| Subject: Chapter 3 (first half) |
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dori
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Date Posted: 16:24:24 02/21/15 Sat
In reply to:
dori
's message, "Chapter 2" on 16:20:59 02/21/15 Sat
Chapter Three
THE FESTIVALS
And the L-rd spoke unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the L-rd, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these my feasts." Leviticus 23:1-2
Like all of Biblical Judaism, the festivals (feasts) in some way teach us about the Messiah. Leviticus twenty-three is one of the key chapters for unlocking the entire Bible. If one can obtain a good working knowledge of the festivals, then he will have in his possession G-d's blueprint for mankind.
The festivals are multi-faceted. Some speak of historical events such as Israel's departure from Egypt, while others look forward to the future redemption through the Messiah at the end of days. All have ties to agriculture. Many have highly developed Temple rituals, while others are primarily home ceremonies.
The seven festivals are celebrated in two different seasons, which correspond to the two agricultural seasons. The four spring festivals take us from the beginning to the ingathering of the barley harvest. The three fall festivals begin at the time of the ingathering of wheat and other crops. Naturally, these harvest seasons depend upon rain. In Israel there is a time of rain in the spring (former rain) and a time of rain in the fall (latter rain). This division relates to the two appearances that Messiah is to make on the earth:
...and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3c
THE SPRING FESTIVALS -- THE FORMER RAIN
The spring festivals are known as historical festivals, because they commemorate events in Israel's past, namely the slaying of the lamb, the Exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the receiving of the Torah. The work of the Messiah Yeshua during His first coming is seen most clearly in these festivals.
PESACH
The first feast is on the fourteenth day of the first month (Aviv or Nisan), and is called Pesach (Passover). It commemorates the time when the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. Israel cried out to G-d in their affliction, and G-d raised up a deliverer--Moses. Moses demanded that Pharaoh let G-d's people go a three-day journey into the wilderness to hold a feast and make sacrifice to G-d. Pharaoh refused. G-d gave Moses the authority to call down plagues on the land of Egypt. After the first nine plagues, Pharaoh would still not let the people of Israel go. Finally, G-d said that on the tenth day of the month of Aviv, each household should take a male lamb, one year old (mature but young), without spot or blemish. The household was to keep its lamb for four days, during which time they were to inspect him and to make sure that he was perfect.
On the fourteenth day at three o'clock in the afternoon (the twain of the evening), the father gathered his family to the doorway. According to Exodus 12:6, the lamb was to be killed at a specific time.
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Exodus 12:6
"In the evening" in Hebrew would be said: "bain haarbayim" (literally translated "between the evenings"). This phrase suggests the time, a point between the sun's declining in the west and its setting, (approximately 3:00 p.m.). Within the Temple, the day was divided into quarters. The quarter between 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. was called the minor evening oblation, while that between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. was called the major evening oblation. Therefore, "between the evenings" means between those two periods, or 3:00 p.m. The hours were counted from daylight (approximately 6:00 a.m.) till sundown (approximately 6:00 p.m.). The ninth hour when Yeshua was slain would therefore be 3:00 p.m., the same time the lamb had been slain in Egypt.
In the doorway the father lay his hand on the lamb, thereby identifying with him symbolically. The laying on of hands in Hebrew is called "Semicha" and is referred to in Hebrews six as being one of the elementary doctrines of the faith in Yeshua.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Messiah, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward G-d, of the doctrine of immersions, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do, if G-d permit. Hebrews 6:1-3
According to Roland de Vaux in his book, Ancient Israel, vol. 2, pg. 416, the laying on of hands is done on the head of the animal to be sacrificed. This animal must meet all the scriptural qualifications. The action is not seen as a magical gesture establishing contact between G-d and man, nor does it symbolically imply that the victim is a substitute for the man. Instead, it is a solemn attestation that this sacrifice has come from this particular man who is performing the "semicha" upon the animal's head. He declares that the sacrifice, which is going to be presented to G-d, is offered in his name, and that the fruits of the sacrifice shall be his.
The father cuts the throat of the lamb, and applies the blood to the lintel and to each sidepost around the door. The mother roasts the lamb on a pomegranate stick over an open fire, and prepares a special meal. At sundown (approximately 6 p.m.), the day changed (the Jewish day goes from sundown to sundown, i.e., 6 p.m. to 6 p.m.) to the fifteenth of Aviv.
That night, the fifteenth, the Jewish people in Egypt ate the lamb with bitter herbs and Matzah (unleavened bread) according to the commandment G-d had given. One was to eat with his staff in his hand, and his sandals on his feet. The people were forbidden to go outside their houses, for that night an angel of death was coming to Egypt. He would slay the firstborn sons in every house, whether Egyptian or Jewish, royal or slave, human or animal. But G-d made a promise to the people within those houses which had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. G-d himself would hover over those houses to protect them from the angel of death. This is where the name Pesach (Passover) came from. That night Pharaoh told Moses to take the children of Israel and to go as Moses had said (for a three-day journey).
Several points of importance revolve around the fact that the children of Israel were only going into the wilderness for three days. The children of Israel were owned by Pharaoh, and not Egypt. With the death of Pharaoh, his ownership over them would cease; therefore, freeing them to continue to the promised land. Understanding that the children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th of Aviv, only being granted a three day leave. Pharaoh could not have approached their camp any later than the evening of the seventeenth of Aviv. That this approach was in the evening is established by Ex. 14:20-21. In reconstructing the probable chronology of these days, note that the children of Israel begin the Exodus during the night between the hours of midnight and dawn. The first leg of the journey carries them to Sukkot. Apparently, from the context of Ex. 13:19-20, the purpose of traveling to Sukkot was to secure the body of Joseph. The people pitch their tents there, as Moses retrieves the coffin, possibly between the hours of sunrise and noon, still the 15th of Aviv. The journey of the 15th continues on to Etham, where the people camp for the night, now the 16th. On the morning of the 16th, the children of Israel journey to Pi Hahiroth next to the sea. It is here in the evening, now the 17th, that Pharaoh approaches the Hebrew camp, being been held at bay through most of the night as the camp of Israel crosses the sea. Pharaoh and his army enter the sea during the morning watch, where G-d slays them. Therefore, the children of Israel emerge alive from the depth of the sea before sunrise on the morning of the 17th. According to the calculations of the Rabbanan the Exodus from Egypt began on a Friday (15th), which would therefore cause the crossing of the sea to be on a Sunday. (17th).
It has already been established that the pesach in Egypt had been slain on the 14th of Aviv (which in that year was a Thursday), had left Egypt, having visited the grave of Joseph, on the 15th, (Friday), and had crossed the sea on the 17th. (Sunday). It should be no surprise that Yeshua's death, burial, and resurrection would not only parallel the dates but also the days of the week. Traditional misunderstanding that Yeshua was slain on a Friday stems from the following verse.
The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Yochanan (John) 19:31
An interesting parallel is that Yeshua is placed in the tomb of Joseph of Ramah (Arimathea in Greek). Ramah, the city of Joseph, means "seat of idolatry," in Hebrew. As noted, Moses had also gone to the tomb of another Joseph on the 15th to retrieve Joseph's body;thereby leaving his tomb empty. Joseph of Egypt, the seat of idolatry, had been an excellent picture of the coming Messiah by all that had happened in his life: he was hated by his brothers, cast into a pit, sold as a slave, falsely accused, committed to the dungeon; but, through the Spirit of G-d, raised to be ruler of Egypt second only to Pharaoh. He was sent by G-d to preserve life, during the famine of death. In later years, he revealed himself to his brothers, who all this time had thought him to be the ruler of the Gentiles, rather than one of their own brethren. Even though he holds the power of death in his hand for the sins of his brothers, he extends mercy and forgiveness. His very name means "G-d Will Add," showing that there is another coming after him. This is fulfilled in his brother Benjamin, which means "Son of My Right Hand." Yeshua's first coming proclaimed the promise of His second coming, and He is the Son of the Right Hand.
HAG HAMATZAH
The second spring festival commemorates the events of the night of the fifteenth of Aviv--the meal of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs--and the actual departure from Egypt. It is called Hag haMatzah (Festival of Unleavened Bread), because during this week-long feast the children of Israel have been commanded to eat matzah (unleavened bread).
FIRSTFRUITS OF THE BARLEY HARVEST
The third festival falls during the week of Hag haMatzah on the day after the weekly Sabbath (Saturday)--in other words, the first Sunday after the fifteenth of Aviv.
During the first century C.E., the date of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest was a hotly contested issue. The Pharisees maintained that the proper date would be the 16th of Aviv, also called the Nisan, while the Sadducees endorsed the Sunday following the weekly Sabbath during Hag haMatzah. The debate was centered in the wording of Leviticus twenty-three.
And the L-rd spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the L-rd, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Leviticus 23:9-11
On the surface it would seem to be an obvious conclusion that the Sadducees were right, for everyone knows that the day following the Sabbath is Sunday. However, the issue is complicated by the fact that during the week of Hag haMatzah there are two Sabbaths. During the Jewish year there are seven Sabbaths know as "Shabbaton" or "high Sabbaths." These Sabbaths fall upon particular calendar days rather than on days of the week. The 15th of Aviv is the first Shabbaton during the Jewish year. It is the first day of Hag haMatzah and the Sabbath that the Pharisees felt that Leviticus 23:11 spoke of. Besides the substantiation that Yeshua rose from the dead on a Sunday, and He called "the firstfruits of those that rise from the dead," it can be established from Leviticus twenty-three that the Sadducees were correct.
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering to the L-rd. Leviticus 23:15-16
The only way that it could be guaranteed there would be both seven Sabbaths and fifty days is to use the calculations of the Sadducees.
Historically, this was the day that Israel went down into the depth of the Red Sea but emerged alive on the other side, for G-d parted the waters before them. The pagan Egyptians also entered the cleft in the waters to destroy Israel, but G-d caused the waters to return to their normal state, thereby killing Pharaoh and his soldiers. The death of Pharaoh ended his rights to ownership of the children of Israel.
According to Genesis 47:13-26, Pharaoh owned all the people in Egypt except for the Egyptians priests. Naturally, this would include the slaves of Egypt. In order for the children of Israel to go to the promised land, they would have to be set free from this ownership. Moses, following G-d's instruction, had only requested of Pharaoh that the people be allowed to go three days' journey into the wilderness to hold a festival to G-d. Pharaoh transgressed his own commandment of telling the people to go by pursuing the people; therefore, he was responsible for his own death. If he had but waited till the end of three days, Moses would have returned with the people, for G-d cannot lie. With his death in the midst of the sea, Egypt no longer had claim on the sons of Israel, and they were free to go on to the Promised Land.
In Leviticus twenty-three this day is called B'Yom Haneefchem Et Ha Omer, "The Day You Bring in the Sheaf of the Wave Offering." G-d commanded the people, once they got to the Promised Land, to bring the firstfruits of their barley harvest as a wave offering before Him on this day.
COUNTING OF THE OMER -- JOURNEY TO MOUNT SINAI
From the Red Sea, Israel traveled forty-seven days until they reached the mountain of G-d. This date would be given to them as their fourth festival.
This chart shows the forty-seven days of the journey to Mount Sinai plus the three days of separation to fulfill the fifty days between the crossing of the sea and the giving of the Torah. Remember that Yeshua's resurrection and the falling of the Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit) will parallel this same time period.
Aviv (Nisan)
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Zif (Iyar)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
Sivan
1 2 3 4 5 6
As established before, the children of Israel left Egypt on Friday the 15th of Aviv, crossed the sea on Sunday the 17th, and then journeyed for forty-seven days to Mount Sinai. Today's modern Jewish calendar only gives twenty-nine days for the month of Iyar (the ancient Zif). However, such imminent scholars as the late Yigdal Yadin (known as the dean of Israeli archeologists) believed that possibly other calendars were in use in the earlier times. As late as the first century C.E., the Qumran sect was using a solar calendar with twelve months of thirty days each, with an intercalary day at the end of every three months. This is the calendar used in the above chart.
SHAVUOT
G-d instructed Moses to tell the people to purify themselves for three days. On the fiftieth day after coming up alive out of the sea, they were to approach the mountain.That day was thereafter known as the Revelation of G-d at Mt. Sinai, where He appeared on the mountain. A shofar (trumpet made from a ram's horn) sounded louder and louder. Fire was seen on the mountain. The wind roared, and the ground shook. While Israel stood in awe, the voice of G-d brought forth the Torah. According to Jewish tradition, He spoke not only in Hebrew, but in every known tongue at that time as well.
Rabbi Joseph Hertz, in his Authorized Daily Prayer Book on p. 791 states, "The Revelation at Sinai, it was taught, was given in desert territory, which belongs to no one nation exclusively; and it was heard not by Israel alone, but by the inhabitants of all the earth. The Divine Voice divided itself into the seventy tongues then spoken on earth, so that all the children of men might understand its world-embracing and man-redeeming message."
When G-d gave the Torah on Sinai, He displayed untold marvels to Israel with His voice. What happened? G-d spoke and the Voice reverberated throughout the world.
...It says, And all the people witnessed the thunderings (Exodus 20:15). Note that it does not say "the thunder," but the "the thunderings"; wherefore, R. Johanan said that G-d's voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations should understand. When each nation heard the Voice in their own vernacular, their souls departed [i.e. they were in fear], save Israel, who heard but who were not hurt... Exodus Rabbah 5:9
On the occasion of matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), the Bnai Yisrael (the children of Israel) not only heard Hashem's (the L-rd's) Voice but actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from Hashem's (the L-rd's) mouth. They visualized them as a fiery substance. Each commandment that left Hashem's (the L-rd's mouth) traveled around the entire Camp and then came back to every Jew individually, asking him, "Do you accept upon yourself this Commandment with all halacho (Jewish law) pertaining to it?" Every Jew answered, "Yes," after each Commandment. Finally, the fiery substance which they saw, engraved itself on the luchot (tablets). The Midrash Says Rabbi Moshe Weissman, Benei Yakov Publications(1980) pg. 182.
The fourth festival commemorates the awesome events that took place at Mt. Sinai. It is called Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), for the children of Israel are to count seven weeks from the festival of Firstfruits, and then observe the following day as Shavuot. These forty-nine days are called, "The Counting of the Omer." They connect the festival of Firstfruits (of the barley harvest) to Shavuot (the beginning of the wheat harvest). Since the Firstfruits festival falls on the day after the Sabbath, Shavuot will also.
Shavuot was designated by the rabbis as the Atzeret (a festive gathering for the conclusion of a festive season, a concluding feast) of Pesach. In the Targum Onkelos, Numbers 28:16 designates Shavuot in this way. For a complete listing of the Rabbinic passages on Shavuot as the Atzeret to Pesach, see: A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, compiled by Marcus Jastrow, The Judaica Press, Inc., page 1103. As Pesach was the beginning of the barley harvest, with the waving of the sheaf on the following Sunday, each day was thereafter counted until Shavuot, making a natural bridge between the two festivals. In addition to the agricultural aspect, there was also the historical link with the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. With Yeshua's resurrection, a third thread stitches together Pesach and Shavuot as He instructs the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they have had power poured out on them from on high. It is at Shavuot that this is fulfilled, completing a work that He had begun at Pesach. An excellent article on this is found in The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days by Abraham P. Bloch, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., page 179-182.
Not only do the four spring festivals have a historical and agricultural significance, but they are also prophetic of future events. A term in Hebrew for festival, or feast, is mo'ed, and it means a "set time," or an "appointed time." G-d has appointed seasons during the year that He would require the men of Israel to be present in Jerusalem. Notice that they are called the appointments of the L-rd, given to Israel to observe. The implication here is that G-d has an appointment to perform something with Israel on these dates. Another word used in connection with the festivals is mikrah, which is translated as "convocation" in most Bibles. It literally means "rehearsal" or "recital." The implication of this is that the festivals are times that Israel rehearses various aspects of the plan of G-d. This is good preparation for the times that the L-rd fulfills the appointments. As the pilgrims traveled year by year to Jerusalem for these festivals, the Rabbis taught and speculated on the Messianic aspects of these appointments and rehearsals.
One thousand, five hundred years after the time of Moses in the land of Judea, a prophet named Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) was drawing large crowds as he spoke. One day, Yochanan boldly pointed to a man approaching his crowd and said, "Behold the Lamb of G-d, which taketh away the sin of the world." (Yochanan 1:29) This man was like no other man that ever lived, for He was Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel.
For three and one-half years Yeshua traveled throughout the land of Israel, healing the blind and the lame, cleansing lepers, healing the deaf, raising the dead to life and preaching the good news.
In English, the words "good news" and "gospel" are synonymous. In Hebrew, the term is "basar," while in Greek it is "euangelion." Since the fall of Adam, G-d had promised to restore man to the dominion and stature that he once had held. Adam had been created in the image of G-d. His environment was perfect; and if sin had not caused his fall, he would still be alive today. Man, driven from the garden following the fall, became only a diminutive of what he had been. The earth also had changed, for G-d placed a curse upon it. Man's future was bleak with the exception of a hope seen in the prophesies of a Coming One who would conquer sin, defeat death, and bring about the restoration of both man and earth. Prophets, kings, and priests had all spoken of this man and event. This became known as the "basar" or "good news." It was well defined in the Jewish mind long before Yeshua walked upon the earth. As Adam had been a king over the earth under the rule of G-d, so the redeemer to come would also be a king. The Kingdom of Heaven, or "Malkut Shamayim," in Hebrew, would come to earth in this king. The kingdom was to be a time of physical as well as spiritual resurrection; therefore, healing, miracles, and divine manifestations of the power of G-d were expected. Yeshua's work in His first coming fulfilled only part of the promised restoration. This restoration will be completed in His second coming.
During the last week of His life, on the tenth of Aviv, He sat upon the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem and wept over the city:
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee with the ground, and they children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke 19:41-44
This particular day had been earmarked for one and one-half millennia by G-d for special happenings. The tenth of Aviv is the same day that in Egypt each household of Israel had taken a perfect male lamb without spot or blemish into their house.
In Exodus 12:2, G-d had required that a lamb be taken to each household on the tenth of Aviv. In fulfillment of this, the Messiah entered the city Himself on the tenth of Aviv. In Yochanan (John) 12:1, Yeshua comes to Bethany.
Then Yeshua six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead. Yochanan 12:1
Throughout the book of Yochanan, the "Passover" refers not to the fourteenth (the actual day of the Passover) but rather to the entire eight days of Passover and Hag haMatzah. Since the first day of Hag haMatzah, the fifteenth, is a Shabbaton (High Sabbath) this is generally considered the beginning of the Feast. The Jewish historian, Josephus, also called the fifteenth the first day of Pesach.
In the chart below, counting back six days before the fifteenth of Aviv, Yeshua must have arrived at the house of Lazarus on the ninth of the month. That night, which will be the tenth, a supper is prepared for Yeshua. This is probably the traditional meal concluding the Sabbath and inaugurating a new week. The following day, which is still the tenth, Yeshua enters the city and goes to the Temple, just as the lamb had been taken into the house in the Egyptian Pesach.
On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna, Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the L-rd. Yochana 12:12-13
Nisan (Aviv)
Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17
On this day Yeshua looked down from the Mount of Olives, where there was a great procession of priests, musicians, singers, dancers and throngs of people heading from the east to Jerusalem and the Temple. They had the lamb that would be slain in the public sacrifice on the fourteenth. This lamb stood in the Temple for four days for all to see that he was indeed without spot. As they entered the city, the crowds waved palm branches before the lamb and sang Psalm 118. As they entered the Temple area, they waved the branches to the six directions (north, south, east, west, up, and down) as they recited: "Ana Adonai Hoshia-na, Ana Adonai Hoshia-na, Ana Adonai Hatzlicha-na, Ana Adonai Hatzlicha-na, Baruch Ha Ba B'Shem Adonai," which means the following:
Oh L-rd, please save us, Oh L-rd, please save us. Oh L-rd, send us prosperity, Oh L-rd, send us prosperity. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the L-rd.
Yeshua descended the Mount of Olives, and followed the same route down which the lamb had just been led. The same crowds who waved the palm branches before the Pesach lamb met the Lamb of
G-d who would take away their sins, and cried out:
"Hosha-na Baruch ha Ba B'Shem Adonai B'rucha Malchut David Avinu ha Ba-a B'Shem Adonai Hosha-na Ba-m'romim"
and
"Baruch Ha-Melech ha-Ba b'Shem Adonai Shalom ba-Shamayim v'Chavod Ba-M'romim," which means the following:
"Hosanna--Save us. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the L-rd! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the L-rd. Hosanna in the Highest"
"Blessed is the King that comes in the name of the L-rd! Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest!"
Even as the Passover lamb stood for four days tethered in the Temple in public view, so Yeshua sat and taught in the Temple courtyard for all to examine. During this time, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and others asked Yeshua their hardest questions. Their purpose was to find fault in Him, but they could not. Indeed, He was without spot and blemish.
On the morning of the 14th at the third hour (9:00 a.m.), the lamb in the Temple was bound to the altar. At the same time outside the city walls, Yeshua was both tied and nailed to the tree. For six hours both the lamb and Yeshua awaited death. At the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), the High Priest ascended the altar in the Temple, took his knife, and killed the lamb, pronouncing the words, "It is finished." This is the term that the priest in the Temple would say with the conclusion of the daily peace offering as well as the various special festival offerings.
At exactly the same moment, Yeshua on the tree gave up His spirit with the same words and died. The death of Yeshua, occurring simultaneously with that of the lamb in the Temple, was no accident. The slaying of the Passover lamb was a rehearsal of the sacrifice of the Messiah. Rav Shaul (the Apostle Paul), in his letter to the believers in Corinth, referred to the Messiah as the Passover.
For even Messiah, our Passover (Lamb), is sacrificed for us. I Corinthians 5:7b
The magnitude of what is happening here cannot be realized until the transcendence of the Messiah is acknowledged.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G-d, and the Word was G-d. The same was in the beginning with G-d. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-4,14
The One who hung on the tree kept the mo'ed, the time appointed 1500 years before, to the exact minute. Even as the ancient Pesach lamb had delivered the people from the plague of death and from slavery by his blood, so the Messiah provided salvation through the shedding of His blood.
Yeshua died at three o'clock in the evening. They hurried to place Him in the grave by sunset, at which time the next festival--Unleavened Bread--begins. The first day of that festival is the day that the children of Israel ate the Pesach lamb with matzah and bitter herbs. During the meal, a ceremony was rehearsed in which a piece of matzah is broken, wrapped in linen, and buried.
This ceremony, called "afikoman," dates back to the days of Yeshua. During the first part of the "seder" (the Pesach meal), a piece of matzah is removed from a special bag and broken. This bag contains three portions of matzah and is known as the "unity bag." The ceremony of breaking the middle matzah is called "yachatz" which means "to break." Half of the broken matzah is placed back in the bag, while the other half is wrapped in linen and buried. Later, the children who watched where the broken matzah was buried, try to steal it and hold it for ransom from their father. The seder cannot continue until the father retrieves this matzah, now known as the "afikoman." During the days of the Temple, the afikoman came after the dinner, but was not the last thing that the participants ate, because that was required to be the Pesach lamb itself. However, in any seder that was conducted outside the city of Jerusalem, the afikoman would be the last thing eaten during the entire night, because the Pesach lamb was allowed to be slain in Jerusalem. In the event, the afikoman became a substitute for the lamb itself. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., the afikoman universally became the last thing eaten at the seder, always representing the Pesach lamb. The word afikoman is believed to come from a Greek word meaning "that which comes after." In Yochanan 6:51 during Pesach in the Galilee, Yeshua said,
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Yochanan (John) 6:51
It is important to note that His statement takes place in the Galilee, for there it would be known that the afikoman is a symbol of the Pesach lamb. Therefore, His references to "eating His flesh" should be understood in its counterpart--the afikoman. The term, "broken," refers to His body being destroyed, but not to His bones breaking, for this would have disqualified Him from being a Pesach sacrifice.
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. Yochanan 19:36
Like the matzah Yeshua's body was broken, wrapped in linen cloths, and placed in the grave, thereby keeping the appointment.
The children of Israel traveled three days into the wilderness. All hope was lost as the Egyptians cornered them at the Red Sea. Death was imminent, but G-d opened a way of salvation through the midst of the dark sea. Israel in faith went down into the dreadful sea and climbed its banks alive on the other side--a resurrected people. In parallel, the Messiah lay in the grave for three days, and on the 17th of Aviv, He came up alive, never to die again. That year the 17th of Aviv fell on the first day of the week; therefore, it was the feast of Firstfruits. It was the beginning of the barley harvest, thus reminding us of newness of life. Just as grain springs to life from a cold, dead seed, so Messiah Yeshua became the firstfruits of those who will rise from the dead.
But now is Messiah risen from the dead, and become the First Fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Messiah the First Fruits; afterward they that are Messiah's at His coming. I Corinthians 15:2
On the day of His resurrection, Yeshua told His disciples what He would fulfill at His next appointment (mo'ed).
And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Torah of Moses, and in the Nevi'im (Prophets), and in the Tehilim (Psalms), concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Messiah to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Luke 24:44-49
At his ascension forty days after the resurrection, He again told of the power that His believers would receive to be His witnesses.
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For Yochanan truly immersed with water, but ye shall be immersed with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) not many days hence. But ye shall receive power, after that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts. 1:4,5,8
Remember that from the day of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest, the people of Israel counted the forty-nine days before the festival of Shavuot. As the disciples of Yeshua were awaiting the promise He spoke of, they were also counting the days and anticipating the next festival. Meanwhile, the Rabbis and scribes were reminding the people of the historical events connected with the festival, that is, the dramatic revelation of G-d at Mt. Sinai. Now, 1500 years later, G-d kept His appointment to reveal Himself, through a group of people that He empowered to be witnesses. What was perceived anciently on the mountain (the fire, the wind, tongues) would now be observed in the believers.
And when the Day of Shavuot was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to speak with other tongues, as the Ruach gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4
This concludes the four festivals that occur in spring, the time of the former rain, paralleling Messiah's first coming. Just as Pesach was the appointment for the death of the Messiah, Hag Ha Matzah for His burial, Firstfruits for His resurrection, and Shavuot for the revelation of G-d through believers, so also will Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles) be important appointments in the plan of G-d. As the spring festivals were fulfilled literally to the day, as each taught important principles in the plan of G-d, and as they fell in a natural chronological progression compatible with the scriptural plan of G-d, so we can expect the fall festivals to do also.
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