1.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The Lord gave Israel eight feasts to celebrate.
• The feasts were meant to strength Israel’s relationship with the Lord their God.
• Every feast is a picture of the things that we now enjoy in Jesus Christ.
• We should celebrate the truths that we learn from the feasts.
• After God finished his work of creation, he blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
• Every seventh day (Sabbath) God’s people rested and looked forward to the rest that the Saviour would bring.
• Jesus Christ came to give us true rest:
  - rest from the guilt of sin
  - rest from the life of sin
  - rest from the consequences of sin
• When Jesus comes again, we will enter God’s promised eternal rest.
• Until then God still strengthens us with a weekly day of rest.

1.2 Leviticus 23:1-3←⤒🔗

^1. The Lord spoke to Moses:

^2. Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies—my appointed times.

^3. ‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

© NET Bible

1.3 The feasts of Israel←⤒🔗

People all over the world celebrate feasts. Think for example about birthdays, marriages, and national festivals. When we celebrate feasts, we get together to remember, to rejoice, and to teach the next generation.

In Leviticus 23 we read of eight feasts that had to be celebrated in Israel. The Lord called these feasts “my appointed times” (Leviticus 23:2). Why? Because it is he who gave Israel these feasts! He even told them when, where, and how to celebrate each feast.

The eight feasts were special times to get together as God’s people. They were special days to remember God’s works of salvation, to rejoice in him, and to teach the next generation to follow him. In other words, the feasts were meant to strengthen Israel’s relationship with the Lord their God.

1.4 Should Christians celebrate the feasts?←⤒🔗

The feasts were wonderful gifts from God. But they were not meant to be celebrated forever. They were a shadow of greater things that were going to come.

Those greater things finally came when God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. In Colossians 2:16-17 we read,

Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days—these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ!

In this Bible study topic you will see how the feasts were a shadow of Christ. Indeed, every feast is a “picture” of the things that we now enjoy in Christ:

The Sabbath	Christ came to give us true rest.
The Passover	Christ died for our salvation.
The Feast of Unleavened  Bread	Christ gives us new life.
The Feast of Firstfruits	Christ is our hope of resurrection.
The Feast of Weeks	Christ has poured out his Spirit on his church.
The Feast of Trumpets	Christ will come again let us listen to his Word.
The Day of Atonement	Christ is the perfect atonement for our sins.
The Feast of Shelters	Christ cares for us on our journey to heaven.

So, should we still celebrate the feasts of Israel? The answer is, No and yes. No, we should not celebrate the feasts in the way that Israel did. But yes, we should celebrate the truths that we learn from the feasts.

As the people of Christ, we should live lives of celebration! Studying the feasts will help us to grow in our knowledge of Christ, so that we may rejoice in him more and more.

1.5 The Sabbath: A feast of rest←⤒🔗

The Sabbath is the first feast that we read about in Leviticus 23. It is a special feast, because it is as old as creation. Also, it was not celebrated only once a year, like the other feasts. It was celebrated every week.

The first time that the Bible speaks about the Sabbath is in Genesis 2:2-3: “And on the seventh day God finished his work…. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (ESV).

Why did God rest on the seventh day? He did not rest because he was tired. He chose to rest because he had “finished his work.” Now he could enjoy his creation and rule over it as King!

God created Adam and Eve with a special task, to care for his creation (Genesis 1:26-28). But one day their work would also be finished. Then they would rest, rule with God forever, enjoy him, and enjoy his creation.

Even in the garden they could experience something of this rest. God had blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Every seventh day of the week, people could rest, enjoy creation with God, and prepare themselves for the promised eternal rest.

But Adam and Eve chose to obey Satan, rather than God. In this way they lost the eternal rest that God had promised them. They also lost their place in God’s lovely garden. From now on people would have to work hard to survive. Life would be dangerous, difficult, and short (Genesis 3).

Still, God gave a promise to Adam and Eve. A Saviour would be born from Eve’s children. He would come to crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). He would bring rest back to God’s people.

This is why the seventh day continued to be a blessed day (Exodus 20:8-11). The seventh day pointed forward to the rest that the Saviour would bring. The Lord told Israel to celebrate this day with “complete rest” and “a holy assembly” (Leviticus 23:3).

On the Sabbath day, the people of God had to stop their daily work, worship God together, and look forward to the true rest that was coming.

1.6 The true rest-giver←⤒🔗

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). These words were spoken by Jesus Christ. With these words he showed that he is the true Rest-Giver.

Jesus alone can give us the rest that we really need: rest from sin! He has come to give us rest from the guilt of sin, from the life of sin, and from the consequences of sin.

Rest from the guilt of sin←↰⤒🔗

As Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30 ESV). The price for our sins was fully paid. There, on the cross, God removed all our guilt from us.

Rest from the life of sin←↰⤒🔗

When we follow Jesus, he teaches us to leave our life of sin behind and to live for God. In this way we already begin to enjoy God’s promised eternal rest. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus goes on to say, “Take my yoke on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Rest from the consequences of sin←↰⤒🔗

In this world we are not yet enjoying the fullness of God’s presence. We still face dangers, troubles, and death. These things are the consequences of sin. But when Jesus comes again, he will give us rest from all the consequences of sin. God will wipe every tear from our eyes. We will live with him forever in his new creation (Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:22).

Until then God still gives us a weekly day of rest. On this day we can rest from our daily work, hear his gospel, and look forward to his eternal rest.

This day is not the seventh day of the week anymore (the day when God completed his first creation). It is now the first day, the day when God began his new creation! It is the day on which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. That is why the New Testament calls this day “the Lord’s Day” (Luke 24:1; John 20:19; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10).

So, next Sunday, when you wake up, remember that this is the day of the Lord! It is a day for resting, rejoicing, and gathering with God’s people. Let God use this day to strengthen you, on your way to his eternal rest.