FEAST OF THE LORD

Passover

Historically, Passover marks the national liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Pesach, the Hebrew name for this feast, literally means, ”the lamb.” In the story in Exodus, God instructed each family to take an unblemished lamb to their home on the tenth day of Nisan. They were to observe the lamb for five days to make sure it was without spot or blemish. Then on the fourteenth day, they were to kill the lamb and take some of its blood and place it on the two doorposts and the lintel of their house.
The Hebrews killed the lambs at three o’clock in the afternoon on the fourteenth. According to the instructions, they were not to break any bones in the lamb and were to consume it entirely. Nothing was to be left over for the next day. (See Exodus 12:10, 46.)
At that frrst Passover, the angel of death killed the frrstborn male throughout the land. However, if the entrance to the door was covered with the blood of the lamb, the angel would ”Passover’ the house and the people inside would be spared. The whole story is told in Exodus 12.

The LORD instructed the Hebrews to celebrate the Feast of Passover as an everlasting memorial to their great deliverance from Egypt by the blood of the lamb. Leviticus reads, ”These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover” (Leviticus 23:4-5).

Today the Feast of Passover is celebrated by Jewish people comaround the world with a beautiful Passover Seder (service) which commemorates the liberation of their ancestors from Egypt.

The Passover Seder is a meal with special foods, ritual practices, and reading from the Scripture in accordance with God’s instructions given in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23:4-5. It is a wonderful picture of redemption celebrated by family and friends who gather to rejoice in this mighty act of God on their behalf.

There is an obvious Christian connection through Jesus to all of these feasts. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the ” … Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
From a New Testament perspective, Jesus fulftlled ( correctly interpreted) the Feast of Passover in His crucifixion. He orchestrated all of the events of the last week of His life to accomplish in His flesh what the feasts symbolized.
As the lambs were set aside to be tested on the tenth day of the month, so Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth day to be set aside as the human Lamb of God.

The religious leaders observed Jesus for five days, from the tenth to the fourteenth, but they couldn’t fmd anything wrong with Him. Finally, they took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate, who examined Jesus and said,” … I fmd no fault in Him” (John 19:4).
Jesus was crucified on the fourteenth, the same day the lambs had been killed for centuries. Furthermore, He died at the same time the lambs were killed. The Jews prepared the lambs for sacrifice at nine o’clock in the morning on the fourteenth. They then killed them at three o’clock that afternoon.

At the exact hour when the Jews were preparing their lambs for sacrifice, Jesus was nailed to the cross. Then at three o’clock as the people were slaughtering their lambs, Jesus died (Mark 15 :25-37).
All the other details concerning the death of the lambs happened to Jesus. As just mentioned, God said not to break any bones in the Passover lamb. Likewise, John records that the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves who were crucified next to Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw He was already dead and did not break His legs (John 19:31-36).
We also noted that God instructed the Jews to consume the whole lamb so that nothing would be left over for the next day (Exodus 12:10). Likewise, the Jews hurriedly had Jesus’ body taken down before six o’clock so that He was not left on the cross the next day (John 19:31 ).

The apostle Paul connected Jesus to Passover when he said, ”For indeed, Christ [Messiah] our Passover, was sacrificed for us” ( 1 Corinthians 5 :7). While Christianity has taught that the feasts were Jewish holidays that have no meaning for the church, Paul instructed the Christians at Corinth to ” … keep the feast, aot with the old leaven, leaven 0f ••
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”
(1 Corinthians 5:8).

Unleavened Bread

The background for the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also found in Exodus 12. We learn when God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, He brought them out with such haste, they didn’t have time to cook their bread which would have normally included leaven.

Over time, leaven became symbolic of the Hebrew’s old life of bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh and the Egyptian’ s way of life which was contrary to God. Unleavened bread symbolized their putting off this old life as they came out of Egypt.
God instructed the Hebrews to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a memorial to their separation from Egypt. The people were not to eat leavened bread at Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan nor for the next seven days according to Exodus 13 :3-7.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated the day after Passover and lasted from the fifteenth to the twenty-first. We read in Leviticus 23, ”And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by frre to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it” {Leviticus 23 :6-8).
In later years, when preparing the food for this feast, the rabbis added the rule that food could only be eaten if it was cooked before the leavening process began. They detertnined that it took 18 minutes from the time the wheat is mixed with water until the time the yeast in the wheat begins to ferment.
The baking of this unleavened bread called matzah requires close supervision in order to meet the rigid requirements of the rabbis. Anyone who has eaten this specially prepared unleavened ”bread of affliction” can’t help but notice that it is bruised, striped, and pierced. To the Christian, the connection to Jesus is obvious.
The prophet Isaiah gave us a preview of the Messiah who would be smitten, bruised, and pierced for our sins. We read, ”Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
”But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. … for the transgression of My people He was stricken.
”And they made His grave with the wicked–but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him” (Isaiah 53 :4-5, 8-10).
Jesus fulfilled this feast as the bread of life from heaven who had no leaven [sin] in Him. Paul writes, ”For He [God] made Him[Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5 :21 ). John adds, ”And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
Jesus said, ” … I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
As just stated, Jesus was crucified on the fourteenth, the day of the Feast of Passover. His body was taken down just before six o’clock that evening.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body for burial and placed Him in Joseph’s tomb just in time for Jesus to be buried on the fifteenth which was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (John 19:38-42). This is the ”high Sabbath” mentioned in John 19:31.
Jesus, the unleavened bread of God from heaven, took all of our leaven of sin and was buried on the same day the Jews had been celebrating the feast for centuries. What they had been portraying in the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a visual aid pointing them to Jesus who had come and fulfilled in His flesh the reality pictured by this feast.
Jesus took our leaven of sin in His spirit, our leaven of sorrows in His soul, and our leaven of sickness, disease and death in His body. He took the full burden of all the liabilities of our human condition with Him into the grave.

Then Joseph rolled a large stone in front of the tomb. Finally, the tomb was secured by stretching a cord across the stone and sealing it at each end with a Roman seal (Matthew 27:57-66). Jesus lay inside with our sins, sorrows, sickness and diseases buried with Him. This is how Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Christians can apply this work of Jesus on their behalf by ”putting off the old man of sin” as Paul writes in Ephesians, ”that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4 :22 ).
As believers appropriate the work of Jesus as their Unleavened Bread, the old man of sin no longer control us. He was buried with Jesus in Jerusalem.

 

Firstfruits

The Feast of Firstfruits is celebrated during the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the seventeenth day. The LORD said to Moses, ”Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
”He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it’ ” (Leviticus 23: 10-11 ).
According to these instructions, the Hebrews were to bring the first sheaves (omer) of the barley harvest and wave them before the LORD.
An omer was about four pints. Before any barley produce of the new crop could be eaten, or even touched, a measure had to be brought to the temple as an offering to the LORD. This offering is known as the omer. The period of time between this feast and the Feast of Pentecost is a time of ”counting the omer.”

A small plot of ground was set apart in the Kidron Valley to grow this firstfruits offering. When it came time to cut the sheaves, a large crowd of worshippers followed representative leaders to the place where the firstfruits were to be harvested.
The people sang, played their instruments, and danced before the LORD to celebrate His goodness. This was certainly an exciting time. If God accepted the firstfruits of the harvest, it meant He would accept the entire harvest.
Jesus fulfilled this feast when He was resurrected as the firstfruits from the dead on the seventeenth at the very time when the firstfruits harvest was being offered to God. His resurrection marked the beginning of the harvest of souls who have been set apart for God through Jesus.
Paul connected Jesus to the Feast of Firstfruits. He said ”But now Christ [Messiah] is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
”For in Adam all die, even so in Christ [Messiah] all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ [Messiah] the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s [Messiah’s] at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).

The New Testament presents Jesus is that human sheaf that God set apart for the purpose of conquering death and providing eternal life for all who would acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. As such, He was the first to rise from the dead who would never die again, as we learn in Matthew 28: 1-6.
Since His first fruits resurrection was accepted by God our Father, believers have assurance that they too will be resurrected and accepted by God (Ephesians 1 :6). True believers are accepted by God through Jesus who is our frrstfruits representative.
Because Jesus conquered death as the firstfruits from the grave, all who follow Him have the same promise of resurrection at the end of the age.

Paul writes, ”Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
”So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
”But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [Messiah]” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). (See also Romans 8:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:9-11.)
How exciting that believers can also apply this work of Jesus to their lives. We do this by ”putting on the new man.” Paul writes, ”and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4 :24 ). The result will be the fruit of God’s Spirit manifested in our lives (Galatians 5:16-25).
Jesus said, ”For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12 :40 ).
In order to correctly understand the events surrounding His death, burial and resurrection, we need to realize this all happened according to the Jewish day which begins in the evening at sunset. Jesus was crucified on Passover, most likely, on Wednesday, the 14th of Nisan in the year AD 31, which was April 25 on the Gentile calendar.
He was buried at the close of Wednesday (around 6:00 pm) which would begin Unleavened Bread on Thursday the 15th of Nisan. As just mentioned, this was the high Sabbath to which John refers (John 19:31).

Western Christian scholars have mistakenly believed this high Sabbth to be the regular weekly Sabbath. This is why we have been taught that Jesus was crucified on Friday.
Jesus’ body was in the tomb through Thursday (night 1, day 1), Friday (night 2, day 2), and Saturday (night 3, day 3). He was resurrected at the close of the Sabbath (Saturday evening the 17th) which began the first day of the week (Sunday the 18th).
This accounting of time is the only way Jesus could have fulfilled the sign of Jonah by being in the tomb for the full three days and three nights. It is also the only way His death, burial, and resurrection could be accomplished on Feast days.

 

Pentecost

The next major feast season is Pentecost. It is also referred to as the Feast of Weeks, Feast of Harvest, and the Day of Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Numbers 28:26). This feast is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan which corresponds to the months of May and June on the Gentile calendar.

We learn from Leviticus, ”And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
”Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring from your dwelling two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD” (Leviticus 23: 15-17).
We see from these instructions that the main activity on the Feast of Pentecost was the presentation of a wave offering of two loaves of baked bread to the LORD. They were to do this fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits. Since the word Pentecost in Greek means ”fifty,” this feast gets its name from the fifty day interval between the two feasts.

The wave offering expressed the Hebrews’ dependence on God for the harvest and their daily bread. This was a thanksgiving offering.
Later when the Jews were dispersed among the nations, the Feast of Pentecost lost its primary significance as a harvest festival and was celebrated as a memorial to the time when God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai. This is because the Jews have traditionally believed that God gave the Torah to Moses on the Day of Pentecost (Exodus 19:1,11). The Day of Pentecost did not originate with Christianity, but it is the Jewish feast day that God chose to send the Holy Spirit as proof that Jesus had been glorified as Lord.
This was the day when the Jews were in Jerusalem celebrating the feast and the giving of the Torah. They were looking forward to the time when God would write the Torah on their hearts as the prophets said (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

From Luke’s account in Acts 2 we see the marvelous timing of God. Thousands of devout Jews had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. It was then that the followers of Jesus waiting in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit as prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28-29).
These Jewish believers began to worship God in foreign languages that were spoken and understood by the Jewish pilgrims.
There was such a loud noise accompanying this experience, that it attracted the attention of the Jewish visitors who went to see what the commotion was all about. Peter then stood up and preached a bold sermon to this Jewish crowd. About 3,000 responded to Peter’s se11non by accepting Jesus as their Messiah and Lord.

This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taldng place on the very day when the Jews were offering the two wave loaves to God and celebrating the Torah symbolizing their dependence on God. One wave loaf represented the Jews and the other the Gentiles who would also receive the Holy spirit in like manner as recorded in Acts 10.
Christian believers can apply the spiritual reality of the Feast of’ Pentecost by being filled with the Spirit of God as Paul wrote, ” … be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5: 18). The Spirit of God gives us power to minister the life of Jesus to those in need.

 

Trumpets

The last feast season is the Feast of Tabernacles. It includes the three feast of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. The LORD gave the following instructions concerning the Feast of Trumpets, ” … In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:23-25).
We see from this Scripture reference that the Feast of Trumpets is on the first day of the seventh month on the religious calendar. This is the Hebrew month of Tishri which corresponds to the months of September and October. Tishri is also the first month on the Jewish civil calendar and is the Jewish New Year. The Hebrew name for this new year is Rosh Hashanah. It is also know as Yom Teruah, the day of blowing of trumpets.

The main purpose of the Feast of Trumpets was to announce the arrival of the seventh month in order to prepare the people for the Day of Atonement which was ten days later. This was the ”Great Day of Judgment” when God would judge the sins of the nation. The Feast of Trumpets reminded the people that the Day of Atonement was at hand.
The day was not marked by any special events other than the blowing of trumpets and the offering of sacrifices (Numbers 29:1-6). The type of trumpet blown was the ram’s horn, for which the Hebrew word is shofar.

God used trumpets in the First Testament as a means of communicating with His covenant people. God could not speak directly to the people without them being terrified. So He spoke to them through the use of trumpets.

To the Hebrews, the sound of the trumpet represented both the voice of God and the might of God in warfare. A good summary of how trumpets were used is provided in the tenth chapter of the book of Numbers. One of the clearest demonstrations of the use of trumpets in warfare is the story of Joshua at the battle of Jericho. (See Joshua 6.) When the people blew the shofar, God gave them victory. The Jews began to call God the ”horn of their salvation.”

King David was the great warrior who said to God, ” … I will love you, 0 LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation; my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:1-3).

Jesus is the ”Hom of our Salvation” who defeats the enemies of our soul. Zechariah said of Jesus, ”Blessed is the Lord of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1 :68-71 ).

By His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan, sin, and death. He gives His followers the Holy Spirit who lives the overcoming life of Jesus through them so they can have a victorious life.
We Christians cannot live this life within our own strength. We must draw our strength from the Spirit of God who comes to live in us. It is the Spirit of God who enables us to overcome the sins of the flesh and temptations of Satan. John wrote, ”You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Paul wrote to believers everywhere, ”Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12).

The armor of God is a description of Jesus Himself. He has defeated sin, Satan and death. It is His very own life given to us and lived out of us that enables us to live the overcoming life. Thank God for Jesus who, as the horn of our salvation, has overcome the enemies of our soul.

The prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets is the return of Jesus which is described in Revelation 19. It is announced by the use of trumpets. John writes, ”Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ [Messiah], and He shall reign forever and ever!’ ” (Revelation 11: 15).

John goes on to say that when Jesus returns He will be coming to make war (Revelation 19: 11 ). He will crush all of His enemies and rule with a rod of iron over a kingdom that will never end. This is the Messianic Kingdom of God that all true believers, be they Jew or non-Jew, long for when King-Messiah establishes the righteous rule of God on the earth.

 

Atonement

The next feast after Trumpets is the Day of Atonement. It is on the tenth day of the month of Tishri. This was the great day of national cleansing and repentance from sin. It was on this day that God judged the sins of the entire nation of Israel. In view of this, the Day of Atonement became known as the Day of Judgment.
Leviticus reads, ”Also on the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you, you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD” (Leviticus 23 :27).
The Day of Atonement was the one day of the year when the High Priest would go behind the veil into the Holy of Holies with the blood sacrifice and sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat. This offering of the innocent substitutionary sacrifice made possible the atonement for the sins of the nation.

The word atonement means ”to cover.” On the great Day of Atonement, the sins of the nation were covered by the blood of the sacrifice. This dramatic procedure is described in detail in Leviticus 16.
Because this was the Day of Judgment, it was a time of great soul affliction. It was a day of godly sorrow, godly repentance and confession of sins. It was a time of mourning before God with a broken spirit and contrite heart. It is the only required day of fasting in the Bible.
The Jews believed that the final judgment and accounting of the soul would come on the Day of Atonement. On this day, the future of every individual would be sealed and the gates of heaven would be closed.
In light of this belief, the Jews perform many good deeds during the ten days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. This ten day period is known as the ”Awesome Days” or the ”Ten Days of Repentance.”
As the people prepare themselves for the Day of Atonement, they greet each other with the phrase, ”May your name be inscribed in the Book of Life.”
Jesus fulfilled the spiritual aspects of the Day of Atonement when He went into the heavenly holy of holies with His own blood which He shed for the sins of the world.

Believers have been forgiven and made clean once and for all by the blood of Jesus. His blood did what the blood of bulls and goats could not do for us. His blood doesn’t just cover our sins, it takes them away to be remembered no more.
We receive this great blessing of forgiveness once and for all when we repent of our sins and, with a broken and contrite spirit, accept Jesus as the innocent substitutionary sacrifice who died in our place. At that moment, our future is sealed by the Holy Spirit and our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This is a finished work of redemption and salvation.
Even though God has forgiven us of our sins, this does not mean that Christians do not need a continuous cleansing in our daily lives. We must judge our sins daily for the purpose of maintaining fellowship with the Lord. In this regard, the blood of Jesus purifies us that we can have continuous fellowship with Him. This is the work of Jesus in purifying His bride.
John spoke of this need with the following words, ”If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus· Christ [Messiah] His Son cleanses us from all sin.
”If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1 :8-9).
Prophetically, the Day of Atonement points to the return of Jesus to judge the earth. This future event will literally be fulfilled on the final great Day of Atonement.
The prophet Zechariah spoke of the future literal fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. Zechariah wrote, ”And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only

son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).
Jesus also referred to this time when speaking about His return to earth. He said, ”Immediately after the tribulation of those da) ‘S the sun ,vill be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars ,vill fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29-30).

 

Tabernacles

The last feast God gave the Hebrews to observe was the Feast of Tabernacles. It was also called the Feast of lngathering because it was at the end of the harvest season and the Feasts of Booths because the Hebrews slept in booths or shelters during the feast (Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:16). It was celebrated during the month of Tishri and lasted for seven days from the fifteenth to the twenty-first. There was also a special Sabbath on the eighth day.
The Feast of Tabernacles celebrated the final ingathering of the harvest God had blessed the people with for the year. The fruit of the land had been reaped so the people could rest from their labors and rejoice in the goodness of God.
Leviticus reads, ” … The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. . .. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
”Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath­rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.
”And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
”You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 23 :34-36, 39-43 ).
We learn from these instructions that the LORD required the Hebrews to dwell in booths or tabernacles to remind them of the years their ancestors wandered in the desert for forty years living in shelters. They were always to remember that the wanderings were brought about by unbelief and disobedience. Yet, God was in their midst providing for their every need and eventually brought them into the land of rest He had promised them.
God required the Hebrews to live in booths during this feast. They were visual aids reminding the people that they did not enter God’s rest because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3 :7-11 ).
The shelters were loosely constructed and decorated and the roofs were covered with branches. This allowed the Hebrews to see through the roofs to heaven and be reminded of an even greater rest and rejoicing when Messiah would rule on the earth.
Thus, the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes the Messianic age when Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth. At that time all the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16).
To the believer, Jesus is the ultimate tabernacle or dwelling place of God in human flesh. John tells us, ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1 : 1, 14 ). Jesus Himself said, ” … He who has seen Me has seen the Father … ” (John 14:9).
God came in human flesh to reveal Himself to us and give rest and rejoicing to our souls by redeeming us from sin. Jesus said, ”Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11 :28-30).
Christians can apply this work of Jesus to their lives personally by walking with God in loving trust and obedience. Believers can experience God’s rest in their lives today.
The writer of the book of Hebrews says, ”There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4 :9-11 ).

 

Hanukkah

Hanukkah was not one of the original Feasts of the LORD. In ancient times it was a relatively minor holiday commemorating the deliverance of the great victory of the Jews over Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) in the second century BC.
Antiochus made a systematic attempt to replace Jewish faith and culture with Greek culture. He was determined to destroy the Jewish people through assimilation. This happened in 167-174 BC and is recorded in the intertestamental book of 1 Maccabees. We learned about this story earlier in Chapter Three when we studied the history of the Jews between the Testaments.

The highlight of the victory was when the Jews rededicated the Temple to God. Traditional Jewish writings explain that the Greek-Syrians desecrated all the oil purified for Temple use.

When the Temple was rededicated, only one small undefiled container was found with the seal still on it. It contained only enough oil to burn the menorah for one day. But after the menorah was kindled, it miraculously burned for eight days.151
Hanukkah was called the Feast of Dedication and the Feast of Lights. While it was not a biblical holiday, Jesus kept the customs of His people and celebrated this feast. We read in John, ”Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch” (John 10:22-23).

How interesting that Jesus was at the Temple during the very feast that celebrated the Jews victory over the enemies of God as well as the rededication of the Temple. In a way that baffled those listening, Jesus related the story of Hanukkah to Himself. He said, ” … Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

Jesus was not talking about the literal Temple which had taken forty-six years to build according to John 2:20-22. Instead, Jesus was talking about His own body. How often we confuse spritual truths with natural observations.
After His ascension, Jesus would build a spiritual temple in the hearts of His followers by sending the Holy Spirit to indwell them. They would then dedicate themselves to God as the light of His life burned brightly in their hearts.

Paul spoke of this to the believers in Corinth, ”Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore Glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Although Hanakkuh has been celebrated for centuries, it has only been recently that it has gained importance. This is probably due to the influence of Christmas since Hanakkuh is celebrated in late December. The date on the Hebrew calendar is the twenty­-fifth of Chislev because this is the date when the Maccabees rededicated the altar to God (1 Maccabees 4:52).
The central focus in celebrating Hanukkah is the eight­branched menorah called a ”hanukkiah.” The hanukkiah has a ninth candle called a Shamash. This word means servant.

The servant candle is used to light the other eight. The candles are placed in the hanukkiah each evening from right to left, with a new candle added each evening during the eight-day celebration. The candles are lit from left to right. So the Shamash is lit first and then the others are lit.

From a New Testament perspective, Jesus is the servant candle who lights our lives with the fire of God. He said to His followers, ”You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 14-16). On Hanukkah the foods are cooked in oil as a reminder of the miracle of the oil when the Temple was rededicated. Many households eat potato pancakes called ” latkes ” and jelly-filled doughnuts fried in oil to commemorate the occasion.

A special game is played on Hanakkuh. It is called ”dreidel. ” A dreidel is a four-sided top which is spun. Each side of the dreidel holds a Hebrew letter. The four letters form an acrostic that means, ”A great miracle happened there.” It refers to the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days when the menorah was lit at the rededication of the Temple.

In Israel, the last word is changed so that the phrase reads, ”a great miracle happened here.” The winner of the dreidel game gets the most Hanukkah gelt (chocolate money).