THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL
 

Many Christians do not realize that the seven feasts which God commanded in Leviticus 23 are still observed by their Jewish neighbors. The feasts, as given to Israel, bore a three-fold significance. First there was the seasonal aspect of each holiday; then the feast were to be a memorial of God's dealings with the Hebrews; and finally there was the prophetic symbolism of God's dealings with His Church, which is made up of believing Jews and believing Gentiles.

A study of the feasts of Israel will not only bring great understanding of the Jewish roots of our faith; it will teach the Christian much about God's plan of redemption throughout the ages. Leviticus 23 lists these seven feasts in order of their seasonal observance: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Booths.

Passover, the first and probably best known feast comes in the spring, in the Jewish month of Nisan, also called Abib. Passover commemorates the redemption of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. On the first Passover each Hebrew household sanctified a perfect yearling lamb and sprinkled the blood on the crosspiece and side posts of the door. The "Angel of Death" passed over the houses which were protected by the blood of the lamb, but where there was no blood, the firstborn was slain. Even so, we are all slaves, in bondage to sin. We are redeemed and set free by the blood of Jesus, the Messiah, the pure and spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1: 18-19

The Feast of Unleavened Bread occurs simultaneously with Passover. It begins the day after Passover eve, and lasts for seven days. Because they are so closely related in time and purpose, the names are often interchangeable. During Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread the Jewish people put away all leaven from their houses and eat unleavened bread, or Matzo. Leaven in Scripture is usually a symbol of sin; the unleavened Matzo graphically portrays the pure and sinless Messiah. It is pierced, even as our Lord was pierced by the nails in His hands and feet and the Roman spear in His side; and it is striped in the baking, reminding us that Isaiah said, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities...and with his stripes, we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

The Feast of First Fruits is directly related to Passover and Unleavened Bread, for it is to be celebrated on "the morrow after the Sabbath," which means the day after the first day of Unleavened Bread. In Bible times this holiday was a feast of thanksgiving for the barley harvest, the first grain of the season. The larger harvest to come because the conditions which brought about the first harvest will also bring the rest. Jesus the Messiah is the First Fruit whom God raised from the dead. Just as the barley harvest was the promise of more to come, He is our promise of resurrection and eternal life, through faith in Him, for he has conquered death and the grave.

Pentecost, or The Feast of Weeks, also is calculated from the first feast, Passover. It comes 50 days after the Passover Sabbath, thus the name Pentecost, which means 50. This is a Greek name, but the Jewish people call it Shavuot, which is the Hebrew works for "weeks." Shavuot, too, is a harvest festival, thanking God for the wheat harvest. According to  oral tradition, it is also the day that Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai. On Shavuot, the priests offered two loaves of bread made from the newly harvested grain. Unlike the other offerings, these loaves were baked with leaven. We see in the two loaves a type of God's people, both Jews and Gentiles, given eternal life and made one in the Messiah Jesus, at the birth of the church on Pentecost.

After Pentecost, a long time elapses before the next feast. We see in this, our present age of waiting for the return of the Messiah Jesus.

In Autumn, on Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, comes the Feast of Trumpets, more commonly called Rosh Hashanah. This marks the beginning of the civil year and is the Jewish New Year's Day. In Leviticus 23:24 God commanded the blowing of the trumpets on the first day of the seventh month to call the congregation of Israel together for a very solemn assembly. According to Jewish teachings, Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the ten days of judgment when all the children of men pass before the Creator. The righteous are written into the Book of Life, and the wicked are condemned, and those who are not wholly righteous and those who are not wholly wicked are given ten days to repent and thus escape judgment. We who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life do not fear judgment, but rather we look for His return when He shall come with the trumpet sound and the voice of the Archangel to bring us into His Sabbath of rest.

The ten days of repentance and introspection lead into the most solemn day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It has become a time of fasting and prayer. It was the only time in the Bible days when the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. He went in before the Lord with the blood of a sacrificed animal to beg forgiveness for the sins of the people. Today there is no animal sacrifices and no Temple. the Jewish people rely solely on repentance for forgiveness of sins, but they have  no assurance that God has heard and forgiven, for the Scriptures teach in Leviticus 17:11 that atonement is in the blood. When Christ offered His own blood as our atonement or covering, the veil of the Temple was torn in two, signifying that He had opened the way into the Holy of Holies. By His sacrifice all who believe now have access to God and a covering for sin. We look forward to that great and final day of atonement prophesied in Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1 when all Israel shall mourn for the Messiah and accept the atonement He has made.

The seventh and final feast is the Feast of Booths, known in Hebrew as Succoth. In Bible days this was the final fall harvest festival, a time of ingathering at Jerusalem. The Jewish people built booth-like structures and lived in them during the feast as a reminder of the temporary dwellings the Israelites had in the wilderness. Even today many Jewish people build open-roofed three-sided huts for this festival. They decorate them with tree boughs and autumn fruits to remind them of harvest.

Everyone in Israel who was able, came up to Jerusalem for this harvest festival every year. The Temple worship for the holiday included the ritual pouring of the water from the Pool of Siloam, symbolic of the prayers for the winter rains. It was at this time that Jesus cried out, "...if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." (John 7:37-38)

After Israel's final day of atonement, the Feast of Booths will be celebrated again in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:16)

Booths speaks of the final rest, as well as the final harvest. John wrote in Revelation 21:3: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." It is our prayer that soon there will come the fulfillment of all which He promised, saying, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." (Revelation 21:6)

Now, here are some tables, for those who like tables for illustration:

* Note: This information was found on an old photocopied paper and to the best of our knowledge it is public domain. If you are the author, or know of him or her please contact us so that we can give credit where credit is due.