Beginning with the Feast of Firstfruits, which is always on the first day of the week following Passover (which is what we know as Sunday), 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;” or 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).

Years later 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:

“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).

In addition, God released water in the desert:

“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, whom 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 continued to choose 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).

Join us as we share the “screenplay” of the Spring Feasts that is established in the Old Testament and fulfilled through Christ’s obedience as our “Sacrificial Passover Lamb.”

The Feasts of the LORD are an essential testimony of our Hebrew heritage that begins in Exodus 12 before the death plague came into Egypt. In order for death to “pass-over” the killing of the firstborn, God instructed the children of Israel to put the blood of a lamb over the door posts of their dwelling.  As they were obedient to do so, the Israelites were set free from the enslavement under Pharaoh’s leadership.

Moses then led the children of Israel out, through the parting of the Red Sea, to Mt. Sinai 50 days later. God then used Moses to ask the “Israelites” to marry Him so that they would become His “special treasure.”

“Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people for all the earth is Mine.  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Ex. 19:5,6).

After the children of Israel accepted God’s proposal, the “Groom” created a “certificate of marriage” for “His bride/nation” to abide with Him, known as the  “Tablets of Testimony.”   Signed by the finger of God Himself, these tablets were given to Moses as a sign of God’s love and His heart to be one with His people and a witness for the world to see the one true God.

“Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.  And they said, “all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient” (Ex. 24:7).

The “Feasts” were also a part of that “marriage  certificate” that provided a pattern God established to set aside life to honor those “wedding vows.”  This pattern would prove to not only benefit and bless God’s people with proximity to His presence, but later in time, would serve as the sign and witness of Jesus, the restorer of this “marriage covenant.”

When Christians honor the Feasts today, we honor the Father who sacrificed His Son for us, and we step into our covenant heritage. The Spring Feasts provide the blueprint (screenplay) on how Jesus came to be our Savior and serve as our High Priest. Therefore, when we celebrate the Feasts, WE REMEMBER. The Fall Feasts reveal the blueprint (screenplay) when Jesus returns as a King to judge the nations, along with a wedding celebration for those who have said YES to Him.  Therefore, when we celebrate the Feasts, WE PREPARE FOR HIS ARRIVAL!

“…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood..”(Rev. 1:5)

Let’s review the Spring Feasts screenplay and how it became a “live performance” through the purpose of Jesus’s first coming.  In Ex. 12:2, God declared His Hebrew Covenant Calendar to start on the 1^st of Nisan when He spoke: “This month (Nisan) shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

Then the LORD instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel to select an unblemished male lamb on Nisan 10.  In the New Testament, we read how God selected Jesus to be His unblemished male lamb when John the Baptist prophesied as Jesus approached: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  Three and a half years later, on Nisan 10,  Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the people cried out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest” (Matt. 21:9).

On the eve of the 14^th of Nisan, Jesus was with His disciples at the last “LORD’s Supper.”  It was here that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and broke bread (His body), and drank wine (His Blood) so they had a blueprint of REMEMBRANCE of what He would suffer, yet become afterwards, as the unblemished Lamb who was slain for our sins (Matt. 26:16).

On the morning of the 14^th of Nisan, Jesus was sentenced at 9am and crucified.  This was the same time the unblemished sacrificial lamb was bound according to the law (Mark 15:25).

At noon, three hours of darkness fell on the land (Matt. 27:45). According to the law, no one was allowed to kill the sacrificial lamb in darkness. God prevented any lamb to be slain until Jesus cried out at 3:01, “It is finished.”  After the light returned, the Passover lambs were then slain.

Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down and placed him in a tomb nearby before sundown. According to Ex.12, the “Passover” followed when they ate the lamb that was roasted by the fire with “unleavened bread.”  This they were to do as a memorial and an everlasting ordinance (Ex. 12:14).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to commence that evening and last seven days. (Lev. 23:6).  Because the Israelites left so quickly out of Egypt after the plague of the death of the “firstborn,” they left without any leaven in their bread (Ex. 12:39).  God made it easy for them to follow His instructions. Since leaven typically represents “sin” in the Bible, it foreshadowed how Jesus wiped out the penalty of “sin” through His sacrifice. He Himself had no leaven(sin) in Him because He was faithful to the Father, even while man rejected and killed Him, makes Him the most amazing Savior of the world.

The following day, the soldiers were ordered to camp out at the tomb to make sure no one stole Jesus’ body after they reported to Pontius Pilate:  

“Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise. Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.”  So the last deception will be worse than the first (Matt. 27:63,64).'”

Jesus rose before daybreak on Sunday morning.  When Mary arrived at the tomb, she found it open and empty, and the Roman Soldiers were also missing as they had already left to tell Pilate.  When the sun arose, Mary encountered what she thought was a gardener.  When she recognized it was Jesus, she wanted to touch him.  But Jesus said to her, “Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father.”

The ascension Jesus was referring to was not the event that happened 40 days later when he was seen ascending at the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:3-9). We know this because Jesus allowed the disciples to touch Him later on that evening and he was seen by many for 40 days (John 20:19,20). So Jesus must have ascended to the Father sometime AFTER He talked to Mary and then come back to be seen.  Why is this detail important?

Lev. 23:20 says of the Feast of the First Fruits, “The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord…” In 1 Corinthians 15:20, the scripture says, “Now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep.”

In order for Jesus to fulfill the Feast of Firstfruits, Jesus had to present Himself to the Father at the same time the priest offered up the Firstfruits. Jesus was actually alive before the priest wave offering in the temple, but He could not present Himself “legally” alive in heaven until the third hour (9AM) when the firstfruits offering was presented.  It was then Jesus also presented Himself as the “Firstfruits” offering before the Father on His throne!

Between The Feast of Firstfruits (Resurrection Day as the Church at large knows it) and the Feast of Pentecost is 50 days in which is called Counting of Omer.  (Lev. 23:15-17) After these 50 days, the children of Israel were to offer a new grain (wheat) offering.  On Pentecost, farmers would bring the firstfruits of their spring harvest to the Lord.

The Feast of Pentecost would be patterned in the same time frame as the 50 days it took for the children of Israel to “PASSOVER” from the death plague, leave Egypt, and brought to the base of Mt. Sinai.  Recall that is when then God revealed Himself by thunder, lightning, the cloud of His presence and the sound of His voice heard by all after the acceptance of His proposal (Ex. 19).

In the New Testament, 50 days after Jesus was the Passover sacrifice, his disciples would hear the voice of God speaking in their own language out of the midst of the fire (Deut. 4:12). In Acts 2, we read that on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down like tongues of fire upon the heads of the disciples who were waiting in the Upper Room. They became the new grain offering, the “firstfruits” of the indwelling of His glory presented to the Father since they had “accepted Jesus as Savior and Covenant restorer.” Now the Law was written on their hearts and they were empowered with His truth and to hear His voice and to go forth and share the good news.

Passover was fulfilled by Jesus in the month of Nisan, according to the pattern described in Ex. 12 and Lev. 23. This is why 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, “Messiah has become our Passover.”  Christians today generally don’t celebrate these Feasts of the LORD simply because they don’t understand their significance to Jesus.  Some have not fully grasped they entered into this Hebrew heritage and Covenant when they accepted Jesus as their Lord. But God wants to open up our eyes to our birthright and our inheritance in His marriage Covenant.  And as we abide in His blueprint (screenplay), we begin looking like the “Bride” set apart unto Him.

Join us as we share the blueprint of what to do on April 8th, in the midst of all the signs that are taking place, that follows the footsteps of one of God’s righteous kings in the Old Testament.