EXODUS: The Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Weeks were a Foreshadowing of Christ Jesus; You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering."

“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:... (Exodus 23:14)

The Lord God finished giving Moses the instruction for the children of Israel regarding the laws. Now, we would give instructions regarding the annual feasts. Remember, when the Lord God had the children of Israel sacrifice a lamb per household and put the blood of the lamb over their doorposts, " ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.'" (Exodus 12:12-13)

The Lord God went on to instruct them, "‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you.'" (Exodus 12:14-16)

"So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.  For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.  You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’” (Exodus 12:17-20)

Well, the Lord God meant what He said, because now, He would reiterate that to the children of Israel through Moses, "You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread [aka Passover, Pentecost] (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty);... (Exodus 23:14-15)

"...and the Feast of Harvest, [aka Feast of Weeks] the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. (Exodus 23:16)

“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. (Exodus 23:17) The Lord God would go into more detail regarding the Feast of Weeks (aka Feast of Harvest and Feast of Ingathering) in a future lesson, and why the males had to present it. He will also instruct the children of Israel of on several other Feasts they are to observe. But the important thing for us to learn from this is that "it foreshadows the coming Messiah and His ministry. Each and every one of the seven Jewish Feasts signifies an important aspect of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. 

"Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and rose from the grave at the Feast of Firstfruits. Following His resurrection, Jesus spent the next 40 days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1). Fifty days after His resurrection and after ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as promised (John 14:16–17) to indwell the disciples and empower them for ministry. The promised Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost, which is another name for the Feast of Weeks. 

"The spiritual significances of the Feast of Weeks are many. Some see the two loaves of leavened bread that were to be a wave offering as foreshadowing the time when the Messiah would make both Jew and Gentile to be one in Him (Ephesians 2:14–15). This is also the only feast where leavened bread is used. Leaven in Scripture is often used symbolically of sin, and the leavened bread used in the Feast of Weeks is thought to be representative of the fact that there is still sin within the church (body of Christ) and will be until Christ returns again. 

"On the Day of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the “firstfruits” of the church were gathered by Christ as some 3,000 people heard Peter present the gospel after the Holy Spirit had empowered and indwelt the disciples as promised. With the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of God’s spiritual harvest under the New Covenant began. Today that harvest continues as people continue to be saved, but there is also another coming harvest whereby God will again turn His attention back to Israel so that “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26)." (read "What is the Feast of Weeks?") 

“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning. (Exodus 23:18) Yet again, this is also a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ Jesus.  When the Lord God instituted the Passover, He told the children of Israel, "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats." (Exodus 12:5) That represented being without sin, therefore the bread had to be unleavened because that also represented being without sin. Christ Jesus fulfilled this holy requirement; And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (I John 3:5)

The Apostle Paul explained it this way, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore 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. (I Corinthians 5:6-8) AMEN!