At Mt. Sinai, after being miraculously freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites agreed to obey God in return for being His chosen nation. The book of Leviticus details the terms of that covenant between God and His people. In chapter 23, it spells out seven annual festivals that they were to observe. Each had its own very specific timing. They are clustered into two groups, one in Spring and early Summer, and the other in late Summer and early Autumn.
What the Israelites didn’t realize at the time was that each festival was also prophetic. Looking at Jesus, we can see how He is the fulfillment of those festivals. Some, He has already fulfilled completely. Others, He will finish fulfilling when He returns at the end of history.
Spring and Early Summer Festivals
The first four of the annual festivals are held in the Spring or early Summer. The first three happen right together in just about one week. The fourth is held fifty days later. All were fulfilled by Jesus’ first coming as Servant, Sacrifice, and Savior. Christians celebrate them as Easter, remembering His death and resurrection, and as Pentecost, the beginning of His church.
Passover
Passover begins at twilight on the 14th day of the 1st month of the Jewish calendar, Hebrew Nisan (also called Aviv), which occurs in March or April of the modern calendar. It commemorates the deliverance from Egypt, the night that Death “passed over” the homes marked by the blood of the sacrificial lamb.
The first “passing over” is described in Exodus chapters 11 through 13. When the Pharaoh still refused to let the Hebrew slaves go with Moses — even after plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness (Exodus chapters 7 through 10) — God sent one last plague: the death of all firstborn of man and beast. Only those in households identified by the blood of a lamb were spared. Exodus 12:1-13 describes that first Passover meal. Exodus 12:21-25 is the first command to repeat the meal each year as a reminder of that deliverance, then Leviticus 23 sets the timing:
The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Leviticus 23:5 (See also Deuteronomy 16:1-8)
Jesus’ Fulfillment
Jesus’ last meal with His disciples was the Passover meal (Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:14-20). At that time, He expanded the meal into what we today call the Lord’s Supper (or Communion). He was sacrificed the next day. He is the Lamb whose blood delivers us from an eternal death of separation from God.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on Nisan 15, the day after Passover. It continues with another seven days of offerings, and a sacred assembly on the 7th day. Leaven, or yeast, was used as a metaphor for sin. So, unleavened bread was the opposite: a sign of holiness. The feast also recalls the haste in leaving Egypt, with no time for bread to rise.
This feast also began with the Passover event, and is celebrated immediately after it each year. The original details are in Exodus 12:14-20 and 13:3-10; the Leviticus 23 instructions are in verses 5-8:
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Leviticus 23:5-8 (See also Deuteronomy 16:1-8)
On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.
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Jesus’ Fulfillment
Jesus was completely without sin (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:21-24, 1 John 3:5). He lived His entire life with no “leaven”, always holy, always completely obeying His Father’s will.
Firstfruits
The third feast, Firstfruits, also takes place at the time of Passover. It begins a celebration of harvest, and thanks God for His provision by offering the first grain to be picked back to Him.
Rather than commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, this feast remembers the end of that journey and the new life in the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 26:1-11 gives the instructions for the first time it was to be celebrated, after they were settled in their new home. In Leviticus 23, verses 9-14 say to repeat it annually, thanking God for a new year’s provision, then verse 15 places the timing at the first day of the week after Passover.
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.
Leviticus 23:10-15
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This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
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You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering…
Jesus’ Fulfillment
The first day of the week, following the Passover Sabbath…hmmm… That sounds a bit familiar:
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Mark 16:1-8 (emphasis added)
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You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here.
I am by no means the first to make that observation. Paul did so, in his letter to the church at Corinth:
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20-26
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For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Just as the feast celebrates the first of the harvest, thanking God and trusting Him for the remainder of the crops, Jesus’ resurrection is only the first that we will celebrate. Because of Him, the rest of the harvest is on its way. All who trust in Him will have new life in a new land that He promises.
Festival of Weeks
The fourth and final Springtime feast is the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. It celebrates the end of the harvest season, when all of the grain has come in. Leviticus 23 sets its timing at seven weeks/fifty days after Firstfruits:
You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:15-21 (See also Deuteronomy 16:9-12)
Jesus’ Fulfillment
It was on Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ death and resurrection and ten days after His ascension, that He sent the promised Holy Spirit to empower the believers. Acts 2:1-4 records the event; verses 5-13 tell the reaction of the crowd to hearing the Gospel proclaimed in their own languages; verses 14-36 recount Peter’s first sermon; and the rest of the chapter shows the amazing initial growth of the church.
Late Summer/Early Autumn Festivals
The last three festivals are held later in the year. Again, they are close together: All are held within the same three-week period. They will see their true fulfillment when Jesus returns in glory as Conqueror and King.
Festival of Trumpets
The Festival of Trumpets occurs on first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, Hebrew Tishri, which corresponds to September or October of the modern calendar. Among its other names are Yom Teruah and Rosh Hoshannah, the Jewish New Year.
The Hebrew word “yom” means “day” or “day of”. Teruah means alarm, signal, battle cry, or shout of joy. So Yom Teruah is a day of a great call … of alarm, battle, joy … or a combination of the three. To the Jews, it is a call to repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:24-25
Jesus’ Fulfillment
The Bible says that Jesus’ return will be heralded by a trumpet call.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
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Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Revelation describes the blowing of seven trumpets, each initiating another advance of the end-of-time events. Chapters 8 and 9 tell of the first six ushering in ever greater catastrophes. Then Revelation 11:15-19 has the seventh trumpet announcing “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” That will indeed be a great day of alarm for some, and of joy for others, depending on which side they have chosen.
Day of Atonement
Ten days after Trumpets, on the tenth day of that seventh month is the Day of Atonement. This is the most sacred day of the Jewish year. Leviticus 16 describes the detailed procedures for the High Priest to follow on this most holy of all the holy-days. He was to first make sacrifice to atone for his own personal sin, then he was qualified to sacrifice on behalf of the entire nation. Only on this one day of the year was he allowed to enter the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle/temple, containing the Ark of the Covenant and the site of God’s actual presence with His people.
The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:26-32
Jesus’ Fulfillment
Jesus acts as our ultimate High Priest. Hebrews 9:1 through 10:18 gives a carefully-reasoned dissertation on how He entered the true tabernacle of which the earthly one is only a copy. He did not have to atone for Himself, since He had no sin. But He gave Himself as the sacrifice to once-and-for-all atone for the rest of us. When He died, the veil in the temple separating the Most Holy Place was torn in two…from top to bottom! (Matthew 27:50-51, Mark 15:37-38, Luke 23:44-46) When He returns, there will never again be any separation; there will be no barrier between God and those who love Him.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them…
Revelation 21:3
Feast of Booths
The Feast of Booths, sometimes called the Feast of Tabernacles, starts five days after the Day of Atonement, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and lasts for seven days.
During this time, the people were to live in temporary shelters, to remember their days of wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus, and to demonstrate trust in God to provide for them. It was a time of rejoicing in God’s provision.
On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.
Leviticus 23:39-43 (See also Deuteronomy 16:13-15)
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You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt.
Jesus’ Fulfillment
It was during this feast that Jesus made a major announcement. On the last day, a “Water Ceremony” was held celebrating God’s provision of water that made the just-completed harvest (and all of life) possible. During this ceremony, Jesus declared Himself to be the Source of Living Water, the Spirit of God who makes eternal life possible. He is the Provision of everything that we need. Because of Him, we can be “altogether joyful” (or in NIV translation “your joy will be complete“) as it says in Deuteronomy 16:15.
Jesus is the Reason for All of the Feasts
God could have commanded these feasts simply for the people to remember His deliverance from Egypt and to thank Him for providing successful harvests each year. That would have been great, ways for them to continue to praise their God.
But as we look more closely at each one of the feasts in light of Jesus and what He has done for us, they take on a much deeper meaning. He delivers us from a worse kind of slavery, to sin and death. He provides more than food for physical life; He provides a Living Spirit for eternal life.
That is reason to celebrate, not just on seven separate occasions, but all day, every day!
