EV 23{
Introduction
As regards the scope of Lev. 23, it is very broad indeed. The Sabbath's being set forth at the very outset of the chapter, our thoughts are directed back to the time when God's dealings with man on the earth first began. After having prepared the earth for man's habitation and happiness, God placed man upon it and rested from His work; hence, Jehovah's Sabbath. The Sabbath therefore was given to man as a memorial of God's own rest in creation. His rest though was soon marred by the coming in of sin, whereupon He began working all over again. This time though, it was with a view to the bringing in of something far better than that which had just been spoiled. (See Gen. 1:31-2:3; 3:7-10, 17-19; and John 1:29; 5:17.)
After having set forth the Sabbath then, our chapter proceeds on through the seven feasts of Jehovah proper, beginning with the Passover feast and ending with the feast of tabernacles. The former takes our thoughts back to the beginning of Jehovah's dealings with Israel as a nation, and the latter takes them on to the end of those dealings...and even beyond.
As to this latter point, when God's dealings with Israel are over, His dealings with man on the earth will be over as well. At that point, the heavens and earth of Gen. 1:1 will pass away to make room for a new heaven and a new earth. This marks an altogether new beginning, called "the day of God" (2 Peter 3:12), typified by an eighth day added at the end of the seven days of the feast of tabernacles. (See Lev. 23:36, 39.) The feast of tabernacles then speaks of the final phase of God's dealings both with man on the earth and with Israel as a nation, and the eighth day of God's eternal day.
As regards the structure of the chapter though, it has five sections or divisions. Each one begins with the words "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying." (See Lev. 23:1, 9, 23, 26, and 33.) The first section consists of instructions regarding the Sabbath, the Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread; the second, the feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks; the third, the blowing of trumpets; the fourth, the feast of atonement; and the fifth, the feast of tabernacles.
Verse 5: the Passover Feast EV 23:5{the First of the Seven Feasts of Jehovah Proper Is the Passover Feast. the Passover Lamb Is to Be Slain at Evening on the Fourteenth Day of the First Month of the Year. Its Blood Is to Be Caught in a Basin and Applied With Hyssop to the Two Doorposts and Upper Lintel of Each House. It Is to Be Roast With Fire and Without the Mitigating Effect of Water and Is to Be Eaten Along With Bitter Herbs. at Midnight, Jehovah Will Pass Through the Land of Egypt and Visit Death Upon the Firstborn of Every House Where There Is No Blood. Where There Is Blood However, He Will Pass Over That House; Death Will Have Already Been There.
Looking back on that first Passover night then, all the Israelites were spared; but there was not a single Egyptian house where the life of a firstborn was not taken. That night therefore marked the deliverance of God's people from their Egyptian bondage. Accordingly, they were to remember their deliverance once every year thereafter by keeping the Passover feast.
The Passover feast typifies that stupendous event, without which there could never have been any recovery at all from the ruin sin had brought in. Had that event not taken place, the accomplishment of our over-abounding blessing, with which God's own heart was occupied, could never have been realized either. That event was, of course, the death of Christ upon Calvary's cross, by which God has been infinitely glorified with respect to the question of sin. Accordingly, a righteous foundation has been laid down, whereby God, Who is holy, might come out in blessing to sinful men. (See Ex. 12:1-13; Luke 22:1-18; 1 Cor. 5:7; 2 Cor. 5:14-21; Col. 1:19-22; and Heb. 9:8-10:22.)
Verses 6-8: the Feast of Unleavened Bread EV 23:6-8{in Immediate Association With the Passover Feast, There Is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. During the Seven Days Immediately Following the Passover, No Leaven Whatever Is to Be Found in the Habitations of Jehovah's People. in the Scriptures, Leaven Always Typifies Evil, Whether Moral, Doctrinal, or Ecclesiastical; and Seven Is Always the Number of Perfection or Completeness.
The feast of unleavened bread therefore typifies our death with Christ and the manner of life that becomes those who have died with Him. If Christ has suffered, bled, and died to put our sins away, then how can we possibly just go on sinning the way we always used to do? God has "condemned sin in the flesh," and if He has condemned it, then we should condemn it as well. (See Rom. 8:3 and 1 Peter 4:1.) After all, when Christ died, He died "unto sin" and we died unto it with Him. (See Rom. 6:10-11.) Together then, the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread typify the death of Christ relative to sin on one hand and our death to it with Him on the other. Death is the ultimate liberation from sin and sinning. Sin shall not have dominion over the man that has died. A dead man is "freed from sin." (See Rom. 6:7, 14.)
Verses 9-14: the Feast of Firstfruits EV 23:9-14{Next, the Day After the First Sabbath Following the Gathering in of the Barley Harvest, Which Is Also the First Day of a New Week, a Sheaf of the Firstfruits Is to Be Brought to the Priest and Waived Before Jehovah. the Lord Was Put to Death on a Friday, After Which He Spent the Entire Sabbath in the Tomb. Then, Early the Next Day, the First Day of the Week, He Arose From Among the Dead and Became "the Firstfruits of Them That Slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). Accordingly, the Feast of Firstfruits Speaks of Christ's Resurrection From Among the Dead. It Was the Day He Gained the Victory Over Death and Everything That Was Against Us.
What is meant though by waving the sheaf of firstfruits before Jehovah? Why is it done? As the Son was in His lifetime, the Father's delight, so is He now in resurrection life as well. Therefore, it gives the Father pleasure to have Him thus presented before Him. The former is seen in the meal offering of Lev. 2, and the latter in the sheaf of firstfruits in our chapter. Since death is in view in neither of them, but rather, life, they are both meal offerings.
Verses 15-22: the Feast of Weeks
EV 23:15-22{Then, beginning with the first Sabbath after the feast of firstfruits, the people are to count seven Sabbaths—or 49 days in all. Then, on the day after the forty-ninth day, they are to count to themselves still one more day—that is, a fiftieth day. Fifty days after the sheaf of firstfruits is waved then, the feast of weeks is to be observed. Taking place, as it does, seven weeks after the feast of firstfruits, which occurred at the time of the barley harvest, this one takes place at the time of the wheat harvest. This feast is a feast like none other among the ordinances of the Israelites and is spoken of as a "new meat offering." It is therefore typical of a new thing that Jehovah will be doing. On that day, they are to wave two loaves of leavened bread baked in an oven before Jehovah.
Fifty days after the Lord's resurrection from among the dead, something happened, the likes of which had never happened before. On that day, something came into being that never had an existence before. It was the assembly. The Spirit of God was sent down from heaven on that day and took up His abode in the believers that were gathered together in Jerusalem. His presence being in them, they were all joined together as members of one body and were joined to Christ as their Head in heaven.
Nevertheless, since, in the Scriptures, two is always the number of adequate testimony, the two loaves are a figure for the assembly not in its "one-body character," but in its "testimonial character." Also, because the two loaves are a figure for the assembly itself, there is leaven in them as well. Although the believer doesn't have his sins on him anymore, he does still have the principle of sin within himself. It's worth noticing though that, as baking stops the action of leaven in bread, even so, the believer's death with Christ is sufficient to stop the action of sin within him. They are to be baked with leaven. (See also Lev. 7:12-13.)
As we have noticed above, the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread are intimately associated with one another. This is intended to illustrate the connection between the death of Christ and our death with Him. Such is also the case with the feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks. These feasts are intimately associated with one another in order to show the connection between the resurrection life of Christ and our resurrection life with Him. The feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks then are both meal offerings, derived from that which was sown in death and brought forth again in life. They are figures therefore of Christ and of those who are His own—not in death, but in resurrection life. It is the "more abundant life" of John 10:10. (See also John 12:24; and 1 Cor. 15:36.) This is why the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread are both found together in one division of the chapter, while the feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks are also both found together in still another division of the chapter.
One remark needs yet to be made relative to this feast of weeks and its two wave loaves. Connected with that feast is Lev. 23:22, which is somewhat puzzling to some minds. When the people of God reap their fields, they are neither to go back and clean out the corners of their fields nor to go back and gather up the grains that have fallen to the ground from their already harvested crops. As we have already seen, the two wave loaves are a figure for the assembly, which is God's heavenly people. These crops then are the firstfruits of that harvest from which the two wave loaves are made.
The question therefore is: Who are the crops that remain behind in the corners of the fields and those grains that have fallen to the ground? Are they a part of the assembly too? The answer is: No, they are not a part of the assembly; but, like the assembly, they are among the heavenly redeemed. After the assembly has been caught up to be with Christ in the Fathers house above, then God will again take up His ancient people, Israel. Then, when Israel's Messiah returns, to set up His millennial kingdom, all who are alive in that day and have faith will go into the kingdom and will remain a part of His earthly people.
In the meantime though, many of His saints will have died, some of them having been martyred. Accordingly, even as Christ is returning to set up His kingdom, they will be raised from among the dead and caught up to join the heavenly hosts. Then, having been thus caught up, they will join Him as He continues His descent to set up His earthly kingdom. They will forever remain among the heavenly families and will be associated with Christ as He reigns over His kingdom. Thus, throughout all the ages of eternity, they will remain a part of the heavenly throng, but not a part of the assembly. Their position will be much the same as that of the Old Testament saints, who will be raised and caught up together with the assembly at the Rapture, but without becoming a part of the assembly. (See Rev. 6:9-11; 11:2-12; and 20:4.)
Verses 23-25: the Feast of Trumpets EV 23:23-25{on the First Day of the Seventh Month, Which Is the Time of Grape Harvest, Jehovah's People Are to Observe the Feast of Blowing of Trumpets.
Prophetically, it will be a time of Israel's moral awakening. (See also Num. 10:2.) After the assembly has been caught up and taken out of this world to be with Christ in the Father's house, God will by His Spirit start working afresh in the hearts of His ancient people, the Jews. The blast of a trumpet is the figure used for the commencement of this work of the Spirit in their souls. Morally and in substance, it corresponds to the ministry of John the Baptist and to that of the Lord Himself after John had been cast into prison. (See Matt. 3:2, 5-6; and ch. 4:17.)
Having been thus aroused by the action of the Spirit in their hearts and consciences then, a faithful remnant among them will begin to repent of their moral departure from Jehovah, their God. It will mark the beginning of a work in their souls, but that work will not reach its perfection until they see Christ coming "in His glory" (Matt. 25:31 and Zech. 12:10). More on this however in the next feast below.
Now as to the significance of this being the time of grape harvest, everywhere in the Scriptures, Israel is typified as Jehovah's vine. When He comes to claim the fruit that is rightfully His though, they bring forth only wild grapes. This is what happened when Messiah came to them the first time; but when He comes to them the next time, their hearts will be willing and He will once again drink of the fruit of the vine. In the meantime though and until then, His interests are elsewhere-that is, with His assembly. (See Psa. 80:8-11;110:3; Isa. 5:1-7; Matt. 21:33-9; and 26:29.)
Verses 26-32: the Feast of Atonement EV 23:26-35{the Feast of Atonement, Like the One Before It, Falls in the Seventh Month of the Year. on the Tenth Day of That Same Month, the Israelites Are Told Three Times Over They Are to Afflict Their Souls and to Do No Work in That Day. It Is a Feast of Atonement. If Any Is Not Afflicted or If Any Does Do Any Work in That Day, He Will Be Cut off From Among His People and Destroyed.
In the meantime and little by little, the repentance that was begun by what is typified as the blowing of trumpets will have been deepening. Then, when Jesus appears in glory, they will behold the wounds of Him Whom they had pierced so many centuries before, and will realize it was He Whom they had rejected and crucified. That realization will produce a still deeper sense of guilt and repentance in their souls. Accordingly, they will afflict their souls as never before and will mourn for Him as for an only son. This will be the point at which the Spirit's work of repentance in their souls will have been perfected.
Their great sin of having rejected their Messiah and of having manipulated the Romans into crucifying Him, as well as all their subordinate sins, will then be forgiven; and they will be fully restored to Jehovah, their God. Today, they are "a vessel wherein is no pleasure" (Hos. 8:8; Matt. 26:29a); but in that day, He will "rejoice over [them] with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over [them] with singing" (Zeph. 3:17; Matt. 26:29b).
Verses 33-43: the Feast of Tabernacles EV 23:33-43{on the Fifteenth Day of This Same Month, When They Have Brought in the Fruit of the Land, Which, As We Have Seen, Is the Grape Harvest, Israel Is to Set Apart Seven Days for the Observance of the Feast of Tabernacles. on Each of the Seven Days of This Feast, They Are to Offer an Offering Made by Fire Unto Jehovah. They Are Also to Take Boughs of Goodly Trees, Branches of Palm Trees, Boughs of Thick Trees, and Willows of the Brook, From Which They Are to Frame Booths for Themselves. Then, They Are to Dwell in Those Booths for the Duration of the Feast.
This feast typifies the rest that Israel will enjoy during the millennial kingdom, which will follow upon their restoration discussed in the feast of atonement above. Messiah's reign then will be one of righteousness and peace, the fear of God and His worship, material and spiritual blessings, harmony among men and animals, and liberation from sickness and disease. The world will never have seen a time like it before. Even Satan will be bound for its duration and will no longer be at liberty to deceive and entice men to evil.
Like the feast of unleavened bread, this one lasts seven days; but unlike that one, this feast will include an eighth day at its end. As we have seen, the number seven denotes perfection or completeness. In this feast, the seven days denote the entire period of the millennial reign of Christ. The eighth day then embraces that which follows that period of unequaled earthly rest and blessing and, therefore, goes on into and becomes the eternal state.
Summary
In its broadest view, this chapter takes our thoughts all the way from the beginning of God's dealings with men on the earth to the end of those dealings. In its narrower, but more detailed view however, it takes our thoughts from the beginning of God's dealings with His earthly people, Israel, to the end of those dealings... and beyond. It is most comprehensive indeed!
These latter dealings are comprehended in the seven feasts of Jehovah. They begin with the Passover feast, typical of the death of Christ; the feast of unleavened bread, typical of the deliverance from the power of sin His death gives to those who have died with Him; the feast of firstfruits, typical of the resurrection of Christ; and the feast of weeks, typical of the assembly and its resurrection life with Christ.
These are all either past or present. The following three feasts are yet future. They are as follows: The feast of trumpets, typical of the spiritual and moral awakening of His earthly people, Israel; the feast of atonement, typical of that people's repentance for their rejection and crucifying of Messiah; and the feast of tabernacles with its eighth day, typical of the millennial reign of Christ over the earth and that which follows—that is, the eternal state, the foundation of which was laid in the death and shed blood of Christ upon Calvary's cross. As to this latter, eternal state, it is what Peter calls "the day of God, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). The first heaven and the first earth will have passed away in order to make room for "a new heaven and a new earth." (See Gen. 2:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12; and Rev. 21:1-6.) There will be nothing further to be accomplished. All God's counsel will have been brought to full fruition. His holy heart and mind will be altogether at rest. He will forever enjoy the company of His heavenly and earthly redeemed alike. A day in which all will be in conformity with the pure and holy nature of God, it will be a scene of unimaginable bliss and glory, where there is only light and love, and where joy will fill our hearts and song our lips. God's love will fill the place, the Lamb that was slain will be its Center, and the hearts of the redeemed will be forever bursting with joy and praise.