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Q0407

THE HOLIDAYSOF GODThe Spring Feasts

IIf observant Jewish people are right, the ancient festivalcycle of Israel is of timeless

importance in remembering God’sprovisions for the past, present,and future of His people.

If those who believe in Jesusare right, this same festival cycleis more than a timeless treasureof Israel. The biblical holidays of God are also a pattern ofshadows fulfilled in a Messiahwho has already come in the firstphase of a two-part plan to saveHis people and rule the world.

In the following pages, RBCstaff writer Kevin Williams givesus the first of a two-part study on the “Holidays Of God.” Withyears of experience in messianiccongregations, Kevin shows us the profound relationshipbetween the annual cycle ofJewish holidays, and theiramazing prophetic significancefor people of all nations.

Martin R. De Haan IIManaging Editor: David Sper Cover Design:Terry BidgoodScripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by ThomasNelson, Inc. Used by permission.All rights reserved.© 2000, 2004 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in USA

CONTENTS

The Holidays Of GodChart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

God’s Spring Feasts. . . . . 3

Passover (Pesach) . . . . . 5

Unleavened Bread(Chag HaMatzot). . . . . 15

Firstfruits(HaBikkurim) . . . . . . . . 20

Pentecost(Shavout) . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Just A Coincidence? . . . 31

© 2007 RBC Ministries

2 © 2007 RBC Ministries

GOD’S SPRINGFEASTSThe Lord spoke to Moses,saying, “Speak to thechildren of Israel, and say tothem: ‘The feasts of the Lord,which you shall proclaim tobe holy convocations, theseare My feasts’” (Lev. 23:1-2).

WWith these words,the Lord of Israelestablished an

annual cycle of holidays still honored in Jewishcommunities all over theworld. Whether thesecommunities are Orthodox,Conservative, or Reform;whether they are Russian,Yemenite, or American,these feasts form a commonthread in global Jewishculture.

In the Hebrew language,the word for “My feasts” can be phonetically spelled mo-a-deem´. It is a word thatis best translated in Englishas “appointed times” or

“appointed feasts.” Thisadditional emphasis reflectsthe importance the God ofthe Bible attached to thesedays.

These appointed times of the Lord are important for many reasons. To beginwith, they are part of anational system of “time-outs.” Together, they provideweekly, monthly, and yearlyoccasions to rest from theroutines and common workof daily life. The Provider ofIsrael designed these “time-outs” and appointed timesfor rest, reflection, andworship. They are sacred

3

This series ofholidays hassignificancereaching farbeyond the nation and

culture of Israel.


convocations that call thepeople of God together notonly in the grandeur andmajesty of the temple, butalso in the quiet shelter and simplicity ofevery home of theland. Together,these appointedtimesform a system ofremembrance. Theappointed times ofthe Lord giveeveryhousehold,whether rich or poor, anoccasion torecount theawesomepower andlove of theGod of Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob.

It’s important for us tounderstand, however, thatthis cycle of holidays is notjust about Jewish culture.Even though they are linkedto the agricultural cycle of

occasions are used to retellstories of Jewish life andorigins, these holidaysprovide a panorama ofhistory that has strong

implications for all the families of the earth. Seenindividually andtogether, these feastspaint a compellingpicture of the past,

present, andfuture work of

a Messiahwho is the

source oflife andhope andpeace forall the

nations of theworld.


PASSOVER(PESACH)

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilightis the Lord’s Passover. Andon the fifteenth day of thesame month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days youmust eat unleavened bread (Lev. 23:5-6).

TThe holiday of Passoveris celebrated on the14th of the Jewish

month of Nisan. Ever sinceits beginning, Passover, orPesach as it is called inHebrew, has been celebratedon the full moon of a monththat literally means “theirflight.” Even though Nisan

usually corresponds withMarch/April on the Romancalendar, and even thoughmodern Jewish communitiescelebrate their New Year onthe first day of the seventhmonth (Oct.-Nov.), Nisan is the first month of the“appointed feasts of theLord.”

The 14th of the month of “their flight” looks backto the origin of the firstPassover and to the birth of the nation of Israel. Eversince Israel’s exodus fromEgypt in about 1450 BC,the God of the Bible hasasked His people to use thisday to remember how Hedelivered their ancestorsfrom the idols and slave-yards of Egypt.

Passover’s intent hasbeen honored. On the 14thof Nisan, observant Jewishfathers tell their childrenhow the God of their fathersdelivered their ancestorsfrom economic bondageand spiritual darkness. It is

5

Passover


at the feast of Passover thatJewish parents still describehow God used 10 plaguesto break the stubborn gripof the Pharaoh. The plaguesbegan with the “killing ofthe Nile River,” which wasworshiped by the Egyptiansas a source of life. Theplagues ended only afterGod took the life of everyfirstborn son of Egypt.1

That final decisiveplague came during the full moon of Nisan 14.Moses, the leader of theJewish people, hadinstructed every Israelitehome to sacrifice a lamb,

collect its blood—thebiblical sign of life—andwith a hyssop brush paintthe lamb’s blood on thelintel and door posts oftheir houses.2

On the evening of thatfirst Passover, the Lordvisited Egypt as an angel of death. According to theScriptures, the Lord tookthe life of every firstborn—people and livestockincluded—except where He found blood on thedoorway. Only where therewas blood on the doorwaydid He “pass over” andspare the life of thefirstborn in that home.3

To understand the killingof the paschal (Passover)lamb, it’s important to knowthat in Egyptian society the lamb, or ram (a malesheep), represented a pagan god of the Egyptiansnamed Amon (also spelledAmun, Amen, or Ammon).Amon, whose name means “hidden one,”

6

The story of Israel’s rescue fromEgypt is a picture

not only of the pastbut of a futurerescue as well.


was considered the king of the gods and the source of all life on heaven andearth.4 According to theEgyptian zodiac, Nisanwas the chief month of this god, andthe 15th of thatmonth during thefull moon wasbelieved to be the apex of Amon’s powers.

The lamb was so sacredin Egyptian cult practicethat the people of the land

were forbidden to eventouch a ram, let alone bringit into their home, slaughter

it,5 roast, andthen eat it6 as

God commandedthe Israelites

to do. To the Egyptians the

killing of a lamb was a desecration of their religion! ThePassover sacrifice was adirect challenge to theirgods. To the Jewish people,the same sacrifice fulfilled a promise of the Almighty:“Against all the gods of Egypt I will executejudgment: I am the Lord.”7

On the celebrated day of Amon, and at the allegedpeak of his powers, the Godof Abraham, Isaac, andJacob not only overcamePharaoh, but desecrated theworship of Amon and gavethe Egyptian people reasonto believe in the God ofIsrael.

After 40 years, the7

To the Egyptians,the killing of a lamb was

a desecration of their religion! The Passoversacrifice was

a direct challengeto their gods.


Jewish people carried thesememories into a homelandthat came to be known asthe nation of Israel. Herethe children of the Exodusbegan to celebrate theannual feast of Passover in remembrance of whatGod had done for them inEgypt. Centuries later, whenIsrael’s King Solomon builta temple in Jerusalem, theytraveled great distances to observe their Pesachtogether in Jerusalem. Thiswas the practice of Jewishpeople until the Romandestruction of the templecomplex in AD 70.

After the destruction ofthe temple, Jewish peoplehad to remember Passoverin a different way. Withoutthe temple, there could beno lamb sacrifice. The Lawsaid the sacrifice could bemade only by qualifiedpriests serving at the altar and place of God’schoosing. As a result, fornearly 2,000 years lamb

has not been served inJewish homes during thePassover meal. Instead, therabbis8 and sages declaredthat unleavened bread,“matzah” bread, would bethe appropriate substitute.Eating the matzah would beequal to eating the lamb.

The destruction of the temple altered the way all the holidays werecelebrated. Without atemple, and without anauthorized priesthood,

8

People who believe that Jesus is the promisedMessiah have

embraced the spiritual

significance of theholidays of God.


many of the activitiescentral to holidayobservance could not be practiced.

At this point we can see why people who believethat Jesus is the promisedMessiah of Israel haveembraced the spiritualsignificance of the holidaysof God. About 40 yearsbefore the destruction of the temple, Jesus not onlyclaimed to be the Messiah(Jn. 4:25-26) but also thatHe had come to fulfill themeaning of the Passoversacrifice. At a PassoverSeder,9 which later becameknown by His followers as“the table of Communion,”Jesus held up the elementsof wine and matzah andapplied them to Himself.During the meal He brokeunleavened bread with Hisdisciples, and then heldthat broken matzah in Hishands, saying, “This is Mybody which is given for you;do this in remembrance of

Me” (Lk. 22:19). Then after the meal He held up a cup of wine and with thesame force of personalapplication to Himself, said, “This cup is the newcovenant in My blood,which is shed for you”(v.20). They were claimsthat were outrageous andblasphemous if they werenot true. But they were true,and they help to explainwhy the feast of Passoverwould go through such aprofound transition in theyears ahead.

For those who findcompelling reasons toaccept Jesus’ claims, theCommunion elements aretreasured reminders of Hisbroken body and shedblood. Fulfilled in Jesus, thePassover celebration thendid more than rememberjust the birth of a nation.This annual feast alsoanticipated Messiah’sultimate deliverance of an international body of

9© 2007 RBC Ministries

people who are willing totrust in His sacrificial deathfor their spiritual protection.

For those Jewish peoplewho have not yet believed inJesus, the broken matzah, orunleavened bread, continuesto be a part of the Passovermeal; yet it is shrouded inmystery. This mystery, apuzzle on which the Jewish sages cannot reachconsensus, need not be amystery to those who believein Jesus as the Messiah.

One element of mysteryis found in a Passovertradition involving the“afikomen.” On everyPassover table there is acloth bag called a “matzah

tosh.” The bag is eithersquare or round and lies flat on the table. Within thematzah tosh are three piecesof matzah bread, eachseparated in its own pocket.In this way they are hiddenfrom view, but the celebrantsknow they are there. Duringthe Seder, the middlematzah is removed from itsplace, broken in half, andone portion is wrapped in alinen cloth. This wrappedpiece of matzah is called the“afikomen.” Afikomen is nota Hebrew word, but a Greekword that means “thecoming one.” The afikomenis removed from the tableand hidden. Later in themeal, it becomes a children’sgame to search for thehidden afikomen. The childwho finds it brings it back tothe table where “Papa” mustransom it back. Once it ispaid for, the afikomen isunwrapped and shared byall as the last food eaten—so its flavor will stay on the

10

Jesus claimed thatHe had come tofulfill the meaningof the Passover

sacrifice.


tongue and its memory stayin the mind the rest of theevening.

The rabbis cannot agree on the significance of this unusual observance,or its origins. Some believethe three pieces of matzah in the matzah toshrepresent threecrowns oflearning. Others believe it represents thethree patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Still others believe itsymbolizes the three typesof people in Israel: thepriests, the Levites, and thecommoners. Yet through theeyes of the Gospels we seeanother explanation. Jewishand Gentile people whobelieve in Jesus have oftenseen in the afikomen astriking picture of the tri-unity of Deity. In the threefolds of the matzah toshthere is a picture of the

Father, Son, and HolySpirit. That the middlematzah—represented by the Son, our Messiah—isbroken, wrapped in linen,hidden, and ransomed (the

price paid), andthen broughtback for thefamily to acceptand enjoy seemstoo deliberate to easily dismiss.While thesymbolism

of this ritual remains amystery to those who havenot accepted Jesus, throughmessianic eyes the meaningseems clear and powerful.

When Jesus said of the unleavened bread,“Take, eat; this is My body,”He was not instituting anempty ritual. He wasidentifying Himselfpersonally with both thematzah and the Passoverlamb, bringing to mind thewords of the prophet Isaiah:

Surely He has borne our11© 2007 RBC Ministries

griefs and carried oursorrows; yet we esteemedHim stricken, smitten byGod, and afflicted. ButHe was wounded for ourtransgressions, He wasbruised for our iniquities;the chastisement for ourpeace was upon Him,and by His stripes we arehealed. All we like sheephave gone astray; wehave turned, every one, to his own way; and theLord has laid on Him theiniquity of us all. He wasoppressed and He wasafflicted, yet He openednot His mouth; He wasled as a lamb to theslaughter, and as a sheepbefore its shearers issilent, so He opened notHis mouth (53:4-7).In fulfillment of this

anticipation of a prophet in Israel, those who believein Jesus believe that whenwe share in the bread ofCommunion and Passover,we share in Christ, who

became our matzah. Hewas broken on our behalf to become our bread. InMideastern culture, “bread”is the staff of life, a symbolof all the provisions weneed to live.

There are other elementsin the Passover meal thatalso draw our attention tothe first redemption out ofEgypt, and the secondredemption through theMessiah, but we cannotexamine them all in onebooklet. We’d be leavingout a critical element,however, if we did not take time to examine the“Kiddush cup.”

12

Each time weshare in the cup of Communion,we share in the

Passover cup of theNew Covenant.


Another importantelement in a traditionalJewish Passover observanceis wine. During atypical PassoverSeder, four cups areshared, each with itsown significant picturein the ritual. The firstcup is called the “cup ofsanctification,” which setsthe feast apart from anycommonplace meal.The second cup is the“cup of plagues,”remembering the calamitiesvisited upon the Egyptians.The third cup is called the “cup of redemption,”recognizing andmemorializing the Hebrews’release from captivity. Thefourth cup is called the “cupof praise,” during which thefamily recites Psalms113–118, traditionallyconsidered the praisePsalms.10

Our attention here is onthe third cup, the “cup ofredemption,” the “Kiddush

cup,” which in the modernSeder comes after the eatingof the afikomen. Because of

the ritualistic order ofthe meal and the richsignificance of thisobservance, some

Christian theologiansbelieve that this is the

cup Jesus lifted, blessed,and declared, “Drink fromit, all of you. For this is

My blood of the newcovenant, which isshed for many for

the remission of sins.”11

A cup of red wine is symbolic of blood in Jewish tradition, which issignificant in our story. Inthe Pentateuch (first fivebooks of the Bible) andthroughout the ancientworld, covenants weresealed and confirmed withblood. This is no less true in the Gospels. Symbolicallywith the cup and literallythrough His blood shed atthe crucifixion, the Messiahproclaimed the beginnings of


a new covenant predicted bythe Jewish prophet Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days arecoming,” says the Lord,“when I will make a newcovenant with the house ofIsrael and with the houseof Judah—not accordingto the covenant that Imade with their fathers inthe day that I took themby the hand to lead themout of the land of Egypt,My covenant which theybroke, though I was ahusband to them,” saysthe Lord. “But this is thecovenant that I will makewith the house of Israelafter those days,” says theLord: “I will put My law intheir minds, and write iton their hearts; and I willbe their God, and theyshall be My people. Nomore shall every manteach his neighbor, andevery man his brother,saying, ‘Know the Lord,’for they all shall know Me,from the least of them to

the greatest of them,” saysthe Lord. “For I will forgivetheir iniquity, and their sinI will remember no more”(Jer. 31:31-34).Obviously, this New

Covenant has not yetreached its completefulfillment. Many thousandsof Jews and millions ofGentiles have come to faithin Jesus, and God rememberstheir sins no more. Yet not allof the house of Israel or thehouse of Judah have takenthis step of faith.

Those who believe inJesus as Messiah believethat each time we share inthe cup of Communion, weshare in the Passover cup ofthe New Covenant. With thissymbol of our redemption,we remember not only thedeath of Christ but also theblood that has sealed theNew Covenant, for “in Himwe have redemption throughHis blood, the forgiveness ofsins, according to the richesof His grace.”12


UNLEAVENEDBREAD(CHAGHAMATZOT)

On the fifteenth day of thesame month is the Feast ofUnleavened Bread to theLord; seven days you musteat unleavened bread (Lev. 23:6).

IIn a general sense, the holiday of Passover is used

interchangeably with theFeast of Unleavened Bread.Technically, however, theLord’s Feast of UnleavenedBread begins on Nisan 15, the day after thePassover sacrifice.

Known in synagogues as Chag HaMatzot, thisholiday lasts for a week. For7 days the people of Israelare to eat only unleavenedbread in remembrance ofthe day God delivered Hispeople from Egypt.

That historic daydeserves to be remembered:In droves, a multitudeestimated at 3 million men, women, andchildren—along with the herds and wealth ofEgypt—began their exodus.In the span of a heartbeat,the children of Israel wereliterally transferred out ofthe kingdom of slavery andinto the kingdom of liberty,a community redeemed.“They departed fromRameses in the first month,on the fifteenth day of thefirst month; on the day afterthe Passover the children of Israel went out withboldness in the sight of allthe Egyptians.”13 They tooktheir bread in its mixing

15

UnleavenedBread


bowls, without time for theleaven (yeast) to form or forthe bread to rise. When theorder came to leave, theyleft—flat bread and all!

This act of leaving Egypt with unleavenedbread has led to one of themost colorfultraditions ofthe Passoverseason. Inanticipationof the days of unleavenedbread, Jewish mothers dotheir “spring cleaning.”With great care they sweepand search and scrub theirhomes to remove every bitof leaven. Floors are swept,pots are boiled, cupboardsare emptied—all in an effortto remove any trace ofleaven. Then just beforePassover, bonfires are lit inempty lots and fields allover Israel to destroy any ofthe bread and crumbs thathave been found.

Rabbis point out thatleaven puffs up bread the

way pride does. Flat breadspeaks of humility andobedience. Unleavenedbread speaks of ourreadiness to put away fromus the evil inclination thatlives within all of us. Itreminds us that freedom is

not enough.God did notdeliver Hispeople fromEgypt just

for them to be free, but that they’d be free from the bondage of sin. Hedelivered His people toenjoy the liberty that isfound by all who learn tolive in humble dependenceon the one true God.

The apostle Paul, a Jewish scholar in his own right, may havebeen alluding to this in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8:

Purge out the old leaven,that you may be a newlump, since you truly areunleavened. For indeedChrist, our Passover, was


sacrificed for us. Thereforelet us keep the feast, notwith old leaven, nor withthe leaven of malice andwickedness, but with theunleavened bread ofsincerity and truth.In Paul’s eyes, and

in the understanding ofother rabbis, leaven is anillustration of sin. The Feast of Unleavened Breadtherefore speaks of the needfor God’s people to live new lives marked by abreak from the bondageexperienced in the kingdomof sin and darkness.

What we must also keepin mind, however, is themessianic significance Jesusclaimed for the matzah ofPassover. When He brokethe unleavened bread of theSeder and said, “This is Mybody which is given for you.This do in remembrance ofMe,” He was saying thatthe matzah of the Passoverhad a meaning that isrealized fully in Him.

Some who believe inJesus see a mysterious andironic picture of Him thathas unintentionally shownup in the way unleavenedbread is made. By rabbinicdecree, matzah must bestriped, pierced, and burnedin such a way as to appearbruised. Is the likenesscoincidental? Or has the

God of Israel woven Hisstory into the traditions of people who do not yetbelieve? The Jewish prophetIsaiah, speaking of God’ssuffering Servant, told usthat it is by His stripes we are healed, that He was pierced for our

17

The Feast ofUnleavened Breadspeaks of our needfor a break from

the bondage of ourold way of life.


transgressions, was bruisedfor our iniquities,14 and ofcourse was without sin.

There are indicationsthat the God of the Biblewants us to see Jesus as oursource of “sinless bread.”Bethlehem, the place ofJesus’ birth, is rendered inHebrew as Beit-lechem,meaning “the house ofbread.”

Keeping in mind thispicture of Messiah as our

matzah, listen to what Jesussaid in the Gospel of John:

Most assuredly, I say toyou, unless you eat theflesh of the Son of Manand drink His blood, youhave no life in you.Whoever eats My fleshand drinks My blood haseternal life, and I willraise him up at the lastday. For My flesh is foodindeed, and My blood isdrink indeed. He whoeats My flesh and drinksMy blood abides in Me,and I in him. As theliving Father sent Me,and I live because of theFather, so he who feedson Me will live because of Me (6:53-57).John went on to say

that this teaching was sodifficult that, upon hearingit, many of Jesus’ disciplesturned away from Him(vv.60-66). We can see why. If taken literally, Jesus’ comments abouteating His flesh and

18

We have left our own

“Egypt,” carryingour Bread withus—and notmerely with us, but in us,

the veryBread of Life.


drinking His blood seemcannibalistic. Yet if Jesuswas speaking figuratively of spiritual truths (v.63),and if He is the Messiah-bread of Israel, His message is profound. Jesus who became ourunleavened bread has

invited us to share in Him. He invites us to giveourselves to Him and adoptHis own character, purgingthe leaven of our old ways.

Many who believe in Jesushave found this picturecompelling. We have leftour own “Egypt,” carryingour Bread with us—and notmerely with us but in us—the very Bread of Life.

Like Lot fleeing Sodom,the Israelites were not tolook back on their formerlife but were to take the flatbread with them, not evengiving it time to rise. Wetoo, once we come into a saving knowledge ofMessiah, must turn fromthe former things and walkin faith into spiritualmaturity and faithfulness,putting away the childishand sinful things, andtrusting God for all that lies ahead.

19

If the unleavenedbread of thePassover is

fulfilled by God’sMessiah, it meansthat we are not

left to live a sinless life in our

own strength.


FIRSTFRUITS(HABIKKURIM)

The Lord spoke to Moses,saying, “Speak to thechildren of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you comeinto the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest,then you shall bring a sheafof the firstfruits of yourharvest to the priest. Heshall wave the sheaf beforethe Lord, to be accepted onyour behalf; on the day afterthe Sabbath the priest shallwave it’” (Lev. 23:9-11).

TThe third appointedfeast was delayed until the people of

Israel took possession oftheir Promised Land. Once

they began taking itsharvest, they were to begin observing a feast of firstfruits “on the dayafter the Sabbath.” SincePassover was a day onwhich no common workwas to be done, it appears that “the Feast of Firstfruits” was to beobserved on Nisan 15.

For as long as the Jewishpeople had a tabernacle ortemple, they were to give tothe temple priests a portionof all their increase andharvest. “This shall be thepriest’s due from the people,from those who offer asacrifice, whether it is bullor sheep: they shall give tothe priest the shoulder, thecheeks, and the stomach.The firstfruits of your grainand your new wine andyour oil, and the first of thefleece of your sheep, youshall give him.”15

When this sacrifice was given to the priests, the offerer made a

20

Firstfruits


proclamation: “I declaretoday to the Lord your Godthat I have come to thecountry which the Lordswore to our fathers to giveus.”16 The priest would thentake the basket, or baskets,and place them before the altar. Following thecommandment of God, theman would then recite, inthe presence of a priest, thefollowing Scripture:

You shall answer and saybefore the Lord your God:“My father was a Syrian,about to perish, and hewent down to Egypt anddwelt there, few innumber; and there hebecame a nation, great,mighty, and populous.But the Egyptiansmistreated us, afflicted us,and laid hard bondage onus. Then we cried out tothe Lord God of ourfathers, and the Lordheard our voice andlooked on our afflictionand our labor and our

oppression. So the Lordbrought us out of Egyptwith a mighty hand andwith an outstretched arm,with great terror and withsigns and wonders. Hehas brought us to thisplace and has given usthis land, ‘a land flowingwith milk and honey’;and now, behold, I havebrought the firstfruits ofthe land which You, O Lord, have given me.” Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worshipbefore the Lord your God(Dt. 26:5-10).

Again, theintent behindthe ritual wasnot meretithes andofferings, orsuperficial

observances,but remembrance in one’sheart that God hadredeemed them out ofslavery into a new kingdom.


At this appointed time they were to acknowledgein their hearts and confessbefore witnesses that thefruits of their labor were agrace-gift from the Almighty,who is the source of allmaterial and spiritualwealth, and that they nolonger lived as slaves inbondage but as free citizens in God’s kingdom.

Once again, however,there is reason to see amessianic significance tothe third appointed feast.The New Testament refersto the resurrected Jesus asthe firstfruits of those whowill be resurrected (1 Cor.15:20,23). In this light it isimportant to see how theresurrection of Jesus linksHim to the historic Feast of Firstfruits.

The Gospels tell us that“After the Sabbath, as thefirst day of the week beganto dawn, Mary Magdaleneand the other Mary came tosee the tomb” (Mt. 28:1).

Keep in mind thataccording to Leviticus23:11, the Feast ofFirstfruits was to beobserved on the first day after the Sabbath of Passover.17

Firsthand reports aboutthe resurrection tell us thatJesus rose from the grave onSunday, the first day of theweek after the seventh-daySabbath. Jesus rose fromthe dead not on just anyday. The reality as it playedout was not coincidentallyon the first day of the week;rather the Messiah roseaccording to God’sintentional design in orderto fulfill the holy Torah. Herose on HaBikkurim—theFeast of Firstfruits. Hisresurrection was a promiseof the life and everlastingfreedom that would come toall who believed in Him.

Of the Feast of FirstfruitsAlfred Edersheim says,“Each family, and everyindividual separately


acknowledged, by theyearly presentation of the firstfruits, a livingrelationship between themand God, in virtue of whichthey gratefully received atHis hands all they had or

enjoyed, and solemnlydedicated both it andthemselves to the Lord.”18

How much more, then, is this true for those whoconfess Jesus as Messiah!Those who believe in Jesuscan gratefully see Him asthe resurrected firstfruit ofthe eternal harvest that Godhas promised to those whotrust Him.

Like Passover and the Feast of UnleavenedBread, the Feast ofFirstfruits is ripe withmessianic overtones. Each is also rich withinsights and principles forour faith. Each feast has aconnection to the othersand to the events of Israel’spast. Each feast also has aprophetic and messianicconnection to Israel’sfuture.

What is also clear is that these feasts can nolonger be kept as they were observed in ancientIsrael. Ever since thedestruction of the temple in AD 70, there has beenno temple in which to offer sacrifice or to bringfirstfruits. As a result,synagogues remember theFeast of Firstfruits withprayers.

23

The NewTestament clearlystates that Jesus

became ourFirstfruits, the

first resurrection.


INTERMEDIATEOBSERVANCE:Counting The Sheaves(Sfirat HaOmer)

You shall count foryourselves from the day after the Sabbath,from the day that youbrought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall becompleted (Lev. 23:15).This commandment

is not a holiday as such,but it represents a processstill observed amongOrthodox, Conservative,and Messianic Jewishsynagogues. Together these groups obey thecommandment to count thepassage of time, day by day,from the Feast of Firstfruitsto the next major biblicalfeast: Shavuot. Shavuot,which will be discussed ingreater detail in the nextsection, is also known asPentecost, and it fallsexactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits.

In synagogues and inJewish homes the observantHebrew greets each evening(the beginning of the Jewishday) with special prayers to mark off the days untilShavuot. This observance is not a countdown, but ananticipation of the comingappointed time of God.During this time Psalm 119is read in the synagogues as observant Jewish peoplemeditate on its words ofencouragement.

An attitude ofanticipation can also beseen in a prayer recitedevery evening during theCounting of the Sheaves:“May it be Your will, Lordour God, and the God ofour forefathers, that in themerit of the omer count thatI have counted today, maythere be corrected whateverblemish I have caused . . .and may I be cleansed andsanctified with the holinessof Above.”19

The observant Jewish24 © 2007 RBC Ministries

man or woman looks tothese days as a time ofintrospection, with thenightly prayers helping toexamine his or her life, inanticipation of the greatwork he expects the Creatorto do on the 50th day, theDay of Pentecost.

Leviticus 23:15 instructsthe celebrants to be mindfulof the passage of time fromPassover to Pentecost, the49 intermediary days. Somerabbis teach that this timeis like waiting for a friendwho is coming from afar fora special visit, bearing withhim great news. Certainly inthe biblical history of theapostles, the 49 daysbetween Pesach andShavuot were spent infellowship with and beingtaught by the resurrectedMessiah. But He left them with the promise that a unique Counselorwould come. And a veryintimate friend did visit onShavuot—the Holy Spirit.

In the church today,Pentecost is calculated inthe same way: 49 days after the resurrection.20

Few Christians, however,pay attention to the period between Easter and Pentecost. If believersfollowed this example of Israel, they mightexperience unexpectedblessing. The days thatmark the period from thecross to the dramaticbeginning of the church(from the resurrection to the coming of the HolySpirit) could become a time of quiet soul-searchingand renewal. It could givethe church an annualopportunity to contemplatethe return of the Messiah inpower to the earth!


PENTECOST(SHAVUOT)Feast Of Weeks

Count fifty days to the dayafter the seventh Sabbath;then you shall offer a newgrain offering to the Lord.You shall bring from yourdwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah.They shall be of fine flour;they shall be baked withleaven. They are thefirstfruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with thebread seven lambs of the firstyear, without blemish, oneyoung bull, and two rams.They shall be as a burntoffering to the Lord, withtheir grain offering and their

drink offerings, an offeringmade by fire for a sweetaroma to the Lord. Then youshall sacrifice one kid of thegoats as a sin offering, andtwo male lambs of the firstyear as a sacrifice of a peaceoffering. The priest shallwave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a waveoffering before the Lord, with the two lambs. Theyshall be holy to the Lord forthe priest. And you shallproclaim on the same daythat it is a holy convocationto you. You shall do nocustomary work on it. Itshall be a statute forever in all your dwellingsthroughout your generations(Lev. 23:16-21).

EEarlier we spoke of the Jewish reading ofPsalm 119 during the

“Counting of the Sheaves,”of meditating on thecommandments of God,and of the importance ofself-examination for 50

26

Pentecost


days after Passover. Thisemphasis on a thoughtfulrelationship to the Word of God is importantbecause it is universallycommemorated in thesynagogues that onPentecost the Law (or“teachings” of God) wasgiven to Moses on MountSinai. Accompanied by fire,

the Almighty wrote the Ten Commandments for thechildren of Israel. Fire is an

important element inPentecost.

In the second chapter of Acts, the disciples, along with the multitude of witnesses from othernations, had just come fromthe Shavuot service in thetemple where every year theprophet Ezekiel was read: “I looked, and behold, awhirlwind was coming outof the north, a great cloudwith raging fire engulfingitself; and brightness wasall around it and radiatingout of its midst like thecolor of amber, out of themidst of the fire.”21 In thepresence of this assemblythe sound of a mighty windand fire announcing thepresence of the Lord wasabout to replay the vision of Ezekiel!

When the Day ofPentecost had fully come,they were all with oneaccord in one place. Andsuddenly there came asound from heaven, as of

27

On Pentecost allthe spring feasts

culminated in the New Covenant

era, when the Spirit of God would begin

establishing a new kingdom

on earth.


a rushing mighty wind,and it filled the wholehouse where they weresitting. Then thereappeared to them dividedtongues, as of fire, andone sat upon each ofthem. And they were allfilled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak withother tongues, as theSpirit gave themutterance (Acts 2:1-4).Once again the fire of

God appeared, but this time to His trusted friends.Peter, the man who hadbackslidden and evendenied knowing theMessiah three times, nowrose with courage and gavehis first sermon. The marvelof Messiah’s Spirit, theRuach HaKodesh in theHebrew (“Holy Breath”)had fallen. The same breaththat gave life to Adam,transforming him from alump of clay into a livingman, now transformed lives by the thousands!

An important fact aboutShavuot is that it is one ofthree pilgrim feasts when all Israelite men wererequired by law to come toJerusalem and bring theirofferings to the temple. Onthis day, as Acts tells us,there would have beenHebrews from all over theknown world gathered inthe upper rooms of thetemple. These were temple-observant men: “Parthiansand Medes and Elamites,those dwelling inMesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontusand Asia, Phrygia andPamphylia, Egypt and theparts of Libya adjoiningCyrene, visitors from Rome,both Jews and proselytes,Cretans and Arabs.”22

Peter spoke to themultitude, reminding them,“For the promise is to youand to your children, and to all who are afar off.”23

Hence the key to Peter’ssermon, “Whoever calls on


the name of the Lord shallbe saved,”24 was proclaimedfor the Jew and the Gentile.

While incidental to themessage, note that Peterspoke of King David duringhis sermon (Acts 2:25-36).Jewish tradition teachesthat David died on Shavuot,and this too, like thereading from Ezekielmentioned earlier, wouldhave been in the forefrontof the minds of the Hebrewmen surrounding Peter.All of these events andmemorials came together to touch the hearts ofunbelieving Jews, movingthem to ask, “Men andbrethren, what shall wedo?”25

Peter’s answer then is asvalid today: “Repent, andlet every one of you bebaptized in the name ofJesus Christ for theremission of sins; and youshall receive the gift of theHoly Spirit.”26

Because Pentecost, or

the Feast of Weeks, isassociated with the givingof the Law and the comingof the Spirit, it is interestingto compare the outcome ofthose two events. We readin Exodus 32:28 that 3,000men died at Mount Sinai

because of the sin ofworshiping the golden calf. Contrast that loss of3,000 lives with the NewTestament Shavuot when3,000 men came to new lifein Jesus 50 days after thecelebration of Passover.

The believers ofPentecost were worthy ofdeath.27 But because their

29

The firstfruit of the resurrectionwas followed atPentecost with the firstfruit of

the church.


faith rested on the greatHigh Priest, Jesus, who hadmade atonement for theirsins, they were now aliveeternally—part of thefirstfruit harvest, the firsttithe, and the promise ofJeremiah 31:31. On thisPentecost all the springfeasts culminated in theNew Covenant era, whenthe Spirit of God wouldbegin establishing a newkingdom on earth—not byoverthrowing governmentsor armies, but through thehumble submission ofindividual hearts, one at atime, over hundreds ofyears. “‘Not by might norby power, but by My Spirit,’says the Lord of hosts.”28

Shavuot is also called“Atzeret shel Pesach,” thecompletion of Passover. Itties together the first nightof Passover to the finalobservance of Shavuot, continuallyreminding the faithful thatGod is the Redeemer and

Rock of our salvation, theonly One who can rescueus from bondage. Severaltimes in the Gospel of Johnour Messiah said that if weabide in Him, He will abidein us:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He whoabides in Me, and I inhim, bears much fruit; forwithout Me you can donothing (Jn. 15:5).This was not merely

some utopian teaching anda thing to humanly strivefor, as if man could attainsuch merit on his ownpower. It was a promise of the Most High. OnPentecost, at the close of an era in human historyand at the dawn of a newseason of planting andbearing fruit, the Spiritcame to abide in everyman, woman, and childwho called out in faith to Messiah.


MERELY ACOINCIDENCE?

TThe stage had been set by the Ancient ofDays, the pattern laid

out for all to see in the firstof the mo-a-deem´, theseappointed spring-timefestivals. The Messiah ofIsrael put aside His gloryand joined the ranks ofmankind, becoming theincarnate One. He“tabernacled” among us, as John’s gospel said, anddwelt among His owncreation. Then came theclimax of His time onearth—the crucifixion. Thebattle had been waged inthe events of the Passoverweek as He became boththe bread and wine and thelamb of sacrifice that deathmight pass over both theJewish believers and allmankind who accept Himby faith today. Three daysand nights passed until thevictory was declared. At

Firstfruits, Jesus, the slain lamb, became theSavior, the firstfruit of ourresurrection; glorified anddedicated, conquering thepower of sin and deathforevermore. With greatanticipation, we count thedays from Passover toPentecost and the birth ofthe church. The first harvestof humankind, 3,000strong, issued in the newera of messianic revelation,a perpetual spring seasonthat continues to permitgermination, blooming, and growth. Is it merely a coincidence that theseNew Testament eventscorrespond so perfectly tothe pictures and lessonspresented to us in the feastdays? And does God havepictures for us of the finalharvest represented in theFall Feasts: the Feast ofTrumpets, the Day ofAtonement, and the Feastof Tabernacles?

As one friend puts it so31© 2007 RBC Ministries

well, “there are no suchthings as coincidences, only‘God-incidences.’”

ENDNOTES:1 Exodus 12:29-32. 2 Exodus12:22. 3 Exodus 12:23. 4 http://www.memphis.edu/egypt/karnaktm.htm. 5 Exodus12:6. 6 Exodus 12:8. 7 Exodus12:12. 8 Some rabbis (MoshebenNachman chief among them,1194–1270) are of the opinionthat the afikomen is eaten incommemoration of the Pesachoffering (Passover—ItsObservance, Laws andSignificance, p.75, 1994,Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,Brooklyn, NY). 9 Seder is theHebrew term for “order”; it is theorder of the liturgy for the mealcelebration. 10 Found in theOrder of Service for mostPassover celebrations. 11 Matthew 26:27-28. 12 Ephesians 1:7 (see also Col. 1:14). 13 Numbers 33:3. 14 Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10.15 Deuteronomy 18:3-4. 16 Deuteronomy 26:3. 17 On this the Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed. The Sadducees believed this“Sabbath” to be the Saturday

that falls during the week of Passover. The Pharisees,however, believed that Passoveris a Sabbath, and therefore, thesecond day of Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread) was alsoFirstfruits. Regardless, thecalendar will frequently fall sothat the Feast of UnleavenedBread does fall on a Sunday,fulfilling both the Pharisee andSadducee interpretations. 18 The Temple, AlfredEdersheim, p.380, reprinted1994, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids,MI. 19 Shavuot—Its Observance,Laws and Significance, p.35,Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,Brooklyn, NY, 1997. 20 At theCouncil of Nicea (AD 325),Emperor Constantine forbadethe observance of any biblicalfeast because of their strongJewish overtones, and thecalculation of the resurrectionwas no longer based on Passoverbut on the first Sunday after thespring equinox. Occasionally,however, the two seasons docoincide. 21 Ezekiel 1:4. 22 Acts 2:9-11. 23 Acts 2:39. 24 Acts 2:21. 25 Acts 2:37. 26 Acts 2:38. 27 Romans 3:23.28 Zechariah 4:6.


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