Feasts of the Lord Leviticus 23

Leviticus 23:2 "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."

Outline:

v1 The feasts of the Lord
v3 The Sabbath
v4 The passover
v9 The sheaf of first fruits
v15 The feast of Pentecost
v22 Gleanings to be left for the poor
v23 The feast of trumpets
v26 The day of atonement
v33 The feast of tabernacles

convocation: a ceremonial assembly (as of the clergy) or the act of convoking
convoke: to call together to a meeting

We will not here debate what day we are to take off from work. Traditionally I believe it was our Saturday, the last day of the week after six days of work. In the Christian faith, we take off Sunday, the first day of the week which was when the Lord arose from the tomb. His work being done then. I think it appropriate to take off one day to honor the Lord and to mark a ending to a hard weeks work and to start afresh the new week.

v3 "Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest..."

Perhaps it would be better to just work six days and take one off in honor of the Lord rather than spend energy and cause hard feelings arguing over which day that is. Many ignore the working six days part and debate the seventh. It did say work six not five and then go fishing on the sixth.

Passover

Israel had been under slavery for 400 years. Many measures were taken to get Pharaoh to let Israel go from Egypt. The most pronounced one was when the firstborn were slain. On that night Israel was to apply blood of a lamb to the door post and mantel then the death angel would pass over them and not slay the firstborn.

It was a very important even to remember. It represents the Lord's power, his caring for Israel and the demonstration of a substitute to redeem those inside. The blood was made known there and so is remember in the 'passover'.

v5 "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover."

v6 "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread..."

It should be noticed that in the New Testament, Jesus' taking of the passover precedes his death on the cross, the firstborn sacrificed for the redemption of mankind.

Luke 22:7 "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat."

After the passover and Judas was given the sop signifying that he was the betrayer, Jesus went into the garden to pray and was then arrested and crucified.

Verse 9 starts the description of the celebration of wave offering to be started when Israel came into the land promised to them by the Lord.

V11 "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."

It is a time of offerings and holy convocation. It reminds me of when Mary discovered the empty tomb and when she talked with the Lord in the garden and was excited to tell the others that the Lord had risen.

Seventh Month-first day:

"V24 "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. v25 Ye shall do no servile work therein, but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

Tenth day:

v27 "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 y shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

Fifteenth day:

v34 "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."

Many things could be said about this chapter. It does away with the idea that living for God is 'all work and no play' . They had feast and celebrated the harvest and God's blessings.

Also there is a relation in the order of things which could be studied with prophecy. After all, there will be a great celebration when the Lord comes back for his children. On that day, the harvest will be taken in and a time of rest and rejoicing will take place around the throne in heaven. The long six days, the long six years will be over and the seventh day, seventh year will come and the feast will began.

booths: were usually made of poles set upright in the ground and covered with green boughs Lev 23:40-42 Neh 8:14

Some of the traditions of Israel have been interrupted due to historical events and mapping changes. It is a whole other subject to dive in to. It deals with the temple mount and the problems there. It deals with the place of the original temple and sacrifices. Perhaps we
will get into those things at a later time. Some Bible teachers deal almost exclusively with these conditions and current events to show the soon return of Christ. They are not hard to find.

V44 "And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord."


Proverbs 2: 1-6 "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If hou seekest her as silver,and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."