The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:4-14.
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:
The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins;
For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.
On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.
And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:4-14.
Offering the First fruits
The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:15-22.
The Festival of Weeks
From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to the Lord. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.
The Feasts of Israel.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:23-25.
The Festival of Trumpets
The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.
Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year is called the Feast of Trumpets in the Bible because it begins the Jewish High Holy Days and Ten Days of Repentance with the blowing of the ram's horn, the shofar, calling God's people together to repent from their sins.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:26-32
The Day of Atonement
The Lord said to Moses, The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of Sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:34-44.
The Festival of Tabernacles
The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.
The Feasts of Israel.
Leviticus 23:34-44. (continued)
The Festival of Tabernacles
So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of Sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees from palms, willows and other leafy trees and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.
The Feasts of Israel.
Pesach or Passover.
Leviticus 23:4.
On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.
The Hebrew word "Pesach" means to pass over, to exempt or to spare. Passover, which begins on the 14th day of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish calendar) celebrates the epic exodus of the nation of Israel out of bondage. The Jews had been slaves in Egypt for generations, but were refused their freedom despite plague after plague being visited by God, on the Egyptians, through Moses. However the night before the final ‘plague’ which caused Pharaoh to change his mind, the Israelites were given very explicit instructions...
They were to sacrifice a lamb and place the blood upon the door posts and lintels of their homes.
See NOTE 1
Pesach or Passover.
That night the angel of God "passed over" the houses of the Jews that were covered by the lamb’s blood, but caused the death of the first-born of all families in the houses that were not. Every year, at the Passover feast there would be a re-enactment of this ritual to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from slavery under the Pharaohs of Egypt.
Exodus 12:1-14.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
See NOTE 1
Pesach or Passover.
Exodus 12:1-14. (continued)
If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.
The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
On the 10th of Nisan, Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the very day the lambs to be slaughtered were selected. He entered the city as the sacrificial Lamb chosen by God, which however was not understood by the people at the time.
Zechariah 9:9.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that It is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war. A king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out he was coming in peace.
Jesus' entry to Jerusalem would thus symbolize his entry as the Prince of Peace, not a war-waging king.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nissan, known traditionally as ‘Palm Sunday”.
Four days later Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover, when the lambs were actually slaughtered. This would have been a Thursday and not a Friday as traditionally celebrated. Friday was taken to be the day of crucifixion as the next day was thought to be the weekly Sabbath, but it was a “High Sabbath” the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15th Nissan)
John 19:14
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. Here is your king, Pilate said to the Jews.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nissan, known traditionally as ‘Palm Sunday”.
John 12:1.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead…. Then in
John 12:12-15.
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel! Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.
This would have been 5 days before the Passover.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Some say Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, some say Thursday and tradition marks it as Friday.
This is a chart illustrating the timeline of those who hold to Thursday as been the day of crucifixion.
Chart of the events surrounding Jesus Crucifixion.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
If Jesus was crucified on the Friday, he would not have been in the grave for 3 days as he predicted, since he rose on the first day of the week which is Sunday!
Matthew 12:40.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Luke 24:1-3.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect.
Just as the lamb was examined by the Israelites to ensure it was without defect, so Jesus was examined and cross examined during the 5 days from 10 to 14 Nissan.
1 Peter 1:18-19.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 21:23-27.
the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. By what authority are you doing these things? they asked. And who gave you this authority? Jesus replied, I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin? They discussed it among themselves and said, If we say, From heaven, he will ask, Then why didn’t you believe him?
But if we say, Of human origin we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, We don’t know. Then he said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 22:15-22.
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. Teacher, they said, we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, Whose image is this? And whose inscription? Caesar’s, they replied. Then he said to them, So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 22:23-27.
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. Teacher, they said, Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.
Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 22:23-27.
Jesus replied, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead have you not read what God said to you, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 22:34-40.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it:
Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
John 19:4.
Pilate said
“I find no fault with him”.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Matthew 26:57-60.
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.
But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The Passover lamb was to be a male without defect. (continued)
Luke 23:13-15.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us;
John 19:4.
Pilate said “I find no fault with him”.
Just like the Passover lamb was scrutinized to ensure it was without fault or defect so Jesus was examined and no fault was found.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Jesus bones remained unbroken, which was the stipulation for the Passover Lamb.
Exodus 12:46.
Take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.
Death of Christ on the cross. Typically, a crucifixion victim's legs were broken to hasten death. According to the Gospel of John, when soldiers came to break Jesus' legs, they found him already dead. A soldier pierced his side with a lance; blood and water poured from the wound Breaking the legs ensured that death by asphyxiation followed very quickly. However, while the Romans broke the legs of the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus, they did not do so with Jesus who was already dead.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Jesus bones remained unbroken
John 19:31-34.
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken, and, as another scripture says, They will look on the one they have pierced.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
However the full extent of the symbolism is only realized when viewed from a Christian perspective. John the Baptist called Jesus
John 1:29.
Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. A fact that Paul emphasized
1 Corinthians. 5:7.
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
As the destroyer "passed over" every home on which he saw the blood of the lamb, so God will "pass over," (not execute judgment) every Christian who applied the blood of the lamb Jesus.
See NOTE 1
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The blood of the Lamb was to be applied for deliverance.
Exodus 12:7 & 13.
Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs…
The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
The blood of the Lamb was to be applied for deliverance.
Revelation 7:9-14.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb……..
Then one of the elders asked me, These in white robes who are they, and where did they come from? I answered, Sir, you know. And he said, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover symbolically, and literally.
Hebrews 10:1-14.
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves.
For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, Here I am it is written about me in the scroll I have come to do your will, my God. First he said, Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, Here I am, I have come to do your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
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