Page 106 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

Study Section 14: The Seven Feasts of Israel

14.1 Connect.
One of the best days of the year is when your entire family gets together and celebrates
something. Perhaps it’s someone’s birthday or a holiday on the calendar. We enjoy the
fellowship and most of the time, good food! Sometimes we share with one another how
special each other is. It just is a special day to set aside the daily cares of the world on
concentrate on family.
God knew we would enjoy such days. But more importantly, He designed special days throughout the
year to be set reserved to worship Him. He also had a secondary reason for commanding Israel to
observe special feasts every year. He wanted to communicate to them what His plan for redemption
involved in pictorial and illustrative fashion. Each of the seven feasts He commanded Moses to observe
communicates aspects of His redemptive plan for the ages. Today we are going to study the various
feasts God commanded Moses and the people of Israel and see when and why he created them.

14.2 Objectives.

1. The student should be able to name and explain the seven feasts given to Moses for Israel to
observe.

2. The student should be able to explain the difference between a weekly Sabbath and a High
Sabbath and why differentiating the two is so important.

3. The student should be able to name and describe the religious holy days observed today in Israel.

14.3 The Seven Annual Feasts of the Lord
Leviticus 23 is the single chapter in the Scriptures that sums up everything. God’s eternal plan
from chaos to eternity is ingeniously revealed through the nature and timing of the Seven
annual Feasts of the Lord.

Sacrifice is the major feature of the feasts. Believers are not responsible to keep these feasts,
but knowledge of them enhances our faith. Our Lord kept every one of them without fail, even
celebrating Passover on His last earthly night.

It was on Mount Sinai that God gave Moses the dates and observances fro the sevent major feasts for
the Jewish people to observe. Here are their names:

Weekly Feast
The Sabbath Day (Shabbat, a weekly feast)
Annual Feasts
1. Passover (Pesach) – Nisan 14
2. Unleavened Bread (Chag hamotzi) Nisan 15-22

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