Lev 23:4-6 | KingComments | STEP | Now come the feasts that will lead to the peace of the kingdom of peace. They have already been mentioned once in the introduction in connection with the prophetic meaning. Now it is a matter of “the times appointed for them”: 1. The Passover must be held on the 14th of the first month. 2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows the Passover and is held from the 15th to the 22nd of the first month. 3. The sheaf of the first fruits is offered on a sabbath after the beginning of the harvest. 4. The Feast of Weeks, the middle one, is celebrated in the third month, fifty days after the offering of the first fruits; this feast is called the Feast of Weeks because it takes place seven weeks after the previous one. The fifth feast is the start of the second group of three feasts that take place exactly half a year later: 5. The Feast of new moon is on the 1st of the seventh month. 6. The day of atonement is on the 10th of the seventh month. 7. The Feast of Booths is from the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month. There is a link between the first group of feasts and the second group of feasts: 1. On 10-1 the Passover lamb must be taken into the house; on 10-7 is the day of atonement. 2. On 15-1 the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; on 15-7 the Feast of Booths begins. Another division of the feasts can be made according to the words “the LORD spoke to Moses”: . The harvest feasts can only be celebrated in the land. There are three harvest feasts: 1. The feast of the sheaf of the first fruits is celebrated when the very first grain comes from the land. That is the barley harvest. 2. Fifty days later the wheat harvest follows ( ; ) and the wave breads are brought. 3. In the seventh month the last harvest feast, the Feast of Booths, takes place on the occasion of the harvest of grapes and olives.

‏ Leviticus 23:4-6

Order to Proclaim the Appointed Times

Now come the feasts that will lead to the peace of the kingdom of peace. They have already been mentioned once in the introduction in connection with the prophetic meaning. Now it is a matter of “the times appointed for them”:

1. The Passover must be held on the 14th of the first month.

2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows the Passover and is held from the 15th to the 22nd of the first month.

3. The sheaf of the first fruits is offered on a sabbath after the beginning of the harvest.

4. The Feast of Weeks, the middle one, is celebrated in the third month, fifty days after the offering of the first fruits; this feast is called the Feast of Weeks because it takes place seven weeks after the previous one.

The fifth feast is the start of the second group of three feasts that take place exactly half a year later:

5. The Feast of new moon is on the 1st of the seventh month.

6. The day of atonement is on the 10th of the seventh month.

7. The Feast of Booths is from the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month.

There is a link between the first group of feasts and the second group of feasts:

1. On 10-1 the Passover lamb must be taken into the house; on 10-7 is the day of atonement.

2. On 15-1 the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; on 15-7 the Feast of Booths begins.

Another division of the feasts can be made according to the words “the LORD spoke to Moses”: Lev 23:1 ; 9 ; 23 ; 26 ; 33.

The harvest feasts can only be celebrated in the land. There are three harvest feasts:

1. The feast of the sheaf of the first fruits is celebrated when the very first grain comes from the land. That is the barley harvest.

2. Fifty days later the wheat harvest follows (Exo 9:31-32; Rth 1:22 ; Rth 2:23) and the wave breads are brought.

3. In the seventh month the last harvest feast, the Feast of Booths, takes place on the occasion of the harvest of grapes and olives.

The Passover

The feasts start with the Passover. The salvation on earth, represented in the sabbath as a picture of the kingdom of peace, begins with what the Passover represents: Christ and His work on the cross (1Cor 5:7b). Similarly, the rest that a sinner has for his conscience is to be found in Christ and His work on the cross. In Exodus 12 God declares the Passover to be a new beginning, “the beginning of months … the first month of the year” (Exo 12:2). There, the seventh month of the year becomes the first month of the year. A sinner who comes to conversion gets and starts a new life.

The first celebration, in Egypt, is in view of the redemption from Egypt. The blood frees them from the judgment of God. It is a unique celebration. It is a picture of the conversion of a sinner. Each subsequent celebration is a remembrance of that event (Num 9:1-5). This is reflected in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which we celebrate every first day of the week. Here in Leviticus the Passover is a feast for the LORD. It is important that we learn what the Passover Lamb means to God as the foundation upon which He will have a new heaven and a new earth, where sin is no longer thought of.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Immediately after the Passover follows the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These two feasts form a unity. In Luke 22 both feasts are identified: “The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover” (Lk 22:1). The Feast of Unleavened Bread is characterized by the absence of leaven. The total absence of leaven, which is a picture of sin, has characterized the walk and nature of Christ on earth and is also fulfilled in us as far as we realize Christ in our lives.

In the pictures of Scripture, leaven always represents sin, in which sin manifests itself in various forms:

1. “The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mt 16:5-12). By this is meant the doctrine of Pharisees, that is, the legalism or adding to God’s Word, and the doctrine of the Sadducees, that is the rationalism or taking away from God’s Word.

2. The “leaven of Herod” (Mk 8:15), these are the carnal pleasures.

3. “Old leaven”, “leaven of malice and wickedness” (1Cor 5:8), which is a sinful life practice.

4. “A little leaven” (Gal 5:9), represents heresy about the work of the Lord Jesus.

5. The “leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour” (Mt 13:33). This is no exception to the fact that leaven always represents sin. It represents the introduction of idolatrous principles into the kingdom of heaven (Zec 5:5-11).

Eating unleavened bread is a picture of feeding on the Lord Jesus, in Whom nothing of sin is present. That goes for His life on earth, His existence before that and for His life now in heaven. He has been the true grain offering on earth, in which no leaven may be present (Lev 2:11).

We can only ‘eat’ of Him if we know the meaning of the Passover. First we must feed ourselves with His death, only then we can feed ourselves with His life. Without repentance and being born again He can only be a good example, but no food.

The feast is celebrated for seven days. Seven is the number of completeness and represents here our whole life. On the first and seventh day there must be a holy convocation. Nothing of human effort or obligation should play a role in this. An offering by fire must be made every day. All honor goes to the LORD; He is praised. In this way we may experience the meetings and our lives may also take place around the meetings as a praise for the Lord.