This document discusses the biblical holy days that God established for the Israelites. These holy days included Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Booths. The holy days served to remind the Israelites of God's works, provide times to meet with God, and were prophetic pictures of God's unfolding plan. Jesus fulfilled the meaning and purpose of several of these holy days through his life, death, and resurrection. Leviticus teaches about God's holiness and requirements for fellowship with him through sacrifices and rituals, which pointed ahead to the perfect work and permanent sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

2. 1. God is HOLY. Leviticus
teaches about the holiness of
God and His requirements
for fellowship with Him

3. 2. The sacrifices established
in the tabernacle provided a
means for a sinful people to
APPROACH a holy God.

6. 3. Holy days were created to for
the Israelites as times to meet
with him. They commemorated
God’s works and were prophetic
pictures of his plan still to unfold.
Passover Feast of Trumpets
Unleavened Bread Day of Atonement
Firstfruits Feast of Booths
Feast of Weeks

7. General Info
• Purposes
– To remind the people of what God did for them:
miracle, victory, provision
– To rest (sabbath)
– To give thanks through offerings
– To repent and offer sacrifices
– To read the Scriptures

8. Passover
• Background
– Commemorates God’s deliverance
of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
– Pesach means to “pass over.”
– In biblical times, Passover was commemorated
with a sacrifice.
– Today, it is commemorated with
a meal.

9. Passover
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Jesus was crucified as the “Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
– The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of his
sacrifice as the perfect Passover Lamb.

10. Unleavened Bread
• Background
– This unleavened bread (matzah) is made in a
hurry without yeast.
– This represents
how the Lord
brought the
Israelites out of
Egypt in haste.
Matzah being broken

11. Unleavened Bread
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Matzah is a picture of Jesus, the only human
without sin.
– Jesus said that the “bread of God is he who comes
down from heaven and gives life to the world”
(John 6:23).
– Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who
comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35).

12. Firstfruits
• Background
– Firstfruits are offerings given for the spring barley
harvest.
– The first ripe sheaf (firstfruits) of barley was
offered to the Lord as an act of dedicating the
harvest to him.

13. Firstfruits
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Jewish people rarely
celebrate Firstfruits today.
– But it has great significance
for followers of Jesus as the
day of his resurrection—
Easter.

14. Firstfruits
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Jesus rose on the third day of Passover
season, the day of Firstfruits
(Luke 24:46-47).
– Jesus’ resurrection gave new meaning to
this agricultural holiday.
– Jesus’ resurrection is the promise of the
future resurrection of believers
(1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

15. Feast of Weeks
• Background
– An offering of grain of the summer wheat harvest
was presented to the Lord to show joy and
thankfulness.
– Commemorates the giving of the Law
– Celebrated 50 days after Passover
(the day after seven weeks or
seven Sabbaths)

16. Feast of Weeks
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Then the sound of a
mighty wind filled the
house and tongues of fire
came to rest on the
disciples, and they were
filled with the Holy Spirit.
– Acts 2
Pentecost (detail) by Jean Restout, 1732

17. Feast of Trumpets
• Background
– Marks the beginning of the civil
new year.
– Rosh HaShanah means “the beginning of the
year.”
– In biblical times, it was a day of rest
and offerings.
– It is commemorated with trumpet blasts.

18. Feast of Trumpets
• Background
– Rosh HaShanah, the Ten Days of Repentance that
follow it, and
then Yom Kippur make up the
High Holy Days.
– Jewish tradition says that God writes every
person’s words, deeds, and thoughts in the Book
of Life, which he opens on Rosh HaShanah.

19. Feast of Trumpets
• Background
– If good deeds
outnumber sinful
ones for the year,
that person’s name
will be inscribed
in the Book of Life
for another year on Yom Kippur.

20. Feast of Trumpets
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Rosh HaShanah is sometimes referred to as
the Day of Judgment.
– Jesus said he has authority to judge people
(John 5:24-27).
– Paul called Jesus the judge of “the living and
the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1).
– God does have a book of life, the Lamb’s
Book of Life.

21. Feast of Trumpets
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– The only way to
have one’s name
inscribed in the
Book is through
faith in Jesus as
Savior from sin,
and then it is permanent.

22. Day of Atonement
• Background
– The day the high priest made atonement for
sin
– The most solemn Jewish holy day
– Yom means “day”; Kippur means “atonement”
or “covering.”
– Atonement means the reconciliation
of God and man.

23. Day of Atonement
• Background
– In biblical times, the High
Priest entered the Holy of
Holies in the temple once a
year on Yom Kippur.
– This was a time of fasting
and prayer.
High Priest preparing
the sacrifice

24. Day of Atonement
• Background
– The High Priest offered the
blood sacrifice of atonement
on behalf of the people.
– This was an animal sacrifice
to pay for
his sins and the sins
of the people.
High Priest preparing
the sacrifice

25. Day of Atonement
• Background
– When the high priest was finished with the
atonement sacrifice, a goat was released into the
wilderness.
– This “scapegoat” carried Israel’s sins away, never
to return.

26. Day of Atonement
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– The Holy of Holies
in the temple was
separated from the
congregation by a
thick veil from floor
to ceiling.
– When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was
ripped from top to bottom.

27. Day of Atonement
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Christ came as high priest and entered the Holy of
Holies (heaven itself) once for all, by his own
blood, having obtained eternal redemption
(Hebrews 9:12).
– Believers in Jesus accept his sacrifice on the cross
as the final atonement
for sin.

28. Feast of Booths
• Background
– Commemorates the 40-year wilderness
journey
– To remember God’s faithfulness and
protection during the journey
– During the Israelites’ 40-year wilderness
journey, they dwelt in temporary shelters, or
booths.
– On this holiday, the Israelites were to build
and dwell in booths for seven days to
remember how they had lived under God’s
care in the wilderness.

29. Feast of Booths
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– Two ceremonies were part of the
last day:
• 2. People carrying torches marched around the
temple, then set these lights around the walls of
the temple, symbolizing how Messiah would be a
light to the Gentiles.

30. Feast of Booths
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– When Jesus
attended this feast,
on the last day,
he said, “If anyone
is thirsty, let him
come to me and drink. Whoever believes in
me …streams of living water will flow from
within him” (John 7:37-38).

31. Feast of Booths
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– The next morning,
while the torches were
still burning, he said,
“I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows
me will never walk in
darkness, but will have
the light of life” (John 8:12).

32. Feast of Booths
• Yeshua (Jesus)
– This feast represents the final harvest when all
nations will share in the joy and blessings of
God’s kingdom.
– During that time, all believers will celebrate
this feast (Zechariah 14:16).

33. Final thoughts on the Holy Days
– Some believe the four spring holidays –Passover,
Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Weeks–were
fulfilled in Messiah’s first coming.
– The three autumn holidays–Trumpets, Day of
Atonement, and Booths–will be fulfilled at his
second coming.

34. 4. Covenant. God PROMISES
to pour out his blessings to
those who kept his commands.

35. 5. Leviticus anticipates the
perfect work CHRIST would
accomplish. Christ fulfills the
demands of the law. The rituals
cannot actually remove sin.
Christ’s sacrifice was
permanent and perfect.