As part of his covenant with the Israelites, God commanded them to observe various annual festivals. They symbolized facets of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Now that Christ has redeemed us, are these festivals still required observances under the new covenant? Let us examine the Old and New Testament evidence.

The Passover

Just before the Israelites left Egypt, God revised the Israelites' calendar and commanded a festival. On the 10th day of the month Abib, the Israelites were to select lambs. On the 14th day, they were to kill the lambs and put some of the blood on their doorframes. They were to roast them and eat them with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, with their cloaks and sandals on, with their staffs in their hands, ready to depart Egypt, and all leftovers were to be burned (Exodus 12:1-10). If gentiles wished to participate, the men had to be circumcised (verses 43-49). The day was commanded as a lasting ordinance for future generations; it was to be a commemorative celebration, a festival (verses 14, 24-25).

Three festival seasons are mentioned within the Sinaitic covenant (Exodus 23:14-17), but Passover is not mentioned by name. However, it is mentioned in the summary of the Sinaitic covenant given to Moses later (Exodus 34:25b).

In Leviticus 23:4-5, the Passover is called a sacred assembly. Although work was forbidden on other festivals, there was no such requirement for the 14th. In Numbers 9:2-5, the Passover was again commanded, but no details were given, other than referring to previously given ``rules and regulations.''

Provision was made for an observance of Passover in the second month for people who were unable to participate in Abib (verses 6-14). Requirements were that it must be done at evening, that it must be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, that no meat be left until morning and that no bones should be broken.

As part of the sacrificial system, various offerings were prescribed for every morning and evening, Sabbath, new moons and annual festivals (Numbers 28-29). The Passover is mentioned in Numbers 28:16, but no additional sacrifice was required for the 14th of Abib.

Deuteronomy 16:1-7 established the tabernacle as the site for Passover observances, rather than at the homes of the people. In the morning after the Passover, they were to return to their tents (verse 7b). Otherwise the regulations were the same as before.

Soon after this, the Israelites celebrated the Passover on the plains of Jericho (Joshua 5:10). The people had recently been circumcised (verses 2-8), so they could participate. This implies that most of these Israelites had never before participated in a Passover.

The Passover was often neglected, at least by most Israelites. Hezekiah led a restoration, inviting Israelites and Jews to celebrate the Passover in the second month (2 Chronicles 30:1-3). The Passover ``had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written'' (verse 5). Although most Israelites refused to go to Jerusalem, some came (verse 11). Many were ceremonially unclean, but they were allowed to participate anyway (verses 17-20). It was the greatest reunion of Jews and Israelites since the time of Solomon (verse 26).

But the Passover was neglected again, and it was restored again after Josiah's workmen discovered the book of the covenant (2 Kings 23:21-23; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19). ``The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem.''

Ezra also restored the Passover observance (Ezra 6:19-21).

Unleavened Bread

The week-long Festival of Unleavened Bread was closely associated with the Passover, since it started on the 15th, right after the Passover lambs were killed. It was instituted in Egypt (Exodus 12:15-20). Leaven was to be removed on the first day (verse 15), and no leaven was to be in the homes for seven days (verse 19). Sacred assemblies were held on the first and seventh days, and ordinary work was forbidden on those days, except for food preparation. It was ``a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.'' Even aliens had to abide by the rules (verse 19).

The night of the 15th became a commemoration of the escape from Egypt (verses 17, 42; 13:3). ``This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand'' (Exodus 13:9). The Israelites were to observe the festival after they entered the Promised Land (verse 5). In the wilderness, the Israelites had no grains and no bread, so they did not need to change their diets during this festival while they were in the wilderness.

The festival was commanded within the Sinaitic covenant as a remembrance of the Exodus (Exodus 23:15), and the festival was repeated in the covenant made with Moses and Israel (Exodus 34:18). It was described again in Leviticus 23:6-8, but no new regulations were added. Numbers 28:17-25 prescribed extra sacrifices for the entire week.

Deuteronomy 16:3-8 repeated the regulations and indicated that the Passover lamb was sacrificed on the evening of the first day of unleavened bread (verse 4b). The unleavened bread was a reminder that the Israelites left Egypt in haste (verse 3); they did not have time to put yeast in their dough and let it rise (Exodus 12:34, 39).

When the Israelites entered the land of Canaan after the Passover, they ate unleavened bread (Joshua 5:11). Solomon offered sacrifices as required in the book of Moses (2 Chronicles 8:12-13). In Hezekiah's day, the people celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month (2 Chronicles 30:13, 21), even though that wasn't the official date for it. Then they celebrated it another seven days (verse 23). The festival was restored again by Josiah and Ezra (2 Chronicles 35:17; Ezra 6:22).

In Ezekiel's vision of the restored temple and sacrificial system, the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread was included (Ezekiel 45:21-24).

Grain Harvest Festivals

Associated with the Festival of Unleavened Bread was the ceremony of waving the firstfruits, the first part of the spring grain harvest. Before any new grain could be eaten, some grain had to be waved before God, with lamb, grain, oil and wine offerings (Leviticus 23:10-14). This ceremony involved the priests, and there was little for the people to do. It was not a Sabbath or a sacred assembly. The ceremony could not apply in the wilderness; it was to be in force only after the Israelites entered the land (verse 10), and then it was to be a lasting ordinance wherever they lived (verse 14b).

Fifty days after the wavesheaf offering, at the end of the grain harvest, was the festival now known as Pentecost, which was a sacred assembly, a day on which regular work was forbidden (verses 15-21). Leavened loaves were to be offered with animals, grain and drink offerings — ``a lasting ordinance for generations to come, wherever you live.''

This festival was included in the Sinaitic covenant (Exodus 23:16) and in the restatement of that covenant (Exodus 34:22). Additional offerings were commanded in Numbers 28:26-31. The festival was commanded again in Deuteronomy 16:9-11, with the theme of rejoicing at the central tabernacle site.

The only Old Testament passage that mentions an observance is 2 Chronicles 8:12-13, which says that Solomon offered the commanded offerings for this festival.

Autumn Festival Season

Trumpets: On the first day of Tishri, the seventh month, was a festival of blowing trumpets. It was a day of rest and a sacred assembly (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1). Ezra read from the law on this day; he told the people that ``this day is sacred to our Lord,'' but nothing is said about trumpets or sacrifices (Nehemiah 8:1-10).¹

Atonement: On the 10th of Tishri was the Day of Atonement. No work at all was to be done on this ``sabbath of rest,'' and there was a sacred assembly (Leviticus 23:26-32; Numbers 29:7). Fasting was required; anyone who worked or did not fast was cut off from the people.

Sacrificial rituals for this day are in Leviticus 16. That chapter also repeated the requirements for the people — even gentiles — to fast and avoid work (verse 29).

Tabernacles: The autumn harvest festival was the third main festival season (Exodus 23:17; 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:16; 2 Chronicles 8:12-13). The first day of the seven-day festival was a sacred assembly on which regular work was forbidden (Leviticus 23:33-36a; Numbers 29:12). The people were to collect fruit, palm fronds and leafy branches and live in crude shelters for seven days. It was a lasting ordinance for all ``native-born Israelites,'' reminding them of the Exodus from Egypt (Leviticus 23:39-43).

The festival was to be kept at a central site, and it was a time for joy and celebration that included aliens (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Every seventh year, in the sabbatical year in which slaves were released, the law was to be read publicly during this festival (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). In those years, it would have been a festival of liberation, not of ingathering.

Solomon's temple was dedicated at the Festival of Tabernacles (2 Chronicles 5:2-3; 7:8). Ezra and Nehemiah kept this festival (Ezra 3:4; Nehemiah 8:14-18). ``From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this'' (verse 17).

Ezekiel predicted a restoration of this festival (Ezekiel 45:25); Hosea also mentioned it in a prophecy (Hosea 12:9). The most specific prophecy about this festival is in Zechariah 14:16-19 — even gentile nations would be required to go to Jerusalem to keep the festival, or else they would suffer drought.

The eighth day: The Festival of Tabernacles lasted seven days, but the eighth day was also a sacred assembly and a day of rest (Leviticus 23:36b, 39b; Numbers 29:35). This day was called ``the closing assembly'' (`atsarah) (Leviticus 23:36b). Solomon held an assembly on the eighth day and dismissed the people on the ninth (2 Chronicles 7:9-10). Ezra also held an assembly on the eighth day (Nehemiah 8:18).

Other Festivals

The sabbatical year: The old covenant stipulated that the land was not to be cultivated every seventh year (Exodus 23:10-11). The land was to lie fallow, and vineyards and olive trees were to be left untended so poor people and wild animals could eat the fruit. The land was to observe a sabbath year (Leviticus 25:1-7).

God warned the people that if they were persistently rebellious, he would ensure that the land had its sabbaths (Leviticus 26:34). And it came to pass — the land was given its sabbath rests (2 Chronicles 36:21).

Nehemiah, in pledging allegiance to God's laws, restored the land sabbath (Nehemiah 10:31). He also indicated that the seventh year was a time for canceling debts, in keeping with Deuteronomy 15:1-11. It was also the time for freeing Hebrew slaves (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 31:10-13; Jeremiah 34:14).

The jubilee year: Similarly, every 50th year was to be a festive year. Liberty was to be proclaimed throughout the land, and farmlands were to be returned to the families originally having them (Leviticus 25:8-10). It was also a sabbatical year for the land, since the people were not to sow or reap or harvest (verses 11-12). When Jesus proclaimed freedom for prisoners (Luke 4:18), he may have been alluding to the jubilee year.

Purim: Another biblical festival was begun by Mordecai — he told all the Jews in the Persian Empire to celebrate the 14th and 15th days of the month Adar (Esther 9:21).

Endnote

1 On the second day, Ezra again read from the law, and the people then learned about the Festival of Tabernacles (verses 13-14); the implication is that they had little or no knowledge about the Festival of Trumpets the day before. Ezra may have considered the first day sacred because it was a new moon. Although new moons were not commanded assemblies or Sabbaths, they were often mentioned in association with other religious days (e.g., Numbers 28:11; Ezekiel 45:17; 46:3). Trumpets were blown on every new moon (Numbers 10:10). Psalm 81:3-5 may refer to the Festival of Trumpets.