Seven Feasts of Israel – Passover

Seven Feasts of Israel – Passover

God gave Moses seven feasts to instruct the children of Israel to observe throughout their generations. God called these feasts ‘My feasts’, signifying their importance. Jesus, or Yeshua, kept every one of these feasts, and celebrated Pesach, or Passover, on His last earthly night with His disciples. (Leviticus 23:1-44)

Christians are not commanded to keep these feasts; but understanding the significance of each of them will strengthen our faith in God’s meticulous dealings with His people, both Jewish and Gentile.

seven feasts of Lord

 

 

 

 

The seven Feasts:

1 – Passover, or Pesach, kept Nissan 14-15

2 – Unleavened Bread, or Chag Hamotzi, kept Nissan 15-22

3 – First Fruits, or Yom Habikkurim, kept Nissan 16-17

4 – Pentecost, or Shavu’ot, kept Sivan 6-7

5 – Trumpets, or Yom Teru’ah, kept Tishra 1

6 – Atonement, or Yon Kippur, kept Tishra 10

7 – Tabernacles, or Sukkot, kept Tishra 15-22

The Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, so Passover falls on the first full moon of Spring. The first three feasts all fall in March or April. The fourth marks the summer harvest, occurring in May or early June. The last three feasts occur in September or October.

God called His feasts ‘Appointed Times’. Israel was called, out of all the nations of the world, to celebrate specific times appointed by God to show His redemption in the past, and as a rehearsal of the ‘appointed time’, when Messiah would fulfill them as their true redemption for eternity.

The Feast of Passover, or Pesach, is a feast of Salvation. It signifies the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. It also signifies the Christian’s deliverance from the deception of Satan and sin. Each feast has dual meaning, one for the children of Israel, and one for the Bride of Christ. Jesus kept, and will fulfill, them all. The first four are fulfilled. The last three are yet to be fulfilled, but will be fulfilled by Christ during the end-times.

Background for Passover

There is a famine in the land about 400 years before Moses. Jacob has moved south to Egypt to find food for his family. He finds his lost son, Joseph, as Vice-Pharaoh of Egypt. Time passes, Joseph dies, and another Pharaoh (who didn’t know Joseph) rules Egypt. By this time, Jacobs’ family has multiplied into 600,000 – 1,000,000 people; and the new Pharaoh is worried about them taking over his kingdom. He makes their life very hard under taskmasters, making brick out of mud and straw. Then, when they keep multiplying, he has all the firstborn sons of Israel killed. But Moses is saved by his mother, Jochebed, who is able to bring him to the attention of Pharaoh’s daughter. He grows up in Pharaoh’s house; with Pharaoh thinking that Moses is an Egyptian, and his daughter’s adopted son. Everything is fine until Moses sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew. Moses steps in to help and ends up killing the taskmaster. He flees to the desert to avoid Pharaoh’s wrath. This is where Moses encounters the burning bush and receives his call from God to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage.

God uses Moses and his brother, Aaron, to bring nine plagues on Egypt to encourage Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go free. Pharaoh refuses, so God sends the tenth plague – the killing of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Remember when the previous Pharaoh had killed the firstborn sons of the Hebrews? God remembered, and gave back to Egypt what they had sowed. (Galations 6:7)

Blood had to be applied

blood applied to doorposts

The way that God chose for the firstborn of Egypt to be spared from the death angel was for the Children of Israel to apply blood to the doorposts of their homes. God said that when the death angel came to smite the firstborn of the Egyptians, he would see the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites and ‘pass over’ their homes, sparing their firstborn sons.

“The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)

Christ’s Blood applied to Believer’s hearts

blood applied to hearts

God did the same, with Jesus Christ, for those who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. By believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and asking God to forgive us of our sins and disobedience to His teachings, He promises to wash away our sins, covering them with His Blood, never to be held against us again. Each time He looks at our lives, He sees the Blood of Jesus Christ applied to the door posts of our hearts and He ‘passes over’ our sins, just like He did for the Children of Israel in Egypt! (I John 1:7)

Jesus and Last Supper

lords supper

When Jesus, or Yeshua, partook of the Passover with His disciples, He was showing us that we should remember our past redemption by His Blood, and our future hope of His return for us to live where He lives for eternity. (Luke 22:7-13) Each time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, we are to ask God to remove any sin, or leaven, in our hearts and remember how He has forgiven us and redeemed us from Satan’s bondage, while also remembering that He has promised peace and abiding with us until He returns for us at His second coming. (I Corinthians 11:28, Matthew 28:20, John 14:27)

Jesus died at same time the lamb in the temple died

Image result for lamb slain in temple by priest

Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation, at the same hour that the lambs were being slain for the Passover meal that evening.

Jesus inspected for perfection

Jesus came into Jerusalem five days before the Passover meal was to be eaten. This was when the lamb was being selected for the sacrifice. The lamb had to be perfect and without blemish, so the Jews inspected the lamb for five days to make sure there was nothing to disqualify the lamb. Jesus was examined and questioned, then Pilate told the Jews: “I find no fault in Him!” (John 19:6)

Jesus died on the cross at 3 pm, the same time that the priest would blow the ram’s horn, or shophar, announcing the sacrifice of the lamb had been made. Jesus cried “It is finished” as He gave up His Spirit to His Father, the same moment the lamb in the temple gave up its breath. At the same time, the veil to the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom, signifying the way into the Holy of Holies was now made perfect and that we could approach the Throne of God with boldness, by the covering of our sins with the Blood of Christ as our Lamb of God! (Hebrews 10:19)

“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” (I Peter 1:20)

I Corinthians 5:11 says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Jerusalem a sign to the Nations

Jesus is the sacrificial lamb for Israel, and they will accept Him as their Messiah in the near future. Paul says all Israel will be saved. Keep watching Jerusalem and praying for her peace and protection; for God is still keeping His appointed times with her for the nations of the world. There is another Blood Moon coming this fall, and it could bring a significant sign as to the fulfillment of prophecy.

Jesus covers you and yours

Jesus is also the sacrificial lamb for all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. His Blood will not only protect your heart for eternity, but it will also protect your home and all that pertains to your household. Confess the covering of His Blood over everyone, and everything, that pertains to your life; and watch Christ work and bless what He covers.

 

Continued in Seven Feasts of Israel – Passover – Unleavened Bread – First Fruits – Pentecost

 

 

 

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