Showing forth the whole purpose of god, from everlasting to the renewal and perfection of all things.
LEVITICUS 23LEV 23
AND the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and Say unto them, concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
THE SABBATH,
Showing god's rest from everlasting.
Six days shalt work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the SABBATH OF THE LORD in all your dwellings.
THE SIX FEASTS FROM THE FIRST MONTH TO THE SEVENTH,
Showing the dispensational dealings of god with his people.
These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
THE PASSOVER,
The memorial of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The type of Christ offered for sin.
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is THE LORD'S PASSOVER.
THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD,
Showing the communion of saints, resulting from the death of Christ, the true paschal lamb.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD unto the Lord: SEVEN DAYS YE MUST EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
THE SEVEN WEEKS OF HARVEST FOLLOWED BY THE DAY OF PENTECOST.
Showing the whole course of the old dispensation, with the opening or dawn of the new.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the laud which I give unto you, and shall reap THE HARVEST thereof, then ye shall bring A SHEAF OF THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: ON THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
And ye shall oat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your god: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; SEVEN SABBATHS shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number FIFTY DAYS; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations TWO WAVE LOAVES of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baker with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may bean holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
THE LAW AS TO THE CORNERS OF THE FIELD AND THE GLEANING.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and unto the stranger: I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
UNNOTICED INTERVAL WITHOUT ANY FEAST, TYPICAL OF THE PRESENT AGE,
In which the lord is gathering out his church from the World.
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS,
Showing the awakening of Israel hereafter.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have A SABBATH , a memorial of BLOWING OF TRUMPETS, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT,
Showing the repentance of Israel hereafter.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be A DAY OF ATONEMENT: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord., And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of. atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work on that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you A SABBATH OF REST, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES,
The world to come, or the kingdom; foreshown.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES FOR SEVEN DAYS unto the Lord. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: ON THE EIGHTH DAY SHALL BE 'AN HOLY CONVOCATION unto you and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: IT IS A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer in offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day: beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your free will offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.
A RECAPITULATION OF THE LAST FEAST.
With some additional features.
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land (that is, "thy corn and thy wine" Deut. 16:13), ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days.: ON THE FIRST DAY SHALL BE A SABBATH, AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY SHALL BE A SABBATH. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly, trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the years. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. Ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
The dispensational actings of God throughout the whole course of the world's history are expressed within the compass of this beautiful chapter, so that that portion of the year occupied by these seven feasts, from the setting apart of the Paschal Lamb in the first month, to the feast of ingathering in the seventh, may be viewed as expressing THE GREAT WEEK OF TIME, from the creation to the close of the millennial kingdom of Christ; while the remaining months of the year, after the feasts had concluded, and which, observe, are wholly unnoticed in this xxiii. of Leviticus, expressed, it appears, THE ETERNAL STATE; THE EIGHTH DAY at the close just giving a glimpse, as it were, of the end, when Christ will give up the kingdom, when the new heavens and new earth will be created, and GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL. THE SABBATH being distinct as to its character from the other six feasts, showed forth the rest of man now walking by faith upon 'earth, and also of man hereafter, in the full fruition of God, and therefore, as marking this truth, it was repeated from one week to another, THROUGH THE` WHOLE COURSE OF THE YEAR; the first seven months, as we have seen, being expressive of TIME—the unnoticed months at the end, of ETERNITY.
N.B.—The above is the mere enlarged view of this subject, because the first three of these feasts, it is needless to state, were fulfilled when Christ came and was rejected by Israel.
Known unto god are all his works from the beginning of the world.
THE SABBATH.
The place which the Sabbath holds in this chapter is morally true: it stands at the head, as showing GOD IN HIS OWN REST BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN, as expressing the Sabbath of Him who inhabiteth eternity—whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. It shows Him, moreover, before those ages and generations began, whose moral history is depicted throughout the rest of the chapter—devising blessing for man in the end, looking forward to the result of His ways with His creatures, when the Church of the firstborn, together with the rest of the redeemed creation, will enter with Him into the joy of His own Sabbath. Thus the Sabbath stands here as the great leading truth—the pledge of that rest which the Lord will bring in at the last; and as this chapter begins with the Sabbath, so the Sabbath again on the eighth day of the great feast of ingathering, at the close of the year, exhibits the fulfillment of all He has purposed, showing that what love devised at the outset, love in the end will accomplish. This will be the full triumph of Christ over the serpent, when man in the flesh having irretrievably failed, the whole family of God, both in heaven and in earth, will be brought into blessing, and established in grace, beyond the power and reach of the enemy.
Gen. 2:2, 3; Exod. 16:22-30; 20:8-11; 31:12-17; 35:2, 3; Lev. 23:3; Deut. 5:12-16; Neh. 9:14;13:15-22; Isa. 56:2-7; 58:13, 14; Jer. 17:19-27; Ezek. 20:12-26; Matt. 12:1-8; Luke 13:11-17;14:1-6; 23:54-56; John 5:1-16;7:21-24; Col. 2:17; Heb. 4:1-11.
THE LAMB SET APART FOR THE PASSOVER.
(See Ex. 12:3-6.)EXO 12:3-6
This (taking the enlarged view of the subject) expresses the setting apart of the true Paschal Lamb, after man had departed from God, when it was declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, while His heel should be bruised. (See Gen. 3:15.) This is the first revelation of Christ in the word, which(with others more clear and enlarged) sustained the souls of the elect through the ages from Adam to Moses.
Then (according to the more limited view) we see Christ setting Himself apart as the sacrifice, when He speaks of Himself as the corn of wheat that must die. This occurred, as we gather by comparing the 1st verse of John 12 with the 12th of the same chapter, exactly five days before; thus agreeing as to time, among other things, with the type here presented; because this tenth day of Abib began (according to the order of God in the word—see Gen. 1:5, Lev. 23:32) on the evening before, the day always being reckoned "from even unto even," while the paschal supper was eaten on the fourteenth day, at even; which leaves, between the setting apart of the lamb and the Passover, a space of exactly and fully five days.
THE LORD’S PASSOVER.
The Passover is to be viewed in a, twofold. FIRST, it was the yearly memorial to Israel of their redemption out of Egypt, of that night of the Lord which was to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. (See Ex. 12:42.) SECONDLY, it pointed continually forward to Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, who died to take away the sin both of Israel and of the whole world.
Ex. 12; 13:3-5; Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:1-14; Deut. 16:1-3; Josh. 5:10; 2 Chron. 30; 35:1-19; Ezek. 45:21-24; 1 Cor. 5:7, 8; Heb. 11:28.
THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
Begins with an holy convocation.
The first day of unleavened bread (though not always or necessarily so) in the especial year in which Christ died, fell on the Sabbath. (See Lev. 23:11.)
FIRST MONTH (ORIGINALLY THE. SEVENTH),
Nisan, or Abib.
N.B.—The Passover and the feast of unleavened bread (though, it is true, one is here said to fall on the fourteenth, the other on the fifteenth day of the month) came together on the very same evening (see Ex. 12:18, 19); because, following the divine order, according to which the day was reckoned, "from even unto even" (Lev. 23:32), the evening of the fourteenth was the damn or beginning of the fifteenth. Thus the close connection is seen between the-communion of saints and that blood which is the ground of it all.
THE PASSOVER AND THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD.
These two feasts are connected; the Passover expressing the death of Christ, the true Paschal Lamb; while the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the children of Israel were commanded to put away all leaven (the type of sin) from their dwellings, as well as to eat unleavened bread for the space of full seven days (while in principle it applies to ourselves in this dispensation (1 Cor. 5:7, 8), points here more especially to the saints of old under the law, feeding by, faith upon Chris, who, unlike that which the two wave loaves set forth, was the true bread from heaven, unleavened and perfect.
There was a moral connection between these seven days of unleavened bread, and the seven days of Israel's dwelling in booths at the end. The former shows the life of faith upon earth; the latter, the coming joy of the kingdom. In Ezek. 45:21-25, where they are shown as being observed in Israel hereafter, these two feasts come together, in order thereby, it would seem, to mark this moral affinity.
As to these seven days of unleavened bread in connection with the harvest, observe that the former invariably began on the fifteenth day of the month, while the first day of harvest was moveable. Here the last six days of unleavened bread are identical with the first six days of harvest: observe, the days are identical, while the ordinances are distinct.
With regard to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there is one thing to notice; it is this—that in the year in which Jesus was crucified, this (the fifteenth day) was also a Sabbath; which being so, if we reckon back to the first day of the year, we find that that also was a Sabbath. A terrible witness this against Israel, inasmuch as the opening day of this year was thus a pledge to His people that THE LORD OF THE SABBATH was there, still waiting to bless them, if they would only believe; while the fact of His lying dead in the grave on the Sabbath, the first day of the unleavened bread, was a fearful proof of their state, showing how His Sabbath, His love, and He Himself, were rejected and despised by His people.
Ex. 12:15-20; 13. 6, 7; 23:15; Lev. 23:6-8; Num. 28:17-25; Deut. 16:3-8; Josh. 5:11; Matt. 16:6-12; Luke 12:1; Acts 12:3.
THE SEVEN WEEKS OF HARVEST,
Begin with an holy convocation.
Here the WAVE SHEAF, the type of CHRIST RISEN, was accepted for Israel. N.B.—This invariably occurred "on the morrow after the Sabbath," namely, on the day after the Sabbath next to the Passover; so that if the Sabbath was later, then the first day of harvest would be later accordingly. Here the harvest is seen to open on the third day after the Passover, because such was the order in the year that Christ, the true wave sheaf, was raised from the dead.
In order to obviate the inconvenience which must otherwise have resulted from this variation, an intercalary month, Veadar or second Adar, was introduced, commonly at the end of every third year. Of this, it is true, we find no notice in scripture, and yet without it the greatest confusion must have inevitably ensued as to the order and times of these feasts.
Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:9-21; Num. 28:26-31; Deut. 16:9-12; Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8. The gleaning to be left: Lev. 19:9; 23:22; Deut. 24:19; Ruth 2:3-7, 15, 16.
THE HARVEST.
The opening of harvest (as shown in the note on the subject) was so ordered by the Levitical law, that it fell of necessity on the first day of the week—"the morrow after the Sabbath"' (Lev. 23:11); because then the WAVE SHEAF was offered, and this pointed to Christ, who, "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week" (Matt. 28:1), was sought for in vain by His disciples in the sepulcher, He having left it already, as the life-giving head of the new creation.
As TO THE HARVEST ITSELF, this sevenfold period of weeks, or forty-nine days, between the Passover and the day of Pentecost, expresses THE WHOLE OF THE PAST DISPENSATION, which followed closely on the paschal supper in Egypt, and ended with the "day of Pentecost fully come" (Acts 2), as it is significantly termed, because it was that to which all the preceding ones pointed—the winding up of the whole. Then it was that the Holy Ghost carne upon the saints in Jerusalem, who after the nation at large had cut off their Messiah, were given power in the Spirit to tell of the glory of Christ at the right hand of God; but this being despised, the Holy Ghost set at naught, the nation was from, that time rejected, while the saints lost their original standing as Jews, and being called into far greater nearness to God, formed the nucleus or gathering-point of the heavenly branch of His family—THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN. Thus according to the word of Isaiah, though Israel was not gathered, yet Christ, notwithstanding, was glorious in the eyes of the Lord—more glorious by far than even if Israel had received Him. (Isa. 49:5.)
"THE HARVEST IS PAST, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." (Jer. 8:20.) Such, in the prospect of the rejection of Jesus, the blessed "Lord of the harvest," was the lament of Jeremiah the prophet, serving to show that the annual harvest-time expressed the whole of the past dispensation, the time of the longsuffering of God with His people.
Here, too, we may notice, that as the first act of Jehovah in His dealings with Israel was their redemption in Egypt through the blood of the Passover, so the first thought in His mind, touching His elect, from the outset, was the death of their Surety; for which cause, though Jesus was slain, it is true, when the dispensational harvest-time of Israel was about to close in, here the Paschal Lamb (followed by the wave sheaf, the type of resurrection) is presented as slain; not at the close, but just before the opening of harvest, in order thereby to show the ground of the Lord's dealings with Israel all through, as well as of His grace in the end to the elect seed of Abraham.
Further—as showing how grace was in action throughout the old dispensation, we see that just as this period was marked by its seven Sabbaths of days, the pledges to Israel, as it would seem, of the sevenfold rest of the great feast at the end, and also of the millennial joy of-the kingdom, so the sabbatic years and the jubilees, which marked the whole course of time under the law (see Lev. 25), were yet larger expressions, more prominent pledges of that for which the whole creation is waiting, the time when all shall be brought into happy subjection to Christ, and every tongue shall confess that He only is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.
THE CORNERS NOT TO BE REAPED,
and the gleaning not gathered.
The following is the law of the Lord in connection with the harvest:
“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the CORNERS OF THY FIELD when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any GLEANING OF THY HARVEST: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I AM THE LORD YOUR a GOD." (Lev. 23:22.)
Two things are here named—the corners unreaped, and the gleaning. As to the former—this seems to point to the Lord's grace to Israel hereafter. The harvest formally ended at Pentecost, and yet, as we here see, some wheat being left in the field even then, it looked as though the work was unfinished, and that the sickle of the reaper was still needed. So, though Israel may now say, "The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jer. 8:20), still the Lord's love is unchanged; and whereas, as to them, the past harvest has failed, the work, when He comes, and puts His hand to the sickle, will surely issue in blessing.
Then the Lord's care for the gleaners showed the workings of grace throughout the old dispensation, because even then there were those, here expressed by the poor and the stranger, namely, Gentiles as well as Jews, who knew and valued that grace which the Jewish nation despised.
N.B.—See note as to "the poor and the stranger" being expressive of "the mystery of Christ," which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men.
THE MORE LIMITED VIEW OF THE SEVEN WEEKS OF HARVEST.
This period, besides expressing the past dispensation, was literally the interval between the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost—the time spent by the saints in intercourse with Him after He had risen, and thin, after He had ascended, in waiting, according to the command of the Lord, for the promised power from on high. (Luke 24:49.) Thus was it a time of deep interest to Israel, when the heart of Him who had been wounded in the house of His friends was still lingering over His beloved Jerusalem, still waiting upon her, if haply she would repent.
As TO "THE DAY OF PENTECOST FULLY COME," at the close of this period, this, though the opening of this dispensation, was also the earnest of Israel's blessing. Jerusalem, not forsaken as yet, was still owned as the center of blessing on earth; there the Holy Ghost, through the apostles, was heard for a season calling upon Israel to repent, to look to Him whom they had pierced. But this being despised, and the blood of Stephen, the chief witness to the ascension of Christ, being shed, they were thenceforth cast off and disowned for a time as the chosen people of God. The word, therefore, of Joel (Joel 2:28-32), which was then in one sense fulfilled (Acts 2:16), waits still to be fully accomplished; and this it assuredly will be—like the jubilee, the fiftieth year, spoken of in Lev. 25, the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, at the close of the harvest, continues still in God's purpose, the pledge of restoration and blessing to Israel hereafter.
THE DAY OF PENTECOST ON FEAST OF WEEKS, AN HOLY CONVOCATION.
So called because it was kept on the fiftieth day after the sheaf of the firstfruits had been waved and accepted for Israel, namely, on "the morrow after the seventh Sabbath;" it was named also "the day of the firstfruits" (Num. 28:26), because then THE TWO WAVE LOAVES, TYPICAL OF THE CHURCH IN RESURRECTION, were offered. Thus the moral connection is shown between the resurrection of Christ and the life of the Church; but observe, while with the wave sheaf no leaven (the type of evil) was offered, the two loaves were baked with leaven. Thus the unsullied perfection of Christ on the, one hand, and on the other the presence and working of the flesh in the saints, is expressed.
THE UNNOTICED INTERVAL.
This space of about four months, between Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets, marks the interval between the rejection of Christ by His people and the forgiveness of Israel hereafter. During this period God, having visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name (Acts 15:14), is engaged in forming that branch of His family—THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN, which, in the time appointed will be caught up into the "clouds to meet the Lord" at His descent into the air. (1 Thess. 4:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-55.)
Observe, the coming of Christ here referred to is not His παρουσία, namely, His coming to reign, but that action which is to precede it, even His descent into "the air," to take His Church, His elect bride, home to Himself.
The Lord's coming to Israel, on the other, hand, is distinct from this altogether, or rather a further step on His way to the throne. Then, with his Church in His train, He will descend to the earth, avenge Himself on all who oppose Him, deliver the elect of Israel from the hand of their enemies, and set up His millennial kingdom below, His Church {gathered out from the world, as we have seen, during this age of Israel's dispersion) being His companion in, glory, and, like Himself, the dispenser of blessing to the dwellers on earth.
In this twenty-third of Leviticus, this period is left, wholly unnoticed: we are just given to see that a space intervened between the two feasts above named (the one in the third, the other in the seventh month); while the space is not named, and that designedly so, because the Spirit of God thus silently points to that which was kept. secret of old under, the law—the mystery hidden from ages and generations—the great purpose Of God touching His ELECT CHURCH—that secret, so wondrous, so blessed, that He only who dwelt from everlasting in the bosom of the Father,—He who was as one brought up with Him, and was daily His delight, had either title or power to declare it.
THE RELIEF OF THE POOR AND THE STRANGER IN HARVEST-TIME.
The poor and the stranger who gleaned, like Ruth, in the field, "after the reapers" (Ruth 2:7), during the above seven weeks, while the harvest was going on, show the elect in the old dispensation, while all was failing around them, taught by the Lord to live by faith upon earth, and to wait for the consolation of Israel.
Those, on the other hand, who gleaned in, the field after the reapers had left it, in this unnoticed period, between the day of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets, show THE ELECT BODY OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH OF GOD in this age, the poor, more 'especially meaning the Jew, such as " the poor of the flock" in 'Jerusalem, who, when He came, and was rejected by others, knew the voice of the true Shepherd of Israel; while the stranger expresses the Gentiles, "strangers from the covenants of promise," who sometimes were far off, but now are made nigh.
Thus, in this ordinance, so sweetly expressive of the Father's care for the poor and the stranger, and which thus belongs both to the time of the harvest and to this period beyond it, we see that grace which was ever in exercise, but which, in this dispensation, is more fully unfolded, showing that as Christ is now working, so the Father was working all through, from the very beginning.
Lastly, there is one thing more to consider: at some moment the gleaners must of necessity have ceased to glean in the fields at this interval—at what moment we know not, because it is untold and uncertain. And yet the thought is most blessed, because it silently speaks of that time when our path here upon earth having ended, the Church, unseen, it may be, by the world around, will be caught up to the Lord, and, like Enoch of old, pass away into her rest. (1 Thess. 4:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-55.)
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS, THE AWAKENING OF ISRAEL.
An holy convocation—a Sabbath.
The "memorial of the blowing of trumpets" here expresses "THE TRUMPET IN ZION," spoken of by Joel the prophet (Joel 2:1, 15), calling the congregation to fasting and mourning, and ushering in the day of the Lord, the day of Israel's deliverance and blessing. (See Neh. 8) THE NEW MOON, at this time appearing shows the faithful remnant beginning to shine in the light of the Lord, the sun of righteousness.
Lev. 23:23-25; Num. 10:1-10; 29:1-6; Ezra 3:1; Neh. 7:73; Psa. 81:3-5; Isa. 18:3; Joel 2:1-15.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT, THE REPENTANCE OF ISRAEL.
An holy convocation-a Sabbath.
"Whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut of from among his people." (Lev. 23:29.) Such was the law of this day of atonement, foreshowing the repentance of Israel, when they shall look, on Him whom they have pierced (Zech. 12:10); when, turning back, as it were, to the first feast at the outset, they will in truth keep the Passover, no longer hiding their faces from Him whom they once despised, and esteemed not:
Lev. 16; 23:20-31; 25:9; Num. 29:7-11; Isa. 53; Joel 2:12-17; Zech. 12:10-14.
THE SEVEN DAYS' FEAST.
These seven days of Israel's dwelling in booths seem to be morally linked with the above seven Sabbaths of harvest. The harvest, expressing the past times of Israel, shows man in his blindness despising the favor, polluting the Sabbaths of God, and ending at last in being cut off for awhile; while this last feast, on the other hand, sets forth the Lord in His grace at the end, gathering up all that man in his folly had forfeited, so as to bring in the Sabbath Himself in His own way-a sever fold Sabbath, the joy of which both He and the creature will share, when Christ shall be worshipped and loved as, "the Lord of the Sabbath," the sole channel of blessing and rest to His people.
SEVENTH MONTH (ORIGINALLY THE FIRST),
Tisri or Ethanim.
This was originally the first month, but was changed. into the seventh 'when the new order of time was appointed (Ex. 12:3), and most suitably so, as being the sabbatic month of the year, when the great feast of In-gathering came round, foreshowing the sevenfold rest of the kingdom, and giving, in "the great day" at the end, a brief foretaste of the state of perfection beyond it. The first and third month (like the first and third day) may be termed the resurrection months of the year, when the wave-sheaf and wave-loaves were offered:
THE LAST THREE FEASTS OF THE YEAR.
These three closing Feasts, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, occurring in the seventh or sabbatic month of the year, expressed the restoration of Israel in the latter day, issuing in the full joy and rest of the kingdom, when the Church shall be glorified, Jerusalem exalted, and when the Gentiles shall go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles—that is, not to keep the ordinance merely, but that also to which the ordinance pointed.
This last was a feast of eight days, the first and eighth day of which (whether either of them fell on the seventh day or not) were observed as "a Sabbath," thereby Marking its character as foreshowing the future rest of creation.
AS TO THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS. During this period the congregation of Israel dwelt in booths made of willows and palm trees, the memorials of the forty years in the wilderness, and, at the same time, a pledge of rest, the rest of the kingdom, of the time of refreshing after the harvest and vintage have closed (see Dent. 16:13); that is, after the. Lord has gathered in His elect, and avenged Himself on His enemies, the palm trees being emblematic of victory, the willows of the remembrance of sorrow, when all around will be joy. And as in that day the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isa. 30:26), so this, as it were, was A SEVENFOLD SABBATH, designed to show forth the dispensation of the fullness of times, for which the earth is still waiting. Then, as showing that both Israel and the Church are here glanced at together, we read, "THE FIRST DAY SHALL BE-A SABBATH." (Lev. 23:39.) Now, on the first day Of the week, the Church, through the resurrection of Christ, was called into being, while the Sabbath was the great sign between Jehovah and Israel. Therefore these -two, namely, the first day and the Sabbath, are here linked together, in order to show forth the whole sphere of Christ's glory, both above and below, both in His Church and in Israel.
Further, there exists, as before said, an affinity, between the feast of unleavened bread and this last seven-fold period—the former showing the elect feed in; by faith upon Christ, in the midst of Israel's apostasy the latter, the joy prepared for them in the world to come. And as marking, it would seem, this moral connection, we find the first of these feasts beginning or the fifteenth, and closing on the twenty-first day of the first month; while the last one began and ended or identically the same day of the seventh.
AS TO THE GREAT DAY OF THIS FEAST. This being an advance on the former, brings in the last state at the end—the, new heavens and the new earth. It was THE EIGHTH DAY; this links it with heaven, the abode of the Church: it was also A SABBATH; this points to the earth, the scene of Israel's rest.
Then, with regard to THE SABBATH so much dwelt upon here, while as a sign it belonged solely to Israel, it embraces, as to its general principle, the whole family of God. And as this chapter begins with the Sabbath, so it ends with the Sabbath, the former showing God in His own rest from everlasting, before the world began; the latter, the result of His wondrous ways with His people, namely, all things made net, the whole creation dwelling in love, and God, and the creature associated one with another in the joy of that Sabbath, of which He is, and will/be, both the source and the center forever.
Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:33-44; Num. 29:12-40; Deut. 16:13-15; 1 Kings 8:2, 65, 66; 2 Chron. 7:8-10; Ezra 3:4; Neh. 8:14-18; Ezek. 45:25; Zech. 45:16; John 7.
THE HOLY CONVOCATIONS.
On reviewing these feasts, it appears that, with the exception of one, namely, the Passover, they were all holy convocations; and that it was not till after the paschal lamb had been eaten that these convocations began. Thus we learn, that till Christ is made known to us as the true paschal lamb, the soul must needs be a stranger-to communion with God and His people—that being the thing which these convocations expressed. It was not till after the paschal supper in Egypt that ISRAEL was convened as a nation: it was not till Christ died that THE CHURCH was brought forth; and it wills not be till Christ is made known to ISRAEL AND THE WORLD HEREAFTER as the Lamb that was slain, that they will be gathered together in one, having fellowship with the redeemed Church above, the Lamb on the throne being at once the spring and the center of all the joy and the praise of that holy and blessed assembly.
THE NEW OR SACRED YEAR,
Embracing two halves of two civil years.
The seventh month of the old year being the first of the new.
These first seven months (as observed in the opening remarks), in which the feasts of the Lord were observed, show the whole week of time—the period of God's dealings with man from beginning to end.
These last months of the year, in which, with the exception of the Sabbath, no feast occurred, and which, are therefore unnoticed in this twenty-third of Leviticus, show the last state of man, after the great week of time will have ended, when God will be all in all.
THE ORDER OF THE YEAR CHANGED.
(Ex. 11:1, 2.)
When Israel was redeemed out of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This' month shall, be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR TO YOU." (Ex. 12:2.) Thus the whole order of time in connection with Israel was 'changed, seeing that that which had originally been the seventh month was now changed into the first. And in this we may discern a parable, because the seventh month, like the Sabbath, showed forth the rest 'of creation—the rest of man yet unfallen; while the first month, like the first clog of the week, expressed resurrection. Now the former of these having vanished when man first departed from God, and there being no true hope of blessing; save through the latter—through death and resurrection—the Lord, in this figure, shows the one displaced by the other; the first Sabbath of Eden, profaned and lost, as it was, by the sin of the creature, making way for that rest Which He who suffered and rose from the dead on the first day of the week has secured to His people.
Again: the seventh month of the new year, owing to this revolution in the order of time, became identical with the first month of the next civil year. This, too, has its meaning, showing that the future rest of the kingdom is through resurrection alone—through Christ, Who is Himself both" the resurrection and the life," as well as the giver of rest to all who trust in His name.
N.B.—The first month of the new year was named "ABIB" (Deut. 16:1), that is, green fruits, or ears of corn, in allusion evidently to the harvest, which began at this time, and which showed forth resurrection in three several ways; FIRST, the resurrection of Christ SECONDLY, the resurrection-state, as it were, into which Israel was brought on their flight 'out of Egypt; and, THIRDLY, the resurrection of the Church at the end.
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE,
SHOWN IN CONNECTION WITH THE 'FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
The world to come, we clearly gather 'from scripture, will embrace both THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH—BOTH TIME AND ETERNITY. Then Israel and the rest of the world will keep their millennial Sabbath on earth, while the Church, having passed out of time, will be keeping her Sabbath above with the Lord, sharing the glory prepared for Him there, on the opening day, as it were, of the new everlasting age. As foreshadowing, therefore, this state-the twofold joy of the heavens and the earth in that day, THE JUBILEE, that chief type under the law of "the times of restitution of all things," embraced BOTH THE, SEVENTH YEAR AND THE FIRST, because it began in the midst of the forty-ninth year, that is, the sabbatic year, at the close of the seventh week from the foregoing jubilee, and so went on, and concluded in the midst of the next, namely, the first year of the following week, termed also the eighth year. (Lev. 25:22.) Thus, while it was a portion of time, it is true, it stood apart in one sense from the ordinary reckoning of time; so much so, that the years might have rolled on in the usual way, and did so in fact, as though the jubilee, this "fiftieth, year," as it is termed (Lev. 25:10), had no existence at all. Thus we see, in this ordinance, a type of that period when the heavens and the earth will unite in one system of blessedness, which will be, as it were, THE MEETING-POINT BETWEEN TIME AND ETERNITY, when the children of the resurrection, like the angels of God on the mystical ladder of old, will be seen ascending and descending, and holding continual converse with those upon earth. Then, when we turn to THE GREAT FEAST OF IN-GATHERING, we see the same thing expressed—the first day was a Sabbath—the eighth day was a Sabbath (see Lev. 23:39), showing, more faintly, it may be, than the jubilee, the twofold state above named, in the kingdom, as well as the twofold state in the end—the new heavens and the new earth, after the millennium has closed, when God will be all in all.
N.B.—If what is here said be true, it will be seen that the jubilee was a return to the original order of time before the exodus of Israel (Ex. 12:2), being, in fact, the civil, not the sacred year; and so expressing, it would appear, "the times of restitution of all things," when the creature will be brought back to God, and established in blessing far higher and greater than that which was lost at the first.