Biologists and the Bible agree, we are composed of dust. All the elements found in our bodies are also found in the dust of the ground. Both also tell us that life begets life; it takes life to create life. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7).
Our God is a God of order; consider the miracle of conception, development and birth of a child. Upon conception the process of creating a brand new physical life, a unique individual and potential son of God, is set in motion. Is God also in the process of creating a new spiritual child of God (Jn. 1:12-13)? An opportunity is offered but it requires a do-over a second birth. Jesus said it, “ye must be born again” (John 3:3-21)
The unborn child, protected and nourished in its mother’s womb, goes through a predetermined sequence of development. We are protected by the Holy Spirit, and admonished to grow from the milk of the word to the full knowledge of God, as we progress from the physical to the spiritual (I Peter 2:12)?
God has shown us how His appointed convocations give us an outline for His plan of salvation and redemption. Isn’t it amazing how similar the conception, development and birth of a baby is to His set times?
From day one of the start of a woman’s cycle, to the 14th day, the egg is maturing to the point where it can be fertilized.
So on the fourteenth day the egg is ready to be fertilized; does the 14th day of the first month ring a bell? There was an appointed time for God’s lamb to be sacrificed. That time was to be the 14th day of the first month. We know it as the Passover.
The egg must be fertilized within 24 hours.
Does that remind you of how the Passover Lamb must be sacrificed between the evenings? (Ex. 12:6) literally “between the two evenings,” a 24 hour period. Remember what Jesus said in John 12:24 “… unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Was Jesus that kernel?
Within two to six days the fertilized egg attaches itself to the wall of the womb and begins to grow.
How odd — isn’t the Feast of First Fruits observed from two to six days after Passover (Lev. 23:10-12)? Remember, Passover is an annual event and could occur on most any day of the week. Therefore, the Feast of First Fruits, always being the first day of the week, could happen from two to six days after Passover on any given year.
God’s Son, being the second Adam and the First Fruit, having completed His work on earth is welcomed to heaven by the Father (John 20:17). Here He will have a position at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool (Ps. 110:1).
The good seed has fallen to the ground and died. The calling of the First Fruits has begun (James 1:18) with the first of the first fruits having passed from death unto life. There will be much fruit to follow. The harvest will be bountiful.
Fifty days later the embryo has arms, legs, hands, feet, toes, eyes, etc. It is now recognizable as a human fetus, definitely an offspring of the parents.
Fifty days from the day the Wave Sheaf was offered comes Pentecost, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the New Testament Church. This was fulfilled in Acts chapter 2, definitely a recognizable event, and Christians can be recognizable as God’s own throughout the world.
By the first day of the seventh month the baby’s hearing has fully developed. Now the baby can hear and distinguish sounds outside the womb.
And the Lord said, “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’” (Lev. 23:24). On that great day described in Matthew 24:31; I Thess. 4:16; I Cor. 15:51-52; and many other places, He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet; a sound that will reverberate throughout the universe.
On the tenth day of the seventh month the hemoglobin of the blood changes from that of the mother, to a self-sustaining baby.
What great event occurs ten days into the seventh month? The Day of Atonement is the day when the blood of the sacrifice is taken into the Holy Of Hollies for the cleansing of the Temple. Remember, we are the Temple Of God (I Cor. 3:16-17). This is the most serious day of the entire year, and is spent in total fasting and humble prayer (Lev. 23:27-32; Ex. 30:10). This is also the day when Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit where he will remain for a thousand years (Lev. 16; Rev. 20:1-3). With God’s temple having been cleansed and our accuser banished, we are resurrected a “born-again” spirit being.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the lungs become fully developed. If born before then the baby would have a hard time breathing.
The fifteenth day of the seventh month is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles a coming together for all of God’s people, “and they sang a new song —” (Rev. 5:9). And in Psalms 149:1-5 we read: “Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. “Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. “Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. “For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.” Certainly God‘s First Fruits will be joyously exercising their lungs at this time.
Birth takes place at about the tenth day of the ninth month after conception.
Nine months and ten days after Passover (the 25 day of Cisleu) the eight-day festival of Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) starts. Although Hanukkah is not mentioned in Leviticus 23, it does seem to have relevance to Christ’s warning in Matthew 24:15-21 and that mentioned in Daniel 8:13-14 about the Abomination of Desolation; could this be the beginning of the Tribulation mentioned in Matthew 24:21?
Antiochus sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Holy of Hollies, which led to a rebellion of the Jews. Eight days later, at the end of Hanukkah, deliverance and cleansing of the temple is complete. This is the time the Jews celebrate the deliverance from the armies of Antiochus Epiphanies. Are we being told about a future antitype of this event? Hanukkah is a celebration of deliverance and cleansing of the temple.
Eight days after birth the clotting ability of the blood of the baby is at its highest point.
Eight days after birth an Israelite male baby is circumcised, a sign of the eternal covenant between Abraham and God. Our circumcision is the circumcision made without hands by the circumcision of Christ; buried with Him in baptism, the symbol of death, burial, and resurrection (Col. 2:11-12).
Could anyone have understood the correlation of God’s appointed times with the birth of a child 3,500 years ago? The Passover was fulfilled at the precise time appointed. The Wave Sheaf (First Fruits) occurred and Christ rose to the Father precisely as appointed. Pentecost occurred precisely 50 days after the Wave Sheaf offering and the Holy Spirit came precisely at the time appointed. Therefore, let no one, regardless of credentials, pass judgment on us for honoring God’s shadows of things that have come and are yet to come at their precise time appointed.
Read Colossians 2:16-17 and ask yourself; Is Paul saying not to observe these days or not to let anyone judge you for observing these days? (Note, if you are using the NIV you will find that they have taken the liberty to insert the words “that were” in front of “to come”, thus changing the meaning to indicate they’re all past. Consider God’s judgment reserved for those who would add to or take from His word (Pro. 30:6; Rev. 22:19).
God has revealed to us the process He uses to obtain the growth and results He desires. Let us honor His directives. Remember that a good understanding have all they that do His commandments, for His commandments make us wiser than our enemies, and even our teachers (Psalms 119:98-99).
Review Acts 2:1, “and when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place;” What if they had not been there observing Pentecost? God has set appointments in His times and He has shone them to us, will we listen? Doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time could never be more important than when God has set a time. God created time. Events in His time are not coincidental. Let us keep the Feasts of the Lord, so that we may be found to be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.
Paul, the Apostles, and the early New Testament Church all observed God’s appointed times, but in the light and understanding of the fulfillment of Christ’s sacrifice (Passover).
There is a new world coming and is right now going through the gestation to birth process. Could there be a danger that some, because of the cares and distractions of this world, might become stillborn (Matt. 13:3-23)?
Del Leger