E33 ​M​i​n​istries
E33 ​M​i​n​istries
The Spring Holy Days (Yeshua's First Coming)
The Spring Holy Days (Yeshua's First Coming)
The Holy Days of YHWH are recognized to be split into two seasons with exception to the weekly Sabbath, for more info on that, please click here. These are the spring feasts and the fall feasts. For those of us who have Messiah, we understand this to be because the spring feasts are representative of Yeshua's first coming and the fall feasts represent His second coming. These Holy Days are ALL ABOUT HIM! For all intents and purposes, we will discuss the spring feasts in this article, these were fulfilled in the first coming of Yeshua. For info on the fall feasts, please click here.
I think a lot of the confusion for celebrating these today comes in when you start talking about the sacrificial system. In the future, we will do an entry regarding the differences in the Levitical and Melchizedek priesthoods but for the sake of this article let's just make it understood that we do not presently do animal sacrifices. I hate leaving this open with basically a "take my word for it" statement, but for the sake of the length of this article, let me just say study this out on your own until we can search this out, write it down, and have a link we can post here.
Onto the Holy Days.....
Let's begin with Passover.
I am not going to go into great detail about the history because it's all contained in your Bible and you should already be reading and studying this. Passover is detailed in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23. In summary, a lamb is sacrificed and eaten on this day as a remembrance to the time in Egypt when the destroyer killed all the first born sons in the tenth and final plague. This day also leads up to The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which we will discuss momentarily.
You've studied and read about the Passover Lamb, now you're wondering.... "what does that have to do with Jesus?"
Well, Yeshua is our Passover Lamb and the original was a shadow pointing to His death. Let's check out the parallels between Yeshua and the Passover Lamb.
The Passover lambs were brought into Jerusalem 4 days before Passover. Yeshua rode into Jerusalem 4 days before Passover.
The Passover lamb was to be without spot or blemish. Yeshua lived a perfect, sinless life.
The Passover lamb was inspected and tested. Yeshua was "inspected and tested" by the Sadducees and Pharisees in the temple and again later by Herod and Pilate.
No bones of the Passover lamb were to be broken. Yeshua, likewise, did not have His bones broken despite being beaten, whipped, crucified, and stabbed in the side with a spear. (Reference: John 19:36)
The Passover lamb was killed on Passover usually at the ninth hour (3pm by today's clock). Yeshua died from crucifixion at the ninth hour... on Passover.
Most importantly, the original Passover lamb was not just a sacrifice but was a substitution. The blood of the lamb on the doorposts kept the destroyer from killing the first born sons of Israel. Much like the atoning blood of Yeshua as our covering keeps us from the wrath of God since He died as a substitution for us.
How do we celebrate Passover today?
I cannot tell you how to celebrate Passover, you need to pray, study, and see what your convictions are. All I can tell you is how my family keeps Passover. At sunset on the eve of Passover (the night before), my family has a "service"... we read scriptures about the original Passover and the crucifixion, and partake in the "Lord's Supper" with wine and unleavened bread. (I will put the exact scriptures and service that we follow here in a link when I get time.)
On Passover day, we have a nice dinner consisting of lamb and "bitter herbs"... we prepare it and wait for sunset then "eat it in haste" with our sandals on and ready to go! We do not typically invite others to join us this day because, to us, this is a very private and spiritual thing. Plus we keep Torah to the best of our ability and I do not want to have the "are you circumcized in the heart AND in the flesh?" conversation with potential guests in order to make sure they don't eat the lamb in an inappropriate manner. This being said, there are many who do not partake in lamb on this day and I see and understand their point. My family chooses to have lamb. You will need to study and pray and decide for yourself what you feel convicted to do. We take the day off of work for Passover, although it is NOT a Sabbath. The day following it, however, is. Which brings us to:
The Feast of Unleavened Bread.
This lasts for a week, with a High Sabbath leading it off and another High Sabbath ending it. There is also another Sabbath tucked in there as the Feast of Firstfruits, but we will revisit this later. The short history of Unleavened Bread is that it is a reminder to leaving Egypt in haste and not having enough time to wait for dough to rise as it would with leaven (or yeast). It is also implied that during this time leaven (or yeast) is likened to represent sin. During this week, we are to rid our homes of leaven (sin)... it is a spiritual lesson. It has taught me and my family that leaven can hide in everything.... much like sin can creep into your life if you are not guarding His Commands.
During this Festival, Yeshua was in the grave... ridding sin (leaven) from our lives. What I find awesome about this festival is that people are eating matzah during this time, if you've never seen matzah bread it is pictured above.... and it is "bruised", "striped", and "pierced" in appearance. This is probably the type of bread Yeshua held up and said "This is My Body.." Which makes it even more interesting when you read Isaiah 53 about the "suffering servant" who was "bruised" for our transgressions, "pierced" for our iniquities, and by His "stripes" we are healed.
Amazing! HalleluYah!
During this week, we celebrate it by not being found with leaven in our homes... obviously as we said earlier the spiritual lesson is about ridding sin from our homes and lives. My family removes all the yeast from home, be it yeast for cooking or yeast found in the ingredients of stored food. We also make point to eat unleavened bread whether it's matzah or our own recipes and we like to experiment and make different things from it... like pizza! When I get some free time I will post some recipes here...
We also recognize the High Sabbath days on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread and we do not work.
During this Feast, there is another High Sabbath that always takes place the day after the weekly Sabbath called "Firstfruits".
Firstfruits is historically a "harvest" festival where the first grains of the harvest were waved before Yahweh as an offering. The spiritual significance to this is outstanding when you realize that Yeshua rose from the grave on Firstfruits as the "firstfruits" of the resurrection as Paul refers to Him in 1 Corinthians 15:23.
YHWH's Holy Days are not based on dates on the Gregorian Calendar so they are constantly changing. The season stays the same but the dates are changing... thus, Unleavened Bread may start on any day of the week, but Firstfruits will always be on a Sunday because the weekly Sabbath will always be Saturday... but the amount of time before and after Firstfruits will change each time. This understanding, along with the understanding that a Hebrew day begins at sunset to the next sunset, helps us to estimate when Messiah fulfilled these feast days. At risk of beginning arguments, the best chance in my opinion was 31 A.D. Passover was a Wednesday (Yeshua crucified), then at sunset began the next day (Thursday) and it was a High Sabbath: the first day of Unleavened Bread, thus why they rushed to place Yeshua in the tomb before sunset. Friday was preparation day before the weekly Sabbath (which as we established is always Saturday) so the women bought spices this day to anoint the body of Yeshua. The next day was the Sabbath so "they rested according to the Commandment". Since the first day began at sunset Thursday, the end of the third day was at sunset Saturday. This is when the women headed to the tomb "while it was yet dark". This also happened to be the start of Firstfruits and the end of the "three days and three nights in the grave" that Yeshua said would be His sign that He was the Messiah. As the firstfruits were waved before Yahweh, this is also why Yeshua told Mary not to touch Him because He "had no yet ascended to the Father"... Yeshua is the wave offering of Firstfruits in addition to the Passover Lamb and the Unleavened Bread of life!
So.. how does my family celebrate this day?
We sit down with a nice dinner. I try to give away some of my "firstfruits", which as a winemaker is usually the previous years batch that I bottle in this spring. My family also recognizes this as a High Sabbath and in turn we do not work this day either. This day also kicks off what is known as "counting the omer". An "omer" is a form of measurement for wheat but this counting is the counting of 7 Sabbaths, or 49 days leading up to:
Shavuot (Feast of Weeks), also known as "Pentecost" which is greek for "fifty" for simply the amount of days.
The way this day is counted makes it also fall on a Sunday every year like Firstfruits. Historically speaking this is another harvest festival and it is also a High Sabbath. It is believed that Shavuot was the day Moses at Sinai gave the "Ten Commandments". We know that this is the Holy Day in which Yeshua sent the "comforter".. the Ruach (Spirit) to His apostles as described in Acts 2.
My family celebrates this day by having a nice sit down dinner together. Since it is a High Sabbath we do not work. I have always thought that because of the spiritual significance this is a good day to get baptized as well. I was baptized on Shavuot, I baptized my son on Shavuot. Obviously, this is not a requirement, you can get baptized whenever. I do not want to create any thoughts that I am adding to Torah or a Holy Day.
That is pretty much the summary of it.
Not understanding the Holy Days and High Sabbaths and how they are constantly changing on our calendar leads to things like "Good Friday" because the only Sabbath you comprehend in the Bible is the weekly Sabbath so you try to make the narrative fit your mindset, thus you end up with 3 days and 3 nights starting at 3pm on Friday and ending at sunrise on Sunday. That's some sketchy math! Now that you understand YHWH's Holy Days and how they work... you get that a High Sabbath can be on any day of the week.
I know that if you research deeply into the Holy Days you will find all sorts of traditions, usually passed off as "commandments". Folks, these are not commandments by YHWH but commandments of men and you do not need to adhere to them or practice them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with traditions AS LONG AS they are not raised to or higher than the level of His Commands and/or are presented as Commandments. As long as they do not conflict with His Holy Commandments, then I say do what you want to and enjoy His Holy Feast Days as you ponder Yeshua's first coming and how He fulfilled these amazing days and best of all, look to the fall Holy Days when He will return!