Sunday Morning - April 14, 1996
Text: John 5:1 "After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."
Purim - March 5,1996 - Esther helped save the Nation of Israel.
Passover - April 4,1996 - Israel's deliverance from Egypt.
Shavuot (Pentecost) - May 24,1996 - grain harvest
Rosh Hashanah - September 14,1996 - New Year 5757
Yom Kippur - September 23,1996 - Day of Atonement.
Sukkot - September 28,1996 - Feast of Tabernacles.
Hanukkah - December 6 - 13, 1996 - Feast of Lights or Feast of
Dedication John 10.22. Victory of Judas Maccabeus in 167 BC.
Romans 11:8-10 "(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: 10. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway."
Psalms 69:22-23 "Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake."
Isaiah 28:13 "But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."
Israel's religious calendar began in Nisan = March - April (in the spring); their civil year, in Tishri = September - October (in the autumn). The seven festivals of the Hebrews were included within the first seven months of the religious calendar: the first three feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits) took place in the first month, Nisan; the last three (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles), in the seventh month, Tishri. Between the first and last three was the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) which followed fifty days after the offering of the firstfruits.
CONVOCATION: An assembly for the worship. Ex 12.16.
The Passover, vv. 4 - 5. Exodus 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial..." This feast brings into view salvation and redemption upon which all blessing rests. Typically, it stands for "Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us" 1 Cor. 5:7 The Passover was the initial Jewish festival and took place on the fourteenth day of the first month, Nisan. The beginning of their year.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, vv. 6 - 8. This feast speaks of communion with Christ by removing all of the leaven from the home. Leaven a type or picture of sin.., The unleavened wave loaf speaks of a holy walk, holy living. The festival began on the fifteenth day of the first month, Nisan, and continued for a week.
The Feast of Firstfruits, vv. 10 - 14. This festival is typical of resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:20 "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Food provides strength and life. Philippians 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" The feast, observed in the same week as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was held on the sixteenth day of the first month, Nisan, being the beginning of the barley harvest.
The Feast of Trumpets, vv. 23 - 25. This feast is a prophetic type and refers to the future regathering of long-dispersed Israel. A great interval elapsed between Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets, answering to the period occupied in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. This feast, which was held on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, was immediately followed by the Day of Atonement.
Day of Atonement, vv. 26 - 32. Leviticus 23:27 "... day of atonement: ...and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD." Sin is dealt with and reconciliation and restoration is made with God. Zech 12:10 - 14 in connection with the atonement of Zech 13:1. The Day of Atonement was the tenth day of the seventh month, Tishri.
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Ingathering, vv. 34 - 44, is, prophetic as to the kingdom-rest of Israel after her regathering and restoration. Israelites dwelt in booths or tabernacles (vv. 42 - 43), A the transfiguration in Mark 9:5 "And Peter ... said ... let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tishri, and lasted for one week.
Leviticus 23:24 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation."
2 Peter 1:10-13 "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 12. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;"
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come."
Matthew 24:12 "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
Hebrews 10:23-27 "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."