Holy Days and Feasts of the Lord

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 23:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.'"

The Lord had been speaking to Moses in the past several chapters about various laws and continued here, now turning to the topic of the feasts of the Lord.  The original word translated as "feasts" was "moed" and it meant literally "appointment" or "appointed time".  Holy convocations, or "miqra", were sacred assemblies of the people.  Following would begin a list of the appointed times that the people were to assemble together and observe each holy time.

(3) "‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work in it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.'"

The Lord began this segment of laws by repeating the law of the Sabbath.  The people might do work in the first six days, but the seventh day was to be a Sabbath of rest, and they were to do no work on that day.  Not only was it a day of rest, but it was a holy convocation, a holy day for sacred assembly.  Whether or not they were involved in a holy assembly and public observance of the Sabbath or not, they were to observe the Sabbath of their Lord in all their dwellings.

(4) "'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. (5) In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD’s Passover.'"

The Sabbath was kept every week, but now began a list of the holy assemblies that were to be observed in the appointed times of the year.  First was the Lord's Passover which was to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month, the Hebrew month Nissan, which is about the time of our March and April.  The Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and their months went from the beginning of the moon's cycle to the end, which is why it varies compared to our Gregorian calendar.  On the fourteenth day of the first month of their year, specifically at evening (actually the evening of the thirteenth day by our reckoning), when the Jewish date began, was to be the Lord's Passover, in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt and the preservation of their first-born.

(6) "‘And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.'"

The fifteenth day of the same month, Nissan, actually began on the evening of the fourteenth day, and that was to begin the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It began on the fifteenth day and ended on the 21st day, and for those seven days the people were to eat unleavened bread, in remembrance of the time they went out of Egypt with their dough, not having time to leaven it.

(7) "‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work in it. (8) But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days; the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work in it.'"

On the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread they were to have a sacred assembly.  They were to do no servile or customary labor on that day.  However, they were not to remain idle, but were to offer offerings made by fire to the Lord.  They were actually to offer the burnt offerings for each of the seven days, but on the first and the seventh, they were to do no other work, but to have a holy convocation.

(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.'"

The Lord continued instructing Moses in what to tell the children of Israel.  When they came to the land of Canaan which the Lord was giving them and had reaped its harvest, they were to remember their Lord and bring an offering of the first fruits of their harvest to the priest.  They were to bring a "sheaf" or "omer" (the original word) which was one tenth of an ephah, about two liters.

(11) "'And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.'"

The priest would then wave the offering to and fro before the Lord, to make acknowledgment to the Lord that those fruits of the earth were of Him, and to give Him the praise and glory, "to be accepted for" the children of Israel as a thanksgiving to their Lord.  The day after the Sabbath was actually the next day, the sixteenth day of Nissan, the fifteenth being a Sabbath rest in that no servile work was to be done.

(12) "‘And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb without blemish of the first year, for a burnt offering to the LORD.'"

That same day when the priest waved the sheaf of the first fruits, they were also to offer a male lamb without blemish in its first year, for a burnt offering to the Lord.  As Dr. John Gill wrote so beautifully in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, this lamb was "typical of the perfect and immaculate Lamb of God, whose sufferings are fitly signified by a burnt offering; and which were endured at the time he became the firstfruits of his people, and sanctified them."

(13) "'And its meat offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet savor, and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.'"

As pointed out in an earlier post, the "meat" in this offering could be rendered as bread or food in other passages; according to Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible, "bread, meat, and food, were nearly equivalent terms when our translation was made, and represent no distinctions that exist in the Hebrew."  In this case it definitely indicated a grain (or bread) offering.  The offering was to be of two tenths of an ephah (two omers or about one dry gallon) of fine flour mixed with oil, burned on the altar, for an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord.  Additionally, there was to be a drink offering of wine, one-fourth of a hin, or about a quart.

(14) "'And you shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor green ears until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.'"

The people were not to eat bread made with their grain, nor any roasted grain, nor any fresh-plucked ears from their fields until they first brought an offering to their God.  This was to be a statute forever throughout their generations, at least until the Messiah came.  Additionally, it was to be a statute in all their dwellings, which may mean wherever they might dwell throughout their generations, they were to do this.

(15) "‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed.'"

The people were to begin counting from the day after that Sabbath explained above, from the day of the sheaf wave offering, which was the sixteenth day of Nissan, and count seven Sabbaths, seven weeks, or 49 days.  Here began the explanation of the feast of Pentecost, or Weeks, as it was called because it was observed seven weeks after the Passover.  It was also called the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16).

(16) "'Even to the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat offering to the LORD.'"

The day after the seventh Sabbath would make it a total of fifty days that the people were to number.  On the fiftieth day they were to offer a new grain offering to the Lord.

(17) "‘You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits to the LORD.'"

I am assuming that all the people were to bring from themselves the ingredients to make the two wave loaves, and not that every person brought two loaves!  They were to be made with two omers of fine flour and were to be baked with leaven.  These loaves were not to be offered on the altar where no leaven could be offered, but were just waved before the Lord in thanksgiving and recognition of His great mercies and of the fact that it all belonged to Him.  Scofield Reference Notes had an interesting take on this:  "With the wave-sheaf no leaven was offered, for there was no evil in Christ; but the wave-loaves, typifying the church, are 'baken with leaven,' for in the church there is still evil."  Most commentaries seem to agree that because the loaves weren't to be burned on the altar, and represented the best the people had to offer of what they themselves would consume, they were made with leaven and then given wholly to the priests.
 
(18) "‘And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams; they shall be for a burnt offering to the LORD, with their meat offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire of a sweet savor to the LORD.'"

With the bread wave offering they were to offer seven unblemished lambs in their first year.  Albert Barnes believed that these were seven sheep of a year old to distinguish them from the "lamb" offered in verse 12.  I see no difference in the original words used, and see no reason to assume they were different.  Barnes didn't cite any historical reference as a reason for believing this, and the other commentaries I study made no mention of there being any difference in the type of lambs offered.  What did seem to be a point of confusion was that in this verse there were additionally to be offered one young bullock and two rams, whereas in Numbers 28:27, seemingly speaking of this same day, it said there were to be offered along with the seven lambs, two bullocks and one ram.  Perhaps it was left to the discretion of the priests as to whether it was one bull and two rams or two bulls and one ram, but usually the laws concerning the sacrifices were pretty strict.  Perhaps the rules were unique for this particular wave offering.  I cite Dr. John Gill here not because I necessarily believe what he said on the subject, but to show how confusing it all was:

"...Aben Ezra suggests, that this was at the will and option of the priest, whether one bullock and two rams, or two bullocks and one ram; but according to Maimonides, these sacrifices were distinct from them; they are sacrifices of the day, as being a feast day, and these belonged to the loaves; so that according to him, and so he expresses it, there were to be offered on this day, besides the daily sacrifices, three bullocks, three rams, and fourteen lambs, twenty beasts in all, for burnt offerings; and two goats for sin offerings to be eaten, and two lambs for peace offerings to be eaten; and with this account agrees Josephus, they sacrifice for burnt offerings, he says, three bullocks, and two rams, (or, as Dr. Bernard thinks, it should be read three rams,) and fourteen lambs, and two goats for sin offerings..."

I am really struck by how very hard it was to keep the law!  It is no wonder people could inadvertently sin as we read about in scripture.  Isn't that the lesson here?  It is impossible to keep the law!  "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin...For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:20 and 3:23)  "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.' But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for 'the just shall live by faith.'" (Galatians 3:10-11)  Jesus railed against the Pharisees who were so legalistic to keep the law to the nth degree, but neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  Fortunately, Christ came to save us from the law and we "shall live by faith".  "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Back to verse 18 above, the seven lambs, one young bullock, and two rams were to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with "their" grain offering and "their" drink offerings.  I stress "their" because these particular grain and drink offerings appear to be tied to the beast offered, and do not refer to the wave offering in verse 17.  On this subject Dr. Gill wrote:  "...each of the said beasts were offered, unto the Lord on the altar of burnt offering, and burnt thereon; and to every beast they offered, there was a meat offering and a drink offering: the meat offering consisted of three tenth deals, or omers, of fine flour, to a bullock, two to a ram, and one to a lamb; and the drink offering was half an hin of wine to a bullock, the third part of one to a ram, and a fourth part to a lamb, as Jarchi observes, which appears from Num. 28:12..."

(19) "‘Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.'"

Then they were to offer a kid goat for a sin offering for the sin of the whole congregation, illustrative of Christ who was an offering for our sin; and they were to offer two male lambs of the first year for a peace offering.

(20) "'And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.'"

As opposed to being burned on the altar to the Lord as with the seven lambs, bull, and two rams, the two lamb offerings from verse 19 were to be waved with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering to the Lord.  These lamb offerings, being the peace offering of a whole congregation, as opposed to being from a single person, were considered holy to the Lord and to be eaten only by His priests.

(21) "‘And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you; you shall do no servile work in it; it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.'"

On this same fiftieth day, known as the day of Pentecost, I read a proclamation was made by the priests with the sound of a trumpet for the people to observe this holy day of sabbath rest, devoted to sacred service with no other customary work to be performed.  It was to be a statute forever to be observed in all their dwellings throughout their generations, or at least until the Messiah came.

(22) "'And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger; I am the LORD your God.’”

This law is repeated from Leviticus 19:9.  When the people reaped the harvest of their land, they were commanded not to wholly reap the corners of their fields.  Additionally, they were not to go back and gather the gleanings of their harvests, but to leave those and the corners of their fields for the poor and for the strangers.  As discussed in the post on Leviticus 19, it was in this way God provided for the poor and for the strangers, the foreigners in the land.  It taught the people not to be greedy about every single thing they could lay claim to, but encouraged generosity to the poor.  God was giving them this new land that would provide for them, and as their Lord gave to them, and did not withhold His mercies, so should they give and be merciful to the poor and the strangers.

(23) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (24) “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.'"

The Lord continued speaking to Moses, instructing him on what to tell the children of Israel.  On the first day of the seventh month after their first month, Nissan, this seventh month called Tisri, they were to have a sabbatical rest.  Tisri aligns with our September and was said to be the first month of the "civil" year, which was, according to Albert Barnes and others, "the first day of the Civil year in use before the Exodus, and was observed as the festival of the New year."  I really don't know that there was any significance to it being the first day of the old year, but rather believe it was significant because it was the seventh month.  As John Wesley said in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, "For as the seventh day was the sabbath, and the seventh year was a sabbatical year, so God would have the seventh month to be a kind of sabbatical month, for the many sabbaths and solemn feasts which were observed in this more than in any other month."  This holy day was to be commemorated with the blowing of trumpets which, according to Jewish scholars, was continued from sunrise to sunset.  It was known as the Feast of Trumpets, and I have read that it was very generally embraced by both Jews and Christians to be a memorial of the creation of the world, at which "the sons of God shouted for joy," (Job 38:7).

(25) "‘You shall do no servile work in it, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’”

There was to be no customary work done on that day, only that which was necessary for making the offering made by fire to the Lord.

(26) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (27) "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD."

The Lord continued instructing Moses:  on the tenth day of this seventh month of Tisri, there was to be a day of atonement, a holy day when the people would gather to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, and "afflict" their souls.  Matthew Henry said it this way in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "They must mortify the body, and deny the appetites of it, in token of their sorrow for the sins they had committed."  This they did with prayer, fasting, sorrow and repentance.

(28) “And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God."

The Israelite people were to do no customary work on that Day of Atonement that was set aside as a holy day in which atonement was to be made for them for their sins.

(29) "For whatever soul who is not afflicted on that same day shall be cut off from among his people."

As Matthew Henry described it, "Every soul must be afflicted, because every soul was polluted, and guilty before God; while none have fulfilled the law of innocency none are exempt from the law of repentance, besides that every man must sigh and cry for the abominations of the land."  Any person who did not do this was to be cut off from among his people, which was either excommunication or death.

(30) "And whatever soul who does any work on that same day, that same soul I will destroy from among his people."

Likewise any person who did any customary work on this day of atonement would be destroyed from among his people.  That word definitely makes it clear that they would not be merely excommunicated, but killed, if they did not obey this law for the Day of Atonement.

(31) “You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

The commandment is repeated, which might be to show how strictly God required this day be kept, and how careful men should be not to break the commandment in this respect.  It was to be a statute forever in all their dwellings throughout their generations, at least until the coming of Messiah.

(32) “It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”

This tenth day of the seventh month of Tisri (v. 27), which began in the evening of the ninth day of the month and continued until the evening of the tenth day, the people were to celebrate this sabbath.  The people were to do no customary work and they were to afflict their souls.

(33) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (34) “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.'"

The Lord continued instructing Moses on what to tell the people.  The fifteenth day of the seventh month was to begin what was called the Feast of Tabernacles.  It was a time when the people dwelt in booths or tents for seven days to commemorate the dwelling of the children of Israel in tents and booths during their abode in the wilderness.

(35) "‘On the first day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work in it.'"

The first day of this Feast of Tabernacles was to be one of holy assembly of the people, and the people were to do no customary work on that day.

(36) "'Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD; on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn assembly, and you shall do no servile work in it.'"

For each of seven days the people were to offer a burnt offering to the Lord.  The eighth day was to be another holy convocation when they would offer another burnt offering, and one in which they were to do no customary work.  I thought John Wesley had the best explanation of this.  He wrote that although the eighth day was not strictly one of the days of this Feast of Tabernacles, "in a larger sense it belonged to this feast, and is called the great day of the feast (in John 7:37). And so indeed it was, as for other reasons, so because, by their removal from the tabernacles into fixed habitations, it represented that happy time wherein their 40 years tedious march in the wilderness was ended with their settlement in the land of Canaan, which it was most fit they should acknowledge with such a solemn day of thanksgiving as this was."  Of course, at this time, the people had no idea that they would remain in the wilderness for forty years, but God knew.

(37) "‘These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day.'"

The feasts described above, the Lord's Passover (v. 5), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (v. 6), the Feast of Pentecost (v. 15-16), the Feast of Trumpets (v. 24), the Day of Atonement (v. 27), and the Feast of Tabernacles (v. 34), were to be proclaimed as holy convocations.  They were feast days to the Lord when burnt offerings and grain and drink offerings were to be made, everything on its particular day as instructed.

(38) "'Besides the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.'"

Those feasts described above were to be in addition to the weekly sabbaths and other offerings.

(39) "‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.'"

The Lord went back to the subject of the fifteenth day of the seventh month when was to be observed the Feast of Tabernacles.  I believe an additional point was made, that it was not only a time for the people to remember when they had dwelt in tents, but when they had gathered in the fruits of the land, they were to give thanks for those fruits of the earth, and keep that feast to the Lord seven days.  This was the same seven day feast called the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was also known as the Feast of Ingathering because it was the time when they had gathered in the fruits of the land.  The first day of this feast and the eighth day were to be considered sabbath days, days of rest when there was to be no servile work.

(40) "‘And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.'"

On the first day of this feast the people were to take branches of good thick trees to make booths or tents in which they would dwell for seven days.  However, those branches were not only for the making of tents, but for joy, honor, and worship to their Lord.  That definitely seems alluded to in John 12:13, when the people "took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the name of the LORD!’"  Also Revelation 7:9 speaks of the multitude that stood before the Lamb with palms in their hands.

(41) "'And you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.'"

Every year this feast was to be kept for seven days beginning on the fifteenth of the seventh month; it was to be a statute forever throughout their generations, at least until the Messiah came.  It strikes me that John 12:13 described how the people then took the branches that they formally used for booths and rejoicing before the Lord, and at that present time rejoiced in the presence of and before their Lord Jesus Christ.

(42) "‘You shall dwell in booths seven days; all who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, (43) That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.’”

During this feast the native-born Israelites were to dwell in booths or temporary shelters for seven days.  It was Albert Barnes who noted the omission of foreigners here was noteworthy because they seem to be included in the feast in Deuteronomy 16:13-14:  “You shall observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after you have gathered in your corn and your wine; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates."  Mr. Barnes suggested that "perhaps the intention was that on this joyous occasion they were to be hospitably entertained as guests."  Indeed the passage in Deuteronomy does not indicate that the strangers were to dwell in booths, but that the rejoicing would include them.

(44) And Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

Moses declared to the children of Israel what the Lord had told him to tell them regarding the feasts of the Lord, the times they were to be observed and the manner in which they were to be observed.  We should be thankful that we no longer have to observe so many different burdensome and costly feasts, as Christ became the fulfillment of all these feasts.  Once again, I have come to realize that the law wasn't created to make men fail, but illustrative of how hard it really was and how much we needed Christ.  It is impossible to follow a law to the T.  Everything was a picture of Christ to come.  Sacrifices were a picture of His coming sacrifice.