I was reading along in Bible class recently in Exodus 23. This is the first reference to the three pilgrimage feasts that the Israelites were commanded to celebrate. The nations men had to physically gather in Jerusalem for each of these festivals. In verses 14-16, they are called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering. It occurred to me that I didn’t really know much about these, so I decided to study them a little for you.
Ill start with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This feast lasted for seven days after The Passover, of which it’s closely linked to. It commemorated the tenth plague in Egypt in which God passed over the families that painted the blood of a lamb on their doorposts (Exodus 12). This was the final plague that got Pharoah to finally free the Israelites.
During this feast, the Hebrews were only allowed to eat unleavened bread. This, of course, is bread that has no leaven, or yeast, in it to prevent it from rising. Think of more like pita bread. This was to symbolize a spiritual purity and not having sin within the community.
Now, as we know, hind sight is twenty-twenty. We can see today that much of what is in the Old Testament pointed to the coming Messiah. So, with that we all should be asking ourselves, how is this feast helping us shed light on Jesus? The Apostle Paul helps us see this in his first letter to the church at Corinth. He wrote that Christ is our Passover (5:7). Just as the Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb, we too are saved by the blood of thee Lamb of God. When we wash ourselves with Christ’s blood in baptism, God forgives us our sins.
Next, was the Feast of Harvest. This feast was also known as the Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:26-31) which comes from the seven weeks it took to come to the fiftieth day, or Day of Pentecost which was the feast day. This was to commemorate the giving of the law by Moses as they presented the firstfruits of grain they harvested in that time. God always required the firsts of they’re blessings sacrificed to Him.
Looking back from this side of the cross, we see that Jesus was the firstfruits of God’s harvest of mankind (1 Corinthians 15:23) when He resurrected to the Father’s right hand. In Acts 2, it was also on the Day of Pentecost that the church was started. We are now harvesters for God as we are to teach others the gospel (cf. Luke 10:2).
Last, was the Feast of Ingathering. This was better known as the Feast of Tabernacles and took place five days after the Day of Atonement and lasted for eight days. It was when the Israelites remembered all the provisions God had blessed them with. More specifics can be found in Leviticus 23. It started and ended with a Sabbath rest, while in between they would feast in tabernacles they made while they were in Jerusalem.
It is said too, that many celebrate God’s presence during this time. There is much joy and celebration during this time. And how is God present with us today? Through His Holy Spirit we receive at baptism (Acts 2:38). Let us all walk in the Spirit (cf. Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16), for when we do, we will bear fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and have much joy and celebration in God in this present age and beyond.
There are many more feasts talked about in the Bible. These are just the three I happened to come across recently. Every culture has some kinds of celebrations. We even have some today (ex. Thanksgiving, Christmas). God has shown us many ways to observe and remember Him by. In fact, each first day of the week, we gather around and remember Jesus’ sacrifice of the world in The Lord’s Supper. What no better way than another feast!
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