Leviticus 23: Seven Commemorative Feasts

Leviticus 23 instructs the Israelites to observe 7 feasts or festivals every year.^[1]For an excellent video on this subject see: A crash course in Jewish feasts and holidays, accessed 3.22.22. Four of these holy days, or holidays, took place during the Spring harvest season, and the remaining three during the Fall harvest. The 7 commemorative feasts are as follows:

1. Passover
2. Unleavened Bread
3. Firstfruits
4. Pentecost
5. Trumpets
6. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
7. Tabernacles

These Jewish holidays have deep import for Latter-day Saints and our other Christian friends. It is really good for us to understand why these holy days were given and what they represent. Christianity came out of Judaism, as the Savior Jesus Christ was an observant Second Temple Jew. By knowing this and understanding some of these characteristics of ancient Judaism, we can better understand our own spiritual heritage.

It is important to understand that neither the Bible for Christians nor the Torah for Jews gives very many details on how exactly these feasts are to be celebrated. This is a general overview, and it is good to know that these traditions were practiced in different ways in different times. Not all Jews practice these things in the same way, nor do I believe they did so anciently, as the Hebrew Bible as we now have it is a minority report.^[2]William G. Dever, The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: Where Archaeology and the Bible Intersect, Eerdmans, 2012.

Spring

Today, the Passover feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and a Feast of Firstfruits are all generally considered part of “Passover Week.” The Passover meal occurs on the 14th or 15th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls in either March or April of our Western calendar (Lev. 23.5). The meal commemorates when death “passed-over” the Israelites enslaved in Egypt and when they were delivered from Egypt as per the Old Testament and the Torah (Exodus 12).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is celebrated for the next 7 days after the Passover meal (Lev. 23.4-8). During this time, participants make sure that the bread or grains they eat are unleavened. There is much to consider in this holiday, as the symbol of leaven was used by Jesus and his disciples as a teaching device. After the first Passover as recorded in scripture, the Israelites immediately left Egypt. There wasn’t time to let the bread rise, so they baked unleavened dough. This feast calls to remembrance that journey out of Egypt. Yeast or leaven is also sometimes compared to sin in scripture (Matt 16.6; 1 Cor. 5.6-8). In preparation for Passover week, Jews search throughout their houses, eliminating any and all leavened foods or leavening agents. Eradicating these items represents removing sin from your life, and the difficulty this reminds us how we need God’s help in the repentance process.

Shortly after the Passover meal, during the week-long feast of Unleavened Bread, anciently, Israelites celebrated another feast called the Feast of Firstfruits, (Lev. 23.9-14) during which they would offer as a sacrifice at the temple their first bushel of grain from the season’s first harvest as a show of gratitude. This was called a wave offering. Seven weeks after Firstfruits, on the day after the Sabbath (Lev. 23.15-16), the Jews celebrated the summer harvest during the next feast, called the Feast of Weeks^[3]See Acts 2. — also known as Shavuot, or Pentecost^[4]The day of Pentecost seven weeks after the Feast of Firstfruits, and because of the coming of the Holy Ghost, in the Early Christian formation of the church, 3,000 souls were baptized on that day … Continue reading, which is a word derived from the Greek word for fifty.^[5]Acts 2.1 reads … Continue reading

In addition to the harvest, this day memorializes the giving of the Law to the Israelites by Moses on Mt. Sinai.^[6]See Exodus 19.1: “In the third month when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” Following a somewhat loose … Continue reading

These Spring Jewish holidays also have special significance for Christians, as they each are types or shadows of events from the New Testament.^[7]See Jacob 4.4 and Moses 6.63. Moses 6.63 reads, “And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and … Continue reading Just as a sacrificial lamb saved the Israelite slaves during Passover, Jesus Christ was the sacrificial lamb who was killed on Passover, and was resurrected 3 days later as “the firstfruits of them that slept.” Fifty days after Christ’s death when disciples celebrated the summer harvest during Pentecost, there was a great outpouring of the spirit which led to thousands of baptisms — a harvest of souls.^[8]Acts 2.1-41 reports that when many Jews heard the testimony of Christ’s apostles, they were converted to Christ as their savior and that 3,000 souls were baptized.

Fall Holy Days

Next, we have the Fall holy days, which begin with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Ha-Shanah, or the Feast of Trumpets; which are also known as the day of remembrance. This holy day occurs on the first day of the 7th month in the Hebrew calendar, or in September or October on our calendars. On this holiday you might hear the occasional blast of the ram’s horn, or shofar. The sounding of the shofar and the different blasts are symbolic of several different things. Latter-day Saint scholar Lenet Read noted four purposes of the Feast of Trumpets as outlined by Jewish Scholars: “It signifies (1) the beginning of Israel’s final harvest, (2) the day God had set to remember His ancient promises to regather Israel, (3) a time for new revelation that would lead to a new covenant with Israel, and (4) a time to prepare for the Millennium.”^[9]Lenet Read, The Golden Plates and the Feast of Trumpets, Ensign, January 2000.

Interestingly, in 1827 Rosh Ha-Shanah fell on September 22nd — the very day that Joseph Smith received the ancient Book of Mormon plates from the angel Moroni.^[10]Rosh Hashana dates, accessed 3.22.22. Taking into account what this day signifies, and considering the purpose of the Book of Mormon as the call to remember the Savior, there must be some purpose in the Lord choosing this day to bring it to the earth.^[11]Lenet Read writes, “Since this feast was ripe with meaning for the theme of the regathering of Israel, it is unlikely this timing was accidental. Indeed, young Joseph was asked to meet Moroni for … Continue reading

The Feast of Trumpets also marks the beginning of a 10-day period known as the “Days of Awe.”^[12]See: The Jewish Virtual Library, Days of Awe – Asseret Yimei T’Shuva, accessed 3.20.22. These are days of repentance in preparation for the next holiday which occurs at the end of the 10 days, called the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. On this day anciently, the Israelite high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the temple and sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the lid of the ark of the covenant as an act of atonement for the sins of Israel. In Judaism today, this day is treated with reverence and respect. Many Jews fast, pray, and attended synagogue. Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur are considered the “High Holy Days” of Judaism.

The final Fall feast occurs a few days after Yom Kippur and is called Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. During this week-long commemoration, observers live in makeshift tents or shelters in commemoration of the 40 years the Israelites lived in temporary dwellings before inheriting their promised land. Latter-day Saints know from the Book of Mormon that when the Nephites came to the temple to hear the words of King Benjamin that they were in their “tents.”^[13]Mosiah 2:5-6. Each tent contained one family. Israel also pitched tents by families in the wilderness (Numbers 2:34). They dwelt in tents at the time they covenanted with God at Sinai (Deuteronomy … Continue reading The Nephites all gathered around the temple and set up their tents while they listen to the speech (and probably coronation of the new king!) of King Benjamin. This was the First Israelite Temple Drama^[14]Some Biblical scholars call this the “Festal Drama.”, something filled with ritual, the Cosmic Myth, tradition, kingship, and messages about the Great Messiah who would come to earth and redeem the world.^[15]See: Mike Day, Overview of the First Israelite Temple Drama. Scholars Stephen Ricks and LeGrand Baker have written much on this subject in their book Who Shall Ascend to the Hill of the Lord?: The Psalms in Israel’s Temple Worship and in the Book of Mormon.^[16]The authors of this wonderful text have made a PDF available in many locations on the internet. Here is one location it can be downloaded.

Videos on the subject:

Saints Unscripted: A Crash Course in Jewish Feasts and Holidays

Messages of Christ is a YouTube channel with excellent content.

Here are a few relevant videos from that channel:

Understanding Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah  

Understanding the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur

Understanding the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth  

Understanding the Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks  

Jesus Christ: The Passover Lamb   

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