Since we are in the period of the 4th Feast of Israel - Shavuot/Pentecost - one of the harvest feasts, I wanted to present some material on this feast this week. Since all seven of feasts have 1) a Hebrew name 2) descriptive names 3) Christian name, I decided to make a little chart for my own use since commentators often use the names interchangeably. No doubt it isn't complete (I'll continue working on it), but I thought I would put it on the blog so that if you want to print it out and use or add to it, it may be helpful in your own studies. The chart is first (below), then a brief summary. I will have another post or two on Pentecost following today's.
CHART OF 7 FEASTS OF ISRAEL
Seven Jewish Feasts – Historic and Prophetic
FIRST 3 FEASTS in the Spring of the year are
associated with Christ’s First Coming
1) Passover – associated with sacrificial death
2) Feast of Unleavened Bread – associated with
burial
3) Feast of First fruits (day after the Sabbath,
or Easter Sunday)
– associated with Resurrection
and Christ, the first fruits.
Then,
“Counting of the Omer” begins, and lasts for 49 days. On the 50th
day is the:
FOURTH FEAST, which is associated with the
coming of the Holy Spirit – the birth of the Church. It also denotes the great
harvest at the end of the Age (Mt 13:39, 7:20). Christ compares the evangelism
of the Church to the planting of the seed which grows until maturity, the time of harvest.
4) Feast
of Weeks / Shavuot / Pentecost (means “50”) – 6th of Sivan (May
14-15):
Associated with:
- Enoch’s date
of birth AND the rapture of Enoch before Noah’s Flood on 6 Sivan. 3
groups of people involved with the Flood: those who perished; those who were preserved through the flood; Enoch, who was raptured before
Flood.
-
The birth of the Church - Pentecost (Acts 2)
-
2013 Pentecost is also Israel’s 65th Birthday.
Jewish Feast celebrated 5/14-5/15, Sivan
6-7
Christian Pentecost: since the Bible always places it on Sunday, some
say the nearest
Sunday (5/12 or 5/19 – the official 2013 Pentecost Sunday). The uncertainty of
the date is typical, since Pentecost is called “the festival without a date.” Its appearance, as originally calculated by the new moon, the Passover, and
a 7-week countdown,
is very flexible.
- Male attendance compulsory
-
Reading of the Book of Ruth, traditional, story of Boaz the kinsman-redeemer taking a Gentile bride
-
Festive occasion
-
Commemorative of the date of the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai
-
Date of David’s death, according to tradition
-
Only feast which uses leavened bread
(leaven represents sin)
-
Harvest Festival, reserved in heaven for the judgment of the fruit of the trees
LAST 3 FEASTS in the Fall of the year are
associated with Christ’s Second Coming:
5) Rosh
HaShanah/Yom Teruah – represents judgments of the Day of the Lord
6) Yom
Kippur/Day of Atonement – Christ’s appearance at the end of the Tribulation
7)-
Tabernacles/Succoth – establishment of Christ’s Kingdom and reign on earth
* * * * * * *
Shavuot/Pentecost/Harvest - 4th Feast of ...
The Seven Feasts of Israel
The first five books of the Bible (Torah)
spell out the seven feasts God put on the Hebrew calendar. The first three
feasts are celebrated in the spring: Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover week),
and the Feast of First Fruits. Fifty days later there is the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot,
also known as Pentecost. Then there are the three fall feasts, the Feast of
Trumpets (Yom Teruah); the Day of Atonement, (Yom Kippur); and
the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth).
While these were very important feasts on the
Hebrew calendar, they also each have a prophetic role and each one is
fulfilled in the Christian/Church era. Paul refers to their predictive roles as "a
shadow of things to come."
Jesus also pointed to his personal role in their fulfillment: “Think not that I
am come to destroy the law (Torah), or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17. These are perfect examples of the saying:
"The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old
Testament is in the New Testament revealed."
Shavuot, The Feast of Weeks, Pentecost - 4th Feast
The first three were prophetic of Christ's
first advent. It is believed that the final three feasts are prophetic of
Christ's Second Coming. Between these two groups of feasts is Shavuot,
the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Harvest, and Pentecost by the Church.
What is the prophetic fulfillment of this feast?
This feast was to be observed by a formula. The
Hebrews were to begin counting on the day of the Feast of First Fruits
("the morrow after the Saturday Sabbath"
- always a Sunday!), seven weeks (49 days) plus one day, totaling 50 days, and
placing this feast also on a Sunday. The
word “Pentecost” means “fifty.”
Historically, this feast commemorates the
giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The observance of this feast is unique because
it includes two loaves of leavened bread-the only use of leavened bread
in all of the specifications of the Law. Leavening always represented sin, and
it’s interesting that while the Passover emphasized unleavened bread (the sinless Lamb), Pentecost
mentions leavened bread ... possibly a shadow of two sacrificial lambs – the
leavening/sin representing a Gentile inclusion into the application of this feast.
Prophetic Application
The Church was "born" on the Feast
of Pentecost. The Crucifixion fulfilled Passover and the Feast of
First fruits. Pentecost followed exactly
50 days later, when the Holy Ghost appeared as tongues of fire – the birth of
the Church in Acts 2. Many believe this was a partial fulfillment.
Could There Be A Rapture Application?
The sudden "snatching out" of the
church (harpazo in the Greek;
called the "rapture" from the Latin) is also seen as the completion of the
Church Age.
Many have believed that the rapture will be
fulfilled at the time of the Feast of the Trumpets or the Feast of Tabernacles;
on the other hand, many believe the three fall feasts are applicable only to
the Second Coming when Christ arrives on the ground rather than meeting us in
the air. (There are many other differences in the descriptions of Christ's return in the air vs. on the ground.)
But why would the Jewish feasts apply to the
Church at all? The Scripture makes plain that there is a clear distinction
between Israel and the Church. In Romans, Paul spends considerable time
explaining that God is not finished with Israel. In Ephesians he also says that the Church was not revealed in the Old Testament, and yet here we are!
When the temple veil was rent in two the Law was fulfilled in Christ. While
many NT Jews recognized Christ as Messiah, the Bible is clear that the land of
Israel and the Jews play a role unique from the Church, which exists during
this 2,000-year interval now closing, after which comes the “time of
Jacob’s trouble” and the culmination of God’s plans for Israel and Jerusalem.
But, that’s another story.
Enoch as a Clue?
Enoch was also raptured – and on that same
date which we know as Pentecost – the 6th of Sivan. Tradition holds
that he was both born and raptured on Sivan 6. He was the first person to
prophecy of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and his prophecy was made before the
Flood. Some view Enoch's birth and rapture on Sivan 6 as a foreshadowing of the rapture of the Church. It is
interesting that three groups of people were involved in the flood: those who
perished, those who were preserved through it and Enoch, who was raptured. Why is the Book of Enoch mentioned so often in the Bible - even by Christ Himself?
If Enoch was, as rabbinical tradition asserts - born on Sivan 6 and raptured on
Sivan 6, that means he was raptured on his birthday. Is that a foreshadowing of
the Church being raptured on its birthday, Pentecost? Did the Jewish clock stop at Pentecost, to be restarted on Pentecost once again at
the rapture of the Church? We cannot say for sure, but this is the kind of
consistency that occurs time and time again in God’s time table, and which has allowed Christians to decipher prophecy through long and diligent study.. None of this
is accidental. Is this one more clue that God promises will be revealed to
those who are serious students of God’s Word? Only time will tell.
Is The Book of Ruth Another Clue?
Some have wondered why the Book of Ruth is
even included in the Bible. What is its purpose?
The Book of Ruth is the primary OT book
most closely relating to Jesus Christ and his bride, The Church. because the Book of Ruth
portrays Boaz in the role of the kinsman-redeemer who takes a Gentile bride.
The Two "Rapture" Feasts?
The two feasts most often associated with the
Rapture are the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) and the Feast of Weeks,
Pentecost (Shavuot).
But to be thorough, Rosh HaShanah is not the
only feast linked to resurrection/rapture. There are at last three harvest
festivals which form prophetic statements on resurrection, all three required all Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem and “appear before the
Lord.” These are Passover week (Feast of Unleavened Bread), Pentecost (Feast of
Weeks) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Dt. 16:16). Any of these three harvest
festivals could represent Resurrection Day / Rapture when we meet the Lord in the air.
The next blog will cover the Counting of the Omer, the period between Passover and Pentecost - the 50 days.
NOTE: Regular readers must know that I am of the Pre-Trib Rapture school. I actually began as an amillennialist many years ago. I thought the Rapture was a silly American 'get-out-of-jail-free' card. Ridiculous.
After many years, and thousands of hours of study (including all schools of thought), I came slowly and surely to this position. I seriously doubt if anyone can come up with any position which I have not already studied ad nauseum, and therefore I am not likely to change my mind. I only have it furthur confirmed as I continue studying the Word. Despite all of this, I do not lay claim to certitude (I'm not a fool :-) I never care about being right - only about discovering truth. The Lord will come at His appointed time, and this is the blessed hope of all prophecy students who look for Him to return. Maranatha!
More tomorrow ... Royal Heir
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