Early in our Christian walk, many of us set out to read the Bible in order from Genesis to Revelation. We were able to follow the story flow through Genesis and most of Exodus easily enough. But when we came to the book of Leviticus we probably found ourselves getting bogged down in the almost agonizing detail of the rituals and sacrifices.
God had his reasons for giving his instructions in such intimate detail. The purpose of this series of studies is to look at a special set of festivals described in this most arcane of books. These special times of the year are called The Feasts of the Lord, and understanding their meaning can deepen our understanding for God’s purpose in our lives.
While Leviticus might seem like a book of deep mysteries, it in fact was written for a people whose knowledge of God was elementary at best. The nation of Israel had escaped the slavery of Egypt just a few months before. They often confused worship of the true God with the pagan worship they had been exposed to in Egypt, going so far as to make themselves a golden calf and claiming that worship of this calf was in fact worship of God (Exodus 32). Leviticus, a book written to little ones in the faith, in theory should be a logical place to start a study of the Bible and God’s plan for our lives. That might be hard to fathom given how the book comes across in the 21st century. But a study of the Feasts of the Lord will show just how instructional this book is.
In this study, we will explore both the Old and New Testaments. It is my belief that the Old Testament cannot be properly understood apart from the New Testament, and that the New Testament, large portions of which are simply quotations from the Old, cannot be properly separated from its historical context of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The secular calendar in use today is not the same calendar that was used in ancient times, and certainly not the same one in use in the days of Moses. Anciently, the year began in the spring, and months were counted by the time between new moons. On occasion (because there are not a whole number of days between new moons and there are not a whole number of new moons in a year) extra days and sometimes even extra months were added in order to make sure that the calendar months did not creep out of their respective seasons of the year. Ancient Israel was primarily an agricultural society, and it was important to keep the calendar in sync with the growing seasons. The first month of the year was in the spring, usually overlapping what we would reckon as March-April. This was a time of new beginnings, and as we will see, there is significant meaning in that time of year for both Christians and Jews.
The Jewish people today still use this ancient calendar to determine the dates of the various festivals. While the dates may be the same each year on the Hebrew calendar, they do migrate around our modern Gregorian calendar. And although such High Holy Days as Passover and Rosh Hashanah fall on different days each year (by Gregorian reckoning), they generally fall within a narrow band of a few weeks either way on our calendar.
There is some discussion among people who have studied the calendar regarding whether the Hebrew calendar in use today is the same in all aspects as the one used in Moses’ day. Much of the discussion revolves around the rules when extra days would have been added to which months and which years would receive an extra month. The reality is, no one really knows for sure exactly how that calendar looked, but no one disputes that it was very similar to what the rabbis have today. So we’ll leave that discussion to those who are interested in such things. The meaning of these days and how they relate to our walk with Christ are valid regardless how that argument ends, which I suspect will be shortly after Christ returns at the earliest.
The Three-Act Play
It is becoming more common in contemporary churches to have short one-act plays to teach object lessons to the congregation. The plays might revolve around an aspect of Christian living or perhaps are designed to teach some basic truths about salvation.
God gave to his people a three-act play that the people and the priesthood acted out. This play was supposed to commemorate the great events of their history and to be great times of celebration. And although they might not have realized it at the time, this play that was acted out in the tabernacle and the homes of the people pointed forward to the great events depicting the salvation of the human race. But instead of taking place in one service at one time, this play was a series scheduled at predetermined times each year. When taken as a whole they painted a picture of Christ and the work he was to do. While some of the work has been fulfilled already, there is much that is yet to take place. The play is still in progress. But there is no reason that we, who are blessed to have the Word of God, should be ignorant of how the play ends.
Exodus 23 describes the three acts of the play:
"Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.” (Verses 14 – 16, New King James Version throughout unless otherwise indicated. Emphasis added)
In Leviticus 23, the three acts are divided into several “scenes”.
Act 1: Unleavened Bread (Passover Season)
Time of Year: Spring. 14 – 21 days of the first month
Scene 1: Passover (v. 5)
Scene 2. Feast of Unleavened Bread (v. 6 – 9)
Scene 3: Wave Sheaf Offering of the first fruits (v. 10 – 14)
Act 2: Feast of Harvest of Firstfruits
Time of Year: Late spring/early summer in the third month of Hebrew calendar. (v. 14 – 22)
Also known as Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits. In the New Testament, this day is referred to as Pentecost (Acts 2:1)
Act 3: Feast of Ingathering
Time of year: Autumn. The seventh month of the Hebrew calendar
Scene 1: Day of Trumpets. First day of the seventh month. Also known as Rosh Hashanah. (v. 24 – 25)
Scene 2: Day of Atonement. Tenth day of seventh month (v. 26 – 32). Also known as Yom Kippur or simply “the fast” (Acts 27:9).
Scene 3: Feast of Tabernacles (v. 34 – 44). Also known as the Feast of Booths. 15 – 21 days of the seventh month.
Scene 4: Last Great Day. Also known as Simhat Torah (v39). 22nd day of the seventh month.
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While there are other festivals related to Judaism, such as Chanukah, Purim, etc., these days are not among those given to Israel in the wilderness. They are more in the nature of national holidays, much like Independence Day or Thanksgiving in the United States. While these festivals commemorate great events in Jewish history and are not wrong to celebrate, they do not point to God’s great plan and the salvation we have through his Son.
So let’s proceed to Act 1: The Passover and Unleavened Bread
Lenny Cacchio
www.kccog.org