The Feasts of Israel

The feast of Trumpets..or Rosh Ha Shanah is a feast that marks the beginning of a new year for the Jewish people.

Some teach that it also marks the date of the creation. What other events might it signify? +

Jesus Christ celebrate the Feasts of Israel during his earthly lifetime. His life also shows forth the spiritual meaning of the feasts.

But since he LIVES even now, I want to show you how He is still keeping them...and how that effects us the believer. +

In the Bible...God commanded the keeping of seven feasts. These feasts were called HOLY CONVOCATIONS. Everyone was to observe them.

The first feast of the year in the spring was Passover...we all have heard the story told by Moses of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and slavery. We know that the Jews to this day still keep this feast.

Jesus celebrated this feast, his last day before the Crucifixion by eating the Passover meal with his apostles. (The Last Supper.) It is a feast of deliverance, and the Jews were reminded yearly, of how the blood of a lamb kept the death angel from their door.

Jesus was foreshadowed by that lamb, and every year, by the celebration of Passover...He is our sacrificial lamb, and by his blood we are saved from the death angel today. +

The next feast, one day after Passover, is the feast of Unleavened Bread. It is the day Jesus' body lay in the tomb. Leaven signifies sin.

Jesus was the sinless Son of God, yet our sin sent Jesus to the cross and to the grave. It is said that Jesus descended into hell (grave) to lead the captive to freedom.

Traditionaly, Jewish women spend a whole day cleaning their homes and remove any traces of yeast or leaven from their kitchens. Jesus himself washes away the dirt and shame of sin within the repentant believer.

Jesus is fore-shadowed in this feast as the Bread of Life...who by the way, was born in Beth/lehem, which means house of bread in Hebrew.

The traditional Matza bread, made without leaven, reminds us of Jesus' sinless life. The baking of the bread leaves stripes on its surface, and the bread, which resembles a cracker, has holes pierced through it.

Jesus bore our stripes...when he was whipped...and he was pierced through while on the cross.

The Matza bread used during this feast shows forth this truth. The children of the house take one of three pieces of Matza bread and hide one...only to run and "find" it...this is foreshadowing the burial and resurrection of Jesus. +

The next feast is First Fruits...three days after Passover. This is the day that celebrates the early spring harvest...and the day of Jesus' resurrection.

Jesus was the first fruits from the dead. The first to rise to die NO MORE. We are promised that if we believe on Him, we will also rise to die no more. +

The next feast is Pentecost and it is celebrated by the table being laid with two loaves of bread that are leavened.

These two loaves tell of the kingdom of God...made up of Jews and Gentile believers who struggle still with their sin nature, yet are saved by faith.

We read in the New Testament that God poured out His Holy Spirit on the brand new church...made up of Jews and Gentiles on this day, hence the two loaves...and then they directly went through the world preaching the very Jewish message of redemption with great power and many miracles. +

These first spring feasts come right after one another starting on the fourteenth day of April at the full moon. Now we have a gap of seven months before the next feast.

It is taught by Bible scholars that if the spring feasts were to showed forth the earthly ministry of Christ...the next four also will show forth His ministry as it will be when He returns.

Let's see... Trumpets or Rosh Ha Shanah comes in September. It is the marking of the Jewish New Year. Traditionally it is considered by Jews as the date of Creation. The blowing of trumpets is significant because the announcement of Christ's return to earth is heralded by the blowing of trumpets. +

Following after the Feast of Trumpets come the Days of Awe. This is when all were to reflect and examine themselves. These are known to be somber days and not a time of feasting. They are known as the Days of Trouble or Awe.

Might this feast signify the time of Jacob's Trouble? +

Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement comes next. This is another somber day without celebration, but rather is a day of judgment when the sins of the entire nation were wiped out by the sacrifice in the Temple by the High Priest.

A goat was assigned to carry the sins of the people into the desert, this is where we get the saying...scape goat.

Might this feast signify the day of Judgement when unrepentant stand before God? The separation of the sheep and goats? +

Next is the Feast of Tabernacles and signifies God dwelling with men. In the desert travels of the young nation Israel...they set up booths made of vines to show that their dwellings in the desert were temporary.

How do these fall feast signify Jesus' ministry to come?

The feast of Trumpets signifies His return in glory for his church.

The days of Awe are the time of tribulation given to Israel to bring her to repentance.

The Day of Atonement is when those who've rejected God's offer of salvation are judged and sent out into the "desert" and cut off from His presence.

The feast of Tabernacles is the new earth, and Christ as our King...which is God dwelling with men!

Everything that God brought Israel through, from Abraham to Jesus...is an object lesson for the Christian on the life and work of Jesus Christ.