Study Module: The Festivals
Click below to explore other modules
Ten Lesson Study Module
HaYesod: The Festivals
This new third study module, released in October 2021, is composed of ten brand new lessons that explore the biblical Festivals and its richness for Christians today.
From only $45: Online Student Program (6-month rental).
Also available as complete Video or DVD Packs here »
Lessons are taught from locations throughout the land of Israel and from the studio setting of the First Fruits of Zion study hall (beit midrash). Students will enjoy an interactive Messianic learning experience and fall in love with the land of Israel through Bible lessons shot on location.
Lesson Overview
HaYesod: The Festivals
Lesson One: Cycle of Sanctification
The Bible contains an ancient calendar of “the LORD’s appointed times,” holy days that He has set aside for meeting with man. The appointed times include the Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Festival of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Festival of Booths, and the Eighth Day. Each of them symbolizes a significant historical event from the past, and each one of them prophetically alludes to the work of Messiah.
Lesson Two: Pesach and the Seder
When Yeshua told us to “do this in remembrance of Me,” He spoke in the context of a Passover Seder. The Passover sacrifice in Egypt occurred on the fourteenth day of the first month on the Jewish calendar. On that day, God struck down the firstborn of Egypt but spared those in homes marked with the blood of the Passover lamb. As a faithful Jew, Yeshua kept Passover in Jerusalem every year, and His last supper with His disciples was actually a Passover Seder meal.
Lesson Three: Seven Days of Redemption
Passover is more than just the seder night. In fact, the seder night is only the beginning of seven days of Passover—the seven days of Unleavened Bread. These days are to be a memorial, an appointed time, and a permanent ordinance. Just as the exodus from Egypt took place in two stages, so the coming of Yeshua takes place in two stages. The events that happened during the seven days of Passover in the days of the redemption from Egypt teach us about the events that will take place in the days of the redemption of the Messianic Era.
Lesson Four: Counting the Omer
The Bible tells the Jewish people to harvest one omer of “the first fruits of your harvest” and bring it to the Temple. Beginning on the day that the first omer of barley was harvested and brought to the Temple, a count- down to the next biblical festival began. The Torah commands the Israelites to count off forty-nine days and then celebrate the Festival of Shavu’ot (Pentecost) on the fiftieth day. Jewish tradition teaches that the period of the Omer count is to be a time of spiritual introspection. Yeshua’s resurrection occurred on the day that began the fifty-day count-off to Pentecost and His ascension on the fortieth day of the Omer.
Lesson Five: Pentecost at Mount Sinai
At Passover, God redeemed the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. He delivered them with a powerful display of His glory. When the children of Israel left Pharaoh’s land, they left behind the culture of slavery, idolatry, and immorality that had governed their identity in Egypt. For forty-nine days they traveled through the wilderness. On the fiftieth day, they received a new culture; they received the Torah. Many years later, on the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, God poured out His Spirit on the disciples of Yeshua as a guarantee of the good things to come at the time of the final redemption. Shavu’ot brings us to the next stop on the annual cycle of sanctification where we learn that the Torah and the Spirit are not opposites. They are supposed to work together to transform us from the inside so that we become the first fruits of the new harvest.
Lesson Six: Days of Awe
While the spring festivals prophetically foreshadow Yeshua’s first coming, the high holidays of the fall pro- phetically foreshadow what Yeshua will accomplish in His second coming. The fall holidays commence with a period of time called the “Season of Repentance,” which inspires a deeper experience of the fear of the LORD. It is a time to remember that all our deeds are known and recorded by the Almighty. Our actions do have consequences and all of humanity will one day stand before the Ancient of Days and His Messiah in judgment.
Lesson Seven: Head of the Year
Rosh HaShanah is a day to proclaim God’s kingship, to hear the shofar, and to reflect on specific remembrances. In the days of the Bible, Rosh HaShanah marked the beginning of the agricultural year. The festival is primarily associated with the sounding of the shofar trumpet, the horn of the Biblical Era, which was used for various applications and occasions. The sages of Israel associated ten core themes with the sounding of the shofar. The so-called “Ten Remembrances” form a blueprint for the work and mission of our Master Yeshua.
Lesson Eight: Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the year. In the days of the Temple, the holiest man on earth (the high priest) entered the holiest space on earth (the holy of holies) on Yom Kippur. His annual quest was to provide atonement on behalf of the nation. Yom Kippur reminds us that sin is a serious problem for humanity. We must humble our souls before the Almighty if we wish to draw near to Him. Through confession, repentance, and the atoning offering of the Lamb without blemish, we obtain a spiritual entrance behind the veil into the presence of God.
Lesson Nine: Festival of Booths
The culmination of the Bible’s holiday cycle is not Yom Kippur, as one might assume, but rather the festival known as Sukkot, i.e., the “Festival of Booths.” During Sukkot the Jewish people dwell in holiday booths outside of the comforts of home. The Jewish people refer to Sukkot as “the season of our joy.” At Sukkot, we celebrate the spiritual joy of emerging from the high holidays of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur with a clean slate and a fresh start. The holiday of Sukkot is filled with sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that teach us about living a life of faith and about the future Messianic Kingdom.
Lesson Ten: Eighth Day Finale
How does a seven-day holiday have an eighth day? In the Bible, it happens. After seven days of Sukkot, the biblical calendar introduces an eighth day. In Hebrew it’s called Shemini Atzeret. This eighth-day celebration is shrouded in deep mystery and messianic allusions to the kingdom and the World to Come. It is a day to rejoice in God’s gift of the Torah, and it is the final day in the Bible’s divine cycle of sanctification. The annual cycle of sanctification vividly illustrates God’s greater plan of redemption while leading each individual into a personal experience of spiritual growth in individual faith.
Teaching Sessions
The teaching segments of both HaYesod modules are presented on video. Students follow along in comprehensive workbooks that accompanies the video lessons. The video lessons of both HaYesod modules are available as a rental option (for 6 months), as downloadable videos, or on DVD discs.
Each of the lessons carefully builds on the previous one, enabling students to make connections and form logical conclusions from week to week. The sessions make multiple transitions between the studio (the beit midrash) and different locations from the land of Israel.
Beit Midrash Video Segments
Interactive, instructive, in-depth, text work, relaxed, careful, linked to student manual work.
Israel Video Segments
Engaging, dynamic, heart-felt, illustrative, and, at times, light-hearted.
