The Seven Feasts

God instructed the Israelites to annually celebrate seven feasts. In Leviticus 23:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. The seven feasts are then listed…

First we have the Spring Feasts.

1. The Passover, v.5

2. Unleavened Bread, v.6

3. First Fruits, v.11

These took place during the Spring Harvest in the Jewish month of Nisan, which on our calendar falls between March and April. 

Second we have the Summer Feast. 

4. Pentecost, v.16 

This took place during the Summer Harvest in the Jewish month of Sivan, which on our calendar falls between May and June.

Third we have the Fall Feasts.

5. Trumpets, v.24
6. Atonement, v.27
7. Tabernacles, v.34

These took place during the Fall Harvest in the Jewish month of Tishri, which on our calendar falls between September and October.

The Bible says these feasts were "sacred assemblies". The Hebrew word for "sacred assembly" is mikrah and means "dress rehearsal". One day God was going to send Messiah into the world to act out a redemption 'play'. And when that came came God wanted the Jews to recognize 'the play'. So He had the Israelites act it out over and over again for 1,500 years prior to Messiah coming into the world. God's hope was that through 1,500 years of dress rehearsal the Jews would recognize the play when it came to town. 

Here's another way to think of the feasts. Think of them as pictures. Each feast was a picture of Messiah. God's hope was that by looking at the pictures of Messiah for 1,500 years the Jews would recognize him when he came.

You could also think of the feasts as shadows. The apostle Paul said of the feasts in Colossians 2:17, “For these rules [the rules of the feasts] are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.” A shadow isn’t a person. A shadow only points to the reality of a person. In the same way the feasts were shadows that pointed to the person of Christ. God’s hope was that by seeing the shadow for fifteen hundreds years, they would recognize the person the shadows pointed to.

Though God went through great lengths to help the Jews recognize their Messiah, the failed to do so. John 1:11 records that Jesus came to that which was his own (the Jews), but his own did not receive him. As we study the feasts, let us not make the same mistake as the Jews. As we study the feasts may we see the Messiah as God intended and make this Messiah both Savior and Lord.