The 7 Feasts of God

In the Old Testament, God established several "Holy Days," which the Bible refers to as "Feasts," that He required His people to celebrate every year. These feasts have two main goals:

1. To look backward in time. These feasts serve as memorial days. Each individual feast remembers and honours a particular event in the history of God's people.

"Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance." Ex. 12:14

2. To look forward in time. These feasts provide shadows of things to come. In order to understand what this means, imagine Jesus walking toward you with the sun at His back. Even before Jesus reaches you and comes into focus, you will see His approaching shadow.

"Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." Col. 2:16-17

Feasts	Biblical Dates	Months	Bible References
Spring Feasts
Passover [Pesach]	Nisan 14 Crucifixion of Jesus was on this day. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.	Mar-Apr	Ex. 12:3-13:10; Lev. 23:5; Matt. 26:17-20; 1 Cor. 5:7
Unleavened Bread* [Chag HaMotzi]	Nisan 15-21	Mar-Apr	Lev. 23:6-8; 1 Cor. 5:6-8
Firstfruits [Yom HaBikkurim]	Day after Sabbath in week of Unleavened Bread Resurrection of Jesus was on this day.	Mar-Apr	Ex. 22:29; Lev. 23:10-11; 1 Cor. 15:20-23
Pentecost* [Shavu'ot - Weeks; Sevens; Harvest]	Sivan 6 50 days after Passover.	May-June	Lev. 23:10-22; Deut. 16:9-12; Acts 2:1; 1 Cor. 15:20-23
Fall Feasts
Trumpets [Yom Teru'ah / Rosh Hashanah - New Moons]	Tishri 1, 2	Sept-Oct	Num. 29:1-6
Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur]	Tishri 10	Sept-Oct	Lev. 23:26-32; Heb. 9:7
Tabernacles* [Sukkot - Booths; Ingathering; Succoth]	Tishri 15-22	Sept-Oct	Neh. 8:13-18; John 7:2
Other Feasts
Dedication [Chanukah - Lights] This festival was not given by God on Mount Sinai, but was prophesied in Daniel 8:9-14, taking place in c. 165 B.C. when the Temple was re-dedicated.	Chislev 25 8 days.	Nov-Dec	John 10:22
Purim [Lots]	Adar 14, 15	Feb-Mar	Est. 9:18-32

*Commanded performance. God commanded every male to personally bring Him an offering and present it to Him in His designated sanctuary.
"Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses:

• at the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• at the Feast of Weeks
• at the Feast of Booths

and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed." Deut. 16:16

Christianity's Hebrew roots offer an eye to the future as well as to the past. Believers in the Messiah are not responsible to keep these feasts, but knowledge of them enhances our faith. Leviticus 23 is the single chapter that sums up everything in God's eternal plan, from chaos to eternity.

The Spring Feasts:

1. Passover (Pesach): Leviticus 23:5 specifies that the festival year begins with the Passover "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month." Passover is the Feast of Salvation. In both Testaments, the blood of the Lamb delivers from slavery—the Jew from Egypt; the Christian from sin. With the tenth plague in Exodus 12:5, when Egypt's first-born sons died, the angel of death "passed over" the Jewish homes that had the blood of the lamb on their door posts. In the New Testament, Jesus serves as the sacrificial Lamb. The Christian's body is marked with the blood of Christ. Passover represents our salvation.

Prophecy	Fulfillment
The Passover sacrifice was a lamb, whereby each family was spared from death. "On the tenth of this month [of Nisan] they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household." Ex. 12:3	After Messiah Jesus was born, more than 1,400 years later, He was recognized as The Lamb of God. "The next day [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" John 1:29
God decreed that the Passover sacrifice must be a lamb without blemish. "Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; ..." Ex. 12:5a	Jesus was the Lamb without blemish—that is, Jesus was totally without sin. Jesus was "...a lamb unblemished and spotless, ..." 1 Pet. 1:19b Jesus "...has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4:15b
God decreed that the Passover lamb was to be slain. "...the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight." Ex. 12:6	The Lamb or God, Jesus, was slain for our sins. "...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," 1 Cor. 15:3b Jesus is "...the Lamb who has been slain." Rev. 13:8b
God decreed that He would spare the lives of those whose houses were covered by the blood of the lamb. "The blood [of the Passover lamb] shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Ex. 12:13	Those who believe in Christ are justified by His blood. By His blood we are saved from the wrath of God. "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." Rom. 5:9 "...without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Heb. 9:22b
	Jesus is the Passover sacrifice for any and all who beleive in Him as Lord and Saviour. "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." 1 Cor. 5:7

Hundreds of years before God decreed the Passover lamb, He provided another prophecy of Messiah Jesus in His role as the Lamb of God.

God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.	"Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer [sacrifice] him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Gen. 22:2
Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac on top of Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah later became the very place where Solomon built the temple of God.	"...go to the land of Moriah, and offer [sacrifice] him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains..." Gen. 22:2b "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, ..." 2 Chron. 3:1a
God made special mention that Isaac was Abraham's only son.	"Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, ..." Gen. 22:2a "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16
Genesis 22:2 gives the very first mention of "love" in the entire Bible. This first mention of "love" is concerned with the love of a father for his son.	"Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, ..." Gen. 22:2a "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand." John 3:35
Abraham prepared so sacrifice Isaac, his son, as God had commanded. As he and Isaac climbed Mount Moriah to reach the place of sacrifice, Isaac noticed that they had brought no lamb for the sacrifice. Notice what Abraham sain in reply...	"Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' So the two of them walked on together." Gen. 22:7-8 Q: From where shall come the sacrificial lamb? A: God will provide HIMSELF!
God spared Abraham's son from being sacrificed, but... ...many centureies later, God did not space His own Son. Instead, God delivered Him up to be crucified . . . for you!	"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:31-32

2. Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMotzi): Leviticus 23:6 puts the second feast on the next night: "Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread." Leaven, or yeast, in the Bible always symbolizes sin. Unleavened bread, eaten over a period of time, symbolized a holy walk, as with the Lord. In the New Testament, unleavened bread is the body of our Lord. During the Last Supper, Jesus took the matzah, broke it, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." He said "I am the Bread of Life." He was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means, "House of Bread."

If you look at the matzah, you will see that it is striped ("By His stripes we are healed"), pierced ("They shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced"), and pure ("He has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin"), without any leaven, as Christ's body was without any sin. The Passover custom of burying, hiding and then resurrecting the second of three piece of matzot (the middle piece), presents the Gospel.

3. Firstfruits (Yom HaBikkurim): Leviticus 23:11 schedules the Firstfruits "on the day after the sabbath" following Unleavened Bread. Firstfruits acknowledged the fertility of the land God gave the Israelites. They were to bring the early crops of their spring planting and "wave the sheaf before the LORD." This feast celebrates the resurrection of the Lord of Firstfruits.

God decreed that the Firstfruits of the harvest were to be offered unto Him every year on the day after the Sabbath in the week of	"When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it." Lev. 23:10-11
The offering of firstfruits included... ...the first of ripe produce and juices was to be waved before the Lord, and ...each household's firstborn son was to be offered unto the Lord.	"You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me." Ex. 22:29
More than 1,400 years after God decreed the offerings of Passover and Firstfruits, Christ Jesus was crucified for your sins. Jesus is your Passover Lamb!	"Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." 1 Cor. 5:7
On Sunday, the day after the Saturday Sabbath, Jesus rose from the dead. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Firstfruits. Jesus is your Firstfruits!	"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep [died]." 1 Cor. 15:20 "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, ..." 1 Cor. 15:22-23a
Jesus is your Firstborn, offered unto God! When you believed on Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you offered mankind's Firstborn unto God. Thus, you obeyed and fulfilled God's decree to offer Him your Firstfruits.	"He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." Col. 1:18 "[Jesus] was asking His disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?'" Matt. 16:13b
The fact that Christ was the Firstfruits means that there must later be a Full Harvest. You shall be part of that harvest. In Christ, you shall be made alive at His return. At Christ's Second Coming, you shall be "harvested" unto God, and you shall always be with the Lord!	"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming," 1 Cor. 15:22-23a "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. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16-17

4. Pentecost (Shavu'ot): Leviticus 23:16 says, "You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD." In late May or early June, Shavu'ot marked the summer harvest. Leviticus 23:17 required an offering of two loaves of bread "baked with leaven." These loaves symbolize the church being comprised of both Jew and Gentile.

The Fall Feasts:

5. Trumpets (Yom Teru'ah): Leviticus 23:24 requires that "In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets." The Feast of Trumpets is a rehearsal for the day when the Bridegroom will come to claim us, His bride, who are betrothed to Him. The trumpets will announce the Second Coming of Jesus.

6. Atonement (Yom Kippur): Leviticus 23:27 provides a day of confession, the highest of holy days. "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD." Once a year on Yom Kippur, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and met the Shekinah glory of the Lord, making atonement for himself and the people of Israel. When Jesus returns at His Second Coming, He will come out of the Holy of Holies (Heaven). He will come as the High Priest to His chosen people. We will present ourselves as holy sacrifices before the Lord, where our work will become evident, revealed by fire. Will it be gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw?

7. Tabernacles (Sukkot): Leviticus 23:34 says, "On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD." God wanted to celebrate the fact that He provided shelter for the Israelites in the wilderness. Each year on Tabernacles, devout Jews build little shelters or "booths" outside their homes and worship in them. Tabernacles represents the Lord's shelter in the world to come, when He will "tabernacle" among us for all eternity. Leviticus 23:39 says this feast is to have "a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day." The number eight symbolizes a new beginning. The eighth day of the week is the day after Sabbath, when the work starts anew. On this day of the week, Jesus rose from the dead. With Him, God created something new.

Jesus was crucified on Passover, still entombed on Unleavened Bread, raised on Firstfruits, and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. We have not yet seen the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, so we remain under the orders of Shavu'ot.

For those who think that Christians ought to be observing these feasts, and even the weekly Sabbath, Colossians 2:16-17 is your opponent that you must contend with: "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." No one is to judge you with respect to feast days (the seven listed above) or Sabbath days (the seventh day of the week), all of which were shadows that pointed to Christ. "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark. 2:27). Hebrews 3:7-4:13 speak of the rest for God's people, which are the Christians. It says in 4:3, "We who have believed enter that rest." In verse 9 it says, "There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" and in verse 10 it states, "For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His." Christ is the Christian's Sabbath rest!

The day Christians worship on commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead (Mark 16:9), just as the communion commemorates His crucifixion (1 Cor. 11:23-29) and baptism commemorates the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-48). In the New Testament, the New Covenant replaced the Old Mosaic Covenant (Heb. 8:13; 9:16-17; 10:9), baptism replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11-12), communion replaces Passover (1 Cor. 11:26), and Sunday replaces the Sabbath (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10). Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of all these things. Stop trying to return to shadows and types!