04.08. SHADOW: Christ In the Feasts of Israel
SHADOW: Christ In the Feasts of Israel
Hebrews 10:1-3 AUDIO http://www.exposingtheword.com/SHADOWS/MP3s%20Shadows/8%20Shadow-Feasts%20of%20Israel.mp3
Hebrews 10:1-3 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
We are in the midst of the fall feast of Israel that are given in the Old Testament. These feast are part of the Law of Moses. The Feast of Trumpets "Rosh Hashanah" was observed this past week on September 30th of 2008. The Day of Atonement "Yom Kippur" will be this coming Thursday October 9. This will be followed by the Feast of Tabernacles "Sukkot," also called Feast of Ingathering, on Oct 14-20. These three fall feast are often seen as being the prophetic foreshadowing of the second coming of Messiah.
Today we are going to observe the Lord’s Supper during our morning service. We do not often do this during the AM. The Lord’s Supper was instituted during the Passover observation, which was on of the spring time feast of Israel. I know we do not have time to explore these feast in much detail but my hope is that we can see Christ as these have foreshadowed Him for hundreds of years.
I- Feast of Trumpets:
Leviticus 23:23-25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
A trumpet made from a rams horn "shofar" was blown and no work was to be done. The Hebrew name of this Rosh Hashanah means "head of the year." It begins the Jewish civil calendar year.
This is celebrated in various ways but the main stress of this was repentance in preparation for the other feast.
Today as we observe the Lord’s Supper I remind us of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. But, we are now in a situation that once we have seen our sin as it really is what can be done about it.
II- Day of Atonement:
The 10 days between the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement are knows as the "Ten days of Awe" which was added by the rabbis to facilitate the transition from repentance to forgiveness.
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest made a sacrifice for the nation in the holy of holies. The high priest would offer a bullock for his sins and then offer the offering for the nation.
Leviticus 16:15-16 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail ... and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
We see that it was the blood sacrifice that made atonement. Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. We see this as a memorial in our Lord’s Supper observation. Listen to the words of Romans 5:8-9 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Speaking of Christ Hebrews 10:12 says, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.
What we observe in the Lord’s Supper is the sacrifice of Christ with His body broken and His blood shed for the remission of our sins.
1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
III- Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering):
Following five days after the Day of Atonement is the last feast called in the Hebrew Sukkot. During this week long festival they would build booths or shelters and stay in them to remember God’s protect during the wilderness wandering. This also was a celebration of the harvest was also a part of this, thus the ingathering. This reminds me of two important things for us. First Christ came and dwelled, or tabernacle among us. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [Greek word for tabernacled] among us...
Second is that we are in the time of harvest of souls. Remember Jesus said the fields are ripe unto harvest. (John 4:35 ) As a part of this harvest we know that there is a gathering home of the souls at death. We also look forward with anticipation to the great ingathering known as the Rapture. In the Lords Supper passage it says, 1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.