SPRING FEASTS – SALVATION FROM SIN

Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast…

(1 Cor 5:7-8 NASB)

Almighty God laid down a plan for salvation from before the foundation of this world, (Eph 1:1-14). Not only was the Father meticulous in how He would establish redemption for man, but He also determined the exact seasons (precise time) to administrate His salvation. It is fascinating to study the Feasts of the Lord and discover that a blueprint for the elementary doctrines of salvation, as laid out in Hebrews 6:1-2, was laid down in the Jewish Feasts. These feasts are magnificent types laid down in the history of Israel, not only to prepare man for the seasons in which salvation would be administrated, but also to provide a plumb line, laid down as a fundamental standard to protect us from deviating from the truth.

The Jewish Feasts of the Lord are grouped together in two seasons – Spring and Autumn. The Spring Feasts, namely Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) are grouped together. These four feasts are inseparably connected, to establish, in typology, the first season of salvation, namely, the redemption of our souls. The Autumn Feasts, namely Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth), are also inseparably grouped together; and will, in the season of their literal fulfilment, realise the final season of our salvation, namely, the redemption of our bodies and the restoration of creation.

Passover, in typology, lays down the requirements for atonement, namely the sacrificial death of an Unblemished Lamb to appease the wrath of God against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of man in presenting blood on the atonement seat. The blood of a righteous Man, Jesus Christ, is thus establishing righteousness before the judgment seat of Almighty God on Judgment Day (Yom Kippur), for those who believe unto Him for salvation, (Rom 1:18; Rom 3:23-26; Rom 5:9).

On Passover, the Lamb was to be eaten with Unleavened Bread, symbolizing the impartation of sanctification, through righteousness established by the Lamb of God, for without being sanctified, no man can enter into the presence of a holy God, (1 Peter 1:14-19). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day celebration to symbolize an ongoing walk of sanctification to perfect holiness in the lives of those who persevere in their faith, (1 Cor 5:6-8). [The number 7 symbolizes perfection or completion.]

The First Fruit Offering, celebrated on the day following the Passover, symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Messiah was first to be raised from the dead, and the first born of God’s new creation, (Col 1:17-18). Messiah’s resurrection is a first fruit promise of the future resurrection of the righteous, (1 Cor 15:20-24). The resurrection of the righteous will complete salvation for all who persevered in their faith, and the whole creation is in birth pangs awaiting this climactic event, (Rom 8:17-25). It is thus laid down as an elemental teaching of Messiah in Hebrews 6:1-2.

The first day of the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) commences on celebrating the First Fruit Offering. Forty-Nine Days (7 x 7 = 49 = 7 weeks) are counted from the First Fruit Offering, having its climax on the 50^th Day in celebrating the feast. Seven weeks culminating in the 50^th DAY is a clear resemblance of the Jubilee, celebrated as liberation and restoration of the land. The Jubilee is synonymous to two very important principles, namely the liberation of debt and the restoration of inheritance, (Lev 25:10). It was indeed exactly on this 50^th Day of celebrating this Jewish Feast (‘Pente’ is the Greek for fifty), that the promise of the Holy Spirit was poured out to immerse those who waited on Him by faith, (Acts 2:1-21). Receiving the Holy Spirit on the 50^th Day clearly symbolize the Believer’s spiritual liberation from the power of sin (Rom 8:1-9; Gal 5:1-18), and his spiritual restoration into the image of Messiah (Rom 8:29). Not only does the Holy Spirit seal the inheritance of the righteous, (Eph 1:13; 2 Cor 1:21-22), but it is indeed the Spirit of the Lord who administrates the New Covenant in the lives of those who “walk according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:2-8; Gal 5:1-18), establishing for them a weight of eternal glory, (2 Cor 3:1-18; 2 Cor 4:16-18).

The first appearance of Messiah established salvation with reference to sin, (Heb 9:27-28). In order to partake of His redemption, man has to recognize his need for salvation through repentance from dead works and faith toward God. The death and resurrection of Messiah fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, and the First Fruits Offering. As an act of obedience, and a testimony to the world, we identify with the death and resurrection of Messiah through the water baptism. Also, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) fulfilled the promise of the gift of the Spirit, and has to be received by faith through baptism into the Holy Spirit, often received through the laying on of hands, (Acts 8:17; Acts 9:17; Acts 19:6).

The Spring Feasts are thus a blueprint for the first part of the elementary teachings of Messiah laid down in Hebrews 6:1-2.