Lev. 23: Reminder: Feast!

Well, just as I was mentioning how I was struggling to keep stuff straight, God gives Moses a review of the feasts and special days that the LORD has called to be separate. Just as there were separate people and separate animals, there were separate special days. Chapter 23 is a helpful recap.

The Sabbath - Recap
We know about this one. Work six days, and rest on the seventh, a day of sacred assembly. This is the first an probably foremost ritual that God has set aside. Rest.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread - Recap
The Passover began in the evening on the 14th day of the first month. The next day, the feast of Unleavened Bread begins. For seven days, there was to be no eating of bread with yeast in it, and there was to be burnt offerings to the LORD. On day one and day seven, there was regular assembly, and no work.

Firstfruits - This was never really explained in great detail, but Lev. 23:9-14 covers it pretty concisely and clearly. The first sheaf of the harvest was to be offered to God. It will be waved on the first day after the sabbath. In addition, a male lamb without defect should be brought and offered as a burnt offering, along with the flour and the wine.

The Feast of Weeks - Another one I don't have a great recollection of, but it is explained here. It's mentioned by name in Ex. 34, but that's about it. Apparently you count of seven weeks....seven sevens...after the seventh sabbath, you make a grain offering. 2 loaves with yeast, 7 lambs, a bull and 2 rams. Basically every kind of offering happens here. It's the perfect storm of sacrifices.

The Feast of Trumpets - Another new one. This happens on the first day of the seventh month. Commemorated with trumpets, and treated like a sabbath, with the rest and sacred assembly and all that.

The Day of Atonement - Recap
This is the tenth day of the above seventh month. Abstinence. And doing no work. And a burnt offering. Just seemingly random commands.

The Feast of Tabernacles - Recap
Again, that seventh month is big time for feastery. Starts on the 15th, lasts for ...what else... 7 days. The first day is a sabbath, and the last day is a sabbath. Inbetween, you make burnt offerings. It's a second perfect storm of sacrifices. These have offerings on top of whatever was given as fellowship, vows, and free will offerings. Good times, good times. During the feast of tabernacles, the Israelites were commanded to live in booths, as the people did during the time of the exodus. This makes sense, as by this time, we're a few years out, and some people didn't know what it was like, and some people needed a reminder. Living in a "booth" would kind of suck. It was the Israelites who constantly wanted to remember what it was like, how they had pots of meat and stuff. Now they can remember every year what it was like leaving.