THE SEVEN YEARLY FEASTS OF THE LORD

There are seven feasts on the Lord’s calendar. These feasts can be divided into four spring feasts and three fall feasts. The first three form a unit, and the last three form a unit. Pentecost stands in the long, dry summer, as a bridge between the past and the future. From a Christian viewpoint the first four festivals have been fulfilled and the final three are yet to be. Leviticus 23 gives a description of the feasts in order.

1. Passover remembers the Israelite’s exodus from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, and the redemption of a Newborn nation, a people belonging to the Lord. It was the blood of the Passover lamb that rescued the Israelites from the destroying angel, who struck down every firstborn in Egypt. It is the blood of Yeshua that covers our hearts, rescuing us from sin and death. Yeshua (Jesus) has physically fulfilled this feast at His death and crucifixion for our sins. First month on Hebrew Calendar 14^th Day (March/April)

2. Unleavened Bread is a seven-day period, beginning with Passover. During this week we eat no foods made with yeast. Leavened bread will spoil quickly, but unleavened bread will remain uncorrupted. Since the Lord’s body did not undergo decay in the grave, His incorruptibility was a picture of pure and unleavened bread, with-out the yeast of sin in His life. Yeshua lived a sinless life and physically fulfilled this feast as the unblemished lamb of Passover. First month, begins day after Passover (March/April)

3. First Fruits occurs on the third day after Passover and is an offering of the first barley that comes up in the early spring. It is like a Thanksgiving before the main crop has come in. By offering the Lord the first part of our crops, we are showing Him that we trust Him for a greater harvest in the weeks to come. The Lord Jesus was raised from the dead on First Fruits, the third day after Passover; this demonstrates that He went ahead of us, as the first one to be harvested from death. Since the Father raised Him to life, we can trust Him to resurrect an enormous harvest of the righteous dead at the end of the age. He is the first fruits risen from the dead. First month 3days after Passover (March/April)

4. Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks occurs fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover (Lev. 23:15-16). In Hebrew Shavuot means “weeks” and in Greek, Pentecost means “fifty.” We count off seven sevens, which is forty-nine days. Traditionally, the Israelites received the law of Moses on this day, fifty days after coming out of Egypt. Also, on this same feast, fifty days after Yeshua’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jewish disciples, who were waiting in Jerusalem for the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. So both Israel and the Church trace their birth to this season. Third month (May/June)

5. The Feast of Trumpets is also called “Rosh HaShannah,” which means “Head of the Year.” Some like to call this festival “The Memorial of Blasting,” which is a literal translation of the Hebrew name. This holiday, along with Atonement and Tabernacles, occurs in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is a solemn “wake up” call to repentance, commemorated by many blasts of the Ram’s horn, or shofar. It also prepares/warns us for the Messiah’s soon return, which will come with a startling trumpet blast and will produce instant Repentance on the earth. In ancient Israel kings were coronated/crowned during this feast.

Trumpets is the prophetic crowning or return of the king--the second coming of Yeshua in power and glory. It is believed that Yeshua was born during this feast and not in December. The Apostle Paul says the Lord will return at the sound of the “last trump.” Seventh Month 1^st Day (Sept/Oct)

6. The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur is the only 24 hour fast day commanded in the Bible. It is the most solemn of the feasts, in which the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies, only on this day, and offer blood for the sins of himself and the people of Israel. In the Book of Hebrews, we see that Jesus was a greater high priest than those of Levitical lineage, and that He entered Heaven’s Holy of Holies with His own blood to make atonement for all the sins ever committed before and after his sacrificial death on the cross.

Prophetically the Day of Atonement represents the wrath of God on the wicked at the end of the age as written in the Book of Revelation chapter 20. The tares are gathered and burned and the righteous are gathered into (Matt 13) the barn. For the righteous the Day of Atonement is the Day of Our Redemption. Seventh Month 10^th Day (Sept/Oct)

7. Tabernacles is the last and most joyful feast, which lasts seven days. It remembers the Israelites living in tents during their long sojourn in the desert without permanent homes. We see that God has always desired to dwell or “tabernacle” with His people on earth, from the Garden in Genesis til the last words of Revelation, when “the dwelling of God is with man and he shall live with them forever” (Rev. 21:3). The earth is not our permanent home, and we live in mortal tents, looking forward to a permanent home whose builder and architect is God our father. Tabernacles is compared to the great Wedding Feast of the Lord with His people. Prophetically it is the beginning of the thousand year Millennial Kingdom of Yeshua. Seventh Month 15^th Day(Sept/Oct)

Summary:  The Lord has physically and spiritually fulfilled the first four spring feasts (Lev 23.1). He has yet to fulfill the final three fall feasts. Every believer should understand the meaning of these feasts prophetically. The final three are signposts explaining the events that will take place as described in the Book of Revelation. The reason the Lord would have us understand and observe these feasts is that they are rehearsals--we are keeping fresh in our minds the things He has done and those which He is still to do.