For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Jay Sklar (PhD, University of Gloucester), Professor of Old Testament and Dean of Faculty at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, to explain the meaning of Israel’s festivals and their relevance for Christians today.
When I was growing up, there were certain rituals that my family engaged in. These rituals did two things: They reminded me of important truths and taught me important lessons.
To take just one example: On birthdays, we always took time out of our regular activities to celebrate. Doing so reminded me of the importance of this person in my life and taught me the importance of showing them my love in tangible ways.
Simply put, rituals serve as important reminders and as wonderful teaching tools. It is no wonder, then, that the Lord wove ritual celebrations into the life of the Israelites. He wanted them to have regular reminders of who he was and what he had done for them, and he wanted them to teach these important truths to the generations to come.
Some of the most powerful rituals were Israel’s annual holy times. While Christians, as members of the new covenant, are no longer required to celebrate these old-covenant festivals today, they have much to teach us about God’s character and deeds, especially as they relate to the redemption he has brought about in and through Jesus.
The annual holy times are described most fully in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28–29. We’ll focus on Leviticus 23 in what follows. For each one, I’ll briefly identify the holy time’s purpose and its time of celebration; then I’ll follow with a fuller description of what it was meant to teach Israel — and what it can teach us.
Spring Holy Days (March Through June)
The following holy times were observed in the first half of the year: Passover, the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Offering of the Firstfruits, and the Festival of Weeks/Harvest/Pentecost.
Passover and Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:5–8)
Purpose: For the Israelites to celebrate how the Lord rescued them from his judgment on Egypt and delivered them from slavery.
Time of year: Month 1, day 14 (Passover), and month 1, days 15–21 (Festival of Unleavened Bread). In today’s calendar: sometime in March or April.
God commanded the Israelites to slaughter a lamb on the evening of the last plague and place its blood on the doorposts of their homes. Later that night, when God went through the land and slew all the firstborn, he passed over every home that had the blood, and any firstborn within that home was safe (Exodus 12:23, 29–30). The next day, the Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave so quickly that they did not have time to add yeast to their dough and so ate unleavened bread as they began their journey of freedom (Exodus 12:34, 39). The feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread — observed back-to-back — remembered and celebrated these events.
The importance of this rescue and deliverance in Israelite history cannot be overstated. In fact, the Lord commanded that their calendar now begin with this month (Exodus 12:2), the month of his liberation, meaning the Israelites would begin each year with the reminder that their God was above all a redeeming God. To put it differently: This was their Easter, the moment when the Lord saved them from judgment and slavery and freed them into his glorious service.
Not surprisingly, the New Testament connects this celebration of deliverance with the far greater deliverance that happens in Jesus. As I have noted elsewhere:
The New Testament writers use the Passover to explain the death of Jesus, who was crucified at the same general time as the Passover (Matthew 26:17; 27:15–26), and is described as “our Passover lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:7). It is a fitting metaphor, since Jesus’s sacrifice also delivers us from the Lord’s judgment (1 Thessalonians 1:10) and leads us out of sin’s slavery into adoption as the Lord’s children (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:5; cf. Exodus 4:22). It is during the communion meal, instituted by Jesus at the Passover feast (Luke 22:1–23), that Christians remember and proclaim, “Jesus, you are the mighty Savior, the sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (cf. Isaiah 53:5–12; John 1:29)1
Offering of the Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9–14)
Purpose: For the Israelites to honor the Lord as their provider by giving back to him the firstfruits of their harvest. These firstfruits would in turn support the priests.
Time of year: The day after the first Sabbath of the harvest. In today’s calendar: sometime in April.
The barley harvest came first in Israel, happening in the early spring. Bringing these firstfruits was a way to acknowledge God’s provision, both of the harvest and of the bountiful land he had provided. Deuteronomy 26:1–10 gives a script for the Israelites to repeat when they presented their gifts. The script rehearses the Lord’s deliverance of Israel, his leading them to the land of milk and honey, and his provision of the harvest. It could not be clearer that the Lord is a God who graciously redeems and bountifully provides.
To present the firstfruits was therefore especially appropriate because the firstfruits were considered the harvest’s very best (Numbers 18:12). Lavish provision from God called for lavish praise to God, a tangible proclamation that he was the King worthy of their very best. Moreover, by requiring the Israelites to present these firstfruits before they themselves ate from the harvest (Leviticus 23:14), the law protected them from taking the Lord’s provision for granted. “Thankfulness is one of the first emotions to evaporate; this requirement made sure the Israelites gave proper thanksgiving and honor to their bountiful King before enjoying his generous provision (cf. Deuteronomy 26:10–11; Proverbs 3:9–10).”2 As they say in fundraising circles, “Thank before you bank.”
As a final note, the Lord took the Israelites’ firstfruits and gave them to support the priests (Numbers 18:12–13), who were without land and therefore dependent on the Israelites’ offerings. In this way, the Israelites were taught the importance of caring for their spiritual leaders’ physical needs.
The themes named above remain important for believers today. When we give of our treasure, time, or talent to the Lord, we are acknowledging that he is the one who has generously provided these things to us in the first place. We are returning to him what is already his. And when we give the best of these things, we are saying that he is worthy of the best we have — because he is the one most worthy of praise. Finally, the New Testament also teaches that those who devote themselves to serving the church should have their physical needs met by it (1 Corinthians 9
