This Passover (which was on Good Friday this year), many shared that they experienced an overwhelming presence of God.  I believe it was God’s signature to us all that His Calendar Blueprint is relevant for us to abide in. As we honor it, we can better understand the signs of the time and eventually become God’s sign. The Feast of Pentecost will be another SET TIME that the Church will celebrate by default “on God’s appointed time.”

Even though there is a “holy” calendar created by man, which doesn’t match the one God established Himself,  this did not surprise God.  For He did not stop this false calendar, but prophesied of it:

“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to CHANGE TIMES AND LAW.  Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, and times, and a half of time” (Dan. 7:7:25).

It’s not my intention in this blog to explain what the meaning of time equates to in this past scripture.  I am merely pointing out that Satan intended to shift our understanding of God’s time and law so he could then strip our dominion and authority here on the earth.  He used these two keys of TIME and LAW to cause disunity amongst the body of Christ, and as a result, produce multiple denominations with differing foundations of truth.  This is one reason why the Church has had no governing influence in the earth right now.  But this year, the calendars have coincided, which is a sign in itself that it’s God’s time to reveal it.  So let’s talk about it…..

There are 7 Feasts in the Bible that represent God’s yearly “Holy Calendar,” that in their totality, share His love story of redemption for mankind.  Individually, each Feast represents a “chapter” in God’s love story of how He is going to execute His redemption plan.  However, the first four chapters (known as the Spring Feasts) focus on individual redemption, while the last three chapters (known as the Fall Feasts) are focused on fulfilling the promise of national redemption.  And in between the fourth and fifth chapter is a 2,000 year intermission for the individual seeds to multiply so a national seed can form (Lev. 23; Ex. 23).

Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts during His first coming, and He will fulfill the Fall Feasts at His second coming. Understanding their significance will help the body of Christ to “be ready.”  God’s SET TIME for Jesus to return is soon, so the Father’s focus is forming His national seed into ONE.  God’s blueprint made way for each individual seed to fit perfectly in its identity, function, and position to MOVE in unison with ALL the individual seeds as ONE body (national seed), with the HEAD- JESUS.  Where the Head goes, the body goes!

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made.  He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed’, who is Christ”(Gal. 3:16).

If we look at the state of the Church as a whole today, we have a lot of Christian “body parts” all functioning at their own speed, in their own way, without being connected into the foundation of God’s design on how they fit with rest of the body parts.

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12).

However, God didn’t leave us empty-handed on how to come together as one.  His Word always gives us the solution.  The blueprint of the Feasts calendar is one key in helping the “body parts” come together under the “HEAD” in timing and purpose of heart, but 3 of these Feasts are foundational.  For the sake of simplicity, I am going to refer to these 3 Feasts as PASSOVER, PENTECOST, and TABERNACLES.

These 3 Feasts were “sets apart” to not only use to connect us corporately (into ONE SEED), but also to use as a tool to honor God’s blueprint of sowing and reaping.

“THREE times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Celebration of Passover proceeds it), at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you” (Deut. 16:16,17).

“For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year”(Ex. 35:24).

During Passover, the children of Israel were to bring the first of their barley harvest to the Lord.  50 days later at Pentecost, they were to bring to the Lord the first of their wheat harvest.  And finally, during Tabernacles, they were to bring the first of their grape harvest. Those who gave God the “firstfruits” of their 3 seasonal harvests, He promised to bless their land, subdue their enemy, and enlarge their territory of dominion.  Are you kidding?  This is an amazing blueprint of provision, that if we adopted in our hearts, I believe we would not only see fruitfulness in our own lives, but also in our nation.  But that’s not all.  Remember, WE are the Lord’s “firstfruits.”

Why were these 3 Feasts, that required “firstfruits,” “set apart” in the blueprint of God for ALL to come together in? Let’s keep exploring the “pattern.”

It is through these 3 Feasts that God chose to establish a pattern of the 3 stages (harvests) the “firstfruits” Church would be destined to go through individually and nationally in the restoration process with our relationship with God: First, Justified. Second, Sanctified. And third, Glorified.  

The blueprint of the making of the Tabernacle found in Ex.35-40 mirrors these three stages as well, as it too is broken down into three parts; the Outer Court, the Holy Place (Sanctuary), and the “Holy of holies.”

The Lord shares with us in the New Testament that He instructed Moses to establish an earthly “pattern”  that would be a copy of heaven’s redemption plan through Christ:

“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the PATTERN that he had seen” (Acts 7:44).

The outer court of the Tabernacle was “ground zero” for ALL to come and bring their offerings.  It represents the heart of “Passover,” covering ALL, who by faith, covered their doorposts (hearts) with the blood of the lamb. Jesus became our Passover lamb, and it is our belief in Him as our Savior that we are JUSTIFIED BY FAITH.  This is His free gift of eternal life that we cannot earn.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”(Rom. 5:1).

Being “justified by faith” also grants us access into the Tabernacle and the presence of God:

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.  God Himself will be with them and be their God”(Rev. 21:3).

The second stage is Pentecost, which is tied to the wheat harvest. Jesus spends a lot of time through parables teaching us about the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13).  The Lord’s purpose in teaching the disciples was to help them understand the principles of “becoming “Christ-like,” which can only happen through a process of SANCTIFICATION.  In this process, we learn what it means to be a part of His family, and to become more like “Our Father.”

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”(1Thes. 5:23).

As we accept the Lord’s sanctification process, and learn obedience and truth through the journey, we are accepting His training to become “priests”  unto Him.  Coincidently, the second partition of the Tabernacle, which was called the “Holy Place,” was where the priests alone had access.

The difference between the Old and New Covenant “priests” is that we who have accepted Christ have become “priests;” or in other words, ones “set apart” for God’s service. We do not get “qualified” on our own credentials or merit to be “priests.”  We do so because we have a High Priest, Jesus, who has gone before us and qualifies us through His eternal sacrifice.

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered fro us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:19,20).

Our “High Priest” has equipped us for the job of becoming like Him by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells in each of us to teach us God’s truth and power.  This is the process the Church at large is in today:  We are in training to get rid of the tares (our sinful nature that opposes God’s truth and ways), and become like wheat.

“Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil that is His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:19-23).

The final stage is the place we are all eagerly waiting for, which is Tabernacles, when we are completely abiding in Christ and dwelling in the FULLNESS OF HIS GLORY.  It is in this third stage that we also experience resurrection from the grave and receive our glorified bodies.  We then, form ONE national SEED, and become the “new wine” or the “firstfruits” remnant who are transformed as Christ was into His glorified body.

“For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed (in His glory), that mortality (death) may be swallowed up by life.  Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 5:4,5).

Tabernacles is the time frame of the Millennium, when we reign with Christ as priests here on the earth.   This is symbolic of the third partition of the Tabernacle called “The Holy of Holies,” in which the High priest alone was able to go in once a year.  Given that Jesus is our “High Priest,” and presented Himself to the Father as the “Firstfruits,”we who are abiding in Christ will then become His “firstfruits” Bride.

“But each one is in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, afterward this who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1 Cor. 15:23).

We have been learning obedience through the things we have suffered (sanctification process), as we come to rest in a place in our heart that says, “Not my will but your will be done.” We choose to “overcome,” so that at God’s SET TIME, we can enter into the “Holy of Holies” and get glorified bodies as Christ did after He presented Himself to the Father (Heb. 5:8).  In this stage of our relationship, it is like becoming married, when the “two become ONE.”

The question is:  How can the body of Christ become the Bride of Christ IF they are not abiding in His ways?  It is by abiding in God’s blueprint of SET TIME, specifically, these 3 Feasts, which God will use in the earth to form His Bride.  Christ formed the blueprint, because He is the WORD.  Christ manifested Himself as the blueprint, when He came into the earth as the Son of man.  And Christ will come back to govern His blueprint.  It is the SAME BLUEPRINT, but in each AGE, it has gone from glory to glory until one day, the glory of God will fill the earth.

“After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened” (Rev. 15:5).

 

 

 

 

 

In the last blog, I wrote about the 50-day time period between Passover and Pentecost, which is the same time frame we are experiencing today in the Hebrew Calendar.  I feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to keep sharing more regarding this time frame and it’s relevance for us today.

One of the key things the children of Israel experienced during the 50-day period were “testings” to reveal where their trust level was in the God.  They were accustomed to a familiar pattern of provision (even as little as it was) that was given for their performance as slaves to Pharaoh.  They were also familiar with their bondage, which for some, actually brought unconscious comfort to their souls.

This guarantee of provision, as oppressive and little as it was, was at least a “comfort” guarantee.  The ability to count on something that is known, rather than take a chance at trusting something better is one of the reasons why the children of Israel almost aborted what God wanted to do through them.  If not for Moses….

There is a huge test the body of Christ is going through right now.  God has been stretching us to a place “unknown” and “unfamiliar” than what the Church at large has been conditioned to.  We are being called to be God’s risk takers, but the risk is in stepping out in obedience to the places that are unfamiliar to our religious culture.   WE MUST PRESS ON TO THE HIGHER CALL.  That takes a whole lot of uncomfortable, and zero complaining in the midst of the journey which we could not do on our own.  If not for Jesus…..

God is speaking directly to us through Deut. 8:1-3:

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and TEST you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

These 50-days are a part of God’s final exams for those God has hidden for a season.  After studying all these years, taking quizzes along the way as to how to transition and breakthrough into the Tabernacles Age, we are coming toward the finish line called “REST.” The journey has brought us outside the “box” the Church has been in, processing what is truth, standing against rejection, persecution and injustice, and rising above it all in humility.

Jesus is going to be our Commander in Chief and lead us all in one rhythm.  He is drawing us closer to that “SUDDENLY,” when fire is released from heaven, and the landscape shifts us to ONE WITH CHRIST.  But for now, we are in the process of “end of semester” testings to see if we have learned to humble ourselves, choosing to abide in His ways, His timing, and His truth.

Many of us have experienced an excitement in our Spirit about what is about to transpire.  WE are all anticipating something, but cannot see anything anything quite yet.  Sound familiar?  So did the children of Israel in the wilderness.   We are all being tested NOT to grumble and complain as we continue to WAIT for the Promise, the full measure of His glory, to be sent from the Father.

Many have been given a vision to build that seems to have tarried so long.  And our hearts have been revived in that vision because God has poured a fresh anointing on it this Hebrew Year.  But we still haven’t been granted access to the treasury of God’s rich resources.  Are we fighting off discouragement that keeps knocking on the door of our hearts, questioning where we are?  Join the army who are wrestling too!

You may be wondering: What is the hold up?  And the answer is that the release comes in God’s SET time.  The Feast of Pentecost is another SET TIME that will release an increase for sure.  Remember, we are in the seed sowing months that WILL produce a harvest.  But TIME AND PATIENCE must be applied.  Our destinies are tied to a corporate movement that is on a SET time.  And watering those seeds with the Word, prayer, and obedience will produce that harvest to come.

Abraham was told there was a SET time when Sarah would be pregnant and produce a seed that would multiply into nations:  

“But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this SET time next year” (Gen. 17:21).

Jesus had a SET time when He was to die:

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these saying, that He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified'” (Matt. 26:1, 2). 

Jesus has a SET time when He will return for the nations:

“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” (Matt. 24:30).

And so we wait. But we wait in REST, knowing that God is faithful to perform His word:

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.  Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  And let patience have its perfect work, that you would be perfect and complete, lack nothing”(James 1:2-4).

Rest does not mean we don’t do anything.  On the contrary.  This month, we boldly go to the throne and pray so we can receive from heaven instruction from the Father of what He wants to reveal.  This month then is characterized by intercession and reflection of His light.  And so here is our command for these next 30 days of Iyar:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

But we need to do so like this:

“But let him ask in FAITH, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

We cannot receive anything if we are in doubt, so we must remain in God’s REST and trust He is in control. Our destiny and circumstances are tied to a much grander picture that connects us to others in the body of Christ, and we are all in the palm of God’s hand.  

“For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:7,8).

What then comes on the other side of REST and TRUST?  GLORY!  Is this not why the disciples went back into the most hostile environment, Jerusalem, because the Lord directed them so?  And did they not question this command, but waited in the upper room, in one accord?  How can we have one accord if there is doubt?  We cannot.  Because doubt creates a double-minded body of believers.  In the place of rest, faith and trust, THE  PROMISE WAS SENT, and it came SUDDENLY.

We too must have that poise, and our hearts SET ON HIS TIME ….UNTIL…GLORY!

 

Beginning with the Feast of Firstfruits, which is always on the first day of the week following Passover, God instructed the children of Israel to count 50 days (or 7 Sabbaths) to the time they were to celebrate the fourth Feast called the “Feast of Weeks;” most commonly known as Pentecost.

“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that your brought 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” (Lev. 23:15,16).

These 50 days were a significant reminder of the timespan between leaving Egypt and coming to the base of Mt. Sinai (Ex. 15-19).  

“In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai”(Ex. 19:1).

Later on in the New Testament, this same 50 day Feast blueprint corresponded to the time frame when Jesus visited His disciples after He was raised from the dead:  

“Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight’ (Luke 24:30,31).

On the 50th day in the Old Testament, God revealed Himself by fire after speaking to the people His proposal of marriage to the Israelites:

“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. It’s smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly”(Ex. 19:17,18).

On the 50th day in the New Testament, the disciples were gathered together in the “upper room” when the Holy Spirit came upon them like fire:

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each other them” (Acts 2:2-4).

Within the 50 day blueprint, God chose to “court” the Hebrews in the Wilderness by revealing His love through His provision and protection, meeting their needs and kindling their faith in Him, even while they were complaining.

In the New Testament, Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples intimately after His resurrection, showing them His hands and feet; eating, sharing, and encouraging the disciples He loved.  

So how did God reveal Himself to the Hebrews in the 50 day wilderness journey to Mount Sinai that was reflective of Christ Himself, coming in the flesh to restore that bond of love?  

One of the first ways God revealed Himself is when He performed a miracle by turning bitter waters sweet and releasing water in the desert:

“So Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree.  When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (Ex. 15:25).

“Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, so they camped there by the waters” (Ex. 15:27).

Jesus would later reveal Himself in this pattern through the New Covenant.  Those who were thirsty for truth and believed in Him would receive His living water. Christians would then have the ability to use that life flow to reach out to others with God’s love.

“And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17).

After God provided water in the Wilderness, the Israelites soon complained about being hungry. God revealed Himself again through the supernatural unleavened manna:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.  And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in MY law or not.”

This  bread that fell from the sky, known as “manna,” would be the tool God would use to introduce the Sabbath rest, prophesying of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, who by His sacrifice, would provide rest for all creation in heaven and earth through reconciliation with the Father.

“Then Moses said, ‘Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none” (Ex. 16:25,26).

Jesus would later declare that He was the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5), and that He was our provision, telling us He was the “bread of life” for those who believed in Him:

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).

The third time God revealed Himself intimately in the midst of the 50 day Wilderness journey was when He provided protection and strength when the Amalekites were attacking the Israelites.

“Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.  And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek.  Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand…….So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword” (Ex. 17:8,9,13).

Jesus would conquer Satan through His death and resurrection, taking dominion over the enemy permanently, and giving us the ability to have dominion over the enemy as well:

“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His might power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion” (Eph. 1:19-21).

Jesus perfected the pattern “…which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col 2:17).

As we can see through the whole wilderness experience and the New Testament disciples, the people God chose lost heart and complained, even after experiencing God’s miracles.  And yet, God still chose them.   If we know Christ, He chose us as well, not because of our faithfulness, but because He loves us, flaws and all.  As we begin to recognize how Christ IS the substance of these Feast blueprints, our hearts are moved to set aside time to give thanks and to honor our Savior.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruits, and that your fruit” (John 15:16).

Have you ever wondered why we have adopted a 2-day blueprint of the Lord’s death and resurrection by celebrating Good Friday and then Easter Sunday, and yet Jesus prophesied Himself that His blueprint would be 3 days and 3 nights?

“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 (Matt. 12:40).

It is so difficult for Christians to unlearn the idea that Jesus died on a Friday, or that we need to celebrate His death on a Friday.  But God’s calendar is a lunar calendar, and even though Passover is always celebrated on Nissan 14, it doesn’t fall on the same day of the week each year.  So what day of the week was it when Jesus died?

In order for us to follow scriptures to see how Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feast Blueprint, we must first recognize that there were TWO Sabbaths that existed during the week Jesus died and rose from the dead.  The first was the “Sabbath” of the Feast of Unleavened bread (Lev. 23:6), also called a “High Holy Day:”

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away”(John 19:31).

The second was the weekly Sabbath:

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb” (Matt. 28:1)

Before both the Feast and weekly Sabbath, the Hebrews had what they called a “Preparation Day” in which all the work was done so they could “rest and cease from work” as the Lord commanded on these “holy days.”   The first Preparation Day was to prepare for the Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

“That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath (First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread) drew near” (Luke 23:54).

The second Preparation Day they prepared for was the weekly Sabbath that went from Friday night to Saturday night.  It was the weekly Sabbath that the scriptures refer to when the women came to the tomb after their Sabbath and found it opened:

“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:12).

Reviewing the events that transpired, Jesus died at 3PM before the Passover meal, becoming the sacrificial lamb for the Passover (John 1:29). During the day he was crucified, it was considered a “Preparation Day” until sundown.

It became dark for 3 hours between 12-3pm prior to when Jesus died.  

“Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour” (Luke 23:44).

This darkness prevented the priests to kill any of the lambs in preparation for Passover in order to fulfill John the Baptist proclamation that Jesus was THE sacrificial Passover lamb.

“Behold!  the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

The Jewish historian, Josephus, states that the killing of the lamb was between 3-5pm. Joseph of Arimathea offered to use his empty tomb to bury the body before sundown because it had to be done before the “High Holy Day” of the Feast of Unleavened Bread started (Matt.27:57-60). This tomb was in a garden nearby.

Mary, Mary, and Salome went out after the “High Holy Day” on Friday morning to buy spices and oils to put on Jesus body that was in the tomb. That day they prepared the spices. By evening, they had to “rest” because it was the weekly Sabbath. Once the weekly Sabbath was over (Sat, at sundown), they were able to visit the tomb with the spices. They went to the tomb while it was still dark very early on Sunday morning, and discovered the tomb empty.

“Now on the FIRST day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1).

According to the Law, The Feast of Firstfruits always followed the Sabbath that came after Passover. The Priest was to take a sheaf of the firstfruits of everyone’s harvest and wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on their behalf (Lev. 23:11).

It also goes on to say that when they wave the sheaf offering, they were to also offer a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering (consecration) to the Lord.

Jesus, as the “Firstfruits,” presented Himself to the Father on that FIRST day of the week.

Using the Feast Blueprint, the year Jesus fulfilled these Spring Feasts, Passover was at twilight on Weds, followed immediately by the “High Holy Day” of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Three days and three nights later brings us to the “first day” (Sunday).  But this information doesn’t shift us to celebrate Passover on Weds. now instead of Fridays.  It shifts us to honor it on the day God told us to which is the 14th day of Nisan.  That day changes each year according to the lunar calendar.  But the Feast of Firstfruits is ALWAYS celebrated on Sunday, which just happened to line up with Easter this year.

There is much controversy about what day Jesus actually died.  Some scholars will share that the 3 days and 3 nights was just a phrase used in the culture in those days and was not literal.  But even in the story of Jonah, which the Lord Himself references when speaking, the days and nights are specifically laid out.

“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.  And Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days and 3 nights” (Jonah 1:17).

One thing we do know in studying church history is that Good Friday and Easter were introduced in the 3rd and 4th Century.  While the pagan holidays were being celebrated on those days, the leaders of the Church decided to create these holidays to lure some of the people who were following pagan deities toward Christ.  In the end, they created the very thing they were opposing: a man-made holiday.

As significant as this SIGN would be concerning Jesus dying and rising from the dead, it would seem that God would make it plain for all to understand especially since this SIGN separates Jesus from all other “gods” man has formed into a religion.

 

After Passover was celebrated, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread commenced, the children of Israel were instructed to celebrate a third Feast to “set apart” provision in the Lord’s honor.  This was the Feast of Firstfruits, and was celebrated on the day after the weekly Sabbath following Passover (which was the FIRST day, meaning Sunday) of the week.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was a week long celebration, was still in progress while this third Feast was executed. (Today, we can take to heart it’s meaning and celebration as the New Testament scriptures direct us how:

“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5:6-8).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread prophesied to the world that Jesus was the “Bread of Life” as His sinless (unleavened) sacrifice would connect us to the source of life:

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

However, in order to make way for a harvest (Christians) to become like Him, Jesus had to die as a sinless sacrifice, take the keys of Hades (overcome death because He had no “leaven” in Him) and RISE and present Himself as a “first fruits offering” to the Father. 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24).

The resurrection of Jesus was amazing.  But it had to go through the “set apart” process of becoming “holy and acceptable to the Father.”  This completion process happened on the Feast of Firstfruits.

“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16).

The Gospel of John verifies this timing and fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits.  After three days and nights since the crucifixion of Christ, Mary visited the tomb early Sunday morning while it was STILL DARK.  Mary discovered the tomb open and empty, and began weeping.  Two angels appeared and said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”  Mary answered that she didn’t know where Jesus was, and when she turned to speak, Jesus was standing there but she didn’t recognize Him.  When she heard His voice, she knew it was Jesus, but He commanded her this:

“Do not cling to ME, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God'”(John 20:17). 

The reason Jesus had not yet ascended is because He was waiting to offer Himself up to the Father at the EXACT time the Firstfruits Offering was offered up by the High Priest to fulfill the Feast blueprint (Lev. 23:11).  

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20).

Later that evening, when He appeared to the disciples, Jesus showed them His hands and feet, ate and drank, and allowed Thomas to touch him.  He could do this now because He had already presented Himself as the “first fruits” offering, crowned High Priest and King, and transformed into His glorified body. Now Jesus could ascend and descend from heaven to earth to be seen by many witnesses, which He continued to do so for 40 days. He was then taken until the next SET TIME.  But between now and then, Jesus would send us a helper, a “first fruits” deposit of His glory, to comfort us.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO GOD’S NEXT “SET TIME” WHEN JESUS WILL RETURN FOR THE HARVEST. WE TOO WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE FATHER AND RECEIVE OUR GLORIFIED BODIES!  THIS IS OUR “HOPE OF GLORY!”

“But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1Cor. 15:23).

 

 

Passover and the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread basically happen in succession which makes it a bit difficult to discern between the two, but I will attempt to do so very simply.  Passover begins at twilight on the 14th day of Nissan (sundown).  And since the next Hebrew day begins after sundown, the Feast of Unleavened Bread commences after Passover at the beginning of the 15th day of Nissan.  Literally, one rolls into the next.

Both Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were established as a blueprint to remember how God delivered the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh and the death plague.  And because of the the rapid exit that the children of Israel made out of Egypt, they didn’t have any time to allow the bread to go through the leavening process.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long Feast (Lev. 23: 6).The first day and seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were considered “High Holy Days, or also referred to as “Sabbaths.” These “Sabbaths” were similar to a weekly Sabbath in that all the children of Israel were to cease from work and rest.  But the “High Holy Days” were specific to the Sabbaths of the Feast days and were SET TIMES God chose to be set apart :

” Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”

Most Christians would read these New Testament scriptures and never know their is a difference between the Sabbaths.  But understanding the distinction helps to break down the truth of the events that happened when Jesus fulfill scriptures and became the sacrificial Passover lamb.

The word “Holy Convocation” actually means “dress rehearsal.”  God Himself tells us that celebrating these Feasts are a “dress rehearsal” for when Jesus arrives on the scene here on the earth to take on the primary role of the purpose of the Feast, which collectively, are all a part of God’s master plan of redemption.

The word “Feasts” means “divine appointment.”  God orchestrated His Feast blueprint to reveal His “SET APART TIME” to reconcile heaven and earth.  Christ Himself knew when it was His time to begin His ministry, and when it was His time to go to the cross.  This is why Jesus went willingly when the Roman soldiers came to take him away.

In thinking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I am in awe of a few things.  It is impossible to be righteous without Christ which most of us understand and is why we ask Jesus to be our Savior.  But it is equally impossible to try and be a “perfect” Christian.  If you have ever tried to edit a book, or made sure a room was germ free, or cleaned your house, you know how hard it is to get it completely free of dirt, errors, or invaders.  Getting rid of the leaven in our lives as Christians is all a part of the journey of “sanctification.”

Even though Jesus covers our sins, the wages of sin (death) has not been removed from our bodies as of yet.  We can rest knowing that JESUS was without ANY leaven.  HE alone is perfection.  And in Him, we can abide in His perfection.  But it takes time for our soul to understand this truth.  And it will take Jesus coming back until we get bodies that have NO death in them but are a reflection of His glory.

The greatest difference between the Old and New Covenant is this:  In the Old Covenant, man was trying to work at meeting the requirements of Covenant with God.  But in the New Covenant, man rests in the knowledge that the requirements of Covenant have already been perfected.  The Old Covenant places trust in man’s effort.  The New Covenant places trust in God’s finished work.  When we get to the place in our hearts that we can rest in that knowledge, we have removed the “leaven” from our hearts and are “abiding in Christ alone!”