DAY OF ATONEMENT

The Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, was an annual festival where an animal would be slain for the complete forgiveness of the Israelites and was the day the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies. This was held on the tenth day of Tishri each year and can be found in Leviticus 16:1-34.

The first thing Aaron would do was to take a bull for his own sin offering and then two goats, he would cast lots to decide which goat would live and which would die. The goat that was to die would be sacrificed and then the other goat was the scapegoat who would live but would be sent off into the wilderness as a sign that he was carrying away the sins of Israel.

He was to put incense to burn on the altar of incense so that the incense would conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant of the law and then Aaron or his descendent could go in and sprinkle the blood of the bull and of the goat on the atonement cover. He was also to take blood and put it on the horns of the altar seven times.

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THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

Today we look at the Feast of Trumpets which was the start of the Festival of Tabernacles season held in the month of Tishri at the end of the harvest season. The prophetic significance of these festivals lies in the future, in Christ’s second coming. The first set of festivals represented Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit, and then there was a few months where there were no festivals which relate to the current church period, but then came the feasts around the Festival of Tabernacles which represent Jesus’ second coming, sometime in the future.

The Feast of Trumpets is described in Numbers 29:1-6:

“On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs, a year old, all without defect. With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. There are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are food offerings presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma.”

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PENTECOST

Pentecost was a festival which stood by itself between the first set of festivals (Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits) and the second set (Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles). Pentecost was held fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits and is described in Leviticus 23:15-22:

“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Present the bread with seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings – a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.”

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FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS

Now let us consider the feast of First Fruits, this was the last of the three feasts held around the time of Passover and began on the 17th day of Nissan which was during the feast of unleavened bread and fell on a Sunday. The feast is described in Leviticus 23:9-14:

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb, a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil – a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma – and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.”

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THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

Unleavened bread

On Monday we looked at the festival of the Passover, one day later, on the 15th of Nissan, began the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days (from the 15th Nissan to the 21st Nissan) the Israelites were to have no leaven in their homes. When the Israelites were leaving Egypt at the first Passover they had no time to leaven their bread as they were in such a hurry but this feast has come to mean much more than simply hurrying out of Egypt.

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THE FEAST OF PASSOVER

Passover Lamb

Today we start our series on the Feasts of Israel and their prophetic and applicational meaning. We are going to start by looking at Passover. Passover was the first feast in the Jewish calendar with Passover preparations beginning on the 10th of Nissan (about March or April) and the actual Passover occurring on the 14th of Nissan and then the Feast of unleavened Bread began on the 15th Nissan, the day after Passover.

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THE HOLY OF HOLIES, THE ARK OF THE COVENANT AND THE MERCY SEAT

In this last post in this series we are going to be looking at the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat. It can be found in Exodus 25:10-22:

“Have them make an ark of acacia wood – two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. Make an atonement cover of pure gold – two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make on cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”

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THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

The last piece of furniture we are going to look at in the Holy Place before going into the Holy of Holies is the altar of incense. This altar was used purely for offering incense to God and we find it described in Exodus 30:1-9:

“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high – its horns of one piece with it. Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding – two on each of the opposite sides – to hold the poles used to carry it. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law – before the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the covenant law – where I will meet with you. Aaron must burn fragrant incense  on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come. Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.”

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THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD

The Table of Shewbread

The next item of furniture we get to in the Holy Place opposite the candlestick is the table of shewbread or the bread of the presence. This table is described in Exodus 25:23-30:

“Make a table of acacia wood – two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its putchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.”

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THE CANDLESTICK

The Candlestick

In this post we are going to look at the candlestick, which is the first piece of furniture we will look at in the Holy Place. It looked similar to a Jewish menorah today and can be found in Exodus 25:31-40:

“Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand – three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch , three on the next, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair – six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

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