God’s Calendar - The Month (New Moon) of Elul 2021 (5781)

On this Feast of First Fruits night — following the Passover and Unleavened Bread weekend we just went through — we celebrated the crucifixion of Messiah on Passover, when He was laid in the tomb on Unleavened Bread. He rises on First Fruits, which is what this feast is called: the Feast of First Fruits, marking His resurrection from the dead. We wanted to celebrate this tonight and also to extend the journey mentioned in the Bible. When we read Leviticus 23, there is a journey after the Feast of First Fruits that most Christians do not understand. It is a beautiful journey of purification, beginning with the Feast of First Fruits and continuing through a count of 50 days to the Feast of Shavuot — what we know today as Pentecost. "Penti" means 50, which is where the word "Pentecost" comes from. It is also called the Feast of Weeks, and we are about to get into it on God's calendar.

We would first like to backtrack briefly. If you did not join us on Thursday night for the celebration of Passover and the journey we went through on God's calendar, we will summarize it quickly. But if you have been with us, you know what we are talking about when it comes to God's calendar and His feast days. We will spend a little time in summary, then catch up on the Feast of First Fruits, and then move into this beautiful journey we are all about to go on — from the Feast of Weeks to the Feast of Shavuot.

It all begins with God's calendar. If we are not on God's calendar, we will not understand some of the divine appointments that He wants us to be a part of — for you, for me, and for the church. These are beautiful, intimate seasons that He has appointed for Messiah to intersect with human history. When you really think about it and meditate on it, it is totally amazing what He has done.

God's calendar is established in Genesis 1:14, when He created the sun and the moon for divine appointments. The word for "seasons" in that passage is the Hebrew word moed, which means "a divine appointment." He made His calendar for divine appointments — that is what the word "seasons" means in Hebrew. He has these divine appointments for Messiah to intersect with human history, both at His first coming and at His second coming.

When we go to Leviticus 23, most people know this as the feast days of the Lord. The word for "feast" there is the same word used for "seasons" in Genesis 1:14 — it is moed, meaning "a divine appointment." So what we have in Genesis 1:14 is the moed for seasons, and then in Leviticus 23 the word for "feast" is again moed. The Lord is correlating His calendar in Genesis 1:14 — which is the Hebrew calendar, the only calendar that goes by both the sun and the moon — to Messiah's divine appointments.

When we read the Gospels, it is very clear in all four of them: He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, and rose on the Feast of First Fruits. He fulfilled those first three divine appointments to the exact day, hour, and detail of the ceremony. This perfectly correlates to Leviticus 23, to the calendar, and to the prophetic foreshadow in Exodus 12 with the Passover lamb. If you did not go through that previous video and you are new to this, please review it. It is so important to understand what time we are in on God's calendar and what season we are in.

Tonight we celebrate the Feast of First Fruits, which is the resurrection of Messiah. There is some debate about when exactly to celebrate it — whether it is today or, counting a literal three days and three nights, tomorrow night or early Tuesday morning. We are going to celebrate it tonight. And then we will see the beautiful journey He wants all of us to be a part of — this purification journey — as revealed through the prophetic foreshadow in Exodus, in the Gospels, and through what Messiah Himself told the disciples by way of the Counting of the Omer.

The Counting of the Omer is a spiritual ascent — a 50-day journey to become intimate with the Lord. Every day counts in this upward count. It is the only feast that counts up to the jubilee, to the 50th day. We are going to get into the beautiful meanings and connections: what the number 50 means, Shavuot, First Fruits, and how it all ties together on God's calendar. But first, let us look at First Corinthians 15:20–23.

Paul writes: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."

I wanted to start with this passage because it is the Feast of First Fruits. He is the firstfruits of mankind — the firstfruits of the resurrection of the dead. He is the firstborn. Many people associate the name "Easter" with His resurrection, but that name has pagan origins and is not found in the Holy Bible. The Feast of First Fruits is what the Holy Bible identifies Him as, and we need to acknowledge that. He is that Feast of First Fruits, just as the Apostle Paul declared.

This feast is the cornerstone from which the Counting of the Omer begins. The resurrection is the starting point — the day the sheaf is waved. As we discovered in the previous video, if the whole sheaf was Messiah and He is accepted by the Father, then we will be accepted as well, just as Paul says in First Corinthians 15. This is the day we begin the Counting of the Omer.

You might ask: what is the Counting of the Omer? It is a 50-day count with the Lord. Some people, through Lent and various church traditions, begin a period of fasting or reflection before Passover. That is not biblical. What is biblical is the Counting of the Omer — following the Lord's festivals just as He instructed Moses. He told Moses: this is your first month, in Nisan; this is where you count the Sabbath and count the feast days in order. Right now we are on the third feast day — the Feast of First Fruits — and from here begins the beautiful journey to the Feast of Shavuot on the 50th day.

It is such an intimate time — a purification journey. We are going to see this through the Exodus foreshadow of the children of Israel leaving Egypt, and why that journey was so important for them. I believe He has called us every year at this festival to go on this same purification journey. Most people believe that after the resurrection everything pauses until the next festival, but that is not true with the spring feasts. It is a 50-day count from the Feast of First Fruits. He wants all of us to be intimate with Him and to walk this purification journey — to get whatever Egypt represents out of us, just as the children of Israel did.

You can look at it as a journey toward a jubilee, toward the 50th day. The number 50 in the Bible means liberty and freedom. This is a season of liberation. Think about the children of Israel leaving Egypt — it was freedom, liberty, a season of liberation. And it was not just Passover. They crossed the Red Sea, went into the desert, and arrived at Sinai on the 50th day, where they received the Torah. And as we know, the Holy Spirit was poured out on that same day. We are going to get into all of these beautiful connections.

This journey is called the Feast of Weeks — the Feast of Shavuot — and it encompasses the Counting of the Omer. It is found in Leviticus 23. We will see in the scriptures why it was so important for Israel in Exodus, why it was so important for the disciples in the Gospels, and why I believe He calls it an everlasting ordinance — so that we can be purified and cleansed even further than we already are.

Before reading Leviticus 23, I want to note for anyone just joining us: these are the Lord's feasts — His divine appointments. He says it twice, in verse 1 and verse 2 of Leviticus 23, that these are His feast days, His divine appointments. Many people call them the Jewish feast days, and they are. But we must remember that God created the sun and the moon. It is His calendar. He gave it to the Jewish people to give to all of us, so that we can worship together as one new body, one new man. There are not two ways to worship; there is one way, and it is stated in the Holy Bible.

Leviticus 23:9–12 reads: "Adonai said to Moses, 'Tell the people of Israel, after you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the Levite. He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai so that you will be accepted.' The Levite is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath — which is today. On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without blemish in its first year as a burnt offering for Adonai."

He makes it very clear in the Feast of First Fruits that the sheaf is waved on the day after the Sabbath, and it is from this point that the count of 50 days begins.