Jesus in the Feasts of Israel: Unleavened Bread

This is the second in a series of articles on Jesus in the feasts of Israel.

Name	Scriptures	Time / Date	Purpose	Fulfillment
Unleavened Bread	Ex. 12:15-20, 13:3-10; Lev. 23:6-8; Num. 28:17-25; Deut. 16:3-8	15th day of Nisan (March/April); continues for seven days	To commemorate the hardships of Israel’s escape from Egypt	Sanctification: Christ’s burial; His body did not suffer decay (John 6:30-59; 1 Cor. 11:24)

Background

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as Hag HaMatzah, is a reminder to the Jew of God’s miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage. When the Jews fled captivity in the middle of the night, they were instructed to take only unleavened bread because there was no time for bread dough to rise (Ex. 12:39; Deut. 16:3). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day holiday, beginning the day after Passover. Together, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are sometimes called the “Eight Days of Passover” in Scripture.

Unleavened Bread is the first of three annual pilgrim feasts. For each of these feasts - the other two are Weeks and Tabernacles - all Jewish men were required to present themselves before the Lord in the Temple (Ex. 23:14-17, 34:18-23; Deut. 16:16; 2 Chron. 8:13). At age 12, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for this feast and confounded the scholars with His understanding of Scripture (Luke 2:41-50).

The Biblical Observance

To properly prepare for the feast, leaven, or yeast, must be removed from the house and no leaven is to be eaten until the feast has ended seven days later (Ex. 12:15, 13:7; Deut. 16:4). In addition, this feast is considered a “high Sabbath,” with an extra Sabbath besides the weekly Sabbath. No work is to be done the first day or the seventh day of the feast (Ex. 12:16). Finally, this feast is declared a memorial to be kept forever (Ex. 12:17).

The Modern Observance

Preparation for Unleavened Bread begins 30 days ahead of time. Walls are washed and painted, cooking utensils scalded, clothing washed and pockets turned inside out, carpets cleaned, and special dishes brought out. The women of the house begin removing all leaven, also known as chametz, from the house - even toothpaste if it has baking soda in it. According to Scripture, the Passover may not be celebrated if there is leaven in the house.

However, the woman of the house leaves 10 small pieces of bread with leaven hidden in various rooms. On the 14th  day of Nisan, the night before Passover, the man of the house lights a candle, and takes a wooden spoon, feather and paper bag and searches the house until he has found all 10 pieces of bread. He uses the feather to whisk the bread onto the wooden spoon, and then dumps the bread from the spoon into the paper bag. The bag is then taken outside and burned. Afterwards, he says the following prayer: “Any chametz which is in my possession which I did not see, and remove, nor know about, shall be nullified and become ownerless, like the dust of the earth.”

With that work completed, the family is ready to celebrate Passover and Unleavened Bread, with special worship services on the first and seventh days. 

The household search for leaven represents the Messiah. For example:

     - The candle symbolizes the Word of God (Jesus), who is the Light of the World.

     - The feather represents the Holy Spirit, directing us to the cross.

     - The wooden spoon represents the cross, upon which Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us.

     - The paper bag represents the grave.

     - The fire represents the full judgment of our sins.

Fulfillment

Leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible (Matt. 16:6-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; Gal. 5:9).  Leaven permeates the dough, contaminates it, and swells it to many times its size. The fermentation process operates because of the curse of death decreed by God when Adam sinned. That’s why only unleavened bread was used in the Temple (Lev. 2:11).

Unleavened bread is a wonderful picture of Jesus the Messiah. The bread is without leaven, as He is without sin. It also is striped and pierced, as His body was beaten and pierced for our sins (Isa. 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). In addition, the Feast of Unleavened Bread symbolizes Jesus’ burial. His body was placed in the grave but did not see corruption as He rose on the third day (see Psalm 16:10; Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57-60, 28:1-10) and carried our sins away (Psalm 103:12; Heb. 9:26).

There are other symbolic markers in this feast:

    -  Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life (John 6:35) and chose the bread of the Passover to be the symbolic memorial of His broken body (Luke 22:19).

    -  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.”

     - The Lord expects believers to put aside sin in our lives, as leaven is put aside during this feast (1 Cor. 5:7-8; see also Eph. 4:22-24 and Gal. 5:16-24).

     - The seven days speak of satisfaction or fullness; believers are completely satisfied in Christ.

In summary, Passover and Unleavened Bread together picture the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus - the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world - and the burial of His body, which God the Father raised on the third day before it decayed. The resurrection, as we’ll see next week, is pictured in the Feast of Firstfruits.

Next: The Feast of Firstfruits

Copyright 2008 by Rob Phillips

How do I know the Bible is true? (Part 3)

This is the third in an eight-part series addressing skeptics’ claims against the Bible. Click on the “Bible” link under Topics to see parts 1 and 2.

Objection 3: The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books - perhaps some equally inspired writings.

Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, compiled a list of the 27 books we now know as the New Testament in 367 A.D. He also was the first person in the church to use the word “canon,” which comes from the Greek kanon and means measure or rule. The councils of Carthage (393 A.D.) and Hippo (397 A.D.) fixed the final list of New Testament books, but it’s important to note that the question of which books were truly “scripture” was being addressed long before this. Even more important, Christians believe the Holy Spirit, who authored scripture, also managed its preservation and organization (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Four developments prompted the church to act to “close” the canon: 1) heretics began circulating false writings; 2) counterfeit books, falsely written under the name of an apostle, began to appear; 3) Christianity spread to new lands, and missionaries needed to know which books should be translated into the native languages; 4) the edict of Diocletian (A.D. 303) ordered the destruction of the Christians’ sacred writings and threatened death for those who refused; believers needed to know which books were worth dying for.

The early church used a number of criteria in discerning which books belonged in the canon: 1) Evidence/claims of inspiration; 2) apostolic origin (written by an apostle or an associate who preserved the apostle’s teaching), the only exceptions being granted to James and Jude, brothers of Jesus who became followers after His death and resurrection; 3) written while the apostles were still alive; 4) general acceptance and use by the church and in continuous use in worship services; 5) agreement with accepted and undisputed scripture.

What about the Apocrypha, a collection of 14 books of Jewish history and tradition written from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.? The argument against these books includes the following: 1) The Jews never accepted these books as scripture and did not include them in their Bible; 2) any acceptance the books enjoyed was local and temporary; 3) no major church council included these books in scripture; 4) many of the books contain errors; 5) some books include teachings that contradict scripture; 6) neither Jesus nor the New Testament quoted from the Apocrypha even though they quoted from the Old Testament hundreds of times; 7) the Christian churches that accepted these books did so many centuries after the Canon was closed.

The term “Bible” derives from the Greek word biblion (book); the earliest use of la biblia in the sense of “Bible” is found in 2 Clement 2:14, around 150 A.D.

 

Next — Objection 4: It’s silly to assume that one book - the Bible - contains all of God’s truth and that other great writings, from the Vedas to the Book of Mormon, do not come from God.

 

Behold the Lamb of God: Jesus in the Passover (Part 3)

 Jesus appeared at Passover during each of the three years of His public ministry. Each time He revealed key truths about Himself and His work as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In each appearance, Jesus illustrated His person and work through confrontations and confirmations.

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How do I know the Bible is true? (Part 2)

This is the second in an eight-part series addressing skeptics’ claims against the Bible. Click on the “Bible” link to the right to see part 1.

Objection 2: The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.

Mormons and Muslims allege that the Bible’s documents were substantially corrupted in their transmission, but there is overwhelming evidence that proves these claims wrong.

Scholars of almost every theological persuasion attest to the profound care with which the Old and New Testament documents were copied.

For the New Testament, for example, the books were copied in Greek, and later translated and preserved in Syriac, Coptic, Latin and a variety of other ancient European and Middle Eastern languages. In the Greek alone, more than 5,000 manuscripts and manuscript fragments of portions of the New Testament have been preserved from the early centuries of Christianity.

As William Lane Craig explains, “The oldest of these is a scrap of papyrus containing John 18:31-33, 37-38, dating from A.D. 125-130, no more than forty years after John’s Gospel was most probably written. More than thirty papyri date from the late second through early third centuries, including some which contain good chunks of entire books and two which cover most of the gospels and Acts or the letters of Paul. Four very reliable and nearly complete NTs date from the fourth and fifth centuries” (”The Historical Reliability of the New Testament,” Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, p. 194).

While it’s true there are variations among the manuscripts, the vast majority have to do with changes in spelling, grammar, and style, or accidental omissions or duplications of words or phrases. Only about 400 have any significant bearing on the meaning of the passage, and most of these are noted in the footnotes or margins of modern translations and editions of Scripture. The only textual variants that affect more than a sentence or two are John 7:53-8:11 and Mark 16:9-20.

William Lane Craig writes, “Neither of these passages is very likely to be what John or Mark originally wrote, though the story in John (the woman caught in adultery) still stands a fairly good chance of being true. But overall, 97-99% of the NT can be reconstructed beyond any reasonable doubt, and no Christian doctrine is founded solely or even primarily on textually disputed passages” (”The Historical Reliability of the New Testament,” Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, p. 194).

Next — Objection 3: The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books — perhaps some equally inspired writings.

 Copyright 2008 by Rob Phillips

Behold the Lamb of God: Jesus in the Passover (Part 2)

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Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the observance of Passover on the night before His crucifixion. Just as faithful Jews gather for Passover to celebrate God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, Christians take part in Holy Communion, focusing on two elements of the Passover meal — the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine — in remembrance that “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7 HCSB).

How do I know the Bible is true? (Part 1)

 This is the first in an eight-part series addressing skeptics’ claims against the Bible.

Christians believe in the reliability and authority of the scriptures. That is, we trust the Bible to be the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God and the authoritative source of all we believe and practice. By inerrant, we mean the original autographs are without error because they come from God (2 Peter 1:20-21). By infallible, we mean the Bible is incapable of error because God, as its author, does not lie or make mistakes (Num. 23:19). By inspired, we mean the Bible is “God breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16) And by authoritative, we mean that the Bible, as God’s Word, is His written revelation to us and must therefore guide our thoughts, words and deeds (Heb. 4:12).

But many people do not share such a high view of scripture. In fact, some raise serious objections to claims about the Bible’s truthfulness and reliability. While there are many objections, eight of the more common objections include: 

1. No one really knows what Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.
2. The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.
3. The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books - perhaps some equally inspired writings.
4. It’s silly to assume that one book - the Bible - contains all of God’s truth and that other great writings, from the Vedas to the Book of Mormon, do not come from God.
5. The Bible is full of contradictions.
6. The Bible can’t be true because it depicts a different God in the Old and New Testaments.
7. There are so many translations of the Bible today, it’s impossible to know which translation is the right one.
8. There are so many Christian denominations today, it’s clear that Christians can’t agree on what the Bible teaches.

Responding to these objections is a daunting task - in part because critics raise some valid points. For example, it’s true that we do not have the “autographs,” or the original documents. At the same time, the Bible soars above other ancient documents in many convincing ways, providing evidence of reliability and consistency that gives Christians good reasons to trust it as the Word of God. Our faith is not, as some critics say, “blind faith,” but reasonable faith based on the evidence.

Every Christian should be confident the Bible is true because there are good answers to the skeptics’ objections.

Objection 1: No one really knows what Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.

The second part of this statement is true: The “autographs,” or original manuscripts, written on a variety of degradable surfaces from parchment to papyrus, no longer exist. But the remarkable number of copies, dating back in some cases to within a generation of their authorship, makes the first half of this objection false. In fact, we have tremendous confidence in the reliability of the Bible because of its manuscript trail. Craig L. Blomberg writes, “In the original Greek alone, over 5,000 manuscripts and manuscript fragments or portions of the NT have been preserved from the early centuries of Christianity. The oldest of these is a scrap of papyrus containing John 18:31-33, 37-38, dating from A.D. 125-130, no more than forty years after John’s Gospel was most probably written” (”The Historical Reliability of the New Testament,” Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, pp. 193-94). Andreas J. Kostenberger adds, “The total tally of more than 6,000 Greek mss., more than 10,000 Latin Vulgate mss., and more than 9,300 early versions results in over 25,000 witnesses to the text of the NT” (”Is the Bible Today What Was Originally Written?” found in www.4truth.net).

So how does the Bible stack up against other ancient manuscripts?  According to scholar F.F. Bruce, we have nine or 10 good copies of Caesar’s Gallic Wars; 20 copies of Livy’s Roman History; two copies of Tacitus’s Annals; and eight manuscripts of Thucydides’ History. The most documented secular work from antiquity is Homer’s Iliad with 643 copies. But the New Testament, with its thousands of Greek manuscripts alone, is the most highly documented book from the ancient world (The New Testament Documents, Are They Reliable?, p. 16).

In short, while it’s true we are lacking the “autographs” of scripture, we have every sound reason to be confident that what we read today has been faithfully preserved through thousands of copies, many of them written in close chronological proximity to the time they were originally penned.

Next – Objection 2: The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.

 Copyright 2008 by Rob Phillips

 

Behold the Lamb of God: Jesus in the Passover (Part 1)

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When John the Baptist declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 KJV), every Jew knew John was referring to the Passover lamb. Jesus is called “a lamb” or “the lamb” 31 times in the New Testament, and Isaiah 53:7 refers to the Messiah as a lamb.

Every Christian can see Jesus in the Passover by observing the uniquely Messianic characteristics of the Passover lamb:

1. The selection of the lamb (Ex. 12:1-6; John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; Rev. 13:8).

2. The slaughter of the lamb (Ex. 12:7-10; Isa. 53:6; Heb. 1:3; 9:12-14; 1 Peter 1:2; Rev. 1:5).

3. The salvation of the lamb (Ex. 12:11-13, 23; John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:26; Eph. 1:7; 2:1; 1 Peter 2:24-5).

 

Jesus in the Feasts of Israel: Passover

 This is the second in a series of articles on Jesus in the feasts of Israel.

 Passover at a glance:

Name	Scriptures	Time / Date	Purpose	Fulfillment
Passover	Ex. 12:1-28, 43-49;Lev. 23:5; Num. 28:16; Deut. 16:1-8	14th day of Nisan (March/April)	To commemorate Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage.	Redemption:Christ’s death as our PassoverJohn 1:29;1 Cor. 5:7;1 Peter 1:18-19

Background

Passover is the oldest continuously observed feast in existence today. In fact, there was only one Passover, 3,500 years ago in Egypt, when the angel of death passed over the homes of believing Jews who sacrificed a spotless lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts, sparing the loss of their first-born males. In the same way, there was only one occasion when the Messiah’s body was pierced and His blood poured out for our sins. To memorialize His coming death, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the feast of Passover. Just as faithful Jews have observed the Passover for 35 centuries, Christians have observed the memorial meal of the Lord’s Supper for 2,000 years.

Observance of Passover was so important to the Jews that for those who had become defiled, an alternate date was given 30 days later.

 

The Biblical Observance

The background of Passover is found in Exodus 12, which highlights three symbolic foods:

• The lamb. This had to be a young male lamb that was perfect in every way. He was brought into the house on the 10th of Nisan and observed for four days so that his perfection could be confirmed, and so the lamb became precious to the family. When the lamb was sacrificed, he had to be roasted completed by fire and all of him was to be consumed. All of this pictures the perfect and sinless Messiah, who was observed, loved and completely consumed by God’s judgment for our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). Truly, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29); truly, He is Christ our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7).
• Matzah - a flat bread with no yeast. It was punctured and scored. This symbolizes Christ’s body, which contained no sin and was pierced and scored for us (Isa. 53:3-6).
• Bitter herbs. These symbolize the hardship of captivity and the suffering of the lamb.

 

 

The Modern Observance

The Seder meal (Seder means “order”) features four cups, which symbolize four expressions of joy because of God’s promises:

• “I will bring you out.”
• “I will rescue you from bondage.”
• “I will redeem you.”
• “I will take you as My people.”

The Seder meal generally follows the pattern below and takes many hours to complete. Before the meal begins (and in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread), the house is purged of all leaven (yeast) and the table, featuring fine linen and special dinnerware, is set. The father leads the ceremony.

The first cup - the cup of sanctification.  This is to celebrate the promise of God, “I will bring you out (of Egypt).” The family’s Passover leader (in the Gospels, Jesus in the upper room) prays, “We praise you, O Lord our God, creator of the fruit of the vine … The cup is a symbol of joy. Let us drink from it and be reminded of the joy that is ours as a result of our salvation.”

Washing of hands.  This is a symbolic gesture of cleansing and purity before God. It was at this point that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:4-5), showing that through His suffering and death He would cleanse them.

Karpas - the green vegetable. This bitter herb is dipped in salt water and eaten. The salt water symbolizes the tears of slavery; the green vegetable, the bitterness of captivity.

The “middle” matzah is broken in half. A white cloth napkin with three compartments is brought out. There are loaves of matzah - unleavened bread - in each compartment. The middle matzah is taken out and broken in half. Half is returned to the napkin; the other half is hidden in the house.

Questions. The youngest child sits to the father’s right and asks rehearsed questions that enable the father to tell the story of Passover. The first question asked is, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” This is in fulfillment of Ex. 12:26. In the upper room, the apostle John was seated at Jesus’ right and probably was the youngest of Jesus’ followers.

The second cup.  This cup celebrates the promise of God: “I will rescue you from bondage.” One drop of wine is spilled out for each of the 10 plagues upon Egypt. The Hallel, Psalms 113-118, is recited. 

Dipping of the matzah. The upper matzah and the one-half of the middle matzah still in the napkin are broken and distributed.  Each participant dips his or her piece in horseradish and haroset (apple mixture), symbolizing redemption in the midst of slavery. Everyone eats a “Hillel sandwich,” two pieces of matzah with enough horseradish to bring tears to the eyes. At the last supper, Jesus took the “dipped sop” (broken matzah) and gave it to Judas, indicating he would be the betrayer (John 13:21-27).

The dinner - lamb, matzah and herbs. Today it is a much more sumptuous meal than in Old Testament times, with gefilte fish, matzah ball soup, glazed chicken, matzah nut stuffing, potato kugel, honeyed carrots, stewed fruit, and sponge cake. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., lamb was no longer the central part of the feast.

The afikomen.  The broken and hidden half of the matzah is now discovered by children who are sent to find it. Everyone must eat a small piece of the newly discovered unleavened bread. The three loaves of matzah were not part of the early Passover celebration; they came during the early days of the church when the lamb was no longer central to the meal. They picture the Trinity and, specifically, the broken, buried and resurrected body of Christ.

The third cup - the cup of redemption. This cup celebrates the promise of God: “I will redeem you.” It is at this point in the upper room that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper (the “cup after supper” Luke 22:20). A child is sent to the door to look for Elijah who, Scripture says, must come before Messiah. There is much anticipation of the Messiah associated with Passover.

The fourth cup - the cup of acceptance or praise. This cup celebrates the promise of God: “I will take you as My people.” Jesus said He would not drink this cup until He drank it new with His disciples in the Kingdom (Matt. 26:29). His acceptance by Israel would not come until much later.

Closing hymn (Matt. 26:30). Passover is a joyous time, and many songs are voiced enthusiastically. Often, the latter half of the Hallel, Ps. 115-118, would be sung.

 

The Fulfillment

To show His fulfillment as the Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19), and to memorialize His coming death, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper during the feast of Passover (Matt. 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). Just as faithful Jews have observed the Passover for 3,500 years, Christians have observed the memorial meal of the Lord’s Supper since that night 2,000 years ago in the upper room.

 

Copyright 2008 by Rob Phillips

 

Old Testament Sacrifices

Following is a brief description of five types of sacrifices in the Old Testament. This will help us better understand the offerings made in conjunction with the seven feasts of Israel and how the feasts foreshadow the work of Christ.

 

Burnt offering (‘olah)

An offering completely burned to ashes. It was used to worship God, seek His favor, ask forgiveness from sin, or avert judgment. The object to be sacrificed was an unblemished male bull, ox, sheep or goat; the poor could offer a dove or pigeon. God’s portion: the entire animal. The priest’s portion: nothing. The offerer’s portion: nothing.

Scriptures: Lev. 1; 6:8-13; 8:18-21; 16:24.

 

Sin offering (hatta’t)

Also known as the purification offering. This was the most important Old Testament sacrifice for cleansing from sin and impurities. It made amends for specific unintentional sins and provided purification from certain forms of ceremonial uncleanness. The object offered was a young bull for the high priest and the entire nation; a male goat for a tribal leader; a female goat or lamb for commoners; two doves or pigeons for the poor; two pounds of fine flour for the very poor; two goats and a ram on the Day of Atonement (one goat carried the sins of the nation into the wilderness). God’s portion: the fat covering the innards, the kidneys, liver, and caul (the fold of membrane loaded with fat that covers the intestines in mammals). The priest’s portion: all the remainder, which had to be eaten within the court of the tabernacle. The offerer’s portion: nothing.

Scriptures: Lev. 4:1-5, 13; 6:24-30; 8:14-17; 16:3-22.

 

Trespass / guilt offering (‘asham)

An offering to make up for cheating the Lord or unintentionally destroying something that belonged to Him; also to pay restitution to a person who had been robbed or cheated, payable at 6/5ths in advance. The object sacrificed was a ram without blemish. God’s portion: the fat covering the innards, the kidneys, liver, and caul. The priest’s portion: all the remainder, which had to be eaten within the court of the tabernacle. The offerer’s portion: nothing.

Scriptures: Lev. 5:14 - 6:7; 7:1-6.

 

Peace / fellowship offering (shelamin)

An animal offering was given to maintain and strengthen a person’s relationship with God and with other believers. It was not required as a remedy for impurity or sin but was an expression of thanksgiving for various blessings. An important function of this sacrifice was to provide meat for the priests and the participants in the sacrifice. Peace offerings were the only offerings the worshiper ate. In fact, they constituted a communion meal in which, symbolically, everyone ate together: God, priest, worshiper, and other believers. There were three types of peace offerings:

• Thank offering (towday), given for an unexpected blessing or deliverance already granted by God. The object sacrificed was un unblemished male or female ox, sheep or goat. God’s portion: the fatty portions of the animal. The priest’s portion: for the wave offering, the breast was given to the high priest; for the heave offering, the right foreleg was given to the officiating priest. The offerer’s portion: the remainder of the animal, to be eaten in the court the same day as a community meal with others. Scripture: Lev. 7:12-15.
• Votive offering (neder), given for blessing or deliverance already granted, when a vow had been made in support of the prayer for blessing or deliverance. The object sacrificed was an unblemished male or female ox, sheep or goat. God’s portion: the fatty portions of the animal. The priest’s portion: for the wave offering, the breast was given to the high priest; for the heave offering, the right foreleg was given to the officiating priest. The offerer’s portion: the remainder of the animal, to be eaten in the court the same day or the next day as a community meal with others. Scripture: Lev. 7:16.
• Freewill offering (nedabah), given to express general thankfulness and love toward God, without regard for specific blessings. The object sacrificed was a male or female ox, sheep, or goat, and minor imperfections were permitted. God’s portion: the fatty portions of the animal. The priest’s portion: for the wave offering, the breast was given to the high priest; for the heave offering, the right foreleg was given to the officiating priest. The offerer’s portion: the remainder of the animal, to be eaten in the court the same day or the next day as a community meal with others. Scripture: Lev. 7:16.

 

Grain and drink offerings

These offerings often were given with burnt offerings and peace offerings, and sometimes given by themselves, to worship God by giving thanks and to recognize God as the giver of all blessings. The object sacrificed was a mixture of fine wheat flour, olive oil and incense; bread baked without yeast or honey in loaves or wafers or fried in flat wafers; sometimes salt was added. Scriptures: Lev. 2; 6:14-23.

 

Sources: “The Four Blood Sacrifices in the Old Testament,” www.new-life.net; “Old Testament Sacrifices and Offerings,” www.bibles.com.

 

Introduction to Jesus in the Feasts of Israel — Download Audio

 

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The feasts of Israel are religious celebrations remembering God’s great acts of salvation in the history of His people. The term “feasts” in Hebrew literally means “appointed times” and in Scripture the feasts often are called “holy convocations.” They are times God has appointed for holy purposes - times in which the Lord meets with men and women.  While there are many religious celebrations in Jewish history and custom, seven are most significant: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. God established the timing and sequence of these feasts to reveal to us a special story - most significantly, the work of the Messiah in the redemption of mankind and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth.