Lesson#24

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Leviticus

September 21, 2015

Introduction

May 13, 2010

Leviticus Lesson #02

May 13, 2010

RETURN TO THE LIST OF LESSONS

LEVITICUS 23:22-44
Lesson #24
GOD’S PROHETIC CALENDAR – Part 2

• Memory Verse: Hos 6:3

• The Prophetic Aspects of the Sacred Agricultural Calendar:
  • God intended that this calendar be a prophecy to His people about the coming of the Messiah. How do we know this?
    • You will notice on part 1 of this calendar that the “Latter Rains” are listed. Part 2 of the calendar lists the “Former Rains”.
      • Read Jer 5:24
      • Read Hos 6:3 and Hos 10:12
    • Israel has two rainy seasons designated as the latter rains in the spring and the former rains in the fall just as there are two comings of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth as specified by Hos 6:3.
      • Hosea makes the parallel that the coming of the Messiah is like the latter and the former rains.
      • The latter rains occur in Spring in the same month as the first four feast days that Jesus fulfilled in His first coming to this earth.
      • The former rains occur in the autumn in the same month as the last three feast days that have not yet been fulfilled.
    • Therefore, we can say with confidence that Jesus will fulfill the last three feast days at His second coming.

 

• The prophecy of the first coming of Jesus Christ = the latter rains:

 

• The first four feast days of Lev 23 were fulfilled perfectly in the first coming of Jesus Christ.
• =1= It was no accident that Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover at exactly the hour that the Passover lamb was killed in the Temple.
  • Read Mat 26:1-2
  • Read Mat 27:45-46, 50-51
• =2= It was no accident that Jesus Christ was in the tomb on the next day when the Jews were celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the Temple, for in reality they were celebrating His perfection as the sacrifice without sin purchasing our atonement.
  • Read Eph 4:9-10
  • Read 1Pet 3:19-20
• =3= It was not an accident that Jesus Christ raised on the third day while the Jews began to celebrate the Feast of First Fruits.
  • Read 1Cor 15:20
• =4= It was not an accident that the Holy Spirit descended on the Feast of Weeks that is Pentecost to give birth to the New Testament church where believers would have fellowship together.
  • Read Act 2:1, 4, 12-13
• Jesus Christ fulfilled the first 4 feasts of this calendar at His first coming in the same month as the latter rains.
  • He kept the appointment.
  • The problem was that the Jews did not keep the appointment. They denied his coming. The calendar was given as a prophecy by God to tell them when the Messiah would come.
• Now that we know Jesus fulfilled perfectly the first half of the calendar, what about the other half?
  • It is only logical to assume that because the calendar is prophetic and directly related to the coming of the Messiah, God will eventually fulfill the second half with the same accuracy as He did the first half.
  • Jesus Christ will fulfill the last 3 feasts of this calendar at His second coming in the same month as the former rains.

 

• The prophecy of the second coming of Jesus Christ = the former rains:

 

• The last three feast days have not been prophetically fulfilled. Therefore, we must consider that these three feast days will fulfill the second coming of Christ. But how do we know for sure that is what God intended? Didn’t Jesus say, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Mat 24:36)?
  • We cannot know the exact year in which the day and hour occurs, but we can know the season and the events. The season of Christ’s second coming is the season of the “former rains” (Hos 6:3) The events are also prophetically declared.
  • Note of caution: We assume that the Jewish calendar that is still used today has not changed since God first gave it in Lev 23. If the progression of time has distorted the calendar in some way, then the current Jewish calendar of feast days would vary by weeks or days from God’s original calendar, but the season most likely remains the same.
• Read Mat 16:1-3
• Between the first four feast days that have been fulfilled and the last three feast days on the calendar, there are months of a dry period where there is no rain and an increasing time of intense heat.

• This period corresponds to the great length of time between the first coming and the second coming of Christ.
• The heat is at its greatest intensity just before the former rains begin. In the same way, world problems increase in intensity (signs of the end times) until the last seven years when God will pour out on the world a greater intensity of problems and judgment just before the second coming of Christ.
• Read Lev 23:22 Gleaning (God’s sign of the cross)

• The law for gleaning is not specifically related to any one feast day but it is given on the calendar before the last three feast days because the events of the second coming of Christ are the world’s great harvest of souls for eternity.
  • We have seen previously in Leviticus that gleaning was God’s method for providing for the poor, the widows, and the orphans. No one in Israel would ever go hungry.
  • We have also seen that the pattern for gleaning was to harvest the center of the field and leave the four corners unharvested so that the crop pattern would resemble the shape of a cross.
• The final harvest of souls divides humanity by means of the cross of Jesus Christ.
  • Man must decide his own eternal destiny.
  • Man’s decision is based on whether he chooses to live and be judged according to his own works or whether he chooses to live and be judged by the righteousness of Christ.
• The cross is God’s eternal dividing standard by which man must choose.
• Read Lev 23:23-25

 

• The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana) (23-25)

 

• The first day of this month was a special Sabbath where no work was done. This day marked the beginning of the Jewish Civil Calendar, New Year.
  • They did not celebrate New Year by getting drunk and partying all night like we do.
  • Their New Year was in prayer to begin a new year in their relationship with God.
• The purpose for the Jews:
  • Like all the previous feasts, this feast was to remind the Jews of Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness.
  • There were to remember when they wandered in the wilderness and moved there camp from place to place when the silver trumpets were blown to move the camp and the ram’s horn was blown to warn of danger.
  • They also believed that God opened three books for judgment on this day, and they remained open until the Day of Atonement 10 days later. The open books are:
    • =1= The book of the righteous. (In New Testament terms, this is the book of believers in Jesus Christ.) Those whose names were in this book received rewards from God at the Feast of Trumpets.
    • =2= The book of those not wholly righteous nor wholly wicked. (In New Testament terms, this is the book of carnal believers.) Those whose names are in this book have 10 days to repent.
    • =3= The book of the wicked. (In New Testament terms, this is the book of unbelievers.)
  • The prayer and fasting that followed for the next 10 days was to petition God to change one’s status in the books. The last seven days before the Day of Atonement are called the days of Awe. (Reminiscent of the 7 years of the tribulation period before the second coming of Christ)
• Other important events on this date in history:
  • The Jews believed that this was the date of the beginning of creation.
  • Of course it is not substantiated in the Bible.
• The prophetic fulfillment yet to be fulfilled:
  • The next event in prophecy is the rapture of the Church where the New Testament believer receives a new glorified body and stands before God at the Judgment Seat of Christ for rewards. This event of the rapture of the church is initiated with the sound of a trumpet.
  • The trumpets and horns
    • Two silver trumpets were blown to signal Israel’s movements through the wilderness. (Num 10)
    • When the trumpets were blown 7 times, it was the signal to march.
    • In scripture there are many trumpets mentioned to specify different themes and events. These are often greatly confused in the variety of interpretation that surrounds the second coming of Christ. Let us see if we can unravel some of the confusion.
    • Read 1Cor 15:52-54
    • Read 1The 4:15-17
      • In 1Cor 15 it tells us that believers will be caught up at the last trump.
      • What is the last trump?
        • =1= The first trump of God (Exo 19:3-6, 16, 19): This was the voice of God that the people heard at Mt. Sinai. It was not a man-made trumpet.
        • =2= The trumpet of jubilee (Lev 25:8-10): The Israelites blew this trumpet made by man to initiate the year of Jubilee. We will study jubilee later in Leviticus.
        • =3= The trumpets of ram’s horn (Jos 6:2-5): These were trumpets used in battle for the Promised Land.
        • =4= Heavenly trumpets (Rev 4:1 Rev 8:2): These are heavenly voices of 7 angels that announce judgments during the tribulation period. These are often confused with the rapture of the church.
        • =5= The trumpet for Israel at the second coming of Christ (Mat 24:31 Isa 27:13 Zec 9:14): This is not the last trump of God at the rapture of the church. Instead it is God’s call of Israel to their Messiah, Jesus Christ, at the end of the tribulation period.
        • =6= The last trump of God at the rapture of the church (1Cor 15:52 Psa 47): Psa 47:6 tells us that the church is “caught up” to heaven with Christ who “goes up” with a shout. It is the voice of God calling believers to be physically present with Christ in a new resurrected body.
    • The ram’s horn is blown to call the people to prayer and fasting for the forgiveness of sins in preparation for the Day of Atonement seven days later.
      • The ram’s horn was used in the wilderness for warning of impending danger.
      • The impending danger each year is unrepentant sin. But the danger, prophetically speaking, is the 7 year tribulation period that will put great pressure on the Jews to receive Christ. It is last 7 years of the “Times of the Gentiles” when God will work again with the Jews as a nation (Rom 11).
• Read Lev 23:26-32

 

• The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) (26-32)

 

• In our study of Leviticus, we have already studied the details of the Day of Atonement in Lesson #17 when we discussed the “scapegoat”.
• This is the only period of fasting that God ordered on the annual calendar for the Jews.
  • The period of fasting for sin begins on the 10th day of the month. It is a special Sabbath where no work was done.
  • The only work done on this day was the work of the high priest that illustrates the work done by Jesus Christ, our great High Priest.
    • Notice that anyone breaking this Sabbath was condemned to death.
    • Spiritually speaking anyone that does not trust in the finished work of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, but instead trusts in his own works, is condemned to spiritual death and eternal separation from God. The Jews believed that God closed the three books of judgment on this day.
• The extreme mourning for sin was to last from the evening of the ninth day to the evening of the tenth day.
• Prophetically speaking, this Day of Atonement will be fulfilled at the event of the second coming of Jesus Christ when Christ will separate living believers from living non-believers. All non-believers will die with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • The event of the second coming will occur at the end of the tribulation period of 7 years.
  • The event of the second coming will be when the Jews finally receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah in the middle of the Battle of Armageddon.
  • Read Zec 12:10-11
    • For the Jews the key issue is spiritual discernment of who is the Messiah that God promised from Gen 3:15.
      • Is the true Messiah the goat that represented Satan (the scapegoat to the wilderness) or the goat that was killed in the temple that represented the Messiah?
      • At the beginning of the tribulation period the Jews will choose Satan when they choose to follow the Antichrist as the Messiah.
      • Read Joh 5:43
    • At the end of the tribulation, in the middle of the Battle of Armageddon, the Jews will see their mistake and choose Jesus Christ, the goat that was killed in the temple. This is why Zec 12:10 is very important. The same Jesus that they crucified still retains the same marks of crucifixion by which they will identify Him at the second coming.
• Read Lev 23:33-44

 

• The Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths (Succoth) (33-36)

 

• This feast day begins on the 15th of the month and lasts until the 21st of the month. On the eighth day is considered a new beginning. Following the elaborate schedule of animal sacrifice for this feast, after the eighth day, the Jews would have offered 199 animals during the 8 days.
  • The first day of the feast there is a holy Sabbath where no work is done.
  • Then on the eighth day is another special holy Sabbath.
• The purpose for the Jews:
  • The Jews were to look back with thanksgiving for the Promised Land.
  • In contrast to permanency in the Promised Land, they were to remember the time when they wandered in the wilderness and lived in temporary booths or tents.
  • For this feast day they physically built temporary housing outside of their homes and camped outside for a week. Therefore, this is a week of harvest celebration for the blessings received from the Promised Land.
• The prophetic fulfillment of this feast:
  • The prophetic fulfillment of this feast will be the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ when the Jews will live permanently in the Promised Land.
  • They will no longer wander dispersed in the world but God will gather them and Return them to the land.
    • Read Zec 13:1-2
    • Read Mic 4:4-5
      • Jesus will reign on earth for 1000 years.
      • During His reign He will fulfill all the promises made to Abraham for all the land, perfect protection, and abundant provision.
    • Read Zec 14:16-18
      • During the millennial kingdom of Christ, all nations will celebrate this feast day by law.
      • Read Rev 21:3
      • The fulfillment of this feast endures forever into eternity.
• It is interesting that Jews added two extra rituals to this feast that Jesus celebrated. These two rituals are important to understanding the gospel of John.

• =1= The pouring of water from the Pool of Siloam (This lasted six days).
  • This was to remind the Jews of the miracle of water that came from the rock in the wilderness. It was also to thank God for the current rainy season just begun and to look for the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would come with the second coming of Christ.
  • Read Joh 7:2, 14, 37-38
  • While the water was being poured, trumpets were sounding, people were waving branches in honor of the Messiah, and reciting Psa 113-118 about the Messiah, Jesus stands and offers the water of eternal life.
• =2= The placing of four large lighted candlesticks
  • At the end of all celebration, the temple was transformed by brilliant light. This was to remind the Jews of the pillar of fire that guided them through the wilderness.
  • Read Joh 8:2, 12
  • At the apex of light Jesus stands and declares that He is the light of the world.
• Conclusion and special note:

• In the first half of God’s prophetic calendar, Christ fulfilled the first four feast days in the same month of the same year.
• In the final part of God’s prophetic calendar, Christ will fulfill the last three feast days in the same month but not in the same year.
  • =1= Feast of Trumpets: In September to October, of a year that only God knows, the rapture of the church will occur that enables God to work again with the Jews in the tribulation period for 7 years.
  • =2= The Day of Atonement: Seven years later in September to October the battle of Armageddon with the second coming of Jesus Christ will cause the Jews to mourn for their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
  • =3= The Feast of Tabernacles: Five days after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in the same month and year as the Day of Atonement, Jesus Christ will begin His Millennial Kingdom on earth for 1000 years.

HOMEWORK
Leviticus 24
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Lev 23
  • With the excitement of the fulfillment of prophecy on our threshold, what should be the believer’s attitude? (If you do not know, read the following scriptures.)
  • 1The 5:6
  • 1The 3:12-13
  • 1Cor 11:26
  • Col 3:1-4
  • Rom 10:9-10
  • Heb 10:24-25
  • 2Tim 4:1-2
  • 1Joh 3:2-3
  • 2The 2:3
• Preparation for Lev 24
  • Read Lev 24:1-23
    • What is blasphemy?

 

• What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

 

• Why is this sin the only sin that is not forgiven?

 

• Memory Verse: Joh 6:33

The Agricultural Civil and Sacred Calendar (Part 2)

Feast	Jewish Month	Sacred Calen-dar	Civil Calen-dar	Nearly Our Calendar Month	Significance for Israel Under the Law	Harvest and Seasons	Prophetic Fulfillment
	Tammuz (29 days)	4	10	Jun-Jul		No rain First grapes
	Ab or Av (30 days)	5	11	Jul-Aug		Increasing heat Grapes, figs, olives
	Elul (29 days)	6	12	Aug-Sep		Intense heat Grape Harvest	End time signs
-5-Feast of Trumpets Rosh Hashana day 1 -6-Day of Atonement Yom Kippur day 10 -7-Feast of Tabernacles Succoth day 15-21	Tishri or Ethanim (30 days)	7	1	Sep-Oct	Mourning for sins of the nation Wandering in the wilderness	Former or Early RainsPlowing and planting begins	The Rapture of the Church  The Battle of Armageddon and the 2nd Coming of Christ The Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ
	Bul or Mar-chesvan (29 days)	8	2	Oct-Nov		Grain planting	New beginning with New Heaven and New Earth
Feast of Dedication Hanukkah 25 day	Chislev or Kislev (30 days)	9	3	Nov-Dec	Restoration of the temple 164 BC	Winter cold
	Tebet or Tevet (29 days)	10	4	Dec-Jan		Winter figs
	Shebat (30 days)	11	5	Jan-Feb		Flax
Feast of Lots Purim day 14-15	Adar (29 days)	12	6	Feb-Mar		Almond Blossoms
	Adar Sheni (leap month) (30 days)