Just as Abram/Abraham and Sari/Sarah are a source of patterns for important events in the spiritual progression of humanity, so also are their descendants.  God Almighty blessed Isaac and extended to him all three facets of His covenant with Abram/Abraham.

And the LORD appeared to him [Isaac] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.  Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.  And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;”  Genesis 26:2-4  NASB

God Almighty renewed all three facets of His covenant with Isaac’s second son Jacob.

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac; the land on which you [Jacob] lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.  Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”  Genesis 28:13-15  NASB

Jacob is renamed Israel by God Almighty, and his son Joseph is sold into slavery but rises to second-in-command in Egypt.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”  Genesis 41:41  NASB

Joseph, during a famine, is able to secure a fitting place in Egypt for his father Jacob, his eleven brothers, and all those who were with them.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.  The Land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”  Genesis 47:5-6  NASB

Jacob/Israel and his family were warmly received by Pharaoh, but then Jacob/Israel’s descendants eventually became enslaved by their Egyptian hosts.

And God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants [seed] will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.  But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions.  Genesis 15:13-14  NASB

The Biblical record lapses until the appearance of Moses around 1450 BC.  After confrontations with Pharaoh including the ten plaques, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness of Sinai.  Shortly thereafter, God Almighty implemented a covenant with the descendants of Jacob/Israel.

And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:  ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you to Myself.  Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”  Exodus 19:3-6  NASB

The commandments of the covenant with the Israelites, the Mosaic Law, are spread among the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  These 613 commandments include the Ten Commandments, as well as moral, social, dietary, and purity laws and other commandments regarding duties of the priests, divine worship, sacrifices, and offerings.

The Mosaic Law was in the form of a contract.  On the congregational level, the Israelites would be God Almighty’s own possession, His kingdom of priests, and His holy nation if they followed His commandments.  On the individual level, the Law was God Almighty’s standards of righteousness required for justification before Him.  There was no tolerance with observance of the Law, because one must faithfully follow each and every commandment without fail.

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”  Galatians 3:10  NASB

Here is the Old Testament scripture quoted by the apostle Paul.

“Whoever doesn’t obey every word of these teachings will be cursed.”  Then all the people will say amen.  Deuteronomy 27:26  GOD’S WORD

Moses is an example of God Almighty’s demanding standard.  Moses, though having dealt marvelously with the disobedient, rebellious, and unappreciative Israelites for 40 years, was denied entry into the Promised Land for a seemingly minor transgression.

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”  Numbers 20:12  NASB

Moses’ sin was that he spoke in anger to the Israelites and he struck the stone in order to release the needed water rather than simply speaking to the rock (Num 20:8-10).

The Old Testament contains more than just a boring list of commandments.

Now these things [events in the Old Testament] happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved.  …  Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.  1Corinthians 10:6,11  NASB

“Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the LORD; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.  Acts 3:19-21  NASB

Consequently, we will find that God Almighty has embedded in the Old Testament numerous patterns for aspects of His plan of restoration of humanity.

For instance, God Almighty instructed Moses to build a tent structure according to a pattern from heaven.

Now if He [Jesus] were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”  Hebrews 8:4-5  NASB

The tent, sometimes called the tent of meeting and sometimes the tabernacle, was then surrounded by a fabric, perimeter wall.  The space enclosed by the wall but outside the tent of meeting is called the outer court.  By the term Mosaic tabernacle, we mean the outer wall and all that it enclosed.

Details of the Mosaic tabernacle and its furnishings are provided starting in Exodus 25.  The tent of meeting contained the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was 30 cubits by 10 cubits, was covered, and was entered through a veil.  The tent of meeting was surrounded by the outer court, which was 50 cubits on the east and west sides and was 100 cubits on the north and south sides.  The perimeter of the outer court was a curtain wall 5 cubits high with a veil on the east side for the one and only entrance.  In Exodus 40, we get an overview of the Mosaic tabernacle from the inside to the outside.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.  And you shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.  And you shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps.  Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle.  And you shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.  And you shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.  And you shall set up the court all around and hang up the veil for the gateway of the court.”  Exodus 40: 1-8  NASB

There are three distinct enclosures within the Mosaic tabernacle.  The largest is the outer court enclosed by the wall and housing the bronze altar, the bronze laver, and the tent of meeting.  Within the front part of tent of meeting there is the Holy Place with the table for bread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense.  At the back of the tent beyond the Holy Place is the Holy of Holies with the ark of the covenant.  Therefore, the Mosaic tabernacle consists of the triplet of three distinct places: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies.  Below is an illustration of the Mosaic tabernacle.

The variety of patterns available from the Mosaic tabernacle is illustrated by the following table with the six furnishings of the tabernacle listed in the first column in order from the outer court through the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies.  Then, important concepts are associated with groupings of 3, 4, 5, and 6 furnishings in the tabernacle.

A cloud is associated with a furnishing from each of the three enclosures of the tabernacle, and these clouds represent the three distinct titles: Jesus, Christ, and Lord.

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Acts 2:36  NASB

These three titles and distinct phases for Jesus can be associated with the three enclosures.

One entered the tabernacle by passing through the veil of the outer gate, and this transition corresponds to Jesus’ natural birth.  There is a cloud of smoke in the outer court from the fire of the bronze altar where the flesh of the sacrificial offerings was burnt.  The outer court represents Jesus the man before His baptism and suggests Jesus’ life as a Jewish lad without sin which made Him a worthy sacrifice for humanity’s sins.

One next entered the Holy Place by passing through a second veil, and this passage corresponds to Jesus’ baptisms, with water and with the Holy Spirit, and His adoption as a Son of God Almighty (Mark 9-11).  The Holy Place represents Jesus’ ministry as the Messiah/Christ, and the cloud over the altar of incense indicates His intense prayer in preparation for His role as sacrificial Lamb (Matt 26:36).

And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  Revelation 5:8  NASB

One entered the Holy of Holies by passing through a third veil, which is associated with Jesus’ death and His resurrection.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split,  Matthew 27:50-51  NASB

Behind the third and last veil is the ark of the covenant which was an indication of God Almighty’s presence over the ark in the Holy of Holies.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  Exodus 40:34

This cloud represents Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings seated at the right hand of God Almighty.

So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.  Mark 16:19  NASB

Therefore, the path from the entrance of the tabernacle to the Holy of Holies outlines the Messiah’s journey from Jesus the Jew to the Christ to Lord of lords seated at the right hand of God Almighty.

Within the tabernacle, there are four furnishings which are in-line, and we can associate them with the four classical elements of fire, water, air, and earth, which represent the classical “building blocks” of the world.  After one enters the outer gate, there is the bronze altar with fire to burn the flesh of the sacrificial animals.  Also in the outer court is the bronze laver containing water.  In the Holy Place there is the golden altar producing the cloud of incense, suggestive of air.  In the Holy of Holies is the golden ark which held manna, a tree branch, and the two stone tablets, which are earthly items.

And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.  Hebrews 9:3-4  NASB

There is an association of the five furnishings of the outer court and the Holy Place with the five offices given to support the church.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  Ephesians 4:11-12  NASB

We can associate evangelists, who preach the born again experience, with the bronze altar that suggests Jesus’ sacrificial/substitutional death.  We can associate pastors, who help with washing with the water of the word (Eph 5:26), with the bronze laver containing water.  We can associate teachers, who feed the faithful, with the table of bread.  We can associate prophets, who see and announce God Almighty’s message, with the lampstand which gives light to see by.  And finally, we can associate apostles, who work closely with God Almighty, with the altar of incense which is closest to the ark and the presence of God Almighty.

There is an association of all six of the furnishings in the tabernacle with the events of the six days of creation in Genesis 1.  The bronze altar, which represents forgiveness of sins and the transition from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, is associated with the separation of light from darkness in day 1.  There is an association of the bronze laver for water with the separation of the waters above and below in day 2.  There is an association of the table holding bread, made from grain, with the creation of vegetation in day 3.  There is an association of the lampstand for holding light with the placing of the heavenly bodies for light in day 4.  There is an association of the golden altar and its cloud of incense with the birds of the air created in day 5.  Finally there is an association of the ark of the covenant, which contained the manna for humanity and the commandments for humanity, with the creation of man in day 6.  When these six furnishings were set in place in the finished tabernacle, the presence of God Almighty descended upon the ark (Ex 40:34).

Another source of patterns in the Mosaic Law is the mandates for the three, annual feasts.

“Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.”  Deuteronomy 16:16  NASB

There is possible confusion because scripture is not consistent in the use of the term feast, for sometimes it will mean all of the activities of the gathering and other times one of the individual activities.  For the sake of clarity, we will label the three, annual gatherings as a feast and the scheduled activities of a feast as a festival.  Furthermore, we will be careful to distinguish between the first fruits festival of Unleavened Bread and the first fruits of Weeks.

The three, annual feasts coincide with three different harvests in the Holy Land.  The grain fields are seeded at the start of the rainy season, which occurs during the winter months.  The first annual feast, Unleavened Bread, is in early spring during the first month of the Hebrew calendar year and coincides with the first fruits of the harvest of barley, a grain that tolerates cool temperatures and matures first.  The second feast, Weeks, coincides with the harvest of wheat, is 50 days after Unleavened Bread in late spring, and is commonly known as Pentecost (Greek word for 50).

you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest  …     Exodus 34:22  NASB

The Feast of Booths or Ingathering or Tabernacles, the third feast, is set apart from the two previous feasts by season, because it is in the fall rather than the spring, and by harvest, because it is a harvest of fruit rather than grain.

The first feast, Unleavened Bread, and the last feast, Booths/Tabernacles, consist of three festivals.  Weeks/Pentecost, the second and middle feast, is a single-day event.  The number of feasts is three, the number representing divine completeness, and the number of festivals is seven, the number representing human completeness.  The seven festivals connect divine completion with the spiritual completion of humanity and follow the 3 – 1 – 3 pattern (Section 1.6),

Activities associated with the sequence of prescribed feasts and festivals provide patterns for past and future events in God Almighty’s plan for the restoration of humanity.  As a beginning, the seven festivals are a chronological pattern for major events of the Israelites/Jews from Moses to Jesus.

The first feast, Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:1-14), occurs in the first month of the year and starts with the sacrificial offering of the Festival of Passover.

“And you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.”  Deuteronomy 16:2  NASB

This festival commemorates the original Passover in Egypt that followed God Almighty’s call to worship of the Israelites.  This worship included the sacrifice of a bull of the cattle, which would have been an insult to the Egyptians’ religious beliefs because of the Egyptians worshiped the apis bull.

And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”  But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians.  If we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us?  We must go a three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He has commanded us.”  Exodus 8:25-27  NASB

Pharaoh’s refusal to allow the Israelites to go into the wilderness for worship precipitated the plagues upon Egypt.  Passover commemorates God’s Almighty’s display of His might with the last of these plagues, the death of all first-born in Egypt.  However, households of the Israelites escaped this last plague by sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed lamb upon the door posts and lintel of their houses.

“Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.  And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.  Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.  And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. … Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste – it is the LORD’s Passover.”  Exodus 12:5-8,11

God Almighty’s proclamation of death included the first-born of the cattle of the Egyptians as a judgment upon the gods of Egypt which included the apis bull.

“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment – I am the LORD.”  Exodus 12:12  NASB

while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born whom the Lord had struck down among them.  The Lord had also executed judgments on their gods.  Numbers 33:4  NASB

The judgment of the gods of Egypt is a promise that there will be judgment of the god and ruler of this world:  Satan.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread, the second festival of this first feast, begins with the Passover meal and continues for seven days.

You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.  Exodus 34:18

“You shall not eat leavened bread with it [the Passover meal]; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), in order that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you come out of the land of Egypt.  For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.”  Deuteronomy 16:3-4  NASB

Leaven or yeast, a living organism that is an agent of decomposition and decay, interacts with carbohydrates in the bread dough to produce carbon dioxide and/or alcohol.  Leaven is used in baking to lighten and soften the final product because the carbon dioxide produced by decomposition forms bubbles which cause the batter or dough to rise.  Leaven is not dependent upon light, so it may do its work in darkness.  Because of these properties of decomposition and decay even in darkness, leaven in dough is a fitting symbol of sin in humanity, causing decay and death.  On the other hand, unleavened bread is symbolic of humanity without sin.  Because Jesus is the only human without sin, unleavened bread is an appropriate symbol for Jesus, the Christ.  Leaven, symbolic of sin, was prohibited in the bread of the congregation of Israel for seven days after the Passover meal as a commemoration of the hasty flight from Egypt when there was no time for the leaven (yeast) to make the bread rise (Ex 23:15).

While in the desert after leaving Egypt, the Israelites were in constant need of food and water, and God Almighty miraculously provided these.  God Almighty provided bread from heaven and water from a rock (Exodus 17:5-6).

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’ portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.  …  So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.  When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the hoarfrost on the ground.  When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”  For they did not know what it was.  And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.” Exodus 16:4,13-15  NASB

The Israelites started their journey into the wilderness with unleavened bread, and then the bread from heaven sustained them.  Thus we have the suggestion that the Bread from heaven, Jesus, will sustain us during our journey in the wilderness of the kingdom of darkness.

The Festival of First Fruits of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a waving of a sheaf of barley stalks.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”  Leviticus 23:9-11  NASB

We can associate this festival with the Israelites being with God Almighty at His mountain.

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.  And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.  Exodus 19:16-18  NASB

During the Israelites stay at the mountain, God Almighty gave the covenant of the Law, and the congregation ratified it.

Then he [Moses] took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”  Exodus 24:7  NASB

The congregation built the tabernacle (Illustration 3.1), and, when it was completed, the cloud of God Almighty’s presence descended upon it (Ex 40:34).  On behalf of the Israelites, priests offered sacrifices and offerings in the outer court upon the bronze altar as part of the requirements of the Law.  Within the Holy Place, priests daily tended the golden lampstand and offered incense upon the golden altar.  In addition, once a year, on the Day of Atonement (now known as Yom Kippur), the high priest, and only the high priest, entered the Holy of Holies and offered a blood sacrifice upon the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant as atonement for the sins of the congregation.

Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, but into the second only the high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.  Hebrews 9:6-7

Notice the selectivity as one moved from outside the outer gates into the Holy of Holies.  Outside the outer gate are the nations, all the world.  The Israelites, the chosen people, came into the sanctuary or outer court, but no further.  Only the priesthood was allowed into the Holy Place of the tent of meeting.  But, the high priest was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year.  Later, in Chapter 5, we will learn how this progressive selectivity within the Mosaic tabernacle applies to members of the kingdom of God Almighty.

The second of the three annual feasts of the Mosaic Law is the Feast of First Fruits or Weeks or Pentecost, a celebration of the wheat harvest which includes waving two loaves of leavened (wheat) bread.

“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.  You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.  You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of a bushel; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as the first fruits to the LORD.  Along with the bread, you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd, and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their libations, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.  You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.  The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with the two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD for the priest.  On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation.  You shall do no laborious work.  It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.”  Leviticus 23:15-21  NASB

Jewish tradition connects this feast with the giving of the Law while the Israelites where at God Almighty’s mountain (Ex 19:2), but there is no explicit connection in scripture.  We find an association of this feast with the Israelites when they approached the Promised Land for the first time.  Moses sent spies into the Promised Land during the time of the first fruits of the land.

When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.  …  And how is the land, is it fat or lean?  Are there trees in it or not?  Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.”  Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.  Numbers 13:17,20  NASB

The spies brought back the first fruits from the Promised Land and presented them to the Israelites.

Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.  …  When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.  Numbers 13:23,25-26  NASB

The spies offered differing reports about the prospects of conquering the land.  Ten of the twelve spies spoke against a conquest.

But the men who had gone up with him [Caleb] said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”  So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out,  …  Numbers 13:31-32  NASB

Two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, gave a report of encouragement.

And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.  If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us–a land which flows with milk and honey.”  Numbers 14:6-8  NASB

The two spies who gave a good report as they presented the first fruits of the Promised Land match in number the two loaves of bread that are weaved by the priests during the Feast of Weeks.

After the two springtime feasts, there is a break until the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles in the fall.  Likewise there is a break in the progress of the Israelites toward the Promised Land.  Because of the stubbornness of the Israelites about entering the Promised Land, God Almighty punished the Israelites with another 38 years in the desert until the rebellious generation had died off.

“And for a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.”  Acts 13:18  NASB

Then, with a new generation of leadership, the Israelites were ready to leave their nomadic ways and to live in the Promised Land.

Booths/Tabernacles, the third and final mandated feast, began with the Festival of Trumpets.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’”  Leviticus 23:23-25  NASB

There is an association of trumpets with the Israelites’ victory at Jericho, their first conquest in the Promised Land.

And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors.  And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once.  You shall do so for six days.  Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.”  …  So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and it came about, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.  Joshua 6:2-4,20  NASB

The blowing of trumpets at Jericho, a “restful” means of bring down the wall, is associated with the Festival of Trumpets.

After Jericho, the Israelites conquered the rest of the Promised Land.  After a period of leadership by judges and King Saul, David became king.  The final covenant of the Old Testament was with David, to whom God Almighty promised a royal lineage.

“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant [seed] after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness [mercy] shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.  And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”  2Samuel 7:12-16  NASB

David’s lineage of kings continued through numerous generations.

God Almighty’s covenant with Abram/Abraham (Section 3.2) had a fulfillment in the natural with David’s son Solomon, who built the temple in Jerusalem.  Solomon’s kingdom included all the land that Abram/Abraham had looked upon.

Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.  1Kings 4:21  NASB

King Solomon was a blessing to all peoples.

And men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.  1Kings 4:34  NASB

The Israelites were numerous as the sand on the seashore.

Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.  1Kings 4:20  NASB

Many nations had descended from the eight sons from the three wives of Abram/Abraham.

The second festival of the Feast of Tabernacles is the Day of Atonement when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the congregation with the blood of a sacrificial offering.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD.  Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God.”  Leviticus 23:26-28 NASB

The Book of Hebrews makes the case that one of David’s descendants, Jesus the Son of God Almighty, fulfilled this festival with His sacrificial death.

The third festival of the Feast of Tabernacles is called Booths, which commemorates God Almighty’s provision while the Israelites lived in booths during the forty years of wandering in the desert.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD.  On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind.  For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.  On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is an assembly.  You shall do no laborious work.  …   On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.  Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.  You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year.  It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born of Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt.  I am the LORD your God.’” Leviticus 23:33-36,39-43  NASB

The rejoicing prescribed for this festival is certainly consistent with the joy over Jesus’ resurrection, which is the concluding event in the fulfillment of the mandates of the three feasts by the Israelites/Jews.

As we have mentioned, the Old Testament traces the linage of the man Adam to Jesus, the Christ.  Initially, it is the story of individuals and their families such as the man Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  The story later expands to include the nation of Israelites.  God Almighty’s covenants with His servants of the Old Testament span the entire Old Testament period, which is bookended by the two sons of God Almighty, the first Adam and the last Adam (Jesus).

So also it is written “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.”  The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  1Corinthians 15:45  NASB

God Almighty dealt with these two sons as individuals.  Neither man had a human father because God Almighty took direct participation in their existence.  Another aspect of being a son of God Almighty is to be in the image of God Almighty (Section 2.4).

God Almighty implemented covenants with Noah and David that involved their households.  God Almighty saved Noah’s household from the flood (Gen 7:1) and brought royalty to David’s household (2Samuel 7:12-16).  God Almighty spoke to Abraham and Moses in terms of a nation, the Israelites.  We can represent the symmetry of these covenants with the 3 – 1 – 3 pattern of seven, decline-increase steps derived from the story of creation in Genesis 1 (Section 1.6).

Here we have three steps of decline and three steps of increase which bracket the low point of slavery of the Israelites in Egypt.  These decline-increase steps reflect the symmetry in the scope of the covenants from God Almighty during the Old Testament.