EXODUS
12: 1-11
The (1) Feast of the Passover [vs. 2-3; the 1st month, the 10th day; v. 6; at ‘twilight’].
14-20
The (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread [vs. 17-18; 1st month, the 14th day].
23: 14, 15a, 16
Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year.
The (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread [v. 15; month of ‘Abib’], the (3) Feast of Harvest [including Firstfruits??], and the (4) Feast of Ingathering.
NOTE: It is possible that the feasts of Harvest, Firstfruits, and Ingathering might have been combined in later periods.
34: 18
The (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread, as I command you in the appointed time of the month of ‘Abib;’ for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
22-23
And you shall observe the (5) Feast of Weeks [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1], of the (3) Firstfruits of wheat (??) Harvest, and the (4) Feast of Ingathering at the years end. Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.
NOTE: This is the first time the ‘Feast of Weeks’ is mentioned, and is not part of the original three or four feasts.
LEVITICUS
16: 1-34
The (6) Day of Atonement [v. 29; 7th month and 10th day].
23: 1-2
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts:
3
The Sabbath [v. 38; ‘Sabbaths’].
5
The (1) Feast of Passover [1st month and 14th day].
6
The (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread [1st month and 15th day].
9-14
The (3) Feast of Firstfruits [Cp. Joshua 5: 11a]
15-22
The (5) Feast of Weeks [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1].
23-25
The (7) Feast of Trumpets [v. 24; 7th month and 1st day].
26-32
The (6) Day of Atonement [v.27; 7th month and 10th day].
33-44
The (8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths [vs. 34 & 39; 7th month and 15th day]. So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
25: 1-7
The (9) Seven Year Sabbath [v. 4].
8-10
The (10) Year of Jubilee/Release [v. 8; seven Sabbaths of 49 years; vs. 9a &10, add 1year and it is celebrated on “The Day of Atonement” {Cp. 23: 27}.
NUMBERS
9: 1-2
Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month (‘Abib’) of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: “Let the children of Israel keep the (1) Passover at its appointed time. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, “at twilight” (Cp. Exodus 12: 6b; ‘after sunset’)
EXCEPTION:
6-12
Certain men were defiled because they came in contact with a human corpse and could not partake of the Passover. They were allowed to do so at the same day and time in the second month. This grace based upon exigent circumstances applied also to someone who was on a faraway journey during this time and included their posterity as well.
28: 9-10
(11) Sabbath Offerings.
11-15
(12) Monthly (‘New Moon’??) Offerings.
16-25
Offerings at (1) Passover [14th day of 1st month].
26-31
Offerings at the (5) Feast of Weeks [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1]
29: 1-6
Offerings at the (7) Feast of Trumpets [1st day of the 7th month].
7-11
Offerings at the (6) Day of Atonement [10th day of the 7th month].
12-40
Offering at the (8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths [v. 12; 15th day of the 7th month].
DEUTERONOMY
1-8
The (1) Feast of Passover Reviewed [v. 1; month of ‘Abib;’ v. 6b; at “twilight or sunset”].
9-12
The (5) Feast of Weeks Reviewed [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1].
13-15
The (8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths Reviewed (Cp. Numbers 29: 12).
16
Three times a year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses; at the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread, the (5) Feast of Weeks [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1], and the (8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
I KINGS
8: 63-65; 9: 3
The (13) Dedication of the [‘first’]Temple.
II KINGS
22: 21; 23: 19, 21-23
The (1) Feast of the Passover.
I CHRONICLES
23: 31
(11) Sabbaths, (12) New Moons, and the set [‘appointed’??] feasts.
II CHRONICLES
2: 4b
(11) Sabbaths, (12) New Moons, and on the ‘set’ feasts of the Lord our God.
7: 5b, 8-11
The (13) Dedication of the [‘first’]Temple [v. 5].
8: 13b
(11) Sabbaths, (12) New Moons, and the three appointed [‘set’] yearly feasts- the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread, the (5) Feast of Weeks/Pentecost [‘Pentecost;’ Leviticus 23: 15-16; Acts 2: 1], and the (8) Feast of Booths/Tabernacles.
30: 5, 13-18
The (1) Feast of the Passover to the Lord. The (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread.
NOTE: These ‘feasts’ were celebrated on the wrong date (Cp. Exodus 12: 1-6, 17-18).
31: 3b
(11) Sabbaths (??), (12) New Moons (??), and the ‘fixed’ festivals.
35: 1-19
King Josiah celebrated the (1) Feast of the Passover.
NOTE: No ‘Passover’ celebrated since the time of Samuel the Prophet (v. 18a).
EZRA
3: 2, 4-5a
Then Jeshua the son of Jehozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. They also kept the(8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for (12) New Moons and for all the ‘appointed’ feasts of the Lord that were consecrated. NOTE: Nowhere does it mention that God accepted these sacrifices, but the narrative is silent on the Divine acknowledgement.
5: 13, 15-16
The (13) Dedication of the [‘second’] Temple [v.15; 3rd day of the month ‘Adar’] was completed, and the descendants of the captivity of the children of Israel kept the
(1) Passover.
6: 19, 22
And the descendants of the captivity kept the (1) Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month [‘Abib’]. And they kept the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
NEHEMIAH
8: 1b, 14b,
Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths [‘temporary shelters’] during the ‘feast’ of the seventh month. NOTE: The particular celebration is the (8) Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (Cp. Leviticus 23: 39-43)
17b
The children of Israel had not sat under booths ‘since the days of Joshua the son of
Nun ’ (Cp. Joshua 5: 9a, 10-11). And they kept the ‘Feast’ of [(8) Tabernacles/Booths] for seven days.
10: 33a, 35, 37
(11) Sabbaths, the (12) New Moons, and the (3) Feasts of Firstfruits.
ESTHER
2: 16
The tenth month, which is the month of 'Tebeth.'
3: 7a&b
The first month, the month of 'Nisan.'The twelfth month, which is the month 'Adar.'
8: 9
The third month, which is the month of 'Sivan.'
9: 18-24
The (14) Feast of Purim [v. 19b; on the 14th day of the month ‘Adar’]
Of the many Sabbaths, feast and days of offerings commanded by the Lord God for the Israelites to observe, only the Dedication of the [‘second’] Temple and Purim stand out as not having received a ‘Divine’ response; and often times, silence speaks volumes. Although God did not command King Solomon to build Him a House, but rather Solomon devotion and commitment fulfilled the wish of His father, King David; and God promised him that his descendant would complete what David wanted (Cp. II Samuel 7: 12b-13). Nevertheless, I Kings 9: 3 and II Chronicles 7: 5 attest to unfailing promise by God of what his heir finally accomplished.
It is interesting that in the Gospel narratives, Matthew through Luke [Matthew 26: 17-20; Mark 14: 1-2, 12; Luke 22: 1, 7-8, 11, 14] mention the Lord Jesus Christ celebrating the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread and the (1) Passover; but the order is reversed (Cp. Exodus 12: 2-3, 6, 17-18??). Only in John’s account is the Dedication of the Temple mentioned [NOTE: Presumably the ‘first’ Temple built by King Solomon; Cp. I Kings 8: 63-65; 9: 3; II Chronicles 7: 5b, 6-11]. The author also states that “it was during ‘winter’ (Cp. John 10: 22),” which is in accord with the traditional Jewish Religious Calendar of happening September-October, on the first day of the month. Coincidentally, this is the same time as the (7) Feast of Trumpets (Cp. Leviticus 23: 4). This interval of months would be considered the ‘fall’ season for those of us living in America or the Western Hemisphere.
The apostle John also includes the (1) Passover, but he leaves out the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread. Additionally, there is a reference to there being Greeks among those who came up to worship at the ‘feast’ [again, presumably the (1) Passover; Cp. John12: 20??], in violation of the prohibition in the Law of Moses that ‘foreigners’ are not to partake of it (Cp. Exodus 12: 43). Outside of the Gospels, the book of Acts mentions the Day of (5) Pentecost (Cp. 2: 1), which is essentially the (5) Feast of Weeks (Cp. Leviticus 23: 15-16). The (2) Days of Unleavened Bread is mentioned in Acts 12: 3; 20: 6, and in Acts18: 21; 20: 16, the writer says the apostle Paul wanted to keep the coming ‘feast’ in Jerusalem, which in all likelihood is the (5) Day Pentecost/the Feast of Weeks (Cp. Acts 2: 1; Leviticus 23: 15-16).
ONE FINAL THOUGHT:
The Gospel account of Jesus celebrating the (2) Feast of Unleavened Bread and
the (1) Passover for the last time with His disciples before His betrayal and evening before the ‘Crucifixion’ might be misunderstood. The aforementioned ‘feast’ represents the male [‘Paschal’] lamb, without spot or blemish that was to be slain and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a ‘Memorial’ to the children of Israel being delivered from Egyptian bondage by the Mighty hand of the Lord God
(Cp. Exodus 12: 12-13, 26-27). A more solemn occasion might have been the symbolism of the (6) Day of Atonement (Cp. Leviticus 16: 1-34; 23: 26-32), where two goats were chosen as redemption for the sins of the people. The lot of one was freedom as the scapegoat and was sent away into the wilderness, but the other one had to be ritually sacrificed by the shedding of blood as a vicarious atonement for the sins of the Children of Israel.
Lastly, there is a curious passage in Jeremiah 7: 22-23: “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices (??).” “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be Your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in the ways that I commanded you that it may be well with you.’
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
March 14, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
