From Passover to Pentecost: The Gospel Hidden in the Feasts (Part 1 of 2)

The Life of Moses- Episode #36 (Part 1 of 2) 📆 In this episode we begin a two-part journey through the Hebrew Feast Days — the appointed times God established for Israel long before Christ walked the earth.

But these feasts were never merely ancient Jewish traditions.

They were prophetic rehearsals.

Through Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Shavuot/Pentecost, we will walk the unfolding story of redemption hidden within the Biblical calendar itself.

Together we’ll explore:
 • the Passover lamb and the four cups
 • the mystery of the afikomen
 • Christ resting in the grave during Unleavened Bread
 • Firstfruits and the promise of resurrection
 • Sinai, covenant, and the marriage language of Shavuot
 • Pentecost, fire from heaven, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
 • the reversal of Babel through languages
 • and how God was quietly preaching the Gospel through symbols, harvests, bread, fire, and covenant long before the cross

The Spring Feasts reveal a breathtaking progression:
 Redemption.
 Cleansing.
 Resurrection.
 Empowerment.

And together they point directly toward Jesus.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Feasts Matter

Julie Colbeth 0:19

Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's holy word. I'm your host, Julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Kia ora friends, before God ever gave Israel a king, a land or a temple, he gave them a calendar. The Hebrew feast days were never random religious holidays scattered throughout the year. They were appointed times, sacred gatherings established by God Himself. In Hebrew, they're called Moedim, appointed times for divine appointments, literally moments reserved by God for deep soul work. And through these feast days, God taught Israel how to remember. He taught them to stop normal life, to be intentional about gathering together, and to rehearse redemption year after year. Families traveled long distances, fields were left, work ceased, songs were sung, prayers were prayed, stories were retold around crowded tables lit by candlelight. Children asked questions, parents recounted the faithfulness of God, lambs were sacrificed, bread was broken, harvests were gathered in, and through all of it God was quietly painting pictures, pictures of rescue, of covenant, of holiness and of redemption, pictures that would ultimately find fulfillment in our Messiah.

The Spring Feasts Tell One Story

Julie Colbeth 2:10

The spring festivals, depending on your hemisphere, unfold in a remarkable progression across roughly fifty days each year. Passover begins the year and starts our story. Immediately afterward comes the feast of unleavened bread. Then during that feast comes the feast of first fruits. And fifty days later Israel arrives at the Feast of Weeks, Shavot, what many Christians know as Pentecost. Now at these feasts they do not stand alone. They tell one unfolding story, a story of redemption moving steadily towards covenant, transformation, resurrection, harvest, and ultimately the indwelling presence of God among his people.

Passover And The Greater Exodus

Julie Colbeth 3:02

The first feast we encounter is Passover, celebrated in the month of Nisan, usually around March or April. I'm not going to go too in-depth to the roots of this feast because I already covered that in episode 12 of our Life of Moses study, the episodes called The Blood of the Lamb. If you want more of a full picture of the Exodus, have a listen to that episode. Passover commemorates God delivering Israel from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. A lamb died so the firstborn could live. Blood covered the doorposts and judgment passed over the homes marked by that sacrifice. But Passover was never just about Israel escaping Egypt. The deeper you study the feast, the more that you realize it was quietly pointing toward a greater redemption still to come. Even within later Jewish observance, there are traditions that seem to echo the gospel with breathtaking clarity.

The Hidden Bread And Childlike Faith

Julie Colbeth 4:07

One of the most fascinating is something called the Aphi Komen. During the Passover Seder, three pieces of unleavened bread, called matza, are placed together inside a special pouch divided into three sections. At a specific point during the meal, the middle piece of matza is removed, not the first or the third, but the middle one. It is broken, and part of it is returned to the pouch, and the other half is wrapped in linen and literally hidden away somewhere in the house, and then later is brought back. At a certain point in the celebration, children are sent to search through the house looking for this broken middle piece of matzah. That hidden piece is called the Apikomen. And honestly, there's something deeply moving about the fact that it's children that go searching for this broken piece of bread. Adults often become tangled in complexity. As we age, skepticism creeps in and it corrupts beauty. Pride tinges so much that we do, and we're filled with judgments and preconceived expectations, and sometimes we're doubtful of the simple beauty that is right in front of our eyes. The children. Children search with anticipation. They search with joy and simplicity, and a full expectation that something wonderful will be found. And when you read the resurrection accounts, you cannot help but notice how difficult the resurrection was for so many adults to accept. Even though Jesus had told them that he would rise from the dead, their dull, weary, and disappointed hearts could not scrape up the belief. The disciples struggled to believe their best friends' testimonies. Thomas doubted until he could put his fingers into Christ's wounds, and the religious leaders fully rejected what stood directly before their eyes, even in spite of miracles and an incredible life of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3, 14 through 15, that their minds were blinded, and a veil still remains over the hearts of the Jewish people when the Old Testament is read. Yet Jesus repeatedly told us to look at children. And again in Matthew 11 25, you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. When we overcomplicate, overthink, and overanalyze things, we tend to compromise the pure truth. Yet Christ encourages us to be like these little children running around the house to find the hidden piece of matzah, like little children looking for hidden eggs on Easter morning, searching for what was hidden and promises to be found. Are we searching for the true bread from heaven with that kind of anticipation? Are we looking for the broken and risen Christ with the eagerness of children searching through the house for the Offikomen? Expecting that when he is found, something beautiful will flood the soul. Because throughout Scripture, God often hides glory inside things that the proud overlook. And the ones who find him are often the ones humble enough to keep searching. Traditional Judaism gives several explanations for the three pieces of matza. Some say it's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others say it's the priests, the Levites, and Israel, all different symbolic groups of three, but to us messianic believers, we cannot help but notice the imagery of Father, Son, and Spirit. And the Son is the one that is broken. The matzah bread is unleavened. It's important to note that leaven throughout Scripture is often symbolizes sin and corruption, and Jesus was without sin. Hebrews 4 15 says, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. The matzah is also pierced. Traditional matzah has rows of holes pressed through it during baking, and our New Testament ears hear Isaiah 53 suddenly start echoing loudly. He was pierced for our transgressions. The bread also bears stripes from the baking process. By his stripes we are healed. Striped, pierced, without leaven. The bread itself visually preaches Christ. Then comes the often itself, broken, wrapped in linen, hidden away, and brought back again. The parallels to Jesus are unmistakable. He was broken in suffering on the cross, wrapped in linen after crucifixion, hidden in the tomb, and then brought back from the grave. Even the linen matters. John's gospel specifically records the burial cloths lying in the empty tomb folded neatly. And suddenly this whole meal starts feeling a lot less like coincidence and more like God quietly embedding prophetic shadows into history long before the cross ever even arrived. Then imagine with me Jesus sitting with his disciples during Passover and lifting the unleavened bread saying, This is my body given for you. Can you imagine the emotional weight of that moment? The broken bread, the pierced bread, the striped bread being lifted up by Christ Himself at the Last Supper. Passover was never just about Egypt. It was always pointing toward a greater exodus. The Seder meal itself was deeply immersive. Hands were ceremonially washed, stories were retold, questions were asked, and psalms were sung. And during the washing portion of the meal, Jesus did something amazing. He rose from the table, wrapped himself with a towel, and began washing his disciples' feet. The king stooped low like a servant and showed what a servant leader really looks like. And then he tells Peter, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Even here Jesus was infusing ancient tradition with deeper fulfillment. Next in the meal come the cups, all wrapped in deep symbolism. In my opinion, this is one of the richest studies in all of Scripture, because the Passover meal becomes prophetic from beginning to end.

The Four Cups And The Cross

Julie Colbeth 11:49

The four cups of Passover are connected to God's four redemptive promises that He gave Israel in Exodus chapter six. Number one, I will bring you out. Number two, I will deliver you. Number three, I will redeem you. And number four, I will take you to me as my people. Now these four cups come at different segments throughout the meal, and they were drunk along with lots of sayings. So the first cup, Kidush, the cup of sanctification. This is representative of the first promise. I will bring you out. Drinking this cup actually begins the meal. It marks the beginning of a rescue. And I love this because redemption always begins with God moving first. Israel could not free themselves from Egypt. And spiritually speaking, we cannot free ourselves either. God is the one that initiates our salvation. And that's what we see in this first cup. The second cup, the cup of judgment or deliverance, this speaks of the second promise, I will deliver you. This cup is taken while recounting the plagues that were poured out on Egypt. Traditionally, drops of wine are removed from the cup during the retelling, reminding us of the sorrow over the suffering and the death, even in God's judgment. But if we look with New Testament eyes, it becomes deeply powerful, because Christ ultimately drank the cup of judgment that we all deserved. And this is why in Gethsemane Jesus cried out, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. He was pained to the point of sweating drops of blood, just like the drops of blood sprinkled from this cup. And that language that Jesus used is not random. He knew that he was called to drink the cup of judgment. Just as the plagues fell on Egypt, so Israel could go free, so judgment fell on Christ, so sinners could go free. Freedom is costly, and this cup cost our perfect Savior his life. Then comes the third cup, the cup of redemption, fulfilling the promise, I will redeem you. This cup was traditionally taken after supper. Luke carefully records in his gospel that Jesus took this cup after supper, and that timing matters enormously, because this is the cup that Jesus lifts up when he says, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This is the moment where Jesus openly declares himself the fulfillment of Passover. At the original Passover, a lamb died so the firstborn son could live, but at the cross, the Lamb of God died so sinners could live. Paul later says, Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. The Exodus was never merely history, it was prophecy. And then we arrive at the fourth cup, the cup of praise, halal. This cup fulfills the Exodus VI promise, I will take you to me as my people. This cup traditionally closed the Passover meal with worship, completion, and joy. Psalms of praise, the halal psalms, would be sung together. But something surprising appears to happen during the Last Supper. Jesus seems to stop before fully completing the meal. Instead he says in Matthew 26, 29, I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. That statement is huge. Jesus intentionally postponed drinking the fourth cup with his disciples, because redemption had been purchased, but it was not yet fully consummated. The bridegroom was preparing to leave for a time before returning again for his bride. And suddenly we can see the imagery. It begins to explode outward into covenant and wedding language. In ancient Jewish marriage customs, the groom would often share a covenant cup with the bride before departing to prepare a place for her. Jesus says in John 14, In my father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself. This is wedding language, and the book of Revelation brings the whole picture to completion. Revelation 19 says, Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And then a few verses later it says, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. When we consider these scriptures, Jesus' postponement of drinking this cup makes total sense. He didn't drink it because the fulfillment wasn't complete, and he was painting a masterpiece at this Passover meal. The final cup awaits the final feast. Passover was never just about Egypt. It was pointing forward towards the day when Christ would fully gather his redeemed people to himself. Even Revelation chapter 21 echoes the fulfillment of this fourth promise. I will take you to me as my people. Revelation 21 3 says this. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. That will be the ultimate fulfillment of the fourth cup and the Passover meal. Full union with Christ, full restoration of everything that was broken, full communion and fellowship between God and His people. The fourth cup points beyond the cross towards the coming kingdom. Jesus drank the cup of suffering, so one day he could drink the cup of celebration with his redeemed people. The imagery in this meal is extraordinary, and it's just like God to weave a story this complex and satisfying. The Passover meal stretches from Exodus through the cross all the way into Revelation. But Passover was never meant to stand alone, and the redemption was only the beginning.

Unleavened Bread And Leaving Sin

Julie Colbeth 19:05

Immediately after Passover came the feast of unleavened bread. For seven days Israel removed leaven from their homes and ate only unleavened bread. If you can imagine with me this experience, cupboards were emptied, homes were searched carefully, every Hebrew wife and mother diligently discarding what was previously treasured and necessary. But in this case, every single trace of leaven is swept away and removed from the whole community of Israel. Every single household participated. Partly this remembered the haste of leaving Egypt. There was no time for their bread to rise, but leaven also carried symbolic meaning throughout scripture. It is often represented as corruption, decay, and sin. And this feast becomes a powerful reminder that redeemed people are called to leave Egypt behind. God did not rescue Israel so they could continue carrying slavery in their hearts forever. Salvation is free, but redemption must change us. Paul speaks plainly about this to the Church of Corinth. He heard about some sinful behavior that was being allowed in the church, and he wrote to them, saying, Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now listen to this verse one more time, except this time I'll rephrase it and replace the word leaven with sins, and unleavened with pure, just for our understanding. Purge out the old sins, that you may be new, since you are truly pure, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old sins, nor with the sin of malice and wickedness, but with the pure bread of sincerity and truth. This feast was about remembering Egypt, but it was also a yearly reminder to remove sin from their lives. And suddenly the feast moves beyond bread and into sanctification. Even the timing around Jesus' death matters here. Do you realize that Christ's body was lying in the The tomb during the feast of unleavened bread, the sinless one, the unleavened one, the spotless lamb resting in the grave, resting in darkness. He carried sin, the leaven of the world, and became accursed and outcast for us. He was swept out of the community and into the grave. The feast itself can feel like a solemn waiting. The silence between the cross and the resurrection reminds us of the cost. And while Israel searched their homes, removing leaven, the Messiah lay buried in a borrowed grave. The silence of that Sabbath day must have felt unbearable and hollow. The disciples scattered, hope seeming dead, and heaven seeming quiet. And yet even in the grave the feast was preaching, because death and corruption could not hold him. Psalm sixteen says, You will not allow your holy one to see corruption. The grave could receive him, but it could never keep him. And once again the calendar itself preaches the gospel.

Firstfruits And Resurrection Harvest

Julie Colbeth 23:21

Then, during unleavened bread, came the feast of first fruits. This feast occurred at the beginning of the barley harvest. The very first sheaf gathered from the fields would be brought before the Lord and waved as an offering. This was an act of trust. Israel was acknowledging that the harvest belonged to God and trusting him for the greater harvest still to come. And this is where the emotional tone of the story begins shifting dramatically, because death is no longer the final note. And life starts breaking through the ground. Scripture tells us that Jesus rose from the grave on first fruits. Paul says, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. The imagery is amazing. Christ springing up from the grave like the barley harvest. Jesus becomes the first sheaf lifted before God. The promise that a greater harvest of resurrection is still coming. The empty tomb is not merely a miracle, it was the beginning of a harvest. Then after this the counting began.

Shavuot Pentecost Fire On Hearts

Julie Colbeth 24:45

From first fruits, Israel was commanded to count seven full weeks, forty nine days in total, and on the fiftieth day came the feast of weeks. Shavot. In Greek this became known as Pentecost, meaning fiftieth. This was one of Israel's great pilgrimage feasts. Jewish families would travel from towns and villages all across the land, making their way up to Jerusalem. The roads would slowly fill with travelers singing psalms together as they journeyed towards a city. Every male was expected to present himself before the Lord. The city would swell with pilgrims, arriving from many regions and nations. By this point in the agricultural cycle, the barley harvest of first fruits had ended, and the wheat harvest was just beginning. This was a feast filled with gratitude and expectation. The people brought offerings from the harvest before the Lord, acknowledging that the land, the grain, the rain, the increase, all of it belonged to God. It was not merely a feast about crops, it was about dependence. Israel understood that if God withheld rain, there would be no harvest. If God withheld provision, the fields would fail. And over time, Shavot became associated not only with harvest, but with Mount Sinai. Jewish tradition teaches that this was the season when God descended upon Sinai in fire and established his covenant with Israel after bringing them out of Egypt. And now we start to see the shadows come to light. The God who redeemed his people at Passover now enters covenant relationship with them. Exodus nineteen says, You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This was covenant language, language that formed a pact and trust, dedication, fidelity, and loyalty, which reminds us of marriage. This is marriage language. In many ways Sinai became the place where Israel was formally joined to God in a covenant relationship. God had rescued them from slavery, but now he was setting them apart as his own special people, bonded to him forever. The people consecrated themselves, they washed their garments, they gathered trembling at the foot of the mountain, and then God descended, and fire and smoke. Thunder and trumpets blasted in their ears, and the mountain shook, an entire nation standing at the base of a burning mountain, while the voice of God thundered from heaven. And there at Sinai the law was given. The covenant was established, and God wrote his commands on tablets of stone. But there was a problem. The law could reveal holiness, but it could never transform a human heart. And here is where tragedy unfolds almost immediately. While Moses remained on the mountain with God, Israel turned toward idolatry with the golden calf, and about three thousand people died that day under judgment. The covenant was holy, but the human heart remained untamed and unruly. And this is where Pentecost suddenly becomes one of the most astonishing fulfillments in Scripture, because centuries later, during Shovot, Jerusalem is once again overflowing with Jewish pilgrims, gathering from all nations. Acts two tells us that when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all gathered together in one place. The timing is perfect. It was not random. God was moving precisely within the rhythms of the calendar that he had already established. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and there appeared divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of the disciples. Once again God descends in fire, but this time the fire does not rest on a mountain, it rests upon his people. At Sinai the law was written on stone tablets. At Pentecost the Spirit began writing the law on human hearts. Jeremiah had prophesied the coming of the new covenant, saying, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. This was the fulfillment beginning to unfold. The disciples began speaking in other languages, languages that they didn't know. Acts says, and every man heard them speaking in his own language. Now pause for a second and think about how profound this moment is. Cast your mind back all the way to the Tower of Babel. Humanity united in pride and rebellion trying to build a tower to ascend to God. And in judgment, God scattered the nations by confusing their languages. Languages became part of humanity's division. But now at Pentecost, the gospel begins flowing outward through languages. The very thing that once scattered humanity now becomes the tool that God uses to gather people back toward Himself. Each person hearing the mighty works of God declared in their own language, because the gospel was never meant for one group of people alone. God chose Israel and set her apart, but now the harvest was widening. And this ties beautifully back into the feast itself, because Shavot was always about harvest. But now the harvest is no longer merely wheat from a field, but God harvesting souls from every tribe and tongue and nation. How incredible is our God! He is so past finding out, and we are surely just scratching the surface of the treasures that he has for us. I know I've thrown so much at you, but stick with me just a bit longer because I want to look at another incredible parallel that appears here. At Sinai, after the rebellion with the golden calf, about 3,000 people died. At Pentecost, after Peter preached Christ crucified and risen, about 3,000 people were brought into new life. The law revealed sin, but the spirit transforms hearts. The covenant at Sinai established Israel as a people. The Spirit at Pentecost empowered the church to carry the gospel outward into all the nations. And when we take in the progression of these spring feasts, the path is unmistakable and divine. At Passover, the lamb dies. During the feast of unleavened bread, the spotless one rests in the grave, carrying our corruption. At first fruits, resurrection breaks forth. And then during Pentecost, God fills and empowers his people through the Holy Spirit. The feasts tell one unfolding story, not random rituals, not disconnected traditions, not empty religious observances. They are prophetic appointments, each and every one. God never wastes space. His design is intricate and meaningful. God quietly weaving the gospel into the calendar long before the cross ever stood on Calvary's Hill. And the deeper we look, the harder it becomes to miss the intentionality. At Passover, a lamb was slain so judgment could pass over the people. At unleavened bread, leaven was removed, and the spotless bread from heaven rested in the grave, carrying the weight of human corruption. At first fruits, the first sheaf was lifted before God, declaring that a greater harvest was still coming. And at Pentecost, God did not merely give commandments from a burning mountain. He poured his spirit upon his people and began writing his law upon human hearts. The story is beautiful redemption, cleansing, resurrection, and empowerment. And honestly, friends, this is why studying the feasts matters so much, because they remind us that Christianity did not appear out of thin air in the New Testament. The gospel was being whispered through symbols, sacrifices, harvests, bread, fire, wine, and covenant long before Jesus was ever born in Bethlehem. God was already telling the story for ages. The spring feasts were fulfilled with breathtaking precision in Christ's first coming. The Lamb came, the sacrifice was made, the grave was conquered, the spirit was poured out, but the calendar does not end there.

Why This Study Changes Us

Julie Colbeth 35:10

After Pentecost, the biblical calendar grows quiet for a season, but the fall feasts still wait on the horizon. Trumpets, atonement, and tabernacles. These will show us awakening, repentance, and dwelling with God. The first half of the calendar celebrates redemption accomplished. The second half begins confronting the human heart. And this is where things get deeply personal. Because one of the greatest dangers in spiritual life is not always open rebellion. Sometimes it's drift. Slow, subtle, almost unnoticed, a gradual loss of attentiveness to the voice and presence of God. But friends, the calendar is still preaching, and every feast whispers the same truth. God keeps his promises. Stay tuned for part two of our feast study next time.