Tag: Appointed Times

First Fruits

First Fruits (Yom Habikkurim).

Continuing the overview of the Spring Festivals, Gods Appointed Times. (Again this is just a basic overview and not designed to be an in depth study.)

If you are new to MMM other posts in connection to this series at:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/not-passing-over-passover-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/unleavened-bread-matzot-week/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/midweek-mannabite-secrets-of-the-seder-plate/

The 3rd Feast is called First Fruits. It is the barley harvest (Bikkurim) and is observed during the week of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah).

It will always be the day following the weekly sabbath, the first day of the week (Yom Rishon), which we call Sunday (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:9-11). On this day, sheaves of barley were waved before the Lord in a prescribed ceremony.

Biblical/Hebrew Name – Bikkurim  

English Name – First Fruits of Barley Harvest

Time of Observance – The morrow after the sabbath during Hag HaMatzah

The HISTORICAL APPLICATION OF THE FEAST of First Fruits – Crossing the Red Sea (Bikkurim)

Probable MESSIANIC APPLICATION & FULFILLMENT OF THE FEAST First Fruits   – Resurrection of Yeshua (Bikkurim)

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION ( Halacha) of First Fruits – Walking (Halacha) in newness of life (Bikkurim)

Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:9-14

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Now on the day when you wave the sheaf you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall then be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places’ “

First Fruits (Yom Habikkurim). “On the morrow after the Sabbath” following Unleavened Bread, Leviticus 23:11 schedules First Fruits, the feast for acknowledging the fertility of the land He gave the Israelites. They were to bring the early crops of their spring planting and “wave the sheaf before the Lord.”

Understanding the Festival Ceremony

When the standing ripe harvest of barley and wheat was ready to be reaped one sheaf from the standing harvest was brought to the priest. The lone sheaf was called “the sheaf of the first fruits.” The priest was then to take this one sheaf and wave it before the Lord in His house. (Where His Presence was in The Temple in Jerusalem.) This was to be done “the day after the sabbath.” Prescribed offerings were also to be presented along with the sheaf.

The Sheaf of First Fruits in the Bible

God commanded the people to bring a sheaf of the harvest (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:10). The Hebrew word for “sheaf” is omer.

Just what is the “wave sheaf” offering, anyway? The original Hebrew word translated “sheaf” is omer. This word means “a heap” or “sheaf”, a dry measure. Says Gesenius Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon, it means “a measure of dry things, containing the tenth part of an ephah.” An omer, according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, held about 5.1 pints.

Though one ephah, or ten omers, of barley was cut down, only one omer of flour, or about 5.1 pints of our measure, was offered in the Temple on the second Paschal, or 16th day of Nisan

This is a WHOLE SHEAF of barley — consisting of 5.1 pints, or a little over two quarts, at least! How many individual “grains” of barley would that be? There are multiple thousands of barley grains in one omer. The “omer” then was not one grain, or the grain from one plant, but many barley plants — many grains!

Three times a year God commanded the people to come to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) to celebrate the festivals of Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot).

All three of these festivals are agricultural harvest festivals. Passover (Pesach) is the barley harvest. Pentecost (Shavuot) is the wheat harvest. Both of these festivals are first fruits harvests before the final harvest that was to come at the end of the year during the festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which is the fruit harvest.

The harvest represents all who would put their faith, trust, and confidence (emunah) in the Messiah Yeshua (Matthew [Mattityahu] 13:39; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 10:1-12; Revelation 14:14-16). So, the sheaf is the first of the first fruits. Since a sheaf in the Bible is used to typify a person or persons (Genesis [Bereishit] 37:5-11), a sheaf seems to spiritually represent people who accept the Messiah into their hearts both Israelite and gentile.

The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of first fruits or the firstborn. The first fruits were always the choicest, the foremost, the first, the best, the preeminent of all that was to follow.

They were holy to the Lord.

The concept of first fruits or firstborn is a major theme in the Bible. This can be seen by the following Scriptures: Exodus (Shemot) 23:16,19: 34:26; Lev. (Vayikra) 2:12,14; 23:20; Numbers (Bamidbar) 18:12-15,26; Deut. (Devarim) 18:1-5; 26:2-4,10; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 10:35-39; Proverbs (Mishlai) 3:9; Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 2:3; Ezekiel (Yechezekel) 44:30; 48:14; Malachi 3:8-14; Hebrews 6:20; 7:1-8.

The Seventeenth of Nisan — Resurrection and Salvation

The theme of the festival of First Fruits is resurrection and salvation. There are several important events that happened on this day in the Bible.

Noah’s (Noach) ark rests on Mount Ararat (Genesis 8:4).

Israel crosses the Red Sea (Exodus [Shemot] 3:18; 5:3; 14).

Israel eats the first fruits of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10-12)..

Haman is defeated (Esther 3:1-6

The resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua, the Messiah (John 12:24; 1 Corinthians 15:16-20).

Yeshua celebrated the festival of First Fruits by offering Himself as the first fruits to all future generations (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:52-53).

Jesus/Yeshua The First Fruits of the Barley Harvest

Jesus/Yeshua is the firstborn of Miryam (Mary) (Matthew 1:23-25).

Jesus/Yeshua is the first-begotten of G-d the Father (Hebrews 1:6).

Jesus/Yeshua is the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15).

Jesus/Yeshua is the first-begotten from the dead (Revelation 1:5)

Jesus/Yeshua is the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29).

Jesus/Yeshua is the first fruits of the resurrected ones (1 Cor.15:20,23)

Jesus/Yeshua is the beginning of the creation of God (Revelation 3:14).

Jesus/Yeshua is the preeminent One (Colossians 1:18).    

Jesus/Yeshua indeed the Most Holy One of God and is sanctified by the Father.

Jesus/Yeshua is the first, the choicest, the preeminent One. He is both the firstborn of God and the first fruits unto God.

Jesus/Yeshua is the sheaf of the first fruits.

First Fruits Is Prophetic
 of the Resurrection of the Messiah

The festival of the sheaf of the first fruits is prophetic of the resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua.

Jesus/Yeshua prophesied that He would rise after He was slain on the tree (Matthew [Mattityahu 12:38-40; 16:21; Luke 24:44-46).

This was foreshadowed to happen in the Tanach (Old Testament) by type and shadow (Genesis [Bereishit] 22:1-6; Exodus [Shemot] 3:18; 5:3; 8:27; Esther 4:15-17; Jonah 1:7; 2:1-2).

Jesus/Yeshua arose from the grave on the seventeenth of Nisan, the day of the festival of First Fruits. This day would be the day after the weekly sabbath during the week of Passover (Mark 16:1-6). In fact, Jesus/Yeshua is called the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, after that those who are Christs’ at His coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NAS).

It was prophesied that Jesus/Yeshua, the Messiah, would be buried in the tomb of the rich (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 53:9; Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:57; Luke 23:51). Why was Jesus/Yeshua placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? Arimathea was another name for Ramah, where Samuel dwelt. It is five miles north of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). In fact, this place is still called Ramah today. In ancient times, it was customary for Jews to be buried in Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). In fact, this practice is still done today because it is a traditional belief in Judaism that the resurrection of the dead will take place in Jerusalem

“For Christ, OUR PASSOVER also has been sacrificed. LET US therefore CELEBRATE THE FEAST, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the UNLEAVENED BREAD of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)

The way the feast days were set up by the Lord, the chief priests would have to offer up the sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest with a torn Veil.

Later they would hear that the Lord Jesus resurrected on the day of first fruits and would have to look at and eat unleavened bread up until the day they crucified him.

At the moment of Jesus death the veil in the temple was torn in two!

It must have made them think.

“On the morrow after the Sabbath” following Unleavened Bread, Leviticus 23:11 schedules First Fruits, the feast for acknowledging the fertility of the land He gave the Israelites.

They were to bring the early crops of their spring planting and “wave the sheaf before the Lord.”

The Spiritual Understanding of First Fruits

Spiritual Application (Halacha). A sheaf in the Bible is used to typify a person or persons (Genesis [Bereishit] 37:5-11). Yeshua will return to earth (Zechariah 14:4) during His second coming as King over all the earth. He also will bring the sheaves (the believers in Yeshua as the Messiah) with Him (Psalm (Tehillim) 126; Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 31:9-14; Joel 3:11-13; Zechariah 14:3-5; Matthew [Mattityahu] 13:37-39; Mark 4:26-29; Hebrews 12:1; Jude 14; Revelation 1:7).

The 144,000 Jewish witnesses who witness of Yeshua during the Chevlai shel Mashiach, the birthpangs of the Messiah (also known as the tribulation/Jacobs trouble) are first fruits to God during the tribulation (Revelation 14:1-4).

Because of the blood covenant God made with Abraham when God asked if he was willing to sacrifice his only son so then reciprocally God was able to offer His only Son for everyone who will believe.

The modern church has come to call this feast “Easter,” named after Ishtar, the pagan goddess of fertility. In searching the Scriptures there is no reference to Easter as their name in the text, only to Passover Seder. Luke 22:1–24.

So here is a Brief explanation and meaning: In the fourth century 196A.D. the church leaders for various reasons brought about the changes by introducing Easter which was the celebration of the fertility goddess Ishtar in Syria and Babylon. (Todays Iraq.)

The name Ishtar was written in Greek as Istar because there is no’sh’ sound in the Greek language. Also the Greek and Latin letters for the letter I are pronounced EE, Istar became Easter when spelt with English letters. The celebration of Ishtar brought with it symbols of reproduction example eggs and rabbits. This was done to separate from Jewish groups and to make it easier for heathens to become ‘Christians’, by letting them retain the pagan customs.

The First Fruits celebration was to be over God’s replanting of the earth in the spring. It quickly became traditional and could be seen as something to be thought about in light of Jesus’s comment in Mark 7:13

‘Thus you are nullifying and making void and of no effect [the authority of] the Word of God through your tradition, which you [in turn] hand on. And many things of this kind you are doing.’

Rabbits and eggs are not bad in themselves but we know only the sacrifice of Jesus will bring salvation, indeed Jesus became our Passover Lamb and was raised from the dead on First Fruits.

And today these spring feasts celebrate that which actually occurred and also eventually, the resurrection of the entire Body of Jesus our Messiah when He returns as King! For He is neither in a crib nor on the cross or in a grave for..

 

Unleavened Bread of Matzot Week

Where We Are Right Now As The Appointed Times Of The Spring Feasts Continue To Unfold…

Coming to the end of the week of the Feast Of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMotzi)

Chag HaMatzot   חג שמח

From 14th Nisan and at evening, that is, between 3:00 pm to sundown, and continues through Nisan 15. Strictly speaking, then, Passover always begins on Nisan 14 and is followed immediately by The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMotzi) and continues through and beyond Nisan 15 for 7 days and includes First Fruits within that week.

Here is a brief summary of the feasts of 

Nisan 14 = Thursday sundown the first day, which is the start of Passover and also the day of the Seder. Jesus/Yeshua was arrested and the mock trial was held, (also called Maundy Thursday which remembers when Jesus/Yeshua washed the feet of the disciples.

The next morning was the crucifixion and that afternoon was called Preparation Day (as they were preparing for the weekly Sabbath). Jesus was taken down from the cross and buried.

Nisan 15th, which was the Friday sundown and a weekly Sabbath day began the second day. It is also the first day of Unleavened Bread and Jesus was in the tomb the entire day.

Nissan 16 began the third day at Saturday sundown, during the night Jesus/Yeshua was resurrected.

Passover is the celebration of the release of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage and celebrated with a meal called Seder, which means ‘order’ and tells the story, (or Haggadah which means ‘the telling’), of the miraculous deliverance. Jesus and all the disciples and New Testament/Brit Chadashah authors celebrated Passover.

First: Seder is the name of the Passover meal and includes what we call and understand as communion,

it puts Paul’s writing of one Corinthians 11:17–26 into perspective.

Second. Unleavened bread begins 15th Nissan the day after Passover. (Nissan also spelled Nisan.)

In Exodus 12:15-20 God instructed the Jews to eat unleavened bread for seven days, beginning on the first day of Passover, from Nisan 15 through Nisan 22. Chag HaMatzot therefore represents a Holy week spent without leaven in our lives, a time to ‘clean house,’ removing and sweeping away all signs of sin.

It’s a picture of our deliverance from the corrupting influences of the world in response to the redemption of the LORD (Matt. 16:12; Mark 8:14-15; Luke 12:1; Rom. 6:13-22; 1 Cor. 5:6-8).

To the Christian, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is a celebration of what Jesus, the true Passover Lamb has done for us, in that He has delivered us from bondage to sin and it’s penalty by His blood. Paul told the congregation, -“You are in fact, unleavened”, that is, without sin because the blood of the Lamb has washed them all away.

The prophetic and symbolic lesson of ridding your life of the leaven of Egypt is that you get rid of sin and replace it with purity and humility. Upon redemption, we are to become a sanctified, “unleavened people.”

Chag HaMatzot, or the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when no Chametz may be eaten or possessed for a full seven days: Chametz is considered a corrupting influence, a hidden uncleanness that manipulates purer elements. Like the influence of a lump of leaven in a batch of dough, ‘spiritual’ leaven functions as an evil impulse within us that corrupts and sours our soul.  As such chametz is considered a metaphor of sin which we are commanded to put away from us. The removal of chametz is a metaphor of our sanctification.

We are to undergo our own inward ‘bedikat chametz’ and become a ‘new lump’ that is untainted by the sour and rotting influences of our past life. Since the Mashiach has been sacrificed as our Passover lamb, we are a new creation made unleavened by the power of Holy Spirit. Therefore we put away from us the old nature – the yetzer ha’ra – and purge from us the old leaven of Egypt, (a type for sin), that inwardly cankers us and makes us sick.

(Yetzer also spelled Yetser means the evil inclination.) )

For our souls sake we should walk in the truth of the love of God without hypocrisy.

But what is the connection with Jesus/Yeshua? 

First, unleavened bread is a picture of His holiness, purity and sinlessness. His life and sacrifice was ‘unleavened’  without the taint of the curse of death, and therefore He was considered ‘a lamb without spot or blemish’ for the ultimate Passover sacrifice (1Pet.1:19).

Moreover, after He was buried, Yeshua did not suffer the natural process of corruption (i.e., decomposition of the body). His body did not “return to dust” which was the very curse given to Adam and Eve in Gen.3:19; Psalm 16:10. As the last Adam (Adam haSheni), His death ‘killed the power of death’ by putting away sin through the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:26).

Jesus was resurrected during Unleavened Bread on FirstFruits.

Thirdly: First Fruits. According to Deuteronomy 8:8, Barley was the harvest. Then according to the Scripture in Leviticus 23:15, verse 6 puts the second feast on the next night: “On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord; seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.”

The Confusion over the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover being called Unleavened Bread occurs because amongst the Israelites, the first day that they ate unleavened bread was on the Passover feast. So while Leviticus 23 mentions that the Feast of Unleavened Bread started on the 15th day, they interchanged the day of Passover as the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying and to him, where will thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? Matthew 26:17 Also called the day of unleavened bread

After two days was the feast of the Passover, and of another wrote: and the chief priests and scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. Mark 14:1

Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. Luke 22:1

The feast of the first fruits Leviticus 23:10–14

The Unleavened Bread was due to the haste of their departure from Egypt and it had no time to rise. As leaven represents sin so unleaved was again the sinless sacrifice.

Leaven or yeast in the Bible symbolized sin and evil. Unleavened bread, eaten over a period of time, symbolized a holy walk, as with the Lord. Unleavened bread, in the B’rit Chadashah [New Testament] is, of course representative of the Body of our Lord.

He is described as ‘the Bread of Life’ (Lechem haChayim). He was born in Bethlehem, which, in Hebrew, means, ‘House of Bread’ (Bet Lechem).

See https://www.minimannamoments.com/may-this-be-a-shannah-of-shalom-a-year-of-peace/ for more information on House of Bread

 

The Meaning of Unleavened Bread

Unleavened Bread is called the “bread of affliction” (i.e., lechem oni, literally, “bread of humiliation” or “bread of humility”) it is not “of affliction” because it is unleavened but it is unleavened because it had been born out of affliction. In other words, since the Israelites had no time to prepare their bread on account of their affliction, the bread had no time to rise.

~

The matzah, then, is not so much the remembrance of bondage as of the deliverance from bondage, and that which had originally been of affliction now became, on account of God’s deliverance, the token of freedom.

Partaking of this bread means humbly identifying with the suffering and afflictions that Yeshua performed on your behalf... As the prophet Isaiah wrote about the Messiah, our Suffering Servant

Look at the matzah and see that it is covered in small holes,

“They shall look upon me whom they’ve pierced,”

He was pierced for our sorrows which includes our grief sadness and broken hearts

See the dark brown areas that resemble bruises. He was bruised for our iniquities sins and transgressions

He was sinless and pure, without any leaven, as His body was without any sin.

Finally see how it is striped: “By His stripes we are healed”.

~

There is the Passover custom of burying, hiding and then resurrecting the second of three pieces of matzot (the middle piece), which represents the Gospel and is called (Afikomen).

 

To the Israelite, the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorates being delivered from bondage to Egypt

for the purpose of worshipping God,  as they left so quickly their dough didn’t have time to rise/leaven.

The elements of wine and unleavened bread are the original root and beginning of what we call our communion and are part of a weekly service for the Christian congregations. It is rooted in the weekly Sabbath service held in synagogues worldwide where the remembrance of the exodus is recalled for the Jewish population that has not yet accepted Jesus/Yeshua as their Messiah.

For Messianic Jews those who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah Yeshua, they now have a full revelation of His sacrificial atonement.

Leaven and the Sacrifice of Yeshua

Traditionally ‘the leaven package’ is burned at the time of morning prayer on Nisan 14 during the Bi’ur Chametz ceremony.

That is the exact day in which the Mashiach Yeshua was crucified, removing our sin and spiritual leaven forever.

Of course Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection are the most focused on aspects of this season. This post is not ignoring them but rather trying to highlight other happenings both lesser known and some forgotten which reveal deeper meanings behind the order of prophetic events that God had set in place millennia ago.

Below are some more Hebrew words

connected to this feast

one of His

 Yom Tov Holy Day

(The origin of our word holiday, it is interesting to note how the use of the word vacation has replaced the reference to it being a Holy Day.)

 

 

 

Not Passing Over

This time of the year is one of the 2 occasions upon which Christians mainly focus, and it deserves more than a casual glance. If we believe the confession of our faith then we need to understand its beginnings as best we can. This season is at the very core of our beliefs and without it there would be no resurrection and no hope.

In the Hebrew language Passover is

For some this may be a bit long, but the conviction that it was important to share outweighed the whispering to keep it short! So this is in case there are others out there who for many years have never seen the similarities of the sacrifices of the lambs and of Jesus in relation to the Hebrew Feast. If we’ve never really studied the Feast rituals and preparations before, the commonalities never dawn on us.

After all THIS IS THE VERY CRUX OF OUR FAITH and there should not be anything more important.

He gave His life for each one of us and its an indicator of the grateful attitude of our hearts when we take some time to remember why we call ourselves Christian Believers in Jesus the Messiah.

No condemnation or judgment here, only information and loving encouragement. Even the disciples had a hard time praying for an hour with Jesus. 

It’s true, Israel had been observing these Feasts for 1,400 years before Yeshua’s birth. The Appointed times of the Lord have been kept for some 3417 years although it seems ‘new’ to Christian believers in fact it’s not ‘new’ at all.

 

LEVITICUS 23 is the single chapter of the entire (Tanakh) Bible that sums up everything. God’s eternal plan – from chaos to eternity – is ingeniously revealed through the nature and timing of the Seven annual Feasts of the LORD.

In taking a fresh look we come to realize that the entire human race now exists between two of these feasts, and as sacrifice is the major feature of the feasts, our knowledge and understanding of them can only enhance our faith.

“The Lord’s APPOINTED TIMES which you shall proclaim as HOLY CONVOCATIONS – MY APPOINTED TIMES ARE THESE.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s PASSOVER.” (Leviticus 23:1,5)

Here’s How The Week Unfolded

Passover (Pesach). Leviticus 23:5 specifies that the festival year begins with Passover on “the fourteenth day of the first month” (Nisan 15). Passover is the Feast of Salvation. In both testaments, the blood of the Lamb delivers from slavery – the Jew from Egypt, the Christian from sin.

Everything is connected.

Think about the tenth plague in Exodus 12:5, when Egypt’s first born sons died while the angel of death “passed over” the Israelites homes with the blood of the lamb on their door posts. In the New Testament/B’rit Chadashah, Jesus serves as the sacrificial lamb.

It is no coincidence that our Lord Himself was sacrificed on Passover.

The tenth of Nissan was the day that the lamb was chosen and taken to the house and family that would on Passover offer it up. The mystery is in what we call Palm Sunday, it is in reality the 10th of Nissan, the day of the lamb.    

  (see previous post)  https://www.minimannamoments.com/palm-sunday-nisan-the-appointed-time-of-the-lamb/

As the people of Jerusalem were leading the Passover lambs to their homes Messiah was being led from the Mount of olives into the city gates. The bringing in of Messiah to the city with palms and hosannas was actually the fulfillment of what had been commanded from ancient times.

The bringing in of the Lamb.

On the day when the Passover lamb was to be brought to the house, God brought the Lamb of God to his house, to Jerusalem, and to the temple. Just as the lambs of the tenth of Nissan had to be sacrificed on Passover by those who dwelt in the house, so too the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on Passover by those who dwelt in Jerusalem.

The Lamb of God had to come to the House of God that the blessings of salvation could count. So it is only when you bring a lamb home when you bring him into the place where you actually live your life, when you bring Him into every room, every closet and crevice only then can the fullness of the blessings of salvation begin. Exodus 12:3 Matthew 21:1–11

The lamb became a part of the family just as pets today are family members. This made the sacrifice very much harder to do but the meaning is clear. The love bestowed on an innocent lamb caused emotional response of remorse, guilt and sadness for the lamb they loved was to die in their place because of the need for a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. How much more should the tears of repentance flow from each of us as we remember the sacrificial death of the guiltless Lamb of God.

Living in this timeframe after Yeshua’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension, we get the bigger picture that the original instructions point to.  This makes the Feasts extremely relevant and exciting for us.  Not only do we get to remember the Exodus, but we also remember Jesus Yeshuas’ first coming during the Spring Feasts, and the Fall Feasts yet to be fulfilled, focus on His return.

APPLICATIONS OF THE FIRST 3 FEASTS

Passover (Pesach)

Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah

First Fruits (Bikkurim)

FEAST                                                      HISTORICAL ASPECT

  1. Passover (Pesach)                    Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage
  2. Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)      The going out of Egypt
  3. First Fruits (Bikkurim)                               Crossing the Red Sea

FEAST                                                      MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT

  1. Passover (Pesach)                     Death of Yeshua on the tree
  2. Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)   The Burial of Yeshua
  3. First Fruits (Bikkurim)                            Resurrection of Yeshua

FEAST                                                  SPIRITUAL APPLICATION ( Halacha )

Passover (Pesach)      Repent (Teshuvah) and trust by (Emunah )in the shed blood of Yeshua

Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah)   Sanctification and separation from evil represented by water immersion (Mikvah)

First Fruits (Bikkurim)                        Walking (Halacha) in newness of life

We have the benefit of hindsight, but the Israelites couldn’t see what was ahead. They had no idea they were foreshadowing God’s plan of redemption for all mankind but centuries of going through those motions helped them prepare for that future.  Consider that just by following the instructions with no other understanding, their faithful Israelite descendants were in Jerusalem for that very important Passover Week, which is when Yeshua was crucified, buried and resurrected. Deut 16:16  instructed them to be in Jerusalem for this week.

They would’ve missed these events if they hadn’t been observing the dates and location.

The Feasts are God’s appointed days for all time.  These are dates that He’s chosen to fulfill His plan for mankind – a plan He’s not yet completed.  These dates will still play a significant role in His timeline for the future.

The Spring Feasts are the exact days Yeshua fulfilled His mission for his first coming. The Fall Feasts are all about Yeshua’s second coming.

Typically we think of the Spring Feasts as a time to remember – the Exodus and Yeshua’s death on Passover, His resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits, the giving of the Torah and the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

The first Passover occurred over 3500 years ago in Egypt and it is by far, the oldest celebration continually kept by any group of people in the history of mankind. Exodus 12:18-20 where He instructed the people to sacrifice a lamb, place its blood on the doorpost of the house, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Each part of the Passover meal was significant and symbolized something that was important for the people of God to remember about His plan of redemption.

To appreciate the background of the feast, read Exodus12:1-13:10. There you will find that Passover, which was an evening meal that took place as the sun went down on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Abib (also called ‘Nisan’), and Unleavened Bread, which was a subsequent week-long festival that began as the Passover meal was eaten. They were originally a commandment from God to mark and save His people from the death that would befall others who did not have a heart to heed His words.

As every man was to select for his household a lamb without spot or blemish and he was to select this lamb on the tenth day of the month. Then he was to observe this lamb for five days to make sure there was nothing wrong with him. There could be no fault (spot or blemish) found in this lamb.

On the fifth day, he was to bring the lamb to his doorstep and kill him.

As he killed the lamb he would catch the blood in the basin at the foot of the doorstep then using a hyssop branch to smear the blood on both sides of the doorpost and above the doorpost so the entire entrance into the house was covered by the blood of the lamb.

Hyssop is a weed – a lowly plant. It has spongy leaves and a woody stem.

Exo 12:22 Hyssop was used to dip and apply the blood to the doorposts at Passover.

Lev 14:4-52 and Num 19:6,18 Hyssop was used in the cleansing of lepers (a picture of judgment on human pride) and in cleansing the tabernacle.

Psa 51:7 David’s repentance: “Cleanse me with hyssop.” John 19:29 Jesus on the cross was given sour wine in a sponge on a stalk of hyssop.

Hyssop is a picture of humility.

This was done on the evening of the 14 day (twilight). Remember, the Hebrew day begins in the evening at approximately six o’clock in western time.

The Hebrews killed the lambs at three o’clock in the afternoon on the 14th in order to eat the meal by six before the day of Passover feast ended.

The family then entered their house through the blood-stained door where they were protected from the plague of death that was to move through the land.

Now here comes an interesting part.

According to the instructions, the entire lamb was to be roasted and consumed. Nothing could be left over for the next day.

In preparing the meal, not one bone of the lamb was to be broken. This instruction required that the lamb be roasted on a spit shaped like a crossbar so that its body could be spread open.

Although the family went inside the house and couldn’t see the blood covering, they had faith that God would save them because of it.

They were saved by grace through faith in the blood of the lamb which they could not see.

This should sound familiar to us.

Also notice the shape of the doorway and as Jesus said He was the Door notice the similarities to the Hebrew letter CHET

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the suffering this human lamb would experience. He wrote a very clear, graphic description, which is recorded in Isaiah chapter 53. We often skip over this as it tends to make us very uncomfortable.

Yeshua Se Tamiym – Yeshua Our Pesach Lamb – Jesus Our Passover Lamb

As the precise moment came in God’s timeline for the substitutionary human lamb to be sacrificed, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and God came to earth in the manifestation of Jesus to live among us, to go through everything we as humans have to endure and become the sacrifice for our sins. God sent one last prophet to help the people recognize Him, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. John introduced Jesus with these words:

“Behold the Lamb of God!”. (John 1:36)

It would have had a profound meaning to those who heard as they all understood the appointed time of the Passover Lamb and had been rehearsing it every year their whole lives.

In John 12:1 it says that Jesus came to the town of Bethany six days before the Passover. Since the Passover was celebrated on the 14th, this means that Jesus came to Bethany on the ninth. John also gives us more information to show that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth according to John 12:12-13. He says that it was the next day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

 In other words, He came into Jerusalem on the exact day that God told the Jews to set aside their lambs back in Egypt.

Jesus was fulfilling in Himself the ultimate reality of the Feast of Passover.

As earlier mentioned the purpose of setting the lamb aside was to observe it to make sure that it was without spot or blemish. This lamb was to be offered to God. Since God is perfect, no lamb that was blemished (physically or with fault) could be sacrificed, so the Jews observed and tested the lamb for five days to make sure that it was faultless. The same was done to Jesus by the religious leaders.

They questioned His authority, they asked Him trick questions hoping He would somehow give a wrong answer that they could use against Him. They did everything they could to discredit Him so that He would not be an acceptable sacrifice.

Of course you know the story, Pilate said he could find no fault in Him. (John 19:4). This all happened in that five day period from the tenth to the 14th while the Jews were checking their lambs for the sacrifice.

Jesus was crucified on the 14th ( the same day as the lambs) and to be even more precise the same hour of the day. At the exact hour when the Jews were preparing their lambs for sacrifice, Jesus was nailed to the cross. (9:00 am, the 14th), they were killed at 3:00pm, so that Passover could be completed before six pm which would begin a new day.

To summarize this, Jesus gave His total self to be roasted and consumed in the judgment fires of God as He died for our sins.

The spit shaped like a crossbar on which the lambs were spread open pointed to Jesus hanging on the cross. All the other details concerning the death of the lambs happened to Jesus, the real Lamb of God. For example, His bones were not broken. Remember, God said not to break any bones in the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46, Number 9:12; Psalms 34:20).

When a person is crucified, the body sags so that they cannot breathe. This causes them to push themselves up with their heels just long enough to take a deep breath.

To hasten a person’s death, a Roman soldier would break his legs; thus, he would not be able to push himself up to get air.

John records that the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves , that were next to Jesus, but they saw Jesus was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs.

They also offered a combination of ingredients in a drink that would help to numb the pain Jesus refused as He wanted to remain alert to experience it fully.

God had specifically instructed the Israelites to consume the whole lamb. Nothing was to be left over for the next day. (Exodus 12:10). This was also the case with Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders, not realizing they were carrying out God’s plan, hurriedly had Jesus’ body taken down before six o’clock. 

The Passover lamb was a visual aid and dress rehearsal directing the Jews into the future when Jesus would come and establish the spiritual reality that the lambs could only symbolize. The blood of Jesus saves us from death and gives us the promise of resurrection.

“For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor.5)

 The sacrificial blood of animals had no power to pay for our sins – they only served to remind us that we are sinners and that a divine sacrifice was still needed. Our text shows us that Jesus was that divine sacrifice which ended all other sacrifices.

In Jerusalem, on this Passover, the Lamb of God carried His cross and willingly laid down His sinless life to save all those who would receive Him as their Savior. Though He was without guilt, unlike the little Passover lambs who cried, He remained silent as He was falsely accused during His trial but for those who have received Him as their Savior and their Lord, there is a silence of the lambs.

But This As You Know Is Not The End Of The Story…..but for now…

To all 74 subscribers and to any visitors. Enjoy the Holyday weekend which without Messiah and the events above would not be on our calendar.

PALM SUNDAY – Nisan – The Appointed Time Of The Lamb

 In a recent post Aviv was referenced as the Hebrew season of spring.

The  name of the Month in Hebrew is called Nisan.

(There is a wealth of information contained in this season and it can be overwhelming if it’s all new to the reader, so the beautiful story is examined, slowly unfolding it in small bite-sized portions.)

This year it is in April on our calendar and according to scripture it is the time of the beginning of the Spiritual New Year in Israel.

Shemoth (Exodus) 12:1 And YHWH spoke unto Moses/Mosheh and Aaron/Aharown in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt) saying, 2. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

The seasons are literally the appointed times of the Lord. They are the scriptural seasons that Jesus and all the New Testament authors celebrated.

This was to fall every year, 14 days before Passover (Pesach) in the month of the Abib (Aviv). In Nehemiah 2:1 & Esther 3:7, this first month on the Hebrew calendar began to be called “Nisan” while the House of Judah were in Babylonian exile.

Today, the rabbinic calendar still uses the Babylonian name of “Nisan” for the month of “Abib.”

The word “Abib” in the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance has the following definition: # 24 ‘abiyb aw-beeb’ from an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, i.e. a young ear of grain;

hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan:–Abib, ear, green ears of corn (not maize).

Nisan The Appointed Time Of The Lamb BEGINS WITH

Jesus like all the sacrificial lambs had to be examined by the Priests. Luke 22:54

It was at the same time that the shepherds were herding the 1000’s of lambs into the Temple area ready for their examination over 4 days.

The seasons are literally the appointed times of the Lord, they are the scriptural seasons that Jesus and all the New Testament authors celebrated.

On Palm Sunday Jesus rode the donkey

in a procession from Bethphage, (the home of Lazarus),  and entered the Old City of Jerusalem,

through St. Stephen’s Gate (Lion’s Gate). 

The Lion’s Gate is located near Mount of Olives (seen through the gate in the picture above) and the Via Dolorosa.

This is one of the seven gates that were created in the wall of the old city,

and the only one that is open towards the east.

On  Palm  Sunday,

Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem at the SAME EXACT TIME the lambs were to be selected for the Passover sacrifice!

Matt 21:1-11 Mark 14:1,2 Luke 22:1,2 John 12:12

The crowd was loudly calling out Hosanna

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Ps 118:26

In John 12:13, we are told this crowd including the disciples, thought He was the reigning Messiah as they understood from the Old Testament book of Zechariah in chapter 9:9

“behold your king is coming being seated upon the foal of a donkey”

This is significant as Messiah was being associated with a donkey rather than a horse ready for battle, because He is not depicted as a warrior but as a man of peace Who represents spiritual prosperity, (as was shown in the metaphor of the vineyard). His wars will be won by divine power not through force of arms.

Hoshea-na as in (Ps 118:25) means ‘Deliver us now’ or ‘Save us now’.

This comes from the same root as Yeshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus.

The ending ‘na’, is something we do not have a translation for in English. It’s a demanding ‘NOW’, that is neither rude nor impertinent. It is properly translated ‘Please’ or ‘I pray you’ or ‘Behold’.

The greeting and waving of palm fronds and branches were traditionally done on the 6th day of the feast of sukkot welcoming the reigning Messiah to assume the throne in Jerusalem. All those shouting Hoshea-na knew this and believed Yeshua was the Messiah who had come to claim His throne then and there.

See Matt 21:8,9 Mk 11:8,9 Lk 19:37,38 Jn 12:12,13

From Luke 19:35, the Greek word used for ‘garment’ is ‘imatia’, meaning, ‘cloak or outer garment’, it is used here and in vs. 35 and 36. The ‘cloak’ of a Jewish man was his prayer shawl, as can be seen in the picture below.

These were the ‘garments’ laid on the road before Him as he passed by 1000’s of people gathered in Jerusalem for Passover. One of three annually appointed times, that every Israelite was expected to attend.

Jesus  wept   over  Jerusalem  on  Palm  Sunday

because  Israel  did  not  know  the   time   and   importance   of   that   day.

What   will   Jesus   find   when   He   returns  soon  on  the  next  scheduled  feast  day?

LEVITICUS 23 is the single chapter of the entire Bible /Tanakh that sums up everything. God’s eternal plan — from chaos to eternity — is ingeniously revealed through the nature and timing of the Seven annual Feasts of the LORD.

Why do we need to look at what the feasts are called, when they happen and why they remain significant?

Sacrifice is the major feature of the feasts and knowledge of them enhances our faith.

“The Lord’s APPOINTED TIMES which you shall proclaim as HOLY CONVOCATIONS- MY APPOINTED TIMES ARE THESE.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord’s PASSOVER.” (Leviticus 23:1,5)

It was on Mount Sinai that God gave Moses the dates and observances of the seven feasts. Here are their names:

  1. Passover (Pesach) – Nisan 14

  2. Unleavened Bread (Chag Hamotzi) – Nisan 15-22

  3. First Fruits (Yom habikkurim) – Nisan 16

  4. Pentecost (Shavu’ot) – Sivan 6

  5. Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah) – Tishri 1

  6. Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Tishri 10

  7. Tabernacles (Sukkot) – Tishri 15

When do they happen? God’s calendar is based on the phases of the moon. Each month in a lunar calendar begins with a new moon.

Pesach falls on the first full moon of Spring.

The first three feasts, Pesach/Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits fall in March and April.

The fourth one, Shavu’ot, Pentecost, marked the summer harvest and occurs in late May or early June.

The last three feasts, Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Sukkot happen in September and October.

The first 3 Spring Feasts occur all very close together. These are the ones that are happening right now and next post will shed a little more light on them.