Page 121 - Biblical Backgrounds

The Seven Feasts of Israel

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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 how special each other is. It is a special day to set aside the daily
cares of the world and concentrate on family.

God knew we would enjoy such days. But more importantly, He designed special days throughout the
year to be set aside 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.

The Lesson ...

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 for keeping 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 for 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
3. First Fruits (Yom habikkurim) – Nisan 16
4. Pentecost (Shavu’ot) – Silvan 6
5. Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah) – Tishri 1
6. Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Tishri 10
7. Tabernacles (Sukkot) – Tishri 15

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