By Rabbi Eric Tokajer
What if I told you that the upcoming Biblical Spring Feasts could provide the answers we need for unity within the Body of Believers, and, with that unity, the mechanism for great revival and restoration?
We live in a world filled with lost people who are desperately in need of redemption and restoration. With changing demographics, adjusting morality, and changing perspectives, the statement, “the blind are leading the blind,” is even more relevant than ever.
People today have ready and convenient access to more Biblical information and materials than at any other time in history. But, instead of the Body of Messiah moving closer together in unity and understanding, the Body continues to schism and become divided over an ever-increasing list of quasi doctrinal understandings. Yet, the solution to these divisions is not only within our reach, the answers are within our hands.
The reason the Body of Messiah seems to be heading in every direction at the same time is, to a great extent, the result of our collective decision to view the Bible as a lifestyle manual. In truth, it is an instruction manual or, better yet, a road map through history.
The most accurate cartographer in history, God himself, wrote this map. The map is complete with turn-by-turn instructions and warnings about where travel might be dangerous. On the map itself is printed a detailed layout of all road signs, including redundant reminders for weary travelers.
Get the The Spring Feasts and Purim Book
You’ll learn the history and prophetic significance of each Spring Feast and the meaning it holds today for Believers in Yeshua. Holiday recipes will help you celebrate the Springs Feasts and Purim. Discover what God’s appointed times hold in store for you.
The Feast Days were perfectly planned and laid out so that all could follow the signs directly to Yeshua.
From the very first page of our Bibles, we are introduced to these road signs and, as with all good vehicles for travel, the map light was turned on first. In Genesis 1:3, we read where God says, “Let there be light.” This is before the sun, moon and other planets are spoken into being.
In Genesis 1:14, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let lights in the expanse of the sky be for separating the day from the night. They will be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” In verse 14, the word translated “seasons” is actually the Hebrew word moadim, which means “appointed times.” This same word is used to describe the Feasts listed in Leviticus 23. So we see that the sun and other planets were created to provide a way for man to know when the appointed times were to take place.
You may be thinking, “Okay, so we now know that the planetary bodies were created, not just to provide light, but to provide a means to know when to keep the Feast Days, but what does that have to do with unity and redemption?”
Good question. Just as the sun and stars were created for more than simply being a source of light, the Feasts were created to be more than a time of celebration.
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Each Feast Day listed in Leviticus serves as part of the road map that leads us from Creation to Messiah and from Messiah to Salvation. They were designed and entered into the biblical map so that Israel would be led straight to Yeshua. Then Israel would become a “Light to the Nations” that would then lead the Nations to the blessing promised through Abraham in Genesis 12:3.
The Feast Days, while given by God for Israel to observe, were never intended to simply be “Jewish Holidays” or “Old Testament Celebrations.” These days were perfectly planned and laid out so that all who looked at the map would follow the “Feast Day” road signs and end up looking directly into the open arms of Yeshua.
There is a reason that Yeshua was executed on Pesach (Passover), rose on the celebration of the First Fruits of the barley harvest, and that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) was poured out on the Day of Shavuot (Pentecost). The intersection of these Feast Days was laid out on the Biblical road map so that all who were following the signs provided on the map would be led directly to their Messiah, Yeshua.
Unfortunately, over the years, Israel began to replace some of the road signs with man-made traditions, which distorted the map and caused many Jews to not recognize Yeshua when He came the first time. Historically, we know hundreds of thousands of Jews did follow the map and found Yeshua to be the Messiah of Israel and began to shine as a light to the Nations. The world saw the historical and prophetic joining together of Jewish Believers and Gentile Believers into one body. However, due to both religious and political forces, this new body also began to remove or replace the “Feast Day” road signs with traditions of their own.
Get the The Spring Feasts and Purim Book
You’ll learn the history and prophetic significance of each Spring Feast and the meaning it holds today for Believers in Yeshua. Holiday recipes will help you celebrate the Springs Feasts and Purim. Discover what God’s appointed times hold in store for you.
So we have had about 2,000 years of history during which the Body of Messiah largely has traveled along the journey of faith with many of the road signs either removed or replaced. The result of this is religious gridlock and major spiritual traffic jams, which keep both Jewish people and nonJewish people from easily finding their way to Yeshua for their redemption.
Over the past 50 years, through a unique restorative revival, God has been reconnecting Jewish and non-Jewish Believers in Yeshua through the understanding of the Feast Days. As more light continues to be shined upon them, more and more Believers have begun to choose to participate and celebrate the Feasts together. This renewal has not only brought more unity in the Body, but the restoration of the road signs has once again provided clear directions for Jewish people to follow those signs to their Messiah, Yeshua.
Yes, it is possible to find Yeshua without understanding the Feast Days, just as it is possible to cross the country without a road map, but having a well-marked and thoroughly signed roadway makes the journey much more pleasant to travel together. It also allows both Jewish and non-Jewish Believers to walk together, in the same direction, in unity. Our eyes can remain focused on the signs leading to the finish line, instead of having to keep our eyes on the ground stumbling to find the right path.
So this year, as the Spring Feast Days of Passover and Shavuot arrive, rejoice so that the light of Messiah shines so brightly that those around you may see the “Road Signs” that lead to the redemption provided by the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Yeshua.
