Leviticus 16, 23, 25: Holy Time: The Day of Atonement, the Sabbath & the Three Festivals, Sabbath Years and Years of Jubilee
Introduction: The Rhythm of Life
Every community has a rhythm of life, a pattern. This is simply part of being creatures bound to time and space. We cannot be in all places everywhere. And so, every human society will always develop ways of determining how to be separate to do their work so they can live, and then come together, so they can be a community, and fellowship, and praise whatever it is they worship.
Now, even though we city slickers don’t realize it, our society is dependent on agriculture. If the crops fail, and our farmers go to the wall, we are in real trouble. For us in the city, food comes to us almost magically, mysteriously. It appears in our supermarkets in lovely neat packages. All we have to do is buy it and take it home, put it in the fridge, cook it and eat it. That's all. We don’t have to catch it, kill it or grow it. Because we urbanized Aussies are part of a global industrialized society. For the last 200 years, our wealth has been built on trade and specialization. As a result, most of us city dwellers live in blissful ignorance of where our food comes from. We don’t see the labour and toil, the heart-ache and pain, that goes into planting it, growing it, spraying it, harvesting it, storing it, killing it, refrigerating it, transporting it. When is harvest for wheat? When is lambing or calving season? I don’t know. Food just turns up magically in Aldi and IGA.
Our lives are not built around the harvest cycle, but around the school year. Now, not all of you have kids at home anymore. But School Holidays are so important for our church life (because of our kids ministries) that I set up our church life around the dates set by the NSW Department of Education and Training. The school year is set around Easter and Christmas, winter and summer, based on four terms. So to prepare for a year, I go to the NSW DET website, and work out when school holidays are. I divide our year into four school terms of about 10 weeks each. My sermon series more or less fit into a school term. School holidays are two weeks each, except for December-January. Sorry to burst your bubble friends, but we are more like a city church. We are not really a rural community. We are semi-rural. We drive past some cows and sheep, and market gardens, but almost none of us live off the land. Perhaps we have the best of both worlds.
Context
Old Testament Israel, by contrast, was a real subsistence agriculture society. You didn’t grow it, you didn't eat it. It was also a society that believed in Yahweh, the God of Israel, their creator and redeemer. And their lives revolved around sowing and reaping and harvest. Yahweh established their religious and social festivals around Him and his provision for them.
Today I’m going to talk about Israel’s regular annual holidays. Of course, our English word ‘holiday’ is a contraction of two words, ‘Holy Days’. And Israel’s ‘Holy Day’ was the Sabbath, the Saturday rest. And they also had three annual feasts.
Sabbath Day (Leviticus 23:3)
God provided his Old Testament people with a rhythm of life. Every week they had a Sabbath, the Saturday. From sundown on Friday night to Sunday morning, Israel was to rest and not work. The fourth commandment said, ‘Six days you shall work, but the seventh is a Sabbath day to the LORD Your God’. (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5).
The Atheistic French revolution tried to get rid of the seven-day pattern. They sought to impose a ten day pattern, nine days work and one day rest. But it was an abject failure.
That is another argument for the creation pattern of six days work and one day rest. But that’s what Atheism does. Atheism fights against reality. Atheism fights against the nature that God has built into his creation. Atheism is human arrogance defining and imposing it’s own order on God’s world. Only in so far as Atheism accidentally conforms to God’s nature and purpose for his creation, will Atheism ever succeed in everything. Otherwise Atheism is doomed to failure. Because Atheism is living in a fantasy, as it fights against God and God’s order. It is simply another expression of sin, of eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of God and evil. For it is humans wanting to be God, and making the rules.
The two reasons God gives rest to humanity is creation and redemption. The creation reason for rest is because God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And so should we. The redemption reason for rest is because Israel were slaves in Egypt, but God set Israel free to serve him. And Christ has set us free to serve him, so a community day of rest enables that for us, too.
Leviticus described the Sabbath as ‘a day of sacred assembly’ (Leviticus 23:3). In other words, the people are to meet together for worship of God and mutual encouragement of each other. [1] The Jewish synagogues grew up as a result of this. Synagogues are different to the temple or tabernacle. The temple or the tabernacle was the only place stipulated for sacrifice in Israel. Animal sacrifices in Israel could not be offered anywhere else. The temple proper was the place of the priests. Lay people could only come to the bronze altar in the outer court. In Herod’s temple, sure, there were additional courts for teaching. But these were strictly additions to the temple, and not the essence of the tabernacle’s design as it was given to Moses.
The synagogues, however, were local places of bible teaching and prayer. One day in seven, at least, Israelites in the villages met to read the bible and pray. Our Lord Jesus used to go to his local synagogue each Sabbath to learn and to teach, to pray and to praise God (Mark 1:21; Luke 4:16, 13:10-17).
And Christian church meetings are modeled not on the temple, but on Jewish synagogue practice.
Paul likewise used the Sabbath for gospel preaching to the Jews (Acts 13:14, 44; 14:1; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 11). And Paul used Sunday, the first day of the week, for Christian meetings, for breaking bread and gathering Christian giving (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). This was probably because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, the first day of the week. Perhaps within New Testament times, Sunday was called the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). Certainly by about 110AD, Sunday was called the Lord’s Day.[2]
So the Apostle Paul used both Saturday and Sunday for gospel preaching and Christian ministry, for teaching and preaching. What a great use of Saturday and Sunday![3] If your family responsibilities allow it, you too can use your weekends to serve God, like Paul.
The law of Leviticus still shows us God’s wisdom, but we are no longer under law. Leviticus chapter 23 verse 3 told Israel to rest on the seventh day and observe it as a sacred assembly. For them, they were commanded to take a day off from your normal work to gather with God’s people and hear God’s word. And that is godly and smart, both for them and for us. You can hardly be obeying God if you work 24/7 and have no time to meet with God’s people, to pray, or to hear God’s word.
But also consider what Paul says in Romans chapter 14 verses 5 to 6:
One man considers one day more sacred than another. Another man considers every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. (NIV)
We have a weekend. That’s quite a new thing, really. In fact, all over the world today, most people have a weekend. In some Muslim countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday. But in most countries, including the West, Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia, the modern weekday is Monday to Friday. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday. India has Sunday as the rest day. Our two-day weekend arose in the United States and England. It kept the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Lord’s Day free from secular and commercial business. And pragmatically, it allowed work maintaining the home, and other pursuits.
The thing we need to do with our days off, our rest days, is to be wise. We need to rest adequately from work to make our lives sustainable. We have family lives and responsibilities. We have bodies and families to tend. And the pattern of one day rest and six days work is God given with our needs in mind. And we need to meet with God’s people for corporate worship, learn from God’s word, and encourage each other. So Hebrews chapter 10 verses 24 to 25 says:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching. (NIV)
Like Jesus’ did, we need to keep coming to church, and learning the bible. Like Jesus, we need to take our part and role among the people of God. And like Paul, if you can do it, use all your weekend to serve God. Paul was single, and could use Saturday and Sunday for serving the Lord Jesus. He minimized his secular work to maximize his sacred work.
I have not imposed a law upon you as to how to use your weekend. I have said, ‘all the more’, not ‘you must’. The principle is ‘upsize’. More and more do the work that will last. And as you do it, rest along the way, so you can keep doing it, and remember why you are doing it.
It is wisdom to look at where the universe is going, and work toward the future world. Wisdom understands where we are heading and so labours for the new creation. But wisdom also sees the pattern in God’s existing creation, and conforms to it. As we travel through this creation to the next, we are eager to get there, but must take rest stops along the way.
The Three Feasts (Leviticus 23)
Each year in NSW, we have 4 school holidays. Three of them are two weeks long. And one of them is 6 weeks long. And while they can be exhausting for parents and grandparents, they are great times for kids and family life. And after school holidays, kids are keen to share what they did.
Israel likewise had three festivals, commanded by God. They involved food, and family time. They involved celebration and togetherness. They involved the community of Israel remembering who they were and where they came from.
Three times a year, in the first 5 books of the Old Testament, God commanded Israel to return to Jerusalem.[4] The first time was for the Passover and Feast of unleavened bread. (Leviticus 23:5-8). This was an eight-day feast. Israel came together in Jerusalem. The feast started with the sacrifice of the passover lambs in household groups. And the week focused on the temple. For the eight days, Israel gathered in Jerusalem and remembered her redemption from slavery in Egypt.
The next feast, the second, was a moveable feast. It started with the first sheave of grain being waved before Yahweh in the temple. None of the new harvest could be eaten until then. And then Israel counted 50 days until they offered the new grain. That 50 days allowed the gathering in of the harvest. And then Israel celebrated the feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:10-22). Again, there were burnt offerings, so it involved the temple and the priests.
The third feast was in the seventh month (Leviticus 23:23). The first day of the seventh month started with a sacred assembly in Jerusalem. Trumpets were sounded, and this was a rest day. Then the tenth day of the month was the Day of Atonement. It was a day of denial and rest. Probably this meant fasting. And then, on the 15th day of the month, the feast of tabernacles commenced (Leviticus 23:33-36, 39-43). This went for a week. Israel was to take branches and big leaves from palm trees and willows. And God said they should rejoice before God for seven days in Jerusalem. Thou shalt rejoice and be happy. Israel was to live in temporary shelters, tents, for seven days: The feast reminded Israel of the tents they lived in when they came out of Egypt.
When Jesus came to his own country of Israel, he attended the feasts of Israel in Jerusalem, according to everything the law taught. And he fulfilled the law of Moses for us.
Now, we are Gentiles. And for us, these festivals explain what Jesus came to do. But we are not bound to observe them, for they were given to point us to Christ. So Colossians chapter 2 verses 16 to 17 says:
Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (NIV)[5]
All these feasts point to Christ. As many feasts as Israel had, they point to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
Take the first, Passover and Unleavened Bread. Jesus at the Passover feast reinterpreted it. He said the unleavened bread was his body. He said the cup was his blood. And the next day, the day after the Passover lambs were slaughtered, Jesus was slaughtered. For Christ is our Passover Lamb. And he was sacrificed as the firstborn son so God can pass over us and our sin, and not punish us for our sin. Christ was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus also re-appropriated the second feast, the feast of firstfruits and Pentecost. When Jesus rose from the dead, he was the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). The Risen Jesus himself was like the first sheave that was waved by the Priest. Christ’s resurrection is the first of the whole harvest. He is the beginning of the harvest of the resurrection
On the day of Pentecost, following his resurrection, the church too received the firstfruit of the Spirit (Romans 8:23). Our faith, our new birth, and our receipt of the Spirit, are the firstfruits of God’s harvest (2 Thessalonians 2:13; James 1:18). And you lot, my friends, are the firstfruits of God’s harvest in Mulgoa and Warragamba. Through new birth and faith and receipt of the Spirit, we are the firstfruits of the harvest God is having among the Gentiles in our part of the world through the gospel (Romans 1:13). The gospel is still going out, and more of the harvest is being gathered and brought in. We in fact join in the harvesting as co-workers. And Jesus will complete the harvest when he returns at the general resurrection of the dead. He will then take his winnowing fork and complete the work of harvesting, burning the chaff with unquenchable fire, but gathering the wheat into his barn.
And Christ is the fulfillment of the third feast. The most important day of the year in the Jewish Calendar occurred during the third feast. This was the great Day of Atonement. Our Old Testament reading was about the Day of Atonement ritual.
Now, of course, every day was a Day of Atonement at the temple. That’s what tabernacle and temple existed for. Every morning and every evening at the temple, a lamb without blemish was offered as a whole burnt offering. Every Sabbath, two were offered in the morning, and two were offered in the evening. For individual sins, offerings needed to be made, as and when they happened. Vows and free will offerings had to be paid. All of them required blood.
But the Day of Atonement was special. On that day only, the High Priest only was allowed into the Holy of Holies. Leviticus chapter 16 verses 1 and 2:
The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. (NIV)
The High Priest could not go into the Holy of Holies when he liked. Here was, probably, another mistake of Aaron’s two oldest sons. In the temple courtyard and the outer room, the priests did their daily ministry. But only once a year, one man alone, the High Priest, went behind the curtain, into the holy of holies, into the presence of God. Only once a year and one man alone, was allowed into the Most Holy Place, also called the Holy of Holies, the symbolic throne room of Yahweh, the Great King of Israel. And the High Priest had to enter the presence of Yahweh in a particular way.
The high priest first had to wear the right gear; not his beautiful bejeweled and shimmering blue and red royal robes. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest wore plain white robes of pristine linen. He must bathe. And then the High Priest put on the under garments, and then the linen robes and turban. The High Priest then offered extremely expensive sacrifices for his own sins: A bull for his own sin offering, then two goats were presented to the Lord He cast lots, and one goat was sacrificed as a sin offering for Israel, and the other goat became the scapegoat. Now, you’ve heard of the scapegoat, haven’t you? A scapegoat is someone who gets blamed for everything that happens. It was Goldstein in Orwell’s 1984. Leviticus chapter 16 verse 10 tells us about the scapegoat:
But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. (NIV)
Then Aaron goes into the Holy Place. He puts incense on the Altar of Incence so that it will be smokey, so he won’t see the atonement cover on the Ark of the Covenant. He then sprinkles the blood of the bull before the Ark of the Covenant. That is for his sins. Then he sprinkles the blood of the goat there. That is for Israel’s sins.
And friends, our New Testament reading tells us that Jesus did this very thing for us. By Jesus’ death, Jesus went into the very presence of God in heaven and offered his own blood for our forgiveness. The tabernacle of Israel was simply a little model of what Jesus came to do for us in the heavenly places.
Then, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went back out to the bronze altar. And after atoning for the altar with the blood, we read in Leviticus chapter 16 verses 20 to 22:
20 "When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. (NIV)
And friends, that, too, is what Jesus did on the cross. The Day of Atonement, the one day that dealt with sins in the calendar of Israel, points to the one day that really dealt with sins. The sins of the world were dealt with on a single day, on the first Good Friday. All of our sins were placed on the head of the Son of God. When he was abandoned there outside the city of Jerusalem. There on the cross, Jesus was bearing our wickedness on his head. And he called out, ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me’. Only Jesus Christ knew his own suffering at that point, in that solitary place. He was uniquely alone as he bore our sin and wickedness on his head. Jesus is our scapegoat, who bears our sins on a single day.
Let’s pray.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synagogue
[2] Ignatius of Antioch. Epistle to the Magnesians, Shorter Version 9.
See http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-magnesians-roberts.html
[3] http://christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t007.html
[4] Deuteronomy 16:16: Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed (NIV)
[5] Galatians 4:9-11: 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (NIV)