Leviticus 23

In this chapter we have the feasts laid out for us. They are referred to here as the “solemn feasts”. There were 7 of these feasts, and 7 being the number of completion, they show us the COMPLETENESS of God’s relationship with us. The feasts are:

1. Passover
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread
3. Feast of First Fruits
4. Pentecost
5. Feast of Trumpets
6. Day of Atonement
7. Feast of Tabernacles

Along with these feasts was included the SABBATH which was a weekly occurrence.

Now, there are MANY things that we can learn from these feasts… they are all symbolic of Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him! I wish we could go through them and talk about the significance of each one, but that would take FOREVER! So, what we will do is just focus on one simple element…

I want us to note the REGULARITY of these feasts. Once a week they would celebrate the Sabbath, a day SET APART for the Lord, and then SEVEN other times throughout the year they would all gather together for a great celebration, and a remembrance of who God was in their lives. You see, the Lord wanted to maintain a place of centrality in their lives. He didn’t want to be pushed to the background… He wanted to be their everything!

So today, though we don’t have feasts, we DO have reminders of the place the Lord is to hold in our lives. We have the command in scripture to “forsake not the assembling of ourselves together.” This is why we need to stay in fellowship… why we need to be around other believer’s! Though we may not celebrate the Jewish feasts, we do have potlucks, and barbeques, and all sorts of youth group events. All of these things serve to remind us of our relationship with the Lord and with one another. Just like the Israelites, we are one big family, being led through this world by the Lord.