Patterns to live by

What are the ‘Appointed Times’ and how can they enrich our lives?

Patterns are both useful and comforting. Life is full of patterns upon which we depend. There are 365 days in a year, unless it’s a leap year. The seasons are dependable; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter follow in strict order. Each day the sun rises, reaches its zenith and later sets.

God uses patterns – indeed He wisely and graciously set certain patterns in place for our benefit and blessing. Whilst there are a number of patterns that God graciously uses, He set out His pattern for life and His pattern for relationship for the blessing of all Mankind, especially through His chosen people, the Hebrews. In this series of articles we explore this pattern – called the Moedim – and see how it speaks to us of the life, ministry and mission of Jesus.

Chosen people?

We must straightaway affirm that whilst this pattern was given to THE Chosen People – the Hebrews – God always intended that this Chosen People would be expanded or enlarged to encompass people from “every tribe and tongue”1 . So the subject of this article is not a vague, arcane matter of only limited interest. This subject speaks to every human being on the face of this planet!

Figure 1 – The Moedim and their Christological significance

We live in a modern age that is in many ways disconnected from reading, let alone from Jesus. I make no apology that this study encourages readers to engage at a deeper level than typical. We make use of simple diagrams to put across sometimes complex themes. What outcomes can you expect from reading this series? It will: 

• give you a “handle” on the Moedim – those seven appointed meetings that most clearly set out the entire good news (“gospel”) theme. 
• help us see more clearly God’s great plan of salvation. 
• highlight the ‘topography’ of the end times. 
• give greater insight into “one new man”, the reality of two that are, in some senses, in outright opposition to each other, and yet united eternally in Messiah Jesus. 
• help to “lock” in our mind’s eye the “contours” of the life, ministry, mission and triumph of Jesus. 
• help to “unlock” the Bible’s metanarrative and give greater confidence in its dependability and truthfulness.

The Moedim

םדאוּמ – Moedim – a plural Hebrew word meaning “appointments” or “appointed times”. Leviticus 23 contains significant references to God’s appointed times, as we shall explore in this series. This word is sometimes translated as “holidays” or “festivals” but is better understood as ‘Divinely commanded appointments’. Strongs #4150. Pronounced MO eh DEEM. Singular : “Moed”. Let us remember the words of Romans 5:6 which, perhaps unexpectedly, the New Jerusalem Bible seems to render most correctly: “When we were still helpless, at the appointed time, Christ died for the godless”. Most, but not all, modern English ‘translations’ refer to “the right time” or to the “due time”. But these are mere paraphrases of what the Scripture is clearly indicating; that at the appointed time our Saviour was crucified. And the appointed time was the Moed of Passover.

The theme of this series is straightforwardly that in giving to the Chosen People a ‘framework’ within which to encounter Him in a formalised sense, God is doing more than “just” providing interesting festivals, reflecting the agricultural planting and reaping seasons. Taken in aggregate, the Moedim provide a simple and straightforward message that speaks of two profound things simultaneously:

• the life, death, mission, ministry and return of Jesus the Messiah. 
• God’s future plans for Mankind.

In the Moedim we see a simple and straightforward gospel message. In our Bibles we read that the risen Lord Jesus, in the road to Emmaus encounter2 , took two confused disciples3 through the entire Scriptures to demonstrate to them “everything” about Himself. Your author is of the opinion that it is likely that the structure of the Lord’s “bible study” would have been the Moedim.

We can say, then, that the Moedim provide a wonderful “framework” within which to consider all of God’s works.

Leviticus 23

Leviticus does not have a particularly good “press” even amongst (some) Christians. Whereas the first two books of the Bible are strong on character and narrative – they are indeed a great read – Leviticus is by comparison rather boring.

Yet today Christians are rediscovering central truths about our Lord and Saviour through the pages of Leviticus. As regards Leviticus it seems as though the words of Jeremiah (30:24) are relevant, albeit taken somewhat out of context: “In the latter days you will understand this”. Are we now living in the latter days? If so, what old truths are to be rediscovered?

Leviticus concerns the priestly ‘tribe’ of Israel and its role in the nation. It contains regulations for worship and religious ceremony, and for priests responsible for carrying out these instructions.

The main theme of the book, and one that is perhaps obscured by its vast detail, is the holiness of God and the ways in which His people were to worship Him and maintain their relationship with Him. There is very little narrative in Leviticus. Rather it is seen popularly as a list of rules and regulations. For many people today it seems irrelevant.

We are inclined to ask “what has this got to do with me?” The structure of Leviticus can be summarised:

1. Laws about offerings and sacrifices (1:1 – 7:38)

2. Ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests (8:1 – 10:20)

3. Laws about ritual cleanness and uncleanness (11:1 – 15:33)

4. The Day of Atonement (16:1–34)

5. Laws about holiness in life and worship (17:1 – 27:34)

Our interest is in the fifth section. God gave to Moses specific regulations for the worshipful year, when He commanded that the people of Israel were to gather for worship. Note that word gather! This is about corporate worship and responding to God in community. In Leviticus 23:3 God reiterates the fourth of what we all call The Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20:8 God had commanded that the people should observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. In this context ‘holy’ means ‘set apart specifically for worship of the Lord’. That command is repeated virtually word for word in Leviticus. Because of this, and the fact that it comes immediately before the seven Moeds, some commentators speak of eight Moeds and incorporate the weekly Sabbath into this pattern. Their keenness and enthusiasm is commendable, but they are incorrect! The Sabbath is for all time and for all peoples. It is a command and a pattern given for the blessing of the whole of humanity, but, unlike the seven Moeds, it does not speak in the same way of the life, death, resurrection and completed mission of Jesus. It is rightly said that Jesus is the “Sabbath rest”4 of His true disciples; however it is not an exaggeration to say that an entire theology book could be devoted just to that wonderful subject! Sabbath is of a different order to the Moedim and so we largely ignore it in this series, not because it is unimportant (far from it) but because it is simply a different subject5. There are seven, not eight Moeds.

The fact that there are seven Moeds is significant in itself. The number seven in the Bible is always an indication of completion and perfection. When God says something seven times we should sit up and listen! Seven Moeds means that God has provided a complete and a perfect message. There is nothing to be added – and nothing to be subtracted.

We continue this article in the next edition and explore the timing of the Moeds.

This material is edited from “The Messiah Pattern” published by Christian Publications International.

1 For illustration, see Revelation 5:9 and 7:9. This theme of blessing to all Mankind is found in the earliest parts of the Bible.

2 Luke 24:13-35 and Mark 16-12-13

3 One of whom is identified as Cleopas (Luke 24:18)

4 Hebrews chapter 4 is the definitive passage regarding Jesus as our Sabbath rest. The writer to the Hebrews pleads with his readers to “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Messiah Jesus. After three chapters of reminding them that Jesus is superior to the angels and that He is our Apostle and High Priest, he pleads with them to not harden their hearts against Jesus, as their fathers hardened their hearts against the Lord in the wilderness. Because of their unbelief, God denied that generation access to the holy land, saying, “They shall not enter into My rest” (Hebrews 3:11). In the same way, the writer to the Hebrews begs his readers not to make the same mistake by rejecting God’s Sabbath rest in their Messiah. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9–11).

5 Some Christians choose voluntarily to mark Sabbath (the Jewish Shabbat) in preference to Sunday. There seems no intrinsic reason why this pattern should not be adopted PROVIDING it is not seen as being a Law, and something upon which our salvation is thought to depend. The Bible makes specific provision in Romans 14:5 for freedom of conscience in this area, which can otherwise become divisive and controversial.