C. Sanctification of the Sabbath and the feasts of Yahweh ch. 23

God considered the Israelites (chs. 17-20), the priests, the holy gifts, and the sacrifices (chs. 21-22) as set apart to Him as holy. He regarded certain days and times of the year in the same way (ch. 23). This chapter contains a list of seven festal days and periods of the year when the Israelites were to celebrate holy meetings. These were normally convocations (v. 2) when the Israelites assembled around the tabernacle area. The recurring phrases "holy convocations"and "rest days"indicate that this calendar was primarily for the benefit of the ordinary Israelites rather than for the priests.

"There must be days set apart from the calendar of secular,' self-serving activity so that the servant people might ponder the meaning of their existence and of the holy task to which they had been called."²⁵⁴

The Israelites observed a solar year, which contains 365 days, and a lunar month. Lunar months have 29 and 30 days alternately. The Egyptians followed these alternations carefully giving them six months of 29 days and six months of 30 days. The Israelites followed the Mesopotamians, however, who observed 12 months of 30 days. All three civilizations made up the difference between 12 lunar months and one solar year by inserting another month every few years.²⁵⁵

The chapter begins with an introduction (vv. 1-2) that bears repetition at the end (v. 44).

 1. The Sabbath 23:1-3

The Sabbath (v. 3) was, of course, a weekly observance in contrast to the other feasts that occurred only once a year. Moses introduced the annual holidays in verse 4. God had prescribed Sabbath observance earlier (Exod. 20:8-11; 31:13-17; 35:2-3; Lev. 19:3). Evidently Moses included it in this list because like the feasts it was a day set apart to God for holy purposes. The Sabbath was a "convocation"in that the people assembled in spirit to remember God's work for them that resulted in their being able to rest. For this convocation the Israelites did not assemble around the tabernacle but observed the day in their own dwellings.

The Sabbath was the heart of the whole system of annual feasts in Israel. The other feasts all related to the central idea of rest that the Sabbath epitomized. They focused the Israelites' attention on other Sabbath-like blessings that Yahweh provided for them.²⁵⁶

 2. The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:4-8

Verse 4 introduces the seven annual festivals.

In one sense the Passover (Heb. Pesah, v. 5) was the most important feast (cf. Exod. 12:1-28). It commemorated God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery by a powerful supernatural act and His preparation of the nation for adoption as His special treasure.

Jesus died as the Paschal Lamb on Passover in the year He died for our sins (John 19:14; Matt. 26:17-29; cf. 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).²⁵⁷

The Passover was primarily a time when Israel commemorated the Lord's delivering her from bondage in Egypt. Likewise our worship should include a commemoration of our past salvation from the bondage of sin (cf. Matt. 26:26-29).

"It is noteworthy that the object of faith was not the typology of the sacrifices . . . or a consciousness of the coming Redeemer, but God Himself."²⁵⁸

The day after the Passover marked the beginning of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (vv. 6-14; cf. Num. 28:16-25). This was one of the three feasts that all the adult males in Israel had to attend along with the feasts of Firstfruits and Tabernacles (Exod. 23:17; Deut. 16:16). It was a holy convocation or gathering together of the nation around the sanctuary.

This feast reminded the believing Israelite that he needed to live a clean life since God had redeemed him by the blood of the Passover lamb (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal. 5:9).

 3. The Feast of Firstfruits 23:9-14

The Feast of Firstfruits included the presentation of firstfruits of the spring barley harvest in the Promised Land. The Israelites also offered a lamb, flour, and wine, all representative of God's provisions of spiritual and physical food and drink for His people (vv. 9-14). They presented this offering on the day after the Sabbath following Passover. The ancients regarded the firstfruits (Heb. Shavuot) as a kind of down payment with more to follow.

Jesus arose from the grave on this day as the firstfruits of those who sleep in death (1 Cor. 15:20).

In modern times it is customary for observant Jews to stay up the entire night of Shavuotstudying and discussing the Torah. The tradition that the Israelites had fallen asleep the night before God gave them the Torah and Moses had to awaken them is the basis of this custom.

 4. The Feast of Pentecost 23:15-22

This festival had several names: Harvest, Weeks, and Pentecost (Gr. pentekostos, meaning "fiftieth"). It fell at the end of the spring harvest 50 days after Passover, namely, the day after the end of the seventh week. Pentecost means fiftieth day. This feast was a thanksgiving festival, and it lasted one day. The people offered God the first fruits of the harvest as a thank offering for His provision for their physical and spiritual needs.

The loaves of bread that the Israelites offered to God (v. 17) contained leaven.

". . . in them their daily bread was offered to the Lord, who had blessed the harvest . . ."²⁵⁹

These were common loaves of daily bread. The Israelites did not cook them specifically for holy purposes. They also presented other accompanying offerings (vv. 18-19).

God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers permanently as the firstfruits of God's blessings on Christians on the Pentecost following our Lord's death and resurrection (Acts 2).

This feast was primarily a time of appreciation for God's present provisions and care. Likewise our worship should include appreciation for these mercies as well.

 5. The Feast of Trumpets 23:23-25

During the seventh month of Israel's religious calendar three festivals took place. This reflects the importance that God attached to the number seven in the Mosaic economy. Not only was the seventh day special (v. 3) but so were the seventh week (vv. 15-22) and the seventh month.

The Jews celebrated the Feast of Trumpets (Heb. Rosh Hashana) on the first day of this month. After the Babylonian captivity the Jewish civil year began on this day. It became a new year's celebration in Israel's calendar.²⁶⁰

The ram's horns (shophars) that the priests blew on this occasion were quite large and produced "a dull, far-reaching tone."²⁶¹They called the congregation to turn attention freshly to God and to prepare for the other two festivals of the month and the 12 months ahead. They also signaled God's working again on behalf of His people.

A trumpet will sound calling Christians to meet the Lord in the air (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). It will also assemble the Israelites and herald the Day of the Lord when God will again resume His dealings with His people Israel in Daniel's seventieth week (Jer. 32:37). Some commentators have felt that this event will provide a prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets.

 6. The Day of Atonement 23:26-32

Moses described this day (Heb. Yom Kippur) in chapter 16 more fully for the priests' benefit. Here he stressed the responsibilities of the average Israelite.

This day was a fast rather than a feast. The people were to "humble"themselves (v. 29), which involved fasting (cf. 16:29). God permitted no ordinary work on this day (vv. 28, 30-32). By this He taught the Israelites that the yearly covering of their sins was entirely His work to which they contributed absolutely nothing (cf. Eph. 2:8-9).

The sacrifices the priests made on this day atoned for all the remaining sins of the believing Israelites that other sacrifices did not cover. However the benefits of the Day of Atonement lasted for only one year.

Prophetically this day will find fulfillment at the second coming of Christ. Then God will purify His people who have returned to Him in repentance and self-affliction as a result of His chastening during the Tribulation period (Zech. 12:10; 13:1; cf. Heb. 9:28).

"The release from the pressure of work and social inequalities, experienced on and through the Sabbath and its sister institutions, could effectively epitomize both past and future divine deliverance."²⁶²

 7. The Feast of Tabernacles 23:33-44 

This feast (Heb. Sukkot) was another very joyous occasion for the Israelites. It was the third fall festival. It commemorated the Israelites' journey from Egyptian bondage to blessing in Canaan. Its other names were the Feast of Booths and the Feast of Ingathering. The people built booths out of branches and lived under these for the duration of this eight-day festival as a reminder of their life in the wilderness. They presented many offerings during this holiday (Num. 29:12-38). In this feast the Israelites' looked backward to the land of their slavery and forward to the Promised Land of blessing. The feast opened and closed with a Sabbath. It was primarily a time of joy since God had just recently provided atonement. It revolved around the harvest of grapes and other fall field products.

". . . in the later postexilic period [it] took on something of a carnival atmosphere."²⁶³

The Israelites will enjoy a similar prolonged period of rejoicing in the Millennium when they will enjoy national blessing as a result of Jesus Christ's atoning work for them (Zech. 14:16). Then the Jews in the millennial kingdom will be believers in Him and therefore redeemed and adopted as His chosen people. However there will be greater blessings on ahead for them in heaven.

God designed this feast primarily as a time of anticipation as well as reflection. Similarly our worship should include the element of anticipation as we look forward to entering into all that God has promised us in the future. The Puritans patterned their Thanksgiving Day feast in New England after this Jewish festival.²⁶⁴

"The dozen feasts of the Hebrew calendar [counting those added later in Israel's history] are pitifully few when compared with the fifty or sixty religious festivals of ancient Thebes, for example."²⁶⁵

Feasts & Fasts in the Early History of Israel

Season

Month

Day(s) of Month

Feast or Fast

Atten-dance by Adult Males

Sacred

Civil

Modern

Spring

1

7

March/April

14

Passover

Optional

Spring

1

7

March/April

14-20

Unleavened Bread

Required

Spring

1

7

March/April

The day after the Sabbath following Passover

Firstfruits

Optional

Spring

3

9

May/June

4

Pentecost (a.k.a. Harvest, Weeks)

Required

Fall

7

1

September/ October

1

Trumpets

Optional

Fall

7

1

September/

October

10

Day of Atonement(the only fast)

Optional

Fall

7

1

September/

October

15-21

Tabernacles (a.k.a. Booths, Ingathering)

Required

"When we celebrate Good Friday we should think not only of Christ's death on the cross for us, but of the first exodus from Egypt which anticipated our deliverance from the slavery of sin. At Easter we recall Christ's resurrection and see in it a pledge of our own resurrection at the last day, just as the firstfruits of harvest guarantee a full crop later on (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). At Whitsun (Pentecost) we praise God for the gift of the Spirit and all our spiritual blessings; the OT reminds us to praise God for our material benefits as well."²⁶⁶

Leviticus does not mention the Feast of Purim (lit. lots) that the Jews added to their calendar later in their history (cf. Esth. 9:20-32). Neither does the Old Testament refer to the Feast of Dedication (Heb. Hanakkah) because the Jews instituted it much later in their history. The former feast celebrates the Jews' deliverance from the Persians in Esther's time. The latter feast, often called the feast of lights, commemorates the revolt and victory of the Maccabees (Hasmoneans) against Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria and the rededication of the temple in 165 B.C.²⁶⁷