Have You ever wondered how the Feasts of the Lord are God’s Prophetic Calendar?
Exodus 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast (H2287 חָגַג chagag) unto me in the year. 15 Thou shalt keep the feast (H2282 חַג chag) of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the feast (H2282 חַג chag) of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast (H2282 חַג chag) of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Feast- H2287 חָגַג chagag (khaw-gag’) v.
1. (properly) to move in a circle
2. (specifically) to march in a sacred procession, to observe a festival
3. (by implication) to be giddy
To hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger
- To reel to and fro
KJV: celebrate, dance, (keep, hold) a (solemn) feast (holiday), reel to and fro.
Feast- H2282 חַג חָג chag (khag) (or chag {khawg}) n-m.
1. a festival, or a victim therefor
[from H2287]
KJV: (solemn) feast (day), sacrifice, solemnity.
Root(s): H2287
God has commanded His people to hold a feast three times in a year. These festivals are holidays to us. We are to dance to and fro or in a circle or march in a sacred procession. We are to stagger and be giddy. God wants us to celebrate!
Leviticus 23
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts (H4150 מוֹעֵד mow`ed) of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim (H7121) to be holy (H6944) convocations (H4744 מִקרָא miqra’ (mik-raw’), even these are my feasts (H4150 מוֹעֵד mow`ed).
Feasts- H4150 מוֹעֵד mow`ed (mo-ade’) n-m.
מֹעֵד mo`ed (mo-ade’)
מוֹעָדָה mow`adah (mo-aw-daw’) [feminine, 2 Chronicles 8:13]
1. (properly) an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season.
2. (specifically) a festival.
3. (conventionally) a year.
4. (by implication) an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose).
5. (technically) the congregation.
6. (by extension) the place of meeting.
7. (also) a signal (as appointed beforehand).
[from H3259]
KJV: appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synogogue, (set) time (appointed).
Root(s): H3259
H3259 יָעַד ya`ad (yaw-ad’) v.
1. to fix upon (by agreement or appointment).
2. (by implication) to meet (at a stated time).
3. (of court) to summon.
4. to direct (in a certain quarter or position).
5. (of marriage) to engage, betroth.
[a primitive root]
KJV: agree, (make an) appoint(-ment,a time), assemble (selves), betroth, gather (selves, together), meet (together), set (a time).
Proclaim- H7121 קָרָא qara’ (kaw-raw’) v.
1. (properly) to call out to someone (but used in a wide variety of applications).
2. (generally) to call (or address) by name.
3. (specially) to call forth (a thing, action, or person).
4. (by extension) to officially proclaim.
5. (hence) to read aloud.
[a primitive root (rather identical with H7122 through the idea of accosting a person met)]
KJV: bewray (self), that are bidden, call (for, forth, self, upon), cry (unto), (be) famous, guest, invite, mention, (give) name, preach, (make) proclaim(- ation), pronounce, publish, read, renowned, say.
Holy- H6944 קֹדֶשׁ qodesh (ko’-desh) n-m.
1. a holy thing.
2. (of location) a holy place.
3. (of event) a holy event (i.e. a memorial).
4. (abstract, rarely) holiness.
5. (double emphasized) Holy of Holies (the holy place of holy places, the most holiest place).
6. Holy (Spirit).
7. apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
KJV: consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (X most) holy (X day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.
Convocation- H4744 מִקרָא miqra’ (mik-raw’) n-m.
1. something called out, i.e. a public meeting (the act of, the persons, or the place).
2. a calling forth (of the congregation) to assemble.
3. (as an event, with H6944) a (holy) called out memorial (i.e. a recalling to collective memory; the appointed feasts; see Leviticus 23:2).
4. A Rehearsal:- assembly, calling. Convocation, reading
KJV: assembly, calling, convocation, reading.
These feast days are fixed times or appointments that God has set to meet with His people; He promises to meet with His people there! They are set apart convocations; an appointed time for the congregation to assemble together. They are a part of our betrothal to Him. We are to proclaim the Feasts of the Lord as sacred, consecrated and set apart. They are a public time for God’s people to assemble or gather together. They are a memorial for times past and a dress rehearsal for things to come. Some of the Feast days have been “fulfilled” by Jesus and others we are still awaiting the fulfillment. Only in God’s infinite wisdom could a date be set for something in the past as well as for something yet to come!
The Sabbath
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
God declared the 7th day Sabbath as a holy convocation! Each week the Sabbath is a day for His people to come together and worship Him! We are to proclaim this day as holy and set it apart from the other days. We are to celebrate with dancing and rejoicing!
God declared the 7th day Sabbath during the week of creation.
Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The writer of Hebrews declares that there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Israel was promised rest when they entered into the promised land if they continued in God’s ways. They didn’t believe God and were disobedient to Him. The promise of entering into His eternal rest still stands but we must labor in obedience to God’s Word. He will return for that great 7th day Millennial rest. Those walking in covenant with Him will enter into the land and His eternal rest.
The Passover
4 These are the feasts (H4150 מוֹעֵד mow`ed) of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast (H2282 חַג chag) of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
In the first month of Abib is the Lord’s Passover. On the 14th just before the 15th starts we have our Passover meal. The 15th starts the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We are to come together during this time to celebrate. This is a 7 day celebration. On the 7th day of Unleavened Bread, the 21st of Abib, we come together again to celebrate.
The Feast of Weeks: The sheaf of first-fruits
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. 13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The day after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the day of the wave sheaf offering of the firstfruits. It is to be waved with an offering of an unblemished lamb, bread and wine. There is so much prophetic significance in His feasts!
The Feast of Weeks: Pentecost
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. 18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. 19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
The day of the wave sheaf offering of the first fruits and the day of Pentecost is always on the first day of the week. From the day of the wave sheaf offering you count 7 Sabbaths and add a day to get to the Feast of Pentecost. You can’t have Pentecost without counting the Sabbaths. On this day, two loaves are to be baked and presented to the LORD as the first fruits offering. They are holy to the LORD for the priest. It is a day of great celebration for the congregation of Israel!
Gleanings to be left for the poor
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Some of the harvest is to be left for the poor and the strangers among the congregation of Israel. Not everyone in the great harvest is going to be blood Israel. Anyone that takes hold of God’s covenant will reap the harvest.
The Feast of Trumpets
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
At the sighting of the 7th moon of the year we are to blow the trumpet! We are to assemble, celebrate and have a Sabbath day of rest.
The Day of Atonement
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
On the 10th day of the 7th month, we are to assemble as a congregation and afflict our souls. It is a Sabbath day of rest.
The Feast of Tabernacles
33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. 37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
The 15th day of the 7th month starts the Feast of Tabernacles and it lasts for 7 days. We are to dwell in a temporary dwelling for 7 days and we shall rejoice before our God for 7 days. The first day is a Sabbath and Holy Convocation and then the 8th day is also a Sabbath and Holy Convocation. 8 days of feasting and rejoicing before the LORD!
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
If the One that we call our God chose these days as set apart days; As days that His people are to come together, don’t we think we should be obedient to Him? If He declares these days as set apart, shouldn’t we as believers celebrate as He has asked? There is a reason for everything that God does and there is significant meaning for everything that He does. Why are we so arrogant to toss aside the days that HE proclaimed to be set apart? Why are we so prideful to declare our own days as set apart and as days that He should accept as an offering? He does not accept strange or unauthorized fire (Leviticus 10). He does not accept offerings that He did not deem acceptable (Genesis 4). He does not appreciate us making up our own feasts or holydays (Exodus 32 & 1 Kings 12). It would behoove us as Christians to offer a sacrifice of praise and celebrate Him the way that He has asked us to. Afterall, He calls them HIS feasts! There is a blessing in getting rid of the unauthorized worship and worshiping Him how He has asked us to. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together and let us come together for worship on the days that He asked us to.