Moses‘ Prophecy

“These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein. But you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.” (v4-8)

The annual cycle opened with the Passover sacrifice of the lamb, which obviously represents the sacrifice event. Readers of the four Gospels, and of Exodus 12 and 13, and of Isaiah 53 will easily recognize the symbolism of the Lamb of God to come. The same future event is being pointed to, but more description is being used. This means that more can be learned and more can be analyzed to help verify the future Messiah.

The passover, along with the presenting of the firstfruits, filled the first convocation. These convocations were several to many days long. They were something like the modern rally, campmeeting, camporee, etc...

“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest of it then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the food offering of it shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor and the drink offering of it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (9-14)

This ceremony was the second major part of the Passover campmeeting. It consisted of the sacrifice of a lamb and an interesting offering. A sheaf of grain was to be waved before God in the sanctuary. It was not made into bread nor was anything special done to it by human hands. What God produced in the land was presented back to Him.

The Bible never tells us exactly what this means, but following the pattern of the ceremonies and their historical proximity, I believe we can make a good guess. In Matthew we read, “The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (v27:52-53)

Surely those saints were not left to die again! Paul says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Ephesians 4:8) Captivity is a symbol for death, so leading the once-dead saints to heaven would be a proper conclusion. This would explain the song of the 24 elders: “You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals of it for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” (Revelation 5:9)

No human hand raised the saints. No human hand lifted them to heaven. These were entirely of God’s doing. God produced the ingredients of the offering and then gathered it to Himself.

The Father was teaching that He Himself was guaranteeing the results of the Passover sacrifice. The spiritually unblemished Lamb of God would die and rise again. This would enable Him to raise all those who placed their faith in the Messiah to come. The waving of the firstfruits was a token of the small resurrection to come which was a token of the larger, final one.

“And you shall count unto you from the day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the day after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new food offering unto the LORD. You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their food offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the LORD. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: you shall do no servile work in it: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of your field when you reap neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest: you shall leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” (v15-22)

I find this feast fascinating and helps confirm our interpretation of the Firstfruits. This feast took place 50 days after the Firstfruits were waved. In the Greek it was called, Pentekostos, which means 50. The timing of the feasts and their fulfillments matched exactly.

Like Firstfruits, Pentecost had a sacrifice, but the wave offering was different. The God-grown grain was harvested, then human hands added ingredients, worked the dough, and baked it into bread. Two of these loaves were then waved before God.

On the real day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the apostles were empowered to preach to the multitudes then prepare them for baptism. Humanity cooperated with Divinity in the conversion and salvation of souls. Had the Israelites been faithful, they would have long before launched many Pentecostal evangelistic efforts, and reaped from them. Had they accepted their Messiah, the antitypical Pentecost would have been a demonstration of the Spirit and power far beyond what was shown through the disciples. Even though Israel was no longer to be an empire, they would have established a spiritual kingdom that would have saved the majority of the world, and avoided the two disasters at the end of the timeline: a time of trouble and millennium.

Putting the two feasts together, we see Jesus, without the aid of human beings, resurrect and glorify dead saints. Then Pentecost initiates the gospel mission in which every follower of Christ is commissioned.

“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (v23-25)

The blowing of trumpets opens the final two week period of the feasts. The religious calendar of events is about to close. (This can be confused with their civil calendar. They used two at the same time.)

Again, no immediate interpretation is given, but trumpets are used throughout the Bible for announcements and warnings. That would make this event correspond to a final invitation and/or warning to prepare for the Day of Atonement. Just as Revelation has seven trumpets blowing throughout history and then again just before the Second Coming, these trumpets appear to serve the same purpose. Whether they are invitations or warnings, all depends upon the hearer’s perspective and condition.

“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatever soul it be that does any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall you celebrate your sabbath.” (v26-32)

The next lesson will dive into Leviticus 16 and the details of the Day of Atonement, but for now we will hold to a summary of two major points.

First, it is repeated three times that it is a day to afflict one’s soul. Obviously, this did not mean self-inflicted physical torture, but humbling of soul. This is the last meeting of the year, so at the end of history the people were to do the opposite of Lucifer’s self-exaltation that he did in the beginning of evil. Evil begins with pride. It can be ended only by humility.

Second, the blowing of the trumpets of Jubilee took place on, not after, the Day of Atonement. “Then shall you cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants of it it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family.” (Leviticus 25:9-10)

Eternity was represented by the Feast of Tabernacles and by the seventh year sabbaths, but especially was it illustrated by the Jubilee that wiped out debts, freed slaves, and restored families to their ancestral homes. This presents a lesson for the antitypical Day of Atonement that is astounding.

Had Israel been faithful they would have evangelized the world and become a world empire by peace. When that point was reached, which would be after the sacrifice event of the Lamb of God, the final Day of Atonement would have been the final judgment. Those of all nations, languages, tribes, and peoples who wanted to join Israel in spiritual cleansing would have gathered in Jerusalem. Those who did not look forward to the second coming of the Messiah would scatter elsewhere. After the cleansing of the people and the sanctuary, the angels would appear in the sky blowing trumpets announcing the return of Christ. The final judgment of the ungodly, living and dead, as prophesied by Enoch, would take place, the Earth restored, and God’s everlasting kingdom established. There is no great tribulation or millennium in Moses’ timeline. They do not appear until later. Had Israel done their job, the end would have been much sooner and far less violent.

“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work in it. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and you shall do no servile work in it. These are the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a food offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which you give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And you shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And you shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (v33-43)

The last verses explain that the feast represents deliverance from Egypt. However, that deliverance pointed forwarded to ultimate deliverance from the reign of death and evil. The Day of Atonement washed away the personal sins of Israel, then the Feast of Tabernacles, especially in the year of jubilee, represented the beginning of the new, abundant, eternal life.

The Feast of Tabernacles was the capstone on the religious calendar. Starting with the sacrifice for sin, then the Pentecostal work to proclaim the gospel to the world, then ending with purification from spiritual sin, the participants in the annual feasts journeyed through personal and historical developments. The feast was the perfect opportunity to look back upon God’s work and offer praise and thanksgiving to Him.