From the Lamb’s blood to the Spirit’s fire — and the promise yet to come
The Calendar God Wrote in the Sky
Time is not empty.
It carries memory, it carries promise.
When God set the sun, moon, and stars in place, He called them signs for appointed times — moedim (Genesis 1:14). These feasts were not random holidays; they were divine whispers woven into the fabric of creation.
Every year Israel gathered. They told their story again. They broke bread again. They lit lamps again. They rehearsed something greater than they knew.
And then — at just the right time — Jesus stepped onto the stage of history.
Not late. Not early. But on the very days God had marked.
The Spring Feasts — Fulfilled in His First Coming
Passover (Pesach) — The Lamb and the Cross
Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:5; Matthew 26:17–27; John 18:28; 1 Corinthians 5:7
Blood on wood.
That’s how the story begins.
In Egypt, a lamb without blemish. Its blood brushed on doorframes. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). The cries of judgment swept through the land, but under the blood there was shelter.
On the fourteenth day of the month, exactly as commanded (Leviticus 23:5), Jesus reclined with His disciples. Bread in His hands, a cup lifted. “This is my body…this is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:26–28). No lamb on the table — because the Lamb was sitting with them.
By morning, He was led outside the city (John 18:28). Nailed to wood, His blood became the doorway of salvation. Paul would say it plainly: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Blood on wood.
Once on doorframes.
Now on a cross.
And still, when God sees the blood, He passes over.
Selah — You live under a doorway marked by blood. How does that truth steady your heart today?
Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) — Buried Without Decay
Exodus 12:15–20; Leviticus 23:6–8; Matthew 27:57–61; 1 Corinthians 5:8
Candles flicker. Families sweep corners clean. Every crumb of yeast must go (Exodus 12:15). For seven days they eat bread without leaven — a sign of holiness, of separation.
Leviticus calls it an appointed feast of purity (Leviticus 23:6–8). Israel obeyed year after year.
And while they kept it, the sinless One lay in a tomb. “Joseph took the body…placed it in his own new tomb” (Matthew 27:59–60). The Bread of Life, unleavened by sin, hidden in the ground like seed awaiting dawn.
Paul writes, “Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven… but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).
The world thought it was silence.
Heaven knew it was waiting.
Selah — What hidden places in you long for His sinless life to fill them?
Firstfruits (Reshit Katzir) — The Dawn of Resurrection
Leviticus 23:9–14; Matthew 28:1–10; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23
A farmer walks into his field. He bends low, gathers the first sheaf of barley, and lifts it high. It is not much, but it is a promise: the harvest is coming (Leviticus 23:10).
On that very morning, another promise bursts forth. “After the Sabbath, at dawn… the angel said, ‘He is not here; He has risen’” (Matthew 28:1–6).
Paul’s words thunder with joy: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).
The sheaf in the priest’s hand.
The Son stepping from the tomb.
Both pledges of more to come.
Selah — Your resurrection is not a maybe. It is as certain as His empty grave.
Pentecost (Shavuot) — Fire on the Mountain, Fire in the Heart
Leviticus 23:15–22; Acts 2:1–4; Exodus 19–20; 2 Corinthians 3:3
Fifty days after Firstfruits, Israel celebrated Shavuot. Wheat harvest, loaves lifted, joy shared (Leviticus 23:15–22).
At Sinai, the mountain shook with thunder, fire, and smoke. The Law was carved in stone (Exodus 19–20).
At Pentecost in Jerusalem, another fire came. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit… tongues of fire rested on each of them” (Acts 2:3–4). No longer stone, but flesh. “Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3).
At Sinai, 3,000 died. At Pentecost, 3,000 lived. The harvest of wheat became a harvest of souls.
Selah — Where do you need His fire to fall fresh — burning away stone, kindling your heart alive again?
The Fall Feasts — Awaiting Their Fulfillment
If the first four feasts were fulfilled in exact sequence and meaning, can we doubt the last three will be too?
Trumpets (Yom Teruah) — The Sound That Awakens
Leviticus 23:23–25; Numbers 29:1; 1 Corinthians 15:51–52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
The seventh month began with blasts of shofars. A day of blowing (teruah), a holy convocation (Leviticus 23:23–25; Numbers 29:1). It was a wake-up call: repent, prepare, the King is near.
Paul takes the sound forward: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The same shofar that stirred Israel will one day shake the earth awake.
Selah — What in you needs to wake up at the sound of His trumpet?
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) — The High Priest and the Mercy Seat
Leviticus 16; Leviticus 23:26–32; Hebrews 9:11–14; Zechariah 12:10
One day a year, the high priest stepped beyond the veil. He carried blood, trembling, into the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16). It was the Day of Atonement, the day to cover sin (Leviticus 23:27).
But now: “Christ came as high priest…He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood” (Hebrews 9:11–12). His sacrifice did not cover sin — it cleansed it.
And yet, Yom Kippur still leans forward. A day is coming when “they will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and mourn” (Zechariah 12:10). A day of weeping, but also of cleansing.
The priest’s footsteps in the temple.
The Savior’s footsteps into heaven.
Both pointing to mercy poured out.
Selah — Where do you need to hear His footsteps drawing near with mercy today?
Tabernacles (Sukkot) — God Dwelling With Us
Leviticus 23:33–43; John 1:14; John 7:37–38; Revelation 21:3
Children laugh under makeshift roofs of branches. Families eat in little shelters, lanterns glowing in the cool autumn air. For seven days, Israel remembered the wilderness — when God dwelt among them in cloud and fire (Leviticus 23:42–43).
John takes that memory and says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] among us” (John 1:14). Jesus was God’s sukkah among men. At this feast, He cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink” (John 7:37–38).
And one day, the final Sukkot will dawn: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will live with them, and they will be His people” (Revelation 21:3).
The joy of makeshift tents will give way to the joy of eternal dwelling.
Selah — Do you long for the day when every tear will be wiped away, and God Himself will pitch His tent with us forever?
The Thread That Holds It Together
These feasts are not random holidays. They are a prophetic timeline — spring feasts fulfilled at His first coming, fall feasts awaiting His return.
The feasts move in sequence like acts in a divine drama:
- Passover to Pentecost reveals Jesus as suffering Servant, dying and rising to bring salvation and Spirit.
- Trumpets to Tabernacles point to His return as reigning King, bringing judgment, atonement, and eternal dwelling.
God’s calendar is precise. His promises are sure. And we live in the holy space between — looking back at a Lamb who has come, looking forward to a King who will come again.
Reflection — Living Between Fulfillment and Expectation
How does seeing these feasts fulfilled in such detail strengthen your trust in God’s promises?
How can you live in readiness for God’s next appointed time?
Originally published on Medium. Reposted with the author’s permission. All rights reserved.
