Messiah

The Lamb of G-d

According to John 1:29, Messiah Yeshua is the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sins of the world.  Revelation 7:14 declares that our robes have been washed white by the blood of the Lamb.

Every year, the Pesach lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Aviv, and on that very day, Messiah entered Jerusalem in his "Triumphal Entry" as the spotless Lamb of G-d.

The Unleavened One

Leaven represents sin. Leaven causes things to "puff up" and become "prideful".  Scripture refers to One who is without sin (Hebrews 4:15) who was sent as an offering for sin (Romans 8:3)... the Messiah Yeshua. Just as Messiah Yeshua was sinless, we are called to be perfectly sinless (i.e. without leaven) for seven days.  Seven represents perfection or completion.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:20 that Yeshua was resurrected as the first fruits from those who are "asleep" (i.e. dead). First fruit grain offerings were consumed completely and were to be offered without any leaven (Leviticus 2:11).

The Firstfruits of Those Asleep

Reishit Qatzir [the beginning of the harvest] is sometimes called Yom HaBikkurim, the day of the first fruits, and it provides a picture of the Messiah in several ways.  The first image I've already mentioned: the need for a mediator.  The second is found in the offering itself.

When the time of the harvest had come, when the first of the crop was ready, it was cut down and brought before G-d through the mediation of the priest. 

When the time of the Messiah had come, when the firstborn of all Creation was ready, He was cut down and slain.  The offering of His own life was made before G-d the Father.  Messiah was both the offering and the priest Who offered it!  (Hebrews 7:27)

A Kinsman Redeemer

It is the most extraordinary love story ever told: a treasured woman is enslaved, beaten, and in chains.  Then, her beloved arrives to free her, defeats her captors, and whisks her away to a safe, hidden retreat.  There, he comforts her, confesses his great love for her, and proposes.

This is the story of G-d and His beloved, Israel.

He saved her from slavery, defeated the Egyptians and their "gods", and carried her safely through the desert, the Red Sea, and the wilderness to Mount Sinai.

The Return of the Moedim Messiah

A long, hot, dry summer in the Land of Israel follows the spring moedim (Pesach, Chag HaMatzot, Reishit Qatzir, and Shavuot).  But the moedim return in the Fall, and with them comes cooler weather and relief from the heat.

Like the spring moedim that foretold Messiah's first coming, Yom Teruah marks the beginning of the fall festivals that foretell His second coming (oh, Lord, may it be soon!).  In this moed, we can see Messiah returning with a great trumpet blast and vanquishing His enemies in preparation for Judgment Day and the Day of Atonement.

The blessing of the moedim return with Yom Teruah: the Feast of Trumpets, the first of the fall moedim.

Prophecy speaks of the Great Trumpet that will herald the return of the Messiah King following the long, hot, and dry centuries since His appearing.

The Blood of Messiah

To better understand this moed and how it pictures the (as yet to be completed) work of Messiah, we should understand the Scriptural meaning of atonement. To assist with that understanding, I recommend this study on atonement.

As noted previously, the Day of Atonement is for cleansing by blood from the physical impurity that accompanies life, death, and sin. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us:

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14)

There are two interesting facts found in this passage.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."  It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.  Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." (Revelation 19:6-9)

When Messiah returns, there will be a grand celebration when He is reunited with His bride.  The Feast of Booths provides a picture of that coming reunion.