[Leviticus 23] Celebrating the Feasts of the Lord. Are we required to keep the Jewish holy days? What is their meaning to us? What do they tell us about who Jesus is to us? Do they foreshadow events yet to be fulfilled in the last days? In this chapter, God instructs Moses regarding the seven feast days the people of God were to keep. They speak to us profound truths regarding redemption and things to come. There are yet richer experiences in God and “baptisms” yet to be experienced that the feasts point to. God wants you to have the full benefit and personal experience of His Spirit on the earth. It is available, and in this chapter, we see the foreshadowing of these truths.
[Lev 23:1-44 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, [Concerning] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, [even] these [are] my feasts. 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the LORD’S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month [is] the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day [is] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. 13 And the meat offering thereof [shall be] two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD [for] a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof [shall be] of wine, the fourth [part] of an hin. 14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD. 18 And ye 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 unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, [even] an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. 19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits [for] a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, [that] it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work [therein: it shall be] a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I [am] the LORD your God. 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth [day] of this seventh month [there shall be] a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it [is] a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatsoever soul [it be] that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul [it be] that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It [shall be] unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth [day] of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. 33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be] the feast of tabernacles [for] seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day [shall be] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it [is] a solemn assembly; [and] ye shall do no servile work [therein]. 37 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day [shall be] a sabbath, and on the eighth day [shall be] a sabbath. 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. [It shall be] a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. 44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
Are we required to keep the feasts of the Lord? Some teach adherence to the law of Moses as a prerequisite to New Testament worship. This has been a controversy since before the New Testament was written. The Apostle Paul and Peter could not work together because of their conflicting views on this subject.
[Gal 2:11-12 KJV] 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
We get questions from many about whether we should keep the dietary laws, the Sabbaths, etc. Regarding the ceremonial calendar of the law and the feast days, this was the judgment of Paul passed down through the New Testament writ:
[Rom 14:5-6 KJV] 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Paul makes clear that the New Testament believer is not bound to the ceremonial observance of the law. Because of this, be warned not to allow anyone to put you under condemnation regarding these things. In the book of Acts, a council was held to address this very issue, and the conclusion was this:
[Act 15:19-20 KJV] 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and [from] fornication, and [from] things strangled, and [from] blood.
In the day we live in, there are prohibitions and expectations upon us as born again believers, but following some stylized version of Christianized Jewish tradition is not one of them. Does this mean that the feasts hold no value to us? On the contrary. Each of the feasts points to fulfilling a personal experience with God for the born again believer.
There are seven feasts appointed to the people of God under the Old Testament dispensation. They are:
First Fruits
Unleavened Bread
Passover
Pentecost
Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Tabernacles
The first three are grouped together and refer to generally as Passover. The fourth stands alone (Pentecost). The remaining feasts are grouped together and commonly referred to as Tabernacles. For those of you wanting to dig deep into their broader meaning from a prophetic standpoint, I recommend a book by George Warnock called “Feast of Tabernacles.” It was written in 1948 during the beginnings of what is known as the Latter Rain outpouring and is a powerful prophetic insight into the meaning of these feasts to us today.
When viewed as a prophetic timeline revealing God’s linear purpose through time, we are between the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. The feasts then reveal God’s cosmic timeline in His dealing with man. The feasts also speak to us personally regarding the progressive experiences available to and destined for every believer.
Passover – speaks to us of the New Birth Experience, Jesus is your Passover lamb.
Pentecost – speaks to us of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit available to every born again believer.
Tabernacles – foreshadowing the Baptism of Fire that we have yet to see poured out upon men. Some teach the baptism of fire happens when you get the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, but the clear teaching of scripture is that it is a separate experience yet to come upon the believer.
Passover / Salvation redeems and transformed your human spirit, and you are born of God. Pentecost sanctifies the soul (mind, will, and emotion), causing the river of living water Jesus promised in John chapter 4 and chapter 7 to become a continual resource of power and cleansing in your life. In Tabernacles, the physical body receives what Jesus experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration when his body shined like a pillar of fire clothed in light. Some call this the rapture, the adjudication of the saints, body felt salvation, the redemption of the purchased possession, etc.
In v. 25, we see that all through the celebration of the feasts was the command to “do no servile work.” The penalty was to be cut off from the people. Many believers and teachers into these deeper truths and, as a result, impose many religious and pseudo-mystical restrictions and requirements upon people, thus denying them “YOKE EASY and BURDEN LIGHT.” The testimony of scripture is sure. You are not denied the deep things of God, and you are not required to be a part of some mystical cult of religious celebrity to enter in. The work is not ours, but that of the Spirit of grace, leading us into a deeper relationship with God.
[Eph 2:8-10 KJV] 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The fulfillment of each of these feasts comes as an initial overture or outpouring of God. After that it became available by faith through preaching, prayer, or sometimes laying on of hands by those who had already entered in.
Passover / Salvation: Jesus imparted the New Birth to the twelve by breathing upon them:
[Jhn 20:22 KJV] 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on [them], and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Thereafter the New Birth was imparted by preaching and prayer:
[Act 3:19 KJV] 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Pentecost: The baptism of the Holy Spirit was poured out on a specific day and time.
[Act 2:1-3 KJV] 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Thereafter it was available through preaching, prayer, and laying on of hands:
[Act 10:44-46 KJV] 44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Tabernacles / Baptism of Fire: Peter, James and John saw the demonstration of the Baptism of Fire on the Mount of Transfiguration.
[Mat 17:2 KJV] 2 And [Jesus] was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Peter understood this from an Old Testament perspective and wanted to celebrate the feast of tabernacles:
[Mat 17:4 KJV] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
We have seen the salvation experience and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in fullness. We have yet to see the fullness of the Feast of Tabernacles, but it is on God’s timetable. It will come to us as on a day in time with a group of people set aside for this initial experience. Afterward, it will be available through preaching, prayer, and laying on of hands. We don’t “have it all yet,” and we need to be open and humble ourselves to the seeking process.
What can we learn from the feasts of God and their fulfillment in our lives? We come to understand that God will not leave you where you are at. He will take you on into deeper experiences and knowledge of Him. Remember, He is not only Savior but Lord. This is not optional. In four places in the Pentateuch, it was commanded that all the people were required to appear before the Lord three times in the year for the celebration of these feasts. God has no plan to leave you out or to go on with His purposes without including you. It is up to each of us to detach ourselves from the distractions of life and living and configure our lives to make room for God and seeking Him in his word, in prayer, in worship. This is the lesson of the seven feasts of God.
