The Seven Holy Feasts of the LORD (Leviticus 23) by Robert E. Schoenle

The Seven Holy Feasts of the LORD (Leviticus 23) by Robert E. Schoenle The following information concerning "The Seven Holy Feasts of the LORD" is given to show the prophetic significance for each of them. These seven feasts are recorded in the 23rd chapter of the Book of Leviticus of the Old Testament. This information will also show how each of these seven feasts pictured the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that this material will enlighten and edify and encourage all who read and study it. Maranatha!!! The Primary Meaning For Each of the Following Words: Seven = Perfection Holy = Separation Feast = Festival LORD = Self-existent One The First Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Passover Scripture: Lev. 23:4-5; Dt. 16:1-2, 5-7. 1st Feast The Feast of Passover A memorial to redemption Redemption from bondage in Egypt Comments: The first Passover took place in Egypt where the Hebrew people were being held in bondage. Each Hebrew household was told to sacrifice a perfect yearling lamb and to sprinkle the blood of that lamb on the crosspiece and sideposts of the door of their house. If they did this the Angel of Death would pass over their house. The penalty for not sacrificing a lamb and for not placing the blood of the lamb upon the crosspiece and 1

sideposts of the door of their house would be the death of the first born of that household (Ex. 12:1-28). The significance of the blood is that...the life of the flesh is in the blood; and...it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:11). This is why we are told that there cannot be any forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22). The blood of the animals that were offered as a sacrifice by the people of Israel could COVER their sins but it could never REMOVE their sins (Heb. 10:4, 11)! The First Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Passover 1st Feast The Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ A memorial to redemption Significance for the Church: Redemption from bondage of sin Scripture: 1 Peter 1:18-19 Comments: God is holy and righteous! He cannot tolerate sin to go unpunished. A sad fact is that every human being falls short of the glory of God (Ro. 3:23; 5:12). Since we are born in sin (Ps. 51:5) and live in sin (Ps. 51:3; Ro. 8:8) and are slaves to sin (Ro. 6:6, 12, 20; Heb. 10:12, 14, 17-18) it is necessary that a penalty for sin be paid in full for our sins to be removed (Jn, 3:16). However, the penalty for sin can only be paid for by someone who has no debt to sin of their own. According to the Holy Scriptures that someone could only be the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the only person never to sin during His entire life on Earth (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22). The blood that He willingly shed for us can now be applied to each of us and save us from the penalty of our sins. This is why it is necessary for the Lord Jesus Christ to be the personal Passover sacrifice for each of us. It is so that God can forgive our sins and enable each of us to be redeemed to Him (Jn. 1:29; Ro. 5:8-9; 1 Cor. 5:7; 15:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21). 2

The Second Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Unleavened Bread 2nd Feast The Feast of Unleavened Bread The purging of all leaven Putting away sin Scripture: Ex. 12:14-19; 23:15; Lev. 23:6-8; Dt. 16:3-4, 8, 16. Comments: During their first walk of faith, as a nation, Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Since leaven is a symbol for sin and evil, the people of Israel were told not to eat any bread with leaven in it for the seven days following the Feast of Passover. This was to symbolize a holy walk with the LORD during that time. The Second Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Unleavened Bread 2nd Feast Jesus Christ in the grave The purging of sin through Christ 3

Significance for the Church: All in Christ are cleansed of sin Scripture: 2 Cor. 5:21. Comments: It is impossible to walk with a holy God with sin in our lives! It is for this reason that we had to be redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Scriptures state, it is necessary to, Purge out...the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7). The Christian s walk, as a member of the called-out assembly of believers known today as the Church begins with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bread of Life is what the Lord Jesus called Himself as recorded in John 6:35. He is the unleavened bread of whom we must partake of so that we also will have no leaven found in us as we walk in Him. The Third Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of First Fruits 3rd Feast The Feast of First Fruits Thanksgiving for the first crop The promise of the coming harvest Scripture: Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:9-14. Comments: The Feast of First Fruits was to be celebrated on the first Sunday following the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was for seven days. The Feast of First Fruits is the first of three harvest festivals to be celebrated during the year by the Israelites. This feast was to be an acknowledgment by the Israelites of their thankfulness for the fertility of the land God had given them. They were to bring a sheaf of tied barley stalks to the priest who would then wave it before the LORD as an offering. 4

The Third Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of First Fruits Significance for the Church: 3rd Feast The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Victory over sin and death The promise of eternal life Scripture: 1 Cor. 15:20-23. Comments: On the first day of the week, which is Sunday, following His crucifixion and burial, the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead (Lk. 24:1-7)! He is the first-born from the dead (Col. 1:18) and is now our great high priest (Ro. 8:34; Heb. 4:14-15; 7:25; 9:24-26). Those people who were resurrected from the dead AFTER His resurrection during that same day (Mt. 27:52-53) were part of the first harvest of redeemed people offered unto the LORD in the Age of Grace. The Fourth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Weeks Summer 4th Feast The Feast of Weeks Thanksgiving for the Second Harvest 5

Ingathering of the Second Harvest Scripture Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:15-22; Dt. 16:9-12, 16. Comments: The Feast of Weeks is celebrated fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits to thank God for the wheat harvest. It is during this second harvest feast when the wave offering of the high priest before the LORD is made consisting of two loaves of wheat bread that were to be of equal weight and baked with leaven (Lev. 23:17). According to Leviticus 2:11, no meal offering...shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven...in any offering of the LORD made by fire. So why were the Israelites later told by the LORD to offer bread unto Him, baked with leaven, during this feast, when it was forbidden by Him to do so otherwise? This question must have been asked many times by Jewish religious leaders and lay people, throughout the centuries, without being able to come to a definitive and conclusive answer! The Fourth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Weeks Summer 4th Feast The Feast of Weeks Thanksgiving for the Second Harvest Ingathering of the Second Harvest Scripture Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:15-22; Dt. 16:9-12, 16. Comments: The two loaves of bread offered by the priest as a wave offering unto the LORD during the Feast of Weeks represented both Jews and Gentiles who would come to trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, by faith alone, for their salvation. This new assembly of believers in Christ is known by several names. Those names are, the Church (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 5:25) and the Bride (Rev. 21:7; 22:17) and the Body of Christ Ro. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12-14; Eph. 1:22-23). 6

The two loaves were to be of equal weight and baked with leaven. The leaven is a symbol for the sin of each believer. The leaven in the bread that is offered unto the LORD represents the sins of those trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. The sins of those trusting Him as their savior have been through the fire of judgment in the Person of the Lord Jesus and they are now redeemed in Him. The Feast of Weeks is called the Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament (Acts 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). All those who heard the Good News of Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-8, 36) and became believers were part of the second harvest (Acts 2:41) of the Age of Grace. The Fifth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Trumpets 5th Feast The Feast of Trumpets Israel Regathered End of the Harvest Scripture: Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:23-25; Num. 29:1-6. Comments: The Feast of Trumpets was to celebrate the third and final harvest of the year. This last harvest of the year was to end the moment the field workers of Israel heard the sound of the trumpet blown by the high priest. The high priest would blow the trumpet while standing on the southwestern parapet of the Temple so that it could be heard in all the surrounding fields. It was a call for the field workers to stop their work of harvesting and to go into the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to worship the LORD. The crops remaining in the field were to be left behind because the harvest year was over. 7

The Fifth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Trumpets Significance for the Church: 5th Feast The Rapture of the Church The Ingathering of the Church This is the end of the Church Age Scripture: Jn. 14:2-3; Lk. 17:26-30, 34-36; Mt. 24:36-42; 25:6-10; Mk. 13:32-37; 1 Th. 4:13-18; 5:1-5; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Rev. 3:3, 10-11; 22:12-13, 20. Comments: There has been a great harvest taking place ever since the Day of Pentecost in 30 A.D. It is a harvest comprised of Jewish and Gentile believers who have been redeemed through the hearing of and trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4) for their salvation by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). The work of the members of this great assembly of believers who are alive on the Earth will cease immediately when they hear the trumpet sound from Heaven. It will be at that moment when they will be snatched-out of the earth by their great high priest (Heb. 3:1; 4:15; 5:5-10) the Lord Jesus Christ and worship Him in the Holy Temple in Heaven (Rev. 4:10-11). The Sixth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Atonement 6th Feast The Day of Atonement 8

To Confess the Sins of Israel To Cover the Sins of Israel Scripture: Lev. 16; 23:26-32; Num. 29:7-11. Comments: The Day of Atonement is the spiritual highlight of the Jewish calendar year! It is the most solemn assembly by the people of Israel for repentance and forgiveness of their sins under the Law of Moses. It was the only day when the high priest of Israel could enter the Holy of Holies that was first placed in the Tabernacle of God and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Holy of Holies that the high priest, while sprinkling the mercy seat of God with the blood of sacrificed animals, begged for the forgiveness of his own sins and for the sins f the people of Israel before the LORD. The Day of Atonement will be fulfilled, for Israel, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns as her King. His return will move the people of Israel to acknowledge Him as their Messiah,...and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son... (Zech. 12:10). And so all Israel shall be saved...when I shall take away their sins (Ro. 11:26-27). The Sixth Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Atonement Significance for the Church: 6th Feast The 2nd Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ To Redeem the Nation of Israel None Scripture: Zech. 12:10; 13:1. 9

Comments: The Day of Atonement has no significance for the Church because the Church owes no atonement! The reason being that, Christ...by his own blood...obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:11-12). Also, unlike to he high priests of Israel, the Lord Jesus,...needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people s; for this he did once, when he offered up himself (Heb. 7:27). This one sacrifice, of our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, removes the need of any further sacrifices for sin by those who trust Him as their Savior (Heb. 10:12, 17). The Seventh Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Tabernacles 7th Feast The Feast of Tabernacles To Celebrate God s Provision A Memorial to the Lord s Shelter Scripture: Lev. 23:33-43. Comments: The Feast of Tabernacles was given to cause the people of Israel to remember when their ancestors lived in temporary housing during their many years of wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It was also to cause them to remember God s provision for them during that time (Ezr. 3:4). To celebrate this feast they were to build temporary booths to live in as they worshiped for seven days. This was to be a feast of joy and thanksgiving for all those within the gates of Israel for past and present mercies (Dt. 16:13-15). The Feast of Tabernacles ceased to be observed by the people of Israel after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the city itself by the Romans in 70 A.D. It will be celebrated annually for 1,000 years, as God intended, upon the return of Israel s Messiah, Y shua of Nazareth. 10

The Seventh Holy Feast of the LORD The Feast of Tabernacles Significance for the Church: 7th Feast The Feast of Tabernacles To Commemorate God s Provision None Scripture: Zech. 14:16-19. Comments: The Lord Jesus Christ will set up His Tabernacle in Jerusalem (Ezk. 37:26-27) upon His return to Earth to rule for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:4). Each year, thereafter, representatives from every nation on earth will be expected to attend this feast in Jerusalem where they are to appear before the Lord Jesus Christ and to worship Him. Those nations that do not send representatives to Jerusalem during "The Feast of Tabernacles", so they may worship the Lord Jesus Christ, will be punished for their disobedience in two ways: 1. Their nation will suffer a drought from "The Feast of Tabernacles" they did not attend until the next Feast of Tabernacles that they do attend. 2. A plaque will kill many of the citizens of the offending nation that would not obey the Word of the LORD. 11