Dual Meanings

The Dual Meaning in the Festivals... Only God could do something this cool!

As I stated, long before Jesus appeared on the earth the people were given various holidays, festivals and customs to follow until the coming of their Messiah. Let us look at these Old Testament Festivals (we'll often call these the 'Jewish' feast days since they still follow them (not recognizing Christ is the fulfillment of the Law).

To Recap: Centuries before Jesus was born, the Jews were following the various Festivals and customs... waiting for the coming of their Messiah. These were to be followed on the EXACT days and hours given by God. The original Hebrew translation for these special festivals was "a practice" or "preparation" and "rehearsal of future things".

The principle of hidden information was given to us through these feast or festival days. The verse is "Let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days .... which are a shadow of things to come." In other words, don't worry about what others might say about what I have instructed you to eat or drink on these holy days, or let them judge you regarding the new moon each month which I have placed in the sky along with the stars to inform you of the dates these festivals should be followed .... because, these are a rehearsal of My future appointments with you! These feasts are pictures of great events on God's calendar. They are a shadow of things to come.

Throughout history, numerous spiritual events have occured on these exact pre-established Jewish Holy days. Yes, ON THE EXACT DAY, even on the exact hour! Even at the exact minute!
We know the exact dates of these festivals for the past 3000+ years... and we know the exact dates for them in the years to come as well. The Bible and other historical documents give us the exact dates of Jesus' travels and the day of His crucifixion. The dates coincide EXACTLY with the festivals. Hopefully, you will begin to see these match-ups are not accidental. This is probably the most significant aspect of prophecy. These feasts are pictures of God's appointments with mankind... actual "rehersals" of great events on God's calendar.

The First Festival's Dual Meaning

Almost 1500 years before Christ, God called Moses to lead the Jewish nation out of bondage in Egypt. Their release came after the first born child in every house died at the hand of the Lord. Miraculously, the firstborn in each Jewish house lived because of the Lamb's blood that was placed around the doorway. The yearly PASSOVER meal is a memorial of those saved lives and the nation's release from slavery.

But wait, God said these festivals are a picture of things to come. Let's look at some specifics:
During the Passover Festival each house was to take a perfect lamb without blemish on an EXACT date each year. The lamb was to be brought into town for public inspection. For those traveling from out of town, a lamb could be purchased in the city that was considered the "lamb factory". In fact, over 250,000 lambs were raised in this town for this first passover alone! When the lamb was brought into town, the onlookers waved palm branches as it passed by... on it's way to be inspected and then sacrificed.

Once in the center court of the city, the lamb was to be inspected for 4 days to make sure it was indeed perfect. On the 14th of the month of Aviv (the Jewish or biblical calendar), the lamb was to be killed at Exactly 3:00 p.m. At that time, the lamb's throat was to be cut, shedding the blood while it was bound to an upright stick. At the time of the lamb's death, the phrase "It is finished" is to be spoken aloud.

The lamb is then prepared for a meal by roasting it on an upright stick, not across the fire as meat is usually prepared. It's intestines are removed, rolled into a circle and placed like a crown on the lambs head. There are so many other elements that we don't have space to tell them all.
Have you seen the whole picture here? If you have doubted who Jesus Christ is, you need to read the fulfillment of this festival. No human being could stage an event like this... from prophecy provided generations before!!

On the very day the Jews were celebrating their Passover, a man (who had been born in the same town as the lamb factory; Bethlehem) was riding into town. Keep in mind that a person cannot choose his place of birth! Those Jews that knew Jesus turned away from the lambs that were going through town and waved their palm branches at Jesus instead (Christians call this Palm Sunday). Have you ever wondered why the people waved palm branches, or why Jesus is called "the lamb that was slain"? God was fulfilling his appointments with man through Jesus... down to the exact detail!

As you may remember, exactly like the inspection of the lamb, Jesus was inspected and questioned 4 days by the Sadducees, Pharisees, and other government officials who could not find fault with Him but sentenced Him to death anyway. Jesus had no say in why they took exactly 4 days (just like the lamb!). Like the lambs that were inspected for fault, He was also inspected for fault, but none was found... He was innocent. He was found without 'blemish', just like the lambs to be sacrificed. Regardless of His innocence, He was nailed to an upright stick. Was it just coincidence that Jesus had to be placed on the cross early that day because the next day happened to be a Sabbath, and no bodies could be left up at the crucifixion sites. And records (even non-biblical sources), show that he died at exactly 3:00 pm which, in fact, was the exact time of the slaying of the lambs.

Was it also a coincidence that his legs were not broken, even though all crucifixions of the time involved breaking the legs to speed the dying process (remember that the prophecy in the old testament indicated his legs would not be broken). What were His very last words spoken in front of hundreds of witnesses? "... Jesus said, "It is finished:" With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit." (John 19:30) The same words were spoken on the other side of town (at the exact moment) when the lambs were killed. WOW!

Coincidence, followed by coincidences, followed by coincidence, followed by another coincidence, continued by more coincidence, followed by a coincidence, following more coincidences? I think NOT. Remember, we are only able to cover part of the fulfillment of this ONE prophecy alone. We also have non-bibical historical documents supporting this event. If you ever doubted that Jesus was God in the flesh... you now have a non-disputed answer.

If this hasn't brought you to your knees, we'll share a bit of the second festival for you skeptics. Remember, these festivals were celebrated 1500 years before Christ, and continue 2000 years after Christ!!! These predicitons were given generations before Christ's birth. No man can choose events in his life, his birth date, and the day of his murder. Unfortunately, most Jews have failed to see the connection and Christians haven't pieced it together either. Many have never even considered the evidence. It is this very lack of understanding that will play a significant role in future events... as this was predicted too.

Another Festival

This festival began on the Passover preparation at which time only unleavened bread could be eaten. (This commemorated the hurried release of the Jews from Egypt when they had to take their food (bread) before it was finished and get out of town ).

The presence of leaven (yeast) in bread causes it to rise and become puffed up. Bread baked without is flat, but does not spoil or mold. Leaven in our Bible is a symbol of sin:

"Know ye not that a little leaven does leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out ...the old leaven that you may become a new lump." "...let us keep the feast not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Christ Himself was without leaven (sin). This graphic taking away of leaven is a picture of Christ taking away our sins after shedding His own blood.

These festivals are quite involved, and if you study the details, there would be no doubt in your mind regarding their significance. Just one other interesting element of this feast: Instructions during this festival include piercing the bread and grilling it. This makes holes and stripes on the flat bread. then, the piece of matzah (unleavened bread) was to be wrapped in linen and buried.

Remember these verses:
Isa 53:5 "...by his stripes we are healed." and John 19:37, "They will look on the one they have pierced." (NIV)

Three days later, the children who watched the burial try to steal it and hold it for ransom from their father. Do you remember that Christ's body was called bread? Remember what the bread and wine stand for during communion? Jesus (the pure unleavened bread) was pierced, striped, wrapped in linen, was buried, and EXACTLY 3 days later was out of the tomb? The body was thought to be stolen... held ranson from the Father. Once again, the Jews celebrate this festival but have not seen the entire picture of it's intended meaning.

Coincidence, following coincidences? The probability of the past two festivals being fulfilled by a human are not even measurable.

Have you begun to see the awesome significance of these festivals? Every major event of Jesus's life occurred on the exact days of the festivals. Even at the EXACT minute of the day. Read that last line again. Not in a "similar manner", not "like the festival", but at the very SAME minute in time!

Stay Tuned...