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Since God has never at any time accepted any pagan occult holiday as a day of worship toward Him, what then are the true feasts and holy days of God? To answer this question, we will begin by examining the Old Testament Scriptures. We will learn that throughout history God has used His annual feasts and holy days to make Himself known to the people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—the children of Israel—and to the world in special, powerful ways. In fact, the biblical feasts and holy days have great significance for God’s people and the world because they outline His plan for mankind.
God Planned for His Feasts
and Holy Days from the Beginning
In the beginning God created the seven-day weekly cycle with the seventh day being His holy Sabbath. Likewise, from the beginning God created the yearly cycle for His annual feasts and holy days. In Genesis we read: “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’ ” (Gen. 1:14). The signs are the stars and heavenly bodies which continually testify that God is Creator of the heavens and the earth. The seasons are for the annual feasts of God that He commands to be observed at their appointed times. The days are not only for the weekly cycle and the seventh day Sabbath, but are also for the annual holy days—yearly Sabbath days that are in addition to the weekly Sabbath.
God also testifies that the Fourth Commandment—regarding the seventh day Sabbath—is the foundational bedrock of all His annual feasts and holy days. “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “Concerning the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My appointed feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings” ’ ” (Lev. 23:1-3). God’s instructions to Moses concerning the weekly Sabbath are vital because they specifically point to the Sabbath command as the sanctifying command for the seasonal feasts of God as found in the next verse: “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons” (verse 4).
There is no doubt that God has commanded His yearly feasts to be proclaimed in their seasons. These annual holy days are also Sabbaths— holy convocations. Most people, however, have been misled into believing that the weekly Sabbath day as well as the annual feasts and holy days of God are only for the Jews. Countless theologians and churches declare that because God brought the temple rituals and animal sacrifices to a conclusion through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, people are not required to keep the biblical Sabbath, holy days and feasts. All such claims are unfounded. These days belong to God, He created them, He owns them and He demands that we keep them—weekly and annually in their seasons.
What are the annual feasts and Sabbaths that God commands us to keep? When are they to be kept?
The Calculated Hebrew Calendar: God has not left men to their own self-serving inventions to determine when the annual feasts and holy days are to be kept. We need to realize that God calculates time differently than we do today with our Roman calendar. First, the Bible teaches that a day is reckoned from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32), rather than from midnight to midnight. Second, God has set the months and the year based on the earth’s relationship to the sun and the moon. In order to know when God’s annual Sabbaths are to be kept, He has given His people the sacred, solar/ lunar, calculated Hebrew calendar—as was undoubtedly used by the ancient Hebrews, including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Later, when God established His covenant with Israel, He provided the methods of calculation for the priests and Levites, so that they could establish the annual feasts of God in their seasons. According to the Hebrew Calendar, God has set the first month of the sacred year to begin in the spring, which corresponds to March/April on the Roman calendar. The first month was originally named Abib, which means “green ears” of grain (Ex. 13:4). Later, after the Babylonian captivity, it was called Nisan. (For detailed information about the sacred, Calculated Hebrew Calendar, please visit www.cbcg.org.)
The Scriptures demonstrate that God has always used His feasts and holy days to fulfill His promises and to accomplish His will in significant, powerful and profound ways—often involving history-making events. From the beginning of time, God’s feasts and holy days have revealed His direct, major interventions in His dealings with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel and the world—past, present and future. They also foreshadowed and prophesied of the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” It is through the knowledge and keeping of God’s feasts and holy days that He continues to impart understanding to His people concerning His plan of salvation and prophetic events yet to be fulfilled.
God’s Feasts and Holy Days in the Old Testament
Were Not Dependent on Rituals and Sacrifices
It is imperative to understand that God commanded His feasts to be kept before He gave any command to Moses concerning animal sacrifices and rituals at the tabernacle/temple. Consequently, the holy days and feasts of God do not stand or fall because of sacrifices and rituals performed on these days.
We now know that the seventh-day weekly Sabbath is to be kept without regard to animal sacrifices or priestly rituals. Since the holy days are annual Sabbaths, they too are to be kept without regard to such sacrifices. This understanding is punctuated by the historical fact that before and after the final destruction of the temple in 70 AD, faithful Jews of the Diaspora kept the Sabbath and holy days wherever they were—completely cut off from the temple rituals. This clearly proves that the observance of God’s holy days was not, and is not now, dependent on sacrifices and rituals.
In the following verses, we find that there is not a single reference to any sacrifice or ritual: “You shall keep a feast unto Me three times in the year. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And no one shall appear before Me empty. Also the Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field [the Feast of Firstfruits of the barley/ wheat harvest—also called Pentecost]. And the Feast of Ingathering, in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field [the Feast of Tabernacles]” (Ex. 23:14-16).
In Exodus 34, after Israel’s rebellion at Sinai with the golden calf, God restated His commandments to Moses and the children of Israel. Here, God mixes His commands to keep the annual feasts with some of the Ten Commandments. By doing this, He shows that His commands to keep His feasts are just as important as the Ten Commandments. “ ‘For you shall worship no other god [the First Commandment]; for the LORD, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…. You shall make no molten gods for yourselves [the Second Commandment]. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that opens the womb is Mine; all firstlings of male livestock, of oxen or sheep. But the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty.
“ ‘You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [the Fourth Commandment]. And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest [Pentecost], and the Feast of Ingathering [Tabernacles] at the year’s end.
“ ‘Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.’... And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write these words for yourself, for in accordance to these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (Ex. 34:14, 17-23, 27-28).
Forty years later, Moses vigorously restated the commandments and covenant of God to the children of Israel just before they entered the Promised Land. Again, we see that God makes no mention of sacrifices in these verses: “Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost], and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you” (Deut. 16:16-17).
A Listing of All the Feasts and Holy Days of God
In Leviticus 23, God lists all the feasts and holy days He commands His people to keep, beginning with the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. Before we turn there, it should be noted that Leviticus is basically a book of instructions for the priests and Levites, giving detailed instructions on how they were to carry out their duties at the tabernacle/temple. In chapters 1-7, God instructed the priests and Levites concerning all animal sacrifices, oblations and grain/cereal offerings to be offered at the tabernacle/temple. Also, in Numbers 28-29, God gave a complete listing of all the sacrifices the priests were to offer—covering daily, Sabbath, monthly, and holy day sacrifices. However, as we have seen, the feasts and holy days of God were not dependent on animal sacrifices or other rituals. (A complete study of the Hebrew sacrificial system is contained in The Law of the Offerings, by Andrew Jukes, ISBN 0-8254-2957-9. Jukes details how every aspect of the sacrifices and physical rituals were, in reality, prophetic types of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and priesthood.)
Now we can examine the feasts and holy days of God in Leviticus 23, summarizing their significance and meaning as found in the Old Testament.
All Are Holy Convocations: “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “Concerning the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My appointed feasts” ’ ” (Lev. 23:1-2). Again, the Lord makes it abundantly clear that all the holy days and feasts belong to God— not to the Jews.
The Weekly Sabbath: “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings” (verse 3).
The Annual Feasts of the Lord: “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons” (verse 4).
The Passover: “In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the LORD’S Passover” (verse 5).
The Feast of Unleavened Bread: “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. You must eat unleavened bread seven days. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation [a holy day]. You shall not do any servile work therein, but you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation [a holy day]. You shall do no servile work therein” (verses 6-8).
The Wave Sheaf Offering Day: The Wave Sheaf offering day is a special day, but it is not a holy day. This day is always the first day of the week during the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. On this day a special offering of the first of the firstfruits of the barley/wheat harvest was made by the high priest. It is the first day of the fifty-day count to the Feast of Firstfruits—also known as Pentecost (which means “count fifty”). The Wave Sheaf offering signaled the beginning of the barley/wheat harvest, and the Israelites were not to eat of the new grain until the Wave Sheaf was offered (verses 9-16).
The Feast of Firstfruits—Pentecost: The Feast of the Firstfruits, a holy day, is the fiftieth day from the Wave Sheaf—seven complete weeks, plus one day. (It is also called the Feast of Weeks in Deuteronomy 16:9-10, because of the counting of seven full weeks.) This is the only holy day of God that always falls on the first day of the week, Sunday. Israel was to count, “Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath [which would be a Sunday] you shall number fifty days. And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven, They are the firstfruits to the LORD” (verses 16-17).
On this holy day, each family was to present two freshly-baked loaves of leavened bread made with the new barley/wheat of the harvest to the priests and Levites, who waved them before the Lord. “And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits, a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations ” (verses 20-21).
The Feast of Trumpets: Trumpets is the first of four holy days that God commanded to be kept in the seventh month, known also as the month Tishri. The seventh month of the Hebrew Calendar corresponds to September/ October of the Roman year. “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel saying, “In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of ram’s horns, a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD” ’ ” (verses 23-25).
The Day of Atonement: The Day of Atonement is a special day of fasting to God: “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Also, on the tenth day of this seventh month, is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. And you shall afflict your souls [meaning a complete fast— no food or water for the day] and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work in that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, in order to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God, for whoever is not afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whoever does any work in that same day, the same one will I destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at sunset, from sunset to sunset, you shall keep your Sabbath’ ” (verses 26-32).
The Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day: “And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying, “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day [the Last Great Day] shall be a holy convocation to you. And you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly. And you shall do no servile work therein…. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath” ’ ” (verses 33-36, 39).
Again, God emphatically states that His holy days are Sabbaths: “These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything on its day; besides the Sabbaths of the LORD [all the holy days are Sabbaths], and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD” (verses 37-38).
As we will see, God’s feasts and holy days are intrinsically connected to each other—and reveal, step-by-step, God’s master plan for mankind. We will begin with the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
in the Old Testament
God commanded the children of Israel to observe their first Passover while they were still in Egypt (Ex. 12). He instructed the heads of households to select a male lamb of the first year, without blemish (a type of Christ), on the 10th day of the first month. They were to then kill the lamb on the 14th, just after sunset (which also ended the 13th day of the month). As instructed, they smeared some of the blood on the doorposts and upper lintels of the doors of their houses. The blood was a sign for protection—so that God would spare the firstborn of the children of Israel from the death sentence that He was to execute against the Egyptians. Next, they were to roast the lamb with fire and eat it that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The remainder of the lamb was to be burned by morning (verse 10). Finally, they were not to leave their houses until morning, at sunrise (verse 22).
At midnight on the 14th, the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and killed all the Egyptian firstborn of man and beast. “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast as a law forever” (verses 12-14).
The 14th day of the first month is called the “Passover” because God passed over Israel’s houses at midnight, sparing their firstborn. “And it will be, when your children shall say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ Then you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S Passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.’ And the people bowed their heads and worshiped” (verses 26-27). God commanded them to keep the Passover as a memorial of His sparing their firstborn: “And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast as a law forever” (verse 14).
The Feast of Unleavened Bread: At sunrise, beginning the day portion of the 14th, the Passover day, the children of Israel left their houses, gathered their livestock, and continued to spoil the Egyptians as they made their way to the city of Rameses—the assembly area from which they would begin the Exodus. “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they asked for articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing from the Egyptians. And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they stripped the Egyptians” (Ex. 12:35-36). It must have taken most of the daylight portion of the 14th for the children of Israel to assemble at Rameses. The Exodus then began at sunset, which ended the 14th and began the 15th day of the month— the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
God directed the children of Israel to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the first month: “You shall eat unleavened bread seven days; even the first day you shall have put away leaven out of your houses; for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for in this very same day [that night] I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall keep this day in your generations as a law forever…. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, the men being about six hundred thousand on foot, apart from little ones” (verses 15-17, 37).
“And they set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the next day after the Passover day, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians ” (Num. 33:3). Therefore, the children of Israel left Egypt by night: “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God [on the 14th]. For in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night [on the 15th]” (Deut. 16:1).
The Night to be Much Observed: The Exodus actually commenced as the sun was setting on the 14th and the 15th was beginning. (Remember, God reckons each day from sunset to sunset.) God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt by night—the night of the 15th—which is a special night to be “much observed to the Lord” as the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even on that very same day, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations” (Ex. 12:41- 42).
The “Night to Be Much Observed” also commemorates another immortalized event that happened on the same night 430 years earlier. By a special covenant oath, the Lord God confirmed His promises to Abraham that He would indeed bring the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt on this particular night—the night of the 15th. (This special covenant that God made with Abraham took place over a two-day period, the 14th and 15th—and is actually the origin of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread for both the Old and New Testaments. In The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter, a detailed explanation of the significance of God’s special covenant with Abraham is found on pp. 266-298.)
The First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Moses explained the purpose of the first holy day: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for the LORD brought you out from this place by the strength of His hand. There shall be no leavened bread eaten. On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, and in the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
“ ‘Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you, nor shall there be leaven seen with you in all your borders. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, “This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out from Egypt.” And it shall be a sign [Gen. 1:14, Ex. 31:13; the keeping of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a sign] to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this law in its season from year to year ’ ” (Ex. 13:3-10).
One final, important note: Beginning the night of the Exodus, God provided a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud cover by day (verses 21-22).
God had revealed that the purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was: 1) to teach Israel that only God could deliver them from bondage in Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land; and 2) to be a sign “that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth.”
The Seventh Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: The chronology of the Exodus shows that the children of Israel had arrived at the Red Sea by the sixth day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had already gathered his army—all the chariots of Egypt, plus six hundred chosen chariots—and was in pursuit. The Egyptian army caught up with the Israelites as they camped along the shore of the Red Sea. At first the people were afraid and complained to Moses, but he told them: “Fear not! Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD which He will work for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still” (Ex. 14:13- 14).
“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward. And you—lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And behold, I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get honor for Myself upon Pharaoh, and over all his army, over his chariots and over his horsemen’ ” (verses 15-17).
That night God miraculously parted the waters of the Red Sea with a strong east wind. In the early dawn hours of the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the children of Israel walked across the dry floor of the sea and made it safely to the other side. When the Egyptians saw this, they pursued headlong into the Red Sea after the children of Israel—in a final, futile attempt to bring them back to Egypt and enslave them again. But God powerfully intervened and rescued the children of Israel from the Egyptians: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.’ And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea. And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians tried to flee from it. And the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There did not remain so much as one of them.
“But the children of Israel walked upon dry land through the middle of the sea. And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses” (Ex. 14:26-31).
God used the Passover day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the children of Israel. Not only do these days picture momentous events that God has performed for Israel, they also contain vital lessons for us today. In keeping these days, the children of Israel were to remember always that the blood of the Passover lamb spared their firstborn. As well, they were to keep the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in remembrance of their release from bondage and their Exodus from Egypt. The significance of the seventh day of the feast is to be found in the account of Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea: 1) We are not to be afraid or complain, because God will fight our battles for us; and 2) It takes the power of God to rescue us from Satan the devil and his legions of demons, as symbolized by Pharaoh and his armies who were drowned in the Red Sea.
Throughout the Bible God shows that Egypt is a type of sin, as well as a type of man’s satanic, sinful societies. Once the children of Israel had kept the Passover, they had to leave Egypt and their way of life as slaves and servants of the Egyptians. Thus, in keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread today, we learn a great spiritual lesson: Only God can release us from the bondage of sin, grant us salvation and lead us in His way.
Passover and Unleavened Bread Under Hezekiah: We find that when the children of Israel obeyed God and kept His Sabbath, feasts and holy days, He richly blessed them. However, in their many rebellions and sins against the Lord, the children of Israel and Judah also suffered curses under the corrective hand of God.
In the days of King Ahaz, God’s people rejected Him and worshiped various false gods. Ahaz walked in the ways of Jeroboam and the kings of Israel, causing the people of Judah to sin greatly—in sacrificing to other gods, erecting molten images of Baal (the sun god), and burning children in the fire to Moloch. “And in the time of his distress he trespassed even more against the LORD, this same King Ahaz, for he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus who struck him. And he said, ‘Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.’ But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
“And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD. And he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in each separate city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods and provoked the LORD God of his fathers to anger” (II Chron. 28:22-25).
Again, we see the illogical pattern of sin, rebellion and the worship of false gods by the kings and people of Israel and Judah. However, because God is merciful, whenever the children of Israel would repent of their sins and apostasy and of serving false gods, He would forgive them. Then, for a time, Israel would return to God and keep His commandments, the Passover and holy days.
Ahaz died in 723 BC, and his son Hezekiah became king. Hezekiah instituted a great reformation and led Judah back to serving and worshiping the true God. Ahaz had brazenly desecrated the Temple to such an extent that—when Hezekiah began his revival—the priests and Levites could not cleanse it in time to keep the Passover in the first month. Consequently, Hezekiah made a decree throughout all the land that Judah and Israel would celebrate the Passover on the 14th day of the second month, just as God had provided for in Numbers Chapter Nine (II Chron. 30:1-6).
“And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the [Passover and the] Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness. And the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day with loud instruments to the LORD. And Hezekiah spoke comfortably to all the Levites who taught the good knowledge of the LORD. And they ate the appointed things seven days, offering peace offerings and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers. And the whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days. And they kept another seven days with gladness…. And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel, there was nothing like this [festival observance] in Jerusalem. Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people. And their voice was heard, and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven” (II Chron. 30:21-23, 26-27).
King Hezekiah and the people then continued to carry out their reformation by destroying all idols, occult images and groves. “And when all this was finished [the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread], all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, also in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, each to his possession, into their own cities” (II Chron. 31:1).
After Hezekiah had reigned for 29 years, his twelve-year-old son Manasseh was anointed king. Throughout most of his 55-year reign, Manasseh led the children of Judah into apostasy—causing them to reject God and instead serve false gods, as well as to observe satanic occult holidays. One of the most wicked kings of Judah, Manasseh completely desecrated the temple of God, rededicating it to Baal. After his death, his son Amon reigned for only two years—and he sinned far greater than his father. As a result, he was killed at the hands of his own servants (II Chron. 33:21-25).
Then, Amon’s eight-year-old son, Josiah, became king.
Passover and Unleavened Bread Under Josiah: When Josiah was twenty-six, he began to restore Judah’s relationship with God. While cleansing the temple from Manasseh and Amon’s abominations, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law written by the hand of Moses. Shaphan the scribe brought the book to Josiah and read it to him. Upon hearing the warnings of God’s judgment for sin and rebellion—and because he knew of the sins and wickedness of the people—Josiah personally repented and led the children of Judah into a special covenant of repentance and return to God. “And the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small. And he read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.
“And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem, to stand to it according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the territories that belonged to the children of Israel. And he made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers” (II Chron. 34:29-33).
“And Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month…. And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. And there was no Passover like that kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. Yea, none of the kings of Israel kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the people of Jerusalem. This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah” (II Chron. 35:1, 17-19).
After Josiah’s reformation, he reigned only twelve more years and was killed in 607 BC in a battle against Necho, king of Egypt. Soon afterward, the nation of Judah once again fell into apostasy. A mere eighteen years after Josiah’s death—through the course of three invasions by king Nebuchadnezzar’s armies—the Jews were finally carried off to Babylon, to be held captive for 70 years, from 585 to 515 BC.
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread After Babylon: A pitiful remnant of the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the small Jewish kingdom within the Persian Empire. They were allowed to rebuild their temple, have freedom of religion and be self-governing—but they no longer had a king. With only a governor (appointed by the king of Persia), they too were subject to the laws of the Persian Empire.
During the days of Ezra, the priest, and Nehemiah, the governor, the city and temple were rebuilt in troublesome times (see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). Historically, a great religious renewal began when the temple was finished and dedicated. As in the reformations of Hezekiah and Josiah, the people again kept the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “And the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them pure. And they killed the Passover lamb for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb, all who had come again out of exile, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful…” (Ezra 6:19-22).
In order to ensure that the new reforms would last, Ezra and Nehemiah led the Jews into a special covenant, known as the covenant of the Great Synagogue. Consisting first of 120 members, the Great Synagogue was later reduced to 70. Representing the nation, it was made up of five divisions: 1) the chief priests; 2) the chief Levites; 3) the chiefs of the people; 4) the representatives of the cities; and 5) the doctors of the law. The Great Synagogue lasted for 210 years, from 515 to 305 BC—down to the time of the high priest Simon the Just.
As one can see, there are many passages in the Old Testament concerning the keeping of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread—all of which demonstrate how important these feasts are to God.
The Feast of Firstfruits—Pentecost: After Israel crossed the Red Sea, they journeyed six more weeks into the wilderness until they came to Mount Sinai—three days before God spoke the Ten Commandments. On the day of their arrival, God revealed to Moses His awesome purpose for the nation of Israel—they were to represent Him to all the nations of the world. “And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel’ ” (Ex. 19:3-6).
God said, “Israel was holiness to the LORD, and the firstfruits of His increase…” (Jer. 2:3). As the firstfruits of the nations of the world, it was fitting that they received the Ten Commandments, spoken by God Himself, on the Feast of Firstfruits—the Day of Pentecost. From the book of Jasher—a non-canonical, secondary history of the children of Israel, which is mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and II Samuel 1:18—we read: “And in the third month from the children of Israel’s departure, on the sixth day thereof, the Lord gave to Israel the ten commandments on Mount Sinai” (Jasher 82:6). The sixth day of the third month is a traditional Jewish date for Pentecost. Undoubtedly, this account is the basis for the Hebrew tradition that God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel, His firstfruit nation, on the Feast of Firstfruits, or Pentecost.
In Deuteronomy, Moses reiterated Israel’s purpose as the firstfruit nation chosen by God to represent Him to the nations of the world: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what nation is so great whose God is so near to them, as the LORD our God is, whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation has statutes and judgments that are so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?” (Deut. 4:5-8). As a nation, the twelve tribes of Israel were to share God’s laws, commandments, statutes and judgments with the nations of the world.
Unfortunately, the only time Israel even partially fulfilled its purpose as God’s representative firstfruit nation was during the first half of Solomon’s reign. “And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart ” (II Chron. 9:22- 23). When Solomon and the people apostatized and began to serve false gods, Israel ceased to represent God as a kingdom of priests to the rest of the world.
Pentecost Under Hezekiah: After Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (kept in the second month), King Hezekiah continued in his zealous reforms, inspiring the people to observe the remainder of God’s feasts—Pentecost, in the third month, and the fall festival season in the seventh month. “And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites according to their courses, each according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD. He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, even for the morning and the evening and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.
“Moreover, he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites so that they might be strong in the law of the LORD. And as soon as the commandment spread abroad, the children of Israel brought plentifully of the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field. And the tithe of all things they brought in abundance. And the children of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid it up by heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps and finished them in the seventh month” (II Chron. 31:2-7).
From the context of these verses, it is clear that under Hezekiah the Jews kept the Feast of Firstfruits as well as the feasts and holy days of the seventh month.
The Feast of Trumpets and War: The Feast of Trumpets was a memorial of the blowing of trumpets, because trumpets were blown throughout the day. We can learn much about the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets by looking at God’s commands regarding the use of silver trumpets. As found in Numbers 10:1-10, the priests were to blow trumpets on the following occasions:
- The calling for assembly and for journeying
- To sound an alarm
- To go to war against an enemy
- In the day of gladness or on solemn days (i.e., holy days)
- To announce the beginning of months
- For holy day and new moon sacrifices
The predominant use of the trumpet was as an alarm for war. When God commanded Joshua to take the city of Jericho, He instructed him to have the priests (with the ark) march with the soldiers as they circled the city for seven days. The priest’s were to blow trumpets the entire time (Joshua 6).
In I Samuel Three and Four, we see another example (albeit tragic) of the use of trumpets during war. Eli the priest’s corrupt sons Hophni and Phineas led Israel in a fight against the Philistines while blowing trumpets. Defeat was inevitable, however, because this time God was not with Israel.
The Feast of Trumpets and the Dedication of Solomon’s Temple: When Solomon’s temple was completed, a feast of dedication was held for seven days beginning on the Feast of Trumpets. The priests brought the ark of the covenant from the city of David to the temple (I Kings 8:1-3, 65), where they placed it in the Holy of Holies. A special ceremony was held during which Solomon delivered a special prayer of dedication. After Solomon finished his prayer, the Lord established His presence in the Holy of Holies as demonstrated by a great white cloud that filled the temple. “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests present were sanctified, and did not wait by course), and the Levitical singers—all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being clothed in white linen, and having cymbals and with harps and lyres—stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with silver trumpets, it came to pass, as the trumpeters and the singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the silver trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, ‘For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever,’ that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God!” (II Chron. 5:11-14).
This spectacular display of God’s power and presence gave visual meaning to the Feast of Trumpets. As we will later see, this awesome event was a foreshadowing of the second coming of Jesus Christ and His literal return to the earth.
The Feast of Trumpets Under Ezra and Nehemiah: As we have observed, Ezra and Nehemiah initiated an immense reformation that truly brought the people back to God. After faithfully observing the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Jews went on to keep the remainder of God’s feasts, including the Feast of Trumpets: “And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the Water Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it in the open square in front of the Water Gate from the morning until noon in front of the men and the women, and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law” (Neh. 8:1-3).
Ezra established the standard of how services for the Sabbath and holy days would be conducted from that time forward. Ezra’s method of reading the law, the prophets and the writings—combined with teaching from God’s Word—became the format for services in all Jewish synagogues in Judea and the Diaspora.
The Day of Atonement: The Day of Atonement is the tenth day of the seventh month. It is a day of fasting (abstaining from food or water). For Israel, Atonement was unique because on this day only, the high priest was allowed to enter the holy of holies to make atonement for himself, the priesthood and all the children of Israel (Lev. 16).
After the high priest had made an atonement for himself with the blood of animal sacrifices, he was to stand at the entrance of the temple with two identical goats. The priest drew lots over the goats to determine which would be “for the Lord,” and which would be for Satan. The goat designated “for the Lord” was sacrificed as a sin offering (obviously picturing Christ’s future sacrifice). The priest took its blood and sprinkled it before the Lord on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies to make atonement for all the sins, trespasses and uncleanness of the children of Israel. Afterwards its carcass was carried outside the camp to be wholly burned (where all sin offerings were burned).
The second goat represented Satan—“Azazel” (or, as the King James Version reads, “scapegoat”). However, the goat for Azazel was to remain alive and not be sacrificed. Before the entrance of the temple, the priest laid his hands upon the head of the live goat (for Azazel) and confessed upon it all the sins and transgressions of the children of Israel. This goat was then led by the hand of a “fit man” into the wilderness (where demons were known to dwell) and released. This completed the annual atonement for all the sins, iniquities, transgressions and uncleanness of the children of Israel (Lev. 16:5-34). The lessons of the Day of Atonement are twofold: 1) Only God can forgive sin, and 2) Satan will ultimately bear the responsibility for seducing the children of Israel and hence all mankind to sin against God; and be removed forever.
The Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day: In God’s instructions concerning the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day (the eighth day), He gives the children of Israel insight into a particularly important aspect of the festival. “Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath. And you shall take the boughs of beautiful trees for yourselves on the first day, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And you shall keep it a feast to the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven days. All that are born Israelites shall dwell in booths, so that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 23:39-43).
God commanded the Israelites to dwell in booths or tents during the Feast of Tabernacles to commemorate their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. After the Lord blessed them in the land (because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the children of Israel were to never forget that God Himself had blessed them and given them their land and wealth (Deut. 8).
Meaning of Tabernacles for God: The Lord God made it clear that there was significant meaning as well for Himself in the Feast of Tabernacles— centering around the very purpose for the tabernacle/temple itself. “And let them make Me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). The tabernacle and sanctuary of God was a special place of worship and sacrifice for the Israelites. God would dwell with them by establishing His presence in the Holy of Holies (Ex. 40:34-38). God was to dwell with His people, be their God and bless them—if they would, in turn, obey Him and keep His commandments.
When David desired to build a temple for God, Nathan the prophet gave him God’s answer: “And it came to pass that night the Word of the LORD came to Nathan saying, ‘Go and tell My servant David, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Shall you build Me a house for My dwelling? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children out of Egypt until this day, but have walked in a tent, and in a tabernacle’ ” ’ ” (II Sam. 7:4-6).
God did not permit David to build the temple, because he was a bloody man of war. However, He did give all the plans for building the temple to David, who in turn gave them to Solomon, because God had chosen Solomon to build His temple (I Chron. 28-29). Witnessing the dedication of the temple, God blessed Solomon and the children of Israel with His presence in a majestic display of glory, as a brilliant cloud filled the temple. Affirming Solomon’s prayer, the Lord again demonstrated his delight by consuming the burnt offerings with fire from heaven: “And when Solomon had made an end of praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. And the glory of the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying, ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever’ ” (II Chron. 7:1-3).
After the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, Solomon led all the people in keeping a great Feast of Tabernacles: “And at the same time Solomon kept the feast [of Tabernacles] seven days [15th through the 21st of the 7th month], and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt. And in the eighth day [the 22nd] they made a solemn assembly, for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days [1st through the 7th day of the 7th month], and the feast [of Tabernacles] seven days. And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month [the day after the 8th day] he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people” (verses 8-10).
God’s presence was now with the children of Israel in the temple at Jerusalem, rather than in the tabernacle. With the temple completed, Solomon instructed the priests to begin bringing offerings to God in accordance with the laws God had given to Moses. “And Solomon offered burnt offerings [through the priests] to the LORD upon the altar of the LORD which he had built before the porch, even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost], and in the Feast of Tabernacles” (II Chron. 8:12-13).
Feast of Tabernacles Under Ezra and Nehemiah: In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, faithful Jews again returned to God and kept His commanded feasts, including the Feast of Tabernacles: “And they found written in the law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go forth to the mountain and bring olive branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches, and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is written.’ And the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one upon his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the Water Gate, and in the street of the Gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths and dwelt under the booths, for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth was an assembly, according to the ordinance” (Neh. 8:14-18; see Ezra 3:4).
As the biblical history of the children of Israel and Judah demonstrates, God blessed them when they faithfully kept His commandments, feasts and holy days. When they resumed their sinful ways, God sent prophets to warn them and call them to repentance. When Israel continued to transgress and, in rebellion, refused to repent—continuing to serve other gods, to worship the sun, moon and stars and to observe pagan occult holidays— God had no choice but to punish them and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. Thus, the repetitive cycle of apostasy and restoration continued even until the time of Jesus Christ.
This Old Testament overview of the feasts and holy days of God demonstrates that whenever the people of Israel and Judah returned to God—forsaking their idols and false gods—they always kept God’s Sabbath, His feasts and holy days as He had commanded. In so doing, God blessed them for their repentance and obedience.
In Chapter Eleven, we will see how the New Testament illustrates that the feasts and holy days of God continue to unveil and magnify the plan of God for the Church, Israel and all mankind—beginning with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”
