Back in March I wrote several posts about my sudden diagnosis of lung cancer. At that time I refused conventional cancer treatment and the already scheduled surgery which would have removed many of the lymph nodes in my chest and possibly as much as one lobe of my left lung. Instead, I opted for a natural cancer therapy called Gerson Therapy. I wrote another blog post in June titled "Fifteen Weeks on the Gerson Therapy," saying that I was feeling pretty well so far and that my blood work up to that point was looking good. Now, after six months on the therapy I am extremely happy to announce that a CT scan of my chest shows much improvement. All lymph nodes look normal. For those who like medical terms, there are "no pathologically enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes," and the "left hilar lymphadenop-athy seen previously has resolved." Also, the mass in my lower left lung has shrunk from 1.3 x 1.2 cm to 0.8 x 0.5 cm. That may not sound like much to some, but just the fact that the lymph nodes are no longer enlarged and the tumor is shrinking proves to me that the therapy is working. I am elated and praising the Lord!
Some people have even mentioned the word "miracle" in light of this wonderful news. Now, don't get me wrong. I give God all the glory for the healing I am experiencing because without Him it would not have been possible; however, I also believe that the therapy itself is the nuts and bolts of my healing. It is what God is using to bring the healing about. I would not call this a miracle in the usual sense of the word. Let me explain.
I believe there are actually many divine interventions involved here. First of all, it is a miracle to me that Dr. Max Gerson developed this therapy back in the 1930's through 1950's. Reading the story of how it came about was amazing to me. The second miracle I see is that God built the human body with such miraculous healing power within. The next miracle I experienced was the fact that my doctor ordered a CT scan of my abdomen for a totally unrelated problem, and that scan showed the mass in my lower left lung. I was having no symptoms of any lung problems. Then, a friend of mine suggested the Gerson Therapy to me. Thank you, Beth Kay, and thank you, Lord for letting me cross paths with Beth at just the right time! The last miracle I want to mention is that God gave me the faith and the strength of will to go against all of the conventional medical advice and do what I believed He was leading me to do, a natural therapy that would boost my own immune system that He had already built into my own body.
Yes, the healing I am experiencing is a miracle, but not in the sense that most people think of as miraculous. God didn't just zap a supernatural healing on me, although He certainly could have if He chose to do it that way, but then, what would I have learned? What could I now share with all of you about how to be healthier and how to take care of this marvelous body that God has created for us? I would probably just get sick all over again because I would continue to eat the same foods that made me sick in the first place. The Gerson Therapy is tough, demanding, and monotonous, but I believe it is well worth the effort. I expect to be fully healed in the near future.
The best blessing I have received through all of this is that God has drawn me closer to Him. He has shown me that He is my Shepherd, leading and guiding me every step of the way. He has confirmed to me, personally, that He will never leave me or forsake me. His love is sure, for God is love! He loves you, too, and wants you to be healthy in body, mind, soul and spirit. He alone can show you how to achieve that. Seek Him above all else!
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
Feast of Tabernacles
The seventh feast of the Lord is the Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot (Hebrew for booths) or Feast of Booths. It is celebrated five days after the Day of Atonement. Here is the biblical description of this feast: "On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days." Leviticus 23:39-40
The Israelites were to take these branches and build temporary shelters or booths to use during the week of the feast. This feast is a beautiful reminder of the forty years that Israel spent "camping out" in the wilderness following the presence of the Lord, following the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. See Exodus 40:34-38. When they would set up camp the tabernacle where God's presence dwelt would be set up in the midst of the camp, thus God dwelt among His people.
A tabernacle is a dwelling place, and right now, during this Church Age, God's tabernacle or dwelling place is in the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in each believer. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the present fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. Devout Jews still celebrate this feast today by building little shelters or booths outside their homes and worshipping in them during the week of the feast, and, of course, there is a huge celebration of this feast every year in Jerusalem.
One future fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles will be when Jesus returns at the end of the Great Tribulation, and sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem where He will reign for 1,000 years, but the ultimate fulfillment will come at the end of the 1,000 years when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and Jesus will tabernacle with men forever. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.'" Revelation 21:1-3
So, with this ultimate fulfillment of the seventh feast of the Lord, all of prophecy will have finally been fulfilled. Oh, what a glorious day that will be! "...but just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.'" I Corinthians 2:9
The Israelites were to take these branches and build temporary shelters or booths to use during the week of the feast. This feast is a beautiful reminder of the forty years that Israel spent "camping out" in the wilderness following the presence of the Lord, following the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. See Exodus 40:34-38. When they would set up camp the tabernacle where God's presence dwelt would be set up in the midst of the camp, thus God dwelt among His people.
A tabernacle is a dwelling place, and right now, during this Church Age, God's tabernacle or dwelling place is in the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in each believer. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the present fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. Devout Jews still celebrate this feast today by building little shelters or booths outside their homes and worshipping in them during the week of the feast, and, of course, there is a huge celebration of this feast every year in Jerusalem.
One future fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles will be when Jesus returns at the end of the Great Tribulation, and sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem where He will reign for 1,000 years, but the ultimate fulfillment will come at the end of the 1,000 years when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and Jesus will tabernacle with men forever. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.'" Revelation 21:1-3
So, with this ultimate fulfillment of the seventh feast of the Lord, all of prophecy will have finally been fulfilled. Oh, what a glorious day that will be! "...but just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.'" I Corinthians 2:9
Friday, September 13, 2013
Yom Kippur - the Sixth Feast
Okay, we're still here! The Rapture did not happen on September 5th, the Feast of Trumpets, but I still will be expecting it to happen every time the Feast of Trumpets rolls around.
So, now we come to the sixth feast, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.
"On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord." Leviticus 23:27
I should explain that the word translated "feast," does not necessarily always indicate chowing down on a bunch of food. The Strong's Concordance tells us that the Hebrew word "chag" means a festival gathering, feast, pilgrim feast, or festival sacrifice. The Day of Atonement is actually a very solemn day of prayer, fasting, confession, affliction of soul, and sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel, individual as well as national. Before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, this was the one day of the year when the High Priest actually went into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people. Today the sacrifices are impossible due to the lack of a temple. They are also no longer necessary as Jesus has already made the ultimate sacrifice for sin, but most Jews do not realize or accept this. That is the reason they must rebuild their temple, but that is another topic for another day.
It was very important that the Israelites follow God's instructions for this feast. There were severe consequences for anyone who did not. "Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people." Leviticus 23:28-30
The fulfillment of this feast will not have anything to do with the church, since we are looking to Jesus as the atonement for our sins. The fulfillment will come at the end of the Tribulation Period when Christ returns to Earth to save Israel. Zechariah prophesies of this momentous occasion. "And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem..." Zechariah 12:10-11
The affliction of souls on the Day of Atonement is a foreshadowing of the mourning that will occur when Jesus returns to save the Jewish people who have survived the Great Tribulation, and they realize that Jesus truly is their Messiah. I believe this will happen on the actual Day of Atonement, just as the first four feasts have already been fulfilled on the actual days of those feasts.
So, now we come to the sixth feast, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.
"On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord." Leviticus 23:27
I should explain that the word translated "feast," does not necessarily always indicate chowing down on a bunch of food. The Strong's Concordance tells us that the Hebrew word "chag" means a festival gathering, feast, pilgrim feast, or festival sacrifice. The Day of Atonement is actually a very solemn day of prayer, fasting, confession, affliction of soul, and sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel, individual as well as national. Before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, this was the one day of the year when the High Priest actually went into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people. Today the sacrifices are impossible due to the lack of a temple. They are also no longer necessary as Jesus has already made the ultimate sacrifice for sin, but most Jews do not realize or accept this. That is the reason they must rebuild their temple, but that is another topic for another day.
It was very important that the Israelites follow God's instructions for this feast. There were severe consequences for anyone who did not. "Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people." Leviticus 23:28-30
The fulfillment of this feast will not have anything to do with the church, since we are looking to Jesus as the atonement for our sins. The fulfillment will come at the end of the Tribulation Period when Christ returns to Earth to save Israel. Zechariah prophesies of this momentous occasion. "And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem..." Zechariah 12:10-11
The affliction of souls on the Day of Atonement is a foreshadowing of the mourning that will occur when Jesus returns to save the Jewish people who have survived the Great Tribulation, and they realize that Jesus truly is their Messiah. I believe this will happen on the actual Day of Atonement, just as the first four feasts have already been fulfilled on the actual days of those feasts.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Will the Rapture Fulfill the Feast of Trumpets?
We have already seen that Jesus' first coming fulfilled the first four feasts of God exactly on the days when those feasts were being celebrated. What a miracle and certainly a sign from God that we should expect the last three feasts to be fulfilled in a similar fashion.
The next feast that we should expect to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets, which is always celebrated in the fall on the seventh new moon of the Hebrew calendar. "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.'" Leviticus 23:24 The period of time between the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets appears to represent the Church Age, the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Rapture of the Church. When God determines that it is time to call the Bride of Christ to her wedding feast with Jesus, her Bridegroom, the trumpet will sound, and the Church will leave this Earth to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9
Why do I believe that the Feast of Trumpets predicts the Rapture of the Church? There are two New Testament passages of scripture that speak very plainly of the Rapture, and they both refer to the blowing of trumpets!
"Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." I Corinthians 15:51-52
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." I Thessalonians 4:16-17
Many believe that the story of the conquest of Jericho in the Old Testament is also a picture of the Rapture. A key part of that story was the blowing of trumpets.
Whenever the time of year comes around for the Feast of Trumpets, I always wonder if this will be the year of the Rapture. I'm not date setting, and, of course, we should all be ready to meet the Lord at any moment because we never know when our last breath will be, but I do believe that when the Rapture occurs it will be on the Feast of Trumpets. What year it will be, I can't say, but the signs of Jesus' soon return are all around us.
The Feast of Trumpets for 2013 is on September 5th. I just thought you might want to mark your calendar. :)
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. I John 3:2-3
"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28
The next feast that we should expect to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets, which is always celebrated in the fall on the seventh new moon of the Hebrew calendar. "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.'" Leviticus 23:24 The period of time between the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets appears to represent the Church Age, the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Rapture of the Church. When God determines that it is time to call the Bride of Christ to her wedding feast with Jesus, her Bridegroom, the trumpet will sound, and the Church will leave this Earth to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9
Why do I believe that the Feast of Trumpets predicts the Rapture of the Church? There are two New Testament passages of scripture that speak very plainly of the Rapture, and they both refer to the blowing of trumpets!
"Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." I Corinthians 15:51-52
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." I Thessalonians 4:16-17
Many believe that the story of the conquest of Jericho in the Old Testament is also a picture of the Rapture. A key part of that story was the blowing of trumpets.
Whenever the time of year comes around for the Feast of Trumpets, I always wonder if this will be the year of the Rapture. I'm not date setting, and, of course, we should all be ready to meet the Lord at any moment because we never know when our last breath will be, but I do believe that when the Rapture occurs it will be on the Feast of Trumpets. What year it will be, I can't say, but the signs of Jesus' soon return are all around us.
The Feast of Trumpets for 2013 is on September 5th. I just thought you might want to mark your calendar. :)
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. I John 3:2-3
"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28
Friday, August 30, 2013
The Coming of the Holy Spirit Fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost
The fourth of the seven feasts of Israel, the Feast of Pentecost, occurs exactly fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits. See Leviticus 23:15-21 It is also called the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Weeks. It is a celebration of the second harvest of the year, the summer wheat harvest, and also traditionally a celebration of the receiving of God's Law at Mt. Sinai.
The Feast of Pentecost was first celebrated in the year that Israel reaped their first wheat harvest in the Promised Land, approximately 1,500 years before the time of Christ. Just as the first three feasts foreshadowed what was to come, so the Feast of Pentecost foreshadowed something that God had in store for His people.
Coincidentally, it was on the very day of the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the new believers in Christ, or was it just a coincidence? Was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit the prophetic fulfillment of another feast of Israel?
In what way does the Holy Spirit's arrival fulfill the Feast of Pentecost? First of all, Pentecost was a harvest feast, and when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, after Peter preached the gospel, there was a harvest of 3,000 precious souls. (Acts 2:41) It is also interesting to note that 3,000 souls died when Moses came down the mountain with the Law only to find that the children of Israel were partying with the Golden Calf. (Exodus 32:28) As Paul explains in II Corinthians 3:6, "....for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." but that is a topic for another day.
There is another way in which the Feast of Pentecost is fulfilled by the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish tradition is to celebrate the receiving of the Law on the Feast of Pentecost. Why, you might ask, would someone want to celebrate receiving God's Law? It is because with God's Law, the people of Israel would be able to know what God expected of them. They would be able to walk in a way that pleased God because He made it very clear to them what they were to do and not do. God would use the Law to teach the people about Himself and help them to draw near to Him.
With the coming of the Holy Spirit there was a new way for man to walk in communion with God. Since the coming of the Holy Spirit, believers no longer walk according to the letter of the Law written on tablets of stone. We now walk by the Spirit, and the Law of God is written on our hearts.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Jeremiah 31:33
Before He left, Jesus told His disciples, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." John 14:26
And so, all of the spring feasts have been fulfilled in a miraculous way, exactly on time. There are three more feasts that have yet to be fulfilled, and those are the three autumn feasts: Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts just might be able to give us a glimpse into the future.....
The Feast of Pentecost was first celebrated in the year that Israel reaped their first wheat harvest in the Promised Land, approximately 1,500 years before the time of Christ. Just as the first three feasts foreshadowed what was to come, so the Feast of Pentecost foreshadowed something that God had in store for His people.
Coincidentally, it was on the very day of the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the new believers in Christ, or was it just a coincidence? Was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit the prophetic fulfillment of another feast of Israel?
In what way does the Holy Spirit's arrival fulfill the Feast of Pentecost? First of all, Pentecost was a harvest feast, and when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, after Peter preached the gospel, there was a harvest of 3,000 precious souls. (Acts 2:41) It is also interesting to note that 3,000 souls died when Moses came down the mountain with the Law only to find that the children of Israel were partying with the Golden Calf. (Exodus 32:28) As Paul explains in II Corinthians 3:6, "....for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." but that is a topic for another day.
There is another way in which the Feast of Pentecost is fulfilled by the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish tradition is to celebrate the receiving of the Law on the Feast of Pentecost. Why, you might ask, would someone want to celebrate receiving God's Law? It is because with God's Law, the people of Israel would be able to know what God expected of them. They would be able to walk in a way that pleased God because He made it very clear to them what they were to do and not do. God would use the Law to teach the people about Himself and help them to draw near to Him.
With the coming of the Holy Spirit there was a new way for man to walk in communion with God. Since the coming of the Holy Spirit, believers no longer walk according to the letter of the Law written on tablets of stone. We now walk by the Spirit, and the Law of God is written on our hearts.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Jeremiah 31:33
Before He left, Jesus told His disciples, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." John 14:26
And so, all of the spring feasts have been fulfilled in a miraculous way, exactly on time. There are three more feasts that have yet to be fulfilled, and those are the three autumn feasts: Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts just might be able to give us a glimpse into the future.....
Monday, August 26, 2013
Jesus Fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits
The third feast of Israel, the Feast of First Fruits, always occurs on the Sunday following the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.'" Leviticus 23:9-11
This feast was a way for the Israelites to acknowledge God's provision for them in the land of Israel. It was on the Sunday after Jesus' crucifixion, while the Jews were celebrating this very feast, that Jesus was raised from the dead. This was no coincidence but according to God's preordained plan that Jesus was raised on this particular day. Jesus was fulfilling this feast just as He had already fulfilled the two previous feasts on the exact days that the feasts were being celebrated. Jesus had become the First Fruits of the Resurrection!
"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." I Corinthians 15:20-23
And so, Jesus became the fulfillment of the Feast of First Fruits on the very day that the feast was being celebrated. A first implies that there will be more, and truly one day all believers will also be resurrected to live for eternity with Christ.
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." I Thessalonians 4:16-18
Now that we have seen that Jesus fulfilled all three of the first feasts of Israel with perfect timing, what about the fourth feast? Was it fulfilled with the same precision?
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.'" Leviticus 23:9-11
This feast was a way for the Israelites to acknowledge God's provision for them in the land of Israel. It was on the Sunday after Jesus' crucifixion, while the Jews were celebrating this very feast, that Jesus was raised from the dead. This was no coincidence but according to God's preordained plan that Jesus was raised on this particular day. Jesus was fulfilling this feast just as He had already fulfilled the two previous feasts on the exact days that the feasts were being celebrated. Jesus had become the First Fruits of the Resurrection!
"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." I Corinthians 15:20-23
And so, Jesus became the fulfillment of the Feast of First Fruits on the very day that the feast was being celebrated. A first implies that there will be more, and truly one day all believers will also be resurrected to live for eternity with Christ.
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." I Thessalonians 4:16-18
Now that we have seen that Jesus fulfilled all three of the first feasts of Israel with perfect timing, what about the fourth feast? Was it fulfilled with the same precision?
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Jesus Fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread
"Then on the fifteenth day of the same month, there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread." Leviticus 23:6
The second feast of Israel begins on the next night after Passover. For seven days the Israelites are required to eat only unleavened bread. So, how did Jesus fulfill this feast? First of all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means house of bread in Hebrew. Secondly, Jesus taught that He was the Bread of Life.
"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." John 6:48-51
Leaven is a symbol of sin and evil, which is why the bread in the Passover meal and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is unleavened. This bread is symbolic of Jesus, who was God in the flesh, the perfect man who was totally without sin, totally unleavened. During the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus took the bread, broke it, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Eating unleavened bread for seven days is symbolic of a pure and holy walk with the Lord.
There are two interesting facts about the bread used in the modern day celebrations of the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover. The Jewish matzoh bread is not only unleavened, but it is also striped and pierced, even as the body of Jesus was. Also, during the Feast of Passover, a piece of this bread is broken, buried, and then resurrected, even as the body of Christ was. It is so sad that most Jews do not even understand the symbolism they are performing when they do this.
Jesus was buried at sundown of Passover Day, at the beginning of the fifteenth day of Nisan, the First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He had exactly fulfilled the first two of the Jewish feasts which God had instituted to foreshadow what Christ would one day accomplish. Would He also fulfill the third feast in the same miraculous way?
The second feast of Israel begins on the next night after Passover. For seven days the Israelites are required to eat only unleavened bread. So, how did Jesus fulfill this feast? First of all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means house of bread in Hebrew. Secondly, Jesus taught that He was the Bread of Life.
"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh." John 6:48-51
Leaven is a symbol of sin and evil, which is why the bread in the Passover meal and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is unleavened. This bread is symbolic of Jesus, who was God in the flesh, the perfect man who was totally without sin, totally unleavened. During the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus took the bread, broke it, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Eating unleavened bread for seven days is symbolic of a pure and holy walk with the Lord.
There are two interesting facts about the bread used in the modern day celebrations of the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover. The Jewish matzoh bread is not only unleavened, but it is also striped and pierced, even as the body of Jesus was. Also, during the Feast of Passover, a piece of this bread is broken, buried, and then resurrected, even as the body of Christ was. It is so sad that most Jews do not even understand the symbolism they are performing when they do this.
Jesus was buried at sundown of Passover Day, at the beginning of the fifteenth day of Nisan, the First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He had exactly fulfilled the first two of the Jewish feasts which God had instituted to foreshadow what Christ would one day accomplish. Would He also fulfill the third feast in the same miraculous way?
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