Find Messiah - Yeshua in the lost Feasts of The Lord - Part 1

This man arrives at the Kotel to pray during one of the three main Feasts Of the Lord. Pesach (Passover), (Shavuot) Pentecost, and Sukkot (Tabernacles) are the three appointed days of the Lord in which Jewish males are required to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Though lost to most of Christianity, one of the best ways to enrich your faith in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) is to understand the feasts of the Lord.

As we embark on 2018, we will soon begin celebrating these magnificent times. And as we approach each day, we will provide in-depth insights to restore this God-given heritage to you.

Here, we will give a brief overview of each of these days so you can see the big picture of God's plan of salvation for the world and begin to find Messiah Yeshua in each of the Lord's feasts.

Yeshua Unrolls the Book in the Synagogue (c. 1890), by James Tissot

Though lost to most of Christendom, God's Chosen People have been observing these days since He saved them out of Egypt.

In the wilderness, God appointed certain times called moadim to be celebrations or memorials of Him.

The singular form of moadim is moed (מוֹעֵד); it comes from the root yaad (יָעַד), which means appointed, designated or designed.

Moed is used for times and places where God expects to meet with His People.

We see this word used, for example, in the tent of appointed meeting, which in Hebrew is ohel moed.

"The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Make two silver trumpets. ... And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting [ohel moed].'" (Numbers 23:1–3)

We could say that God has marked His calendar and set aside these days to meet with us. But over time, man has cancelled these meetings.

The Tent of Meeting (ohel moed) in the Wilderness (illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible)

Appointed TImes: God vs. Man

There are seven appointed times of the Lord or Moadim YHVH (Yehovah).

Throughout the centuries, however, many Christians have thought of them as "Jewish holidays," so they have feared observing them, lest they appear "too Jewish."

For this very reason, early Greek and Roman church leaders replaced these appointed times with holidays of their own making. We especially see this with Easter replacing Passover.

In the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia (volume 5, p. 228), we find this entry:

"The emperor himself [Constantine] writing to the churches after the council of Nicaea [in AD 325], exhorts, ‘At this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present [Even though Yeshua and the disciples celebrated Passover: Matthew 26:17-30] that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the same day [Easter Sunday] ...

"'And first of all it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hand with enormous sin...'"

So, Constantine instituted the holiday of Easter throughout his kingdom of Rome, Italy, Egypt, and Africa. As Easter spread throughout the Roman Catholic world and into the Protestant Reformation, Passover became forgotten and Easter bunnies and Easter eggs became cherished.

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Easter rabbit "is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility." (Volume 5, p. 227)

Some Christians also fear that by observing these appointed days, they are coming "under the Torah (Law)."

But God calls them HIS feasts—His appointed times.

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.'" (Leviticus 23:2)

So, if God has feasts that belong only to Himself, then celebrating them are the privilege of the people of God, both Jew and non-Jew.

Let's now look at these appointed days that Jews as well as Jewish and non-Jewish Believers in Yeshua will be celebrating as we begin the secular calendar year of 2018 and continue in the Hebrew calendar year of 5778.

1. SHABBAT: The Seventh day

Instructed by the Lord:
Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 20:8, 31:14; Deuteronomy 5:12

Celebrated in 2018:
Begins sundown, Friday nights
Ends sundown, Saturday nights

The first appointed day is Shabbat. All the other feasts build upon this foundation.

Shabbat is a Hebrew word that means to cease, desist, rest. For one day a week (which God chose as the seventh day or “Shabbat” on the Hebrew calendar, which is also known as Saturday), creating and subduing our environment is to come to a halt.

The Shabbat is a special sign between God and the nation of Israel. And anyone who has become a part of Israel through Messiah, no matter what their ethnic or racial background, is invited to participate.

The Shabbat is not merely a day of "don't do this and don't do that" as so often portrayed; it is a day of delighting in the things of God, not of man.

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:13–14)

Yeshua delighted in the Shabbat by healing and restoring people to Himself, physically and spiritually.

We, too, can follow His example by resting from doing our own pleasures, being a blessing to others on this day, and sharing the Good News of our Savior to the Jewish People first, and to all the nations.

Lamb and ewe

2.Pesach: Passover

Instructed by the Lord:
Exodus 12:21–51; Leviticus 23:4–8

Celebrated in 2018:
Begins sundown, Friday, March 30
Ends sundown, Friday, April 6 in Israel (Saturday, April 7 in the nations)

The second appointed day is Passover, immediately followed by seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag ha matzot or Festival of the matzah).

The root of the word Pesach means to pass over. When the Angel of Death saw the blood on the doorposts and lintels of the homes in Egypt, he "passed over" them and did not enter to destroy the firstborn sons.

Today, we symbolically recognize that the blood of the Lamb of God, who is Yeshua, covers the doorposts and lintels of our lives in order that the coming wrath of God will "pass over" us.

We know that one day the judgment of God is coming upon the earth. The coming plagues, described in the book of Revelation are similar to those God poured out upon Egypt in order to liberate the Israelites.

God is our refuge and strength, an everlasting help in trouble. One day, God will again "pass over" His people in Jerusalem and save us. "Like flying birds so the Lord of Hosts (YHVH Tz'vaot) will protect Jerusalem. … He will pass over (pesach) and rescue it." (Isaiah 31:5)

Man hand-harvesting wheat. Various agricultural produce were offered at the Temple as a sacrifice, such as the barley offering on the second day of Passover.