Prophecy in the Feasts
The seven feasts of God established in Leviticus 23 were prophetic guidelines God put in place to direct his people, keep them set apart as his special family, protect them, and to teach them to walk in the paths he charted for them from Genesis to Revelation. This prophecy is personal and extends to each one of us today. Each individual is free to choose God’s plan for their life which, of course, means you’re in charge of your own destiny, just by choosing the right king in your life. Jesus fulfills each one of these feasts.
Three feasts occur in spring: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Fifty days later is Pentecost, followed by the final three Feasts in the fall: Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.
Passover / Pesach (Salvation)
God covered sins using the blood of the lamb throughout the entire Old Testament. Since Adam and Eve had chosen sin by following Satan, the floodgates of evil were open to all mankind. So God prepared a plan to redeem people back into his protection, to get them back into the place he had prepared for them, his perfect place. God even entered into a blood covenant with his friend Abram, with the unusual promise that God would take the penalty for both sides of the covenant.
We know that years later, God sent his people to Egypt to protect them, through Joseph, from an upcoming famine. But throughout the subsequent 400 years of slavery, Egypt’s Pharaohs turned on God’s people and they cried out to God to save them. God rescued his people from Egypt through an amazing series of miracles, the last of which was to save them from death by killing a spotless lamb and covering the top of their doors and both sides of the doorposts with its blood. When they entered through the blood and closed the door, they would not receive the penalty God placed on the Egyptians. The Father’s ‘Passover Protection Declaration’ promised that God would stand guard over, protect, and defend his children. He would refuse the destroyer entry into their homes, causing the destruction to ‘pass over’ them. You will note that Christ’s death on the cross at Passover reveals his blood at the top of the cross and on both sides, mirroring that of the blood of the Passover lamb over the door, which they would understand was from the sacrificial lamb. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Passover.
Unleavened Bread / Hag HaMatzah (Die to Self)
In preparation for Passover, for 7 days leaven (yeast) is not allowed in the process of making bread. Leaven represents sin. The number ‘seven’ is the number of perfection, and refers to the spiritual values of creation and rest. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a call to walk in sinless spirituality, celebrating the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35. Jesus was sinless and fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
First Fruits / Bikkurim (Honor YHVH)
The Feast of First Fruits begins the Sabbath following Unleavened Bread. God’s people were to bring the early crops of their spring harvest to the priest at the Temple to be waved before the Lord on their behalf. “When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” Lev 23:10-11
Christ was risen on the Feast of First Fruits. “Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his own blood on the cross.” Colossians 1:18-20. Jesus fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits.
Pentecost / Shavuot (Law & Spirit Given)
The Feast of Pentecost is also called the Feast of Weeks to the Lord. The first Pentecost occurred in the wilderness 50 days after the first Passover when God descended from the heavens in a cloud, standing on a paved work of translucent sapphire stone, and called Moses to the mount and gave him the Law.
The first Pentecost In the New Testament occurred 50 days after Jesus’ death on the cross when God sent his Holy Spirit. The cross reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to God in one body and by one Spirit, that of Jesus, when he became the sacrificial lamb. The symbolism is set forth by the two wave loaves presented before the Lord: one sheaf of grain was waved on the Feast of First Fruits and 50 days later the priest waved a meal offering of two loaves with leaven before the Father. The loaves, with leaven, were made of the same grain reaped from the same field as the one sheaf waved on the Feast of First Fruits. The two loaves represented the Jews and the Gentiles. Both had shown hostility against Christ, and God concluded there was no difference. The cross reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to God in one body and by one Spirit; both have access to the Holy Spirit. The addition of leaven to the meal offering exemplifies the purity of Christ against the sin and corruption of God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles alike. Lev 23:15-22. Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost.
Trumpets / Rosh Hashanah (Repentance)
The first of the fall feasts is Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and represents redemption. It is a two-day feast. This memorial of blowing trumpets occurred at the end of the fall harvest. At the sound of the trumpets, farmers dropped what they were doing and came from the fields to the temple to praise God for his abundant provisions. The Feast of Trumpets is also a prophetic type and refers to the future harvest of God’s people, called the Rapture. The great interval between the feasts of Pentecost and Trumpets represents time allowed for the work of the Holy Spirit.
- “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord” Leviticus 23:23-24.
This Feast points us to the Rapture, God’s temporary and permanent protection of, and provision for his people, not only in the wilderness and in the Temple, but also the Lord’s shelter during the last 7 years of severe tribulation.
- “Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation passes over. For, behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20-21
- “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left….” Isaiah 11:11
- “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
The entire prophecy from Genesis to Revelation centers on obedience to God through thanksgiving, repentance and acceptance of his son, Jesus the Christ, the sinless lamb, the bread of life; he is our redemption. Jesus fulfills the Feast of Trumpets.
Atonement / Yom Kippur (Redemption)
The Feast of Atonement is also a prophetic type and refers to a distinction between two goats, representing (1) sinners without a savior, and (2) sinners whose God carried their penalty away from his people and nailed it on the cross.
- “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. Leviticus 23:26-27
- “And he [Aaron] shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” Leviticus 16:5-10
- “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. There is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.” From Romans 5
The Feast of Atonement appears to be not only an annual time of focused repentance for each of God’s children, but also signals the coming final seven years of tribulation. Isaiah 11:11 refers to two Rapture events, one clearly prior to the Great Tribulation, and the second one at the end of the Great Tribulation, prior to the Judgment.
During the ‘second-chance’ Rapture in the end times, those who missed salvation during the first Rapture, but are still alive, will have a second chance to make atonement and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. At the end of the tribulation, the second Rapture will pluck up those who accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation during that Great Tribulation. Atonement comes through the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfills the Feast of Atonement.
Tabernacles / Sukkoth (Celebration)
The Feast of Tabernacles is a celebration of God’s continued provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness. Each family would build and live in a booth outside of their home for 7 days. This weeklong celebration, also called the Feast of Booths, or Shelters, begins five days after the Day of Atonement.
The seventh and last Feast of God begins on the 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri.
- “The fifteen day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:34, 42-43
The Feast of Tabernacles is also a prophetic type and refers to God not only protecting and providing for his people, but also bringing them home. He has prepared another 1,000 years of rest for them, called the Millennium. But this time, he will be our King. The length of this feast, seven days, also confirms God’s promise in Isaiah 26:20-21 to provide a safe place to hide until the indignation is passed, while God punishes the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity during seven years of the Great Tribulation.
- “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3
This is a time of joy to worship the Lord YHVH, for all his provisions and to praise him for his plan of awesome forgiveness of the sins of his people. This is a time of deep rejoicing. Jesus fulfills the Feast of Tabernacles.
Of the seven feasts, three were mandatory: Unleavened Bread, Trumpets and Tabernacles. “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.” Exodus 23:17. The mandatory Feast message focuses on the importance of a sinless life, the reward of hard work in God’s kingdom on earth and coming into our eternal home that Jesus has prepared.
During the Millennium, the 7th thousand years, the Feast of Tabernacles (Shelters, Booths) will be kept.
- ‘In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain. If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the Lord will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go. Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don’t go to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the Lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar.” Zechariah 14:16-20