The 7 God-Ordained Torah Feasts (Part 1)

7 God-Ordained Torah Feasts Part 1

Welcome to the House of Jesus School Blog and Podcast. Today is Monday, April 15. Last week this time, on April 8, some of you were lucky enough to witness the great eclipse of 2024. Regrettably, I missed it. And then Tuesday, April 9, marked the first day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. That means we are mere days from observing Pesach or Passover on April 22.

Passover is the first of 7 God-ordained Torah feasts. Therefore, today and over the next few days, I will be teaching on the 7 God-Ordained Torah feasts. While there are other feasts referenced in the biblical text, there are only 7 God-ordained feasts: 3 Spring feasts, 1 Summer feast, and 3 Fall feasts. We are currently approaching the season of the Spring festivals: Pesach or Passover on April 22nd; Matza or Unleavened Bread, April 23-29; and Bikkurim or the Feast of Firstfruits on April 28.

Passover begins the evening of April 22 this year, the 14th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. Passover is the remembrance of God’s Appointed Time for the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb during God’s deliverance of Israel in Egypt, an event that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus during God’s deliverance of His Kingdom people sometime between AD 35 and AD 37.

The evening of April 23, or the 15th of Nisan, we will observe the first of 7 Appointed Days for the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Matza, with the first day and the day after the seventh day being Sabbaths. It is called Matza or Unleavened Bread because Israel departed from Egypt so hurriedly that they did not have time to allow their bread to rise. This feast or Appointed Time commemorates the exodus of Israel from slavery in Egypt to God’s miraculous deliverance through the parted Red Sea. It is a reminder that God actively and miraculously intervenes in human history for His people. The House of Jesus recognizes this time as Jesus’ fulfillment of God’s 7 Appointed Days, during which time He was in the tomb, was resurrected, ascended to the Father, and revealed himself alive to His disciples. As with the Exodus event, this feast marks the transition from slavery to freedom, from death to life, and likewise reinforces the assurance that God actively and miraculously intervenes in human history for His people.

The day after the first Sabbath following Passover, on April 28, we will celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits, also referred to as Bikkurum. This feast is God’s Appointed Time for Israel to offer the firstfruits of the barley harvest to the Lord at the Temple. The House of Jesus observes this Appointed Time as Jesus’ fulfillment of the feast in offering himself as the Firstfruit from the dead at the Throne of God. It is important to note that this event occurs within the 7-day timeframe of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Matza, which was the fourth day following Jesus’ death and burial in the year this feast was fulfilled.

Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks, the only Summer feast, is timed to occur the day after 7 Sabbaths from the Feast of Firstfruits, which this year will be June 16. Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (meaning “fifty”) to the Greeks, is the observance of God’s Appointed Time for the presentation of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest at the Temple of God at Jerusalem. The House of Jesus celebrates this Appointed Time as the day Holy Spirit came in His role of “Helper,” the “Spirit of Truth,” to abide with and endow the people of God with power from on High. While the Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the firstfruit of the dead to life, Shavuot celebrates the firstfruit of the living to life; the beginning of the ingathering of God’s wheat harvest, the “Called-Out” of God.

It is important to grasp that just as Jesus fulfilled the first 4 festivals on the exact Appointed Day of each of the festivals, He will fulfill the final 3 in the same pattern. The final works of Jesus will occur on the last 3 biblical feasts, which occur in a very narrow scope of time: 15 days. Indeed, as the Bible tells, we don’t know the year of Jesus’ coming, but we can know the season; and that season is the Fall. This year, the Fall feasts are in the month of October: Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets on October 3, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement on October 12, and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles on October 17-24. I will share more details on what these final 3 feasts represent as October approaches.

So, there are 7 God-ordained feasts. They are a connected series of feasts, each one playing its role in an overall picture, and it’s important for those of us in the House of Jesus to join our Messianic Jewish siblings, as well as the Jewish community in general, in celebration of these God-ordained festivals.

A good place to start is by following the well-established Jewish traditions since these traditions have been so well thought out and ordered for centuries. That said, you’re free to adopt some of these traditions and not others or to modify some or even add your own. The key is to add the proper meaning to God’s intended purpose for each of His appointed Feasts, and we can’t do that, can we, until we understand His purpose.

Therefore, we will begin to look at the Festivals, also called Appointed Times in Holy Scripture. We cannot question the legitimacy of the Festivals, for they are called out by name in the Bible, and not just in the Old Testament where they are ordained, but also in the New Testament, where each time they’re mentioned, Jesus is either in or on his way to Jerusalem to participate in these Appointed Times. Therefore, the observance of each of the Biblical Festivals was validated by Jesus in the New Testament.

While there are scripturally specified days and months for observing each of the biblical festivals, there is little biblical instruction on how each celebration should be observed. Therefore, over the centuries the Jews have come up with traditions to fill that void. And although methods of observing these festivals, from 2000 years ago up to this day, consist mostly of Hebrew tradition, the command to celebrate them is fully biblical. Contrast this with Christmas and Easter, the highest gentile Christian Holy Days that are not biblically commanded days of celebration in either the Old or New Testament; every aspect of celebration of these two days is but traditions. The Christian Church prides itself in being scripturally oriented, but upon examination, most of what occupies its time and activities amounts to nothing more than traditions, things we call doctrines, that have little or no biblical basis.

There is no biblical command or day set aside in Scripture to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Christmas is a manmade day, chosen to coincide with the already universally celebrated Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in the Northern hemisphere and once in the Southern hemisphere. For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Either pole experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice.

Easter is similar; that He was crucified on Passover and then after 3 days and nights, arose on the first day of the week, we are certain because the Gospels plainly say so, but Easter is not a God-ordained Holy Day; it is man-ordained, and even the name for this awesome day is after the pagan fertility goddess Ishtar, which is why the standard pagan fertility symbols of eggs and rabbits have become the outstanding features of this Christian celebration.

I am not suggesting that it is wrong to commemorate and celebrate Jesus’ birth and resurrection, but it is error to declare these two days as holy, when God has explicitly not done so. We must separate those things that are God-ordained from those things that are not. How can we, as mature followers of Jesus, be so careful to observe Christmas and Easter, manmade observances, that admittedly celebrate two critical events of Jesus, but so easily dismiss the God-made, God-ordained biblical feasts; feasts that are not traditions, but are written down in the Scriptures; not as simply things mentioned, but as commanded feasts that the Lord God says are perpetual?

Some may argue that there are 613 commands in the Old Testament; are we to observe each of these as well? Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus also said all the Law and the Prophets hang on two commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Does this mean that loving God and our neighbor fulfills the Law and Prophets, including observing the biblical feasts? I would say yes, but the feasts also have another important purpose that is often overlooked: they remind us of foundational biblical principles and demonstrate the work of Jesus and plan of God.

The 7 biblical feasts lay out the plan of God for mankind; they completely model the mission, sequence, and significance of Jesus’ redemptive work. In addition to being literal commands of God that are fully intended to be practiced, these feasts outline a prophetic pattern that has been and will be carried out by Jesus.

Over the next few days, I will share the biblical, historical, and cultural background for the three Spring feasts: Pesach or Passover, Matza or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Bikkurim or the Feast of Firstfruits. And as we approach October, I will share more detail on the remaining four Fall feasts.

Shalom!