Praise God! It is the season of Passover and God’s appointed springtime Holy Days (Leviticus 23).

Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread
Passover (Celebrated annually for approximately 3,500 years), commemorates the Israelites deliverance from bondage—a story of redemption and deliverance, through the blood of an unblemished lamb. Our Passover has since been realized in Yeshua: “Messiah has become our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus died for us on Passover, redeeming us with His blood. He is the fulfillment of Passover, and is referred to as “the Lamb
of God” 29 times in the book of Revelation.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day after Passover and lasts for seven days (Leviticus 23:6–8). Throughout the week, Jewish families remove all leaven from their homes and eat only unleavened bread, called Matzah. In preparing for their deliverance from Egypt, God instructed the children of Israel, “when you hear My voice, leave in haste and do not wait for the bread to rise” (Deuteronomy 16:3). Immediate action was required! Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He is the ultimate obedient One, Whose instant and perfect obedience, to the point of His death on the cross, saved us! At Passover, He took the Matzah (unleavened bread) and breaking it said, “take this bread and eat, this is My body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).

The Feast of First Fruits
During The Feast of First Fruits in ancient Israel, the Israelites would take the first fruit of their spring harvest and offer it to God, demonstrating their thankfulness to their Provider and thus sanctifying their whole harvest (Leviticus 23:9–14). Consider this, in the spring, the earth that looked dead during the winter suddenly comes to life! For example: colorful flowers and a variety of fruits miraculously appear out of the grey and brown lifeless earth. It is like the dead earth suddenly comes to life.

In the same way, 2,000 years ago Jesus was dead, but supernaturally came back to life on the Feast of First Fruits and then ascended to the Father as “the first fruits of those raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23). In ancient Israel, God accepted the whole harvest through the first fruit offering. So it is today: we are accepted and loved by Father God through the First Fruits offering of Messiah!

Shavuot (Pentecost)
Shavuot, meaning weeks, also known as Pentecost, meaning 50, is first found in Leviticus 23:16. By the time the New Testament was written it became associated with the Lord revealing Himself on Mt. Sinai. Later, in Acts chapter 2, we read that there were Jews from all over the world, living in Jerusalem, celebrating this Jewish Holiday known in Greek as Pentecost. They were remembering how God appeared to them 1,500 years earlier on Mt. Sinai in fire and glory, giving them His law on tablets of stone (Exodus 19:16–19). Again, this Holy Day (Shavuot) is said to be the day God did this. In Acts, as the disciples were remembering this, they experienced it as the God of Israel filled them with His Holy Spirit and wrote His law on their hearts. Thus, the Holy Spirit moved from writing His Word on tablets of stone to writing it on our hearts. This was the fulfillment of what the prophet spoke of in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” The final atonement for sin was accomplished at Passover through the blood of Jesus. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost (Shavuot) to all who received Him!