Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the
month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse
the sanctuary: And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin
offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four
corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate
of the inner court. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the
month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so
shall ye reconcile the house. In the first month, in the fourteenth
day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days;
unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince
prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for
a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt
offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish
daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin
offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a
bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. In
the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do
the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin
offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat
offering, and according to the oil (verses 18-25).
First stands the cleansing of the sanctuary on the first day of the
first month. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore commences the
year. And this offering of a young bullock without blemish shows forth
Christ in His wonderful, unblemished devotedness as He suffered once for
sin. The same sacrifice will be repeated on the seventh day, and it is
then especially for everyone that erreth and for him that is simple. The
precious blood of the Lamb of God is thus constantly kept in
remembrance. Two great feasts will be celebrated, the Passover and the
Feast of Tabernacles. These are the feasts of the Millennium. Very
significantly the feast of weeks, that is Pentecost, is no longer
mentioned. Dispensationally the Feast of Pentecost typifies the coming
of the Spirit of God, to baptize believing Jews and Gentiles into one
body. Pentecost ushered in this present age, and during its course the
Holy Spirit is on earth fulfilling His mission in calling from Jews and
Gentiles a people for His name. When this age closes with the great
predicted events transpiring, the Spirit of God has finished the work
for which He came. The body of Christ is taken home to glory and united
with the Head. It is true the Holy Spirit will yet be poured out upon
all flesh (Joel ii:28) but the dispensational aspect of Pentecost is
fulfilled and can have no such meaning in millennial times.[54]
[54] The Feasts of Jehovah--Passover: The Cross and its work. First
Fruits: Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost: The Gift of the Spirit and
the calling of the Church. Feast of Trumpets: The Regathering of Israel.
Day of Atonement: Israel's Cleansing. Feast of Tabernacles: The
Millennium.
And how appropriate it is that only Passover and the Feast of
Tabernacles are celebrated by Israel when the Lord has come. Passover
was first kept in Egypt; its precious meaning is well known to all
Christians. Redemption by blood, so fully realized in the work of the
spotless Lamb of God, is blessedly seen in the Passover, while the Feast
of Unleavened Bread reveals the purpose of redemption--redemption unto
holiness. Israel observed this feast in the wilderness. They celebrated
it when they had come into the land; then under Hezekiah and Josiah it
was recovered. During their long dispersion Israel has not forgotten
this feast. Though with judicial blindness upon them, eyes that cannot
see and ears that cannot hear, the people keep once a year the Passover.
Longingly the orthodox Jew looks towards the land of promise and repeats
each Passover night the pious wish "This day here; next year in
Jerusalem." When the nation is regathered and the Kingdom is established
in their midst, they will keep this Feast anew. What meaning it will
then have! What memories cluster around it! How all their history will
be recalled by that Feast--started in Egypt and consummated in the
Kingdom! But the observance apart from the unleavened bread is
different. The Prince and all the people on the fourteenth day of the
first month are identified as they never were before, in a single
bullock for a sin offering, while every day for seven days the Prince
prepares a complete burnt offering, a sign of perfect consecration to
the Lord. What praise the Lord, the Lamb of God enthroned in glory, and
His glory covering the earth, will receive in these yearly memorial
feasts.
The Feast of Tabernacles is the second great feast. It was kept by
Israel when the harvest and the vintage had taken place. It foreshadows
the Millennium, when the harvest and the vintage (Rev. xiv) the end of
the age is passed and the new age, the age of glory, has come; the great
ingathering has taken place and the prophetic meaning of the Feast of
Tabernacles will be realized. Zechariah xiv:16-21 tells us of its
Millennial celebration.
Chapter xlvi.