The Dual
Meaning Of The God-Commanded Biblical Holy Days
And
you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought
your hosts out of the land of Egypt [see Rock Of Ages]: therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your
generations, as an ordinance for ever. In the first month [see Bible Months], on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you
shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at
evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for if any one
eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of
Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land." (Exodus
12:17-19 RSV)
What relevance do the Days of Unleavened
Bread have to Christians?
The
Feast of Unleavened bread memorialised Israel's deliverance from a life of
slavery under Pharaoh
after the slaying of the Passover lamb, but it also now represents the
Christian's deliverance from a life of sin under Satan after the slaying of Jesus Christ, the "Lamb
of God."
Matt 16: 11-12.
11. How is it that ye
do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, but of the
doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
12. Then understand they how that He bade them not beware of the
leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
God
does nothing in vain. All of the Old Testament observances have Christian
applications - that was their entire purpose, to preview what was to
come in due time.
What relevance do the Days of Unleavened Bread have to Christians? The Feast of Unleavened
bread memorialised Israel's deliverance from a life of slavery under Pharaoh after the slaying of
the Passover lamb, but it also now represents the Christian's deliverance
from a life of sin under Satan after the slaying of Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of
God."
7. Purge out therefore the old
leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
Passover is sacrificed for us.
8.
Therefore let us keep the feasts, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven
of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
There was, and is, nothing
wrong with eating things containing yeast at other times, but for the purpose
of the Days of Unleavened Bread it was used as a symbol of sin. It was also
sometimes used as a metaphor for sinful pride and hypocrisy: God does nothing
in vain. All of the Old Testament observances have Christian applications -
that was their entire purpose, to preview what was to come in due time.
The spring Holy Days
symbolize the events related to the First Coming of Jesus Christ:
· Passover - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of all humanity.
·
Exodus 12:13. And the
blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
·
John 1:29. The next
day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, “ Behold the Lamb of God,
Which taketh away the sin of the world.”
· (see Passover In Egypt and The Lamb Of God)
· The Days of Unleavened Bread - the removal of sin from the lives of converted, repentant people. (Exodus 12:15, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8) (see What Is Sin?)
· Pentecost - the "first fruits" harvest, the coming of God's Holy Spirit upon conversion. (Leviticus 23:16-17, Acts 2:1-4) (see Pentecost and The Elect)
The autumn Holy Days
symbolize the events related to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:
· The Feast of Trumpets - The Return of Jesus Christ. (Leviticus 23:23-25, Matthew 24:30-31) (see The Feast Of Trumpets and The Return Of Jesus Christ)
· The Day of Atonement - the final judgment and sentencing of Satan after his removal as "the god of this world." (Leviticus 23:26-32, Revelation 20:10) (see The Day Of Atonement and The Lame Duck)
· The Feast of Tabernacles - the first 1,000 years after The Return of Christ in which the harvest of salvation will truly begin. (Leviticus 23:33-36, Revelation 20:2-4) (see King Of The Mountain)
· The Last Day - the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles picturing the resurrection of all those who did not have an opportunity to hear (physically and/or spiritually) the Gospel in all the ages prior to the millennium. (Leviticus 23:39, Revelation 20:5,11-15) (see What Happens When You Die? and The Last Day)
The Old
Testament festival of First Fruits celebrated the first harvest of the grain
crop, while it actually symbolized the New Testament "first
harvest" of humanity, the "first fruits of salvation”:
Romans 8:23. And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23.
20.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept.
21.For
since by man came death, by man come also the resurrection of the dead.
22. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ’s, at His coming.
The first
fruits were chosen for a purpose, not as any sort of favouritism. They will
serve and teach, not just the unconverted physical people who will be alive at
the Return of Christ, but those of the great resurrection (which will be
vastly larger than the first) that will occur after the 1,000 years:
Revelation
20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years.
Revelation
20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
20.
And though the LORD give you the bread of adversity, and the water of
affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but
thine eyes shall see thy teachers.
The Holy
Bible, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation,
speaks of God's Plan of Salvation - a plan with a definite element of
timing. The simple reality, as expressed so often through your Bible, is that not
everyone is called to repentance, is able to repent even when they hear the
words of the Gospel, at the same time. There is a definite order of calling,
which is the reason that Jesus Christ often used the term
Matthew
11:15 He who hath ears to hear, let him
hear.