Spring Feasts

Part 1

Jewish Passover Begins April 18, 2012

Leviticus 23:1-22

Holy convocations: miqra—mik-raw [heb.] it means a called out public meeting, or rehearsal. ¹

My Feasts—mo-a-dim—it means appointed times or appointed feasts. Hence they are appointed feasts at appointed times.

They are God’s feasts, not Israel’s, not the Church’s, not mere cultural traditions---they are God’s solemn feasts, ordained, by God, for the purpose of rest, reflection, remembrance/memorial, and worship.

They are annual feasts in which God’s people are to rest from common work and routines of daily life. They are also for times of worship and reflection of what God has done for them.

For the Jews, the first four are awaiting the first coming of Messiah, but they are also celebrating or memorializing the Exodus from Egypt under Moses’ leadership in about 1450 B.C.

The first four feasts for Christians, we are rehearsing or remembering that which the Messiah has already accomplished while we celebrate our deliverance from bondage it sin. For the Messianic or believing Jews, sometimes called Christian Jews they celebrate the same as Christians.

The first four feasts of the Lord have already become history, while the last three we, as Christians are rehearsing or looking forward to their coming.

It is significant to understand the history behind each of these feasts of the Lord, for that understanding unlocks not only the understanding of the Last Supper, which we call communion, but is also reveals the timeline God has for the nations. It is not only significant to the Jews and the Christians but also the whole world. It is not simply a Jewish tradition rather it carries special spiritual significance for all believers.

Please note: the chart given you at the beginning of the series. The chart coincides with all seven feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23.

Note also: that the chart also aligns the Jewish calendar with the Roman calendar as we know it today. They constitute times and seasons.

First Four Feasts or Spring Feasts

Passover (Pesach) “their flight”

Leviticus 23:5-6 “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.”

Even--’ereb [heb.] eh’-reb it means dusk or twilight. Between the ninth and eleventh hour. Matthew 27:45 “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness all over the land unto the ninth hour.” [at this very hour Jesus gave up his life]

Month: Nisan, on the Jewish calendar, is our March/ April on the Roman or Gregarian calendar. Nisan is the first month of the appointed feasts of the Lord.(Exodus 12:1)

Day: 14th day of the month the Passover lamb is slain. Jesus was slain on Passover, thus fulfilling the feast requirements.

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hus the Passover, for the Jews, commemorates the time when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt’s bondage of slavery by Moses into the wilderness and also looks forward to the first coming of the Messiah. Egypt always serves as a type of bondage of slavery to sin and idolatry.

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s Christians we are always called to remember our deliverance from sin’s death grip, as we readily accept Jesus as the Messiah who died on Calvary’s cross 2000 years ago for our redemption. However we are also to remember how God led the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.

What the Jews call Passover the Christians call communion or the Lord’s Supper or Last Supper. [1 Corinthians 11:20-34]

Exodus 12:1-14 “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take unto them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats: and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it upon the two posts and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in the night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs shall they eat it. Eat not of it raw now sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance¹ thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus ye shall eat of it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; and ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.”  (read also through 21-51)

Notice how the children of Israel were instructed to take a lamb [from the Egyptian flocks they watched over, on the tenth day of the month Nisan, and keep until the fourteenth day when they were to slay it, put the blood upon the doorposts, roast it, and eat it.

Remember the Series on Spiritual Mirages

“In Egyptian society the lamb, or ram, or (male sheep), represented a pagan god of the Egyptians named Amon, whose name means “hidden one,” was considered the king of the gods and the source of all life on heaven and earth. According to the Egyptian zodiac, Nisan was the chief month of this god, and the fifteenth of that month during the full moon was believed to be the apex of Amon’s power.” The lamb was so sacred in Egyptian cult practice that the people of the land were forbidden to even touch a ram, let alone bring it into their home, slaughter it, roast, and then eat it as God commanded the Israelites to do. To the Egyptians the killing of a lamb was a desecration of their religion! The Passover sacrifice was a direct challenge to their gods. To the Jewish people, the same sacrifice fulfilled a promise of the Almighty: Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” ²

The Egyptians had over 130 different gods, of which the lamb was considered to be chief or supreme. The Exodus Passover demonstrated God’s power over all gods, idols, or pet sins. Our God can and will defeat your god, idol or sinful craving!

Temple Destruction in 70 A.D.

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fter the destruction of the temple in 70A.D, the Law having said the sacrifice could be made only by qualified priests, serving the altar and the place of God’s choosing [which was the temple in Jerusalem] for 2000 years a lamb has not been served during the Passover meal. Remember, until Jesus’ death the Passover lamb could be sacrificed in Jerusalem, only by authorized priests, until the Romans destroyed the temple. However, the rabbis declared that unleavened bread or matzah bread could be substituted instead of a lamb. [this forces the Jews to either continue to worship as usual, without the lamb, or realize that Jesus is in fact the Passover Lamb, the promised Messiah. See 2Corinthians 3:12-16, the veil of their heart; minds blinded.

 ¹ purtenance; qereb,( keh’-reb) the inward parts, heart [in other words the  heart, liver, and lungs]. [ Some scholars take it to literally mean everything including the intestines etc..] It means that we are to take and eat of the Lord’s word, every bit of it the sweet with the bitter.  We cannot be selective in what we choose to believe and obey.¹ Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. ² The Holidays of God, RBC Ministries Discovery Series Booklet Q0407

Passover Wine

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 cup of red wine is symbolic of blood in Jewish tradition. In the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) and throughout the ancient world, covenants were sealed and confirmed with blood. Symbolically with the cup and literally through his blood which was shed at the crucifixion, the Messiah proclaimed the beginnings of a new covenant.

During the Exodus the blood placed on the doorposts represents our hearts being covered by the blood.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

All the sacrifices of the Old Testament could not bring forgiveness of sin, nor peace with the Lord God, only the sacrifice of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ has the power to accomplish what the law could not.

Hebrews 9:11-20 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered once into the holy place, having obtained redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, to purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined to you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. 

So we can plainly see the significance of the cup in its representation of Christ’s blood to seal our redemption and salvation.

The Four Cups

Jewish tradition uses four cups during the Passover meal.

Cup of Sanctification: sets the feast apart from any commonplace meal.

Cup of Plagues: remembering the calamities visited upon the Egyptians.

Cup of Redemption: recognizing and memorializing the Hebrews release from captivity. Some Christian theologians believe that this is the cup Jesus lifted, blessed, and declared, “Drink from it, all for you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27b-28)

Cup of Praise: families recite Psalms 113-118, traditionally considered praise Psalms.

Author’s note: I find no biblical record of the Hebrew exiles under Moses actually drinking the blood of the animals slain for Passover. With the amount of detail adhered to 8i find it curious that there appears to be no mention of the exiles drinking the blood, but Jesus declared that the wine was his blood, meaning it was in fact symbolic, even as the unleavened bread was symbolic. To the contrary God forbade the drinking of blood, Lev.7:26-27; 17:10-14; for the life is in the blood. The punishment was to be cut off from the people. The blood must be drained out. Jesus blood was “drained” when the soldier pierced his side and blood mixed with water came forth.

Therefore drinking of the “blood” of Christ in communion signifies eternal life flowing in our veins.

While the four cups are a part of Jewish tradition the focus of this study is the cup Jesus lifted up at the last supper before his arrest, betrayal and crucifixion, most scholars believe this to be the Cup of Redemption. This cup [representation the blood of Jesus] sealed the new covenant and brought new life to the believer. (Hebrews 9:11-28)

Unleavened Bread—Matza

The bread is unleavened, that is no yeast is used to make it rise, yeast or leaven in Scripture is always used to represent sin, particularly the fallen nature inherited in each of us by the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Sin always elevates the human element and diminishes the relationship with God.

·         Unleavened—no yeast

·         Tiny holes like a pincushion—signifying His body pierced by the Roman soldier’s spear and the nails driven into his hands and feet.

·         The outside looks scorched or burnt—by His stripes we are healed, Isaiah 53:5.

Traditionally Jewish families take a piece of matza bread, wrap it in white linen, and hide it in the house for the children to look for. Jesus’ body was wrapped in burial, placed in the tomb of Joseph or Arimathea (hidden) and sought after by the women coming to finalize his burial. But He was nowhere to be found, the tomb was empty, save the white burial cloth.

Perhaps the Christian tradition of covering the communion elements with white linen also symbolizes Christ’s burial, while removing it represents His resurrection.

Likewise as new believers Romans 6:1-15 lets us know that we are to be baptized or immersed as Jesus, “being buried with Him” and raised from the watery grave to signify life anew with Him.

The Cleansing

2Chronicles 30:18 “For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephriam, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they did not eat the Passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The Lord God pardon everyone.” (John 11:55; Acts 21:26)

Passover cleansing includes a intricately detailed process whereby even the minutest crumb of leaven or leavened bread was meticulously sought out and done away with. This begins on Monday before the Passover Meal.

For the Christian it means that we are to search our hearts meticulously for any trace of sin/leaven, be it unforgiveness, malice, wickedness or whatever, then to confess, and repent of it first to those whom we’ve offended, andlast of all before God. He starts that before we bring our gift before the altar we are to be reconciled to our brother before we can receive God’s forgiveness. (Matthew 5:23-26; 6:14-15)

1Corinthians 11:24-32 “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink of it, in remembrance of it. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.                                                            [In 2Cron.30:18 we see that certain ones did not eat of the Passover because they had not cleansed themselves—moreover, today one must cleanse themselves through confession of sin, and repentance to be eligible to partake of communion/Passover]   But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [die prematurely]. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

There are those who don’t believe in such as sickness, disease, and premature death coming upon those who partake unworthily—to them who believe so—I would rather err on the side of caution and obedience to God’s word than to be caught otherwise.

Quite a mouthful and quite an admonition not to take for granted the Lord’s Supper unworthily. However, it’s also noteworthy that even as Hezekiah prayed for God’s pardon for those who had not yet cleansed themselves, the means for cleansing remains accessible to each of us. All of us sin from time to time, therefore at a given time we all are unworthy to partake of communion, however, if we take time to reflect on our selves, and take appropriate measures to cleanse ourselves through forgiveness, confession, and repentance we can indeed be eligible to partake. Paul’s admonishment to the church at Corinth, in 1Cor.5:1-8, describes the leaven of malice and wickedness, which elevates sin to more than a mere OOPs, rather suggests that the church was full of malice and wickedness, which co notates intention.

Author’s note: There are those who refuse to partake of the sacraments of wine and bread thinking it to be barbaric and cannibalistic to eat of one’s flesh and blood. Others literally believe that the elements literally become the flesh and blood of Christ. There are those who refuse to use wine in communion believing that a recovering alcoholic may regress back to alcoholism.

The Lamb of God

Just as the Hebrews sacrificed a lamb taken from the flocks of their Egyptian slave masters, so also was Jesus taken from the flocks to be God’s sacrificial lamb to take away the sins of the world. He is therefore able and willing to heal all manner of sickness, raise the dead to life, restore broken lives, relationships and whatever you need!

Faith Building Practice and Review

1.    What are the purposes of the Feasts of God?

2.    What significance does the unleavened bread have in communion?

3.    What significance does the cup (wine or juice) have in communion?

4.    What method of cleansing is available for the child of God to be eligible for communion?

5.    What significance in Egyptian culture does the lamb have?

6.    What is the significance of the white linen draped over the communion elements?

7.    Why is it so important to eat of the Passover worthily?

8.     What is it that you want Jesus to heal or do for you? He is here!