The appointed times (mo’edim)
In Leviticus 23, God calls the festivals “the feasts of the LORD.” The Hebrew word mo’edim (מוֹעֲדִים) means appointed times, like a meeting God Himself set. Israel kept seven of them every year. Four come in the spring and three in the fall.
Paul writes that these days are “a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17). Many Christians read the spring feasts as fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming. They also look to the fall feasts as pointing toward His return.
Read: Leviticus 23 · Colossians 2:16–17 · Hebrews 10:1
Passover (Pesach): the Lamb
Passover remembers the night in Egypt when the blood of a spotless lamb on the doorposts saved Israel’s firstborn (Exodus 12). Jesus was crucified at Passover. John the Baptist had already called Him “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
At His last Passover meal, Jesus took the bread and cup and gave them new meaning as His body and blood. Paul writes plainly: “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). John also notes that, like the Passover lamb, none of His bones were broken (John 19:36; Exodus 12:46).
Read: Exodus 12 · Isaiah 53:7 · Luke 22:7–20 · 1 Corinthians 5:7
Unleavened Bread (Matzot): the sinless body
For seven days after Passover, Israel removed all leaven, which Scripture often uses as a picture of sin. Jesus, who “knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), was laid in the tomb during this feast. He called Himself the bread of life, born in Bethlehem, whose name means “house of bread.”
Read: Leviticus 23:6–8 · John 6:35 · 1 Corinthians 5:8
Firstfruits (Bikkurim): the resurrection
On the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, the first sheaf of the barley harvest was waved before the LORD (Leviticus 23:10–11). Jesus rose on the first day of the week, and Paul calls Him “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). His resurrection is the first sheaf, the promise of a coming harvest.
Read: Leviticus 23:9–14 · 1 Corinthians 15:20–23
Pentecost (Shavuot): the Spirit poured out
Fifty days after Firstfruits, Shavuot celebrated the wheat harvest. Jewish tradition also connects it with the giving of the Law at Sinai. On that very feast, the Holy Spirit came on the disciples in Jerusalem, and about three thousand people believed (Acts 2). The Law was written on stone at Sinai, and now, as Jeremiah promised, it would be written on hearts.
Read: Leviticus 23:15–22 · Jeremiah 31:33 · Joel 2:28–29 · Acts 2
Trumpets (Yom Teruah): the coming King
The fall feasts open with a day of trumpet blasts (Leviticus 23:24). The New Testament connects the return of Christ with a trumpet: “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout… and with the trump of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16; see also 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Matthew 24:31). Many believers see the Feast of Trumpets as a picture of that announcement.
Read: Leviticus 23:23–25 · Matthew 24:31 · 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): cleansing and judgment
Once a year, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with blood for the sins of the nation (Leviticus 16). Hebrews teaches that Jesus entered heaven itself “by his own blood… having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The prophets also describe a future day when Israel will look on “me whom they have pierced” and mourn, and a fountain will be opened for cleansing (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1).
Read: Leviticus 16 · Hebrews 9:11–28 · Zechariah 12:10–13:1 · Romans 11:26
Tabernacles (Sukkot): God dwelling with us
For a week, Israel lived in booths to remember God’s care in the wilderness. John writes that the Word “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), and the Greek word there means “tabernacled.” At this same feast, Jesus stood up and offered living water (John 7:37–38).
Zechariah 14 foresees the nations coming up to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Revelation ends with the words: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:3).
Read: Leviticus 23:33–43 · John 1:14 · John 7:37–39 · Zechariah 14:16 · Revelation 21:3
Hanukkah and Purim
Two later festivals appear in Jewish life as well. Jesus walked in the temple during the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah (John 10:22–23). There He called Himself the Good Shepherd and said, “I and my Father are one.” Purim, from the book of Esther, celebrates God protecting His people even when His name is never spoken in the story.
Read: John 10:22–30 · Esther 4:14 · Esther 9:20–28
Prophecies of His first and second coming
The Hebrew Scriptures describe a Messiah who suffers and a Messiah who reigns. He would be born of the line of David (Isaiah 11:1), in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He would enter Jerusalem humbly on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9), be pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5), and not be abandoned to the grave (Psalm 16:10). He would also come “with the clouds of heaven” and receive an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13–14) and stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4).
Christians believe the spring feasts were fulfilled in order at His first coming, at the exact appointed times. The fall feasts still wait for His return. Jesus Himself pointed to that day: “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:11).
Read: Micah 5:2 · Isaiah 53 · Zechariah 9:9 · Daniel 7:13–14 · Zechariah 14:4 · Acts 1:11
This is a devotional study from the D’vash house journal. Christians hold different views on how the fall feasts relate to the order of end-time events, so read each passage in its context.