Read Leviticus 22-23 at Bible Gateway.
Lev 22 continues in the same vein as our reading from yesterday: the spotlessness and separateness (the true meaning of “holy”) of the LORD’s things, and His sacrifices. The theme of Lev 23 is “the feasts of the LORD,” (Lev 23:2). “Feasts” in Hebrew is moed, Strong’s H4150. We have seen this word before! It is the same word used beginning in Exodus and throughout Torah for the tent of meeting (moed). The concordance says it means an appointed place or time. These feasts are the LORD’s appointed times, or appointments, that He has set aside to meet with His people!
In Egypt, where Israel came from, and in Canaan, where Israel was going, there were feast days to their gods. In fact, we still have many of these same feast days on our national calendars – still! After thousands of years! The LORD’s feast days, however, are not like the feast days of the idols. His feast days (or “holy days,” i.e., holidays) have been established by Him from the foundation of the world! For in Gen 1:14, one reason God gives for creating lights in the firmament of the heavens, is to “be for signs and seasons (moed), and for days and years;” — to mark (the meaning of “sign” in Hebrew) the LORD’s appointed times (moed).
God’s paragraph divisions help us identify the LORD’s appointed times of meeting:
The Sabbath on the seventh day (Lev 23:1-3 {p}). This day is so hallowed to the LORD, that even its instructions in Lev 23 are separated (the Hebrew meaning of “holy”) from the instructions for the rest of the feast days by a {p} strong paragraph division.
1. Passover (Lev 23:4-5) in the evening of the 14th of the 1st biblical month.
2. Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6-8 {p}) for 7 days beginning on the 15th of the 1st biblical month. Notice that the instructions for Passover and Unleavened Bread are combined into a single paragraph.
3. Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest (Lev 23:9-14 {s}) which falls on the day after the Sabbath (Sunday) that falls during the week of Unleavened Bread.
4. Weeks (Lev 23:15-22 {p}) or the Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest, which falls 7 weeks from the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest, also on the day after the Sabbath (Sunday).
5. Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25 {s}), which falls on the 1st day of the 7th month.
6. Atonement (Lev 23:26-32 {p}), which falls on the 10th day of the 7th month.
7. Tabernacles (Lev 23:33-44 {p}), or the Firstfruits of the Fruit Harvest, for 7 days beginning on the 15th day of the 7th month.
For further study: The what are the instructions for celebrating on each feast day? On which days is no customary or occupational work to be done? Which days are to be holy convocations? (What is a holy convocation? Here is the link to the Blue Letter Bible and Webster’s modern and 1828 dictionary.) Make a list or table of each feast day and its unique instructions!
My final exhortation, after celebrating Passover for over 10 years and the annual feasts days for 4, is that man makes God’s simple things complicated. Keep it simple!
Finding Messiah: Every one of the LORD’s feast days, including the Sabbath, prophesy of Messiah Yeshua – so much so that entire books have been written about the connection. Explore the links for further reading to discover how!
For further reading:
Feast: Hebrew Word study – Brad Scott
Feasts of the Lord topic at christine’s bible study
The Feasts – Firm Foundation Messianic Fellowship (Broken link, active February 26, 2011)
Israel’s Feasts and Their Fullness – Batya Ruth Wootten
Leave a Reply