Migratory Festivals

In scriptures, God commanded the Children of Israel to return to Jerusalem for specific festivals.  These are the Migratory Festivals, Exodus 23:14-17.

14Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abviv; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Yehovah.

The Children of Israel were to return for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Shavous (Pentecost) and Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacle).  There is a similar command in Deuteronomy 16:16.

16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Yehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before Yehovah empty:

Moses recorded these commands approximately 1500 B.C.  As such, it became a pattern that the Jew were consistently observing prior to the common era.  This ensured that many of the Jews living at the time of Yeshua  witnessed specific events.

For instance:

  • Yeshua was born on the first day of Sukkoth.
  • Yeshua’s ministry began on the first day of Sukkoth when He was 30 years of age.
  • Yeshua died on the cross on Passover.
  • Yeshua was in the grave on the 1st Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
  • Yeshua rose on the 2nd Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits.
  • The Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred on Shavous or Pentecost.
  • The first Gentile was baptized on the 1st Day of Sukkoth.

Refer to links for further details.

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