We are entering into a most exciting season. Next
week we see the celebration of Rosh haShana.
The week after we celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, &
lastly we celebrate the festival of Sukkot.
Why? We are
not Jews. We are not coming back under
the Law of Moses. What do New Covenant believers have to do with Old Testament
practices?
Romans 11:17~19 But if some of the branches were broken off,
and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker
with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but
if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the
root supports you. You will say
then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."…
Christianity is not independent of Judaism; it is the full
flowering, the fulfilment of all the promises regarding the first coming of the
messiah. Even the Hebrew word, moed, meaning appointed time, reflects the attitude
with which we are to approach the festivals for they are God’s appointed times
where we are to come apart & spend a special time with Him.
Every single
festival points in some way to Jesus. Over the coming weeks we will look at
different aspects of the festivals & how Jesus fulfils them. Today is just a brief introduction.
Take Rosh haShanah, which is celebrated as the anniversary
of the creation of the universe. Genesis
1:1… In the beginning Elohim created the
heavens & the earth…Elohim is plural.
The Father planned; the son created; the Spirit revealed…& we see
this again & again.
1Peter 1:20 God chose
him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to
you in these last days.
The Father
planned that Jesus should be the perfect sacrifice. Jesus became that sacrifice & the Spirit
reveals the Truth to us by faith. We
always, always look for the New Testament application that was hidden in the
old & which the Spirit now reveals to us.
I can’t say that enough because people easily misunderstand but
considering the Feasts is to reveal Christ to us & for no other reason.
Look at the progression. From Rosh haShanah to Yom Kippur
are the High Holy Days which were designed to motivate people to walk more
closely with God. Now isn’t that a good
thing? The shofar is blown to stir our spirits with greater love for God &
a greater love for our fellow men, who are made in God’s image. The shofar also
announces the return of Christ ~ & we are closer to that reality today than
we were yesterday so it is a good reminder to separate ourselves from the world
& be holy, because God is holy. Remember holy simply means separated from
the common for a particular use. The shofar also reminds people of judgement ~
& we will all be judged. Finally it is a reminder of new beginnings.
2
Corinthians 5:17 very specifically tells us: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun! So you see, we have good reason
to celebrate!
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. Kippur means covering, specifically the
covering of one’s sins. Today is our
Communion Sunday ~ a day in which we particularly remember & celebrate the
sin offering of Jesus which, unlike the blood of bulls & goats, has the
power to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Hebrews 9:12 - Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us].
Yom Kippur is the only day on which
the name of the Lord YWYH is uttered, the only day on which the High Priest
wears special linen garments & enters the Holy of Holies where he sprinkles
the blood offering on the mercy seat.
Now some of you have heard me talk
about the day Jesus rose & how Mary mistook Him in the garden for the
gardener ~ which always struck me as incredibly odd because how on earth could
you make that sort of mistake? And Jesus
tells her bluntly she is not to hang on to Him because He has not yet ascended
to His Father. Being a curious soul I
did some digging & found a gardener’s clothing closely resembled the High
Priest’s garments that are only worn on this one day. Mary saw Jesus as he prepared to enter the
heavenly temple & make the sin offering there for us!
Leviticus 17:11 - For the life of the flesh
[is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an
atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for
the soul.
Jesus fulfils all the requirements of the Old Covenant. We can read through the Old Testament &
find it confusing & obsolete. When
we read it with New Testament understanding it speaks to us clearly of the
promises & of God’s great love for His creation. Not only that, he so desires our company He
set these moed in place to help us make space in our busy lives to spend
quality time with Him.
The last festival is Sukkot. One of its other names is The Season of our Joy. I love that, don’t you? Perry Stone, amongst others, teaches that
this is probably the season when Jesus was actually born. One reason for this is that the Greek phatnē would be
rendered sukkot in Hebrew, meaning a temporary shelter such as are built during
the festival Sukkot, rather than manger.
This festival has so
many nuances it is impossible to cover them all briefly so I am only going to
mention the lulav here because we have not discussed that before.
Leviticus 23:40
And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of
palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall
rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
The lulav is the combination of different types of plants
that are waved before the Lord. The
etrog, a citrus, represents the heart, the palm spiritual backbone, the myrtle,
spiritual vision, the willow represents
lips of prayer. The branches are waved in 6 directions symbolising God’s
omnipotence. On the last day they are
beaten against the ground. Many of the
leaves fall off symbolising ultimate victory over our enemies. Jesus is our victory.
When the lulav is waved it symbolises too the Holy Spirit,
who is often depicted as a rushing wind.
The sound of the air moving reminds us of the move of the Holy Spirit in
our lives. I don’t have all these different types of plants growing in my
garden so I just brought some palm fronds.
It will give you a bit of an idea ~ & remember too, these are
festivals Jesus took part in so it is another way of bringing us closer to
Jesus.
Blessed are you, Lord our God,
King of the universe, who sanctifies us with His commandments & commanded
us regarding the waving of the lulav.
There is a phrase used during sukkot: hiddur mitzvah. It means to
make a commandment beautiful. Isn’t this what Jesus has done for us? He has taken the law, which brought nothing
but death & condemnation to Israel, & made it into something beautiful
for us. He left us really just 2 commandments: Matthew22 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind.
38 This is the first and
great commandment.
39 And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.
Sukkot
is a 7 day festival ~ 8 for the gentiles or the diaspora. The 7th Day is known as the Great
Salvation. Jesus again.
So
as we come to the communion table we remember all that Christ has done for us.
He has taken our sin, our brokenness, our sickness & made it something
beautiful for God.
1
John 2:2 says: And he
is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins
of] the whole world.
As Revelation 5:9 says:
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the
book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Thou hast redeemed us…
As you prepare your hearts
to receive communion remember that we can celebrate with great joy. Jesus has made something beautiful of
us. He has redeemed us. He rejoices over us. He has forseen this from before the
foundation of the world. The Father planned it, the son executed it, the Holy
Spirit reveals the truth to us. Praise the Lord.
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