Introduction
“This is one of the richest and most significant chapters of Scripture, and it is well for us to reflect on it prayerfully,” wrote C. H. Mackintosh on Exodus 23 in his well-known interpretation of the five books of Moses – and that is certainly true.
Exodus 23 shows us the feast calendar of the people of Israel. Seven feasts were to be celebrated each year. In addition, there was also the weekly Sabbath. Of course, Christians do not keep all these feasts literally (Gal. 4:10; Col. 2:16, 17), but we can understand the exemplary significance of the feasts and learn from them for our life of faith (cf. 1 Cor. 10:6).
So, what is the significance of Leviticus 23? This chapter uses the imagery of the Old Testament to show the work of God’s grace from the cross of the Lord Jesus to the millennial kingdom of peace.
Overview of the feasts
The following is an overview of the feasts in Israel and their significance [1]:
The Sabbath (every week): No work of any kind is to be done. This means the coming Sabbath rests for the people of God.
- The Passover (on the 14th of the first month): The Passover lamb is slaughtered. Meaning: the death of Christ as the basis of blessing.
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread (from the 15th to the 21st of the first month): Only unleavened bread may be eaten. Meaning: The whole life of the redeemed is characterized by purity and truth.
- The Feast of the First Sheaf (on the Sunday after Passover): The first sheaf of the harvest is brought to God. Meaning: the resurrection of Christ.
- The Feast of Weeks (on the 7th Sunday after the Feast of the Firstfruits): A new grain offering of leaven is offered to the LORD. Meaning: Descent of the Holy Spirit to form the congregation.
- The Feast of Trumpets (on the 1st of the seventh month): Trumpets are blown in remembrance. Meaning: Return and revival of God’s earthly people at the end of days.
- The Day of Atonement (on the 10th of the seventh month): Atonement sacrifices are made for the mortifying people. This means Israel’s repentance and acceptance of their Messiah, who brought about atonement on the cross.
- The Feast of Tabernacles (from the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month): The people dwell joyfully in Tabernacles. This means the joy of Israel in the kingdom of peace. The first four feasts are feasts in the spring. In typology, they are associated with the first coming of Christ. [2] These feasts are fulfilled.[3] The last three feasts are autumn feasts. They are associated with the second coming of Christ. These feasts have not yet been fulfilled [4].
Right at the beginning of this chapter, it is emphasized that these are the feasts of the LORD; God calls them “My feasts” (Lev. 23:1,2). But when the Lord Jesus was on earth, the Holy Spirit speaks of these feasts as feasts of the Jews (John 5:1; 6:4; 7:2). The “holy assemblies,” which were supposed to have God at their center, had obviously degenerated into a mere form.
The Sabbath
The Sabbath occupies a special position in Exodus 23. On the one hand, it is counted among the feasts (Lev. 23:2); on the other hand, it is not counted among the feasts (Lev. 23:4). It is a special feast, a special time: the weekly day of rest.
The Sabbath is a reminder of God’s creative rest (Ex. 20:11). However, it was only instituted when the people of Israel were redeemed from Egypt (Deut. 5:12-15). The Sabbath became the covenant sign of God’s earthly people (Ex. 31:13). The nations, on the other hand, were never commanded to keep the Sabbath.
The Sabbath speaks typologically of God’s great goal: God wants to rest with pleasure in view of His creation, and He wants people to share in this rest. The entire treatise in Exodus 23 on the feasts of Israel, therefore, begins with the end of God’s ways. It is not uncommon in God’s word that the goal of God is mentioned at the beginning and then the way to it is presented (for example, in Ps. 84; Isa. 52:13-53:12; John 14-16).
We Christians have found rest for our hearts and consciences in Christ, but we still live in a world full of unrest. How good it is to know that a Sabbath rest is still reserved for God’s people (Heb. 4:9)! We wait for it joyfully and with great certainty.
Footnotes:
[1] Two feasts mentioned in the Bible were only added later: They are the Feast of Purim (Est 9:23-32) and the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (John 10:22), which is also called the Feast of Lights or Hanukkah (= “consecration”).
[2] Remarkably, the New Testament shows the figurative meaning of the first four feasts: see 1 Corinthians 5:7 (Passover), 1 Corinthians 5:7.8 (unleavened bread), 1 Corinthians 15:20.23 (firstfruits), Acts 2:1 (Pentecost / Feast of Weeks).
[3] The Feast of Unleavened Bread plays a special role among the annual feasts, as it has a practical rather than a salvific significance: It is about the holy, righteous life of the redeemed before God in all their days (cf. Lk. 1:75). In this respect, this feast is not yet completely fulfilled. – Apart from the Feast of Tabernacles, it is the only feast that lasts several days.
[4] We find a division of the series of seven into four and three parts several times in Scripture. We need only recall the parables in Matthew 13, the epistles (Rev. 2 and 3), the seven seal judgments, and the seven trumpet judgments (Rev. 6; 8; 11).