Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts OF THE LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
For further study - Leviticus 23:1-14
Today for our devotion, we are reading the passage where the Lord gives the seven "feasts" to the Jewish people to observe on a yearly basis. Notice that these feasts are given to the Jewish people and not to Christians.
It is alright for Christians to study and even re-enact these feasts, but remember that these are "Jewish feast days" that God has given to His "chosen people". God uses these feast days to teach His people about the coming Messiah.
Each of the feasts has at least a historic and/or prophetic significance. These first three "spring feasts" are related to Israel's past. The "Passover" is to remember the Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land.
The second feast, the "Feast of Unleavened Bread", is also associated with Passover. For seven days, the Children of Israel were to stop eating the "sourdough bread" to eat "unleavened bread" for the purpose of "separating" the bondage and the journey into the Promised Land.
The third feast, the "Feast of First Fruits", was to be the celebration and thanksgiving of the very first of the "barley harvest". These thoughts cover the historic aspect of the first three Jewish feast days. These feasts also have a prophetic significance.
The "Passover" was a prophecy of the "Crucifixion" or sacrifice of Jesus. "Unleavened Bread" was to honor the "burial" of Jesus Christ. Then on the first day after the Sabbath, after Unleavened Bread begins, or Sunday, would be the celebration of "First Fruits", and that pictures the day of the "resurrection" of Jesus.
The historic record indicates that Jesus was indeed crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, and did, in fact, resurrect from the dead on First Fruits, thus Jesus fulfilled the first three of the Jewish Feast, in the proper day sequences.
There are three "Fall Feasts" when Jesus will come back, enter into the Temple, and set up His Kingdom on these three Jewish feast days. In our next devotional from the book of Leviticus, we will look more in depth into these future events, which are foretold in these feasts that God has given the Jewish people.
By the way, the first of the Jewish "feast days", the Passover, will be one of the Feast days that will be celebrated during the Kingdom period, Ezekiel 45:21, when Jesus rules and reigns from the Temple He will build in Jerusalem, Zechariah 6:12-13.
Let me remind you that the "sacrificial system" will be re-instated during the Tribulation Period, the seven years of Judgment, right after the Rapture. There must be a Temple in Jerusalem for that to happen and all the preparations for that Temple have been completed.
Again, the Rapture happens before they build the next Temple. That Rapture could happen today. Watch and work until He shouts.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you, Lord, for the reality that the Rapture could happen at any moment. Help me to live as if it will happen in the next couple of minutes, because it could.
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