The Spring and Summer Festivals

Exodus 12:1-13; Leviticus 23:4-21 We recognize more than one Jewish Calendar. There is the Civil Calendar and the Religious Calendar, and another as far as counting the time for the produce of the trees. The most basic calendar would be the one that began with the Creation of the World. This would correspond to the Jewish Civil Calendar, which begins with the month of Tishrei. This is the calendar we go by for determining what year it is, for counting how many years for the Shemittah, the 7th year, and for the year of Jubilee, for the timing of the reign of kings, their coronation, etc. Leviticus 25:8-11. In our basic passage from Exodus, we learn that ADONAI changed the calendar, and for religious purposes, or better for spiritual purposes, began the Divine Appointments of God with Nisan.

The reason for this is to provide for Israel a picture of Redemption and Restoration through the cycle of yearly Festivals. It is the chronicling of God's faithfulness to the newborn Nation of Israel, and coupled with the final fruit of redemption, the freedom portrayed by the Jubilee. The picture of the Moedim, the Divine Appointments with God, is that of the Exodus, a people redeemed from slavery into the Divine Presence of the True and Living God, to serve and worship Him in spirit and in truth. A freedom to live in His Presence and a freedom to Worship and to Serve Him. The whole cycle of festivals are meant to reveal the Plan of God for man, a future time when the People of God will dwell in the Presence of God in full intimacy, without any hindrance of sin. The One on whom all these festivals center and point to is Yeshua our Messiah.

While it all begins with Passover, all three of these Festivals are joined together by the Counting of the Omer. Passover occurs on the 14th of Nisan at twilight. The Lamb, brought in on the 10th of the month, to be kept, cared for and examined to ensure there is no flaws, no blemishes so it can be used as a sacrifice. This pictures the examination of Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of God, to be slain as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The Lamb is slain, the blood is smeared on the doorposts [mezzuzot] of the home, and is sufficient for the whole household. This speaks to the all sufficiency of the death of our Savior, Messiah Yeshua, for our sins. With the going down of the sun, we enter into the Festival of Hag HaMatzot, Unleavened Bread. We are to consume only matzah for seven days. During this week of Matzah we also come to the Festival of the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest. The First Fruits of the year symbolizes the fresh newness of spring growth, a new beginning. Yeshua rose from the dead as our first fruits of the Resurrection.

Because He has risen from the dead and possesses a new glorified body, we can be assured that we also will arise from the dead and receive our own glorified body. The theme of the First Fruits as Resurrection is quite strong, and should not be overlooked. If we accept that the day for first fruits is the day after the weekly Sabbath, then the first day of the week or Sunday should be the day to think of First Fruits and the Resurrection.

Interestingly enough, the gospel accounts tell us that Yeshua was risen as the women came to the tomb early on the first day of the week, Matthew 28:1-7;; Mark 16:1-7;; Luke 24:1-7;; John 20:1-10. The festival of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot) is connected to the the festvial of Shavuot (Pentecost) by the counting of the Omer, an interval of 50 days. This speaks of the earliest harvest that takes place in Israel, the barley harvest. This is the first harvest of the spring, and is known in our text as First Fruits. This was to be brought to the priest in the Temple once it was built.

If God has been faithful to bring the first of the harvest, then the rest will certainly come. And if the firstfruits are holy, then the rest is holy, too. Thus the presentation of the Sheaf of Barley to ADONAI was to serve as an assurance of the coming Wheat Harvest at Shavuot. The purpose was to remind the people of God of the connection between the Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai 50 days later. For us as Messianic Believers, these festivals commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, who was our Passover, 1 Corinthians 5:7, was our First Fruits, 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23, and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh on Shavuot. The concept of the fulfillment of the New Covenant is to Write the Torah on the Heart through the Ruach HaKodesh.

Passover

This Biblical Holy Festival is called Pesach, from the Hebrew term that describes the biblical episode of the 10th plague, when God passed over the homes of theIsraelites, and all who believed God placed the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts and lentles of their homes. It is also called Hag Ha'aviv, the Holy Day of Spring, and Z'man Heruteinu, the Season of our Liberation, and Hag HaMatzot, the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is the story of Redemption

– of Deliverance from bondage to slavery in Egypt, to freedom and liberty in God and the Holy Land. It was by God's Grace through Faith they were saved
– just as Paul says of Avraham in Romans 4:3. On the 10th of Nisan
– the head of every household was to select a Lamb and bring it into the home to examine it thoroughly
– it had to be a male of the first year without spot or blemish. They loved it, cared for it, fed it and prepared it for the 14th of Nisan when it would be sacrificed.
– The fat on the insides upon the organs was burned in sacrifice to the One True God
– the blood was spread upon the doorposts and lentils of each home as a sign of faith in the Lord's deliverance.
– the meat was grilled and eaten together as a family, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs
– it had to be eaten in haste since they were to be dressed and ready to begin their journey following after God, the Exodus
– no one went out of their home that evening
In keeping with the Divine Appointment of Leviticus 23:4-8, Yeshua (Jesus) kept the Passover with His disciples, Luke 22:7-13. To this all the Gospels agree. "Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover Lamb had to be sacrificed. And Yeshua sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.'" Luke 22:7. Passover celebrates The Exodus, and by following a Haggadah, they tell the story of the Exodus:
The Four Cups are based upon the Promises of God to the People of Israel, Exodus 6:6-7.

1st Cup – Sanctification – I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians
2nd Cup – Deliverance – I will Deliver you from bondage
3rd Cup – Redemption – I will Redeem you with an outstretched arm
4th Cup – Praise – I will take you as my own people

THE TENTH PLAGUE:
Exodus 12:12 "For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments – I AM the LORD." Deuteronomy 26:5-8 "You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number;; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our Fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders." THE THIRD CUP – the Cup of Redemption This was the cup reflecting the Promise of God to redeem His people Israel. This is the cup Yeshua used to describe the work of the Messiah in His death. This is the beginning of the New Covenant outlined in Jeremiah 31:31-34, "Behold, days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My Covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it;; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD.' For they will all know Me, form the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin not more."

First Fruits

The Timing of the First Fruits and the beginning of the counting of the Omer hinges on our understanding of the Shabbat during the week of Unleavened Bread. We reckon first fruits to be the day after the weekly Sabbath, and thus begin counting the Omer Saturday night, since after dark it is the first day of the week, and thus the Counting of the Omer and the Offering of the Firstfruits will always fall on a Sunday, and so will the Festival of Shavuot.

Just as Messiah died as our Passover Lamb, so He rose from the dead as our First Fruits. The blessings of the first fruits was a guarantee of the remainder of the harvest. Leviticus 23:9-14. The First Fruits marked the beginning of the harvests in Israel. Barley was the first of the winter grains to ripen and be harvested. Both Wheat and Barley were sown at the same time in Fall or Autumn. Barley matured faster than the Wheat, and would be harvested sooner, by as much as 4 weeks earlier.

Shavuot was at the end of the grain harvest, and is also called the "Feast of the Harvest," – Exodus 23:16. Thus you have the Barley coming ripe about the time of Passover and Wheat coming ripe about the time of Shavuot. The first fruits was a first sheaf of Barley and stood as a representative of the barley harvest as a whole, and as a pledge that the rest of the harvest would be realized.

No part of the harvest was to be used in any way or eaten until this sheaf was waved before the Lord. To neglect this offering would be considered robbery of God, Malachi 3:8. First Fruits was a time marker – the beginning of the harvest, but also a counting up to the day of Shavuot, the First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest. This period is known as Sefirat HaOmer, the counting of the Omer. Exodus 9:31-32 links the harvest of barley and wheat, yet put the wheat after the barley. Ruth also links the two yet separates the actual harvest time – Ruth 1:22;; 2:23. Thus the story of the Redemption of Ruth, the Moabitess, is also tied to the time of Passover.

As we move into the Apostolic Scripture, we first note that Yeshua is our Passover, 1 Corinthians 5:7. The Gospel accounts all affirm that Yeshua kept Passover with His disciples just before He was crucified. Then we note that He rose from the dead. This was recognized on the first day of the week. This coincides with our determination of First Fruits, which would be on the day after the Sabbath, the first day of the Week. THAT YEAR it was also on the third day. This was in keeping with the prophetical words of Yeshua, that this generation would be given the sign of Jonah, Matthew 12:38-40. This same three day time period is spoken of in different terms in John 2:13-22;; Mark 8:31.

Shavuot

We have the name Hag HaShavuot, the Feast of Weeks, as we count 7 weeks from the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest to the First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest. This is also referred to ad Yom HaBikkurim, the Day of Firstfruits, Numbers 28:26-31; Deuteronomy 26:-11. Shavuot was the day on which the firstfruit offerings of the summer wheat crop were brought to the Temple, and Shavuot then marked the beginning of the wheat harvest just as the earlier feast of firstfruits marked the beginning of the spring barley harvest. This is also known as Hag Hakatzir, the Feast of Harvest, Exodus 23:16, reflecting this festival as the official beginning of the summer harvest season.

The Talmud and Josephus referred to this festival as Atzeret, meaning conclusion. This is then the conclusion of Passover, and the spring harvest. We come then to the conclusion of Redemption that began at Pesach, as Israel arrives at Mount Sinai, and they prepare for the meeting with ADONAI, the Mosaic Covenant, the Ketubah of the 10 Words and the Torah. It was after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 that the Rabbis began to associate Shavuot with the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Both Shavuot and the giving of the Torah occurred in the third month, so it was not too difficult to make this connection.

The concept of the birth of Judaism was then also tied to this festival, and can be found in Shabbat 86b and in Jubilees 6:19. Thus Shavuot also became known as Zeman Mattan Toratenu, the Time of the Giving of our Law. This led to the typical Shavuot Parashah of Exodus 19-20. The festive offerings prescribed in Numbers 28:26-30 were brought. First, the sin offering, laying on of hands by the worshipper, confession of sin, and the sprinkling of the blood for the remission of sins. Next, the burnt offerings with their meal offerings. The Levites were now chanting the 'Hallel' to the accompanying music of a single flute, which began and ended the song, to as to give it a soft sweetness.

The selected voices from the children of the Levites who stood below their fathers gave richness and melody to the hymn, while the people either repeated or responded, as on the evening of the Passover sacrifice. Then came the offering of the two wave loaves, with their accompanying sacrifices. There were 7 lambs of the first year without blemish, one young bullock, and two rams for a burnt offering, with their appropriate meat offerings. Then came the one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings – Leviticus 23:19.

As the omer for the First Fruits of Passover was barley, the two wave loaves at Shavuot were from wheat grown in the best district of the country. The 2 loaves together with the 2 lambs offered at Shavuot are the ONLY public peace offerings celebrated by Israel. They were considered to be most holy even though they contain leaven. Israel's public thank offerings are leavened by the imperfectness and sin of the people. They require a sin offering. They are as a Feast of Fellowship and Peace between God and His redeemed people. Through the peace offering they entered into that fellowship of peace with the Lord to which they were called, and would eventually enjoy in the Land of Promise.

There was peace with God through the blood of the Lamb, and there was to be peace with one another as a result. We need to realize that the repetition of coming before God is necessary in the process of sanctification. I must continue to present myself before God, so that He can get hold of my life and do what I cannot do. Only God can make me holy. Only God can deal with sin. All I can do is to confront sin, admit sin, confess sin, and do teshuvah, asking forgiveness from God, and expecting Him to cleanse me from all my unrighteousness, and to empower me to overcome the present power of sin at work in the world. This is the point of what Yeshua our Messiah came to provide for all who would believe in Him. Through the process of continuing to present myself before God just as the waving of the leavened bread at Shavuot, we give Him the opportunity to deal with our condition. WE deal with our condition by continuing to present ourselves unto God. Romans 6:10-13; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

The Fall Festivals

The 7th month of the Year is Tishri. The 7th is a special day, a special month, a special year. Literally, you are focusing in on the 7th. The 7th day is the day of rest, the Shabbat. The 7th month houses the Fall Feasts, the moedim, the appointed times on God's Calendar, all of which point to the Return of the Messiah. It houses the 7th Feast that recognizes the time of God's dwelling with us in a full and permanent way, Sukkot, and thus signaling our entering into our own Sabbath rest with Him. Someone has said, that the 7th new moon is to the ordinary new moons as the 7th day is to the ordinary days. Thus as Tishri begins, you have both Rosh Chodesh Tishri, the New Month of Tishri and Rosh Hashanah occurring on the same day. The Sabbatical Cycle is seen in this month, and in the beginning of this month. It is in this month that the Sabbatical year begins, and the year of Jubilee begins, when the land returns to its original owner, Leviticus 25:1-17. Because of the special significance of this special month, the Rabbis came to view it as "the Spiritual New Year."

The Fall Festivals begin with the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) being joined together by the 10 days of Awe. The entire month of Elul, the 6th month, is considered preparatory for these High Holy Days, and consists of blowing of the shofar daily, along with concept of repentance. The 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are marked with fasting, prayer and repentance. This is a time to make restitution with other people and make amends with our God. This is in preparation for the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.

Yom Teruah

The Biblical title for this day is either Yom Teruah, "The Day of the Blowing of the Shofar," Numbers 29:1, or Zikkaron Teruah, literally, "A Remembrance with Loud Blasts," in Leviticus 23:24, or as most often called, Yom HaZikkaron, "The day of Remembrance." The two basic scripture references for this Festival are found in Leviticus 23:23-25, and Numbers 29:1-6. The title Rosh Hashanah is not found in the Scripture in reference to this event.

This time has come to represent the beginning of the Civil Calendar for the Jews, some say going back to the Babylonian Exile, and others seeking to go back to the Exodus. This is the only festival to coincide with Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month. The Sages have regarded this as coinciding with the creation of Adam and Eve, the Akedah which is the binding of Isaac, the anniversary of the sin of Adam and Eve and the original 10 days of Awe.

The basic mitzvah of Yom Teruah is to hear the blowing of the Shofar. Teruah can mean to shout, to sound the Shofar, to blast on the Shofar, and has the connotation of to shout or sound the alarm, to call to war, to shout for joy. The Jewish people came to associate three distinct blasts on the Shofar: the First Trump, the Last Trump, and the Great Trump. The First Trump was associated first of all with the Akedah, and the substitute for Isaac in the Ram's Horn caught in the thicket. The First Trump is then also associated with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai where there is the sounding of a Shofar from the heavens. The celebration consists of over 100 total blasts on the Shofar during the course of the service. There are four distinct sounds that are made: Tekia, Teruah, Shevarim, Tekia Gedolah.

The various sounds were made to call an assembly, to sound the alarm for battle, to announce the coronation of a king, among many other things. At Yom Teruah, there is to be a holy convocation of the people, a reckoning of God as King over all the earth, but also as noted below, the beginning of the Day of the Lord, a time of His Wrath. Ancient Rabbi's Quoted Zech. 9:14, and associated it with the coming of Messiah. The Last Trumpet will sound, the Day of the Lord will begin, and Messiah will reveal Himself in Great Wrath and will prepare the nation to be brought into the New Covenant, Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 20:35-38; Zech. 13:9; Joel 2.

Ancient Jewish tradition also held that the resurrection of the dead would occur on Rosh Hashanah. Thus many Jewish gravestones are engraved with a Shofar. In keeping with such Jewish thought Paul assures his congregation of believers at Thessalonica and Corinth, that at the Last Trumpet the dead in Messiah would rise first, and then those who are alive at his appearing will be caught up together with them in the clouds. -1 Corinthians 15:50-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Thus the Sounding of the Shofar at Yom Teruah will herald the coming of Yeshua Messiah as King of Kings. This time is marked by events in heaven and events on the earth. Yeshua the Messiah will come in the clouds as outlined by the Corinthians and Thessalonians passages just noted, to receive those resurrected and those raptured. On the earth will begin the Great Tribulation in keeping with the understanding of the Rabbi's as mentioned above. As mentioned above, these two festivals, the High Holy Days are separated by the 10 Days of Awe, a time of fasting and repentance.

One of the ceremonies attached to the first afternoon of Yom Teruah is Taslich, which is based upon Micah 7:19, "…and he will cast (taslich) all their sins into the depths of the sea." This service consists of gathering at a body of water which contains fish, saying the appropriate prayers of repentance as in the Siddur, and casting bread or small stones into the water as a visual of God removing our sins.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement This is the holiest day of the year. This day represents a final Day of Judgment on all the earth. This was the day when once a year, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, to bring peace between Israel and their God for another year. The concept of removal of sins was symbolized with the scapegoat, over which the High Priest confessed all the sins of the nation of Israel. This scapegoat was then led away from the Camp of Israel, and the goat never returned, indicating the removal of sins. Yom Kippur means "The Day of Covering, Canceling, Pardon or Reconciliation". The two basic Scriptures calling for this Festival are found in Leviticus 23:26-32, Numbers 29:7-11.

The Leviticus passage calls for every person to "humble himself" which is a euphemism for a fast. This is the one place where the Bible mandates a fast from evening of the 9th to the evening of the 10th, which means the whole 24-hour time period of the 10th of Tishri which begins at sundown on the 9th. It is customary for everyone to mikveh before the evening of the 9th, and to wear white for this festival to symbolize his or her purity through repentance, teshuvah. The Kol Nidre service at sundown of the 9th is a time of Repentance and Prayers of Selichot or Repentance. The Kol Nidre is an Aramaic chant that declares null and void any promises made during the previous year (Sephardim) or for the coming year (Ashkenazim). Yom Kippur ends with Neilah, or the Closing of the Gates, following the Breaking of the Fast at Sundown on the 10th.

According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah the destiny of the righteous [the tsaddikim] are written in the Book of Life, and the destiny of the wicked [the resha'im] are written in the Book of Death. However, many people (perhaps most people) will not be inscribed in either book, but have ten days -- until Yom Kippur -- to repent before sealing their fate. On Yom Kippur, then, a final appeal is made to God to be written in the Book of Life. The word ne'ilah comes from a word which means "closing" or "locking" [the gates of heaven (or temple gates)]. The appeal to have our names "sealed" in the Book of Life" is made at this time.

Associated with this final event is the Sounding of the Great Shofar. The Shofar Gadol, the Great Trumpet, is blown just before the closing of the gate. Matthew 24:29-31; Isaiah 27:12-13; Isaiah 4:2-6 all point to the close of the time of Tribulation upon the earth, known in Jeremiah 30:7 as the time of Jacob's Trouble, when the Lord will humble the whole world who up to this time have rejected Messiah Yeshua as the coming King. Specifically, Isaiah 27:12-13 along with Matthew 24:29-31 point to the Gathering of the Elect, those who have come to believe in Yeshua as Messiah during this time of great wrath, and to put them back into the land of Promise.

Those who became believers and did not die during the Tribulation are gathered to Jerusalem, tears are wiped away, diseases healed, and the Ruach is poured out on them, Isaiah 32:15-20. This will occur with the Return of Yeshua the Messiah to the earth as outlined in Zechariah 14. Then He will reign as King of Kings, and the gates will be shut, and everyone's fate will have been sealed.

The Festival of Sukkot, or Booths/Tabernacles

This Festival is outlined in Leviticus 23:33-44, and Numbers 29:12-28. The most basic mitzvoth is to build a hasty hut, a sukkah in which to dwell for seven days. This is to commemorate the time during the wilderness wanderings when Israel dwelt in booths along the way. But there are many themes to this Festival. Chag HaSukkot is the time of the ingathering, the final harvest of the year, when all the crops have been harvested, and all the people are full of joy.

Thus it is also called Chag Ha-Asif, the Festival of Ingathering. Another name for it is Z'man Simchateinu, the time of our rejoicing. Sukkot looked back to the total provision for man that God has made in the time of the wilderness journeys where the clothes on their back and the shoes on their feet, and the food and water for their sustenance never waned nor wore out, and all were personally provided by their God and the presence of Yeshua going with them, the Angel of the Lord, the messenger and the manifest presence of God. This is a looking forward to the time of God Tabernacling with man, dwelling with man. There is both a present and a still yet future aspect to this, for presently for those who believe, we have ADONAI dwelling in our hearts by the means of the Ruach HaKodesh, and yet future we will have Yeshua dwelling with us upon this earth, a time when all of Israel will be gathered together unto ADONAI, back into the land, a time when the nation of Israel will be the head of the nations, a global rule by Yeshua over the earth, and the capital city of Yerushalayim.

This ingathering was related not just to the agricultural event, even though the Sukkoth were often decorated with the harvest of the land. But there is another harvest to which this is referring, and that is the ingathering of the nations to Yeshua the Messiah, seeing that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One True God. Isaiah 49:6, 56:6-8, and 60:1-3 all point to the joining of the nations to Israel. Zechariah 14: 16-19 clearly reveals that even those nations that did battle against Yeshua at Armageddon, will come to Jerusalem to worship the King at the Feast of Booths. We are in the harvest period, which is also called the "Times of the Gentiles," in Romans 11: 25-27.

Sukkot is a seven day celebration followed by Shemini Atzeret, which is often called the 8th day of Sukkot. "Shmini" means the eighth; in general, the number eight symbolizes perfection, as it does in the case of "brit milah," the covenant of circumcision. The brit is performed on the eighth day to "complete," as it were, or to instill the potential for perfection, in the human being. "Atzeret" means "holding back," or that which is held back for the purpose of bringing it to its state of completion. Thus, the name "Shmini Atzeret" means the eighth day which is the additional day that brings the seven-day holiday of Sukkot to its state of perfection. This would indicate the final perfection of mankind dwelling with God in the Olam Haba. This is in agreement with the creation of a new heavens and a new earth, Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, and Revelation 21.