PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
COLOSSIANS 2:16-17: “16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.“;
LEVITICUS 23:1-2: ” And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.”
All the agricultural seasons in Israel are tied to harvest. God does not operate on the earth with a gentile mentality. The whole programme of God is centered on the seven feasts of Israel. All the festivals of Israel were a shadow of realities to come. They point to Jesus Christ. The Passover in Egypt foreshadowed the crucifixion of Jesus who would shed His blood to save the world. Interestingly, Jesus was crucified at the literal Passover in fulfilment of prophecy (Matthew 26:2). God fulfilled the Passover in a very detailed and dramatic manner.
The unleavened bread is bread without yeast. Yeast is a type of sin that God will never allow. The feast of unleavened bread is the celebration of holiness. The unleavened bread was supposed to be eaten for seven days which signifies perfection. As such, we must be holy just like our Father in heaven is holy. The Festival of First Fruits speaks about the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension made Him the First among many brethren that death will not conquer.
LEVITICUS 23:15-16(KJV): ” 15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.”;
II CORINTHIANS 3:1-3:(KJV) ” Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
Fifty days after the Festival of First Fruits comes the Pentecost. Interestingly, the Pentecost experience in the Upper Room in the Book of Acts happened exactly fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection. God took about forty days to write His laws on tablets of stone in the days of Moses. That shows how God’s Laws would be written on people’s hearts at the advent of the Holy Spirit. The Primary work of the Holy Spirit is to write testaments. What made the Ark of Covenant tick were the Tablets of Stone engraved with God’s Laws. This shows how potent we can be when God writes His testament on our hearts.
LEVITICUS 23:24-25(KJV): ” 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.”;
[biblegateway passage=”I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18″ display=”I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18″]
The Feast of Trumpets comes after Pentecost with some months apart. There are different trumpets for different purposes. This feast is also called the Ingathering. It brings us into some kind of eschatology. Theologians believe that the Church Age comes between Pentecost and the Ingathering. The Church is needed to provoke the Jews to jealousy so that they can believe in the Christ. That provocation is nothing man can cook up, it has to be God-orchestrated. Ultimately, the Lord shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God to gather men unto himself.
The Feast of Atonements comes after the Feast of Trumpets. It is a time of reconciliation of everything. Even the Jews will eventually recognize their King which they had ignored. The Feast of Tabernacles signifies the time when all men will see God face to face and He will tabernacle with all men. We will see God the way He really is at the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Place where we stand now is the place of expectation of the Trumpets, the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. While we wait, we must recognize God’s work in the Church, among the Jews and among the Gentiles. Pathetically, we have a Church today that is just like the Laodicean Church-A Church that is lukewarm and self-sufficient. We must keep in steps with the Holy Spirit so that we can be let into all the agenda of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals of all things ([biblegateway passage=”I Corinthians 2:10″ display=”I Corinthians 2:10″]).