2012 the Final Season of Harvest

By Jock Ellis

The Bible description of the Three Old Testament Feast

Exodus 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

Exodus 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Exodus 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field

1. Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread (First of First Fruit) – First fruit for which no labor on our part (Spring Harvest)

Passover: the name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first born of all the Egyptians were destroyed. It is called also the “feast of unleavened bread” (Ex. 23:15; Mark 14:1; Acts 12:3), because during its celebration no leavened bread was to be eaten or even kept in the household (Ex. 12:15). The word afterwards came to denote the lamb that was slain at the feast (Mark 14:12-14; 1 Cor. 5:7)

Feast of Unleaven Bread: The feast of unleaven bread followed Passover. It began on the fifteenth day of the first (sacred) month of Nisan (Abib 1st Jewish Month equivalent to our March/April). It lasted for seven days during which Israel was to eat unleaven bread (Lev. 23:6).

2. Feast of Pentecost (Sivan 6) : First Fruit of a different Type (your labor)- but still first Fruit (Summer Harvesting starts 10 days after or Sivan 16) 49 days or 7 weeks + 1 day after the Passover is Pentecost: (Gk. "pentekoste" meaning "fiftieth") Pentecost: i.e., “fiftieth”, found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Ex. 34:22 as “the day of the firstfruits” (Num. 28:26). From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks, i.e., forty-nine days, were to be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day. The manner in which it was to be kept is described in Lev. 23:15-19; Num. 28:27-29. Besides the sacrifices prescribed for the occasion, everyone was to bring to the Lord his “tribute of a free-will offering” (Deut. 16:9-11). The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of “two leavened loaves” made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which, with two lambs, were waved before the Lord as a thank offering. Pentecost was the second of three great Jewish feasts (along with Passover and feast of Tabernacles). It was celebrated fifty days - "even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days" (Lev. 23:16) - after Passover. (Sivan 3rd Jewish Month equivalent to our May/June).

3. Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Tabernacle (Fall Harvest) 15th of Tishri 7th Jewish Month. Feast of Tabernacles: (Heb. "hag hassukkot") Also called the Feast of Booths (2 Chron. 8:13), or the Feast of Tents, this feast was a week-long remembrance of the time when God "made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I [God] brought them out of the land of Egypt" (Lev. 23:42.43). During the week, the Israelites were to live in booths (Lev. 23:43). The feast was probably the most well known of all the feasts and is referred to as "the feast" (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chron. 5:3). It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh (sacred) month of Tishri (Lev. 23:34).

The Concept of Spiritual Rain

Before we go too far along we must understand the concept of Spiritual Rain and its association with each of the Seasons of Harvest. Rain from a practical point is an essential element for any harvest. From the scripture we see that Christ identified himself as the giver of living water (the Gospel where men are saved) and Elijah illustrated water being shut up from the heavens as a picture of spiritual famine when there was no rain.

John 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

1Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1Kings 8:35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:

The following table of the Six Agricultural Periods for Palestine will help further illustrate the association of Rain to the their perspective Seasons of Harvests. This chart will also help us in understanding the prophecy of Joel 2:23 of the Early Rain and Latter Rain which will be presented later.

Six Agricultural Periods for Palestine