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Five Reasons the Rapture and the Second Coming Are Two Different Events- Part 5
5. The Jewish Feasts Point to It.
There are those that believe the Old Testament no longer has any relevance to modern times. That would be incorrect. Just as the temple worship ceremonies pointed to the life and ministry of Christ. The Jewish Feasts give us some hint the God’s timetable. Just as the sacrificial lambs and scapegoats pointed to the ministry of the Messiah, these feast point to the order that God intends to bring about the end of the world.
| Feast Name | Old Testament Observance | New Testament Reality |
| Passover | Exodus 13, Leviticus 23:1-8.The Hebrews were to roast a lamb (or goat) and eat it fully dress; they were to take the blood from the lamb and paint the doorposts and lintel so when the Angel of Death came through the land of Egypt, He would see the blood and pass over the house. Where there was no blood, He would kill the firstborn of every person and animal. | Luke 22:14-22. Jesus was the Passover Lamb who shed His blood for the sin of the world. God placed upon Him our sin and treated Him as though He had committed every one of them. When we come to faith in Christ, we are credited with the sinless life He lived. After we come to faith in Christ, when God sees us, He sees the perfect life of His Son and His wrath passes over us. |
| Unleavened Bread | Exodus 13, Leviticus 23:1-8. Celebrated with the Passover. The Hebrews were to make bread without leaven to eat with the Passover Lamb. (It was because they would not have time to let the leaven rise but the spiritual meaning was to put away sin.) | Luke 22:14-22. Jesus Christ took away our sin on the cross. In fact, on the night He celebrated His last Passover meal, He took unleavened bread and broke it and gave it to the disciples and told them that it represented his body that was broken and His blood was shed for the removal of our sin. |
| First Fruits | Leviticus 23:9-14. The Jews were to present to God the sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest to be raised in worship to the Lord for the harvest He provided. | Luke 24:1-12. When Jesus was raised from the grave, He became the First Fruit of those who will also be raised from the dead. |
| Pentecost | Leviticus 23:15-22. This is celebrated 50 days after the Sabbath of the First Fruits when the Jews would make an offering of new grain unto the Lord. They were to hold a holy convocation. | Acts 2:1-4. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection (a day following a Sabbath), the Holy Spirit came and indwelt the believers leading to the birth of the church—the new grains of the harvest of souls that would come through their ministry and the ministry of those who follow after them, through the end of the age. |
| Trumpets | Leviticus 23:23-25. The Jews were to celebrate a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. | 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. These passages speak of the return of Christ accompanied by a trumpet blast (or the voice of a trumpet sound) in which the dead in Christ will rise first then everyone else will be caught up, all being changed in the twinkling of an eye. |
| Atonement | Leviticus 23:26-32. There is to be a holy convocation, a Sabbath Day of rest; no work is to be performed by anyone lest they be cut off from the land by God. The high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice on behalf of the nation. | Revelation 20:11-15. Jesus Christ, the High Priest, will judge the work of every man. Each person will be judge out of the Book of Works. Their final appeal will be the Book of Life. If their name is not found there, they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. |
| Tabernacle (or Booths) | Leviticus 23:33-44. The Jews were to live in booths (or tents) for seven days. The first and eighth day were to be holy convocations to the Lord. This was to be a reminder of how they dwelt in tents with the Lord as He led them out of Egypt. | John 14:1-3, Revelation 21-22. This refers to our eternal rest in heaven. Jesus said in His Father’s house there are many rooms and He has gone to prepare a place for us. Revelation 21 speaks of how the tabernacle (or dwelling place) of God is with mankind. |
The Feasts of Passover/Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost have passed. We are now waiting to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. I don’t know how true it is but I once heard a speaker say this about the Trumpet: When a Jew heard the sound of the trumpet blast, he knew it was a call to convocation. He would stop whatever he was doing and head to the Temple/synagogue. If this is true, this is a true parallel to the Rapture. For when we hear the trumpet blast, we will immediately stop doing whatever we are doing and go to meet Him in the air. What a day that will be.
Cyber-Discipleship 