11 Points to the Sabbath in the Times of Christ SERIES: 4

"When the ceremonial sabbaths were ordained, they were carefully distinguished from the seventh-day Sabbath, which is called the Sabbath of the Lord.
Leviticus 23 describes all of the ceremonial sabbaths:

• the Passover, “the fourteenth day of the first month” (verse 5);
• the Feast of Unleavened Bread on “the fifteenth day” (verse 6);
• “the seventh day” of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (verse 8);
• the Feast of the Firstfruits, the wave sheaf (verses 9–11).

Remember, there was a Passover, then a first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth day. Then the next day (the sixteenth day), stated in verse 11, was “the day after the sabbath [when] the priest shall wave” the wave sheaf.
Let’s look at the order of events from the crucifixion of Christ until He returns:

• Christ was crucified on Friday, or Good Friday. That was Passover, the fourteenth day of the first month.
  
• The fifteenth day, which was the seventh-day Sabbath, was also a ceremonial Sabbath. That is why it was called in the gospel of John, “a high day” (John 19:31). It was the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the first ceremonial Sabbath.
• The sixteenth day was a Sunday, the day they were to wave the wave sheaf. The wave sheaf represented the firstfruits. Jesus Christ and those who were raised with Him were the firstfruits. 1 Corinthians 15:23 says, “… each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Christ rose on the exact day so that type (the foreshadow) would meet antitype (the real).
• The Feast of Weeks followed: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:15, 16). Fifty days later was Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
• Then came the Feast of Trumpets (verse 23), which was the first day of the seventh month to warn the people that the Day of Judgment was coming.
• The Day of Atonement was next (verses 26–33), which was the tenth day of the seventh month.
• Then the Feast of Tabernacles (verse 34) began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.

After these ceremonial sabbaths are listed, Moses says in verses 37 and 38, “These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—besides the Sabbaths of the Lord.”
Notice that these are ceremonial sabbaths, yearly feast days, that are in addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, in addition to your vows and your freewill offerings. When the ceremonial sabbaths were ordained, they were carefully distinguished from the Sabbaths of the Lord."
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