Lesson 59: - Spring Feasts
Let’s begin in our study of the feasts with a very quick overview. The feasts are broken into 2 seasons, spring and fall. Spring was the beginning of the religious year for the Jewish people, and the fall was the beginning of the civil year for them. On their calendar the religious year began on the first new moon after the spring equinox. Fourteen days later the first of the great feasts began, which lasted 24 hours. The following day began the Feast of Unleavened Bread which lasted one week. Then came the Feast of First-Fruits, and then Pentecost.
The second group of feasts began the first day of the civil year with the Feast of Trumpets. The Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur) came nine days later. The Feast of Tabernacles began the day following the Day of Atonement.
In this lesson we will look at the Feast of the Passover. It was instituted by God before the Israelites left Egypt, beginning the day before the final plague in Egypt (which would make Pharaoh send the people out of his country). Read the story in Exodus 12. The people of Israel were told to take a lamb into their home, a lamb without any blemish, and prepare it for a meal for their family. The lamb was to be prepared in a very specific way so no bone in the lamb was broken. All the meat was to be eaten and not left for the next day. The blood from the lamb was to be brushed on the sides and top of the door frame to the house, which would protect those inside the house from the sentence of death for all the firstborn coming to the rest of the land.
Jesus fulfilled this feast when He died on the cross as the perfect Lamb of God. He had lived a life without blemish, without a single sin. His blood would become the protection from eternal death for those who chose to enter His House.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began the next day and was fulfilled in Jesus’ burial - remember, Jesus said He was the Bread of Life (John 6). In reference to this feast, Jesus had also told His disciples they must “eat My body.”
The feast of First Fruits began on the first day of the week, and Jesus fulfilled this feast by rising from the dead on the first day of the week.
The Feast of Pentecost came fifty days after Passover; it was fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples as recorded in Acts 2.
None of these feasts was designed by mankind, every one was designed by God to be a picture of Jesus. Since Jesus used these feast times to teach the people about Himself, we can understand why so many of them believed in Him as He spoke.
*What do these feasts, and Jesus’ fulfillment of them, tell you about how He keeps His promises today?
Let’s begin in our study of the feasts with a very quick overview. The feasts are broken into 2 seasons, spring and fall. Spring was the beginning of the religious year for the Jewish people, and the fall was the beginning of the civil year for them. On their calendar the religious year began on the first new moon after the spring equinox. Fourteen days later the first of the great feasts began, which lasted 24 hours. The following day began the Feast of Unleavened Bread which lasted one week. Then came the Feast of First-Fruits, and then Pentecost.
The second group of feasts began the first day of the civil year with the Feast of Trumpets. The Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur) came nine days later. The Feast of Tabernacles began the day following the Day of Atonement.
In this lesson we will look at the Feast of the Passover. It was instituted by God before the Israelites left Egypt, beginning the day before the final plague in Egypt (which would make Pharaoh send the people out of his country). Read the story in Exodus 12. The people of Israel were told to take a lamb into their home, a lamb without any blemish, and prepare it for a meal for their family. The lamb was to be prepared in a very specific way so no bone in the lamb was broken. All the meat was to be eaten and not left for the next day. The blood from the lamb was to be brushed on the sides and top of the door frame to the house, which would protect those inside the house from the sentence of death for all the firstborn coming to the rest of the land.
Jesus fulfilled this feast when He died on the cross as the perfect Lamb of God. He had lived a life without blemish, without a single sin. His blood would become the protection from eternal death for those who chose to enter His House.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began the next day and was fulfilled in Jesus’ burial - remember, Jesus said He was the Bread of Life (John 6). In reference to this feast, Jesus had also told His disciples they must “eat My body.”
The feast of First Fruits began on the first day of the week, and Jesus fulfilled this feast by rising from the dead on the first day of the week.
The Feast of Pentecost came fifty days after Passover; it was fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples as recorded in Acts 2.
None of these feasts was designed by mankind, every one was designed by God to be a picture of Jesus. Since Jesus used these feast times to teach the people about Himself, we can understand why so many of them believed in Him as He spoke.
*What do these feasts, and Jesus’ fulfillment of them, tell you about how He keeps His promises today?