Those of us who have lived in Israel have enjoyed the special privilege of celebrating all the biblical festivals with the people of God. Each biblical holiday or hag, as they are called in Hebrew, is usually cause for a day off from work. It is also a time for enjoyment of special holiday services and special foods. Over the centuries, several additional holidays and convocations have been added to the biblical ones. Some of these are Hanukkah, Tu B’shvat, Yom HaShoah, Yom Haatzmaut, and Tisha B’av.
Occasionally these holidays occur close together, and if there happens to be a Shabbat (Sabbath) occurring at the same time, one literally may have hag running into hag. Since the stores often close during these holidays, the unwary may find themselves without fresh food items for two or three days at a time. Nevertheless, the holidays are a joy and a very meaningful experience.
Some may be wondering how to make sense of all these biblical festivals. It is mentioned in the scriptures that the biblical festivals are “statutes forever” (Lev. 23:14, 21, & 41). They do not pass away. On the contrary, the validity of these festivals is becoming more and more established. This has come about especially in the last couple of generations as Israel has returned to the land.
Since the biblical festivals are largely agricultural in nature, it was impossible for Israel to keep them in their truest sense in the last two thousand years. They simply will not work properly in Russia, in South America, or in the many other lands of the dispersion. For instance, when it is summer in Israel, it is winter in Australia and South Africa. The biblical festivals have always remained tied to the climate and seasons of Israel, regardless of the land in which they were being celebrated.
As we approach the biblical festivals it is good for us to look back at the Bible from whence they came. A good overview of all the major festivals is given to us in Leviticus 23:4-43. Other passages are Deuteronomy 16:1-17; Numbers 28:16 -29:39; Leviticus 16:29-34; and Exodus 12:1-20. As we look closely at these agricultural festivals one emphasis becomes apparent – fruit. The whole festival cycle emphasizes this. We might hasten to add that the whole creation emphasizes this.
EMPHASIS UPON FRUIT
Rosh Hashanah jams prepared by Libyan Jews
When we look at the creation around us we see that it is striving with all its might to bring forth fruit. Almost everything in creation is connected somehow to this drive. Scarcely is there a flower that blooms for beauty’s sake alone – all are connected to fruit-bearing. This ceaseless drive is seen also in the animals and in humankind. It should not surprise us to see the very same thing reflected in the Bible. This is the goal of the creation, that there might be fruit, and in our case, not just the natural fruit springing from husband and wife, but spiritual fruit. Jesus sums it up for us in John 15:2 and also in verse 5, when he asks that we produce “fruit…more fruit…much fruit.”
In Galatians 5:22-23, the apostle Paul gives us a list of some of the fruit the Lord will be looking for at the end of days. This list includes “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” There are likely many more things he does not mention like integrity, courage, hospitality, diligence, prudence, prayerfulness, etc. It is these things within us that the Creator of the Universe is so anxious to see. The Bible says: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains” (Jas. 5:7).
THE FESTIVALS AND THE FRUITBEARING CYCLE
Therefore, it is with the idea of spiritual fruit in mind that we look at the festivals of Israel. Let us begin with the Passover (Pesach), because it is the first of the yearly festivals. The Passover is the festival of salvation. It is the beginning of God’s work in us. The Passover is a celebration of our coming out of darkness into his marvelous light. It celebrates the coming out of Egypt, or separation from the world, from bondage, slavery, death, and sin. The Passover makes true fruit-bearing possible.
During the feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag ha-matzah), which begins immediately after the first day of Passover and runs for seven days, we are given some more critical information on the fruit God is after. There can be no leavening in our food for one whole week. This picture is actually first introduced to us with the unleavened bread of the Passover meal itself. Leaven is a type of sin. God desires a holy fruit, exemplified in the unleavened life of Jesus. Leaven puffs us up. It removes us from reality. The Lord desires that we “…keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:8).
The third biblical festival celebrated during the Passover season is the Festival of Firstfruits (Hag-ha-bikkurim). This is not to be confused with Pentecost, or the latter firstfruits offering, although the two festivals have a close spiritual connection. On the first day after the Sabbath during Passover, a wave sheaf of the first-ripe barley was offered before the Lord. This firstfruits offering was not the harvest. It was only a sign of the coming harvest, or in one sense, a prototype. Jesus came up to Jerusalem and was offered as the firstfruits. In fact, he is actually called “the firstfruits” in 1 Corinthians 15:23, and that first resurrection day probably corresponded with the time of the firstfruits offering.
It is interesting that as soon as this offering was made, the Counting of the Omer was begun (Lev. 23:15). The omer was an ancient grain measure, and the Counting of the Omer is literally a countdown to Pentecost. This practice is once again observed in the land of Israel. One of Israel’s minor non-biblical holidays, Lag B’omer, occurs each year in the midst of this period of the Counting of the Omer.
The Omer was counted for forty-nine days or seven full weeks. On the fiftieth day, Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot) occurred. At Pentecost in Israel the whole grain harvest becomes ripe, plus many of the early summer fruits. So, at Pentecost, after the Lord’s death and resurrection, we have the firstfruits harvest among men. Again, Pentecost was not the whole harvest, only the firstfruits. Suddenly in Jerusalem, there were a lot of people who were doing the same kind of work that Jesus had been doing. Like him, they were producing signs, wonders, miracles and other spiritual fruit. Pentecost gives us a preview of what is in store for the end of the age, and what the final harvest among humankind will be like.
THE END OF THE WORLD AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT
We now come to the three remaining feasts and convocations of Israel. In these convocations we clearly see the final harvest of the world. The three last convocations occur appropriately in the fall after a long summer’s growing season. They begin with the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year), on the first day of the seventh month. The sounding of this trumpet pictures the end of our present age as reflected in Revelation 11:15-19.
From the time this trumpet is blown in Israel, until the tenth day of the seventh month, the Jews observe the Days of Awe. This is a time of deep repentance and return to God. It is a preparation for judgment – for meeting God. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month. This is the most awesome day of the year for the Jewish people. All business activity in Israel ceases and most of the people spend the day in a complete fast from both food and water.
As soon as the Day of Atonement ends, the religious people in Israel joyously begin to build their tabernacles (booths) in preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. This is the harvest time, and not just for wheat, barley and early fruits as at Pentecost, but for all the fruits, the pomegranates, olives, dates, grapes, nuts, etc. (Lev. 23:39). The family tabernacles are gaily decorated not only with fruit, but with other symbols of joy and rejoicing. This happy festival lasts for seven days in the seventh month. It ends on the 21st day of the seventh month (3×7). With the repeated emphasis on the number seven we can hardly escape the idea of the completion of all God’s work.
While the earlier feasts speak of planting, growing and even a taste of harvest, the last feasts tell us that the summer is ended and the time for the whole harvest has come. Once the trumpet sounds, the growing time is ended, and the final ripening draws to a close.
May we be fully prepared to celebrate these end-day feasts. May we not be as those of whom the prophet spoke in Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved” (Jer. 8:20). As we look at these festivals and convocations, may our lives be reconciled with God and may we begin to abound with God’s salvation and with all the beautiful fruit of the Spirit that the Lord has ordained for us to bear.
– Jim Gerrish
This updated article is presented courtesy of Bridges For Peace, Jerusalem (original publication date, 1990).
Picture credit Wikimedia Commons, public domain