The Festivals of Israel

The Festivals of Israel and their Spiritual Meaning

Introduction

Feasts and festivals are a feature of all major religions. Most people who call themselves Christians observe Christmas and Easter. Some keep various other holy days as well. Hindus have large numbers of festivals, and Buddhists and Muslims certainly have a few.

When we turn to the Bible we find plenty of material on the subject of Jewish festivals and absolutely nothing on the so called Christian ones. This is because Christmas and Easter are not really Christian festivals at all, but pagan festivals in disguise. For a discussion of this subject read Church Festivals.

I have decided to use the word festival rather than the word feast. Most Bible translations use the word feast for the Jewish celebrations. However in modern English usage the word feast implies a few people getting together for a big meal, whereas festival means a large gathering of people often from all over the country, not particularly for eating. The word festival is therefore a much better description of what happened at the various Jewish celebration times. They were not primarily times of eating, but were times of national assembly to celebrate great events in their history and times in the agricultural year.

Before we consider individual festivals, we must ask why we need to study the festivals at all. The same question can be asked about many other passages of Scripture. Why study the tabernacle? Or the Levitical offerings? Or why study the long history of the people of Israel? The apostle Paul gives us a direct answer: 'these things happened as pictures for us' (1 Cor 10:6). The festivals and ceremonies of the old covenant, as well as the history of the Jewish people, are all pictures for us of spiritual truth. The whole scripture points firstly to Jesus himself, and secondly to our own lives and experiences as we seek to follow and become like him.

The seven festivals of the Jewish law are as follows:

Festival	Month	Dates
Passover	1	14
Unleavened Bread	1	15-21
Waving of first sheaf	1
Weeks (Pentecost)	3
Trumpets	7	1
Day of Atonement	7	10
Tabernacles (Booths)	7	15-22

Other festivals were added later, such as Purim at the time of Esther and Hanukkah at the time of the Maccabees. These seven however were the original festivals of the torah or law of Moses.

The main scriptural references to the festivals are:

Reference	Festival
Exodus 12	Passover
Exodus 23: 14-17	Summary
Leviticus 16	Day of Atonement
Leviticus 23	All the festivals
Numbers 28:11-29:40	All the festivals
Deuteronomy 16:1-17	All the festivals

Agriculture and national history are the two main themes that run through most of the festivals. The Passover, the Festival of Unleavened Bread and Festival of Tabernacles are historical and commemorate the deliverance from Egypt and the wilderness journey. The Waving of the first sheaf, Pentecost and again Tabernacles are all observed at different stages of the harvest. Thus Tabernacles, which is the climax of the festivals, brings these two themes together as we will see later in more detail.

The festivals occur in three groups that, like so much else in scripture, form a pattern. There were three festivals in the first month, one in the third month, and three in the seventh month. The first three form the Passover group and speak of the beginnings of our spiritual experience. The festival of Pentecost in the third month is a further phase.

The three festivals of the seventh month are the Tabernacles group and speak of spiritual maturity. Seven is the number of spiritual perfection, and the Festival of Tabernacles, which is the seventh festival and occurs in the seventh month, speaks of the perfection of our walk with God. All Israelite males were commanded in the law to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem three times a year for these three main festival seasons. Even today airline bookings to Tel Aviv from round the world are more expensive and less available at these times.

Leviticus chapter 23 begins by speaking of the weekly sabbath. It was a day when the Israelites should cease from their normal work. It was a day set apart for God. All the festivals were also regarded as sabbaths when no normal work should be done.

The law also required that offerings should be made at all the festivals. Especially the festivals of Passover and Tabernacles were times when large numbers of sacrificial offerings were made.

These two requirements of rest and sacrifice teach us a fundamental truth. We can earn nothing by our own work for God. All the blessings of all the festivals come from the offering and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. Everything is from him. We can earn nothing by our own efforts.

They teach us another truth. We must make sacrifices in the natural realm, and set aside time that could be spent on profitable work or pleasure and give it to God. We sacrifice the material to gain the spiritual.

The festivals are like a map charting our spiritual progress in God. Our journey begins at the Passover with the shedding of the blood of the Lamb. It goes on to Pentecost with its outpouring of the Holy Spirit and foretaste of the full inheritance. Its final goal is the Festival of Tabernacles, of which we will be speaking in detail later.

The scriptures have other maps to help us reach our spiritual destination. The journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land is the best known. Like the Israelites we must cross the Red Sea, fight the Amalekites, pass through the wilderness and cross the river Jordan before we can conquer the spiritual land of Canaan that is to become our Israel.

The tabernacle is another map. We must journey through its three courts. There was an outer court where all the people could come with their offerings. There was a holy place where only the priests could go. Finally there was a Holy of Holies into which only the high priest could go, and he only once a year. The Holy of Holies was the very presence of God. These three courts correspond, I believe, to the three groups of festivals.

Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' We know him first as the Way. After that we know him more deeply as the Truth. Finally we know him as the Life. A way or road hasn't any use or meaning apart from the destination to which it leads. Even truth is not a goal itself, but only helps us reach our goal. Life is the great goal and climax of our journey. Death is separation from God. Life is union with him. We will find that the Way, the Truth and the Life also correspond to the three groups of festivals.

These are all maps to help us in our pilgrimage. The map will be of no value to people who do not want to make the journey. There is a cost and a sacrifice involved. We sacrifice what our natural eyes can see to gain those things that are revealed to the eyes of faith.

Some people experience the Passover in their lives. They know that the Lamb of God died for them. They rejoice in the forgiveness of their sins, but through unwillingness or ignorance fail to go on to Pentecost, and often oppose those who want to go further with God. Others have a desire to go beyond their initial experiences of God, and press on to Pentecost and into the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit.

Sadly however many of those who experience Pentecost believe there is nothing more and settle with what they have. They remain in the wilderness and never cross the river Jordan that lies between them and the land of promise. Happily there are also those who want to cross the river Jordan and press forward for the 'high calling of God in Jesus Christ'. These are those who experience the festival of Tabernacles.

The main emphasis of this writing will therefore be on the three festivals of the seventh month, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. They are the festivals that we must now discover and experience for ourselves.