Jesus was crucified on the Feast of Passover, in the grave on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits.
Fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits was the Feast of Pentecost, or Shavuot - Feast of Weeks (seven weeks of seven days), officially marking the beginning of the main harvest season (the end of barley harvest and the beginning of wheat harvest.)
Likewise, fifty days after Jesus rose from the grave was the Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Apostles and the Church was born.
The harvest of souls began with 3,000 coming to faith in Christ the first day, and 8,000 by the end of the week.
Then new Jewish believers in Christ spread the harvest around the world.
If one zooms out and looks at all of recorded human history, it becomes clear that the world was divinely set up for this moment -- the rapid spread of the Gospel.
c.1400 BC -- Moses and the Children of Israel celebrated the first Passover, came out of Egypt and entered the Promised Land. The tradition of observing the Seven Feasts was instituted.
722 BC -- The Ten Northern Tribes of Israel were taken captive by Assyria and scattered far and wide, resulting in pockets of Israelite communities established around the known world.
597-587 BC -- The Tribe of Judah was taken captive to Babylon. Though some returned 70 years later, many stayed in Babylon.
509 BC – The Roman Republic was founded. In the 4th century BC, Rome began to expand its road system, beginning with the Appian Way, connecting entire the known world. "All roads lead to Rome."
335 BC -- Alexander the Great conquered and spread the Greek language, which became the world-wide trade language.
285 BC – The Old Testament was translated into Greek, called the Septuagint.
27 BC -- The Pax Romana began - a century of world peace.
33 AD -- Jesus was crucified and resurrected.
Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven.
He told his disciples in Luke 24:49:
"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
Acts 1:4-14:
"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,
'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' ...
'You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight ..."
"... Then they returned to Jerusalem ... and when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying:
Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."
Acts 2:1-4:
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
At the end of the Pentecost week, Jewish believers, filled with the Holy Spirit, traveled from Jerusalem --
during the Pax Romana peace,
on Roman roads,
to pockets of Jewish communities scattered around the world,
proclaiming that the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah,
which could be read in the Greek Septuagint, were fulfilled in the risen Christ!
The world was set up for the rapid spread of the Gospel.
Christianity has since grown to be the largest religion in the world, with over 2.6 billion followers, representing 32.3 percent of the global population.
Romans 10:15-18
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace ... But I say, have they not heard?Yes indeed: 'Their sound has gone out to all the earth."
The last three Feast of Israel were the Feast of Trumpet, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
These feast are yet to be fulfilled in the future.
At the end of the long summer harvesting, threshing, winnowing, and sifting, as well as gathering grapes, figs, almonds, and pomegranates, the Feast of Trumpets called the workers to gather in from the fields to the Temple.
The harvest was now complete.
Likewise, the long summer of harvesting souls comes to an end with the angles blowing trumpets.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.”
I Corinthians 15:52 "At the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:40 “Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.”
The next feast is the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur, the most solemn of all feasts, which students of prophecy speculate may be fulfilled in the Great Tribulation or the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Finally, there is the Feast of Tabernacles, where the Israelites dwelt in booths or tents to remind them of their pilgrimage 40 years following the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.
This could foreshadow the saints dwelling with the Lord forever.
John 14:2-3 (Amplified Bible): “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also."
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Image Credits: Public Domain; Description: Icon of the Resurrection; Date: December 11, 2009; Source: Author Surgun100; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Resurrection_(24).jpg