Leviticus 23 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
In ancient Israel, the Lord determined the calendar for His holy people to remind them that He is the only sovereign over time and space. But he also gave them a number of feasts to remind them of how He had saved them and provided for them as their God, continually reiterating His covenant of grace with them and pointing them to the savior who was to come.
The Passover commemorated how the Lord had saved their firstborn sons from death, whereas the Feast of Unleavened Bread memorialized how the Lord had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated at the end of that same week acknowledged God’s blessings in the coming harvest by devoting their first fruits unto God. The Feast of Weeks was commonly known as Pentecost, which literally means “fiftieth” since it was to be celebrated fifty days after the Passover. It celebrated that the harvest had finally come.
The Feast of Trumpets celebrated a new year. It is often referred to as Rosh Hashanah, which in the Hebrew means “head of the year.” On that day, trumpets were to be sounded from morning until evening. During that same month, the Day of Atonement was observed in which the high priest entered into the holy of holies to sprinkle blood upon the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to make atonement for God’s people. Also, in that same month, the Festival of Booths was observed where the Israelites slept in booths or tents to commemorate how the Lord had provided for them during the forty years in the wilderness.
Obviously, we don’t celebrate any of these holidays anymore, not simply because we are Gentiles, but because they all pointed to the Christ who was to come. At his incarnation, John tells us that Jesus dwelt or set up his tabernacle booth among us (John 1:14), showing that he is the good shepherd who provides for his sheep. He is the bread of life and the fountain of living waters giving rest to our weary souls. Jesus is also our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) whom God presented as the final sacrifice of Atonement for sin (Romans 3:25). Through his life, death and resurrection, he brought us out of slavery in Satan’s kingdom (Col. 1:13) and gave us victory over the grave, being the first fruits of the resurrection when the Father raised him from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20). At Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks, the Spirit of our Lord Jesus brought the long awaited harvest of souls (Matt 9:37-38; Acts 2). And upon his return at the Second Coming of Christ, the trumpets will be blown signifying not merely a new year but a new epoch of life where God will dwell with us forever in the new heavens and earth (1 Thess. 4:16).
The only holiday that we still celebrate as Christians today is the Sabbath Day, or as we now call it, the Lord’s Day. Because there is still the promise that awaits us of entering into our rest, we still observe a day of rest to remember what God has done for us in Christ Jesus in his resurrection from the grave, and we look forward to what Christ will do for us at our resurrection upon his return. Of course, men have added other holidays such as Christmas and Easter to the Church calendar to try and reflect upon some of the highlights of the gospel message, but these “special days” are not ordered by God. Only the Lord’s Day is binding upon Christians today. And because it is the only day ordered by God, we are to make the most of it, celebrating and rejoicing in our salvation, enjoying the rest that Christ has earned for us in his death and resurrection, and eagerly awaiting the day when he finally returns to dwell with us forever.