Introducing the Jewish Feasts, their meaning, and significance

Introduction:

    In today's post I want to introduce the reader to the main Jewish Festivals we find in the Bible. Recently I began a new teaching series in our church on this topic.  

    A number of chapters and sections in the Bible details each of them or summarize all of them. The third book of the Bible, Leviticus, gives us the seven major Jewish festivals in Leviticus 23. Moses writes in Leviticus 23:1-3 

“The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: 3 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.” 

    The phrase at the end of Leviticus 23:2, “appointed times” (mo-ed =  מוֹעֲדֽ ) has to do with "meeting times", or "appointed seasons". The Jewish festivals or "appointed times" tell us not only about what God did for Israel in the Old Testament, but also point ahead to Jesus in His coming in the New Testament. 

    Ed Hindson and Gary Yates in their volume "The Essence of the Old Testament - A Survey", summarize the presentation of the seven major Jewish Feasts in Leviticus 23:

"The nation could experience sanctified obedience by appearing before the Lord regularly to worship (the Sabbath) and celebrate various feasts that would remind them of their covenant relationship with Him." 

    How many of us have old photo albums, or have memories stored on social media that remind of us important events? The Jewish Festivals commemorated the LORD's faithfulness. But they also pointed ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Jesus Himself stated in Luke 24:44 

“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 

    One of the ways we find the Hebrew Bible (another name for what Christians call "the Old Testament") pointing to Jesus the Messiah is by the individual and combined messages of the main Jewish Feasts. 

    In all, there are seven main feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23 and in other places (most notably Numbers 28 and Deuteronomy 16). We also note there are two other main Jewish feasts or festivals: Purim and Hannukah (also known as "the feast of dedication").  

     As I mentioned already, the word translated “appointed times” in the opening verses above means “to meet, to appoint”. It first appears in Genesis 1:14 to describe why God created the Sun, moon, and stars “signs, seasons, days, and years”. God had already included methods for marking off appointed times in history by way of cosmic phenomena like stars, the moon, and the sun. 

    Again, we can also think of these times and places where God made changes in people's lives (that is, if we are followers of Jesus in saving faith, or perhaps we can look back and see how He was at work before we were brought to faith in Jesus). Such celebrations were meant to remind the people to not forget what God had done. 

    Also, as already mentioned, the Jewish Feasts pointed ahead to what God intended to do through the coming of Messiah. What I want to do now is simply depict the Feasts, their general meaning, and say something about what they tell us about Jesus and prophetic events. 

1. Importance of the feasts: To relate, revere, remember. 

A. God wants His people to relate to Him.

    God's covenants were intended for relationship with His people. The festivals were visible dramatizations of that reality. Deuteronomy 16:16 "Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed." See also 2 Peter 3:18.

B. God wants His people to revere Him.

        We too often in modern society (and I'm mainly talking about our American Church culture) don't have a fear or reverence of God. The Christian is to live their life between two guardrails: confident access to God through Jesus Christ and carefulness in how one conducts themselves by the Holy Spirit. Numbers 28:1-2 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time." 

C. God wants His people to remember Him. 

        God's people today can get so busy with life, even service to God, that they can plan Him to the edges of life. It was the author Oswald Chambers that once noted how our number one competition for our fellowship with God is our service to God. We ought never forget that were it not for the Lord Jesus, we would be incapable of anything (Read John 15). Thus, Leviticus 23:43-44 "so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord."

2. Summarizing the Feasts.

 

    The Jewish people had two calendars, a civil calendar and a religious one. The civil calendar began in our September, during the Fall. Their religious calendar began in the Spring (March/April). The festal cycle followed the religious calendar, with Passover being the beginning of their spiritual lives for that year (See Exodus 12:1-2). When the final feast ended in September, that was when the Civil calendar began. 

    The Jews were reminded of those twin rhythms of regular life and spiritual life, all of which was presided over by the Lord who redeemed them. It was He who gave them a new beginning. What follows is a summary of the Feasts.

 

A. Spring Feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First-Fruits, Pentecost

B. Fall Feasts: Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Booths 

C. Two other feasts we’ll consider: Purim and Dedication

D. The main seven are unified by the concept of Sabbath rest. 

    The concept of “Sabbath” pervades Leviticus (the listing of the seven main feasts) in nine places. The Sabbath principle articulates God’s Revelation, Priestly activity in Heaven, and Kingship in creation. Being that there are seven sabbatical days among the feasts that occur separately from the regular Sabbaths, this indicates God’s redemptive work, fulfilled most prominently in Jesus Christ (Compare Hebrews 4). Consequently, Jesus as the eternal Son of God in human flesh, occupies His three-fold office of Prophet, Priest, and King. 

3. Meanings of the feasts.

(Note: All seven festivals point to Jesus. First three pertained to Jesus in His first coming. Pentecost involved Jews and Gentiles, memorializing the birth of the Jewish nation and Church, as well as the sending of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus. The latter three pertain to the future of Israel, God’s promises to her, and the events prior to Jesus' second coming.)

 

Four Spring Feasts

Passover = Deliverance. Exodus out of Egypt / Jesus our Passover Lamb

See Exodus 12 and 1 Corinthians 5:7, also Leviticus 23:4-5.

Unleavened Bread = “Put the world behind you”. Remind the people they were no longer in Egypt, and thus needed to “put away Egypt (leaven)” from themselves / Jesus was buried on the first day of this Feast, perfect and without sin in life and death. See Leviticus 23:6-8. This also is a type of the Christian life, to put away from ourselves the leaven of sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). 

First Fruits = “New life”. The first sheave of the Barley Harvest brought forth to the temple, signaling the end of Winter, start of the Spring Harvest / Jesus raised from the dead on this celebration, hence called “the First-fruits (1 Cor 15:20-23).  See Leviticus 23:9-14. 

Pentecost = “Ingathering”. Celebrated the Barley Harvest and was fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits / Same day as the Spirit’s outpouring on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-47 cf Joel 2:28. See also Leviticus 23:15-22. 

Three Fall Feasts

Trumpets = New beginning. Announced the beginning of the first day on the Civil Calendar (Jewish New Year) / Corresponds to Jesus regathering the Jews at the end of the future seven-year tribulation period (see Mt 24:31). See Leviticus 23:23-25.

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) = “Forgiveness”. A time devoted to national repentance and mourning for sins / Zechariah 13 and Romans 11:25 predicts that when Jesus returns to earth, the Jews will call upon Him and forgiveness of sin will be made available to them. Leviticus 23:26-38.

Feast of Booths = “Kingdom”. Reminds the Jews of their journeys through the wilderness under Moses’ leadership on their way to the Promised land / Many note how this feast pictures Christ’s Millennial Kingdom prior to the final appearance of the New Heavens and New Earth. Leviticus 23:39-44

Two other Feasts

Purim = “Preservation.” When God used Queen Esther to save the Jews from the plot of Haman to commit genocide against them. / Jesus may very well had healed the lame man in John 5 during this Festival. See Esther 9:17-24.

Dedication (Hannukah) = “Provision”. This commemorates the providential act of God in using the Maccabees to preserve the Temple during the invasion of Antiochus Epiphanes in 168-165 b.c. This feast is also connected to Jesus’ incarnation and body as being the true Temple (see John 2:19). See also John 10:22. 

4. Why study the Jewish Feasts?

    As we close out this post on the Jewish Feasts today, I hope you can see why they are important. Why study them? Let me end with four reasons.

A. To know Jesus better. 

B. Insight into Prophecy

C. Divine intervention in our lives. 

D. God keeps His promises.

Post #48 Doctrine of God - Observing the Triune God At Work In The Book Of Hebrews

Introduction:

    In the last post I introduced readers to the doctrine of "eternal relations of origin" (eroo) and did a review of the doctrine of the Trinity in terms of our working definition here Growing Christian Resources: Post #47 Doctrine of God - An Introduction To Eternal Relations of Origin In The Trinity. 

What I want to do in today's post is continue our survey of the Bible with how it develops the doctrine of the Trinity. Understanding important doctrine like "eroo" (eternal relations of origin) can help us navigate the revelation of God in His Word. I thought today we would focus on the Book of Hebrews and see how the Triune God works in creation, redemption, and the Christian life. 

The Trinity’s work in creation, redemption, and the Christian life in Hebrews

    Hebrews 1:1-4 shows how The Father speaks and the Son shows. The Father was not incarnated, yet the Son became incarnated.  This gives us an example of appropriations, namely, how fitting it is that the Son become man, to reveal, make plain, and manifest the character of the Father in the work of salvation. The Son is begotten eternally of the Father, thus He is the Second person of the Trinity, revealed secondly, while revealing the One from whom He ever receives His identity as the “only begotten God” (John 1:18). 

    Hebrews 1:5-9 reveals The Father unbegotten, The Son begotten. The Father and the Son are distinguished by their eternal relations of origin as to the Father’s paternity or being “unbegotten, not made”, and the Son’s filiation or being “begotten, not made”. Here we see illustrated the inseparable operations of the Father and Son in the work of creation, both being One God (Hebrews 1:8-9). 

    Hebrews 1:10-13 reveals how The Father started creation and the Son situated it. Yet, both Persons are one Creator God (1 Corinthians 8:6). 

    In Hebrews 2:1-4, The Father bore witness by signs and wonders. The Son witnessed by His earthly ministry. The Spirit testified by gifts and miracles. Yet all three inseparably revealed salvation by the One shared will of God. 

    In Hebrews 2:5-18, The Father subjected all things under the Son. Note: “It was fitting for Him” in Hebrews 2:10. This is the language of appropriations, namely, it was fitting or appropriate for the Son to become incarnate, since He reveals the Father and with the Father, sends the Spirit. In His incarnation, the Son subjected His human will under the Father’s will, while still sharing that One will with the Father as truly God. 

    In Hebrews 2:5-18, The Father royally adopts the Christian as a son or daughter by faith (Hebrews 2:8). Meanwhile the Son represents Christians by His intercession and help as “man for us” and God with us” (Hebrews 2:14-18). 

In Hebrews 3:1-19, The Father is the builder of the house (all true Christians), whereas the Son is over the house (all true Christians), i.e. “The Church”. The Spirit draws sinners to become part of the household of faith. This is the Trinity’s inseparable work in our salvation. 

       In Hebrews 4, The Father is the source of spiritual rest. The Son is the Savior of spiritual rest. The Holy Spirit, by the scriptures, sustains spiritual rest. All three as One God grants spiritual rest. Here we see the doctrines of appropriations and inseparable operations together. 

In Hebrews 5:1-6, The Father eternally begets the Son His eternal identity. The Son is begotten of the Father, equally God with Him. This illustrates the eternal relations of origin between the Father and the Son.

        In Hebrews 5:7-11, The Son became man, praying to the Father, while ever the eternal Son, equal to the Father. As man, the Son as incarnate Christ learned things (such as obedience). As truly God at the same time, the Son knew all things. 

In Hebrews 6:1-8, The Holy Spirit illuminates truth. The Father judges by the truth. The Son is the truth. Yet all three Persons are the One true and living God. Here again we see the doctrine of appropriations and inseparable operations working hand-in-glove.

         In Hebrews 6:13-19, The Father swore the covenant to Abraham. The Son, in His redemptive work, would secure the covenant, a covenant of grace whose spiritual promises to Abraham are applied by the Holy Spirit to all who trust in Christ by faith.

 In Hebrews 7, The Father appointed the Mediator for the Christian – the Son. The Son became incarnate to be our Mediator. This eternal covenant is called “the covenant of redemption” (see Titus 1:2). The Holy Spirit affirms this “Covenant of Redemption” in Hebrews 8. 

         In Hebrews 9:14, the Son became man to offer His life to the Father. The Father sent the Son to be the offering whom He would receive. The Holy Spirit made possible the offering by the Son of Himself as the incarnated Jesus on the cross. Yet One God is the source of our salvation. 

In Hebrews 10:1-18, The Son, becoming also man, expressed in His human will the desire to perform the Father’s will. The Father had sent the Son, with whom He shared One Divine will. The Holy Spirit confirms this united will with the Father and Son in making possible the Son’s incarnation. 

        In Hebrews 10:19-39, The way of salvation is planned by the Father. The way of salvation is provided for by the Son in His incarnated flesh. The way to salvation is persuaded by the Holy Spirit. 

In Hebrews 11:1 - 12:11, The Father is the aim of faith (see Hebrews 11:6). The Holy Spirit is the Agent of faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 11:1). The Son is the Author and Finisher of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

        In Hebrews 12:12-29, The Father is the Voice thundering from Heaven (see Hebrews 12:19,25-27). The Son is the Theme of Heaven (Hebrews 12:24). 

In Hebrews 13:5, the writer quotes Deuteronomy 31:6-8, which spoke of Yahweh, The LORD, going ahead of the Israelites to lead the way, not forsaking them. Isaiah 63:9-14 indicates all three Persons of the Godhead were inseparably involved. When I feel alone, afraid, and not knowing what to do, I have the entire Trinity to Whom I can call for help at anytime. 

        Then finally, In Hebrews 13:8, The immutability of the Son and the enduring work of the Father. Note: This is how One Book of the Bible shows the inseparable operations and appropriated working of the Father, Son, and Spirit in creation, redemption, and the Christian life. The richness of the Trinity is seen somewhat similarly in every New Testament book!

Post #47 Doctrine of God - An Introduction To Eternal Relations of Origin In The Trinity

Introduction:

    In the last post we explored how we see the doctrine of the Trinity in Paul's letters. Today's post continues our series on the doctrine of the Trinity. I did want to review the doctrine of the Trinity in this post, while introducing the important doctrine of "eternal relations of origin" in our portion of this series of posts on the Trinity. Let's then look first at the doctrine of eternal relations of origin, followed by plugging what we learn into our review of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Eternal relations of origin in the doctrine of the Trinity

     When we talk of the distinctions of identity between the Persons of the Trinity, we refer to what is called the doctrine of "eternal relations of origin". When we look at the name of the doctrine, we can break down each word as follows.

1. "Eternal", meaning forever, without beginning, the Father has always been the Father, the Son has always been the Son, the Holy Spirit has always been the Holy Spirit.

2. "Relations", meaning that the distinction of identities reside in the unique way each Person is related to the other two. Such relationships in the Trinity had no beginning. The One God of the Bible did not decide one day to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead, these "relations" are embedded by necessity in the nature of God Himself, which in turn would not be without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ever relating to one another. 

3. "of origin" tells us that all three Persons of the Trinity never had a beginning or origin. The Father is the source of identity for the Son, the Son in turn makes it possible for the Father to be ever the Father, and the Holy Spirit's identity is ascribed to how He proceeds forever from the Father and the Son. However, as to the source of the Divine nature shared between them, there is no beginning. God as He is has forever been and forever will be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    To bring some clarity to what I've written thus far, we can appeal to far better thinkers than myself. Theologian Matthew Barrett defines this important doctrine in his book "Simply Trinity - The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Holy Spirit":

"Eternal relations of origin distinguishes how each person is related to another, identifying the everlasting provenance (principle/origin/source) from which each Person proceeds."

       Thus, when we speak of the Father, we talk of Him as "unbegotten" or without origin, or what theologians term "innascible" (Latin "in" meaning "not" and "nascibilis" meaning "born", hence "that which cannot be born"). When we speak of the Son, Scripture talks of Him as "begotten" of the Father, meaning He as Son derives His eternal identity from the Father and forever has shared in the same undivided deity of the Godhead (see Psalm 2:7; John 1:18). When we discuss the Holy Spirit, we use the term "proceed" to distinguish Him from the Father and the Son (see John 15:26).

    What the eternal relations of origin doctrine explains is what distinguishes each Person of the Trinity from the other two. All three are equal in glory, power, and worthiness of worship. Each Personally and all three together possess the undivided Divine essence or Godhead. 

    As touching the Divine nature, each Person of the Godhead is the same in attributes and being, with all three sharing the same essence, mind, and will as One God. These eternal relations of origin help us explain how we can distinguish the Father from the Son, the Son from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.

    The great 19th century theologian Charles Hodge summarizes this doctrine of "eternal relations of origin":

"While all the Divine attributes are common equally to the three persons...nevertheless the Scriptures attribute some Divine works wrought within (the Trinity), exclusively to each divine Person respectively; thus, generation to the Father, filiation (or begetting) to the Son, and procession to the Holy Spirit." 

   So that is an introduction to "eternal relations of origin" (or what one friend of mine called "eroo" for short). In the time that remains in this post, I want to plug in what we just learned to reviewing the doctrine of the Trinity, showing how this doctrine aids us in our overall grasping of the doctrine itself.

Review: The Doctrine of the Trinity

    Being that this is the 47th post in our overall series on "The Doctrine of God", I felt it necessary to restate what has been our working definition of the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. There is only one true and living God.

2. This one true and living God is three “whos”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have the whole and entire Divine nature. 

4. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the One True & living God.

    We can summarize the four above propositions by using a diagram used in the earlier part of church history called "the shield of faith".

    As the reader can see, the doctrine of the Trinity is interested in expounding how God is "One" in one sense and "Three" in another sense. If we take the same diagram, we can change the labeling connecting the Three Persons of the Trinity to depict what we learned today about "the eternal relations of origin" of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

    The eternal relations of origin doctrine aids us in noting how there are two sets of relationships between the Three Persons of the Trinity:

1. The Father, who being unbegotten or without origin (what theologians call "innascibility") begets or makes common the Divine nature to the Son. 

    The Father is the eternal source of the identity of the Son, who forever shares co-equally the Divine nature with the Father. Sometimes we speak of the  relationship of the Father to the Son as "the paternity of the Father" in His filiation of the Son. As we view the same eternal relation of origin from the Son's perspective, the Bible reveals He is the "only-begotten Son" (Psalm 2:7; John 1:18; John 3:16), begotten of the Father.

2. The second type of relationship in the Trinity has to do with how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, or more accurately, proceeds from the Father through the Son (see John 15:26). 

    As we view this second relationship from the Father and Son's perspective, theologians speak of this as their "spiration" or out-breathing of the Holy Spirit. Such a metaphor captures what Scripture talks about in reference to the Triune God being "the Living God". As viewed from the Holy Spirit's point-of-view, Scripture reveals Him "proceeding" from the Father and the Son.  

Closing thoughts:

    In today's post we introduced the reader to the doctrine "eternal relations of origin". Such a doctrine aids us in explaining what distinguishes the Father from the Son, and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. This doctrine reminds us that all three Persons are identical in being and attributes, indistinguishable from the vantage point of considering as three as One God by essence. At the same time, the doctrine informs us that their eternal identities as unbegotten (the Father), begotten (the Son), and Proceeding (The Holy Spirit) is how we distinguish the Three Persons. Nothing outside of the Trinity, including the works of creation, redemption, or the Christian life, makes the Trinity the Trinity. The Triune God has been Who He is and what He is from all eternity.

    We then plugged in this important doctrine of "eroo" (eternal relations of origins) to reviewing and grasping better our overall working definition of the doctrine of the Trinity. As we progress onward in this series on the doctrine of God, knowing such truths will enable greater appreciation and worship of our Triune God.