Annual Festival Calendar
and Its Symbolism
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The
Sinaitic Covenant
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The New Covenant
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Feast or Festival
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Type
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Antitype
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Israel's
deliverance from Egyptian bondage with redemption through the blood
of the slain lamb. About 3:00 p.m. on Nisan 14 the high priest kills the first
Passover lamb, by slitting its throat and allowing it to bleed to death.
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The
deliverance of the Church from the bondage of sin through Christ,
our passover sacrificed for us (I Corinthians
5:7), as the lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world (John
1:29). Jesus, the lamb of God, dies on the cross about
3:00 p.m., from loss of blood.
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Feast of Unleavened Bread
(Exodus
12:15-20; 23:14-15;
34:18; Leviticus
23:6-8; Numbers
28:17)
consisting of seven days when unleavened bread was to be eaten, the days
of unleavened bread, rather than leavened bread. The 1st and 7th days of
unleavened bread were annual Sabbaths.
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The wave
sheaf, the first of the first fruits of the early barley harvest,
offered the first day of the week (Sunday morning), symbolizing the
dedication of the whole year's crops (Leviticus
23:10-14). The
second annual Sabbath celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea on their way
to the Land of promise.
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Christ,
the first of the first fruits of the spiritual harvest, appeared before God the Father on the
first day of the week (Sunday morning). The second annual Sabbath celebrates
Christian freedom from sin and its effects upon believers on their way
to the rest of God's kingdom.
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Feast of
Firstfruits
Also
called the Feast of Harvest (Exodus
23:16; 34:22), Feast of Weeks
(Numbers 28:26), later the day of Pentecost [count fifty] (Leviticus
23:15-21, 23:39; Acts
2:1).
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Always
on Sunday, the dedication
of the early wheat harvest, the firstfruits, to God. Sanctify Israel and
clean her
anew for the season's work and rejoicing.
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On
Sunday, the
founding of the Church of God, the firstfruits of the spiritual
harvest, when God gave the Holy Spirit as the
"Spirit of Truth" (John
14:17; 15:26; 16:13) and as a
"Helper" (John
14:16, 14:26; 15:26).
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A
day for the blowing of trumpets (Numbers
29:1). There
is no emphasis on the fall Feast of Trumpets in the Torah or in the
balance of the Hebrew Scriptures.
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Feast
of Trumpets symbolized the return of Jesus the Messiah.
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A
day of fasting, where people were to remain in their houses and
recall that their high priest was to enter the Most Holy Place and
reconciling them with God.
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The reconciliation of God with humanity. The
atoning work of Christ (Hebrews
2:14f.; 6:19;
7:27; 9:24;
13:12) for
those who would turn to God in sincere repentance.
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Feast of
Tabernacles
Also Booths and the Feast of Ingathering, lasting seven days with the first
an annual Sabbath (Leviticus
23:36, 23:39;
Numbers 29:12).
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Celebrated
the completion of the great fall harvest.
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The
Feast of Tabernacles the one thousand year reign of the Messiah
where many will follow God (Revelation
20:3-4).
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Marked
the conclusion of the festival year.
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The
resurrection of the dead for final judgment (Revelation
20:5, 20:12).
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