Transcript Feasts of the Israelites Happy Birthday Judy and Robin!  Why birthdays, holidays, feast days? –We Remember – We Celebrate –We Believe Feasts of the Israelites  Pre-exilic Feasts – The Sabbath – Passover.

Feasts of the
Israelites
Happy Birthday Judy and
Robin!

Why birthdays, holidays, feast
days?
–We Remember
– We Celebrate
–We Believe
Feasts of the Israelites

Pre-exilic Feasts
– The Sabbath
– Passover and Unleavened Bread
– Pentecost
– Tents or Tabernacles
– New Year Feast?
– Enthronement of Yahweh?
Feasts of the Israelites
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Later Old Testament Feasts
–Day of Atonement
–Hanukkah
–Purim
Jewish Calendars

Elohist Code (Exod 23:14-17)
– Prescribes a hag or pilgrimage three
times a year
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Pilgrimage of the unleavened bread in the
month of Abib or Nisan (March – April - May)
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Pilgrimage of the grain harvest (late spring)
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Pilgrimage of the fruit harvest (autumn)
Jewish Calendars
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Yahwist Code (Exod 34:18-23)
– Same as Elohist with slight variances
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Pilgrimage of the grain harvest the Feast of
Weeks
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Pilgrimage of the fruit harvest remembered
at the turn of the year (also means close of
the year)
– In reality the dates were not fixed, but moved
in accordance with the agricultural seasons
– Each locale actually determined its own
dates within the prescribed seasons before
centralization of worship
– The pilgrimage was to a local shrine
Jewish Calendars
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Deuteronomic Code (Deut 16:1-7)

Introduces slight changes to the Elohist and
Yahwist codes, primarily around the location of
the pilgrimage, “in the place in which he (Yahweh)
will choose”
– Three Annual Pilgrimage Feasts
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Passover joined with Unleavened Bread
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Weeks (takes place seven weeks after the
beginning of the grain harvest)
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Tabernacles or Tents (corresponds to the fruit
harvest
Jewish Calendars
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Priestly Collection
– More precise in regards to dates
– Belongs to a new calendar (Babylonian) … year
begins in the spring instead of the autumn)
– Problematic because Lev 23 indicates the
calendar of a combination of two sources:

two titles (vv 2 and 4)
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and two endings (vv 37 and 44)
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two sets of prescriptions for the Feast of
Tabernacles (vv 34 and 36 plus 39-43)
Jewish Calendars
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Priestly Code Sources
– Holiness Code from the end of the Royal
priesthood period (Lev 4: 3, 35)
– Exilic and post-exilic additions
– Royal Priesthood Breakdown

Passover (4 - 8) … celebrated on the 14th of Nisan
… followed by the ancient week long feast of
Unleavened Bread
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Weeks (16 – 21a) … celebrated fifty days after
the Feast of Unleavened Bread
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Tabernacles (34b – 36) … begins on the 15th of
Tishri (September/October) and lasts for seven
days followed by a day of rest
Jewish Calendars
– Royal Priesthood Breakdown (Post-exilic Feasts)
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Sabbath (3)
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Feast of Sheaf (10 -15)
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Celebration of the first of Tishri (24 – 25)
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Day of Atonement (27 – 32) … 10th of Tishri and a
different ritual for the Feast of Tabernacles
The Priestly Collection Prevailed!
Feasts of the Israelites
Sabbath (Shabbat)

Genesis 2:3 … Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which
God had created and made.”
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Exodus 20:8-10 … “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it
holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God”
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Jewish tradition … Sabbath begins on Friday evening and
ends 25 hours later.
– All work ceases during this period
– Welcomed with a small ceremony during which the mother blesses the
Lord as she lights two candles, the parents bless their children, and the
father blesses and shares wine and bread among the family members.
– Much of the day is spent in the synagogue, the rest in the home with
family and friends
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Havdalah marks the end of the Sabbath at around sunset on
Saturday.
Unleavened Bread
(Chag HaMatzot)
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Sometimes linked with the Passover, but it is its own feast
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Leviticus 23:6 …“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread”

–
When Israelites were preparing to leave Egypt, they were commanded to remove all traces of
leaven (symbolic for sin) from their homes
–
as the Angel of Death passed over the homes with blood on the doorposts, the lack of Leaven
further signified their righteousness
Unleavened bread was eaten with roasted Passover Lamb on the evening of
the fourteenth day of the first month
–
Reflects suddenness of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt
–
Bread simply did not have time to rise
–
Israel’s final deliverance may be as sudden and unexpected
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Exodus 12:39 … “And they baked unleavened bread cakes of the dough
which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they
were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions
for themselves.”
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Today, those who keep feast purchase unleavened bread called Matza
(Kosher for Passover)
–
All non-Kosher product covered up for the duration of the week. Ordinary bread can be found nowhere in the home
Passover (Pessach)
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Combined with the Feast of Unleavened Bread
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Pertinent Scriptures (Priestly tradition) … Leviticus 23:5-8, Numbers
28:16-25, Exodus 12:1-20, 40-51.
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Celebrated with the full moon of the first month of the year, Nisan
(March –April)
– On the tenth of Nisan an unblemished male, one year old lamb was
selected
– At twilight on the fourteenth day the lamb was slaughtered and the blood
was sprinkled on the lintels and doorposts of the house
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During the night of the full moon the lamb was roasted and eaten
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No bones could be broken
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Whatever was leftover had to be burned
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Unleavened bread and bitter herbs were part of the meal
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Had to dressed as if ready for a journey
Passover (PessacH)
(Continued)
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Deuteronomy 16:1-8 (Deuteronomic Tradition melds two feasts …
Passover and Unleavened Bread) … “Observe the month of Abib by
keeping the Passover of the Lord, your God, since it was in the
month of Abib that he brought you out of Egypt. You shall offer the
Passover sacrifice from your flock or your herd to the Lord, your God,
in the place which he chooses as the dwelling place of his name.
You shall not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days, you shall
eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction …”
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In the place which he chooses … is the Temple
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This tradition is followed under Josiah (2 Kings 23:21-23) ( 2
Chronicles 35:1-18)
Passover (Pessach)
(Continued)
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Exodus 12:13, 23, 27 (Popular explanation)
– Linked with the destroying angel passing by the homes of
Hebrews during the execution of plague ten
– No other Israelite ritual parallels the Passover
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Passover celebration is called the Seder meaning
order in which the feast is conducted
– Begins at sundown and is conducted from the Haggadah
(the Telling)
– Seder plate is the centerpiece of the table with five dishes
around a bowl of salt water
– Each dish holds an item with significant meaning
Feast of Weeks
(ShavuoT)
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Deuteronomy 16:9-10 … “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the
seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then you shall keep
the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your
hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.”
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Leviticus 23:15-16 … “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath,
from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be
completed. Count fifty days to that day after the seventh Sabbath; the you shall offer a
new grain offering to the Lord.”
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Shavuot is sometimes know as Pentecost because it falls on the 50th day after the
Passover
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Jews count off the days separating the Feast of Unleavened Bread from Shavuot called
“counting the Omer”
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–
Starts on the second day of Passover and continues to the day before Shavuot, 49 days or seven full weeks
–
Links Passover (delivered Jews from physical slavery) and Shavuot (freed Jews from slavery to idolatry and
immortality
Falls on the 6th day of the month of Sivan
–
Work is forbidden
–
Jews will stay awake through the first night of Shavuot and study the Torah, then pray as early as possible in the
morning
–
Book of Ruth is read at this time
One dairy meal is eaten at this time to remind them of the promised Land that flows with
milk and honey
Feast of Booths
Sukkot
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Also known as the Feast of Tabernacles
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Also associated with the Feast of Ingathering (Chag HaAsif)
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Fall feast of eight days which marked the fruit, olive, wine and late grain
harvests (September/early October)
–
Deuteronomy 16:13 … “You shall celebrate the feast of booths for seven days when
you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press … For
seven days you shall celebrate this pilgrim feast in honor of the Lord, your God, in
the place where he chooses; since the Lord, your God, has blessed you in all your
crops and in all your undertaking, you shall do naught, but make merry.”
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Hebrews of Exodus lived in booths for 40 years as a result of their unbelief
and disobedience
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Sukkah (better translated as shed or shack) is a place where the Jews ate
meals in this time of transitory life
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Tabernacle is translated as Mishkan or “tent of meeting”
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Booths are temporary structures
Feast of Booths
Sukkot (continued)
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Seventh of the seven feasts in the Torah
– Seven denotes completeness
– Living and eating in the Sukkot is a reminder that our life is only
temporary
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Pictorial ritual using a citron and branches from three trees, bound
together, represent four sorts of people bound together is one Jewish
nation under God’s care
– Etrog (sweet smell and taste) = people who read the Torah and do good
… Citron is a citrus fruit looks like a lemon
– Lulav (sweet taste and no smell) = people who read the Torah and don’t
do good … Date palm branches/leaves
– Hadas (no taste and sweet smell) = people who don’t read Torah and do
good … Myrtle branches/leaves
– ARaVah (no taste and no smell) … people who don’t read the Torah or
do good … Willow branches/leaves
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God looks after us and wants us to be like the Etrog
Day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur)
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Leviticus 16:29-31… “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your
souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or
a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest shall
make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from
all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you,
and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever ...”
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Celebrated on the ninth day of Tishri
– Often called holiest day of Jewish calendar
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Yom Kippur is the end of a ten day period, known as the Days of
Awe
– Begins with the Feast of Trumpets
– Period of deep soul searching for understanding of how a Jewish person
has lived their life in the previous year
– A time to mend broken relationships
New Moon
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Commemoration to Yahweh on the first day of each month
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Number 28:11-15 … “On the first of each new month you shall
offer as a holocaust to the Lord two bullocks, one ram, and
seven unblemished yearling rams with three tenths of an
ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as the cereal offering for the
ram …”
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Begins on the first of each month at the new moon beginning
on the evening when the crescent of the new moon first
appears
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Not much background on this feast
Jubilee
Sabbath of Sabbath Year
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Leviticus 25:8 … “Seven weeks of years shall you count – seven
times seven years – so that the seven cycles amount to 49 years.
Then on the tenth day of the seventh month let the trumpet resound;
on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo
throughout your land. The fiftieth year you shall make sacred by
proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a
jubilee for you.”
– All land is to be returned to its original owner
– All Israelite salves were to be freed
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Belonged to the Priestly source which is concerned with observing
holy seasons and periodization of history.
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Produce of the sixth year would suffice for the seventh year
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah
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Leviticus 23:24-25 … Speak to the children of Israel saying, “In the seventh
month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbathrest, a
memorial of blowing trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary
work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.”
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Blowing of a ram’s horn is associated with ushering in biblical festivals
–
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Shofar is a ram’s horn … connects with God’s provision to Abraham of a ram
sacrifice, in place of his own son, Isaac
Shofor
–
Symbolizes freedom and liberty
–
Proclaims the anniversary of the creation of the world
–
Reminds the Israelites of the ten commandments at Mt Sinai
–
Sound will chase Satan away
–
On Rosh Hashanah the ram’s horn is blown some 100 times … sounded to inspire
Israel to amend their lives
Festival of Lights
(Chanukah)
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John 10:22-23 … “The Feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It
was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.”
–
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Celebrates the events of a revolt led by Judah Macabee in 165 BC (1 Maccabees 4:5259) against the Greeks who built an image of Zeus on top of the temple altar and
desecrated the temple by sacrificing pigs. Fulfilled the book of Daniel
–
–
–
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Only reference in the Bible
Temple is cleansed and rededicated; however, there was only enough purified olive oil to light the
Menorah (seven branch candelabra) in the Temple for one day
Required eight days to purify
The Menorah (lampstand) burned miraculously for eight days
Falls on the 25th of Kislev (November or December)
–
–
–
–
–
Celebrated for eight days
A nine candle holder is used (Chanukah) with one extra candle being lit each day
Ninth candle is called the servant candle (ha Shamash) … used to light the other candles …
servant candle is interesting to the Christian who remembers the Suffering Servant who came to
be the light of the world.
Celebrated with foods cooked in oil, especially doughnuts
Children play with a driedel (spinning top) which has four letters that represent four word
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Ness = miracle … Gadol = great … Hayah = happened … Sham = here
Translated “A great miracle happened here.”
First Fruits
(Bikurim)
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Leviticus 23:14 … Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you
come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall
bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the
sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the
Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
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Occurs immediately after the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
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–
A holy convocation, a Sabbath
–
Included a sheaf of wheat, a male lamb less than a year old, a cake of grain mixed with oil, and
about three-and-a-half liters of wine.
Israelites could not enjoy leavened bread (after the seven-day Feast of
Unleavened Bread) until after they offered the first fruits to the Lord
–
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Leviticus 23:“You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that
you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations
in all your dwellings.”
First Fruits also is noted in 1 Corinthians 15 where Jesus is called the
Firstfruits
– Day on which Jesus was found to be risen from the dead
Works Cited and Other Resources
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Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament. New
York: Paulist Press, 1984.
Anderson, Bernhard. Understanding the Old
Testament. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 1998.
“Feast Days of Israel.” The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary. Ed. Raymond Brown. Upper
Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 1990.
Goodenough, Stan. “The Biblical Feasts.” His People
Israel My Beloved My Beloved.
http://www.israelmybeloved.com/channel/his_
people