Hallelujah! Jesus is Risen from the Dead on the Feast of Firstfruits

Thanks Morguefile.com 

The Feast of Firstfruits occurs within the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which we touched on yesterday. It is a one-day Feast and occurs on Nisan 16.

The Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the first, early spring harvest.

Jesus was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. (Tweet that!)

He is the first of the great harvest of souls from the earth! Hallelujah! Jesus is risen! (Tweet that!)

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23,NIV 2011). (Tweet that!)

Do you belong to him? If not, or if you're not sure, why not make that happen today? To do so, simply tell Jesus--either out loud or in silent prayer. He can hear you--that you trust that he paid for all your sins, that you will follow him and obey his ways, and you want him to be your Savior forever more.

Then record this important decision and event somewhere, like the inside cover of your Bible.

If you have done this, then you belong to him and will be part of the harvest of souls to heaven when he comes! (Tweet that!)

✟   Jesus was raised from the grave on First Fruits, and so He fulfills the Feast of Firstfruits as the first fruit of the great and coming harvest of souls. (Tweet that!)

Here's another interesting thought:

Jesus raised from the dead "very early the morning" of the third day. We do not know exactly what the time was.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, (Luke 24:1-3.) 

See also Mark 16:1-6, John 20:1-2, and Matthew 28:1.

Peter tells us, in 2 Peter 3:8:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 

See also Psalm 90:4.

We are currently in the year 2014. We are now living in the third millennium since Jesus walked the earth. So if a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day, we are now living in the very early morning of the third day. (Tweet that!)

Jesus is coming again. He will come again to fulfill all the prophecies of his second coming.

Don't be surprised if he comes very early during this millennium day.

Happy Easter!

Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!

(I will see you again for the next post on Tuesday.)

Jesus fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread

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During the first Passover back in the days of Moses, about 1500 years before Jesus walked the earth, God instructed the Israelites to make bread without yeast. This was because Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was going to release the Israelites from slavery and let them go so quickly they would not have time to let their bread rise.

In Scripture, yeast, or any kind of leavening that makes bread rise, most often became associated with sin.

Jesus told his disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:5-12, Mark 8:14-21, Luke 12:1).

An exception, however, is a parable Jesus told where yeast was not sin but was compared to the kingdom of God, found in both Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21.

Jesus was without sin. This is why he is associated with bread without yeast. (Tweet that!)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day following Passover, which is always Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days, from Nisan 15 to 21.

Jesus, the only son of God who was without sin, lay in the grave on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Tweet that!)

✟   Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was without sin or defect (yeast) and so he fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Tweet that!)

Tomorrow for Easter, in a rare Sunday post, we will discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy pictured in the third Feast of the LORD. (Tweet that!)

If you would like to learn more about how Jesus fulfills the seven Feasts of the LORD, you would enjoy my new book, just released this week, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus. (Tweet that!) The last seven chapters in the book discuss the historical as well as the prophetic significance of the seven Feasts of the LORD. For more on the discussion of Jesus fulfilling the Feast of Unleavened Bread, see chapter 37.

Jesus was Sacrificed on Passover

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Luke 22:14-15 tells us:

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."

While I was growing up, I got the idea that the Last Supper which Jesus enjoyed with his disciples was the Seder meal, which is the Passover ceremonial meal. (Tweet that!) Furthermore, Mark 14:12 tells us:

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

But now I believe the Last Supper actually was not the Passover Seder but rather the dinner meal the evening before Passover. (Tweet that!) In the Mark quote above, the disciples ask where to go to prepare for Passover, but they could have prepared for the Passover Seder and never got to have it with Jesus.

There is another possible timeline that works better: that Jesus did not eat the Passover Seder because he was actually crucified on Passover and was hanging on the cross instead of enjoying the Passover meal. (Tweet that!) 

In light of God's prophetic calendar and the meaning of the seven Feasts of the LORD, this only makes sense.

Jesus was our Passover Lamb. He had to be sacrificed on Passover to fulfill the prophecy pictured in Passover. (Tweet that!)

And in doing so, another prophecy was fulfilled.

"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7b, NIV).

✟   Jesus was slain on Passover and so fulfills all the symbolism of the Feast of Passover. 

In the next two days we will discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies pictured in two more Feasts of the LORD. If you missed the April 11 post about these Feasts, you can find it here: The Prophetic Significance of the Feasts of the LORD (Tweet that!) 

If you enjoy this blog and would like to learn more about how Jesus fulfills the seven Feasts of the LORD, you would enjoy my new book just released this week, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus. The last seven chapters in the book discuss the historical as well as the prophetic significance of the seven Feasts of the LORD. For more on the discussion of Jesus fulfilling the Passover, see chapter 36.

The Prophetic Significance of the Feasts of the LORD

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What are the Feasts of the LORD? God gave seven Feasts to the Jews in Leviticus 23. These were Feasts the Jewish people were required to keep, and they continue to observe and celebrate them to this day. 

In some translations of the Bible, such as the newer (2011) New International Version (NIV) as well as the New Living Translation (NLT), they are not called "feasts" but are called "festivals."

It's important to notice these are not the Feasts of the Jews. These are Feasts of the LORD. They belong not just to the Jewish people but to everyone who belongs to the LORD.

The seven Feasts of the LORD have both historical meaning and prophetic meaning.

By "historical" I mean these Feasts point back in time to a certain time in history and the Feast is designed to remind the Jews (and all of us) of what God did for the Jewish people at that time in history.

By "prophetic" I mean these Feasts also point forward in time to something God said He would do in the future. Now, these Feasts were given in the time of Moses, who lived approximate 1500 years before Christ, so some of what was "future" in that time is now past history to us. In other words the prophetic/future meaning for some of these feasts is in our past. And we can clearly see it since we now have the benefit of looking back in hindsight.

The prophetic meaning of the first four of the seven Feasts of the LORD were fulfilled in the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The prophetic meaning of the last three of the seven Feasts of the LORD will be fulfilled in his second coming.

Some people don't believe Jesus is coming again. Their disbelief does not affect that truth that he will indeed come again—and that time is growing near. (Tweet that!) Two reasons we can be so confident he will indeed come again are:

• The fact that he has already fulfilled four of the seven Feasts in his first coming
• The fact that three of the seven Feasts have yet to be fulfilled.

The first three Feasts occur in spring. Then there's a break of fifty days to Pentecost.

Then the last three Feasts occur in fall of the year.

Here are the seven Feasts (or festivals) of the LORD in the order they occur annually along with the historical event or meaning, the prophetic event or meaning (Tweet that!), and the Scripture backup for that event:

1. Passover, which points historically to when the Passover Lamb is slain. Prophetically, Christ was our Passover Lamb, slain for the sins of the world (all who will accept that). 1 Corinthians 5:7
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated by eating only bread without leaven. Historically it points to when the children of Israel left slavery in Egypt in haste with no time to let bread rise. In the Bible leaven often symbolizes sin. Prophetically, Jesus Christ, who was without sin, was buried and in the grave for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 2 Corinthians 5:21
3. The Feast of First Fruits historically commemorates and thanks God for the first of the harvest after the Israelites entered the Promised Land. Prophetically, Jesus Christ is the first of the harvest, the first raised from dead. 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23; Revelation 1:5
4. Pentecost, historically commemorates the giving of the Law by God to Moses. Prophetically, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the giving of the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost. Acts 2
5. The first in the fall is the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Yom Teruah or Rosh HaShana. The Feast of Trumpets, historically, is associated with the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn trumpet). Prophetically, it is connected to the resurrection of the dead and/or the Rapture. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
6. Historically, on the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, the High Priest enters Holy of Holies to atone for the people's sins. Every fiftieth year on this day, the Year of Jubilee is proclaimed. Prophetically, Jesus Christ will come again to get his people whose sins are atoned for. Mark 15:37-38, Hebrews 10:19-21
7. The final Feast is the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths or Sukkot. Historically this celebrates the completion of the harvest. Prophetically, the harvest of souls from the earth is complete and God comes to live or "tabernacle" with us. Revelation 14:15-16

NASA projects there will be a full lunar eclipse on both Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, the first and the last annual Feast of the LORD, in 2014 and then the same repeats in 2015. (Tweet that!)

Do you find this fascinating?

Who do you know who would like this information? Who would you like to share this with? Please use the share buttons at the bottom of this post to share it with others. Thank you.

Thanks to www.Morguefile.com 

Tomorrow we will look at what in nature (apart from God doing something supernatural) can cause the moon to turn red like blood. (Tweet that!)

Special Note:

In anticipation of the first of the four lunar eclipses occurring next week, we're covering some prophecies concerning red moons and other information important to understanding their significance. (Tweet that!) Here is the schedule of these posts. Please invite your friends or your entire church to join us:

• Day 10, April 9: The Moon as a Sign and the Prophesied Blood Red Moons
• Day 9, April 10: How the Jewish Calendar Works
• Day 8, April 11: The Prophetic Significance of the Feasts of the LORD
• Day 7, April 12: What Causes the Moon to Turn Red Like Blood?
• Day 6, April 14: "Tetrad" of Four Lunar Eclipses on Jewish Feast Days in the Past
• Day 5, April 15: The First Lunar Eclipse on Passover 2014 (and why I don't expect anything to happen that day.) 

The Moon as a Sign and the Prophesied Blood Red Moons

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When God set up the universe, He created ways to communicate with us. One way He communicates is through the moon, sun, and even stars (as in the star that was prophesied in Numbers 24:17 which led the Magi to the Christ Child centuries later. See Matthew 2:1-12.).

When God communicates with people, the Bible often calls these "signs." In the New Testament stories of Jesus (the Gospels), when Jesus performed a miraculous healing, these were often called "signs," especially by the writer John.

In the very beginning of the Bible, in the story of creation, God clearly tells us He will use the moon for "signs." This is prophecy. Here is Genesis 1:14 in a couple different English translations:

"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years…' " (Genesis 1:14, English Standard Version - ESV).

Nearly identical except for a couple of words is the King James Version:

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:…" (Genesis 1:14, King James Version – KJV).

And from the newer New International Version:

"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years…' " (Genesis 1:14, New International Version 2011 – NIV).

In the NIV that I usually prefer (from 1984, which is no longer available), part of this verse is translated:

"…and let them serve as signs to make seasons and days and years…" (Genesis 1:14, NIV 1984).

The newer NIV as well as the other older and well-respected translations make it clear that these heavenly bodies are for more than seasons, days, and years; they are for "signs." The newer NIV states it as "signs to mark sacred times." I like that.

So what is the point of all this about the moon? Two things:

• Prophecies in the Bible talk about the sign of the moon turning red and the sun turning dark – including prophecies Jesus himself spoke.

• We may very well see the moon turn red next week. (Tweet that!)

Thanks to www.Morguefile.com 

We are going to talk about this more, one step at a time. Let's finish today with looking at some of the prophecies in the Bible that most Christians believe have not been fulfilled, and so they are yet to be fulfilled in our future:

"The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD" (Joel 2:31).

"The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine" (Joel 3:15).

"The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord" (Acts 2:20, Peter is quoting Joel 2:28-32).

Isaiah also spoke of this:

"For the stars of the heavens and their constellations  will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising,  and the moon will not shed its light" (Isaiah 13:10).

Then, when his disciples asked Jesus what the signs of the "end times" would be, Jesus himself quoted the Isaiah passage:

"Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken' " (Matthew 24:29).

"But in those days, following that distress, " 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light' " (Mark 13:24).

Jesus also said:

"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea" (Luke 21:25).

Finally, long after Jesus' death and resurrection, John wrote of the vision he saw of the "end times":

"I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red" (Revelation 6:12).

We are going to talk more about the sign of a red moon because we can expect some red moons in our future, and we even know the dates. Furthermore, they will occur on spiritually significant dates.

In 2014 and 2015 there will be a total of four lunar eclipses. When four eclipses appear, this is called a tetrad. An eclipse is one of only three situations that occur naturally that can cause the moon to appear red. Because of these Bible prophecies above, these four eclipses are becoming known among many as the "Four Blood Moons."

Significantly, these four lunar eclipses will occur on the first and the last of the seven Feasts of the Lord—meaning on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles—two years in a row: in both 2014 and 2015. (Tweet that!)

We are going to look at the seven Feasts of the LORD on Friday, April 11. But first, tomorrow we are going to look at the Jewish calendar and how it works, because that is important in understanding all of this.

On Saturday, April 12^th, we will look at the natural causes in nature that can cause the moon to appear red.

Then on Monday we will look at times in history when this same tetrad of four lunar eclipses on the same major Feasts of the LORD, two consecutive years, occurred. (Tweet that!) Yes, it has happened before. And significant events occurred in Israel and in the world at those times. So please stay tuned…and invite your friends to join us on this fascinating journey.

Special Note:

In anticipation of the first of the four lunar eclipses occurring next week, we're discussing information important to understanding their significance. (Tweet that!) Here's our coming schedule. Please invite your friends or your entire church to join us:

• Day 10, April 9: The Moon as a Sign and the Prophesied Blood Red Moons
• Day 9, April 10: How the Jewish Calendar Works
• Day 8, April 11: The Prophetic Significance of the Feasts of the LORD
• Day 7, April 12: What Causes the Moon to Turn Red Like Blood?
• Day 6, April 14: "Tetrad" of Four Lunar Eclipses on Jewish Feast Days in the Past
• Day 5, April 15: The First Lunar Eclipse on Passover 2014 (and why I don't expect anything to happen that day.)

Darkness Came Over the Whole Land

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What happens when humankind tries to extinguish the Light of the World (John 9:5)?

The gospel-writer, Mark, records that during the time Jesus was dying, a plague of darkness covered the land. (Tweet that!)

"At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour" (Mark 15:33).

This was not the first time a plague of darkness covered a land. Around 1500 years earlier when the One True God displayed Himself in the land of Egypt and went to battle against the false gods of Egypt defeating each, one at a time, the ninth of the ten plagues was a plague of "darkness that can be felt." Here are the words of Moses describing that time:

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived" (Exodus 10:21-23, NIV 1984).

When Jesus hung dying, when the Light of Life (John 8:12) was dimming and going out, a similar plague of darkness covered the land. (Tweet that!)

The prophet Amos also speaks of darkness covering the earth in broad daylight in a time which I believe is future to us:

" 'In that day,' declares the Sovereign Lord, 'I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day,' " (Amos 8:9-10, NIV 1984).

We cannot live without light. Do you have Jesus, the Light of Life? (Tweet that!)

The Prophecy in the Crown of Thorns

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When Adam and Eve introduced sin into the human race way back in the garden of Eden, there were many consequences that we continue to deal with to this day—although each human who has ever lived is equally as guilty of sin.

Perhaps the worst consequence of sin is death, which is what Jesus came to pay the penalty for with his own blood in order to bring each person who will accept it eternal life. (Tweet that!)

Another one of the consequences of sin is that the ground was cursed so mankind would have to work hard to make the land produce food. God told Adam the curse meant the land would produce thorns and thistles:

"To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat of it,"

" 'Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return' " (Genesis3:17-19).

Jesus came to pay the consequences of sin, or possibly we could say to pay for the curse. Thorns are a symbol of the curse. So is it any wonder a stem of thorns was wound into a circle and placed upon Jesus’ head as a crown?

"They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him" (Mark 15:17).

As sinful men and woman crucified Jesus for the sins of mankind, they crowned him with the curse. (Tweet that!)

Destroy This Temple and I Will Raise It Again in Three Days

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Early in his ministry, Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover. When he visited the Temple, he found dishonest businessmen selling products needed for worship at the Temple and other goods doing their business right on the Temple grounds.

This angered Jesus not only because they were selling goods on the sacred grounds, but because their dishonesty and price gouging  on the items needed for worship hindered the ability of the people to freely worship God.

Jesus cleaned up this mess, turning over tables and chasing these businessmen off the Temple grounds.

The Jewish leaders demanded to know what authority Jesus had to do this. They wanted a miraculous sign to prove His authority. This is Jesus' response:

"Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days,' " John 2:19.

What the Priests and Jewish leaders did not know or grasp—although they could have if they had sought wisdom and understanding from God and His Word in the written scripture—is that Jesus was the Temple personified! (Tweet that!)

When Jesus said, "Destroy this temple," he was predicting that was exactly what they would do: destroy his person, his body.

When Jesus said he would "raise it again in three days," he meant his body, which was the personification of the Temple.*

The Jewish leaders, however, because they would not seek the truth from God, believed Jesus meant the earthly Temple would be destroyed—a horrifying thought because without the Temple, they thought they had no way of worshiping God.

This, this is the charge that convicted Jesus and won the Jewish leaders his death sentence in his trials. But the testimony that wrongly convicted him as an innocent man wasn't quite accurate.

"Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 'We heard him say, "I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man." ' Yet even then their testimony did not agree" (Mark 14:57-59).

The Jewish leaders called it blasphemy.

Yet the Jewish leaders successfully destroyed the Temple: Jesus.

But there was prophecy in Jesus' words. He predicted that after he was destroyed, he would raise on the third day. And that is exactly what he did (Tweet that!):

"Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, 'Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?'

"But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 

" 'Don't be alarmed,' he said. 'You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him' " (Mark 16:2-6).

Jesus, the personification of the Temple, was destroyed and then raised on the third day, just as he had predicted. (Tweet that!)

Amazing!

*You can learn more about how Jesus is the personification of the Temple in my soon-coming book, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus, due to be released soon from Pix-N-Pens. Check here for updates to availability: Dianne's Amazon Author Page.