The Feasts of Jehovah (Part I)
& An Overview to Communion
By Liaf
The Apostle Paul said in II Colossians, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." He said a few verses prior to that, "For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power".
Certain dietary Laws, Sabbaths and Holy (feast) Days were in and of themselves incapable to make one right before God, in which Paul reminded them that they were complete in Christ. As long as one is in Christ, all these have been fulfilled through Christ who kept the Law perfectly. Thus, we fulfilled the requirement of the Law because Christ fulfilled it if we are in him. Christ’s perfect keeping of the Law is why he was risen from the dead. You see, Israel was admonished in Deuteronomy 5:33, "Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess." In other words, keep the Law and you will have eternal life! Or to put it in reverse, the real reason is that if one has life in him, he is perfectly capable of keeping the Law. Of course none of us can. God said that in Adam we have death because he disobeyed God. Therefore the Law was just a mirror for one to see their own shortcoming and the need for a Savior. But Christ came from above and has life. Therefore he could keep the Law perfectly. That was the whole point in God’s lesson to us.
When we look up the word "complete" in Strong’s, we see that the tone of the Greek word means to be filled as if cramming something into a container that cannot fit any more. In other words, in Christ we have all the "filling" we need---- there is no more need for any kind of "add-on" to our lives. Any righteousness we voluntarily do to "please" God is damnable works, and a sure way to hell! However, this does not mean the Law is bad. This does not mean the Law is done away with! No. In fact, Jesus said, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,[this did not happen yet] one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The Law is not only God’s righteous standard, but in it was a shadow of things to come. The Law was a "type" or a shadow if you will of a substance which is Christ. The substance casts a shadow. All that Christ was, is and will do were foreshadowed in the Law. Specifically, I want to talk about the feast days. Paul cautioned against keeping them legalistically as opposed to discerning the things that they represented. After all, nobody can seriously believe God established these for the sole purpose of partying. Likewise, they were not established for the sole purpose of worship when the Israelites were required to go to Jerusalem. Israel was commanded, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Do you think that with such a command that Israel was to gather at Jerusalem for worship purposes alone only several times a year? For starters, they were commanded to keep the Sabbath weekly. Therefore, the feasts had a larger purpose. And that’s why Paul included them in his list of a "shadow of things to come." We are therefore taking the position that these feasts are prophetic forerunners of the person and work of Christ. They represent important events in other words that we should pay careful attention to. We need to turn to a chapter in the Bible that first describes the feasts. We find such a chapter in Leviticus 23. After the description and date of the feast is given, we shall attempt to find its fulfillment.
Passover Feast
Although Leviticus 23 describes all the feasts including this one, the institution of the Passover feast goes back to the time Israel was ready to be delivered from Egypt. So let’s turn in our King James Bibles back to Exodus 12. The context of these stories is that God is ready to deliver his people Israel from the slavery and oppression of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. They are ready to depart from the land of Egypt and just prior to this God sent many plagues on Egypt. The last plague, the death of the firstborn males, is where Passover was instituted for the protection of the people of Israel.
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
Ex:12:13: And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Ex:12:14: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
There is lots of symbolism in this feast that the Lord commanded to the Israelites. For now, I want to give an overview of this feast. Basically they took a lamb, a male a year old (which was Israel’s substitute for the firstborn males that would be slain in the other families of Egypt), on the tenth day of the month. The Hebrews used a lunar-based calendar. A month was one lunar cycle where the 7th-8th of the month was first quarter moon, 14th-15th of the month was full moon, the 21st-22nd of the month was last quarter and the last day of the month was astronomical new moon so that a thin waxing crescent was seen for the start of the new month (the 1st). So the tenth of the month is a few days prior to full moon, i.e., a waxing gibbous moon. They would take in this lamb and even become acquainted with it for a few days (and no doubt attached to it). Actually, they could take it from either the sheep or goats. Hence it was either a lamb or kid. But on the end of the 14th day of the month (as the 15th was about to commence), they would slay it. They took the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door (some suggest it formed the end-points of a cross pattern) while they roasted the lamb and ate it that night in their homes. Later that night when the Lord would smite the firstborn males of the land of Egypt, he would pass over the homes with the blood. The main idea in this passage is one would be passed over or spared death of the firstborn when the Lord saw the blood. Hence, the theme is salvation by application of blood. Blood demonstrated to the Lord that a life was given in exchange for another, i.e., a substitute for the one who applied the blood. The lamb or kid was the "fall guy" in place of another. In Leviticus 23, it simply says:
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
Closely associated with this feast is the feast of Unleavened Bread that immediately follows. As we see in the Exodus passage, they ate bitter herbs and unleavened bread with their lamb. We will say more on that feast later. For now, let’s concentrate on the meaning of the Passover feast in the New Testament. One does not have to go far to get the true meaning of Passover. We find in I Corinthians 5:7 it says,
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
Jesus died on the Passover to fulfill the Passover as Matthew 26:2 says:
Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
Hence, Passover simply represents Christ’s dying and shedding his blood as a substitute for us.
The so-called "Last Supper" took place earlier on the 14th of the month and later that day the Lord was crucified. Keep in mind that the Jewish day began at sundown. Therefore, early in the day is the previous evening or during the night. You know the trials that were held for Jesus during that time so that he was crucified during the daytime (over halfway through the Jewish day). By the end of the 14th, he died. He was taken from the cross and quickly prepared for burial in the ensuing hours so that he was interred by the start of the 15th at sundown. This brings us to the next feast.
Unleavened Bread
Along with the roasted lamb, the Israelites were told to eat unleavened bread. In Leviticus 23 we read:
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
To find the symbolism of the unleavened bread, let’s try something opposite. Let’s discern what leaven symbolizes. We already know that the Unleavened Bread feast immediately followed the Passover. If Christ fulfilled the Passover feast by his death, perhaps the feast of Unleavened Bread signified something after his death. In the story of the Passover in Exodus, we read this warning to the Israelites:
Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
Regarding offerings, we read a passage in Leviticus that says:
No meat [i.e. grain] offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven.
Needless to say, leaven was something that God did not want (there were some instances, but in these examples leaven was forbidden). What does leaven do? It is a substance that ferments dough so that it makes dough rise, or puff up. Otherwise, you’d have flat bread like pita (although pita does have leaven in it---- I’m just using the shape as an illustration). The New Testament (as always) sheds light on the meaning. Jesus said of the Pharisees’ teaching:
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
And again we read the words of Paul where he said:
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And again Paul said:
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
The context of that Galatians 5 passage was about false doctrine that kept them from following the truth. Thus, leaven was used to mean bad doctrine, malice and wickedness. Even a little can corrupt anything good. In other words, it symbolizes anything that is corrupt and evil. Unleavened bread then would represent something that is not corrupt or pure. What does bread represent? That’s Basic Christianity 101. Jesus said he was the bread of life. He was the bread from heaven. Thus, if we put two and two together, unleavened bread represented the sinless body of Christ. This feast followed immediately after the Passover in the same manner Christ’s sinless body was interred immediately after his death. Grant it, the Bible says he was made sin for us, in that he was the substitute as was that lamb without blemish. But Christ Himself did not sin, indeed could not have sinned and have been raised again.
By extension, unleavened bread (which was to be eaten for seven days) symbolized the new life in Christ of the believer. Notice that NO LEAVEN was to be found anywhere in the Israelites’ houses. Likewise, the New Testament admonition said:
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
This is not accomplished, of course, by resolutions for self-improvement. Rather, through Christ’s death and identification with him, we, like him, are a new creation. We are a "new lump" through the body of Christ in faith. This new life in Christ is the fulfillment of the absence of leaven in the homes. This absence of leaven shows we are set apart unto God, not like the world at all. The Passover/Unleavened Bread feast of the Old Testament has its counterpart in the communion. Besides the sinless body of Christ, what else does the Bible say about the body of Christ? Turn to the familiar chapter of Isaiah 53. There is says:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Peter saw the fulfillment of that prophecy at the cross when he said:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Peter spoke in the past tense because the healing was already taken at the cross.
Thus, in addition to the sinless body of Christ, we see here physical healing because of the stripes. If the only issue that needed attention when we take communion was salvation alone, there would only be the need for the wine which symbolizes the blood of Christ. What does the bread symbolize? It signifies the body of our Lord by whose stripes ye were healed. As the wine is for salvation through his blood, the bread is for physical healing! We can go to healing services if we want. We can pray for healing. We can have the elders lay their hands on us. This is all well and good. But the provision for healing was already made at the cross for us. Like salvation, we only need to accept it and thank God for it as we partake in communion.
Now we are often fearfully warned to "examine ourselves" before communion. Are we worthy to partake? NO! We are made worthy by the blood of the lamb the Bible teaches. Paul said, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord……
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." Paul was not teaching that we should be "worthy". Paul did not say to examine ourselves like a spiritual archeologist trying to dig up past sins lest the wrath and terror of the Lord would condemn the partaker. No. The word "unworthily" is an adverb that modifies the manner of partaking. Thank God that newer translations did not screw that up. As far as I am aware, they likewise translate it to mean "in an unworthy manner". How does one partake in an unworthy manner? Paul says it clearly: not discerning the Lord's body. One who takes communion without understanding the proper significance is the one who takes it in an unworthy manner! All the confessions prior to communion in the world, and all the soul-searching does not mean a hill of beans if one takes their eyes off Christ and what he did for us. As a matter of fact, if you want damnation, then do just that! Confess until the cows come home thinking that will prepare you for communion! Fortunately, if you do get damnation, this is NOT permanent damnation by the correct rendering of the Greek word. This is temporary punishment to wake up the child of God. That is why Paul said that many were sick and some even died amongst those who partook in an unworthy manner. They did not die and go to hell necessarily. They had these trials for their correction by the Lord. Thank God the Lord at least saw them as his children!
I once heard a story in a church that I once attended that a lay preacher came over to this country with a group of pilgrims. He would not offer communion and prayed for a properly ordained minister to offer them communion. Poor fellow. Had he been versed in Scripture, he would have seen that the communion was the extension of the Seder meal and that as long as he discerned the Lord’s body, there was no reason to fear. Where is that meal held? IN THE HOME. He, along with all the others, could have properly partaken of the communion in their own homes. Now I am not saying to do away with partaking it with other Christians in the church, but it is not wrong to take it in the home either. Such a fear of administering communion (i.e. presiding at the table) is doing nothing more than elevating the ordinance to a level of idolatry. What do ministers (and vociferous Holy Roller types who side with them) have to object to here? They can give all the theology and damnation warnings they want. The bottom line is that if this is wrong, it is the Lord’s responsibility to punish those who partake in an unworthy manner; not theirs. You know what I think? I think the real reason is that some may be worried about losing their jobs lest the body of believers would actually trust in the Lord instead of having somebody preside over them to tell them what to do.
There are several other feasts of Jehovah to cover yet. The next message will deal with the feast of Firstfruits and Pentecost.