Leviticus Lesson 15

Leviticus

Lesson 15

Hi and welcome back to this study of Leviticus.

In our last lesson we discovered that God ordained 8 special Feasts (Sacred Assemblies) for the people of His nation, Israel, to observe. One of these, the Sabbath (Shabbat) was to be a weekly day of rest. The other 7 were appointed to be annual feasts (Sacred Assemblies).

In that previous lesson we learned about the first of the 8 Appointed Feasts (Sacred Assemblies), the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath).

In this lesson, we are going to begin to look at the other 7 Sacred Assemblies, which are also called Feasts, although we will discover that one of these is actually a fast day rather than a feast day.

Well, with that said and before I ruin the joy of discovery for you by telling you too much too soon, let's let you do some discovering of your own. And, yes, this means that it is time for an assignment.

So, your assignment now, is to get your Bible and read Leviticus Chapter 23. As you read this chapter, look for and underline or circle in BLUE (or in a color of your choice), the names of the 7 appointed feasts (Sacred Assemblies) that God commanded his people to observe annually. Also, some of you may have Bibles with the name of each feast already set apart as a title or heading. If so, great, underline or circle that to make it stand out and then number each feast 1, 2, 3, etc. For the rest of us, if there is no title or heading, make one. By that I mean, when you find the name of the feast (Sacred Assembly) and have underlined or circled it, write its name and number to the side, in the margin, at the beginning of where that particular feast is described so that it will stand out and be easy to find again in the future. For example, in the margin, just after verse 3 and beside verse 4, where the Feast (Sacred Assembly) of Passover is introduced, I wrote 1.Passover . Similarly, beside verse 6, I wrote in the margin, 2.Unleavened Bread. Ok, you have the idea and that is your assignment. When you have finished reading and writing, return here and we will continue.

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Finished? Great! and I am sure that you found all 7 and learned something about them. Actually in Leviticus 23 we only have a summary overview of these 7 Annual Appointed Feasts. And, most of these are described in more detail in various other Books of the Old Testament. But, for now, this overview will suffice for our purposes, which is to help us learn what they are, what they teach, and give us some clues as to what they picture or shadow.

And speaking of overview, before we go any farther in this lesson, it would be a good idea to summarize what have learned from reading this chapter concerning the 7 Annual Feasts (Sacred Assemblies) which God ordained. So, to do that, review what you read in Leviticus Chapter 23 and fill in the summary details on the following chart: I will do the first one for you as an example of how to do this.

The 7 ANNUAL Feasts (Sacred Assemblies) of God

.2.

Hmmmm. Very interesting. And, in case you are wondering about the Names of the months and what month, for example is the First month, and etc., let me fill you in on that and about the Jewish calendar in general.

The Jewish calendar actually has 2 "beginning" months, since they have both a Civil Calendar and a Sacred Calendar.

The Jewish Sacred calendar begins with its first month being Nisan (Abib) and this month corresponds approximately to our March-April. The reason for the overlap with these and other months on our calendar is that the Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the Moon (lunar cycles) and each of their months is 30 days long.

By contrast, you will recall, our months today are based on the solar (sun) cycle. Therefore, they vary in length, so we have to have a little "memory jogger" to help us remember how long each month is. So, we say "30 days hath September, April, June, and November -- all the rest have 31 excepting February alone which has 28 and 29 in leap year" in order to remember how long each of our months are today.

But, they did not need a "memory jogger", they just had 30 day months. However, this, too, has a problem, in that, as you have already suspected, there are going to be some problems if every month is 30 days long. Why? Well, think about it. 30 days x 12 months = 360 days. But, there are 365 days in a year. Soooo, what to do? Well, in order to add back the "missing days", about every three years or so they had to add in an extra month (called an "intercalary" month) of 30 days. This "intercalary" (inter=between +calary =in the calendar) month was called Adar Sheni (Second Adar) and it was called Second Adar because there was already an Adar. (Adar is the 12th month on their Sacred Calendar and the 6th month on their Civil calendar.)

Which brings us now to their Civil Calendar. The Jewish Civil Calendar begins in Tishri (Ethanim), which is also the 7th Month of their Sacred Calendar. Hmmm. Very confusing, you say. And, to tell you the truth, I agree.

But the reason for having 2 calendars is that the Sacred calendar is intended to be a perpetual reminder to the Jews of their Exodus from Egypt and the "beginning" of their independence as God's Nation. (In the same way, the "sacred calendar" for the United States of America, if there were one, would begin with the month of July, since July 4 was when America stopped being under the rule of England and had its "beginning" as an independent Nation.)

The miraculous events that God performed which resulted in their deliverance, freedom, and Exodus from the bondage of slavery in Egypt are recorded in the Book of Exodus. And now you know why that book is so named. Imagine that!

But, we digress. So let's continue with the explantion of the Sacred Calendar. The exodus from Egypt, which ended their 450 years of being in Egypt, most of which was in slavery and bondage, was on the 14th day of the Month of Nisan. This as you will recall from your reading and the summary information on the chart was when? Ie. What feast is an annual celebration of that event? = The feast of ___________________ .

Yes, Exactly correct! Passover is the Feast that celebrates the freedom of the Jewish Nation from their slavery and bondage in Egypt, It was on the night and day of Passover, that God redeemed them from their bondage and brought them out to begin life as a separate and independent nation, God's Nation! And from that time forward, it has been ordained by God that they observe that day, Passover, as an annual feast, a Sacred Assembly, in which they are to remember what God did for them. That event, Passover, occurred on the 14th of Nisan. So, Nisan (Abib) became the first month of their Sacred Calendar.

Wow!

Yes, they also still observe the Civil calendar. But, for the counting and calculating of the days and the times for the observance of their 7 Annual Feasts (Sacred Assemblies), they use the Sacred calendar. And now you know the "rest of the story".

However, you are probably now wondering what the names of their months are. So, to answer that, and so you can finish filling in the months on the previous chart, here is a summary of the Sacred and Civil calendar months on the Jewish Calendar.

The Jewish (Hebrew) Calendar

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Ok, Great. But, now you are probably wondering, where did Hanukkah and Purim come in? I don't remember reading about them in Leviticus, you say. And, yes, you are correct, they are not in Leviticus. Indeed, Hanukkah and Purim are celebrations that were added later, MUCH later, by the Jewish people, to commemorate 2 more very important events in the history of their nation. We do not have time to go into them now and they are NOT official Sacred Assemblies. I just added them so that you would know where they "fit" on the Jewish calendar. Should you want to know more about them, the events resulting in the Feast of Purim are recorded in the Book of Esther. And, the events resulting in Hanukkah are not recorded in the Bible at all. This holiday, Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Lights (Feast of Dedication), began after the Maccabees' victory and after the cleansing of the Temple, which had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes. You can read about this in the Apocrypha in the book of 1 Maccabees.

But, continuing on with the subject at hand, which is, of course, the 7 Sacred Assemblies (Feasts) which God commanded His People, the Jewish nation, to observe annually.

You know the Names of these feasts and When they occurred.

Now let's begin to discover what these 7 feasts teach, picture and shadow.

Look back at the information on the chart titled The Jewish (Hebrew) Calendar. As you look at that chart, do you notice anything interesting about WHEN the Feasts occur? Do they seem to come in groups?

Yes, indeed, they seem to be grouped. Put a circle around each group. (Don't include Hanukkah or Purim in this assignment.)

How many groups did you circle? _____________

Yes, you are correct if you noticed that there are three different groups of the Feasts. So, let's summarize what you learned about the timing of the Feasts and WHEN (what month, as reckoned on the Jewish Sacred calendar) they occurred. (I will begin the first one for you to show you "how" to do this assignment.)

The 3 feasts in the first group were in the _1st_ month, _Abib (Nisan)__ , and they were:

1. __Passover_________

2. ___________________

3. ___________________

The next feast was in the _____ month, ________________ , and it was:

4. ___________________

And the last group of feasts were in the _____ month, ______________ , and they were:

5.___________________

6. __________________

7. __________________

Now isn't that interesting. Seven feasts but they occurred in three separate months. This explains (again the Bible is always its own best commentary) why God said, in Exodus 34:23 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel. God had so spaced the trips so that _____ trips each year would allow them to observe all _____ feasts as commanded by Him.

On their FIRST journey each year, they would celebrate ________________ , ________________, and __________________ . These feasts were celebrated in the _______ month, named _____________ and the total time to observe these 3 feasts was _____ days.

On their SECOND trip each year, which was 7 weeks later and in the month of __________ , they would observe the feast of ________________ which lasted ______ day.

Then, their THIRD trip each year, was in the _____ th month, __________ and on this journey, they observed the feasts of ________________ , ___________________, and _________________ . The feasts in this group lasted __________ days, beginning on the first day of the month and ending on the 22nd, which was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Wow, now that is really interesting!!! Let's stop and think about this.

God planned these 3 journeys so that they would accomplish several purposes. One was that they would not have to make a "zillion" trips each year to obey His commands concerning their observance of these 7 Sacred Assemblies (feasts). Secondly, these were so spaced that they would NOT interfere with their planting or harvesting of crops (remember, they were an agricultural nation and farming was their PRIMARY source of work and income, so God certainly did not want to cause them a hardship in fulfilling their tasks). And, thirdly, and perhaps most interestingly, the spacing and timing of these journeys is actually Prophetic! These are not only feasts to be observed, but they also are pictures, shadows, types, prophecies of something to come!

Prophetic? Pictures? Shadows? Types? you ask. Yes! And in the next few lessons we will find out about these things.

But, before we do that, and, in case you are wondering what the "correct" answers were to those "fill in the blanks" questions, though I am sure you answered them correctly, they are: 3 (groups), 1st, Abib (Nisan), Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, 3rd (month), Sivan, Weeks (Pentecost), 7th (month), Tishri (Ethanim), Trumpets, Atonement (Yom Kippur), Tabernacles (Booths), 3 (trips), 7, Passover, Unleavened, Bread, Firstfuits, 1st, Abib (Nisan), 8 (days), Sivan, Weeks (Pentecost), 1 (day), 7th, Tishri (Ethanim), Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, 22.

So, summarizing what we have learned so far:

On their FIRST journey each year, they would celebrate Passover, Unleavened bread , and firstfruits . These feasts were celebrated in the 1st month, named Abib (Nisan) and the total time to observe these 3 feasts was 8 days.

On their SECOND trip each year, which was 7 weeks later and in the month of Sivan, they would observe the feast of Weeks (Pentecost) which lasted 1 day.

Then, their THIRD trip each year, was in the 7th month, Tishri (Ethanim), and on this journey, they observed the feasts of Trumpets, Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Tabernacles (Booths). The feasts in this cycle lasted 22 days, beginning on the first day of the month and ending on the 22nd, which was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Ok, let's continue. The next thing we need to know is: HOW are the 7 Feasts and the "timing" of their observance "prophetic"? What do they picture, shadow, or show as a type or illustration?

And to best way to begin to see this and to figure it out, is......you guessed it, is time for another assignment.

So your assignment now is: On the graphic provided below, enter the name of each of the 7 Annual Sacred Assemblies (feasts) in the order in which they are observed. (As usual, I will do the first one for you as an example of how to do this.)

The 7 Annual Feasts (Sacred Assemblies)

Interesting!

Not only are there 7 Feasts to be observed during the course of the Sacred Year on the Jewish Calendar, but you can easily see that these feasts are arranged in three groupings.

The first 4 feasts occurred in the _________ and consist of two groups.

Feasts 1,2,and 3 (the first group) occurred over an ______ day period of time and are collectively often called "_____________" although they specifically consisted of the Feasts of ________________ , ___________________, and _________________ .

The second "group" also occurred in the Spring and consisted of only one feast which lasted only ONE day but it required an additional trip to Jerusalem, separate from the Passover journey. Hence it is the second "group." The name of this 4th feast, which occurred (Lev 23:15) ______ (days) after the end of the 8 days of "Passover" was __________________ . Hmmmmm. Very interesting and hold that thought concerning "timing" of the 4th feast because it has very significant prophetic significance which we will look at in more detail in a later lesson in this series. So, don't go away. Keep on studying.

The Last 3 feasts occurred in the ____________ . These final 3 feasts also were in a group and, being in a group in which one feast followed the other sequentially, only one trip to Jerusalem was required in order to observe these. These final 3 feasts were the Feast of ______________ , the Feast of ______________ (also called Yom Kippur), and the Feast of ____________________ (also called the Feast of Booths).

You surely noticed that there were No feasts during the summer or winter months. How interesting! Especially the lack of feasts in the summer is interesting.

So, what happened during the summer months (the months of Tammuz, Ab, and Bul)? Well, looking again at that Chart of the Jewish Calendar, we see that during the summer, the Nation of Israel did NOT go to Jerusalem or observe any of 7 Sacred assemblies. Instead, they were working in their fields tending their __________ and observing the __________ of the grapes, figs, and olives. Then toward the end of the summer they were harvesting and _______________ the grapes, figs, and olives. That may sound like a lot of work and rather "unimportant" as a prophetic "type" or shadow", but as we will see in later lessons in this series, this is a very significant and important time on the Prophetic "time clock." So, again, keep studying. There is much more to learn.

But, speaking of time and calendars, this might be a good place to draw this lesson to a close as there has been a lot to think about and assimilate in this "overview" of the 7 Sacred Assemblies (Feasts). So, let's stop here. There is much more that we will learn from the study of the Feasts of God. Indeed, we have only begun to scratch the surface of the wonderful insights that God has revealed to His people and to any and all who will read and study His Word.

In our next lesson we will begin a more "in depth" study of the Feasts, specifically the FIRST group of the Spring feasts. So, catch your breath, sharpen your pencils and join us there.

Oh, and by the way, in case you are wondering (though I am sure you answered them correctly), the answers to that final series of "fill in the blank" questions are: Spring, 8 (day), "Passover", Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, 50, Feast of Weeks, Fall (Autumn), Trumpets, Atonement (Yom Kippur), Tabernacles (Booths), vines, ripening, processing,

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