Check out this pattern and see if you see a pattern that points to Jesus.
Feasts of Israel, The Human Life Cycle, Time of year observed, Deliverance, and Prophetic Lesson
How Israel observes the feasts, how they began, how every human is intended to observe the feast through the start of their life, and how these point the way to the Messiah. The outline is based on one by Zola Levitt.
Purim / Lots
Origin: Hadassah / Esther the Jewess married king Ahaseurus / Xerxes of Persia. She was instrumental in the deliverance of Israel, by chance. This random turn of events took place sometime between 486-465 BC. (Esther, especially 9:18-22)
Key Life Cycle Event: Marriage of a Jewish maiden became central to the deliverance of the Jewish people.
Time observed: 14th day of Adar – Winter.
Delivered from destruction at the hands of Haman and his cronies.
Agricultural feature: Dried fruit from the previous year’s produce becomes today’s feast.
Prophetic Lesson: Israel shall be preserved by the Lord, regardless of the lands they live in, though it seems to be by time and chance. In the Messiah, Gentile and Jew shall be joined and Israel delivered. Sorrow shall be turned to joy!
Pesach / Passover
Origin: Israel slaughtered a lamb and put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. First observed in the land of Goshen, Egypt around 1450 BC (Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:5).
Key Life Cycle Event: Ovulation, an egg is released by the mother on the 14th day of the first month of her ovulation cycle. The DNA of life is transferred to a new life.
Observed: 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year. A full moon. With an egg in the Passover seder.
Delivered from the death of the first born during the plagues of Egypt.
Agricultural feature: Preceded by the flowering of the almond blossoms.
Prophetic lesson: Messiah Yeshua died on Passover as the firstborn of Israel during a full moon, there was a shadow cast over the heart of the constellation of the Lamb in the heavenly array. Death is the penalty for sin. Innocent Messiah suffered on our behalf as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The DNA or information for life is essentially rooted in the rejection and suffering and death of the Messiah. Without this, there is no Good News for New Life (Matthew 26:27). In some traditions, a noble man would die on the day he was born. If Jesus died on the day he was conceived, this calendar would fit perfectly with the “Key Life Cycle of Events.”
Unleavened Bread
Origin: Israel ate unleavened bread as they left Egypt in haste (Leviticus 23:6; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
Key Life Cycle Event: Fertilization, a fresh start for the generations, ideally takes place on the day after the 14th day of the month. The woman’s egg become a zygote.
Observed: 15th day of Nisan. Agricultural offerings were made.
Delivered from the life of Egypt and the sin of the old life.
Agricultural feature: Leaven, mold which feeds on old, processed grain, is removed and fresh unleavened bread is presented. When leaven raises the dough, the bread is said to be working.
Prophetic lesson: Messiah Yeshua presented himself sinless and was buried outside the city gates. Sin was dealt with once and for all. Jesus rested on the seventh day in the tomb and did no work. Jesus bore stripes for our healing and was pierced for our iniquities. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the House of Bread (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12)
First Fruits
Origin: Moses commanded Israel to present the first fruits of the land to the Lord (Leviticus 23:10-11).
Key Life Cycle Event: Implantation, when the human zygote travels down the fallopian tubes as a morula and is implanted in the womb as a blastocyte. Takes place not less than 2 days & not more than 6 days after ovulation.
Observed: Not less than 2 days and not more than 6 days after Passover, on the first day of the week.
Delivered from famine in the land and wandering in the wilderness.
Agricultural feature: First sheaves of barley from throughout the land are presented in the temple.
Prophetic lesson: Messiah Yeshua was the first fruits of Israel as He rose from the grave and presented Himself to His beloved church. This was still a somewhat “hidden” appearance, in private, to prepare the church. The Messiah and His church are the first fruits in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23). The dead were also raised in Matthew 27:53.
Shavuot / Pentecost
Origin: When the law was given on Mount Sinai, at the base of the mountain the children of Israel formed a golden calf. On this day when the written form of the Law was received, 3,000 children of Israel were killed. God insisted He be worshiped and not the handiwork of man. The Word of God written is death to all who rebel.
Key Life Cycle Event: 50 days after implantation, the human fetus takes on human appearance in form.
Observed: 50 days after first fruits, the first sheaves of the wheat harvest are presented. (Leviticus 23:15-17)
Delivered from a year of famine and from death and judgement under the law.
Agricultural feature: The right pattern of wind from the north and south timed just so with the blooming of the wheat and the growth of the olives is necessary for the success of Israel’s agriculture to produce oil and bread.
Prophetic lesson: The church of the Messiah was formed on Pentecost when 3,000 received new life. A new pattern developed for holy human life, and we learned that it is by the Spirit (Hebrew&Greek=Wind/Breath) we live, not by the letter. The two loaves waved represent Jews & Gentiles worshipping together in Messiah. Acts 2 details this happening.
Rosh Hashanah / Trumpets
Origin: The trumpet would sound in Israel to announce the call to the temple on the first day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:24). Trumpets were also used in the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-10). These trumpets were formed out of a ram’s horn, like the horn of the ram which was caught in the brush which Abraham used to substitute for Isaac (Genesis 22). Joshua also used trumpets at Jericho.
Key Life Cycle Event: The fetus can now hear and respond to sound at the start of the 7th month of gestation. There is the promise of a full-term birth.
Observed: On the first day of the 7th month.
Agricultural feature: The Jewish farmer would leave his vineyards and olive groves and go to the Temple.
Prophetic lesson: A day will come when Messiah will gather the faithful at the last trumpet and the resistant powers of the nations will collapse. All remaining Israel will return to the land (Isaiah 27:12-13).
Yom Kippur / Atonement
Origin: A day to humble oneself and seek God for forgiveness (Leviticus 23:27-30). One day of confession & rest. Blood of a male goat was placed on the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people (Leviticus 16).
Key Life Cycle Event: A fetus replaces fetal blood (HbF) with adult blood (Hemoglobin A) into the seventh month.
Observed: On the 10th day of the 7th month.
Agricultural feature: Complete rest for the land was the command.
Prophetic lesson: To quit from our own works is to confess and nations will repent of sin and structurally submit to Messiah altogether. Israel will ultimately look to Messiah Yeshua whom they have wounded and mature in their understanding of atonement & forgiveness found in the firstborn (Zechariah 12:10, 13:1, 6).
Sukkoth / Booths
Origin: Israel lived in flimsy shelters in the wilderness. Moses commanded them to do this in the Land to remember where the Lord had brought them from into the Land (Leviticus 23:34, 42-43).
Key Life Cycle Event: The developing fetus has whole, functioning lungs to breathe.
Observed: From the 15th day of the seventh month for 7 days.
Agricultural feature: In the desert regions, this is the time that nomads dwell in booths from date palm fronds.
Prophetic lesson: Messiah Yeshua observed the feast of tabernacles (John 7). Other nations will one day observe this festival as well (Zechariah 14:16-19; Ezekiel 37:26-27). Ultimately all the earth will worship the Lord in spirit & truth. In eternity, the Lord Himself will dwell with us and be our sanctuary for worship (Revelation 21:3, 22).
Chanukah / Dedication
Origin: 165 BC, the Temple was rededicated & a one-day supply of oil lasted eight days. Daniel prophesied this (8:9-14).
Key Life Event Cycle: The baby is born and dedicated to carry the light of life into the world. On the 8th day after birth, a Jewish boy is circumcised.
Observed: In an ideal calendar where the 14th of Nisan/Aviv falls on the Spring equinox, Chanukah would fall 280 days later would fall on the first day of Kislev, the tenth month, which would be December 25th.
Agricultural feature: The Lord can cause our produce to outlast our expectations when we are dedicated to Him.
Prophetic Lesson: Jesus observed Chanukah & claimed to be God, fulfilling the Temple’s purpose (John 10:22-39).
if4es 