Dr Paul Allen

The last festival of Israel ’s religious calendar was the feast of tabernacles . Like the first, it looked in two directions: back to the nation’s historical experience, and forward to its ultimate fulfilment in Christ Jesus . The Passover commemorated deliverance from Egypt, but also anticipated the cross where ‘ Christ our passover is sacrificed for us’, 1 Cor. 5:7. Tabernacles, following the final triumphant harvest ingathering, was a retrospective on the nomadic conditions of the wilderness journey, Lev. 23:42–43, but also a hint of kingdom blessings to come when Messiah would reign over His people in righteousness and peace. One can understand why Peter, overawed in the company of a glorified Lord flanked by celebrities like Moses and Elijah, thought instinctively of this feast, with its combination of spiritual satisfaction and unalloyed delight, Matt. 17:4. Israel’s celebrations therefore fell into three grou ps, v. 16: (i) unleavened bread , which included the feasts of...

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman; Paolo Veronese and workshop (1585);  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” ( Isaiah 12:3 ) This beautiful verse is in the midst of a psalm of praise for God ’s deliverance of His people “in that day” (v. 4)—the coming day when the Lord shall return to the earth and reign “in the midst of thee” (v. 6). Until “that day” comes, however, we can appropriate its spiritual blessings right now. The word translated “wells” is more often translated “fountains,” denoting flowing springs of water that never run dry. It is first used at the time of the great Flood when in one “day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up” ( Genesis 7:11 ). On that day, the primeval fountains provided by God for the perpetual supply of living waters to the inhabitants of the “very good” world He had created were cleaved open, the living waters became lethal waters, and “all that was in the dry land, died...

Icon of the Pentecost (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” ( Leviticus23:16 ) This commandment represents the initiation of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (“fiftieth day”) which, many years later, was the day on which the Holy Spirit came to the church waiting in the upper room ( Acts 2:1-4 ). There were seven such annual “feasts of Jehovah,” all outlined in Leviticus 23 , beginning with the Passover , commemorating the deliverance from Egypt, and culminating in the Feast of Tabernacles , in memory of their entrance into the Promised Land after dwelling in tents in the wilderness. The middle feast of the seven was Pentecost, which seems to have been the anniversary of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai . It was scheduled 50 days after the “morrow after the sabbath” of the wave-offering of the “firstfruits” ( Leviticus 23:10 , 15), which in turn seems to have ...

View from Mount Sinai, Egypt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” ( Leviticus 23:16 )   This commandment represents the initiation of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (“fiftieth day”) which, many years later, was the day on which the Holy Spirit came to the church waiting in the upper room ( Acts 2:1-4 ). There were seven such annual “feasts of Jehovah,” all outlined in Leviticus 23 , beginning with the Passover , commemorating the deliverance from Egypt, and culminating in the Feast of Tabernacles , in memory of their entrance into the Promised Land after dwelling in tents in the wilderness.   The middle feast of the seven was Pentecost, which seems to have been the anniversary of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai . It was scheduled 50 days after the “morrow after the sabbath” of the wave-offering of the “firstfruits” ( Leviticus  23:10 ,...