In Leviticus 23 YHVH sets apart His feast days. The hebrew word for these days is moedim which means appointed times. These days are only special for one reason. YHVH said so. There is no other noticeable attributes that set these days apart. But for what cause? Has He picked these days by chance, or is there a grand plan behind them? Let's do some digging and see if we can find anything relating to the spring feast days in a prophetic light.
Passover
The first spring feast in the year is Passover. Then, we have Unleavened bread, and finally First fruits. These 3 Feast days all happen within a 7 day period in the first month of YHVH's calendar. Lets expand on the story of the exodus to draw out some key elements and phrases to identify these feasts throughout scripture. In the story of Passover we see that Israel is to take a 1 year old lamb without blemish on the 10th day of the first month. Then keep watch over it until the 14th day of the month. Slaughter it at twilight (around the 9th hour of the day). You are not to break any of its bones. Then put the blood on the doorposts of your house where you eat it. The blood will be a sign for YHVH and he will pass over you. This is a basic outline of the key events related to passover.
Unleavened Bread
Next we will discuss the feast of unleavened bread. YHVH commands that from the 14th day to the 21st day of the first month you are to eat unleavened bread. You are to remove all of the leaven from your houses for the entire week. After the plague of the firstborn the Egyptians sent Israel out of the land quickly so they did not have time to let their dough rise as they had not prepared provisions.
First Fruits
The last feast we will discuss is the feast of first fruits. In Exodus 14 the Israelites were camped at the sea of reeds and Pharaoh was there along with Egypt's army. YHVH parted the waters and the nation of israel walked through on dry land. When Pharaoh tried to follow his entire army was swallowed up in the sea.
Mission of Messiah
This is a short description of these days and the story behind them. Now let's see if there are any similarities with the mission of Messiah. Here is a walkthrough of the death burial and resurrection of Yeshua. We begin with Him riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with a huge crowd saying "Hosanna!..."
According to John 12 this happened on the 9th of nisan. Then Yeshua is betrayed and crucified. Around the 9th hour of the day at Passover He dies. None of his bones are broken, then they pierce His side and blood and water come out. They took his body and laid it in a tomb. Then on the day after the Sabbath He rose from the grave.
Thematic Connections
Now let's look at these stories thematically and find some awesome parallels. We see that when Yeshua is riding into Bethlehem the nation (huge crowd) is selecting Him as their Messiah (sacrificial lamb). At the 9th hour when the priests were sacrificing the Passover lambs Yeshua says it is finished and dies. His blood covering our sins. Passover is where we are covered by the blood (lamb, Messiah). Unleavened bread all leaven (sin) is removed from our houses. Yeshua is taken off the cross and buried in the tomb. His death removing the sin (leaven) from our lives (homes). First Fruits is when we celebrate victory over the enemies of God (Satan), and death (Egypt) is swallowed up in victory! Yeshua rises from the grave claiming the ultimate victory over death and becoming the First Fruits of the resurrection!
Conclusion
As you can clearly see here Yeshua's First coming showed the full meaning (fulfilment) of the spring feast days. This should get us really excited and we should want to study the fall feast days to see the prophetic nature of what to look for in the days to come. Because the second coming will be when He comes in His glory and it will be full of awe and wonder and terror!
Thank you all for reading I hope that you learned something new and were blessed! Shalom.