God’s appointed feasts
The Bible gives very specific details about a number of feasts that were instituted by God and observed by the Israelites. There are seven appointed feasts, intended as special times for God’s chosen nation to meet with Him.
Moses was given all the instructions the Israelites were to follow. Yet these feasts do not belong to Israel alone. They are also God’s feasts:
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. (Leviticus 23:1-2 NIV, emphasis added)
Are Christians required to keep the feasts?
It is important to stress that Christians are released from the necessity of observing these Old Testament sabbaths, festivals and holy days:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17 NIV)
However, the same passage reveals that the feasts are a shadow of things to come. In other words, they teach us something about future events.
A portrait of Jesus Christ
In essence, it appears that all seven yearly feasts paint a portrait of Jesus Christ, either at His first coming or at His second.
Seven is God’s number of completeness. Together, the feasts illustrate the historical and prophetic plan of God for the redemption of mankind.
Leviticus 23, among other passages, sets out the details of the feasts, which were to be kept as holy days each year. The Israelites were instructed to observe them, and each one tells a story of God’s dealings with mankind.
Many New Testament teachings describe these feasts being fulfilled by Christ. We believe they were appointed to point the Jewish people to their Saviour, Jesus. We also believe they serve as yearly rehearsals for both His first coming and His second.
How this article is arranged
We will briefly explore each of the seven feasts, beginning with the four spring feasts and then the three autumn feasts.
We hope you will see how the spring feasts all point exclusively to Christ, foreshadowing His first coming, and how they were fulfilled in amazing detail. We then describe how the autumn feasts could be fulfilled by Christ with equal precision at His second coming.
We cannot be certain exactly how or when they will be fulfilled at Christ’s second coming. Yet given how literally the spring feasts were fulfilled, we have no doubt the same will be true of the autumn feasts.
The spring feasts: fulfilled at Christ’s first coming
Passover (Pesach)
Observed: 14 Nisan (March or April). Scripture: Leviticus 23:4-5 and Exodus 12.
For the Jewish community, Passover commemorates the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
The feast involved the sacrifice of a male lamb, without spot or blemish. The particular way in which this lamb was sacrificed provides a perfect template for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ:
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV)
During the first Passover, the Israelites (and Gentiles) who observed the feast sprinkled the sacrificial blood on their doorposts. In doing so, they were spared destruction from the “angel of death”.
In an identical way, the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, rescues from eternal torment all those who are saved through Him.
The New Testament teaches that Christians are no longer bound to keep this feast, and that it was fulfilled in Christ:
Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV)
Our article Jesus OUR Passover Lamb describes in greater detail the amazingly precise way in which Jesus fulfilled this feast as our Passover lamb.
Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot)
Observed: 15-21 Nisan (March or April). Scripture: Leviticus 23:6-8 and Exodus 12:15-20.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows Passover. The days of unleavened bread were to act as a memorial of the Passover.
During this feast, the Jewish community could not eat any product containing yeast (leaven). Nor could they store yeast in their houses, as it was seen as something impure and a polluting agent.
As with Passover, the negative influence of leaven is addressed in 1 Corinthians 5:
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NIV)
Leaven here is a reference to sin. The presence of sin permeates every area of our lives, and this feast was to provide a picture of how subtle and destructive that process is.
Even the smallest quantity of leaven would leaven the whole lump. It spreads uniformly through the dough and, once present, is impossible to remove.
Sin works in the same way for mankind. We are all affected by the presence of sin and succumb to its destructive power. This is why Jesus Christ had to be sinless: no leaven was to be found in Him.
Jesus’ body lay in the tomb during the first days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, waiting to burst forth in the resurrected life that is foreshadowed in the Feast of Firstfruits.
Firstfruits (Reishit)
Observed: 16 Nisan (March or April). Scripture: Leviticus 23:9-14.
The Feast of Firstfruits falls very soon after Passover, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The Israelites were to take a sheaf from the firstfruits of the barley harvest and present it to the priests at the temple. The priest was to “wave” the sheaf up and down, acknowledging it as a blessing from the Lord.
We would suggest this is figurative of Jesus going “down” into death and being raised “up” in resurrection, thereby defeating death.
It is very important to remember that the account of Jesus Christ does not end with His sacrifice on our behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the Israelites were instructed to make the offering of firstfruits.
This pointed forward symbolically to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which demonstrated the complete defeat of sin and death for those in Christ Jesus. Paul makes this point to the church in Corinth:
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NIV)
What more could Jesus Christ have done to demonstrate that He really is Lord of Lords and King of Kings? He not only took it upon Himself to die in our place. He also demonstrated power over sin and death in His resurrection.
What a staggering gift for those who will accept Him!
Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Shavuot)
Observed: 6 Sivan (May or June). Scripture: Leviticus 23:15-22.
The Feast of Weeks is celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits. It is a time to present to the Lord an offering of new grain for the summer.
Deuteronomy 16:16 states that all Jewish males are required to go to Jerusalem to “appear before the Lord” on the feast day. The feast has become known as Pentecost, from the Greek for “fiftieth”.
Jesus died at Passover and rose at Firstfruits. Fifty days later, all His believers were together in one place in Jerusalem. It was then that God poured out His Holy Spirit upon them:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)
The apostle Peter confirms that this fulfilled the words of the prophet Joel:
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (Acts 2:16-21 NIV)
Peter went on to say that the risen Jesus had poured out the Holy Spirit:
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33 NIV)
As a result, about three thousand people were baptised on that same feast day:
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:41 NIV)
There is a striking parallel here. Jewish tradition associates the Feast of Weeks with the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. On that occasion, about three thousand people died following the sin of the golden calf (Exodus 32:28).
At Pentecost, about three thousand were saved. As Paul writes, the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6).
The autumn feasts: awaiting Christ’s second coming
Feast of Trumpets or New Year (Yom HaTeruah / Rosh HaShanah)
Observed: 1 or 2 Tishri (September or October). Scripture: Leviticus 23:23-25.
This is the first of the autumn feasts.
Unusually, the Old Testament gives no specific reason for it. The Jews, however, understood the blowing of trumpets to be a call to repentance, in preparation for appearing before God for trial and judgement.
There appears to be a strong connection between this feast and the rapture of the faithful Church described in the New Testament:
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV, emphasis added)
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV, emphasis added)
We believe these two passages indicate that the rapture of the Church could be the ultimate fulfilment of the Feast of Trumpets, ushering in a time of God’s judgement on an unbelieving earth.
Another interesting feature of this feast is that it is dated by the first glimmer of a new moon. As a result, it can fall at any time within a 48-hour period.
This makes it the only feast day of which it is true to say that no man knows “the day nor the hour”. We should not be dogmatic about this, of course, but it is certainly an interesting feast day.
What we do know for sure is that the rapture of the Church cannot be dated, and we are instructed not to attempt to date it.
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Observed: 10 Tishri (September or October). Scripture: Leviticus 23:26-32 and Leviticus 16.
This was the day on which the high priest made atonement for sin. It is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and a solemn day of fasting and prayer for the Jewish people.
Yom Kippur is the final day of the “days of repentance”, which include Rosh HaShanah.
It was the only day of the year on which the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the temple to make a sacrifice. That sacrifice paid for the high priest’s own sin and for the sins of the people.
Two goats were chosen on behalf of the people. One was sacrificed as a sin offering. Once that sacrifice was complete, the high priest would release the other into the wilderness. This goat, known as the “scapegoat”, carried all of Israel’s sins away.
The veil torn in two
Within the temple, the Holy of Holies was separated by a veil reaching from floor to ceiling. When Jesus died upon the cross, this veil was torn completely in two:
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46 NIV)
Christ, our High Priest
Christ entered the Holy of Holies, heaven itself, as the High Priest to pay for our eternal redemption. He did so not with the blood of goats, but with His own blood.
The writer of Hebrews explains:
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12 NIV, emphasis added)
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:24-28 NIV, emphasis added)
The whole of Hebrews 9:11-28 is worth reading in full.
Jesus paid the final atonement for our sins:
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood–to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished (Romans 3:21-25 NIV, emphasis added)
Since the temple was destroyed in AD 70, the high priest can no longer make atonement for the sins of the Jewish people. It is to Jesus Christ that we must all look for the forgiveness of our sins, since He paid for all of us upon the cross.
Israel’s future repentance
Many believe that Jesus’ second coming could occur on this feast day. When He does return, it will be a day on which Israel sees Him as their Messiah and repents, and they will be forgiven:
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zechariah 12:10 NIV)
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27 NIV)
Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Sukkot)
Observed: 15-22 Tishri (September or October). Scripture: Leviticus 23:33-43.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day festival, followed by a closing assembly on the eighth day.
The Jewish community were instructed to build booths and live in them during this time. This was to remember the booths in which the Israelites dwelt when God brought them out of Egypt.
It is a very joyful time of singing, dancing, feasting and rejoicing. It commemorates the fact that God dwelt, or “tabernacled”, with Israel throughout their travels and journeys.
A future fulfilment
The most likely future fulfilment of this feast is the millennial reign of Christ on earth, described in Revelation 20, when Christ will literally dwell with man. We know the feast will continue to be observed during that time:
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16-19 NIV, emphasis added)
Beyond the millennium, the same theme reaches its completion in the new heaven and the new earth, where God’s dwelling place is with His people for ever:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3 NIV)
The birth of Christ
We feel it is possible that Jesus Christ was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. There was “no room at the inn”, so Bethlehem was unusually busy, which may suggest it was a feast time.
It would be entirely appropriate for our Saviour to be born during this festival, symbolising His dwelling with humanity:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NIV, emphasis added)
It was also during the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus spoke these great words:
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38 NIV)
The three pilgrimage feasts
We have now looked briefly at each of the yearly feasts stipulated in the Torah, and at how they apply to Jesus Christ.
As part of these feasts, the Jews were required to journey to Jerusalem three times each year:
Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed: (Deuteronomy 16:16 NIV)
The Israelites were not to appear before the Lord empty-handed on these three occasions. We would suggest that, as believers in Christ, we should not appear empty-handed either.
Unleavened Bread: removing sin. The first feast of the year that required the journey to Jerusalem was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As mentioned above, leaven is figurative of sin. As Christians, it is our responsibility to remove the presence of leaven (sin) from our lives wherever possible.
Weeks (Pentecost): a Spirit-filled life. The second was the Feast of Weeks, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the new followers of Christ. Equally, our own lives should be Spirit-filled, and the fruit of the Spirit should be evident to others as we walk with Christ.
Trumpets: appearing before Christ. The final feast of the year for which the Jews would go to Jerusalem is the Feast of Trumpets, which we suspect foreshadows the rapture of the Church. It is at this point that we will all appear before our Lord and Judge, Jesus Christ, and we should not be empty-handed here either.
How fruitful will our lives have been? What will we have done with our “talents”? Will we be able to demonstrate that we have shared Christ with our unsaved friends and discipled our saved friends?
It is then that the believer receives rewards for the fruit of their work:
their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved–even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NIV)
Two additional feasts
In addition to the seven feasts described above, the Jewish community celebrates two other feast days that are worth mentioning: the Feast of Dedication and the Feast of Lots.
Both are celebrated in remembrance of significant events in Jewish history. Both serve as vivid reminders of God’s sovereign protection over His chosen nation.
The New Testament does not indicate that these feasts are fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the same way as the feasts instituted through Moses. We describe them briefly here because they give a more thorough understanding of the yearly Jewish calendar.
Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah/Chanukah)
Observed: 25 Kislev to 2 Tevet (November or December).
The Feast of Dedication celebrates the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks in 164 BC. The temple was rededicated after being defiled by the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes.
The feast is also known as the Feast of Lights. According to Jewish tradition, a miracle took place with the oil for the temple light during the rededication. The light needed to burn continuously for eight days, yet there was only enough oil for one. God kept the flame burning for the whole eight days, until more oil could be obtained.
Although these events are not recorded in the Bible, the feast is seen as an important time of remembrance and celebration. The victory and the rededication are recorded in the books of Maccabees, in the Apocrypha. The account of the oil comes later, from the Talmud.
Jesus Himself was in Jerusalem, at the temple, during this feast, as John tells us:
Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. (John 10:22-23 NIV)
Hanukkah is a reminder that God is faithful to His believers. God will not leave us, and we should remain faithful to Him in times of persecution, seeking courage and strength:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12 NIV)
Feast of Lots (Purim)
Observed: 14 or 15 Adar (February or March). Scripture: the book of Esther.
Purim is celebrated each year to remember Haman’s failed plot to kill all the Jews in King Xerxes’ kingdom.
The feast is named Purim, which means “lots”, because Haman cast lots to decide the day on which the Jewish people would be killed (Esther 3:7).
Esther was the Jewish queen in Susa (Shushan). Her cousin Mordecai learned of Haman’s decree and urged her to act, and she in turn appealed to the king. The whole story is told in the book of Esther.
The feast is a celebration of God’s protection over His people. Although God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, His provision is clearly seen.
The Jews had an irrevocable decree made against them, from which God delivered them. In the same way, we all have an irrevocable decree against us because of our sin, and we deserve death.
But Jesus Christ delivers all those who believe in Him from that decree:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV)
Why the feasts matter today
The passage from Colossians quoted at the start of this article releases the Christian from the necessity of strictly observing any festival.
Christmas and Easter are not among the feasts God appointed, and a number of their customs are widely held to have pre-Christian origins. Even so, they can and do provide great opportunities to share and promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We would add, however, that there is great value in recognising and commemorating the Jewish feast days. They all teach us something of Jesus Christ, pointing either to His first coming or to His second.
We would question the logic of completely ignoring the Jewish feasts, which were instituted by God and celebrated by Christ, in favour of holidays that have become heavily commercialised.
The biblical feasts were given by God Himself, and they teach us intimate details about Jesus Christ and the way of salvation for mankind.
More than this, they illuminate and reveal features of the two most important events in eternity: the first and second comings of Christ.
This is a judgement call for every Christian. However, we would strongly encourage every believer to invest some time in learning about the Jewish feasts, and to discover that Jesus Christ is at the centre of each one.
We will be greatly enriched by making a study of the Jewish feasts a priority!
The feasts point to a Saviour who has come and who is coming again. If you do not yet know Him, we would encourage you to read How To Be Saved.