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We’re talking about feasts and festivals of Israel, especially those appointed by the LORD as holy convocations/assemblies.
These would be times of remembrance of what the LORD had done, His covenant with His people, of forgiveness and hope.
They were a time of community gathering and joyous celebration.
Let’s start by reading our main text, Lev.
23
We talked last week about this time of rest and refreshing which the LORD commanded.
The first of the Holy days to the LORD.
We’ll see that the Sabbath cycle directs the feast/festival schedule.
not only through the year, but on a yearly schedule too
Sabbath year - year of rest for the land
year of Jubilee - 50th year; 1 yr after 7 cycles of sabbath year; year of rest, liberty, and restoration
Here we see Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Let’s keep reading, because once Israel made it to the Promised Land, the next section would become part of this.
the LORD’s Passover —> Feast of Unleavened Bread —> Feast of Firstfruits
notice these three are back to back (9 days)
9 days of remembrance and celebration to the LORD!
Let’s take a minute and talk about days and months.
We tend to try to understand the flow of the feasts and festivals of Israel while thinking of the calendar we know.
Solar calendar (our calendar)
12 months; 30-31 days (one short month); adjustment = leap year (every 4 yrs)
Jan-Dec.
- mid-winter
Time: begins at mid-night; 24 hrs
Lunar calendar (specifically the Hebrew calendar)
(remember they were primarily an agricultural society; much of life cycled around growing seasons)
12 months (really 13),
Abib/Nisan - Adar/Adar Sheni (Sheni realigns new moon); Spring (March-April new moon)
Abib (Nisan after exile); calendar began first month, first day of the month = LORD brought Israel out of Egypt; Exodus 12:1; 13:4
begins on evening of the new moon.
(holy day),
time: begins at sunset
Sabbath = 7th day; however, 1st day = New Moon (not always lined up to be Sabbath on our Saturday!).
i.e. this year ‘19; this group of feasts
New moon; Nisan 1, April 5-6; Fri.
evening
Passover began Nisan 14, April 18-19;Thurs.
sunset; Sabbath day
Feast of Unleavened Bread; Nisan 15, 1st day April 19-20 Fri.
sunset
end: 7th day, Nisan 21, April 25-26; Thurs.
at sunset; Sabbath day
Firstfruits: Nisan 22, April 26th; begins Fri. at sunset
So, you can see, we cannot get hung up on our “days fo the week” when talking about feasts of Israel.
And that’s good, because that’s not really the main points here.
(If you want to put these on your calendar, remember look up the lunar calendar, count the days, remember each day starts at sunset not mid-night)
OT
Passover
origination of
This first Passover protected Israel from the plague of death; each year following would be remembering the might of the LORD’s hand in delivering His people from bondage.
available to all who trusted the word of the LORD
‘if you don’t have a lamb, share with your neighbor’
although, we later read this was ONLY for the LORD’s people; not for the foreigner or sojourner
servants included IF they had been circumcised.
The protection/deliverance would come through the sacrifice of a lamb, a yearling without blemish.
the blood would protect them from death
the body would nourish them for the journey ahead
They ate it in haste; ready to move forward, being led by the LORD;
there would be no time to wait around, no last minute packing
They were to hold this Passover at the same time every year
remember AND to teach their children
The Passover was followed the next day by the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Two feasts that are directly tied to each other
they would come to be referred to as one
Feast of Unleavened Bread
as Passover was one meal to be ate in haste, this feast lasted a whole week
THIS 1ST DAY = day they came out of Egypt
first day as delivered people of God
beginning of their new journey towards being a holy nation to the LORD
remove ALL yeast;
from food ; in haste you don’t have time for the bread to rise.
they weren’t going to be camping just outside of Egypt; it was time to get away from them, to go to the Promised Land.
God’s deliverance was to be more than settling for ‘just outside of bondage’.
AND homes
became a symbol for the pervasive influence of evil
yeast would not be in most of the grain offerings to God
this was a time for ‘cleansing’ their homes
begins and ends with a holy day to the LORD.
no work being done, except food prep
(sounds like a Sabbath day)
In this, Israel would remember that the LORD brought them out of bondage in haste, to be His people,
they would be reminded to trust in the LORD’s provision and faithfulness in His promises
they would remember this marked the beginning of their new lives as a holy nation to the LORD; they were no longer slaves, it was time to cleanse their homes, their lives, of the old things
1st of 3 annual feasts that required ALL the males to go to the Temple
couldn’t travel on Passover; holy day, Sabbath.
At these 3 main festivals, the community would be together.
(not something you celebrated in your own home or home town; in the place the LORD would choose)
In their lunar/agricultural calendar, the Feasts of Firstfruits (beginning of the harvest) fell at this time.
Firstfruits
Israel brought ‘firstfruits’ to the Lord at various times, but this is a special firstfruits festival
Lev 23 doesn’t directly link this with the exodus but
in conjunction with Feast of Unleavened Bread
day after the Sabbath
focus on barley harvest
signified gratitude to and dependance on God
beginning of the harvest
means “first to appear”, not “best of the harvest”
= 1st born (may not be best [haha])
no need to hoard; trust God’s provision
sheaf of the first grain = wave offering
yearling lamb and grain offering sacrifice
didn’t eat of the harvest until the firstfruits offering was made (until they gave thanks)
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