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Biblical Feasts summary Feasts are more than just great times. They bind communities together around shared concepts and experiences in common. Like a wedding feast celebrates around our common support of the union of these people. Likewise the feasts that God instructs his people to observe, bind them together too, around concepts core to their identity. And because these core concepts are fulfilled in Jesus, they are also about our identity too.  Due to our communion services, many of us already know how Passover relates to our life in Christ (the prophesied Messiah). Likewise, so do the other feasts. 1) Christ is the spotless Passover lamb, whose blood saved us from death, and slavery to sin. 2) Christ is also the Unleavened Bread, broken, wrapped, and buried to return later. 3) Christ is the First Fruits of the resurrection. 4) Christ’s Spirit is given at Pentecost /Weeks /Second Harvest, to gather Gentile believers as a second harvest. 5) Trumpets will announce the coming of Christ, the start of the age to come. 6) Christ will cover us on Atonement Day, the Day of Judgement - he's also The Judge - sorting out this mixed up world. 7) Finally Christ Shelters with us, as in the wilderness of this life, as he did as God in the flesh, and does now by his Spirit, he'll be with us in the Heavenly feast to come. So although not all Christians observe these feasts, we can celebrate that Israel's core Scriptural feasts are fulfilled by the Messiah who grafts us in to His Story. Thus these feasts can bind us together very deeply. Gallery New Life Church in Fremantle made these cards (I made minor embellishments) to consider how Jesus fulfils these Feasts, instituted in Lev23:1-44. Num29:12-34. Deut14-16.         Christians benefit from a closer look at the Biblical Fall Feasts, because, among other things, they foreshadow Christ's work in days to come. We have hindsight to help us see how Christ fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. We need foresight to see how he will fulfil Trumpets, Atonement, and Shelters.
This helps us understand why there are two New Years in the Jewish calendar: the religious-year cycle of teaching starts with Trumpets, but the calendar-year starts just before Passover. Some people start their spiritual lives at the beginning with Creation and the Old Testament, but some start with Jesus the Passover lamb.
The religious cycle begins with Trumpets for the beginnings of eras: Creation; a ram for Isaac; the Law of Moses. Atonement is made, and at Shelters we thank God for his presence. Then at Passover, Unleavened Bread & First Fruits we recall the Exodus. Pentecost calls for the second harvest. And thus people lived... until the new cycle. A new era of the Messiah is Trumpeted (think of the Prophets), the Saviour who will make Atonement, will Shelter with us - and scriptural clues suggest Jesus' birth around the time of Shelters - God-with-us in the flesh. At Passover/Unleavened Bread he makes the necessary sacrifice, then becomes the First Fruits of the resurrection, and at Pentecost gives his Spirit for the second harvest of Gentiles. And thus people live… until the new era! The final era will be Trumpeted at Christ's return, his prior sacrifice will be what Atones for us (covers us) on the Day of Judgement, and we will Shelter with him in Heaven. And thus people will live… forever. Whether you start with the Old Testament beginnings, or start with Christ's Passover, the feasts commemorate the whole history from beginning to end.
2) Noel had a way of dignifying normal life. We college boarders saw each others’ bad hair days, and once Noel asked my friend for a razor to shave because he’d left his at home. He was not embarrassed because he was genuinely humble. He knew that his little moments were just as significant as his global work. His gracious attitude was the same in all circumstances, everything was a gift from Christ. From the podium to the kitchen he was Christ's grateful servant. This inspired the community with integrity from top to bottom. Lk16:10 faithful in little things
3) Noel kept Christ at the centre of the community. Without this, communities inevitably drift. But Noel’s communities stayed true. He would often remind us that the college was to teach us to “think theologically,” because through Scripture we get to know Christ. Noel knew both intimately, which is why often you could tell he was led by the Spirit to say just the right thing, to have that gracious humility, to love that enlivening way. If everyone bathed in the Word and the Spirit like that, counselling services would become redundant. Eph5:26 washed with the word Each house at this school has a theme, Courage, Character, Compassion, and that of Vose house is Community. This might surprise if you only knew Dr GN Vose from his Wiki page, looking at all his academic achievements and the Theological College he started. But that College was a Vose-like - no, Christ-like - community. It pulled people together. And I’ll warrant that same enthusiastic community was a hallmark of Noel's presidency of the Australian Baptist Union, and then of the Baptist World Alliance: he pulled people together. Noel regenerated discussions between Baptists and Mennonites in a way that hadn't happened since 1630! He planted a new church at 70! Community was his legacy. Back then we used to tease him about being "The Pope of the Baptists.” But he kind of was - in the best sense of “papa,” building up all of us who came to orbit around his truly Christian community. |
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