Appointed Times – Spring Feasts

There are seven Jewish holidays listed in Leviticus 23, each of which occurs annually and all of which are known as "feasts of the Lord" (Lev. 23:4); four take place in the spring months each year, three take place in the fall months. The Hebrew word translated "feasts" means appointed times, indicating that God has orchestrated both the sequence and the timing of these feasts for His purposes. The feasts are also called "holy convocations" (Lev. 23:3); meetings between God and man for "holy purposes." These holidays fall according to the Jewish lunar calendar that consists of approximately 354 days per year; meaning they do not occur on the same date each year according to our Gregorian calendar, but are dictated according to the Jewish or Levitical calendar only.

But what you might not know is that these feasts meet up with the Messiah, Jesus Christ, specifically at key events in His life and ministry on earth as well as in future events. In fact, because He fulfilled the law, and because the feasts were part of God's law to the Israelites, Jesus also became the ultimate "fulfillment" of the feasts; at least He did for the four spring feasts. The three fall feasts have not been prophetically fulfilled by Him….yet! All of which shows once more how the Old Testament, even in the feasts, points to the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The names and descriptions of the four spring feasts are:

Passover (Lev. 23:5): occurs in spring on the 14^th day of Nisan (March/April). There was only one Passover (in Egypt) and all Passovers since then have been memorials of that one. In exactly the same way, there was only one event in which Jesus Christ shed his blood for us, dying on the cross for our sins. The Lord's Supper is the ongoing memorial of that event. Jesus thus became the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover, for He was THE Passover Lamb that the first event in Egypt pointed to; whose blood was shed to keep the curse of death away from us (John 1:29). "Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6): begins the very next day after Passover, on the 15^th day of Nisan and lasts for 7 days during which time the Israelites were to eat unleavened bread, bread without leaven (what we know as yeast). Biblically, leaven represents error that leads to sin: "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees" (Mt. 16:6, 11; Mark 8:15). And it represents sin. In the case of the Corinthian church Paul rebuked and warned them of what would come as a result of sin that remained unjudged in their midst "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor. 5:6). Sin is corruption of the spirit and soul resulting in death; death is a corruption or decaying of the body. But Jesus, whose body became our Unleavened Bread (Bread without sin), again became the ultimate fulfillment of this feast in that being without sin His body also did not decay in the grave as others would have. "You will not leave my soul in Hades [sheol], Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption [to decompose in the grave]" (Acts 2:27; Ps. 16:10) Seven is the biblical number for perfection and completion. Thus the 7 days of eating unleavened bread pointed to the perfection of God found in Jesus Christ, a man without sin; the perfect completion of this and of all the feasts.

The Feast of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:10): occurs on the second day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the 16^th day of Nisan, and speaks of the gathering of the barley harvest of which the first sheaf (firstfruits) is presented to the Lord in a wave offering to be accepted by Him. These first three feasts of spring are so tied in together, they almost become as one. Day 1 is the Passover, Day 2 is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Day 3 is the Feast of Firstfruits. Let me put it another way, Day 1 Jesus Christ became the Passover Lamb for us, Day 2 His slain body was laying in a tomb but not decaying because He was without leaven or sin, Day 3 He was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits. Jesus was the Firstfruits of the harvest of God. "But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfuits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Cor. 15:20). The bible speaks of others who were raised from the dead, but they all died again at some point. Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, incorruptible, never to see death again. Thus Christ fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits.

The Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost (Lev. 23:15-16): the Israelites were to count seven weeks from Firstfruits (49 days) and then the next day (the fiftieth day) would be the feast known as Weeks, or "Shavuot" in Hebrew. On our calendar this would occur in either late May or early June. The Israelites were to bring to the temple on this day two wave loaves of fine flour baked with leaven representing, according to Paul, the Jew in the one hand, and the Gentile in the other: "for He himself is our peace, who has made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…to create in Himself one new man from the two [Jew and Gentile] thus making peace." (Eph.2:14-15). Both having leaven for neither have yet to be fully sanctified. From the two Christ is calling out the church, which is His body. And He did this commencing on the fiftieth day after His resurrection: the Day of Pentecost (Book of Acts).

That completes the list of those feasts which Jesus Christ has already fulfilled. Tomorrow we will look at the remaining three fall feasts which are awaiting fulfillment by the Messiah.