Three times a year Jerusalem filled with people as they came to celebrate the three main festivals. These were Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and the Feast of Shelters (fall feast). God had commanded that His people meet at the Temple to celebrate these festivals. Deuteronomy 16: 16 “Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three …
Pentecost symbolized a new beginning for God’s people as they left Egypt. They had moved to Egypt as families of the twelve sons of Jacob. Then they lived in Egypt 430 years, most of it in slavery. They had always been told what to do by their overseers. Then God came and worked through Moses …
We see a surprising and an unusual offering requirement in the Feast of Weeks. God asks for two loaves made of the flour from the new crop of wheat and made with yeast. In addition to these loaves, He also requires many burnt offerings, a sin offering and a peace offering. Leviticus 23:17 From wherever you …
About fifty days after leaving Egypt, God’s people had a Mount Sinai experience. God had appeared to Moses in a burning bush on Mount Sinai as Moses was shepherding sheep. God called Moses to go back to Egypt and He would use him to free the Hebrew people from the Egyptians. After a short debate, …
The fourth holy day of Leviticus 23 is known as Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or Pentecost. Why so many confusing names? It depends on the language. The English translation would be Feast of Weeks, while the Hebrew word for weeks is Shavuot. Later this holiday was known as Pentecost in the Greek language. This was …
The Apostle Paul tells how in the end we have victory over death. Now this is a future event, but it has compelling implications for each of us. If Jesus did not really rise to a new life in a physical body, we might as well just live for this earthly life and do as …
The First Fruit offering given at the Temple was a pledge of hope that that full harvest would follow. The people were not allowed to eat any of the new crop until the offering was made. By the time of Jesus, the Temple had specific fields that were “harvested” a few sprigs of barley at …
The Apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth that “your faith has not been in vain.” A group of heretics had slipped into the congregation and claimed that only the spiritual was good and anything physical was bad. Therefore, Christ had not really risen in a physical body. While this sounded pious it is not …
For the Feast of First Fruits to foreshadow the cross of Jesus Christ, Jesus had to have died and had a true resurrection. If Jesus wasn’t really risen from the dead, then he couldn’t be the first fruits of the dead. Swoon Theory Against the Resurrection The swoon theory states that Jesus did not die …
Jesus makes a puzzling expression to Mary Magdalene on the first Resurrection morning. Mary had gone out to properly embalm the body of Jesus because there hadn’t been time due to Sabbath restrictions. When Mary arrived at the tomb, it was empty. She was understandably upset and sent for Peter and John. They both entered …