Study Series 8 Lesson 1: Leviticus 23 – God’s Festal Calendar: prophesied Old Covenant Israel ending/judgement and the New Covenant church/kingdom beginning – the fulfillment period of Hebrews 8:13
Study Series 8 Lesson 1. This study takes us through the first 4 of God’s Festal calendar: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Weeks/Pentecost. The Festal calendar in Lev. 23 has such great significance in Redemptive history, and yet is all too often either misunderstood, or even neglected for any value, by much of our modern Christian world (especially when we come to the last 3 Feasts, which we will study in the next Study Series).
The full Seven Feasts depict the entire redemptive career of the Messiah. If you want to study redemption, you have to study the feasts. These feasts are a study of typology. Biblical typology takes the unity of both covenants, and sees in the Old Covenant (OC) “types,” or “shadows,” or “pictures,” which prefigure something in the New Covenant (NC). These types can be people, places, objects, or events. Typological language in the OC is called a “type” and the counterpart àthe reality or fulfillment is called the “antitype.” A type always prefigures something future.
These feasts are prophetic, as they were prophesying to Israel something that was to come in the future as God redeems them (True Israel: the believing Jew and Gentile Gal. 3:7, 28-29). They were to rehearse these year after year, thereby showing a picture of Yahweh and His completed redemptive plan. This process was similar in type to our wedding rehearsal. The rehearsal does not marry anyone, they are supposed to prepare everyone for the actual wedding day. Each Feast is an announcement to the end. As you understand the Feasts you will begin to see God’s prophetic time-line unfolding, and you will grow deeper in your knowledge of the Messiah.
This study is full of “aha” moments which are sure to be a blessing to your faith and walk.