Read Leviticus 23
The Appointed Festivals
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
The Sabbath
3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”
Offering the Firstfruits
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
The Festival of Weeks
15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”
The Festival of Trumpets
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25 Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”
The Festival of Tabernacles
33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.
37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)
39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.
Go Deeper
As a reminder, Leviticus is a book describing rules, regulations, and ordinances that the people had to follow. They lived by the letter of the law because Jesus had not come yet to fulfill the law. So far we have read about instructions for priests, animal sacrifice, offerings, etc. We have read all about these strict laws and regulations, but in this chapter, the Israelites are instructed to feast and relax. We have a God that works hard and rests hard, and He wants us to follow his example.
The people worked well for six days and on the seventh they practiced a sabbath day. This not only provided rest for their physical bodies, but it showed their trust in God as they could not harvest or gather, but live on what was already prepared. The phrase sacred assembly (or solemn assembly) is repeated ten times throughout the short chapter. This is used to describe when people gather for a feast, festival, or holy occasion. It’s unique and reserved. One Hebrew translation denotes it a day of restraint.
With sabbath, we can see the restraint from work, with trust in the Lord to provide. This trust is the key to complete rest. We can retrain ourselves and trust the Lord to provide. We can say no to things, knowing that what was important to Jesus is still what is most important. We can say no to striving and yes to a tranquil mind in remembrance of the God we serve.
One major theme in feasts, sabbath, and other holy days is gratitude. During celebrations and feasts, the Israelites reflect on what their Lord has given them. In sabbath they sit in the ways God has provided and the promises He has and will fulfill. In any holy day, they honor God through reverence and gratitude.
Questions
- What gets in the way of rest for you?
- What should you say no to in order to experience complete rest?
- What is your plan to rest in reflect on Jesus and the rest he gives? How can you stick to that plan this week?
Did You Know?
When Christians gather on a specific day (usually we gather as a church body on Sunday), it is considered a holy convocation. It is meant to be kept as a sacred gathering before the Lord, not treated like every other day of the week. Spend some time brainstorming with your family or friends on how you can relive this tradition.
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3 thoughts on “Leviticus 23”
As I read about God’s appointed seasons & festivals, the theme of “remembrance” seems to be the common denominator. These special assemblies were days set aside for rest & refreshment, but most importantly to remember where God had called them out of (Egypt) and what he was calling them to (holiness). God intentionally sets them up for success, and he does the same for us. He asks them & us to press pause on our frenetically paced lives for rest, refreshment and remembrance with a grateful heart. It’s a call to examine the rhythms of our lives and build in times of worship, fellowship and celebration. He knows best and we are his treasure! Let’s delight in him and testify to his goodness by the way we navigate life. I recall JP sharing this helpful reminder:
Divert Daily
Withdraw Weekly
Abandon Annually
We have totally forgotten about a day of rest. There are not many out there that have a day that we do nothing but contemplate the goodness of God and what He has done, is doing and will do in our lives. Our microwave minute world speeds us up where sitting in stillness of the sunrise or sunset, or just watching children play, or playing with the children outside in Gods beauty is not something we have time for. I am all for practicing a Sabbath. Food cooked the day before, no electronics on and family, life groups or both all together to Glorify God and all He has done for the week. Fellowship, worship and a celebration of Yahwah, our breath of life.
Thank you God for what You do for me. You are constantly working in my life and I know it. Thank you for a attitude of constant gratitude because I am so thankful!! Your sunsets this week have been spectacular. The rain is very welcomed. Even when life is throwing those curve balls thank You for driving and my flesh moving so that You have room to steer me in the right direction. Thank you for Your words to bless people coming out of my mouth, thank you for obeying when you direct me to call, text or speak to someone about You and check on them. I LOVE You in Jesus name Amen.
WOOHOO!!!!
Thank you for reminding us why God commands a Sabbath rest: so we can trust in his provision and remember his faithfulness to us. We do this as we read in his Word, as we come before his presence in prayer, and as we gather with his people. What a blessing to be able to do so.