The Feasts of the Lord.

            Lev. 23 lists eight appointments God wants to have with each us.  The first is a weekly appointment on Sabbath.  The other seven are annual feasts.  These have been referred to as the Jewish feasts, and the Jews do celebrate them.  But these belong to all who call themselves God’s people—they are “the feasts of the Lord.”  The reason I say they belong to all of God’s people is that Jesus has already fulfilled the first four of these feasts and will fulfill the other three upon His return.

            The feasts are:  Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths (or Tabernacles).  The first three occur in one week in the Spring.  The fourth is celebrated 50 days after Passover in early Summer.  The last three are celebrated in the Fall, usually late September or early October.

            Jesus perfectly fulfilled the first three.  He is the Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7), a perfect lamb that was selected (on Palm Sunday) and carefully watched for four days.  He was then slain and His blood is what protects us from death, just as the blood applied to the door posts protected Israelites from the Death Angel.

            Jesus also is the sinless Man, a perfect picture of Unleavened Bread.  We, too, are called to live holy lives, free from sin.      

            Then on the feast of First Fruits, Jesus rose from the dead, the first of those who are to be resurrected (I Cor. 15:20-23).

            Now, as we celebrate Pentecost on June 7^th, we remember how the early Church was filled with the Holy Spirit, exactly fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot.  The Jewish celebration of Shavuot is remembering the giving of the Law to Moses.  Jesus said the Law would be written on our hearts, which is what happens when we are given the Holy Spirit—He comes, lives inside us, writing God’s Law on our hearts.

            The feasts are God’s snapshots of His Son.  By looking at the feasts we see what Jesus would look like and by celebrating them, we celebrate what God has done through Jesus in our hearts.  There is much more that could be said on each of the feasts.  Hopefully this will give a framework to understand God’s wonderful work in our lives.