Why the Leviticus Study is Worth It

I am down to the penultimate week in my Leviticus study, and I'm glad I've stuck with it. I have not been viewing the videos, which is probably a good thing for me. It has helped me to retain perspective here, it's not just about how the person is teaching!

This week's study has focused on the Feasts of Israel--the mandatory holidays that God handed down to Moses for the Jewish people. What an amazing set of prophecies God handed down in these holidays! I just cannot get over how perfectly Jesus' life corresponds with all of the Jewish holy days!

Ok, the Jews were slaves in Egypt, but God sent a deliverer (Moses) and freed them from their slavery, and delivered them to the Promised Land. We are slaves to sin (John 8:34), but Christ came to sacrifice himself for us (the Passover Lamb, 1 Cor. 5:7), the punishment for our sin--thus freeing us from the slavery of sin! The First Fruits offering is a perfect foreshadow of Christ, who is the first fruit, raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20-23). The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost follows next, where the Jewish people gave an offering of leavened bread . At exactly the same time in Jesus' life, He ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit was given to his church, which now included Gentiles who were grafted into the Chosen People...the leavening (unclean, Gentile) was added to the Chosen People (the unleavened bread). See Acts 2:1-47; 1 Cor. 12:13, Eph. 2:11-22. WOW!

But there is so much more--the Feast of Trumpets, a holy convocation of Israel before God (Jer. 32:37-41, Eze. 36:24). This is to come, when Israel is regathered in preparation for the final Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur; Eze. 36:25-27, Heb. 9-10, Rom. 11:25-29). This final day of atonement will see the return of Christ and the preparation of the world for final judgement, and the formal separation of those who have been atoned for (the church) and those who are not. Lastly, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles--when the church will celebrate a new heaven & new earth, and God tabernacles with men (Eze. 36:28, Rev. 21:1-3).

There is more--it is a pretty well accepted fact that Jesus was conceived during the Festival of Lights--the Light of the World! Pretty appropriate! And Hwas born during the Feast of Tabernacles--God had indeed come down to tabernacle with man. It is probable that Joseph & Mary were actually sheltering in a sukkoth, a temporary structure built by tradition during the Feast of Tabernacles, to remind the Jewish people how they wandered in the wilderness with no permanent home, waiting for God to reveal the Promised Land. We know He was killed during Passover...the final Passover Lamb.

I wish I could tell you how exciting this is to me. God has a plan, and it is so perfect. How could the Jewish people not see? How could they miss this perfect fulfillment of every prophecy concerning the Messiah? Jesus fit every description, to a tee--and even the timing of His birth, immaculate conception, and death and resurrection fit with the holy days God Himself had ordained. It is all there, you just have to see it. But as my friend pointed out recently, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." (Romans 11:8). I am so sad for those who cannot see the Truth! I pray that someday God will open their eyes and they will see how perfectly He has ordained His church.