LEVITICUS

Week 9 Chapter 23 Holidays

Discuss Study Questions Week 8

1. 21:1-5 deal with grieving. Grieving is okay, just not as those without hope.  What does this mean to you?  Outwardly, what is the difference, if any?  

2. 21:10-15- Relate to the head priest only.  Yet, it is true of any endeavor, any school, any company, any nation, even your home.  If the principal of a school, the CEO of a company, the ruler/president of a country, husband in a marriage, is corrupt, lazy, selfish, arrogant, it will affect everyone.  Describe a situation where this principle has played out in real life.

3. 21:16-24 through 22:1-16  Show God’s attention to details and loving kindness to defective, fallen mankind. We can still participate, but not assume leadership positions.  Some we can be cleansed of, others show a defect that is part of us.  Read 1Tim 3:1-13 for the qualifications necessary to actually serve as a leader in the church. What are some of the things that will disqualify a man from serving as an elder or deacon?

4. Verses 22:17-27 Restate the necessity of the sacrifice being without blemish.  What are some of the kinds of sacrifices we make and how can they be profane, that is dishonoring God?

5. Verse 28 In Ex.23:19, the Israelites are forbidden to seethe a kid in it’s mother’s milk. Here they are told they must not kill the mother and offspring at the same time. What does this tell you about how God’s importance, His view of the mother/child bond?

6. Communion is to be a reminder of what Christ’ death brought us and His promises for our future.  (Luke 22:19)  In addition to communion, which is infrequent in most churches, how do you keep God’s sacrifice for you fresh? What are some of your other blessings, in addition to salvation and a future with Him for which you are very thankful?

CHAPTER 23 Holidays

Although most Jews today are blind to the presence of Jesus in all of the Scriptural holidays of the Old Testament, it is exciting for believers to see how our Father pointed the way to the Messiah from the beginning.

The Scriptural holidays are Shabbat, Pesach, First Fruits, Shavuot, Rosh Hasannah , Yom Kippur, Succoth, and Simcha Torah.  Many of these holidays have counterparts in the New Testament.  Pesach became the celebration of the Last Supper,  First Fruits became Easter, and Shavuot became Pentecost.  Some of the Holidays are known by their English translations or interpretations: Shabbat/Sabbath, Rosh HaShannah/Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippor/Day of Atonement, Succoth/Festival of Booths.

Shabbat/Sabbath.

    The first holiday mentioned in the Bible is the Sabbath. God created the universe and everything in it in six days and rested on the seventh, declaring it to be holy. (Gen. 2:3) When the Hebrews wandered in the desert, they were to collect manna on six days. On the sixth day they were to collect enough for the seventh day. Each evening the manna that not had been consumed rotted by morning, except the manna collected on the sixth day. It was good on the seventh. (Ex. 16:14-31)

    When He gave Moses the Law, God made remembering and observing the Sabbath the fourth commandment. (Ex. 20:8) Yet, when questioned by the Pharisees why He allowed his men to pick grain enough to eat on the Sabbath, Jesus replied that the Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-27) Throughout the Old Testament God’s people are admonished to do no work and to rest on the Sabbath, to remember all that God has done for them and that it was He who created the universe. Although Jesus allowed His men to pick the food they needed on the Sabbath, He did not negate or change the need for or meaning of the Sabbath.

    In a visit with Mary and Martha, Martha was busy getting things ready for company and dinner and complained to Jesus when her sister, Mary, was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening instead of helping Martha. Jesus answered her, "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) We should all take one day each week to rest and remember all that God has done for us from our very creation and breath of life through Jesus’ atoning death and glorious resurrection.

Pesach/Passover/The Last Supper.

    The Hebrew calendar begins in the spring. The first holiday is Passover or, in Hebrew, Pesach. It occurs on the evening of the fourteenth of Nissan, which normally falls sometime in April in our calendar. It is the defining holiday for Jews because it commemorates when God, through many miracles, called us out of slavery to be His people. To be excluded from the plague of the death of the first born, the Hebrews had to select an unblemished lamb on the tenth of Nissan, slaughter it on the fourteenth, and paint it’s blood on the lintels, the frame, of each door. This freedom from physical slavery prestaged and foreshadowed God’s freeing us from spiritual slavery approximately 1500 years later at Passover.

    On the tenth of Nissan of Jesus’ 33rd year, He rode into Jerusalem. As Passover was a pilgrimage holiday, the city was filled with Jews from many lands. On that day each Jew chose an unblemished lamb for his family’s sacrifice. On that day, a multitude of Jews did, indeed, chose their unblemished lamb for their sacrifice. "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (Matt. 21: 8-9)

    On the evening of the fourteenth, Jesus led the Seder service, as in every Jewish home throughout the world. On the table there were three matzos. As in every Jewish home today, He took the middle matzo, blessed it and broke it. Unlike in any other home that night or at any time since, He said in breaking that matzo, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. (1Cor. 11:224) As in every Jewish family, Jesus lifted and blessed the fourth cup of wine of the Seder service, the Cup of Redemption. "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’" He was referring to God’s promise to Jeremiah hundreds of years before, "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." (Jer. 31:31)

    Our spiritual Passover was fulfilled when Jesus, our Unblemished Lamb, was sacrificed and died on the cross the next day. All those who believe His blood was shed for us are saved from the world and saved from Hell, just as the Hebrew families in Egypt were saved from the physical death of their first born by the blood of the lambs that were shed.

First Fruits/Easter.

    Although only the Orthodox Jews celebrate the festival of First Fruits today, it is a Levitical holiday, celebrated the first Sunday after the first night of Passover. It was to consecrate the first of the harvest, looking forward with gratitude to the fullness of the harvest yet to come. It was the day Jesus rose from the dead, Easter Sunday. As Paul wrote, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." 1Cor. 15:20

Shavuot/Pentacost.

    Seven weeks after Passover, the Jews celebrate both the barley harvest and the commemoration of Moses receiving the ten commandments. It is the holiday on which the book of Ruth is read in synagogues today around the world. One way to look at the Book of Ruth is to see it as God’s plan for redemption. Naomi, the Jewish mother-in-law, wins such love and devotion of her Moabite, pagan, daughter-in-law, Ruth, that when Naomi’s husband and two sons die and Naomi decides to go back to Jerusalem, Ruth declares, "Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17) Naomi represents the Jewish People. Ruth the non-believing gentile world.

    When they go back to Jerusalem, Ruth comes under the protection of a wealthy distant relative of Naomi. His name is Boaz and he represents God’s protection. He eventually marries Ruth and through their marriage, Naomi is blessed and brought under Boaz’ protection too.

    The Jewish apostles brought the Gospel to the gentile world. The gentiles who believed and became Christians were like a bride to Christ. Through their love, the Jews like me have been and will be brought under His protection and final covenant.

    Every Shavout this story is read. Because Shavout is a pilgrimage holiday, on the Shavout following the crucifixion tens of thousands of Jews from many lands were in Jerusalem. It was to these thousands Peter spoke. "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." (Acts 2:41) To believers, Shavout, Pentacost, commemorates God’s giving us His Law and His freeing us from the condemnation of it.

Rosh Hasannah/Feast of Trumpets.

    This holiday is not given a name in the Bible, just designated as a day which is to be celebrated. God told the Hebrews that on the first of Tishri, the seventh month, (roughly in September) they were to have a holy convocation. It was to be a day of rest and remembrance and sacrifices and the time when the trumpets, called the shofar, are to be blown. (Lev. 23:24) There is no other reason given for the holiday in the Bible. Since the only other holiday on which we are commanded to spend time remembering was Shabbat, and on Shabbat we are to remember the creation, over time the Jews associated Rosh Hashannah (Which means "Head of the Year" in Hebrew) with the anniversary of the original creation. Today Jews celebrate this holiday and date their years from the start of linking the holiday to creation, 5770 in 2000.

    The importance of the holiday, though, is in the sounding of the shofar, the trumpets and the command to remember. As Christians we are to remember the sounding of the trumpets from 1Thessalonians 4:16. " For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." It will be the sign that the Lord has returned for the church. We celebrate Rosh Ha Shannah, thankfully remembering that the Lord is coming back.

Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement.

    The Hebrews were instructed from Exodus through Ezekiel that the priests must make atonement on their behalf for their sins, even for those sins committed unintentionally or unknowingly. (Lev. 4:1-35) These sacrifices were made on a daily basis as sin offerings and guilt offerings. Once a year, on the tenth of Tishri, (in late September or early October) the high priest, the first was Aaron, was to take two perfect animals, initially goats. One goat was to be slain and it’s blood used as atonement for the sins of the whole of Israel. The other goat, after ceremonially having the sins of the whole nation transferred to it, was sent outside the camp to die. Today Orthodox Jews ceremonially kill a chicken. The other branches of Judaism spend the day in synagogues, fasting and praying as their sacrifice.

    The sacrificial system only worked if the people were willing to give up their sins, to cast off their rebellious hearts and selfish ways so they could be transferred to the animal killed and to the scapegoat. The high priest could go through the motions, but it was the faith and commitment of the people that was rewarded with forgiveness and cleansing. Therein was the problem and makes obvious why we needed a personal savior. Again, it pointed to and foretold Christ’s atoning death.

    The perfect animals represented Jesus. His blood was shed as our atonement and, like the scapegoat, He was taken outside the city to take upon Himself all the sins of mankind and die on Golgatha Hill. Just as with the original Yom Kippur, only those who are willing to cast off their sins, to repent and accept God’s forgiveness are cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice and are forgiven.

Succoth/Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.

    For seven days beginning the fifteenth of Tishri (mid-October), the Hebrews were told to have a festival celebrating and thanking God for the harvest. They were instructed to build booths, "Succoth", and dwell in them seven days. This holiday was to have meanings in addition to being thankful for the harvest. "Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’" (Lev. 23:42-43) Living in temporary booths also reminds us of how temporary life is. Today some Jews build booths in their back yards and eat in them. The holiday has become a time of giving, especially food to the needy, sharing the bounty the Lord has given.

During Succoth we remember that God had the Israelites live in booths when He brought them out of Egypt and that God freed them from physical slavery when He brought them out of Egypt. Jesus freed us from slavery to sin when He died and rose again. God gave food and water to their physical bodies in the desert when he gave them manna and quail. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."(John 6:35)

Simcha Torah.

    Literally, the name of the holiday is "Happy Torah," referring to the scroll on which the first five books of the Bible are written. The day after Succoth God declared holiday, a day of rest and holy convocation. (Lev. 23:39) Like Rosh HaShannah, no reason or name is given in the Bible for this holiday. The holiday was given it’s name because the entire Torah scroll is parceled out to be read with a specific portion each week throughout the year, and on Simcha Torah after the last verses of Deuteronomy are read, the scroll is unrolled and rewound to the beginning, and the first verses of Genesis are also read. The reason for this timing is to illustrate that God’s word and God’s love are never ending.

    As believers, if we so timed our reading of our Scripture, we would read the last chapter of Revelation in which Jesus declares, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Rev. 22:13) We would also read the description of the new Jerusalem. To read it and then begin at Genesis again, we gain an appreciation of the whole picture, from where we started to how it will all end and that it is Jesus who holds it all together.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Sabbath:  If you are too busy all week to garden and you love to garden, would gardening be a celebration of the Sabbath?  Errands may be wrong, but what about picking up a movie, or driving to the beach?  Do you see how defining the celebration of the Sabbath can easily become legalistic?  What is the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law?

2. Pesach/Passover/ The Last Supper :

a. Read 1Cor 11:23-29.   Do you take the time and honestly examine yourself before taking communion?  Have you ever found yourself falling short?  What did you do to make yourself right with the Lord before taking communion?

a. Have you ever felt yourself enslaved to some sin, like unforgiveness or worry?  If He has freed you from that bondage, what did you feel, what did you do when  you realized you were free?

3. First Fruits/Easter  How has society tried to secularize Easter?  What do you do to keep the holiday commemorating when our Lord was raised?

4. Shavout/Pentacost: What is your attitude toward the Jewish people, especially those who have rejected Christ?  What can Christians, you in particular, do to reach them who seem so unreachable?

5. Rosh Ha Shannah: Feast of Trumpets: How can knowing, remembering that the Lord is coming back to get you changed your life?

6. Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement: Why didn’t the sacrifice of the animals, made by the Levites on behalf of the entire people of Israel work?  What responsibility does that knowledge place on us?

7. Succoth: The booth is made is to remind us of how temporary life is.  How can that help you in time of stress?  Open to the sky, it also remind us of God Himself, He Who made the stars, and that we are wholly dependent on Him.  Does such knowledge draw you closer to Him?  Do you reflect on these truths often?  Why/why not?

8.Simcha Torah/Happy Instructions: How often do you reflect on who and how you were before you came to accept Christ, His deity, sacrifice and resurrection? What are you able to do now you belong to Him that you couldn’t do before?