Introduction
‘The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.’ Leviticus 23:1
THE APPOINTED FESTIVALS
In this chapter and the following two chapters we read about seven convocations, that is, seven different times God’s people were to come together and stand before the Lord. The Book of Leviticus started the setting forth of five types of offerings, Leviticus 1-7.
Now as we near its close, we have set forth for us seven appointed convocations. The word ‘convocations’ means appointed time, Leviticus 23:1-2.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Days of sabbatical rest for the whole people; they owed their name to gatherings for religious edification, which, in later times, were probably held in every town and village in the holy land. There were in the course of the year, besides the weekly Sabbaths, seven days of holy convocation, Exodus 12:16 / Numbers 28:18 / Numbers 28:25-26 / Numbers 29:1 / Numbers 29:12 / Numbers 29:35, with a distinction between them as regards strictness of observance, Leviticus 23:3 / Leviticus 23:28 / Leviticus 23:7.’
THE WEEKLY SABBATH
‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.’ Leviticus 23:3
The Sabbath itself wasn’t one of the celebration feasts but was to be kept as a sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites, Exodus 20:8-11 / Exodus 31:12-17. This also demonstrated to the other nations around that they were in a covenant agreement with God. Since the Sabbath was a sign, this demonstrated that since the time of creation no other nation kept the Sabbath as a special day, Genesis 2:1-3.
The sign of the Sabbath began at Mount Sinai, Exodus 16:23 / Exodus 20:8, and it was this day that Israel wasn’t permitted to work. Whilst all the other nations around them worked on this day, the Israelites were not permitted to work, instead, they were to rest and reflect upon the covenant they had with their God, Leviticus 23:3.
Some religious groups today, maintain that the 4th commandment found in Exodus 20:8, ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,’ is binding on Christians today. But by simply showing that this command, along with the rest of the old law, has been abolished proves this view to be wrong.
The Sabbath command was given in 1446 B.C. The children of Israel came into the wilderness, Exodus 16:23. It was enforced when the children of Israel were at Mount Sinai, Exodus 20:8. Nehemiah reminds the people where it originated from, namely, Mount Sinai, Nehemiah 9:13-14.
The Sabbath was given by God, Exodus 20:8 / Nehemiah 9:14. And notice to whom it was given, the children of Israel, Exodus 31:13 / Leviticus 23:3 / Deuteronomy 5:15. But what was the purpose of this Sabbath Day? Why was it given to the Israelites? It was a sign between God and the children of Israel, that they may know He is the Lord who sanctified them, Exodus 31:13 / Genesis 2:3.
Notice it’s not stated here that God rested from all activity, but that He rested from creation, ‘the work which he had been doing,’ which is an expression repeated twice. Please note that this has no reference whatever to the Jewish Sabbath. This doesn’t refer to the days of the week, but to the days of the creation.
This day of God’s rest is still going on, Hebrews 4:4-6 / Hebrews 4:11, and will obviously continue until Christ returns. There is no command here for man to rest, no revelation whatever to Adam or his posterity suggesting or commanding the observance of any such thing as the Jewish sabbath.
Notice also, the specific thing from which it’s stated that God rested is the work of creation, a fact which is obvious enough in the fact that the creation isn’t still going on. There is also no mention here of ‘evening and morning,’ which tells us that the close of the seventh day is still in progress.
We must remember that the sabbath that God blessed was the first day of Adam’s life, not the seventh, and there’s no indication whatever that Adam ever heard of a sabbath. The sabbath was made known, not to Adam, but to Moses, Nehemiah 9:13-14, and the reason for the Jewish observance of the sabbath given to them wasn’t because God rested on the creation sabbath, but ‘the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt,’ Deuteronomy 5:15. The sabbath was never a sign between God and all men, but ‘it is a sign between me (God) and the children of Israel,’ Exodus 31:17.
God created everything in six days, Genesis 1 / Exodus 20:11. At the end of the sixth day, God looked at everything He had made and said it was ‘very good’, Genesis 1:31. The next day, day seven, God rested from His work of creating because it was all finished, Genesis 2:2. God then blessed this day because it was the day that He chose to rest from His work, Genesis 2:3.
Why did God rest? Was He tired from all the work of creating? Not at all! The Bible tells us that God doesn’t get tired or sleep, Psalm 121:3-4. He rested to establish a pattern for us to follow. As Christians, we believe what the Bible says and that is simply, that the Sabbath was abolished in 30 A.D. with the death of Christ on the cross, Colossians 2:14 / Hebrews 9:16-17.
The Sabbath observance was abolished at Jerusalem, at Golgotha, Calvary, Matthew 27:33 / Luke 23:33. And so, it’s very clear that the Bible teaches it was abolished by Christ Himself, 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 / 2 Corinthians 3:14 / Ephesians 2:15 / Colossians 2:14 / Hebrews 8:13.
Why did Christ abolish the Sabbath? Well, simply because Jesus was the only person who ever fulfilled the old law, Matthew 5:17. In Christ, we now have a better covenant, Hebrews 8:6-13. Some religious groups today make a lot of assumptions. They believe that the law, the ten commandments, existed before sin came into the world, since creation.
They believe the Sabbath was given at creation and they use the following Scriptures to make their point.
1. God made all things, John 1:1-3.
2. The Sabbath was made for man, Mark 2:27.
3. Adam was a man, Genesis 2:7.
4. Sabbath must have been made at creation for Adam to keep.
Some religious groups today believe that the Ten Commandments were given at creation. Below is their argument for thinking this way.
1. Adam couldn’t have known sin without the law, Romans 3:20 / Romans 5:13.
2. Adam sinned, Genesis 3:6.
3. Ten commandments must have existed since creation. They give a couple of examples,
a. Adam broke the 8th commandment by stealing the fruit, Exodus 20:15.
b. Adam broke the 6th commandment because he brought death upon himself, ‘slow suicide’, Exodus 20:13.
However, the Bible teaches otherwise, the Bible clearly teaches that the Sabbath wasn’t given at creation. The Sabbath isn’t even mentioned before Exodus 16, Exodus 16:23. The Bible clearly teaches that the Sabbath was given to Israel, not Adam, Exodus 31:16. The Bible clearly tells us that the Sabbath wasn’t made known until the law was given, Nehemiah 9:13-14.
The Bible nowhere teaches that the Ten Commandments were given at creation. The Covenant wasn’t made with anyone before creation, Deuteronomy 5:3 / Deuteronomy 5:15. Again, this is reinforced, because we know that the old law was given after the promise to Abraham, Galatians 3:17. And if we read on we’ll see that the old law was given because of sin, Galatians 3:19.
What was abolished? Jewish observances were abolished, Colossians 2:16 / Galatians 4:9-11. Jewish observances were abolished and this includes the Weekly Sabbath, 1 Chronicles 23:31 / 2 Chronicles 2:4 / 2 Chronicles 8:13 / 2 Chronicles 31:3 / Nehemiah 10:33 / Ezekiel 45:17.
Compare all those verses above with Galatians 4:10. Compare all those verses above with Colossians 2:16. Do you see how the days, months, and years pattern has changed? The Bible tells us that the entire old law was abolished, Jeremiah 31:31-32 / 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 / 2 Corinthians 3:14 / Romans 6:14 / Romans 7:4 / Romans 7:6 / Romans 8:2 / Ephesians 2:15 / Hebrews 7:12 / Hebrews 8:7 / Hebrews 8:13.
‘These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.’ Leviticus 23:4
The annual festivals that all the Israelites were times of holidays and were joyous occasions for everyone, Leviticus 23:4.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘As a matter of fact, and of history, religious meetings for the purpose of conducting worship were held every sabbath day WHEREVER Jews lived; and it was out of these that the synagogues arose.’
THE PASSOVER
‘The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.’ Leviticus 23:5
The deliverance from Egypt is such a significant act that God tells the children of Israel to remake their calendar, the new year will now start with the month of their redemption from Egypt, Exodus 12:1. On the tenth of this first month, the month of Abib, Exodus 13:4, each family, or household, is to take a lamb, Exodus 12:2-3. If a household was too small for a whole lamb, then they are share it with their nearest neighbour, taking in to account the number of people staying in the house, Exodus 12:4.
They are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat, Exodus 12:4. The lamb was to be year-old males and without blemish, Exodus 12:5, this sacrifice unto the Lord had to be as perfect as a lamb could be, John 1:29 / 1 Corinthians 5:7 / 1 Peter 1:19 / Revelation 12:13.
A lamb from the sheep or the goats, Exodus 12:5, may sound confusing, but the Hebrew word for lamb can refer to either a young sheep or a young goat. The lamb is to live with the family for the four days until twilight, which would be Passover, Exodus 12:6 / 2 Samuel 12:1-3. In this way, the lamb was to be part of the family, when it was sacrificed on the fourteenth it would be cherished and mourned. God wanted the sacrifice of something precious. The rabbis later determined that there should be at least ten people for each Passover lamb, and not more than twenty.
Remember the Israelites couldn’t sacrifice and worship in Egypt because the sacrifice involved the killing of sheep, Exodus 8:26 / Genesis 46:34 and because the Egyptians also worshipped lambs, we can only imagine what the Egyptians were thinking when they saw the Israelites taking a lamb into their homes for four days, with the intention of slaughtering and eating it.
Before the Passover lamb could be eaten, its blood had to be applied to the doorway of the home, and the top, and upon each side the blood was applied, Exodus 12:7 / Hebrews 10:22. The only part of this sacrifice given to God was the blood, the rest was eaten by each family or discarded.
Then, the lamb could be eaten but only if it had been roasted, with the lamb itself coming into contact with the fire, and with bitter herbs accompanying the meal, Exodus 12:8. As our Passover sacrifice, Jesus had to come into direct contact with the ‘fire’ of the Father’s judgment on our behalf, and the bitterness of the cross is reflected in the bitter herbs.
They were to eat bread made without yeast, Exodus 12:8. They weren’t permitted to eat the meat raw or boiled in water but roast it over a fire, with the head, legs and internal organs, Exodus 12:9. The Passover lamb had to be eaten completely; a family had to totally consume the sacrifice and if anything was left it must be burned first thing in the morning, Exodus 12:10. Notice they are to eat it with their cloak tucked into their belt, sandals on their feet and staff in their hand, Exodus 12:11.
The Passover lamb had to be eaten in faith, trusting that the deliverance promised to Israel was present and that they would walk in that deliverance immediately, Exodus 12:11. Faith was essential to the keeping of Passover, Hebrews 11:28. The LORD says that He Himself will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and He will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt, Exodus 12:12.
The blood will be a sign for them on the houses where they live, and when He sees the blood, He will pass over them, hence no destructive plague will touch them when He strikes Egypt, Exodus 12:13. For Israel to be spared the judgment on the firstborn, they had to apply to blood just as God said they should, Exodus 12:7, the blood of the lamb was essential to what God required.
If an Israelite home didn’t believe in the power of the blood of the lamb, they could sacrifice the lamb and eat it, but they would still be visited by judgment. If an Egyptian home did believe in the power of the blood of the lamb, and they made a proper Passover sacrifice, they would be spared the judgment.
Additionally, an intellectual agreement with what God had said about the blood was not enough, they actually had to do what God said should be done with the blood. The judgment on the firstborn was a powerful act of God because the firstborn was always thought to be favoured and privileged before God, if God judges the firstborn, then what of the rest of us?
For Christians today, this feast is really important because Jesus is our Passover Lamb, John 1:29 / 1 Corinthians 5:7. Just as Israel was redeemed from Egyptian slavery, so too has the Christian been redeemed from the slavery of sin, Galatians 3:16 / Titus 2:14.
THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
‘On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the LORD. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’ Leviticus 23:6-8
The day following the Passover was to begin a week of feasting, Leviticus 23:6. For this entire week, God’s people were to eat unleavened bread, Leviticus 23:6. On the Sabbath Day they weren’t permitted to do any work, Leviticus 23:3, but here they are allowed to work but they weren’t permitted to do any regular work, Leviticus 23:7-8 / Leviticus 23:21 / Leviticus 23:25 / Leviticus 23:35-36, and on each day an offering was to be presented to the Lord, Leviticus 23:8 / Numbers 28:19-24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the meaning of not to work, Leviticus 23:7-8.
‘Literally, no work of labour, no work that belongs to one’s worldly calling, such as labour in agriculture or handicraft. The preparation of food was permitted, Exodus 12:16, a licence not granted on the weekly Sabbath, or on the day of atonement, Leviticus 23:28 / Leviticus 23:30 / Exodus 20:10 / Exodus 35:3.’
Passover began on the tenth and on the fourteenth they ate the Passover, Exodus 12:14, which is the first day of unleavened bread, then for the next seven days, they would eat only unleavened bread, Exodus 12:15 / Leviticus 23:4-8 / Numbers 28:16-25 / Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
On the first day they were to remove the yeast from their houses, and if anyone ate anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh needs to be cut off from Israel, Exodus 12:15. On the first day they are to hold a sacred assembly, and another one seven days later, however, no one was permitted to work during these days, except if they were preparing food to eat, Exodus 12:16.
The Festival of Unleavened Bread was to be celebrated because it would be the day that God brought them out of Egypt, Exodus 12:17. This was to be lasting ordinance for the generations to come, Exodus 12:17. In the first month they are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, Exodus 12:18.
There is to be no yeast in their homes for seven days and anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it needs to be cut off from the community of Israel, Exodus 12:19. They are to eat nothing made with yeast and wherever they live, they must eat unleavened bread, Exodus 12:20.
For the first Passover, the unleavened bread was a practical necessity, they left Egypt in such a hurry there was no time to allow for the dough to rise. Leaven was also a picture of sin and corruption because of the way a little leaven would influence a whole lump of dough, and also because of the way leaven would ‘puff up’, the lump, even as pride and sin make us ‘puffed up.’ Significantly, God called them to walk ‘unleavened’ after their initial deliverance from Egypt, symbolically, they were being called to a pure walk with the Lord.
Some suggest there was also a health aspect in getting rid of all the leaven, that since they used a piece of dough from the previous batch to make the bread for that day, and did so repeatedly, harmful bacteria could take hold in the dough, so it was good to remove all leaven and start all over at least once a year.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Bread signifies communion or fellowship with Christ, and the leaven, which was purged out signifies sin, or evil. Christians are commanded to ‘purge out the old leaven’, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 / 2 Corinthians 7:1 / Galatians 5:7 / Galatians 5:9.’
OFFERING THE FIRSTFRUITS
The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land, I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the LORD, a pleasing aroma— and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.’ Leviticus 23:9-14
Most of us don’t pay much attention to the agricultural cycles of nature but Israel were deeply aware of its own food cycles. The festivals of Judaism followed the agricultural cycle, Deuteronomy 8:8. The first fruits of the harvest were collected in baskets and taken to Jerusalem, Deuteronomy 26:1-11.
Once the Israelites were in the land, they would further celebrate this feast by bringing a sheaf of the firstfruits of their harvest, Leviticus 23:9-10 / Deuteronomy 24:19 / Ruth 2:7 / Exodus 16:16. The firstfruits were the first of four specific laws that God gave Israel that they were to keep when they came into the land of promise, Leviticus 25:2 / Leviticus 14:34 / Leviticus 19:23.
The first fruits indicated that all nourishment came from God, and so, the offering of the first-fruits was an expression of thanksgiving to God for His provision. It also indicated that God would bless the rest of the harvest which was to come. The New Testament uses the firstfruits offering as a metaphor in many places, Romans 8:23 / Romans 11:16 / Romans 16:5 / 1 Corinthians 15:20 / 1 Corinthians 15:23 / 1 Corinthians 16:15.
It was to be brought before the priest at the tabernacle, Leviticus 23:10. On the first day of the week, he would take the sheaf and wave it before the Lord, Leviticus 23:11.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the wave offering.
‘The offering, which was waved, Leviticus 7:30, was most likely a small sheaf of barley, the grain which is first ripe. The first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered seven weeks later in the loaves of Pentecost.’
Accompanying the sheaf would be the offering of a lamb and a grain offering with a libation of wine, Leviticus 23:12-13 / Exodus 29:40.
Meyrick, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the drink offering.
‘This verse, Leviticus 23:13, and Leviticus 23:18 / Leviticus 23:37 are the only mention of a drink-offering in Leviticus.’
The First day of the week, the first fruit sheaf, a sacrificed lamb, flour mixed with oil and wine. Israel mustn’t eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day they bring this offering to God, Leviticus 23:14. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever they live, Leviticus 23:14.
This is a picture of the resurrection of Christ. He is our Firstfruits, His resurrection is a promise of our resurrection which is to follow, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 / Romans 8:29. Because of that, we have a continuing observance, it is an observance of bread and wine. It remembers the sacrificed Lamb and it looks forward to the day when the firstfruits will be joined by the rest of the harvest.
THE FESTIVAL OF WEEKS
‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the LORD for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.’ Leviticus 23:15-22
The next observance was to take place fifty days after the first Sabbath of the week of unleavened bread, that is Pentecost, Leviticus 23:15. It would also take place on the first day of the week, Leviticus 23:16. the date of the Feast of Weeks varied from late May to early June of each year. The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest.
Several offerings were to be made on this day, a grain offering of two loaves of bread, but these loaves were to be baked with leaven Leviticus 23:16-17. A burnt offering of seven lambs of the first year, a bull, two rams, Leviticus 23:18 / Numbers 28:27-30. Note the drink offering also is to be made, Leviticus 23:18 / Leviticus 23:13 / Leviticus 23:37 / Exodus 29:40.
A sin-offering of a male goat, a peace offering of two male lambs, Leviticus 25:19. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits and they are a sacred offering to the LORD for the priest, Leviticus 23:20.
The feast of weeks is the feast of harvest, whilst the feast of firstfruits begins at the start of the harvest, the feast of weeks begins at the end of the harvest. This feast was a time of celebration as they thanked God for proving the harvest in the first place.
Israel were to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work, Leviticus 23:21 / Leviticus 23:7-8 / Leviticus 23:25 / Leviticus 23:35-36, and this was to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever they live, Leviticus 25:21.
Notice again, that God always takes care of the poor and anyone travelling through the land, they were to leave the grain which stood in the corners of the fields for those people, Leviticus 25:22 / Leviticus 19:9-10. However, if anyone was poor received any food, they had to do work in return for that food.
The day of Pentecost is important for Christians as this is the day the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, Acts 2:1-4. It was also the day the church was established when Peter preached the first Gospel message, Acts 2:14-41. The only other times the day is mentioned in the New Testament are in Acts 20:16, and 1 Corinthians 16:8.
THE FESTIVAL OF TRUMPETS
‘The LORD said to Moses, ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work but present a food offering to the LORD.’ Leviticus 23:23-25
On the Jewish calendar, is Erev Rosh Hashanah, the eve of Rosh Hashanah. In the evening at sundown the Jewish Holy Day of Rosh Hashanah begins, marking the start of a new year. Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration which begins on the first day of the Jewish month known as Tishrei. On this day, the people of Old Testament Israel turned aside from their work and gathered for a full day of sacrifice and worship, Leviticus 23:23-24 /Numbers 29:1-6.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is no mention of trumpets in the Hebrew text of the Law in connection with the day. However, there is no reason to doubt the tradition that the day was distinguished by a general blowing of trumpets throughout the land, and that the kind of trumpet generally used for the purpose was the curved horn of an animal or a cornet of metal, such as was used at Sinai, Exodus 19:16, and on the Day of Jubilee, Leviticus 25:9. It must have differed in this respect from the ordinary festival of the New moon when the long straight trumpet of the temple alone was blown, Numbers 10:2 / Exodus 25:23.’
Once again we are remined that they can work but no regular work was to be done, Leviticus 23:25 / Leviticus 23:21 / Leviticus 23:7-8 / Leviticus 23:35-36.
The seventh month was important because it also included two major holy days, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. The blasting of trumpets, or shofar, announced the commencement of this special month. According to the Mosaic Law, the first month of the Israelite calendar is Nisan in the spring, Exodus 12:2.
However, in post-exilic Judaism, the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei, has become Rosh Hashanah, ‘New Year’. To look at it another way, the first day of Nisan begins the religious New Year, and Rosh Hashanah starts the civil New Year. Rosh Hashanah is marked by the sounding of the shofar, a hollowed-out ram’s horn.
Although not taught in Scripture, Jews believe that on Rosh Hashanah God sits in judgment of the whole universe. Like sheep passing before a shepherd, who decides which ones will live and which ones will be slaughtered, on this Day of Judgment God evaluates the merits of people and nations. He rules which nations will have plenty and which will lack, which will have war, and which will know peace.
The judgment on Rosh Hashanah does not decide a person’s eternal destiny, it is for judgment concerning earthly matters. Jews believe that the judgment handed down on that day, with its subsequent recording in the Book of Life, decides a person’s fate in this life for the coming year.
In Israel, there is the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, which is located in the southwest corner of the Temple Mount. You can climb up the original steps of the 2,000 years old Hulda Gates that led to the Temple Mount during the Second Temple period. 300 feet north of the corner is the part of the Western Wall where locals and tourists pray. Here at this corner lies a reminder of something Jesus predicted thirty-seven years before the temple’s destruction.
ARCHAEOLOGY POINTS TO PROPHECY
The southwest corner of the Temple Mount is filled in with the rubble of the Second Temple’s destruction by the mighty Roman legions in A.D. 70. You can see a 33-foot-wide first-century street that was laid with thick stone slabs. Jesus predicted this destruction on His last visit to the Temple, Matthew 24:1-2.
In A.D. 70, four Roman legions surrounded Jerusalem and began to slowly squeeze the life out of the Jewish stronghold. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus claimed that Titus, the Roman general, did not want to destroy the Temple. Archaeologists have removed most of the rubble, but they left one pile of stones just as they found them, the street is still depressed from the force of the impact.
TO THE PLACE OF TRUMPETING
One of the reasons people like to return to this corner of the Temple Mount is because of one particular stone that lies on the street far below where it originally stood. Shaped as a corner piece, the stone bears the Hebrew inscription: ‘To the place of trumpeting.’
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish priest and historian, spoke about the very place where this stone used to stand. Josephus records that this is ‘where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when the day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again’. War 4:582
This stone was at the pinnacle of the Temple Mount at the southwestern corner of the Temple. It was the place where priests would overlook Jerusalem as they blew trumpets to announce the Sabbath and the start of festival days. It was from here that Rosh Hashanah was announced.
Before it is sounded on those days, Psalm 47 was recited seven times. God originally intended the trumpets to call His people together in preparation for the fall festival of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, where the Lord would forgive sins on the basis of shed blood, Psalm 81:3.
The blowing of the trumpets was a plea to God to remember Israel, Numbers 10:10. At His return, Jesus ‘will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God’, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Sometimes in Jerusalem today you can hear a shofar echo across the city. I think of the Lord’s promise of His return when He calls His people to Himself, 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 / 1 Thessalonians 4:16. I consider the grace that the shofar’s call represents urging worshippers to come before the Lord who forgives sins on the basis of sacrifice, Leviticus 16:29-30. We know that the ultimate sacrifice was God’s own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
‘The LORD said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.’ Leviticus 23:26-32
We have already seen the Day of Atonement at length in Leviticus 16. This was the day on which the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation. Back in Leviticus 16, emphasis was placed upon the duties of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16:29-34, but in Leviticus 23:26-32, the emphasis is placed upon what the Israelites had to do on the Day of Atonement.
On the Jewish calendar, in the evening at sundown begins the holiest day of the year Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The Jewish Mishnah, says the following.
‘On this day ‘eating, drinking, washing, anointing, with oils, putting on sandals, and marital intercourse are forbidden.’ Mishnah, Yoma 8:1.’
It was different from all of the other festival times in that this was a day of denying themselves, which means fasting and a day they were to present a food offering to the LORD, Leviticus 23:26-27. Because they were to fast, tells us that this wasn’t a day of celebration, it was a day in which they had to reflect upon their sinfulness. Like on the Sabbath, no work is to be done, and special holiday candles are lit before sundown. In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement took place on the tenth day of the month of Tishrei, Leviticus 23:26-28.
This was not a pilgrimage festival, and so large crowds did not gather at the Jerusalem Temple. It was such a serious task that the people were warned that those who refused to practice the Day of Atonement would perish, Leviticus 23:29-30.
They weren’t permitted to work and this is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever they live, Leviticus 23:31. It was a day of sabbath rest for them, and they must deny yourselves, Leviticus 23:32. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening they are to observe their sabbath, Leviticus 23:32.
THE OLD TESTAMENT RITUAL
While the nation was fasting and praying, a remarkably complicated sacrificial ceremony was taking place in the temple, Leviticus 23:1-28.
The Jewish Mishnah, says the following.
‘The high priest, the chief officiant, had been set aside for seven days to ensure his ritual purity, Yoma 1:1.’
Then after a ceremonial bath, for ritual purity, he dressed in simple white linen robes, setting aside his usual exquisite high priestly attire, to begin sacrificing a bull for himself and the priesthood, Leviticus 16:3-6.
Once this was completed, he took live coals in a censer from the altar of sacrifice along with two handfuls of incense and carried them into the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, inside the temple, a place forbidden to all but him, Leviticus 16:11-14.
After this the high priest repeated the process, this time sacrificing a male goat for the sins of the people, Leviticus 16:15-19. The high priest took a second live goat, laid his hands on its head, and would ‘confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel,’ Leviticus 16:20-22. This goat, also known as ‘the scapegoat’, Leviticus 16:8-10 / Leviticus 16:26.
It was then driven out into the eastern wilderness to show that God had driven Israel’s sins away. You need to remember that throughout this day while the high priest was doing his work, all the people of Israel were fasting and praying, participating thoughtfully in the work of atonement transpiring in the temple.
This ceremony remained unchanged in the time of Jesus with but a few exceptions. Only the stone, ‘foundation stone’, on which the ark rested remained, and so the priest rested the incense censer and sprinkled the blood on this stone. Today, over this very stone, stands the Muslim holy place known as the Dome of the Rock.
Two goats were brought to the high priest for inspection before the ceremonies on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16:7-10.
The Jewish Mishnah, says the following.
‘These two goats were to be equal in ‘appearance, height, and value’, Yoma 6:1. The High Priest shook a box that held two lots, or stones, in it, Yoma 4:1-2.’
The Jewish Mishnah, says the following.
‘During the ceremonies, the scapegoat was presented to the high priest, and he laid his hands over the animal and prayed, Yoma 6:2.’
The Jewish Mishnah, says the following.
‘Select non-priestly men then drove the goat over the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem and deep into the wilderness of Judea. When the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness, the crowd assembled at the Temple then cried out, ‘Bear our sins and be gone! Bear our sins and be gone!’, Yoma 6:4.’
Two observations about this ceremony.
1. Though this solemn ceremony was repeated for nearly 1500 years, from the time of Moses till the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, all of the blood of those bulls and goats put together could not forgive a single sin, they only withheld the judgment of God for another year.
2. If the high priest who performed this ceremony was still alive the following year, he got to perform the ceremony all over again, and when he died, his descendants would carry out the same services till they died.
THE NEW COVENANT
Imagine being a new Jewish Christian living in Jerusalem around A.D.45, about fifteen years after the ministry and death of Jesus. The rich ceremonies of the Temple were continuing and on the Day of Atonement, you, and your family wonder if you should participate. Jewish Christians in the early days of the church were wondering if they should return to their ancient sacrificial festivals.
The book of Hebrews was penned to warn Jewish Christians not to lapse back into Judaism as if such ceremonies and festivals would provide more assured salvation. In Hebrews 9-10, we find a full description of the temple ceremonies and a remarkable critique, Jesus is our High Priest, Hebrews 9:11-13.
Hebrews contracts the ongoing, and futile, efforts of the High Priests, who annually bring the blood of bulls and goats into the inner sanctuary, with Jesus, who brought, His own blood into a heavenly sanctuary, the true house of God. Because the content of His sacrifice was superior and the venue of its offering superior, Jesus has ‘obtained eternal redemption’ for us, Hebrews 9:24-26.
Why look to the Day of Atonement in Jerusalem when Jesus has accomplished an eternal work that makes all earthly works obsolete? Hebrews 8:6. These Jewish Christians were also being persecuted for their failure to abide by religious custom, Hebrews 10:32-39. One day at Calvary outweighed the hundreds of complex sacrifices on Yom Kippur that had been going on for centuries.
THE FEAST OF BOOTHS
‘The LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the LORD, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work. (‘These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the LORD—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the LORD’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.) ‘So, beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows, and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ So, Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the LORD.’ Leviticus 23:33-44
At sundown, the Jewish festival of Sukkot will begin, the feast of tabernacles, Leviticus 23:33-34. This was the last of the festivals, Purim and Hanukkah would be added much later. Once again Israel wasn’t permitted to do any regular work, Leviticus 23:35-36 / Leviticus 23:25 / Leviticus 23:21 / Leviticus 23:7-8, and for seven days they are to present food offerings, and on the eighth day they are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD, Leviticus 23:35-36.
By October, the harvest season came to an end when grapes, olives, pomegranates, figs, and dates were gathered in. The feast was officially scheduled for the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, five days after the Day of Atonement, and it lasted for seven days.
These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, which they are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings, which includes, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day, Leviticus 23:37 / Leviticus 23:18 / Leviticus 23:13 / Exodus 29:40.
These offerings are in addition to those for the LORD’s Sabbaths and in addition to their gifts and whatever they have vowed and all the freewill offerings they give, Leviticus 23:38.
Beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after they had gathered the crops of the land, Leviticus 23:39 / Revelation 14:15-16, they are to celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days, with the first day being a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also being a day of sabbath rest, Leviticus 23:39. Just like the Passover and feast of unleavened bread, this feast lasted for eight days, Leviticus 23:39 / Numbers 29:12-38 / Deuteronomy 16:13-15 / Deuteronomy 31:10-13 / Ezra 3:4 / Nehemiah 8:18.
On the first day they are to take branches from luxuriant trees, palms, willows, and other leafy trees and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days, Leviticus 23:40. The lulav is a palm branch, one of the four species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, along with the etrog, myrtle, and willow branches. When bound together, the lulav, myrtle, and willow branches are commonly referred to as ‘the lulav’, Leviticus 23:40. This was a feast of thanksgiving for everything God had provided for them.
They are to celebrate this as a festival for seven days each year and this is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, celebrate it in the seventh month, Leviticus 23:41. For an entire week, the people were to live in booths, Leviticus 23:42-43, in other words, they were to camp out. The reason for camping out was to remind them of their wilderness wanderings.
According to the law, all Jews were to live in booths or huts during the celebration. These were outdoor shelters made from wild branches of olive, myrtle, palm, and other leaf trees, Leviticus 23:42-43 / Leviticus 23:40 / Nehemiah 8:15. A booth or tabernacle was a temporary dwelling.
Since this was the formal end of the harvest year, it was a time of celebration. The people joined parades of pilgrims at the temple, and as they marched holding the lulav they sang the Hallel Psalms, Psalms 113-118. Ceremonies around the temple were extensive, and celebrations were full. Sacrifice was another way they praised God during this feast.
But agriculture was not the only interest at Sukkoth or any of the other festivals. Passover tells the story tells of Israel fleeing Egypt. Pentecost reminds them of their coming to Mount Sinai to receive the covenant. Tabernacles reminded them of the forty years in the wilderness, when they lived in the desert, they worshipped God at His tabernacle and built shelters for themselves as well, Leviticus 23:42-43.
They were to remember that God will take care of their every need, just like He did in the wilderness wandering, Exodus 15:22-27 / Exodus 16:35 / Deuteronomy 8:4 / Deuteronomy 29:5. The weather in Palestine was suited to this at this time of the year. The heat of summer had passed and the early rains were still a month away. Moses now announces to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the LORD, Leviticus 23:44.
You will notice that the Day of Atonement wasn’t a day of celebration, it was a day to reflect upon their sin, but here, that day is followed by the feast of tabernacles, which was the most joyous of occasions for Israel. We could say that joy always follows repentance over sin.
For Christians today, when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are reminded that atonement was made for us at the cross, and the eating of the Supper is to be a time of celebration for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25.
WATER AND LIGHT AT TABERNACLES
We can easily imagine Jesus as a young man travelling to Jerusalem every autumn with countless families from Galilee making a long caravan. And there in Jerusalem, He joined in the festivities, waving His lulav, and dancing and singing in the courtyards of the temple. He had the Hallel Psalms memorised and could sing them with ease. To have a fully Jewish life, Jesus certainly must have experienced these Jewish festivals as we have described.
THE WATER CEREMONY
Each day of the Feast of Tabernacles witnessed a water ceremony in which a procession of priests descended to the south border of the city to the Gihon Spring, which flowed into the Pool of Siloam. There a priest filled a golden pitcher as a choir chanted, Isaiah 12:3. When the procession arrived at the temple, the priest climbed the altar steps and poured the water onto the altar while the crowd circled him and continued singing.
THE LIGHT CEREMONY
People in the ancient world observed the length of days carefully, charting the solstices as well as the fall and spring equinox. The Mishnah tractate Sukkah provides lavish descriptions of the light ceremonies and explains that whoever has not seen these things has never seen a wonder in his or her life!
JESUS AND TABERNACLES
We possess only one record of Jesus visiting Jerusalem at Tabernacles, John 7-9. On His previous visit to Jerusalem, the leaders there threatened His life after He healed a paraplegic man on the Sabbath, John 5:18. Now the coming festival made those same leaders look for Him when they saw the other members of Jesus’ family, John 7:11-13 / John 7:25.
Sometime during the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He was interrogated by these same religious leaders. How could Jesus teach with authority when He did not have the appropriate schooling? John 7:15. The authorities wanted to know where He came from, John 7:40-41. Jesus was clear that He would eventually depart Jerusalem and that where He was going, none of them would be able to follow, John 7:33-34 / John 7:37 / John 7:40.
Then on that same day or maybe was it at night, He said something else. Jesus stood up and said, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.’ John 8:12. Here in the great light ceremony of the year, Jesus makes the astounding claim to be the light of the world.
THE FINAL DAY OF TABERNACLES
One of the most memorable events in the life of our Lord took place on the morning of Hoshana Rabbah, it is the story of the woman caught in adultery, John 8:2-11. Hoshana Rabbah was the final and most important day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Every day during the feast there was a water ceremony, Isaiah 12:3. The crowd would shake their lulavs and sing the Hallel Psalms, Psalms 113-118.
Rabbah means ‘great’ and Hoshana, Hosanna, means ‘God save us please!’ This was also a prayer for salvation from sin, for Hoshana Rabbah was understood by the Jews to be the absolutely final chance to have one’s sins for the year forgiven. Though Hoshana Rabbah was not mentioned by name in the Old Testament, it is mentioned in the New Testament, John 7:37-38.
On Hoshana Rabbah, in the midst of this water pouring, trumpet blasting, palm waving, psalm chanting, and joy on the part of people seeking forgiveness-and in the presence of all twenty-four divisions of the priesthood, that Jesus cried out in the temple courts and spoke, John 7:37-38 / Jeremiah 2:13.
THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY
Numerous problems accompany the charge made at the temple by the scribes and Pharisees on Hoshana Rabbah. We must ask if the woman is married or betrothed to another man. A woman who is sexually unfaithful to her fiancé was to be stoned to death along with her lover, John 8:5 / Deuteronomy 22:23-24.
Unfaithful wives were likewise killed, Leviticus 20:10 / Deuteronomy 22:22. But the Law did not indicate the method of death. The Mishnah, which was oral law in Jesus’ day specified that unfaithful fiancés should be stoned, but wives strangled, Sanhedrin 7:2.
In John 8, it is the last day for these scribes and Pharisees to have their sins forgiven, and Jesus says, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,’ John 8:7. What did Jesus write on the ground? It is impossible to know what Jesus wrote in the dust, John 8:6 / John 8:8.
Most believe that He began to write in Hebrew some verses from the Law that would shape His response to the dilemma. Two passages talk about God being the source of ‘living water.’ The first in the passage we have already read, Jeremiah 2:13. Please note the context of the second time Jeremiah uses the phrase ‘living waters’, Jeremiah 17:9-10 / Jeremiah 17:13.
Because Jesus must have been sitting and the woman standing, He now raises Himself up and speaks to her for the first time, John 8:10. His questions do not imply that the woman is innocent since, in John 8:11, He warns her to cease a sinful life that has been her habit. Jesus’ final words do not imply her innocence but reflect His power to forgive sin.
The portrait of the woman in this story is powerful. Our Lord’s implied judgment on her accusers and His mercy mixed with exhortation sets her free in a manner she never expected. And what Jesus did for this sinful woman, He can do for you as well.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a helpful reminder that thanksgiving is an important part of our daily lives. A thoughtful person knows that the capacities and opportunities we enjoy often should be credited less to ourselves and more to God. Tabernacles says, bring samples of what God has given you to the temple and with them in hand, wrapped in your personal lulav thank Him.