The great memorial day of the gospel seems to have been clearly prefigured in the law of shadows.
- The Feast of Harvest. “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Lev. 23:10, 11).
This took place “on the morrow after the Sabbath.” This was the eighth day, or the first day of the week. The sheaf that the priest waved before the Lord was of the “first-fruits of the harvest.” What did it typify? Paul gives the answer: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20). That sheaf clearly pointed to the resurrection of Christ. True to the shadow, Christ rose on the first day of the week. So the eighth day on which the wave-offering was made, was a part of the shadow as much as the offering. As certain as the sheaf pointed to the resurrection of Christ, so certain did the eighth day on which it took place point to the day on which he arose—the Lord’s Day. That sheaf was a sample of the entire crop, so Christ’s resurrection is a sample and proof of the future resurrection of all the redeemed (see 1 Corinthians 15).
- The Feast of Pentecost. “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord. And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat-offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord” (Lev. 23:15, 16, 18).
This offering “made by fire” pointed to the baptism of “the Holy Ghost and fire” received on Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost was on the “morrow after the seventh Sabbath,” or fifty days from the wave-offering. “Pentecost” means fifty. How wonderful this shadow! The sheaf was waved before the Lord on the first day of the week. It pointed to Christ’s resurrection, which took place on the same day. Just seven weeks later came the Feast of Pentecost, an offering by fire. That fell also on the day “after the Sabbath.” Just seven weeks after Christ’s resurrection the Holy Spirit fire fell on one hundred and twenty, and the church of God was organized. Both took place on the first day of the week.
In the law of shadows we read: “And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you” (Lev. 23:21). “Convocation” means assembly. “On the first day shall be an holy convocation.…On the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly” (vss. 35, 36). “On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly” (Num. 29:35). “On the eighth day they made a solemn assembly” (2 Chron. 7:9). “On the eighth day was a solemn assembly” (Neh. 8:18). All this was a shadow. Notice that the eighth day, or first day of the week, stood out in great prominence.
The two feasts held on this day pointed to the two great triumphant events in the plan of redemption; viz., the resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the type, the eighth day was a day of assembly, a day when sacrifice by fire was offered to the Lord. This foreshadowed the great memorial day of the gospel—the Lord’s Day. From the day on which Christ rose from the dead, the eighth day has been a day of assembling, a day of holy convocation for the church of God, a day when sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving by the Holy Spirit’s fire have been given to God.
All chapters from The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day. By H. M. Riggle, 1922. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
- The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day - October 2, 2021
- 27. Sunday-Keeping is Not the Mark of the Beast - July 8, 2020
- 26. The Pope and the Sabbath - July 2, 2020