God's Plan -- The Feasts of Israel

How would Christ “fulfill” all of the law? One way was through the model instituted by God of the seven annual feasts, which reveal many ways Christ “fulfills” the law.

Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.  These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah”.

The oft repeated quote “The catechism of the Jew is his calendar” is attributed to Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 19th-century Rabbi because it emphasizes the importance of the Jewish calendar in their life and culture. 

The photo to the left is a Passover Sedar plate that traditionally contains six items: matzah, a shank bone, an egg, bitter herbs, charoset paste, and karpas vegetable. The shank bone represents the sacrificial offering, the egg represents the cycle of life, the bitter herbs represent the bitterness and harshness of slavery, the charoset paste represents the mortar slaves used to construct buildings, and the karpas vegetable represents spring. Some people also add a second bitter vegetable, often lettuce. The Seder Plate is the focal point of the proceedings on the first two nights of Passover meal.

Reckoning Time God’s Way

The Jewish calendar uses both the sun and the moon to determine the time for Jewish festivals.  The annual calendar consists of 12 alternating lunar months of 29 and 30 days each (except for Ḥeshvan and Kislev, which sometimes have either 29 or 30 days) and totals 353, 354, or 355 days per year 3. Here is a review in layman’s terms how the Jews interpreted time, dates and seasons.

1. Days begin - at dusk (nominally 6:00pm) and weeks begin at sunset on Saturday. This is tied to the creation story:

Genesis 1:5: “And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

I wonder how you make dinner reservations for Tuesday at 6:00 PM in Tel Aviv? Is it Wednesday then?

2. The Sabbath or “Shabbat,” begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday, which is also the end of the week. The word "Shabbat" comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav, meaning to cease, to end, or to rest.[1] The sabbath was instituted by God:

Leviticus 23:3 “For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord.”

3. Sabbaths can begin on days other than Saturday (sunset on Fridays).
There is a pair of sabbaths seven days apart from the day after Passover, which is a set calendar date of 14 Nisan. A special sabbath is also set on the 1st of Tishri, called the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanna which initiates the new civil year:

Leviticus 23:24-25: “Speak to the sons of Israel saying, ‘In the 7th month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.

4. There is a sabbath of the weeks – held the day after seven sabbaths after Passover (50 days later), at Pentacost (or the Feast of Weeks).

Leviticus 23:15: “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a grain offering to the Lord… On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work”

5. There are “weeks” of years (7 year cycles) with a “sabbath” year as well:

Exodus 23:10-11 “And you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow…”

Are the Jewish Feasts for Christians?

Are these Old Testament Jewish feasts important, or even relevant to Christians? What do the modern celebrations of Easter and Christmas have to do with Feasts of Israel?  Matthew records these words from Jesus:

Matthew 5:17 “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished."

Jesus did not just fulfill the 10 Commandments, but the whole Law (Torah). That means Jesus has “fulfilled” at least some of the Feasts and other ordinances of God as well.  

By fulfilling the sacrifices ordained for the priests, Christ has released us from any obligation to observe Passover, or the other feasts of Israel for that matter. This is a serious point, because if Christ did not completely fulfill the Law, then we are still bound to it; and thereby still condemned by the Law.  However, as Paul states to the Romans:

Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did.  He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain, and as a sin offering,  in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

So what do these feasts have to do with the law?  Remember, these were mandatory, holy convocations, often associated with a special sabbath and special sacrifices performed by the priests, so Christ must have in some way “fulfilled” the purpose of these feasts as well.  Does the Bible explain how Christ “fulfilled” these feasts? Let us explore this further….

The Spring Feasts

God instituted seven feasts in Leviticus 23. Three are in the month of Nisan (or Abib), the “first” month of the religious calendar. This is roughly April on our calendar. They are:

Nisan 14 - The Passover “Pesach” this is the first of two “holy convocations”.

Nisan 15 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread “Hag haMatzah” – a seven day feast that began with a “holy convocation” and “day of rest” on the 15th day of Nisan.

?? - The Feast of First Fruits – “Hag Ha Kazir “the day after the “shabbat” after Passover, or the next Sunday after the sabbath after Passover.

Leviticus 23:4-7 ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.  The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month.  The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.  On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work”

Christ in the Passover (aka the Crucifixion day)

When Christ officially begins His ministry by going to the Jordan river to be baptized, He is introduced by John the Baptist as the “Lamb of God” in John 1:29. The Passover Lamb is described in Exodus:

Exodus 12:3-6,46 “… ‘On the tenth of this month they are each to take a lamb for themselves according to their fathers households, a lamb for each household...Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old....and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, then the whole assembly of Israel is to kill it at twilight. It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it...”

I Corinthians 5:7 “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”

Here Christ reveals Himself as the Lamb of God…

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Our Lord symbolizes the Bread of Life and fulfills this feast as well.  The feast of unleavened bread begins on a calendar date, not necessarily a shabbat, on the 15th of Nisan.

Exodus 12:18...39 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening....You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

This Feast begins on the evening after Passover and extends for 8 days.

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Here in this feast, Christ reveals Himself as the “unleavened” Bread of Life…

Feast of First Fruits (aka Resurrection Day)

This feast is on Sunday morning after the Saturday evening sabbath is over after Passover – which by our reckoning is after dark on Saturday night.

Leviticus 23:11, 15 “And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.—You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.”

Christ fulfills the meaning of this feast and reveals Himself as the “first fruit” of the resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ.

The Summer Feast (aka Pentecost)

Fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits, in the “third” month of Sivan (usually early June) is the Feast of Weeks, or “Pentecost”.

Leviticus 23:15-16, 21 “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring...two loaves of bread for a wave offering...baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work.”

Notice that “leavened” bread is offered!  The Feast of Weeks also celebrates the birth of Israel as “God’s people” with the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai.  Institution of the church would be the official discontinuation of the Levitical Law in place of the Law of Christ.

Exodus 19:1, 5, 6 “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. Now then, if you will keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”

Doesn’t this follow the same pattern with the Jews in regard to the Church?

1 Peter 2:4-5, 10 “And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” “...for you once were not a people of God, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Acts chapter 2 describes the specific event that began the church

Acts 2:1-3, 6, 41 “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues of fire distributing themselves and they rested on each one of them...And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak in their own language....So then, those who had received Peter’s words were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

The Autumn Feasts (yet to be fulfilled)

And in the “seventh” month of Tishri, (about September) three more feasts are observed:

• 1st - Feast of Trumpets Yom Terauh - begins civil new year
• 10th - Feast of Atonement Yom Kippur - high priest enters Holy of Holies
• 15th - Feast of Tabernacles Succoth - lasts 7 days - “transfiguration”

Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah)

This is the “head of the new year” or Rosh HaShannah, the 1st of Tishri. It is celebrated by a series of trumpet blasts.

Leviticus 23:24-25 “‘In the 7th month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.”

Coincidentally, another parallel event occurred on the same day as a Feast of Trumpets (1st of Tishri) with Noah...

Genesis 8:13 “In the six hundred and first year, in the first month [civil calendar - before Exodus 12], on the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold the face of the ground was dry.”

Has the Feast of Trumpets been fulfilled yet like the Passover and Pentecost clearly have?  Many scholars suggest this feast symbolizes the “Trumpet of God” that sounds when believers are resurrected:

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

Or when the Lord appears again in the Last Day (as many scholars believe these are separate dates - although they could all happen on 1 Tishri!):

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air....”

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

This is the high and holy day for all orthodox Jews even today - the Day of Atonement.  In the day of the temple, this was the day the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat between the cherubim.  God, who dwells between the cherubim, looks down into ark, and sees the broken tablets of the law, but that is atoned for by the sprinkled blood of the lamb.

Leviticus 23:27-28 “On exactly the 10th day of this 7th month is the day of atonement; it shall by a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering of fire to the Lord. Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement...”

The book of Hebrews clearly shows how Christ’s perfect sacrifice fulfilled the ceremony of Yom Kippur:

Hebrews 9:3-7,11,12 “And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies...in which were...the tables of the law. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat...The high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance...But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands...and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption.”

Exactly how this feast will be fulfilled is open for discussion.  This author conjectures it will be in the Millennial kingdom when Christ rules directly over the peoples of the Earth as king and priest, and the sacrificial system is reinstituted for the Jews.  As Christians, this feast has 'de facto' been fulfilled in the shed blood of Christ which has perfectly fulfilled our obligations to the Law.

Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth)

On the 15th of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur. For seven days, people “camp out” in temporary dwellings that are intentionally poorly constructed - with holes on the sides and in the roof. This may suggest the feast commemorates our limited time on this earth in “fleshly” bodies, but that after this life, we take on the imperishable body of the resurrection.  Another interpretation is this feast is fulfilled when we "tabernacle" with the Lord in the millennial kingdom.  For Christians today, this could be considered fulfilled when we pass from this earth and come into the presence of Christ and dwell with Him for seven years enjoying the Wedding Feast (described in Revelation 19:6-10).

The transfiguration in Matthew 17 may have occurred on this date, where Jesus takes on His true form to show the disciples what the resurrection looks like.

Revelation 21:3,4 “...‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

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[1] http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm

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Scripture citations are from:  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson