebrate His death on Friday?

A. Here’s a two-part answer. First, as the Church grew it took on more and more of a Gentile personality, and there came a time when it wanted to be free of it’s identification as an offshoot of Judaism. The western branch of the Church wanted to celebrate the Resurrection at the time of the Spring Solstice since there were already pagan celebrations in place (The Feast of Ishtar) and it would fit into the culture better. This is how “Easter” got its name and got disconnected from Passover.

The Friday date came from a misinterpretation of John 19:31 where it says that the day after the crucifixion was a Sabbath. Since the Jewish Sabbath was on Saturday, Gentile logic held that the day before had to be a Friday. But, as I stated in my article, there were two Sabbaths on the weekend that Jesus died, the regular Saturday Sabbath and the the “special” Sabbath John was speaking about. It was the Feast of Unleavened Bread and it fell on Friday, the day before. Therefore Jesus died on Thursday.

Three Days Three Nights Follow Up

Q. If Jesus died on Thursday (Passover), and if at sundown immediately the feast of Unleavened Bread began, and if at sundown Friday the regular Sabbath started (Saturday), what day did the women buy and prepare the spices to anoint the body of Jesus? Mark says in 16:1 that they bought and prepared the spices “when the Sabbath was over,” speaking of Unleavened Bread, but Luke says they prepared the spices and perfumes and then rested on the Sabbath (Lk 23:56).

A. In the KJV Mark 16:1 says they had bought spices, indicating they had bought them previously, and Luke 24:1 says they had already prepared them when they went to the tomb, confirming the KJV translation of Mark 16:1. Also, John 19:39 says that Joseph and Nicodemus brought 75 lbs. of spices with them when they first took to Lord’s body to the tomb.

As soon as Jesus was put on the cross they knew he was going to die. Someone would have had all day Thursday to buy and prepare the spices for His burial, since Thursday was a work day. Joseph and Nicodemus brought some with them when they quickly laid His body in the tomb at sunset and the women brought the rest when they came back after the two Sabbaths to finish the job.

When Did Jesus Die?

Thanks so much for your web site, it has been a blessing. Once again, here is another thought about the timing of our Christ being crucified. I’ve read a lot of the articles, and they all make good sense, however I never seen in any of them a couple of scriptures that are very important.

Some suppose it was Good Friday, you say Thursday is the only day, while others say Wednesday. The gospel accounts all added together give us the clearest picture of all, setting aside Jewish traditions. Some say you must account for the traditions, I say the Holy Bible alone will give you the answers. Studying the Gospels, in conjunction with the old testament, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday that He went into the temple for the first day of inspection. Therefore the three day inspection ended on Tuesday.

The reasons I believe this are the two scriptures in Mark and Luke. The gospels say there was and earthquake when Jesus gave up His Spirit. The graves were open. The following day they could do no work. The day of the resurrection there was another earthquake. This leads to Friday.Luke 23:55 say the women followed to see where Jesus was laid, vs. 56 says “they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” Some believing this Sabbath to be Saturday correctly.

Mark 15:47 says the women beheld where He was laid. Mark 16:1 says, “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

My question is how the could buy and prepared the spices before and after the sabbath, if the Sabbaths were not Thursday and Saturday? Was Jesus therefore crucified on Wednesday? Thank for your answer.

A. You’ve read my article on the Holy Week events so you know I think the Bible says that Thursday is the only possible day. Exodus 12:3 says that the 10th day was for selecting the Lamb. Then came 3 days of inspection, the 11th, 12th, and 13th, and then Passover the 14th.

Palm Sunday was the day of selection. It was the only day in His life that He allowed them to call Him the Messiah and can’t be counted in the inspection process. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were for inspection, and that makes the Crucifixion on Thursday, Passover. Friday was the Feast of Unleavened bread, a special Sabbath where no work was allowed, Saturday was the regular Sabbath, and Sunday was the first day of the week when the women went to the tomb and found it empty.

Neither Luke 23:55-56 nor Mark 15:47-16:1 contain anything to dispute that. Assuming they didn’t know in advance when Jesus was going to be executed, the women had two opportunities to buy spices after the time He was condemned to death and before they saw the open tomb. The first was anytime Thursday before sunset, and the other was Saturday evening after sunset when the second Sabbath ended. John 19:39-40 supports the earlier purchase, saying that Nicodemus and Joseph had 75 pounds of spices with them when they laid the Lord in the tomb. The fact that Mark 16:1 says that the women had bought spices, which implies some time before Sunday morning, gives further support to the early purchase.

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com

Jubilee Year

Fulfilling the Jubilee Year

Q. I wonder what you might think about the Jubilee. Col.2:16,17 says that the sabbath is a shadow of things to come, that Jesus would fulfill or give substance to. Since the Jubilee year starts on a day of atonement and since the day of atonement is a sabbath, as per Lev.23:32, and is a fall feast that Jesus will fulfill, it seems logical that Jesus will fulfill the year of Jubilee, too.

A. In the Jubilee year three major things happened. All debts were forgiven, all slaves went free, and all land reverted to its original owner. Forgiveness of debt and freedom for slaves actually happened every Sabbath (7th) Year (Deut. 15) and this portion was partially fulfilled at the cross. Because of the Lord’s shed blood our debt of sin was forgiven and we were freed from our bondage to sin, although we still do it. (Our resurrection bodies will not have a sin nature, making us totally free.) The return of land was unique to the Jubilee, which happened in conjunction with every 7th Sabbath year. This will be fulfilled in the Millennium when Israel receives a new distribution of land by tribe. (Ezekiel 48).

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com

Feasts of Israel

Why Did The Lord Linger On Earth, Follow Up

Q. Regarding the question about what did Christ do on earth during the time between his Resurrection and Pentecost. I’m surprised that you didn’t mention that there are 50 days between the Jewish Feast of the First-fruits, and the Feast of Pentecost. Jesus was on earth for 40 days after His resurrection. 10 days after His Ascension was Pentecost. This was the fulfillment of those feasts.

A. Pentecost comes 7 weeks (49 days) after First Fruits (Lev. 23:15-16) The confusion comes because the first day after the Sabbath that follows Passover is First Fruits, and the 50th day after the same Sabbath is Pentecost. That makes the two feasts 49 days apart, both being on Sunday. First fruits was fulfilled in the Resurrection and Pentecost was fulfilled in the birth of the Church. Each Levitical feast is fulfilled on the day of its occurrence.

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com

Feasts of Israel

The Feasts of the Lord--Part I

FEASTS OF THE LORD (most of the following study is taken from The Seven Feasts of the Messiah by Eddie Chumney)

HEBREW NAME ENGLISH NAME TIME OF OBSERVANCE

1. Pesach Passover Nisan 14

2. Hag HaMatzah Feast of Nisan 15-21

Unleavened Bread

3. Bikkurim First Fruits (of The morrow after the the Barley Harvest) sabbath during Hag HaMatzah

4. Shavout Feast of Weeks/ Fifty days from the Pentecost Feast of First Fruits

5. Yom Teruah Feast of Trumpets Tishrei 1 (Rosh HaShanah)

6. Yom Kippur Day of Atonement Tishrei 10

7. Sukkot Feast of Tabernacles/ Tishrei 15-21 Booths

THE APPOINTED FEASTS

The Festivals of the Lord found in Leviticus, chapter 23, were given to us by God so His people could understand the coining of the Messiah and the role that the Messiah would play in redeeming and restoring both man and the earth back to God following the fall of Man in the Garden of Eden.

The Festivals are divided into two major portions, depending upon whether they occur in the spring or the fall. The Spring Festivals teach about the First Coming of the Messiah, and the Fall Festivals teach about the Second Coming of the Messiah. During the course of the year, the rains come in Israel at two primary times - the spring and the fall. In Hosea 6:3 we read- "...His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth." The "latter and former rain" in this passage is commonly interpreted and understood to be the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The "former and latter" rain also refers to the First and Second Coming of the Messiah. The Hebrew word for the former rain, found also in Joel 2:23, is 'moreh', which means "teacher". Jesus, the teacher, was sent by God to the earth to faithfully teach us righteousness, just as God faithfully sends us the rain. (Isaiah 55:10-11) The harvest (believers in Christ) is the product that the rain (Jesus) produces.

The Apostle Paul, in Colossians 2:16-17 refers to the Feasts as a "shadow of things to come." The first four Feasts or Festivals, which are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost, primarily teach about the significant events in the First Coming of the Messiah and why these events were an important part of God's redemption of man.

The last three Feasts, which are the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) also known as Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Sukkot), give us a fascinating insight concerning important events that surrond the Second Coming of the Messiah. God gave the Festivals to teach about the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, the empowering of the believers by the Holy Spirit, the resurrection of the dead, the coronation of the Messiah, the wedding of the Messiah (which we have already outlined in a previous study, but will include portions here as well), the Millennium, and much more.

The Bible also provides some powerful reasons for studying and understanding the Seven Festivals of the Messiah:

-The Feasts are in the Bible, and all the Bible is inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

-The Feasts are a shadow of things to come that teach us about the Messiah. (Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 10:1)

-God gave the Feasts so we could learn and understand God's plan of redemption for the world and our personal relationship to Him. (Romans 15:4)

THE BIBLICAL CALENDAR AND THEIR MONTH OF THE YEAR

MONTH OF MONTH OF
NAMES OF MONTH OUR MONTH CIVIL YEAR SACRED YEAR

Tishrei Sep 1st 7th

Cheshvan Oct 2nd 8th

Kislev Nov 3rd 9th

Tevet Dec 4th 10th

Shevat Jan 5th 11th

Adar Feb 6th 12th

Nisan (Aviv) Mar 7th 1st

Iyar Apr 8th 2nd

Sivan May 9th 3rd

Tammuz June 10th 4th

Av July 11th 5th

Elul Aug 12th 6th

To fully understand the Feasts being appointed times given by God, it is important to understand the Biblical Calendar that God gave to us. There are two primary calendars in the Bible. The first one is called the Civil Calendar and is used from Genesis 1:1 to Exodus 12. The first month in the Civil Calendar is Tishrei. Rosh HaShanah, or the Jewish New Year, the first day in the Civil Calendar, is the beginning of the New Year. The second calendar in the Bible is the Religious Calendar. The Religious Calendar is used from Exodus 12 to Revelation 22. God established the Religious Calendar in Exodus 12:2- "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." The month that God was referring to was the month which is called Nisan. Prior to God establishing the month of Nisan as the first month in the Religious Calendar, Nisan was the seventh month in the Civil Calendar. God gave the Religious Calendar so that we could understand that these Feasts, which He gave and which are His appointed times and foreshadow important events in redemption, would happen on the days He ordained on the Religious Calendar. These important days on the Religious Calendar are the same days that He gave as Festivals in Leviticus, chapter 23.

HISTORICAL APPLICATION OF THE FEASTS

FEAST HISTORICAL APSECT

1. Passover Israel's deliverance out of Egyptian bondage

2. Unleavened Bread The going out of Egypt

3. First Fruits Crossing the Red Sea

4. Pentecost Giving the Commandments at Mount Sinai

5. Rosh HaShanah Blowing the 'Shofar' (trumpet) (Feast of Trumpets) Jewish New Year

6. Day of Atonement Priest entered the Holy of Holies Cleansing of the people's sins

7. Tabernacles Entering the Promised Land/Great Rejoicing

MESSIANIC APPLICATION OF THE FEASTS

FEAST MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT

1. Passover Death of Christ on the Cross (tree)

2. Unleavened Bread The burial of Jesus

3. First Fruits The resurrection of Jesus

4. Pentecost Pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2)

5. Rosh HaShanah The resurrection of the dead/ (Feast of Trumpets) Rapture of the believers

6. Day of Atonement The day of Christ's Second Coming

7. Tabernacles The Messianic Era/Millennium

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION OF THE FEASTS

FEAST SPIRITUAL APPLICATION

1. Passover Repent and trust by faith in the shed blood of Jesus

2. Unleavened Bread Sanctification and separation from evil represented by water immersion (baptism)

3. First Fruits Walking in newness of life

4. Pentecost Immersion (baptism) in the Holy Spirit and faith in God

5. Rosh HaShanah Hear the calling (shofar (trumet)) of (Feast of Trumpets) God for our lives

6. Day of Atonement Yielding ourselves to God so that we may live (face to face) in His Presence

7. Tabernacles A daily rest in the Messiah and having the rest of His Kingdom in our hearts

SIGNIFICANCE IN BRIEF

1. Passover Reminds us that God is the forgiver of sin who grants us eternal life in His Kingdom through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Passover

2. Unleavened Bread Depicts putting sin out of our lives

3. First Fruits Christ, the firstfruits risen from the dead, afterward, those who are Christ's at His Coming

4. Pentecost Serves to remind us that our Creator still works miracles, empowering us to carry out His work in this world

5. Rosh HaShanah Looks forward to the return of Jesus Christ (Feast of Trumpets) (rapture of the Church), and to the resurrection of the "dead in Christ" -the hope of Christians

6. Day of Atonement Pictures the loving reconciliation we have with God, made possible through Christ's sacrifice It also shows the remarkable truth that Satan will eventually be removed so that humanity can at last attain reconciliation with God on a universal basis

7. Tabernacles Represents the Millenium, the reign of Christ on Earth for 1,000 years of true happiness and utopia

OVERVIEW OF THE SPRING FESTIVALS

The four Spring Festivals are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

These four Spring Festivals are joined together as an interrelated unit. The Feast of Weeks is considered the conclusion to Passover. The season of Passover is not considered totally over until Pentecost is completed.

Passover begins in Egypt (a type of the world), where the children of Israel had become slaves. In the days of Joseph, there was a famine in Israel and the children of Israel went down to Egypt and gave themselves to rulership under Pharoah. Because of this, Pharoah had legal ownership over the people. This ownership could be broken only by the death of Pharoah, thus freeing the children of Israel to go to the Promised Land. When Pharoah died, his rulership over the children of Israel was legally broken and the people were free to go to the Promised Land.

Spiritually speaking, Pharoah is a type of Satan. Until you accept Jesus into your life, Satan has legal ownership over you. By the death of Jesus, the legal ownership that Satan has over our lives is broken and we are free to enter into the spiritual promised land of God and receive all the promises that He has promised to us.

>From the crossing of the Red Sea (Nisan 17) to the day Moses met God on Mount Sinai were 47 days. For 47 days the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness before they came to Mount Sinai on the third day of the third month. (Exodus 19:1) God instructed the people through Moses to sanctify themselves before He visited them three days later on Mount Sinai, which would be the sixth day of the third month. (Exodus 19:10-11) This day would be the fiftieth day following the crossing of the Red Sea. It came to be known as the revelation of God at Mount Sinai. This day, being the fiftieth day from the crossing of the Red Sea on Nisan 17 would be the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

>From the Exodus story, we can see tht the Lamb was slain on the fourteenth of Nisan, the day of Passover. On the fifteenth of Nisan, the day of Unleavened Bread, the people left Egypt. On the seventeenth of Nisan the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, and 50 days later on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, God gave Moses the Commandments.

In the studies of the Feasts that will follow, we will see how Jesus died on Passover (Nisan 14), was in the sepulcher on the day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15), and was resurrected on the day of First Fruits (Nisan 17), and the Holy Spirit empowered the believers 50 days following Jesus resurrection on the day of Pentecost. We will also learn what these Feasts mean to the believer and how they relate to our personal relationship with God.

OVERVIEW OF THE FALL FESTIVALS

The Fall Festival season begins with a 40 day period called, in Hebrew, 'Teshuvah', which means "to repent or return". This 40 day period begins in the sixth month of the Religious Calendar, and concludes on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Each morning in the synagogue following the morning prayers, a trumpet (shofar) is blown (except on sabbaths and the day preceding Rosh HaShanah, the Feast of Trumpets). The Biblical name for Rosh HaShanah is Yom Terah, which means "the day of the awakening blast". We call it the Feast of Trumpets. God gave us this day to teach us about the resurrection of the dead, the coronation of the Messiah, the wedding of the Messiah, and more. This day is both the Jewish New Year and the beginning of a period of soul searching known as the High Holy Days, culminating on Yom Kippur. Therefore, the last 10 days of the 40 day period of Teshuvah or repentance, is also called the high Holy Days.

The first and second days of the 10 High Holy Days (Tishrei 1-10) are collectively known as one day. (Nehemiah 8:1-2,13) The seven day period from Tishrei 3 through Tishrei 9 is called the Days of Awe or the Awesome Days. God gave these special days on His calendar to teach us about the future tribulation period on earth. These seven days will correspond to the seven years of the tribulation, known in Hebrew as the "birthangs of the Messiah".

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement is observed on the tenth day of the seventh month. (Leviticus 23:26-32) Since Rosh HaShanah teaches us about the resurrection of the dead, the coronation of the Messiah and the wedding of the Messiah, and the Days of Awe teach us about the tribulation, Yom Kippur teaches us about the literal Second Coming of the Messiah when He will setHis foot down of the Mount of Olives. (Zechariah 14:4)

The Feast of Tabernacles is observed the fifteenth day of the seventh month of Tishrei to the twenty first day. This Festival teaches us the joy of the Messianic Kingdom or the Millennium.

There are four important aspects to remember when dealing with each of the seven Great Festivals of the Lord:

1. All of the Festivals are, at the same time, both historical and prophetic.

2. All of the Festivals teach about the Messiah, or Jesus.

3. All of the Festivals are agricultural in context.

4. All of the Festivals teach about your personal relationship with God and how you are to walk with Him as you grow in the knowledge of Him, from being a baby believer to a mature believer.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD "FEAST" IN THE BIBLE

There are two important Hebrew words that appear in Leviticus, chapter 23, and each word is translated as 'feast' in English. In verse 2, the word for feast is the Hebrew word 'mo'ed'- "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts (mo'ed) of the Lord..." The word 'mo'ed' means an appointment, a fixed time or season, a cycle or year, an assembly, an appointed time, a set time or exact time. By understanding the Hebrew meaning of the English word "feast", we can see that God is telling us that He is ordaining a "set time or exact time or an appointed time" when He has an apointment with humanity to fulfill certain events in the redemption. Jesus came to earth at the exact time ordained by God as Paul wrote in Galations 4:4, and God has an exact time or set appointment when, in the future, He will judge the world as written in Acts 17:31.

In verse 6 is another Hebrew word translated as "feast"- "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast (chag) of unleavened bread..." The Hebrew word 'chag', which means a "festival", is derived from the Hebrew root word 'chagag', which means to move in a circle, to march in a sacred procession, to celebrate, dance, to hold a solemn feast or holiday. God gave the Festivals as cycles to be observed yearly so that, by doing them, we can understand God's redemptive plan for the world, the role that the Messiah would play in that redemption, and our personal relationship to God concerning how we grow from a baby Bible believer to a mature Bible believer.

THREE TIMES A YEAR THEY WERE TO ASSEMBLE

There are a total of seven Feasts (the divine number for perfection or completeness in the Bible). God divided the seven Festivals into three major Festival seasons. The Feast of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits are in the Hebrew month of Nisan, which is the first month of God's Religious Calendar in the spring of the year. The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, is observed in the third month which is the Hebrew month of Sivan. The Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles are observed in the seventh month of Tishrei, which is in the fall of the year. Three is the number of complete and perfect testimony and witness. (2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 John 5:8) So the Feasts are a witness to God's divine plan and the role of Messiah fulfilling that plan.

UNDERSTANDING THE FEASTS

In Leviticus 23:2 it is written, "...the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations..." The Hebrew term translated as convocation in Leviticus 23:2,4 is 'miqra', which means "a rehearsal". God gave the Festivals to be yearly "rehearsals" of the future events in the redemption. Because God gave the "rehearsals" to teach us about the major events in the redemption, if we want to understand those events, then we need to understand what God was teaching us by these rehearsals. We will do this in the study as we get into the Feasts themselves.

The Feasts of the Lord--Part II

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Online Bible Prophecy Studies; Please feel free to email me, Jason, at group@spintheweb.com if you have any questions or comments on this article, or on the subject of the pretribulation rapture, or if you wish to share any scriptures with me.

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