Feasts Of Freedom
From Conception To Resurrection
I remember my mother telling me that if a woman wanted to know the exact date of their baby's birth all they had to do was count nine moons from the date of conception . Now that may sound rather primitive, but recently I was reading a book by the late Zola Levitt, The Seven Feasts of Israel, where he stated almost the exact words my mother said years ago. Levitt focused on the Seven Feasts of Israel and related it to the entire gestation period of a woman's pregnancy according to the Jewish calendar.
Beginning with Passover and culminating with Chanukah, Levitt meticulously explains that there is a correlation between the birthing process and the Seven Feasts of Israel outlined in Leviticus 23 (see Scriptures below). What is interesting about Levitt's revelation is that during the Resurrection Season three of the Jewish Feasts take place-Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits.
Passover represents ovulation and new life. On the fourteenth day of the first month in the gestation cycle the egg appears. God instructed Moses that the Passover Feast should take place on the fourteenth day of the first month. During the Passover Feast the Jews place an egg on the table symbolic of the new life granted by the sacrifice of the lamb in Egypt. We are all familiar with the pagan Easter egg that also represents new life. His crucifixion on Passover gave us the chance for life everlasting.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the planting of the seed or the fertilization, occurs the night following the Passover Feast. Within 24-hours the human egg must be fertilized or it will pass on. Twenty-four hours after the Passover Feast Jesus was buried. His burial in the earth, prepared for each of us, the glorious resurrection to come.
Implantation of the human egg marks the moment when the fertilized egg arrives safely in the uterus and begins its miraculous growth into a human being. This process may take anywhere from two to six days before it implants. The Festival of First Fruits (Easter), the spring planting, is not on a definite time cycle and occurs on the Sunday following the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. It could be the day after, or it could be almost a week away. This represents the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is evident that God designed the conception of each of us in accordance with those first three majestic feasts, so appropriately fulfilled by our Lord. In so many respects everything that God impregnates us with goes through a cycle that begins with conception and culminates in victory. In order to truly embrace the new thing, we must first crucify and bury the old thing.
Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected giving us entitlement to eternal life. Just like the fertilized human egg, Jesus after his burial traveled into hell's gates and defeated death. It was in this victory that He was able to rise with all power in His hands. The seed had been planted that open the doors for us to have everlasting life. This is the Festival of First Fruits!
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! Jesus, Our Lord and King, overpowered death! Rose from the dead! Not only did he have all power in His hands, but he bestowed upon us that same resurrection power!
Copyright � 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Jacqui A. Showers., The Showers Group Ministries
Some Excerpts from Levitt, Zola. The Seven Feasts of Israel. 1979.
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