Types and Shadows - Spring Feasts of Israel Part 1

SHADOWS OF THE CHRIST AND THE NEW COVENANT - PART 1

I continue to be amazed at the wisdom of God in giving us types and shadows of Christ throughout the pages of the OT.

Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

There are many shadow of things to come throughout the Bible. This is essentially the Bible’s way of foreshadowing future prophetic events through Old Testament Scripture.

"Type" is some "person," or "event," or "ceremony" that is recorded to "foreshadow" some future "person," or "event," or "ceremony."
For illustration
• TYPICAL PERSONS, like Melchizedek, Joshua etc
• TYPICAL EVENTS, like the "Passover" etc
• TYPICAL CEREMONIES, like "Ceremonial Cleansing," "Feasts of Trumpets," "Year of Jubilee," etc

In studying the ‘Types’ the two comparative words ‘AS’ and ‘SO’ are often seen.

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive – 1 Cor 15:22
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. – Matt 24:37

When the "Type" and the "Antitype" (or fulfillment) have both appeared, as the "Brazen Serpent" and the "Uplifted Christ," then the Type has been fulfilled.

If the Antitype has not yet appeared then the fulfillment is future.

The "Plagues of Egypt" are a type of the Plagues of the Great Tribulation.

Leviticus 23:2
“The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts”

These are not Israel’s feasts or the Jewish people’s feasts, but God’s feasts. So, if you are saved by Yeshua (Jesus), you are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel -
Ephesians 2:11-13

You are Abraham’s seed as well - Galatians 3:29

The Passover is the first of God’s annual feast days mentioned in Scripture. It commemorates the greatest event in the people of Israel’s history—their miraculous liberation from Egypt.

PASSOVER
• Celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan (the first month).

• On the 10th day of Nisan, the Israelites selected a male lamb without blemish
(Exod 12:1-5)

1 Peter 1: 19
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

The Lord has used much of the historic events of the Old Testament to provide a preview of future events.

The Passover of Exodus foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ on the cross and His shed blood which provides the remission of sins.

God provided the Lamb for Abraham - Genesis 22:8

A shadow of the Lamb that would come - John 1:29

The Israelites knew the blood of the lamb had protected them from the death of their firstborn on that first Passover night they kept in Egypt (Exodus 12:12-13)

Luke 22:14-16:
“When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.

At Passover miraculously, the Israelites’ children were saved because they killed a lamb according to the instructions of Moses and swabbed the blood over the doors to protect them. The lamb chosen and sacrificed was an animal without spot or blemish. It was roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

The Passover symbols would now represent Christ’s complete sacrifice—the unleavened bread representing His sinless body that was beaten for us…

PASSOVER - Review
• As God commanded the sheep to be brought into the temple courtyard on the early morning of Passover;
• So in the early morning of Passover, Jesus was brought into the temple courtyard;
• As God commanded the sheep to be bound at 9am, for preparation for their sacrifice;
• So Jesus was bound to the cross at 9am.
• As God commanded the priest to sacrifice the lamb at 3pm and say “It is finished”;
• So Jesus took His last breath at 3pm and said “It is finished.”
• As the Passover lamb roasted in fire, and none of its bones were broken. (Exod 12:8, 46)
• So Jesus had no bones broken
• As Passover initiated Israel’s exodus from slavery in Egypt.
• So Christ’s crucifixion initiated the elect’s exodus from the dominion of the devil, the slavery of sin
and the bondage of the world.

CHRIST: OUR “UNLEAVENED” SAVIOR
Just as this festival symbolizes both sinlessness and holiness.
So Christ was sinless and perfectly holy.
2 Corinthians 5:21
Hebrews 4:15
1 Corinthians 5:7b-8

The Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place the day after Passover picturing the burial of Christ and our sins which were buried with Him.

After Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread comes First Fruits, when Yeshua fulfills the first fruits of life from dead at His resurrection.

FIRSTFRUITS
Firstfruits marks the beginning of the cereal grain harvests in Israel. Of the crops sown in winter, barley is the first grain to ripen.

The priests had very strict guidelines for how it was celebrated, each one providing a prophetic picture of what Jesus did for us.

The feast revolved around the barley harvest which involved three stages:
1. The Marking,
2. The Gathering,
3. The Presenting.

1. The Marking
The marking took place on the Passover and referred to judging the crops to see which stalks were fit to offer to the Lord.

The chosen stalks were tied with a red cord to make them easier to spot and left standing alone in the field.

2. The Gathering
Then on the next day, the first day of Unleavened Bread, the chosen sheaf was cut and prepared for offering on the next day, the Feast of Firstfruits, when it was taken to the Temple.

3. The Presenting
The chosen Barley sheaf was given to the priest who waved it before the Lord as a way of dedicating the entire harvest to Him. - Lev 23:11a

Until the Israelites offered the barley Firstfruits to Yahweh, they were forbidden to eat the grain of the new harvest .

As the marking of the crops in the fields, judging which ones were fit for offering in the Temple.
So Jesus was being judged by Caiaphas the high priest.

As the Barley sheaf was bound with a red cord.
So Jesus was bound and handed over to the Romans for execution

The red cord, of course, is the scarlet thread of redemption which is seen throughout the Old Testament foreshadowing the blood of Christ shed for our sins.

It was first seen in the Garden when God Himself sacrificed an innocent animal to clothe the nakedness of Adam and Eve

Later it was also seen in the blood sacrifice offered by Abel.
Then the blood on their doorposts in Egypt.

The scarlet rope Rahab the Harlot was told to hang from her window so that she and her family would be spared when the city of Jericho was destroyed.

As the lambs and bulls and goats that were sacrificed in the Temple.
So Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God was sacrificed and shed His blood for our sins—

First in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat great drops like blood and prayed, “Father, not My will, but Thy will be done.”

Then when He was beaten and scourged with 39 lashes by the Romans.

Blood also flowed from His head when the crown of thorns was pressed into his skull.

His hands and feet were pierced by the nails.

And the spear was driven into His side.

Remember no one was allowed to touch the rest of the barley until the sheaves were first offered in the Temple.

Jesus told Mary Magdalene when He appeared to her after His resurrection, “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.” She was the first person He appeared to when He rose from the dead.

As the firstfruits of the great resurrection harvest, Jesus had to present Himself to His Father before anyone was allowed to touch Him.

But once He did that, He said to Thomas the Doubter, “Put your finger here. See My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and start believing.”

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day of Passover season (Nisan 16), on the day of Firstfruits, completing the prophetic picture the spring feasts painted of His work of redemption:

The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee and the beginning (firstfruits) of the final harvest, or resurrection, of all mankind.

REVIEW
Jesus’
Death (Passover)
Burial (Unleavened Bread)
Resurrection (Firstfruits).

PENTECOST
Known by other names: Feast of Weeks (i.e. Shavout), the Day of Firstfruits, and the Feast of Harvest

One of the three major festivals that all Jewish males had to attend

The Jews would count fifty days from the Feast of Firstfruits.

The Feast of Pentecost was celebrated on the fiftieth day, hence the name ‘Pentecost’ from the Greek for ‘fifty.’

For Pentecost, the Jews would bring to the Temple the firstfruits of their wheat harvest.

From this offering, the Jewish priests would make “two loaves of bread to be waved…of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD” (Lev 23:17).

A priest would subsequently present the two loaves before the Lord as a wave offering.
What is the significance of the two wheat loaves baked with leaven which were presented before the Lord as a wave offering?

First, wheat is often a symbol for believers in Scripture - Matt 13:25-26

Second, recall that the Bible often uses leaven as a symbol for sin - 1 Cor 5:6-8

Thirdly, the two loaves made from the same sheaves of wheat likely symbolize believing Jews and believing Gentiles who have been incorporated into the same spiritual body, that is, the Church.

Thus, the ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit which resulted in the formation of the Church.

As Israel experienced the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai 50 days after leaving Egypt under Passover.

So the disciples experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit 50 days after the completion of Passover by the resurrection of Christ.

As the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits.
So the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 50th day after the resurrection of Christ Jesus.

As Supernatural manifestations were on Mount Sinai - there was thunder and lightning, thick clouds, fire and smoke.
Exod 19:16-19

So too in the upper room came a violent wind and tongues of fire descended onto the disciples.
Acts 2:2-3

As after the giving of Torah, 3000 people were slain because of idolatry.
Exod 32:28

So after the giving of the new law of the Spirit, 3000 people were baptized and added to the Church
Acts 2:41

As at Mount Sinai, God revealed himself as awesome, almighty and unapproachable, and to see Him face to face would have meant instant death.
Exod 19:21

So at Mount Zion, "the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God"
Heb 12:22

Jesus instituted the New Covenant, God not only becomes approachable; He even desires to dwell in us through his Spirit by making us perfect, thanks to Jesus "the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood“.

Finally, the Feast of Weeks - the second major harvest festival of the year - is also called the "Feast of Harvest"
Exod 23:16

Yeshua is woven through the entire fabric of the Bible.

These remarkable patterns that The Lord has put in the Bible help inform us when we are trying to interpret prophetic Scripture. Any future event should have a prior type in Scripture and we should study the Word diligently to find out to confirm what we may think to be true and all of this will help us to keep our eyes open to world events as the Word of God becomes more and more of a reality.

Proverbs 25:2
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

References
https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/larkin/dt/28.cfm
http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/1998/06/bridging-the-gap-between-the-old-and-new-testament/
http://feedingonchrist.com/old-testament-personal-types-and-shadows-of-christ/
http://beginningandend.com
https://oncedelivered.net/2008/05/29/jesus-in-the-feasts-of-israel-the-feast-of-firstfruits/
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/64632/third-temple-closer-than-ever-search-begins-eligible-jewish-priests-jewish-world/#44i7gUTqXIMx1rZu.99https://principlesforlifeministries.com/2013/08/14/secrets-of-the-feasts-firstfruits/
http://www.triumphpro.com/atonement-yom-kippur.htm
https://www.compellingtruth.org/abomination-of-desolation.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/Melchizedek.html
http://focusonjerusalem.com/sagaofjerusalem.html
https://principlesforlifeministries.com/2013/08/14/secrets-of-the-feasts-firstfruits/
http://christianitybeliefs.org/end-times-deceptions/the-pre-tribulation-rapture-myth/
https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-biblical-festivals-that-teach-us-about-jesus-christ
http://endtimepilgrim.org/yomteruah.htm

Much of this teaching will be used by the English speaking Pastors in the Africa Training Bible School.

Each of these YDT Series includes an audio and handout or study notes to be downloaded as well as a PowerPoint to make the viewing more visual for the youth.

Sessions can be split into two for Junior Youth who may not be able to absorb the entire teaching in one session.

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