Why Are Feasts So Important in Biblical Celebrations?
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Together with our friends and families, we enjoy regular celebrations, which include feasts for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, or events like birthdays, anniversaries or weddings. In the Bible, we see that the Lord God instituted feasts for His people's various celebrations. But why did the Lord God make feasts so important in biblical celebrations?
Feasts are significant because through them, the people worship God and observe and celebrate the Lord’s wondrous acts for His people. We’ll look at the feasts God established for Israel and what each one signified.
What Feasts Did the Lord God Institute?
The Bible records that the Lord God instituted seven main feasts for Israel to observe. All are first recorded in the book of Leviticus. Leviticus 23:1-2 reads, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.’” The Jewish calendar dictates the timing of each feast.
1. Passover
Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:16-25
To be held in the first month on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight.
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread
To be held on the fifteenth day of the same month. They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days and present a food offering each of the seven days.
3. Feast of First Fruits
The people brought the beginning of the harvest to the priest, who waved a sheaf of grain before the Lord. A year-old male lamb served as a burnt offering.
4. Feast of Weeks
Fifty days after the seventh Sabbath (during First fruits), the people were to present an offering of new grain to the Lord.
5. Feast of Trumpets
On the first day of the seventh month, the people were to observe a day of solemn rest — a memorial proclaimed with a blast of trumpets — a holy convocation. The people were to do no ordinary work and were to present a food offering to the Lord.
6. Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16, 23:26-32
The tenth day of the seventh month was to be a day of solemn rest. There was to be no work, fasting, and the people were to present a food offering.
7. Feast of Tabernacles
A seven-day observance on the fifteenth day of this seventh month. The first day was to be a holy convocation with no ordinary work. For all seven days, the people were to present food offerings to the Lord with a holy convocation accompanying the eight-day offering.
What Was the Purpose of the Feasts?
God has a purpose for everything He does, and each feast served a specific purpose. Without exception, every feast pointed to its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before He gave Moses instructions regarding the feasts, however, the Lord ordained a Sabbath – “a solemn rest, a holy convocation” (Leviticus 23:3). This day was the foundation for the feasts and gave the people a solemn focus on and worship of the Lord God. Part of the purpose was remembrance of and thanksgiving for what the Lord had done for them. Observing the feasts according to God’s specified calendar also kept Israel spiritually separate from the surrounding nations. And the feasts also provided a template for proper worship of the Lord God.
Passover: The seven-day Passover holiday signifies Israel’s redemption from Egyptian slavery, as recorded in Exodus 12. Passover celebration feasts include the Seder meal. The Seder meal, blessings, prayers, stories, and songs follow the order and rituals outlined in the Haggadah, a special Jewish book used in the commemoration feast.
Feast of Unleavened Bread signifies Israel’s sanctification — that they became holy people unto the Lord.
Feast of First Fruits symbolized the resurrection of Israel as a free people. This feast memorializes the redemption of Israel’s first-born in Egypt and the coming bounty from God in the promised land.
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) celebrates Israel as God’s covenant people and thankfulness for God’s blessings. The remembrance is of the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai fifty days after the Red Sea crossing.
Feast of Trumpets remembers a calling of Israel to judgment.
Day of Atonement celebrates Israel’s atonement from her sins.
Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) signifies God’s presence with His people.
The significance of all the feasts is they place the focus on the Lord God and lead the people in humble surrender to and adoration of Him.
Do the Feasts Point to Something in the New Testament?
At the center of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ. He, the perfect God-man, Creator, and Redeemer, is preeminent over all creation (Colossians 1:15-23). God has always clothed His redemptive plan for humanity in Christ. Therefore, the Old Testament feasts were a part of God’s redemptive work in human history, which found their fulfillment in Jesus Christ (Luke 16:16; 22:16; 24:44). Wycliffe writers and hosts, Aaron and Jennifer Smith tell us, “The feasts described in Leviticus 23 are more than simply Jewish traditions — they are prophetic shadows pointing to Jesus.”
The Passover foreshadows Jesus’ atoning work on the cross as the sinless Lamb of God. The sacrificial lamb’s blood spread over the doors of the captive Jews’ homes in Egypt caused the angel of death to pass over their homes. Jesus’ blood shed on the cross at Calvary secured salvation for all people He calls to Himself (John 6:44).
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which symbolizes purity and sin’s removal, took place right after the Passover celebration. It was during this time that our pure Lord Jesus was in the tomb; His sacrifice provided the ultimate removal of sin.
The Feast of First Fruits: Jesus’ resurrection on this day signifies the firstfruits of all believers who will rise from the dead. It symbolizes new life and Christ’s victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:26).
Pentecost commemorates the imparting of the law on Mt. Sinai. Jesus fulfills the law and gives the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus’ church is born on this day, too.
The Feast of Trumpets corresponds to the sound of the trumpet when Jesus will return and call His church home at the “last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
The Day of Atonement speaks to Jesus as our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). His was the last and perfect sacrifice for all the sins of the world. God has then reconciled man to Himself (Romans 5:10).
The Feast of Tabernacles is a sign of God’s faithful presence with His people. One day, Jesus will dwell with man forever in His physical kingdom (Revelation 21:3).
Through the feasts, we can track God’s thread of redemption through Jesus Christ. All the feasts display features of Jesus’ life and kingdom work. Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets and secured what the sacrifice of bulls and goats could never accomplish — man’s salvation (Hebrews 10:4).
Should Christians Observe Biblical Feasts?
Since God’s Word tells us about the feasts, it benefits us to learn what we can about each one (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Knowing about them teaches us about our Lord God and how He would have us worship Him (John 4:23-24).
Christians, however, are part of the New Covenant in Christ (Matthew 26:27-29; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6). The Old Testament feasts foreshadow their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Christians enjoy one special feast now and an ultimate feast in the future.
The Lord’s Supper occurs every time we celebrate communion and partake of the bread and the wine (or our more common wafers and grape juice). Jesus said, “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29).
When Jesus referenced drinking the cup new with us in His Father’s kingdom, He meant The Wedding Feast of the Lamb as described in Revelation 19:9 (a supper and a feast are synonymous here). Long expected by all Christians, it is a perfect celebration of the culmination of history and of the union of Jesus with His bride, the church. We will celebrate the end of evil and death and the righteous reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/gorodenkoff
