Feast Days Appointed
Overview
- Testament: Old
- Book: Leviticus
- Chapters: 23
- Summary: God appoints seven feast days (festivals) for Israel, establishing the sacred calendar.
Details
In Leviticus 23, God establishes seven appointed feasts (mo’adim — “appointed times”): (1) Passover and Unleavened Bread (first month, Nisan) — commemorating the exodus; (2) Firstfruits (day after Sabbath during Unleavened Bread) — offering the first sheaf of harvest; (3) Weeks/Pentecost (fifty days after Firstfruits) — harvest festival; (4) Trumpets ( seventh month, Tishri) — day of blowing trumpets; (5) Day of Atonement (10th of Tishri) — solemn fast; (6) Tabernacles/Booths (15–21 Tishri) — seven-day harvest celebration living in sukkahs; (7) Eighth Day Assembly (22 Tishri) — solemn closing. These feasts structured Israel’s religious year, connecting worship with agricultural cycles and redemptive history. Three of them (Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles) required all male Israelites to appear before the Lord at the central sanctuary.
Key People Involved
Key Places
- Tabernacle — Central gathering place for pilgrimage feasts
Important Verses
- Leviticus 23:4 — “These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations.”
- Leviticus 23:14 — “Until the same day that ye bring the offering of your God, ye shall eat neither bread, nor green ears of corn, nor fullries.”
Cross-References
- Related events: Passover, Day of Atonement Established
- Fulfilled in: First coming of Christ (Passover, Firstfruits, Pentecost); Second coming (Trumpets, Tabernacles)
- Acts 2 — Pentecost fulfillment at the feast of Weeks
Notes
The seven feasts form a prophetic timeline: Passover (Christ’s death), Unleavened Bread (His sinless burial), Firstfruits (His resurrection), Pentecost (the Church), Trumpets (rapture), Tabernacles (millennial reign), Eighth Day (eternity).