The observance of
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread are inseparably joined
together. The Passover was celebrated
on the 15th day of the
first month and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread began on the same
day. The term “feast” is
somewhat misleading since God
required Israel to search and rid
their homes of all yeast and eat
yeast free bread that was “hard
as a rock” for seven days. What
was God trying to illustrate with
this “feast?” The Hebrews
knew that yeast operates through the
process of fermentation. A little bit
of yeast will “infect” the
whole batter. (1 Corinthians 5: 6-8)
On the other hand, pure bread has no
yeast. God connected the Passover
service with the Feast of Unleavened
Bread because He wanted Israel to see
the connection between deliverance
and purity of heart. God’s
goodness and grace do not lessen His
demand for a pure heart. (Revelation
21: 27; 22: 15) The Hebrews were to
thoroughly search their houses for
yeast and remove any trace of yeast
before Passover began. This annual
feast was to remind them of their
constant need to be on guard against
the yeast of sin in their homes and
lives. If this were true, how much
more so today? We, too, mush search
our hearts often and remove any known
sin. The devil is master at
gradualism. Sin creeps in slowly, but
steadily. Sin will overtake an
individual, as well as a nation, if
it is not firmly resisted. The
history of Israel (indeed, all
nations) fully confirms this point.
In the Scriptures,
yeast represents sin and is
demonstrated by the vain, foolish
– even fermented ideas of man.
(Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1) Men and women
may try to excuse sin, justify sin,
defend sin, rename sin, promote sin,
exalt sin or extol the benefits of
sin, but make no mistake – sin
is deadly! God hates sin and those
who love it! God forbade the Jews
from presenting any offerings to Him
that contained yeast! (Exodus 23:18)
Jesus warned the disciples, “…But
be on guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then
they understood that he was not
telling them to guard against the
yeast used in bread, but against the
teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:
11-12) Today, we can see a parallel
in the following way: There are seven
religious systems in the world today.
Each one is full of yeast. The
doctrines of the world’s
religious systems have fermented and
are unacceptable to God. In the last
days, God is going to present the
pure bread of truth about Jesus and
His commandments. The gospel will be
proclaimed and every person on earth
will have the opportunity to choose
life or reject the truth.
Revelation’s story indicates
that many, if not most, will reject
the pure bread of life because they
love the yeast of sin.
One last point. On the
morning after the Passover (the third
day after the Passover lamb was
killed) the high priest presented the
“firstfruits” of the winter
harvest before the Lord. (Leviticus
23:11) This presentation of
firstfruits (wheat, barley, oil and
wine) pointed forward to the
presentation of Jesus before the
Father as perfect firstfruits of the
harvest. (1 Corinthians 15:20; Luke
24:7) In other words, Jesus was the
Passover Lamb, slain for the sins of
the world. He was also the pure,
unleavened Bread of Life that came
down from Heaven. (John 6:35)
Further, Jesus took with Him, at the
time of His ascension, the
firstfruits of their Passover
harvest. (Matthew 27: 52,53;
Ephesians 4:8) The Bible also speaks
of two more harvests that presented
firstfruits – one at Pentecost
and the one in the fall at the Feast
of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Weeks
(Pentecost)
“Count off
fifty days up to the day after the
seventh Sabbath, and then present an
offering of new grain to the
Lord.” (Leviticus 23:16)
When the Passover week ended, the
fist day of the following week
(Sunday) began the count for the
Feast of Weeks. The count continued
through seven, seventh-day Sabbaths.
The day after the seventh Sabbath was
when the feast of Weeks was
celebrated. In Christ’s day,
this feast was known as Pentecost
(from pente which means fifty)
because the feast was held 50 days
after the Passover week was
completed. This one-day feast was a
celebration of the winter harvest
that was gathered in early Summer
(June/July).
This feast illustrates
the work of the Holy Spirit in the
first phase of His ministry. (The
second phase will be described in the
Feast of Tabernacles.) The primary
work of the Holy Spirit is to soften
and influence the human heart toward
spiritual matters. (1Corinthians
2:14) Unless a person is Spirit born,
they cannot enter the kingdom of God.
(John 3:5) The Feast of Weeks
(Pentecost) began with a presentation
to the Lord of the firstfruits from
the late winter harvest. This feast
was to be a lesson illustrating how
God is able to bring life, even a
bountiful harvest, from the cold soil
of human hearts. God wanted the Jews
to understand that men may work the
soil of the heart and plant seeds of
truth, but it is God’s Spirit
that brings spiritual life.
Acts 2 records a
wonderful demonstration of the
meaning of this feast, which happened
shortly after Jesus, went to Heaven.
The Holy Spirit descended on the
disciples of Jesus on Pentecost and
3,000 people were converted that day!
(Acts 2:41) This harvest came from
the toil of Christ Himself. He had
traveled from village to village,
healing the sick, lame and blind. He
had preached freedom to the slaves of
twisted religions and superstition,
and had penetrated the smokescreen of
foolish religious dogma with words of
life. As a result, 3,000 people were
baptized into Christ as the
firstfruits of the Gospel of Christ.
(Matthew 7:29)
God’s timing is
always perfect and this was no
exception! Pentecost was a time when
Jewish males came to Jerusalem from
many nations to attend this feast.
(Acts 2:9-11) The Holy Spirit used
Peter to boldly take advantage of
this precise moment in time. What a
tremendous opportunity to preach a
risen Jesus to the Jews! As a result
of that Pentecost, Israel came
to know about the appearing of
Messiah, their corporate guilt in
killing Him, and the victory of the
risen Savior! Because of the powerful
outpouring and indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, 3,000 people were able to
“see” that Jesus was the
fulfillment of Scripture! (Acts 2:22;
Acts 13:48)
To summarize, the
Passover harvest was the first
presentation of a harvest to the Lord
and the Feast of Weeks was the second
presentation. Remember, Passover
pointed to a harvest representing
those who die in the Lord, Jesus
Himself was “THE
firstfruits” of the harvest. The
harvest of the Feast of Weeks came
next and the firstfruits of this
harvest were the 3,000 people
baptized at Pentecost in Acts 2. If
the Passover harvest reveals
Christ’s power over death
(resurrection), then the Feast of
Weeks reveals the
“quickening” “born
again” person. (Romans 8:5; 1
Peter 4: 3-6) Indeed, the Gospel of
Christ spread throughout the world
after Pentecost (Colossians 1:6) and
the reverberations of the event
continue, even down tour day! The
gospel of the kingdom is still alive,
but the time has come for another,
even greater harvest!
The Feast of
Trumpets
The Feast of Trumpets
was the first of three convocations
in the Fall. According to Jewish
history, a feast marked the arrival
of the seventh month where priests
blew warning trumpets all day long!
Afterwards, trumpet blasts would
sound throughout the camp each
morning and evening for eight more
days. The Bible says, “On the
first day of the seventh month hold a
sacred assembly and do no regular
work. It is a day for
you to sound the trumpets.”
(Numbers 29:1)
Unfortunately, the Old
Testament does not say much about the
Feast of Trumpets. However, the
purpose of the Feast of Trumpets is
not reduced by our lack of
information. Every Jew understood the
primary purpose of the Feast of
Trumpets. In effect, the Feast of
Trumpets was designed to warn every
man, woman and child that the Day of
Atonement was about to arrive.
God’s mercy has always moved Him
to warn people before He executes His
judgments and the Jewish nation was
to take this warning very seriously.
God required that all sins be
transferred to the sanctuary before
sundown on the ninth day if the
seventh month. (Leviticus 16:
23:27-32) In fact to show the
children of Israel just how serious
He was, God told Moses that if any
household was found guilt of
unconfessed sin on the Day of
Atonement, that household was to be
cut off from the camp. In other
words, the heritage of each Jewish
family was at stake on the Day of
Atonement. Therefore, the Feast of
Trumpets served as an impressive
announcement, as the priests
trumpeted a warning throughout the
entire camp for eight days, heralding
the Day of Atonement.
Jewish records also
indicate that the Jewish people also
considered these feasts as a time of
judgment and a time to be reconciled
to God. It was a time for soul
searching, reflection, and to make
certain that the sins of every person
in the household were transferred to
the Alter of Burnt Offering. This
period of spiritual reflection shows
God’s desire to summon His
people to repentance before
the great and terrible Day of
Judgment. He does not want one person
to be lost. (Isaiah 55:6,7; Matthew
18:14)
For individuals who
understand the seven trumpets of
Revelation, the parallel is quite
obvious. In the very near future,
seven trumpets will sound in Heaven
and corresponding events on earth
will lead up to the close of
god’s mercy (His generous offer
of salvation). The seven trumpets of
Revelation will be a time of judgment
and deep reflection for the people of
Earth. The events associated with the
trumpets and the resulting
devastation will ultimately produce a
Sabbath Rest Test and a time when the
Mark of the Beast will be
implemented. Just as the Feast of
Trumpets aroused the children of
Israel to their spiritual condition
and the need for reconciliation with
God, the seven trumpets of Revelation
will also arouse the people of the
world to recognize their need to be
reconciled to God. The motives of
people’s hearts will be revealed
by the course of coming events and
those who oppose God will be exposed
for whom they are. (Ecclesiastes
12:13,14) Yes, God’s mercy is
great, His patience is longsuffering
and His salvation is free, however,
there is an end to God’s
patience with sin and sinners.
God’s grace for sinners is
beyond comprehension, however, it
does not last forever. (See Genesis
6: 5-7; Romans 2: 5-8; Revelation 14:
9-10; and Revelation 18: 4-5)
The Day of
Atonement
The Day of Atonement
occurred on the 10th day
of the 7th month. This was
the most serious day of the year for
the Hebrews. The Day of Atonement
focused on the termination of
judgment and the disposing or
elimination of sin. If any personal
sin was left unresolved, the
Israelites considered it to be a life
or death matter. Remember in
god’s economy sin is never
forgiven, but instead, the guilt of
the sin is transferred to either a
perfect substitute or the
sinner pays the penalty for the sin.
To appreciate the significance of
this matter, consider the sequence of
events that took place in ancient
Israel on the Day of Atonement. After
we look at the basic process, we will
consider the parallels.
Note: There is
not always a direct parallel between
the Earthy and Heavenly Day of
Atonement services. Some people have
mistakenly tried to defend a Day of
Atonement in Heaven. This event does
not exist. The Earthy Day of
Atonement services are better
understood as a grand process
in Heaven that leads to the full
disposition of sin over a period of
several thousand years. Keep this
point in mind so the beauty and
intended meaning of this service will
produce a better understanding of
law, sin, penalty, grace and the
orderly ways God uses to redeem man.
The first order of
business on the Day of Atonement
focused on the worthiness of the high
priest. Before the high priest could
officiate on behalf of Israel, his
own sins and the sins of the
household had to be resolved. How
sobering it must have been for the
high priest to realize that it was
the Lord God, Himself, who would
carefully examine the motives of his
heart before he could officiate for
the children of Israel as their
Earthy high priest intercessor. To
show the seriousness of this event,
the high priest had to offer a perfect
bull from his own flock, which was
very expensive, as an atonement for
his own sins and the members of his
own household. Then, with censer and
atonement blood in hand, the high
priest went behind the veil to stand
in the very presence of God. There,
he sprinkled some of the blood from
the bull on the atonement cover of
the Ark. If God considered the high
priest’s offering acceptable,
only then could he continue on to
perform the next service, which is
the cleansing of the temple. As the
high priest left the Most Holy Place,
he set the blood of his sacrifice
aside for a short period of time.
(See Leviticus 16, 21 and 22.)
The cleansing of the
temple involved several steps. First,
two perfect goats were cast to
determine which goat would die for
the penalty of sin. Then, the
high priest killed the Lord’s
goat. With the censer and atonement
blood in hand, the high priest
entered the veil a second time to
stand in god’s presence. There
he sprinkled blood on the cover of
the Ark and communed with god. If the
offering was acceptable, the high
priest was permitted to continue with
the final phases of the cleansing
service. After leaving the Most Holy
Place, the high priest retrieved the
blood from his personal sacrifice,
mixed it with the blood from the
Lord’s goat, and placed it on
the horns of the Altar of Incense.
Then, he returned to the courtyard
and also placed it on the horns of
the Altar of Burnt Offering. After
all this was done, the high priest
approached the scapegoat and placed
his hands on the head of the goat.
Solemnly, a capable man led the goat
far into the desert to cause the goat
to die of starvation.
The Worthiness of
the High Priest
Several features are
present in the Day of Atonement
services that need consideration.
First, the worthiness of the high
priest parallels the worthiness of
Jesus in Revelation 5. Here is the
point: Before the high priest could
cleanse the temple, he had to be
found worthy. Parallel: Before Jesus
(man’s High Priest) could sit as
man’s judge and cleanse
Heaven’s Temple; He had to be
found worthy to do so. Understand
that judgment of human beings is a process
that cleanses Heaven’s Temple.
The guilt of righteous people is
transferred to the scapegoat (the
devil will provide whatever
restitution is necessary) and the
sins of the wicked are placed on
their own heads (the wicked will
provide their own restitution).
The issue on the Day
of Atonement was whether or not the
high priest was qualified to cleanse
the temple – to eliminate the
record of sin. The scene described in
Revelation 5 focuses on the question
of who is worthy to break open
the seals. At first glance, there
does not seem to be any connection or
parallel between “who is
worthy” and the cleansing of the
temple. However, a very strong
parallel does exist. Consider the
following: The Earthy temple was
cleansed by removing guilt that had
been transferred to the temple by sin
and guilt offerings. (Leviticus
16:19) When the high priest placed
“mixed blood” on the horns
of the altars, he returned them to a
state of holiness (through
Christ’s blood). When he placed
his hands on the scapegoat’s
head, the guilt of the temple
was transferred to the scapegoat.
(Leviticus 16:21) (Remember, the
first goat paid the penalty
for sin.) Thus, at the end of the
day, the sanctuary was cleansed
because sin had been removed. So, how
does this relate to the worthiness of
Jesus and the opening the seven
seals? The third seal identifies a
point in time (1844) when Christ
began to examine the record books of
Heaven to determine who will be saved
and who will be lost. Before Jesus
could begin to cleanse Heaven’s
Temple – that is, before Jesus
could sit in judgment - the
Father and the host of attending
angels had to find Jesus worthy to
judge man.
To clarify this
further, let us review the process.
When a person sinned, he brought his
sacrifice to the temple, confessed
his sin and slaughtered a perfect
lamb. The priest transferred the
blood to the horns or sides of the
Altar of Burnt Offering. The sinner
went away from this process
“clean,” but the temple was
considered “unclean.” On
the Day of Atonement, a goat that had
been chosen as the Lord’s goat
suffered the penalty of sin and was
executed. The temple was restored to
“Holiness” when the high
priest applied the goat’s blood.
Conversely, the temple was made
“unclean” by the blood of
the sinner’s lamb. This
illustrates the point of “mixed
blood” which the high priest
used on the Day of Atonement. Through
the blood of Jesus, a sinner’s
guilt is transferred into the temple.
It is also the blood of Jesus that
makes the temple holy. Consider the
parallel: When a sinner receives
Christ as his/her perfect substitute,
the sin is transferred into the
Temple in Heaven. When Jesus judges
the life record of that particular
sinner, Jesus demonstrates to all
created beings that the sinner lived
by faith. Jesus then declares, by
virtue of His shed blood for the
human race, that sinner is now holy.
The restitution for the wrongs
committed by this sinner will be
placed on the head of the scapegoat
(the devil) at the end of the 1,000
years. (Revelation 20) The opposite
can also be true. If Jesus judges the
life record of a sinner and
determines that he or she did not
live by faith, then Jesus, by virtue
of His worthiness, declares the
sinner to be condemned. Sadly, in
this last scenario, the restitution
for the wrong committed by the sinner
will remain on his/her own head.
Again, the worthiness
of the Earthy high priest on the Day
of Atonement can be correlated with
the worthiness of Jesus in Revelation
5.
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