feast-overview

Feasts and Holy Days Joyously Portraying Yeshua (Jesus)
A chronological prelude to the book Celebrating Yeshua

God has established, in love, a series of appointments to portray annually to us basic aspects of His salvation.

These portrayals are eternal and for all of mankind, according to Scripture.

They include seven annual Holy Days relating to three joyful Feasts.

THREE FEASTS of YAHWEH [Shalosh Hag Yahweh]

God said, "Three times a year you shall keep a feast to me" (Exodus 23:14). Such a Feast is referred to as a "Feast of Yahweh" (Hag Yahweh - Leviticus 23:39).

“Yahweh” is God’s Holy Name (Genesis 3:15), used about 7,000 times in the Bible.

It means Eternal Gracious One. “LORD” is substituted in most English Bibles.

SEVEN HOLY DAYS / Appointments with Yahweh [Moadim Yahweh (Lev 23:37)]

There are seven annual appointments with God associated with the three Feasts (Leviticus 23:7, 8, 21, 24-25, 27-32, 35, 36). They are observed like Sabbaths (which are also moadim). Each appointment with God requires a sacred assembly (mikra kodesh) – a public worship service. The entire day is dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and therefore mundane work is to be set aside. (Moadim is the plural of moed – appointment.)

______________________ SPRING______________________

Nisan 1 New Moon
Nisan is the first month of the Festival Year (Exodus 12:2).
Days begin at sunset – nights precede days (Genesis 1:5).

Mark’s Gospel delineates the following days and hours.

Nisan 9 .

Weekday 6 (In year of crucifixion)

John 12:1-11, Matthew 26:6-16

Yeshua came to Bethany, to be within a Sabbath Day’s journey of Jerusalem.

Nisan 10 The day for each family to choose a lamb to offer as their Passover (Exodus 12:3-5). The lambs were watched for four days to ensure that they were without blemish.

This was Palm Sabbath! (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset)

Mark 11:1-11, John 12: 12-16, Matthew 21:1-9, Luke 10 28-40

Yeshua presented as Messiah King, riding a new (never-ridden) donkey from Bethany to Jerusalem with crowds cheering and spreading Palm fronds. Only an unworked donkey could be ridden on a Sabbath.

Nisan 11 .

Weekday 1

Mark 11:12-19, Matthew 21:12-13

Yeshua presented as Messiah Priest, cleansing the Temple. Priests were required to cleanse the Temple, and only priests were so permitted.

Nisan 12 .

Weekday 2

Mark 11:20-14:2, Matthew 21:18-22:46

Yeshua presented as Messiah Prophet, giving authoritative answers to religious leaders. It was the duty of prophets to explain God’s Word.

Nisan 13 .

Weekday 3

Mark 14:1-16, Matthew 26:1-19, Luke 22:8-13

Yeshua’s disciples began making arrangements for their seder.

Nisan 14 Preparation Day

Between noon and sunset, the Passover (lamb) must be offered - slain and roasted. “Slaughter it between the two evenings” (Exodus 12:6 – literal Hebrew, meaning between noon and sunset). "You shall prepare it (the Passover) at its appointed time" (Numbers 9:2).

Translations of this verse are often misleading, using terms such as "Keep the Passover" or "Observe the Passover," misunderstood as eating a feast. In Torah usage, the Passover is a lamb, not a day or a feast; later, the term was also used for the day that the Passover was eaten (Nisan 15). See John 19:14, 31, 42. The term is sometimes used for the entire seven-day Feast.

Weekday 4 (Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset)

Night Mark 14:17-40, Matthew 26:20-46, Luke 22:14-46, 1 Corinthians

Yeshua led an instructional seder meal with His disciples.

No lambs could be offered yet; disciples did not see this as the Holy Day (John 13:27-29).

2^nd Cockcrow [About midnight] – Trumpeting for 2^nd changing of the Temple guard, not a rooster.

Mark 14:41-52, Matthew 26:47-56, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:2-12

Yeshua arrested.

Early Morning Mark 14:53-15:19, Matthew 26:57-27:26, Luke 22:54-23::24, John 18:12-19:15

Yeshua tried by High Priest, Pilate, Herod, Council, Pilate.

3^rd Hour [9 AM)]

Mark 15:20-32, Matthew 27:27-44, Luke 23:25-43, John 19:16-29

Lamb of God is crucified. “Messiah, our Passover, is sacrificed” – 1 Corinthians 5:7.

6^th Hour [Noon] Mark 15:33, Matthew 27:45, Luke 23:44-45

Time for Passovers to be prepared/killed.

Yeshua on a cross; Sun darkened for 3 hours (no other Passovers prepared?).

9^th Hour [3 PM] Mark 15:34-41, Matthew 27:45-51, Luke 23:46-52, John 16:30-37

Time for Passovers to be roasted.

Yeshua yielded up His Spirit.

Evening [Before sunset] Mark 15:42-47, Matthew 27:57-61, Luke 23:53-55, John 16:38-42

Yeshua buried before High Sabbath (before Wednesday sunset).

1st Feast of Unleavened Breads [Hag haMatzot (Exodus 23:15)]

This is a seven-day long Feast that must include lamb (in Temple times, on the first night), unleavened breads (matzot), and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). There is so much food set aside for this Feast, that a family should invite the poor to share in it. It lasts from the beginning of Nisan 15 until the end of Nisan 21 (Leviticus 23:6).

Nisan 15 .

Moed 1 The First Day (of Unleavened Breads) [Yom haReshit (Leviticus 23:7)]

When the Passover (the lamb) is fully prepared, at sunset, the Feast of Unleavened Breads begins on this new day; the lamb must be eaten by midnight, but the Feast continues for seven days.

“Breads” is plural, because five kinds of bread are in view: barley, rye, oats, spelt, and wheat.

This is "the feast of our freedom" – the celebration of a slave-girl future bride being redeemed from Egypt, which represents a land of sin. At this Feast, we take four cups, anciently called "the Blood of the Covenant," representing the four parts of the Covenant: sanctification, deliverance, redemption, and glorification. We also break matzah (unleavened bread, which is pierced and striped), representing Yeshua's body – without sin (leaven), being pierced, and scourged.

“Yahweh’s Feast” is commonly translated as "The Lord's Supper" in 1 Corinthians 11:20, and sometimes thence interpreted as a simple sacrament.

Nisan 16 Waving Day: As soon as it was dark, the beginning of the new day, some Priests would go to a field on Mt. Zion and reap an ephah (about a bushel) of the best new barley. In the morning, it would be processed into an omer (about two quarts) of fine flour, mixed with olive oil, and waved with a lamb before Yahweh, then burned upon the Altar. This is the first of fifty days of Counting the Omer.

This is not called "Feast of Firstfruits." It is an act during the Feast of Unleavened Breads.

After the slave-girl celebrates the Holy Day of her redemption, she starts counting down the days until her betrothal to Messiah.

Nisan 17 .

Resurrection Sabbath

The third day after the Passover was slain (the third day of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Breads) is the day Yeshua came out of the tomb – in defeat of Satan's armies. This fulfilled Jonah's prophecy of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and fulfilled of Yeshua’s own words of God raising His Lamb from a pit on the Sabbath Day.

We celebrate Yeshua’s resurrection 52 times a year – on the eternal Holy Sabbath!

Nisan 18 .

Empty Tomb

When two women came to the tomb before sunrise, angels rolled away the stone to show that He was already gone (Matthew 28:1). Yeshua was travelling to Galilee (after fulfilling Torah requirements).

Nisan 21 .

Moed 2 Day of Faith - Seventh Day (of Unleavened Breads) [Yom haShbi'i (Leviticus 23:8)]

This is the day that Israel was brought through the Sea on dry ground, then saw the Egyptian army drowned in it. It is the day that they believed Yahweh and His servant Moses (Exodus 14:31).

Iyyar 27 .

The date that Noah's flood waters were dried from the earth (Genesis 8:14).

Ascension Day

The water of life ascended from the earth. This being forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), Yeshua ascended into the heavens, after saying, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2-3). After redeeming the slave-girl, He must go to His Father's house to prepare a dwellingplace for their future married life. John later foretells of this prepared city that will come down from the heavens adorning the bride for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

This is the forty-second day of Counting the Omer: eight days until Pentecost.

Yeshua told the Apostles to “tarry for the promise from the Father . . . the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5).

2nd Feast of Weeks of Firstfruits [Hag Shavuot Bikkuri (Exodus 34:22)] or

Feast ot the Harvest of Firstfruits [Hag haQatzir Bikkuri (Exodus 35:16)]

This is a one-day Feast that is also a moed called “Day of the Firstfruits.”

Sivan 6 .

Moed 3 Day of the Firstfruits (Yom haBikkurim - Numbers 28:26)

The fiftieth day of Counting the Omer (Pentecost means fiftieth day). On this day a peace offering is made by the prospective bride: two lambs are waved on this day, with two large loaves of leavened bread, each made from an omer of fine wheat flour. See Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:15-17, Numbers 28:26.

Pentecost is about Messiah giving a betrothal contract to His beloved future bride.

Over thirty-three-hundred years ago, on Pentecost, the Torah was given with two stone tablets as a betrothal contract in the tongue of angels (Hebrew) and the tongues of men (languages of the 70 nations. In a similar manner, almost two-thousand years ago, on Pentecost, the Gospel was given in the tongue of angels and the tongues of men, displaying an "earnest contract" with the bride (Acts 2:1-11, Ephesians 1:14).

At this feast, we take the bride's Betrothal Cup, saying, "All that the Lord our God says, we will obey, and we will learn" (Deuteronomy 5:27). We will literally and perfectly and whole-heartedly fulfill this when we are glorified and dwelling with Messiah.

______________________ FALL_______________________

The Month of Elul – the thirty days preceding Yom Teruah, are known as the Days of Repentance, repentance being followed by immersion in a mikvah – a baptism of repentance.

At this season, John the Baptizer was preaching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" – Luke 3:3.

Tishrei is the seventh month of the Festival Year.

Tishrei 1 .

Moed 4 Day of Trumpeting [Yom Teruah (Leviticus 23:24)]

This day is also known as Rosh haShannah (Head of the Year for Sabbatical and Jubilee years). This is the day that "no man knows the day or the hour". It is observed as a forty-nine hour Sabbath during which we are to stay awake and watch! On this day the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) is blown several times. Each trump of the shofar has a specific meaning indicated by a preceding shout (e.g. teruah, tekiah, shevarim). The command for this day is to “Hear the Shofar.” The Last Trump of the shofar is preceded by the shout of "Tekiah Gedolah," which translates “the Return of the Great One.”

The Day of Trumpeting is about Messiah returning for His bride. This celebration is an annual rehearsal for that day when the archangel will shout "Tekiah Gedolah" , and the Last Trump will be heard (I Thessalonians 4:16). Then the righteous dead will be raised immortal (I Corinthians 15:52-54), and Yeshua will return for His coronation as King of the Whole Earth.

The ten days from the Day of Trumpeting to the Day of the Atonements are called Yamim Noraim, translated the Days of Awe.

We shall kneel in awe before the presence of Messiah Yeshua.

Tishrei 10 .

Moed 5 Day of the Atonements [(Yom haKippurim (Leviticus 23:27)]

This is the only Biblically mandated fast day. On this day two goats are the main symbols, representing the two atonements. See Leviticus 16:7-34, 23:27-32.

Kippurim is plural, because of two kinds of atonements represented by two goats.

The Day of the Atonements is about Messiah presenting to Himself a spotless bride (Ephesians 5:21). Two goats represent Messiah. Two kinds of atonement are required (Leviticus 16:8-22).

The first goat is the goat for Yahweh, a purification offering (parts are burned on an altar and the aroma ascends to heaven). It represents Yeshua's righteousness being imputed to us, ascending to God as our aroma of righteousness (Romans 4:24). The second goat is the goat for Azazel, commonly called the scapegoat. The sins of the people are symbolically placed upon it, and it is led into the wilderness. It represents Yeshua taking our sins upon Himself, and taking them away from us.

3rd Feast of Tabernacles [Hag Sukkot (Leviticus 23:34)] or

Feast of the Ingathering [Hag haAsik (Exodus 23:16)]

Tishrei 15-21 is the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. See Leviticus 23:39-43, Numbers 29:12-34, Deuteronomy 16:13-17. It is observed by dwelling in a sukkah, a temporary structure made of tree-branches, for the seven days, and feasting with a focus on tree fruits and nuts. During the seven days, seventy bullocks are offered - 13,12,11,10,9,8,7 – representing the downfall of the seventy original nations of Genesis 10.

The Feast of Tabernacles is Messiah's seven-day wedding feast. It is called the Time of our Joy.

By this feast, all of the crops of fruit have been brought in. This culminating agricultural feast represents the culmination of the marriage. The earth has been reaped, and all of the fruit (God's people) has been brought in. The Covenant is fulfilled, and Emmanuel (God with us) is pictured as dwelling in His tabernacle (this earth) with His spotless bride.

In Temple times, at this Feast, three 80 foot tall menorahs, with four large oil lamps on top of each, were placed in the women’s court. It was said that they were so bright that not a yard in Jerusalem was left dark.
As Yeshua stood on the Temple grounds, He said, “I am the light of the world; he who believes in Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Not a place in the world left in the dark!

Tishrei 15 .

Moed 6 The First Day (of Tabernacles) [Yom haReshit (Leviticus 23:35)]

The first day of the Feast is a moed – observed as a Sabbath. The day is to be kept holy – dedicated to our Savior, and we have an appointment with our God to meet at His house of prayer.

Tishrei 22 .

Moed 7 The Eighth Day Assembly [Yom HaShmini Atzeret (Leviticus 23:36, Numbers 29:35)]

It follows the seven days of Sukkot. It is a Yom Tov, observed as a Sabbath. A special offering on this day was one bullock.

The Eighth Day Assembly represents Messiah dwelling with us for eternity. All seventy nations, represented by the seventy bullocks offered on Sukkot, have become one – the Kingdom of Messiah, represented by the single bullock offered this day.

At each of these Biblical events, there were many items and acts that portrayed Yeshua, and our Father’s loving means of providing our salvation. They have not lost any meaningfulness; may God grant that we not lose joyful recognition of them!