The entire Jewish year points to the saving work of our Lord Jesus. The seven feasts catalogued in Leviticus 23 reveal not only our Lord’s work for us but the very order of His saving events.
Passover began the annual celebration of holy days. It stood at the head of the calendar to remind God’s people that through the original Passover they were liberated from Egyptian bondage. Death invaded every Egyptian household on that memorable evening but the Israelites were spared because of the blood of the lamb. Passover points to Calvary where Christ our Passover has been sacrificed (1 Cor. 5: 7).
Unleavened Bread speaks of the burial of our Lord. Just as leaven was removed from the Jewish home so our Lord bore our sins away. As the old hymn says, “Living he loved me; dying he saved me; Buried he carried my sins far away; rising he justified freely forever: One day he’s coming – O glorious day!”
First Sheaf or First Fruits foreshadows the resurrection of our Lord. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15: 20).
Pentecost or 50 Days (as the name implies) foretells the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2: 1 – 4).
A lengthy interval followed Pentecost. The first four feasts happened within a space of a few weeks. It was not until the seventh month that Jubilation or Trumpets took place. There has been an extended lapse of time since the Day of Pentecost because God in His infinite mercy desires as many to be saved as possible but one day soon the trumpet will sound and Christ will rapture His church. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4: 16 – 17).
The Day of Atonement was a day on which all Israel would practice self-denial (23: 27) or afflict [their] souls (KJV). It anticipates the time of trouble for Jacob (Jer. 30: 7) better known to most of us as the Tribulation which will be an unprecedented time of testing for Israel.
The Festival of Booths, sometimes referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles prefigures the day when God’s dwelling (or tabernacle) is with men, and He will live with them (Rev. 21: 3). Our Lord’s Millennial Reign is in view. The Christ revealed in the New Testament is concealed in the Old, even in the calendar.