The Messiah – The Anointed One
So, who is the Messiah and what is the Messiah? He is, without question, the most important figure in all human history. The word Messiah means the anointed one, as one who is anointed by literally pouring oil over His head and running down His face and beard. It sounds kind of strange by today's standards, but in ancient Israel, priests and kings were anointed with oil, and it indicated to everyone around that this person was set apart to a special office or role by the Lord. It was not something to be taken lightly. It was highly significant, especially when we refer to The Messiah.
Jesus was Anointed with the Holy Spirit
In the Book of Acts, we learned from the Apostle Peter that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not anointed with oil, but He was a unique and special anointed one. His was a divine anointing. In one of the most famous prophecies about the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah says, "His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." So, we see that the Messiah is the human face of God!
The Scriptures boldly forewarn that He will one day return as God's chosen King to bring judgment on the world and reward His followers and ascend the throne of the universe as the divine King for all eternity. So, for this reason, every one of us should give close attention to the Bible's teaching about the Messiah. He precisely fulfilled the prophecies that were given hundreds of years before He walked the earth, and we can expect the remaining prophecies to be fulfilled with perfect precision as God has foretold.
The Appointed Times (The Seven Holy Days in the Bible)
So, back to the question of who is this Messiah? How can we know His identity with certainty? Well, the Psalms, and the prophets, and the apostles make it abundantly clear that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. But there is a special section in the Law of Moses known as The Appointed Times that give even deeper insight into His identity and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus truly is the Messiah.
Now, you may be wondering, what are The Appointed Times? On the surface, you may know them as the 7 Jewish Holy Days, the 7 Jewish Festivals, the 7 Hebrew Feasts, the seven feasts of Israel, or the 7 Jewish Feasts. So what are the 7 Jewish festivals in the Bible? If you've ever heard of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths, then you have encountered The Appointed Times. Each appointed time has its own purpose and regulations of worship for the nation of Israel. But of far greater importance is that their substance, or their meaning, is about the Messiah.
Shadows of the Messiah
So, what is unique about The Appointed Times? Well, it turns out that they are a type of prophecy that scholars refer to as shadows. The idea of shadows suggests that these prophecies are not direct or outright predictions, but they hint at something by giving clues that we can ponder to gain greater understanding.
For example, when we see a shadow on the ground or on a wall, we are able to discern some details about the object that is casting it by simply observing the outline of the shadow. Even though the shadow may be all we can see, we can learn some things about the object without being distracted by its many details.
And in a similar way, The Appointed Times convey truths about the work of the Messiah without distracting or overwhelming us with the splendor and glory of His character. The Appointed Times help us understand the significance of events that we might otherwise miss as we explore the complex and glorious character of this individual. And because of that, the Lord gave us shadows to help us see the forest despite the many trees, shadows that help us gain deeper and clearer understanding of His work.
Now, you should be asking, how do we know that The Appointed Times are shadows about the Messiah? Could it be that we're just seeing simple correlations in the timing and substance and then calling them prophecies? And that is an excellent question. And as you would expect, there's an excellent answer!
And it turns out there's a passage that was written by the apostle Paul that confirms that we are on the right track. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul tells us that these festivals, new moons, and Sabbath days are actually a shadow of what is to come. And he goes on to say, "But the substance belongs to Christ." Did you get that? Their substance or their meaning belongs to Christ. And Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. And in this Colossians passage, when Paul directs our attention to Sabbaths, festivals, and new moons, he is referring to The Appointed Times in Leviticus 23, which is a section of Scripture that instituted the Jewish Holy Days.
Ah, now the pieces are starting to fit together. The Lord designed the Appointed Times for the purpose of teaching us about His Messiah. Every year, the entire nation of Israel observes these holy days, and in doing so, they were proclaiming the truths of their Messiah to come, even though they were unaware. Did the Israelites know that the Appointed Times, their Holy Days, spoke of the Messiah? Did Moses ever mention it? Well, the answer is no, at least not directly. It was as if the Lord buried these mysteries in His Word some 1500 years before the days of Jesus, but they could only be fully understood after His resurrection from the dead and the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Since the Lord's ways are mysterious, we have to follow His leads and search for His clues when we seek Him in order to understand the mysteries that He gave regarding His plans for the future. Sound interesting? It's fascinating. But there is something of the greatest importance that you should know. This Messiah is the one who gives us the hope, the Magnificent Hope of being raised from the dead with the promise of eternal life in paradise.
Can anything else in this world be more important than assuring that you'll live again after you die? That you can be assured of living at peace with God rather than being subjected to His judgment? Knowing about the Messiah is of the utmost importance to every person who has walked this earth, and He is certainly worthy of our time and investigation.
Now that we have a glimpse of the importance of the Messiah, I would like to take you on a high-level tour of the Appointed Times. The Appointed Times can be found in the heart of the Law of Moses. They're not a secret since they're there for all to see, but we have to study them very carefully since some of the wording in these Appointed Times is a little tricky to follow.
Two Seasons of the Appointed Times (The 7 Feasts in the Bible)
When you read about The Appointed Times, or the 7 feasts in Scripture, in Leviticus 23, you'll notice that they're divided into two distinct seasons. The first season, or group, is observed in the first month of the year, which according to the Jewish calendar, is in the March-April timeframe. Therefore, we refer to these as the Spring Appointed Times. The Spring Appointed Times consists of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and the Feast of Weeks, which is also known as Pentecost.
The second group of Appointed Times is observed in the seventh month of the year on the Jewish calendar, which is in the September-October timeframe. So, we refer to these as the Fall Appointed Times. The Fall Appointed Times consist of the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths, which is also known as a Feast of Tabernacles.
Now let me tell you a very interesting secret. The dates of the Appointed Times are laid out in great detail in Leviticus 23, and it is of the greatest importance that they are observed in their proper timing in order to understand their meaning.
The Time-Signature of the Messiah
Now, the timing of the Spring Appointed Times, and I emphasize the "Spring" Appointed Times, form a very specific pattern that we might refer to as the Time Signature of the Messiah. Now you may not have heard that term before, and that's probably because I made it up, but I did so for the purpose of easily explaining the concept. The Time Signature of the Messiah is not like a musical time signature, but is more like a signature or a fingerprint that is unique to only one individual, something that only one individual could produce, like a finally-scripted signature or a signet ring, or an emperor seal, a way of proving authenticity. We refer to it as a time signature because it is a combination of dates, times, Sabbath days, and weekdays that are built into the Lord's instructions for the Appointed Times.
It is not a difficult pattern; many Jewish people have known it from their childhood. And in this series, we will explain the timing in an easy and fun way to remember. So, when we look at the dates of each Spring Appointed Time, we'll see that the meaning of each event, along with this date, casts a shadow that we can examine to learn something about the Messiah, activities and events that He fulfilled in their exact timing to demonstrate that it truly is His signature of authenticity, that He is truly the Messiah.
Let me give you an example. You may have heard that Christ is our Passover, which is fully accurate. Jesus died on Passover afternoon at precisely the same time that the Passover lamb was sacrificed. So, He fulfilled the timing shadow and the substance shadow of a lamb who died so that others could live.
But what about the other Spring Appointed Times? Did Jesus also fulfill them with precise timing in a way that matched their substance? Well, I can tell you with full confidence that He certainly did. And in this study, we will explain how He fulfilled each one. We will also demystify some of the difficult passages and show how they actually confirm His fulfillment rather than cast doubt on it.
Now, you may be asking why the time signature of the Messiah is important. And the answer is that it becomes very clear from the Scriptures that Jesus fulfilled them with perfect precision, proving beyond a shadow of doubt that He is the Messiah, an understanding that can and will bolster our faith and confidence. And in a truly amazing way, this time signature was laid out in the Bible almost 1500 years before Jesus walked the earth.
The Lord gave these prophetic shadows as clues that seekers could piece together so they could know the identity of His Messiah with full certainty. Think about it, providing such detail 1500 years in advance of their fulfillment… it's mind boggling that it could be done, which confirms even more that the Appointed Times are divine appointments for the Lord's Messiah.
Now, let's take it one step further. Not only does the time signature reveal the identity of the Messiah by His signature, but it tells us something else in great importance. If, indeed, the Spring Appointed Times are signs from God that tell us the identity of the Messiah, then we should give special attention to the Fall Appointed Times since they are shadows of things yet to come, things that the Messiah will accomplish in His second coming.
The Fall Appointed Times
The Fall Appointed Times speak of the Messiah's return, His gathering of His followers, His fierce judgment on the earth, and His rewards for those who overcome. They also teach us about the details of how He obtained our redemption through His atonement, and how He and we will take up residence in the places that He prepared for His followers.
The shadows of the Fall Appointed Times take us through some terrifying territory, as well as through some delightful territory. But you should know that the terrifying or delightful depends solely on a person's relationship with the Messiah. So, Jesus' fulfillment of the time signature of the Messiah should cause us to take a very careful look at His future role, which we can learn from the Fall Appointed Times.
So, this is our goal for this study. And now, I would like to tell you our direction from here for the remaining videos in this series. As I've explained, the timing of the Appointed Times are of the greatest importance. We must therefore study them through the lens of the ancient Jewish calendar in order to understand them as they were intended. If we try to interpret them by our modern calendar, then the image of the Messiah, which they paint, will be distorted and barely visible.
So, the next lesson in this series is entitled "Tracking Time in Israel" It is a very interesting little study that not only illuminates the meaning of the Appointed Times, but it also gives insight into many areas of the Bible that reference time. For example, when did the Jewish day begin? When did it end? How did they determine when months began and ended? How did they know when to observe the Appointed Times? All of these details will be explained in a very interesting little lesson about how the Israelites tracked time.
And after we learn how they tracked time, the next lesson will explain why and how this information about the Messiah applies to you. Why it applies to everyone who has ever drawn the breath of life. And that lesson is entitled, "Why Did He Have to Die?" And that's a great question. Why did the Messiah have to die? Was He a martyr, a casualty of the Romans and the Jews? I will tell you now that there is an excellent reason for His death, a reason that brings profound joy and rejoicing to all humanity.
After that, we will jump into our studies of The Appointed Times, the Jewish Holy Days, exploring their origins and meaning in the Bible. We will begin by studying the Spring Appointed Times. And after we understand them, we will then explore in detail how the Messiah fulfilled them perfectly by completing the time signature when He visited Earth 2,000 years ago. And we'll then study the Fall Appointed Times, exploring them in detail and learning from the Scriptures how they will be fulfilled by Jesus when He returns, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
So, are you ready? Join us for this fascinating study of Scripture passages that are somewhat mysterious and cryptic in their meanings, but knowing them can bring the greatest joy, hope, and confidence in life that anyone can ever know. Thanks for watching. I'm Don McCluskey, and I look forward to having you join us for the remaining lessons in this series.
