Passover to Pentecost – The Spring Feasts: When are they and how are they relevant today?
The Lord’s Holy Days, Feast Days, Jewish Feasts, Appointed Times, Mo’edim — whatever term you use, don’t miss these days! If you are seeking more intimacy in your walk with Yeshua, learning about, experiencing and keeping these feasts (including the Sabbath) will bring you not only into deeper intimacy with him, but Yehovah will shower you with new understanding, unexpected blessings, strengthened faith and fresh excitement daily. I highly recommend it!
Included here is a list of my blog posts about the Spring Feasts and a Biblical haggadah for Passover.
First of all, this quick reference guide shows the 2022 Hebrew and Gregorian dates, the Hebrew names, the purpose of the Feasts and Biblical instructions for observing them from a Messianic understanding.
Although for me the first time through the Feasts was more learning than experiencing, with each passing year, they grow in richness and revelation of Yeshua. In the following posts I’ve attempted to share some of those insights in the hopes that you will be encouraged to start or continue your pursuit of your own journey into intimacy with Him.
- Why celebrate all these Jewish holidays? Haven’t those been done away with?
- The Feasts of the Lord: Going Through the Motions
- The Spring Feasts: A Time to Remember, A Time to Anticipate
- Preparing Ourselves for the Spring Feasts – Part 1
- Preparing Ourselves for the Spring Feasts – Part 2
- Passover and Easter: What are You Celebrating?
- Messianic Passover Haggadah for use at home or in a group setting
- Learnings from Leaven
- Why Count the Omer? Part 1: The First 40 Days
- Why Count the Omer? Part 2: Nine Days of Prayer
- Why Count the Omer? Part 3: God’s Spirit Poured Out
- 2022 Omer Count Calendar
- Pentecost: 2000 Years Ago or 2022?
- The Day of Pentecost Guarantees Yehovah’s Promises
- Yeshua’s Ascension Brings a Double Portion on Pentecost
Why Count the Omer, Part 1: The First 40 Days
Counting the Omer – most are familiar with the culmination of the count, which is Pentecost, also called the Festival of Weeks. “Weeks” is taken from the Hebrew word “shavuot” and refers to the seven weeks that precede Pentecost. Leviticus 23:15 tells us to count the weeks between the Feast of First Fruits and Pentecost:
“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.”
Yeshua’s Ascension Brings a Double Portion on Pentecost
In a separate blog post I discuss how the day of Pentecost/Shavuot kicks-off the new covenant, guarantees our eternal inheritance, and brings new life through the Holy Spirit – enabling us to fulfill our mission and destiny on earth.
As believers in Yeshua, we already carry the Holy Spirit within us every day. But if we’re prepared for it, I believe there’s a double portion of Yeshua’s Spirit poured out on Shavuot. (more…)
The Day of Pentecost Guarantees Yehovah’s Promises
Pentecost, Feast of Weeks, Shavuot – the culmination of the omer count, the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit – all on one day. This is certainly something to celebrate!
My dad was a pastor. One day he was speaking to another pastor and they got on the topic of the Holy Spirit, which was one of my dad’s favorite topics. At one point this pastor asked, “So, what’s the big deal about the Holy Spirit?”
Well, my dad was so flabbergasted, he ended up writing a book to answer the question. It’s called, The Holy Spirit…So What’s the Big Deal?
It IS a big deal! And…in my opinion, it’s a big deal in a whole series of big deals. (more…)
Our Calling This Shemitah Year, Part 2: Blood Moons, the Feasts and Our Role
In Part 1, we looked at the progressive revelation of God’s wrath, including the five primary acts of God’s wrath, the five elements common to each, and the three milestones marking where we are in the timeline. With that in mind, I want to overlay one more aspect that brings us to our current day.
The Shemitah & Blood Moons
Why celebrate all these Jewish holidays? Haven’t those been done away with?
There are seven Feasts or Holy Days commanded in the Bible – four in the Spring, and three in the Fall. It’s true, Jews had been observing these Feasts for 1,400 years before Yeshua’s birth. But what if Yehovah set those dates as days He intends to fulfill specific prophecies in Yeshua’s lifetime and His second coming? Wouldn’t you want to know which dates those were? Let’s recount what happened on the Spring Feast dates during Yeshua’s lifetime. (more…)
The Feasts of the Lord: Going Through the Motions
Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles – lots of Feasts, each with different instructions for observing them. Sometimes when we’re just starting out observing the Feasts, or approach a new season of Feasts, we can easily think of all the instructions and do’s and don’ts, and forget the richness of each Feast. It can feel – and in fact become – like we’re just going through the motions.
I can imagine that’s how the Hebrews must have felt when they heard the instructions for the first time as well. Exodus 12 is 50 verses full of instructions for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the instructions are not exactly intuitive or logical. What were they to make of killing a lamb and smearing its blood on their door frames? Had that ever saved them from death before? Was this a common practice? And what’s so bad about leavened bread? What does that have to do with saving their firstborns? (more…)
Why Count the Omer? Part 2: Nine Days of Prayer
In Leviticus 23:15 God instructs us to count the seven weeks (49 days) that occur before the Day of Pentecost (the 50th day) also called the Festival of Weeks and Shavuot in Hebrew. But counting days with no explanation? Why would this be important to God and to us?
For the Israelites, it pertained mainly to their harvest cycle and offerings to be presented. For us living after the time of Yeshua, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, we can see the spiritual implications of this count. We know that on the 50th day after Yeshua’s resurrection, something unimaginably wonderful happened: The pouring out of the Holy Spirit not only on the disciples, but on all those who come to faith in Yeshua as the Messiah! The implications of that day reverberate even stronger in these last of the last days. The 50th day is one I want to be prepared for every year. (more…)
Why Count the Omer? Part 3: God’s Spirit Poured Out
This 3-part blog series focuses on the Lord’s instruction in Leviticus 23:15 to count the seven weeks (49 days) that occur before the Day of Pentecost (the 50th day) also called the Festival of Weeks and Shavuot in Hebrew. For the Israelites, the count was about the harvest, thus the word “omer” which was a unit of measure used to count and track grain harvests. Yeshua taught us the spiritual meaning of “harvest” as those ready to receive the good news of the Messiah (Matt 9:37). That’s what the third phase of counting the omer is about.
In Parts 1 and 2, I laid out a three-phase structure for the 49-day count:
- The first 40 days
- Days 41-49
- The 50th day
The first two phases prepare us for what’s about to happen on the 50th day and beyond. (more…)
Pentecost: 2000 Years Ago or 2022?
The Day of Pentecost – we remember the supernatural flames appearing in the room where Yeshua’s followers were gathered. Inside the room, there was the sound of a “mighty rushing wind” and the speaking of other languages they’d never learned. It’s the pouring out of God’s very spirit into mere humans (Acts 2). That’s plenty to celebrate and remember right there. But what’s the purpose in our noting it every year? (more…)
Messianic Sabbath 