Feasts And Memorials

Feature 1 – March 2014 — Grace & Truth Magazine

THE FEASTS OF THE LORD
Feasts And Memorials

Almost everyone has at least one calendar in their home. You may also have a daily schedule on your desk and a digital assistant on your phone. No one wants to forget an appointment! But despite our best efforts, some of the most important things slip our minds.

God knows our weaknesses and for this reason He helps His people remember what’s important. One of the best examples of this comes from Leviticus 23 in which the Lord gave His earthly people seven special holidays. They are called the “Feasts of Jehovah.” Not only did they serve to remind the Jewish nation of their God, but they also are featured in the New Testament as illustrations of spiritual truths for every believer.

Ready To Remember
A few weeks after the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt they reached the Wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 19:1) where they stayed for nearly a year (see Num. 10:11-13). During that time God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and many detailed instructions about the tabernacle, priestly service and various sacrifices. Among those instructions were ordinances describing the seven annual events the Lord called “My feasts” (Lev. 23:2 NKJV).1 The people were instructed to proclaim the feasts as holy convocations (assemblies or calling together). These events were national, days of “no customary work” (23:7,8,21,25,28,35,36) and symbols for future generations. Every day required special planning which meant that business as usual had to yield to God’s honor.

It’s worth noticing that all these feasts (except for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) are described in detail long before they were ever celebrated. The Lord was getting the people ready to remember even before they had a chance to forget! This is a good lesson regarding any spiritual milestone in our lives. While Christians don’t have regulations to follow in the same way as the Israelites, it’s spiritually healthy to seek activities that will help us remember who God is and what He has done.

Overview
The feasts of Leviticus 23 begin with Passover. God had indicated that the month in which Passover was observed was to be Israel’s first month of the year (Ex. 12:2) for it represented their deliverance from death while in Egypt. The blood of the unblemished lamb was the covering that preserved them from judgment. In close connection with this was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began the day after Passover. Not one bit of yeast, or leaven, could be used in baking or allowed in homes during this weeklong feast.

Sometime during that week there would be a Sabbath day; and on “the day after the Sabbath” (23:11) – no matter when it fell during the week of unleavened bread – the third feast was observed. This occasion, the Feast of Firstfruits, would mark the start of the barley harvest when Israel was in their own land. No one was permitted to eat from the harvest until those first sheaves of barley were presented before the Lord, along with some additional offerings. After this feast seven full weeks were marked on the calendar; and then, one day later, on the fiftieth day after the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Pentecost was observed. It was also a harvest celebration – this time of the first-harvested wheat. On this occasion the central offering was two loaves of bread, baked with leaven. Again, animal sacrifices and other offerings accompanied this feast.

After several quiet months three more feasts were prescribed in the seventh month, starting on the first day of that month with the Feast of Trumpets. The sounding of trumpets signaled a day of rest and summoned the people to a holy convocation. Ten days later they observed the Day of Atonement (remembered today as “Yom Kippur”), an occasion of utmost solemnity to God. Only on this day would the high priest enter the most holy place before the ark of the covenant, following detailed requirements for specific sacrifices and confessions (Lev. 16). It was a day of deepest sorrow and affliction, and the Lord promised that anyone who ignored this observance would be cut off from the Jewish nation.

Finally, on the fifteenth day of that month the people celebrated the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles, which featured daily sacrifices and the construction of family tabernacles, or booths, fashioned from various tree branches. It was a fitting completion for Israel’s calendar of feasts as this observance reminded the people of their deliverance from Egypt when they lived in similar dwellings while leaving the land of their enslavement (23:42-43).

Notice that the Israelite families could not just fit these feasts into their regular daily life. These were lifestyle-altering events, making it obvious that something significant was taking place. What’s more, these feasts were not spiritual “extras.” The Israelites might bring additional freewill gifts and offerings (23:38), but these events were basic to their identity as God’s people. To drive this point home the Lord required every male to travel three times a year to Jerusalem for the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost (also called “the feast of weeks”) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Dt. 16:16). Are we willing to change our daily routines in order to honor the Lord?

Shadows Revealed
Sometimes when standing outside we see shadows of people coming toward us, revealing their presence just before we see them. For the Christian these festivals are like those shadows, for they allude to a greater reality – “the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17). The New Testament helps us to understand the spiritual meaning embedded in the feasts by God Himself. Entire commentaries have profitably examined this theme,2 but here is a brief summary of some points:

• The Passover is a striking picture of the Lord Jesus whose precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish, shelters us from God’s judgment (1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 Cor. 5:7). Taking refuge in Him is the starting point of every Christian’s journey of faith. Moreover, although the Passover does not precisely correspond to the Lord’s Supper, it shows us the value of remembrance. He has asked us to remember how He gave His body and shed His blood for us. May we enjoy this privilege!
• Having acknowledged Christ as our Passover Lamb we are admonished to “keep the feast” of unleavened bread in both morality and doctrine (1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal. 5:1-9). In Corinth the leaven of malice and wickedness had to be replaced by sincerity and truth. In Galatia the leaven of bad doctrine entangled the believers in law-keeping and pride when they ought to have been characterized by liberty and faith.
• Closely connected with this, the Feast of Firstfruits presents the truth of Christ’s resurrection. The seed planted in the ground has produced a fruitful harvest of grain above the ground (compare Jn. 12:24). The offering of the firstfruits is the presentation to God of the anticipated harvest and it contains the promise of a further harvest yet to come. In this way Christ is the firstfruits of resurrection, and in His victory we realize our own complete deliverance from death and the grave (1 Cor. 15:20-23). “Because I live, you shall live also,” He told His disciples (Jn. 14:19). It’s marvelous to notice that the Lord, having gone to the cross on the day after Passover and remaining in the grave on the Sabbath, was raised on the first day of the week – corresponding precisely to this celebration!
• Fifty days after His resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, the formation of the Church took place (Acts 2). The mystery of the Church age is that both Jews and Gentiles are united together by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:11-18; 1 Cor. 12:13). With deep appreciation we can see this unity represented in the two loaves that were offered together at Pentecost – loaves in which the leaven of sin was once active but now they have been baked and the leaven’s influence is halted. Having been born again by the Word of Truth, believers are like the firstfruits of God’s creation which one day will be entirely reconciled to Him through the work of Christ (Col. 1:20). Furthermore, just as Christ was raised so we ought to also walk in the character of resurrection life (Rom. 6:4).
• The quiet months on the calendar that followed Pentecost may remind us of the present Church era in which the true grain is gleaned and enjoyed by all who seek the Lord (see Lev. 23:22). Even the poorest sinners can find full satisfaction in the Bread of Life and then share handfuls of His life-giving message (see Ruth 2:16) for those who need to hear it!
• The three feasts of the seventh month are still-future events. The trumpets will summon the elect of Israel to return to their land for a truly grand holy convocation. Although the nation of Israel was formed again politically in 1948, the regathering that is yet to come will feature a true spiritual return to the Lord (Isa. 27:12-13). The trumpets in this context are best understood as a call to God’s earthly people; yet in them Christians can perhaps also hear an echo of that last trump – “our gathering together unto Him” (2 Th. 2:1; 1 Th. 4:16-17) at the Rapture – uniting us together to be forever with the Lord.

From the feasts of Jehovah came a tone of authority, joy and remembrance that affected every one of God’s earthly people. Because parallels are so clearly drawn in the New Testament we can be sure that meditating on them will produce a spiritual benefit for us today, too. As one of the “three sevens” of the Bible (alongside the seven kingdom parables of Matthew 13 and the seven churches in Revelation 2-3), these feasts help us remember and appreciate the ways and works of God.

ENDNOTES
1. The Sabbath heads this chapter and is sometimes considered the eighth feast, although the second introduction found in Leviticus 23:4 shows that it is also in a class by itself.
2. Two of these books are The Seven Feasts of Jehovah by G. C. Willis and Feasts of Jehovah by John Ritchie – both available through Believers Bookshelf (www.bbusa.org) and elsewhere.

By Stephen Campbell