The Potter's Molded Clay

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts’.’” (Leviticus 23:1-2) Let us begin with a few great quotes that really grabbed my attention when thinking about the canon of Scripture that points us to Christ throughout its entirety. First off, coming from Charles Spurgeon, “I may know all the doctrines of the Bible, but unless I know Christ, there is not one of them that can save me.” What truth! We are not simply seeking truth; we do not come to the word of God with the intent of being filled with a head knowledge. We must know Christ, we must identify with Him, we must trust in Him and His finished work on the cross of Calvary and lay our lives down in submission and obedience to Him. Again, from Spurgeon, “It is not your hold on Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you; it is Christ. It is not even your faith in Christ, thought that be the instrument; it is Christ’s blood and merit.” Lastly, similarly to the previous quote, again from Spurgeon, “My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is doing for me.”

​We will pick up where we left off yesterday, having just finished speaking of the offerings and sacrifices as a means of pointing us to Christ. These feasts or assemblies point us to Christ. I could go a little deeper in depth with these, but today I just want to do a brief overview of the typologies found in these. Beginning with the Passover, which we covered in the Typology of Exodus series, so I will not hit on this one too much. The Passover called for a spotless lamb to be killed, its blood was tobe applied to the doorposts and above the door on the lintel. This prevented the children of Israel from suffering the death of their firstborn to the last plague, the angel of death. If they simply believed what God told them and acted upon it, then they would be spared. Jesus was and is the spotless, sinless, perfect Lamb of God who shed His blood and gave His life in our place for our sins that He would atone for sin, freeing us from the bondage we are slaves to, our sin and our love for it. By His death, burial resurrection and ascension He has justified us, redeemed us, and adopted us into His family as blood bought sons and daughters of God. As we think of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, this feast served the nation of Israel as a memorial of the time God brought them out of Egypt in haste. The unleavened bread points us to the sinless Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true Bread that comes down from heaven. In the later celebrations of this festival the wife would clear the house of leaven, leaving behind some that was hidden. The father and the children would search the house with a feather, a wooden spoon, a candle, and a piece of linen cloth. When he spotted the leaven, the candle would be given either to one of the children or set down while he would use the feather to sweep the leaven onto the wooden spoon, being careful to not touch any leaven. He would then take all objects (excluding the candle) and wrap them in the linen cloth and tossing it outside the house. The next morning,he would take the contents (still wrapped up) to the synagogue and cast it into the fire to be burned. The house could be viewed as our bodies or even our lives, which as believers, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The candle would represent the word of God which serves as a light unto our path, and a lamp unto our feet. The feather, which would represent the Holy Spirit, much like He is represented as a dove in the Scriptures, would be used to sweep the leaven (symbolic for sin) onto the wooden spoon (which the wooden spoon could be viewed as the cross of Christ) to remove the leaven (or sin). These things would all be placed into the linen cloth (best viewed as Christ’s righteousness) and then thrown into the fire (symbolic of judgment, the judgment Christ bore in our place, to atone for our sin). 

​We come now to the Feast of Firstfruits, which is just that, a feast that Israel held in thanks to God for the firstfruits. It is a little oddly named, as this referred more to the barley harvest, which would have fallen around the time of this festival. The people would gather the first sheaf of the barley grain and bring it to the priest as a wave offering unto God, which would also be followed with a burnt offering and a drink offering. In this wave offering, it would be waved to the left and right, in so doing, representing the entirety of the crop from left to right. Their crop would not be considered acceptable or “kosher” until they followed God’s command to do this with the first sheaf. As mentioned, it would be a means that the people of Israel would acknowledge and thank God for His provision. Christ is the firstfruits, and therefore the fulfillment of this festival, and we will continue to see the theme of Him being the fulfillment of these feasts throughout. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23) The waving of the sheaf could be likened to the fact that Christ represented all those who are His from the east to the west. 

​Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks would be a celebration of the wheat harvest, which would be close to coming to the end of its season. It would include two wave offerings, two loaves(which were to be leavened), and two lambs. Pentecost would be after Christ’s resurrection and ascension. On the day of Pentecost is when He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell His people. Thinking of the 50 days that was required since the wave offering of the Feast of the Firstfruits, these 50 days were in a way symbolic of the fact that the year of Jubilee which would proceed 7 periods of 7 years (49 years), meaning that the 50^thyear would be the year of Jubilee, where the people who owed debts were released of those debts. When we think Jubilee we should think liberty, a year in which we could label as freedom and redemption. This freedom and redemption came with the Holy Spirit that Christ would send. The two loaves waved would represent the two people groups that God has saved, which were representative of the Jews and the Gentiles. The leaven in the loaves mixed with fine flour would be best thought of as the leaven representing our sin nature, which would be covered by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. The fine flour of course pointing to the righteousness of Christ. The actual day of Pentecost fell on a Sabbath day in which there was to be no work, it was a day of rest unto the Lord. When we think of this pertaining to Christ, He purposed that Pentecost fall on a Sabbath day to show us and/or remind us that the salvation He has secured and offers and the gift that is the Holy Spirit that He sends to us, does not come from works but must be received by grace through faith. 

​The next feast we will look at is the Feast of Trumpets which was somewhere around 3 months or so from the previous feast, the Feast of Weeks. The time gap I do not believe is coincidental, I believe it plays perfectly into God’s plan of revelation to us. Think of it, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost more specifically, would be the coming of the Holy Spirit, then you get this roughly three-month time gap in which the next feast comes, and this feast would be one of trumpets. Where does your mind go when you think of trumpets? I think most of us would say the trumpet that sounds at His second coming. “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Between the sending of the Holy Spirit and the last trumpet we see the gathering of Christ’s bride, the church. I know many do not know this, but my eschatology is not set in stone. I can relate with views pertaining to most of the eschatological standings of the church, and I know some views may be looked down upon by some. However, eschatology is not a point in which we should divide over, it is not heretical ultimately to take one view over another. The twisting of the gospel and/or the character of God is ultimately heresy in my opinion. Not to mention as many of us have heard; our eschatology will be settled and/or corrected come that day.When thinking of the trumpets (or the shofar) that was to be blown, we can think of four times we see Israel commanded to blow the trumpet. First, being when seeking to gather the assembly of the people, secondly; when Israel would gather their belongings and embark to a new destination, thirdly; at times of rejoicing, such as during the feasts/festivals, and lastly; to sound the horn/trumpet for battle. With this in mind, let us relate this to the coming day when Christ returns. The first trumpet will be Christ calling those who died in Christ first to Himself, and those still alive follow after them. The second trumpet is to indicate our new destination, to be with the Lord, in the New Jerusalem. With the third sounding of the trumpet, this issues for the rejoicing of the feast that is to come, the marriage supper of the Lamb. The fourth and final trumpet points us to the fact that there is war for those still on earth, the unbelievers. I know, I know, you’re now judging me for believing in a rapture. Let that final day prove me wrong.

​Next, we come to the last of the two feasts, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. The days leading up to the Day of Atonement were days of repentance and contrition for the nation of Israel. Knowing they must prepare their hearts and their minds for the Day of Atonement, in which the entire nation would come together for the atonement of their sins for that year, symbolized through a blood sacrifice. This day would be the only day in which the high priest would come into the Holy of Holies. Before doing so, he would have to wear particular/prescribed clothing, he had to sacrifice a young bull for his sin, then two goats would be brought forth for the sins of the people, lots cast to see which one would be the sacrificial goat and which would be the scapegoat. The sacrificial goat would be killed, and its blood taken into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the people. The second goat would have hands laid on his head, symbolically laying the sins of the people onto the goat, which would then be led outside of the city into the desert with a scarlet thread or cord tied to the goat as well as to the temple doors, whereas when the goat was sent away the cord on the door would turn white, and the Jews would know that God accepted their sacrifice. Jesus was the fulfillment of both goats, having shed His blood for the remission of sins, and having taken the sins of His people upon Himself, He made atonement for all who would trust in Him and His finished work upon their behalf on the cross and repent. The shofar, or the trumpet would be blown on this day as well, considered the great trumpet. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)

​The Feast of Tabernacles would be a feast of joy and celebration. This was in celebration of the gathering of the fruit harvest. We could say this feast points us to the coming of the kingdom age, certainly to be a day of rejoicing and celebrating. I mean look around us today, the world seems to be getting worse and worse, people are showing their depravity more so now than ever. The sin indulged in seems to have no degree of boundaries. We can think that all is falling apart, but in God’s perfect timing and sovereignty, all is simply falling into place. All that is happening is leading up to a new day that will dawn with the return and rule of our Lord Jesus Christ. The tabernacle as described in our series on Exodus was God’s desire to dwell with us, and how He has done just that throughout all the years since creation. As we looked at previously, Christ took on flesh and dwelt among us, allowing us to see His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This dwelling of God with us, culminates in the Father and Son dwelling with those who love and follow Christ Jesus. “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’.” (Revelation 21:3-4) Today this festival or feast is celebrated in the festival of lights, and the pouring out of water. Both water and light hold significance, right? Water would be likened to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Light of course can be thought of as knowledge, truth, or understanding which comes from God, or if we think of God who is light, it can be likened to His glory, goodness, and radiance. When thinking of Christ, He is the giver of living water, and the light of the world. This seven-day feast would end, and we see a command from God pertaining to an eighth day, but yet the festival was to only be seven days? Seven represents perfection. The number eight in the Bible usually is likened to newness of life or resurrection. All this to say that there is plans after the coming Messianic Kingdom, there is still a new life or beginning to come. “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” (Revelation 21:5-6)

​As per usual, let me close out with some encouraging quotes. First, coming from…you guessed it, Spurgeon, “Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw His hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; He is manna always falling round the camp; He is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from His smitten side; the rain of His grace is always dropping; the river of His bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of His love is constantly overflowing.” Lastly, let me quote J.C. Ryle, “Live as if you thought that Christ might come at any time. Do everything, as if you did it for the last time. Say everything, as if you said it for the last time. Read every chapter of the Bible, as if you did not know whether you would be allowed to read it again. Pray every prayer, as if you felt it might be your last opportunity. Hear every sermon, as if you were hearing once and forever. This is the way to be found ready. This is the way to turn Christ’s second coming to good account. This is the way to put on the armor of light.” To end off with a verse of Scripture is most necessary, “Because you have kept My commandment to persevere, I also will keep you form the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (Revelation 3:10)