Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 The Last Supper 2

Luke 22:8 Jesus Sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Today you will notice a big difference in my daily writing, because I am turning the body of the message today over to my good friend, and the gentleman whom I call the "best baritone-bass" gospel singer there is, his deep, rich voice will lift you and relax you as he sings. Those of you who came to our summer picnic got to hear this "young man" know what I am talking about. Yesterday when I put out a call on my message to my pastor friends for some help on this week's subject this gentleman responded as he often does with a great writing of his own.

This work is just too good for me to "pull" from it and maybe lose something in the changeover to my daily writing that I have decided to turn Carry The Light Ministries Daily Message over to the mind of my dear friend, Timothy Beitzel. So, friends, read, learn and enjoy, as Tim takes over right now... I will be back for the prayer and closing... Thanks my dear brother...

"Symbolic Significance of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles and the New Testament Fulfillment of Each."

By Timothy Beitzel

"Passover – The Feast of Passover is the first of the seven Jewish feasts and is considered the foundation upon which all the other feasts were established. It is held at the beginning of the Jewish year, on the 14^th of Nisan. It commemorates the time when God supernaturally delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt through the last of the 10 plagues of Egypt, the killing of the firstborn of all people and animals. Only those who applied the blood of the sacrificial lamb to the doorposts and lintels of their doors escaped this judgment.

On the 10^th day of Nisan, the sacrificial lamb was selected, one per family. This lamb had to be perfectly free from defect. They would keep the lamb until the evening of the 14^th, when it would be slaughtered and eaten, none of it to be left over by morning.

As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey on what we now call “Palm Sunday”, people were gathering and making preparations for Passover. As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, He was questioned by many about His authority and the manner in which His Kingdom would come. He was being examined just as the lambs were being examined by those who would be slaughtering them later that same week.

On the night that Jesus ate the last supper with His disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem, it was the Passover meal that they were sharing. Jesus revealed to those present that He Himself was the Passover lamb whose body would be broken and whose blood would be shed for the remission of sins so that all who trust in Him would escape the death of the soul. The Feast of Passover, which was initiated by God 1500 years before Christ was a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Pascal Lamb, offered once for all for atonement for sin. When we celebrate Holy Communion, we not only remember the Lord’s sacrificial death, but indeed confirm the fulfillment of the symbolism of the Old Testament Feast of Passover; Jesus, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Unleavened Bread – The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed Passover, beginning on the 15^th of Nisan and lasted for 7 days. This feast goes hand in hand with Passover as it is a reminder that the Israelites had no time to add leaven to their bread before their quick departure from Egypt. During this period of seven days commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, only unleavened bread was eaten.

A Jewish custom during the Feast of Unleavened bread was to sprinkle leavened bread crumbs throughout the house, then sweep them up and burn them. Leaven was taken to be a symbol of sin and this exercise demonstrated a purification of the household. In Matthew 16:6, Jesus said to “beware the leaven of the Pharisees” meaning their false doctrine. In 1 Corinthians 5:6, the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”, meaning that unchecked sin in the church has a detrimental effect on all the members.

Jesus was crucified on Passover and was in the tomb during a portion of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Psalm 16:10 says that “God would not allow His Holy One to see corruption. Jesus’ body did not see corruption while temporarily entombed; His body did not experience the decay of death as there was no “leaven” (sin) in Him; God raised Him from the grave on the third day! Jesus was the fulfillment of the symbolism of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

Firstfruits – was celebrated on the 16^th of Nisan during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. At this time of year (Spring), the winter Barley crop was ripe and would soon be ready to be harvested. A sheaf of Barley was cut and ceremonially presented before the Lord. The symbolism is that God’s approval and acceptance of this offering of “firstfruits” of the Barley harvest would ensure a successful harvest for that year.

Something else was taking place on the 16^th of Nisan while the Feast of Firstfruits was underway...the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb! While most of the religious people of the day were busy in preparation for this annual feast, they missed the fact that Jesus was fulfilling its symbolic meaning...the first fruit of the dead. While some were raised from death during the ministry of Jesus (Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter for example) Jesus was the only One to rise to never die again. He is also the first of many to rise from death, never to die again, those who have been Born Again and adopted into His family!

Pentecost – Pentecost, also known as Harvest, Shavuot, and the Feast of Weeks, occurred on the fiftieth day after Firstfruits in the month of Sivan. It marked the end of the Barley harvest and the beginning of the Wheat harvest. Leviticus 23 records the instructions given by God regarding the timing of this festival. They were to count off seven weeks (49 days) which would land on a Sabbath. The feast would begin the next day, the fiftieth day, therefore, the festival was named “Pentecost” meaning “fiftieth”.

During this feast, a sampling of the wheat harvest was offered before the Lord, as in the barley in Firstfruits, and also, two loaves of bread baked with leaven to be waved before the Lord, but not consumed until the end of the ceremony. Also required were seven young lambs, one young bull, and two rams which were offered as burnt offerings. The ceremony concluded with a communal meal.

Fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, as the faithful were gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit came to the 120 that had been praying with expectation for 10 days following Christ’s ascension. In Peter’s message to the crowds that were gathered there for the feast, this newly empowered and emboldened man explained what had happened that day as a fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29...the Holy Spirit had been poured out on all people. This message provided an immediate harvest of 3000 souls into the Kingdom of God storehouses and served as a promise of future harvests. The gift of the Holy Spirit given at this first post-resurrection Feast of Pentecost was the New Testament fulfillment of this Old Testament harvest feast!

These first four Old Testament Feast have been fulfilled already! The last three will be fulfilled at the end of this current age.

Trumpets – The Feast of Trumpets, or Rash Hashanah, was the first of the Fall Feasts held at the beginning of the Civil New Year in the month of Tishri, the seventh month of the religious Jewish calendar. It began “10 days of awe” leading up to the Day of Atonement and is considered one of 8 High Holy Days in the Hebrew calendar. This feast consisted of a time of rest, "an offering made by fire," and the blowing of the trumpets at the appearance of the new moon. The trumpet, in this case a shofar or ram’s horn, would be the type of horn being blown. The shofar is unique in this celebration, as in all of the other new moon ceremonies, a silver trumpet is used. It was important to keep watch for the appearance of the new moon in the sky, which would have only been a sliver. When viewed, the trumpet would be blown.

In 1 Kings 1:34, when Solomon was anointed King, a shofar was blown. Before Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, as the presence of God descended upon the mountain, the people experienced thunder, lightning, smoke and the sound of a shofar. (Exodus 19:16) As the Ark of the Covenant was being returned to Jerusalem and David danced before the Lord, a shofar was being blown. (2 Samuel 6:15)

The New Testament fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets is yet to come. Isaiah 27:13 reads “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” The word “trumpet” here, in the Hebrew is “shofar”. In Revelation, Chapter 8, the seven angels are given seven trumpets to announce the seven judgments upon the earth before Christ returns to set up His earthly Kingdom at the end of the age. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God”. The symbolic meaning of the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled at the beginning of the “Day of the Lord” which starts with the Rapture of the Church.

Just as the trumpet was blown when Solomon was anointed King, the trumpet will be blown to proclaim Jesus to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords when He returns to earth to rule and reign. As the trumpet was blown to announce to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that the Ark of the Covenant (Old Covenant, that is) was being returned to it’s rightful place, a trumpet will be blown to announce to the inhabitants of the whole earth that Heaven’s King, the One who shed the blood of the NEW Covenant, has returned in power and Glory!

Day of Atonement – or Yom Kippur in the present day Hebrew calendar, comes at the conclusion of the Feast of Trumpets on the 10^th of Tishri and is the culmination of the “ten days of awe” of the Feast of Trumpets. These 10 days included penitence, prayer and fasting. It was on the Day of Atonement that the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies, or The Most Holy Place where he made atonement for himself and for the sins of the people for the past year. (Leviticus 16) Only the High Priest could enter and only once a year after a quite complicated and involved ceremonial cleansing. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle and the first Temple (Solomon’s Temple) and was separated from the outer “Holy Place” by a thick veil.

When Jesus gave His life on Calvary’s cross, He became our High Priest; the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was torn in two, from top to bottom when Jesus died. Jesus, unlike High Priests in the temple service, did not need to purify Himself, as He was without sin. (Hebrews 9-10). At the end of the Great Tribulation, there will be a final Day of Atonement for those of the nation of Israel who made it through this horrible seven year period of tribulation. Zechariah 12:9-10 looks forward to that day:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

This believing remnant out of the house of Israel was also addressed by Paul in Romans 11:25-27:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

The New Testament fulfillment of the Day of Atonement will be at the end of the Great Tribulation when Israel will mourn over the “one whom they have pierced” (repent) and believe on Christ as Messiah!

Tabernacles - The seventh and last of the Feasts is the Feast of Tabernacles which is held from the 15^th to the 22^nd of the month of Tishri. The Feast of Tabernacle, The Passover Feast and the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) were the three feasts that every able-bodied Jewish male was mandated to attend. This feast, also known as the Feast of Booths, was to commemorate the temporary housing constructed by Israel’s forefathers during the time of the Exodus from Egypt. On the first day of the feast, everyone would gather twigs myrtle, willow and palm to construct their own hut or “booth”. Samples of the fall crops were hung in each families’ booth to symbolize the provision of God through the past year.

On the last day of the feast, a ceremony took place where worshippers drew water from the Pool of Siloam and carried it back to the Temple Mount. The High Priest would then pour the water on the altar. The ceremony was a way of invoking God’s blessing upon Israel so that sufficient rains would be provided for a bountiful harvest. In John 7, when Jesus cried out “anyone who thirsts, let him come to me and drink”, it was on this eighth and final day of the Feast of Tabernacles. In John Chapter 8, Jesus said “I am the light of the world”. This coincides with another element of the Feast of Tabernacles, the lighting of the Menorahs at the Court of the Women, one of the three inner courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

The future fulfillment of the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles will occur when Jesus Christ comes to “tabernacle with men” (Revelation 21:3) at the beginning of the time when, as Zechariah prophesied , and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:5) and And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: 7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. (Zechariah 14:6-7) Jesus is that light!

This is the time that believer’s have longed for since the time of the Old Testament prophets. The physical fulfillment of the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles will come at a time when “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (Revelation 21:4-6)

Jesus is the source of the water of life!

Jesus was, is and will be the fulfillment of all seven of these Old Testament Feasts. Nothing in Scripture is by accident. God did not give Moses these instructions for the people of Israel without the end in sight. History bears witness to the truth of the Word of God. The Word of God is living, it is truth, it is dependable, it is trustworthy, it has and will stand the test of time...and eternity!"

End of Tim's words.

Dear Father in Heaven, I thank you for Tim, and his work for you, please keep on blessing him as he walks each day for and with you. Bless his family and bless all who his works touch. Thanks for lending him that great voice. Lord, we have a few other requests, please, Lord, be with Dale and Blanch and watch over them. Lord, I ask that you fire up those kidneys of Blanch and heal her, and please, dear Lord, let her with us, but yet, Lord, "Thy will be done." Be with Baby Boy Noah and heal him of cancer. Be with Ron and keep touching him and healing him from that cancer and for my neighbor Debbie, heal her from this breast cancer. And Lord, touch the health of Bob and Faye, watch over them daily. Be with Dolores and keep on healing her, and yes, I really do need your touch also, please Lord, they say I need a couple of knees, would you please repair them for me. Thanks for our ministry food pantry and all the donations coming in right now. Lord, I thank You for all You do for all of us. And thanks for going to the cross for us. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings, and to get your blessings to grow, give some away. You just cannot out give our Lord... Thanks again, Tim, I love you, and yes our online flock, I love ya all. Pastor Dan.