There are seven feasts that the Israelites are supposed to have for God. There are the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Firstfruits, Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. Each one bears special significance for the Israelites as well as Christians.
Passover is a remembrance of when the “angel of Death” passed over the homes of the children of Israel and killed the firstborn of the Egyptians leading to the Exodus, and would come to be the period that Christians know as Easter.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Passover that lasts for seven days and consists of eating unleavened bread for a week. During the Last Supper, Christ’s physical body was represented by a piece of unleavened bread, because leaven was a “type” of sin.
The Feast of Firstfruits was not to be celebrated until the Israelites made it to the Promised Land. The object is to offer up the first fruits of the harvest.
50 days after the firstfruits, the Israelites were to offer up the Feast of Pentecost to God. Part of this offering includes bread that does contain leaven. This represents the beginning of the Church; the “Body of Christ” that we Christians are a part of.
The firstfruits represents Christ’s resurrection. 40 days later was Pentecost. 50 days after the resurrection, Christ ascended to Heaven and the Church was born. Notice that leaven was introduced 50 days after the firstfruits, just as sin was introduced in the Body of Christ (because sinful humans are now the Church). Prior to this time, the ministry of Jesus Christ was perfect (unleavened).
The Feast of Trumpets took place in the fall, probably around September. Trumpets play a significant role throughout the Scripture. They would blow as the walls of Jericho fell and again throughout the Great Tribulation. The sound of a trumpet will fill the Earth to signify the return of Jesus Christ (second advent). The trumpet represents the end of the “church age” and the beginning of atonement for the Jews.
The Day of Atonement is a feast day that takes place 10 days after the Feast of Trumpets. I cannot separate the significance of a trumpets used to announce this feast day and the trumpets signaling the second coming of Christ. As usual, God gives us many hints throughout the Scripture that point to other significant events. The Day of Atonement is a prophetic feast dealing with cleansing and return of the House of David to prominence prior to the Millennial period on Earth after the Great Tribulation.
The Feast of Tabernacles represents the Millennial period itself. It is the seventh and final feast where the Hebrews could finally rest. The first day is a Sabbath, the feast lasts for seven days, then on the eighth day is another sabbath. Remember that eight is the number of new beginnings. In this case, this eighth day Sabbath is the New Jerusalem on the New Earth. Thus, is the fulfillment of the “Fulness of Times” found in Clarence Larkin’s “Dispensational Truth” (a book that I could not recommend highly enough).
The seven feasts represent the transition from the Church age to the end times atonement of the Jews who have historically rejected Christ. We see the death of Christ (Passover), broken body of Christ (Unleavened Bread), resurrection of Christ (Firstfruits), and the Church age (Pentecost) that point to the return of Christ (Trumpets), cleansing of Israel (Atonement), and finally the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem (Tabernacles).
What a beautiful picture of prophecy made 1500 years before Christ came to die on the cross for our sins.
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