Feasts of the Lord and His Calendar
I went to a high school in Chicago where 95% of the students were Jewish. I learned there were days called “Jewish holidays” which gave my Jewish friends extra days off from school.
That was the extent of my knowledge about those days until about 20 years ago, when I learned that God has a calendar and that it is not the one we use. I thought that was interesting, and then learned that those “Jewish holidays” were dates that He had set on His calendar in the Old Testament. I learned, too, that those dates were called “Feasts” and were to be celebrated forever, and that Jesus and His followers always celebrated them.
God’s Feasts are called “moedim”, times which God has chosen to meet with His people. The word does not solely mean a festive time or a season of celebration. It is a time to remember and reflect on all of the times when God revealed Himself as mighty and strong, loving and holy. They are times which God chose for His people to come together, where He would be in their midst.
Sounds very special to me! What a surprise to learn that God wrote His plan of Redemption into His moedim, His Feast days – all of His Feasts focus on the Messiah!
The spring Feasts point to Jesus’ first coming. The first is Passover, which celebrates the exodus of Israelites from Egypt and their freedom from bondage. Next comes the Feast of Unleavened Bread – seven days dedicated to getting the leaven/sin out of the houses.
Then comes the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost/Shavuot, near the end of spring. It has meaning for both Jews and Gentiles. I was amazed to learn that the very day God gave the tablets to Moses is the day that He poured out His Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. This festival originally celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. Because Jesus was accepted as a perfect offering – the literal First Fruit – we will be accepted, too!
What we see here is that Shavuot/Pentecost was a two-fold fulfillment, the giving of the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD in the OLD COVENANT (through Abraham), and the giving of the LIVING WORD OF GOD in the NEW COVENANT (in Jesus, the Messiah). Jew and Gentile – one under Messiah. All people (Jew and Gentile) will eventually be brought to the Father under the New Covenant, which is the fulfillment of the everlasting (Abrahamic) covenant.
That is rich and revelatory!
The Fall Feasts center around Jesus’ second coming. The first is the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, followed by the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. It is a day of fasting and prayer. It was the only day that the high priest could go into the temple to make a sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people. Just wait until you learn about the two goats and the amazing representation of Jesus!
The last feast is Sukkot, or the feast of Tabernacles. It’s traditional for Jews to live in a tent or temporary dwelling for a week, in order to remember the Hebrews’ journey through the desert. And it reminds us that this journey on earth is also temporary, and our bodies are just temporary dwellings. It is not our permanent destination. The best is yet to come!
Hannukah and Purim are additional days of celebration, both of which celebrate the freedom of the Hebrew people from their enemies.
God’s calendar and the way He set up time leads to another adventure. You’ll see that our current calendar is quite flimsy and built on man’s thoughts and ways – even going into idolatry with the names of our days and months. You’ll also have insights into all those references to signs in the sky and the roots of both Easter and Christmas.
Should we as gentiles celebrate these Feasts of the Lord? It is not a “have to” – it’s a “get to”! You’ll find a new richness to Scripture as you uncover these very special occasions set up by the Creator of all things and held in place by Jesus.
Enjoy!
