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Leviticus 23

Life Application Study BibleLeviticusChapter 23

Leviticus 23

New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 190, 191, 192

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23Leviticus 23

3. Seasons and festivals

123 The LORD said to Moses, 2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly. 3“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live. 4"In addition to the Sabbath, these are the LORD’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

Passover and the Festival of Unieavened Bread

55“The LORD’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.* 6On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the LORD continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. 7On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. 8For seven days you must present special gifts to the LORD. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”

Celebration of First Harvest

99Then the LORD said to Moses, 10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. '10n the day after the Sabbath, the priest will liftit up before the LORD so it may be accepted on your behalf. '20n that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts* of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. You must also offer one quart* of wine asa liquid offering. 14Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

The Festival of Harvest

1515“From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up asa special offering—count off seven full weeks. 16Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the LORD as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the LORD from the first of your crops. 18Along with the bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull,and two rams as burnt offerings to the LORD. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will bea special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 8Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering. 20“The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the LORD, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the LORD, belong to the priests. 21That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.* 22"When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. fam the LORD your God.”

The Festival of Trumpets

2323The LORD said to Moses, 24“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn,* you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. 25You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the LORD.”

The Day of Atonement

2626Then the LORD said to Moses, 27“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.* You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves* and present special gifts to the LORD. 28Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with* the LORD your God. 29All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. 30And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day, 31You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live, 32This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The Festival of Shelters

3333 And the Lor said to Moses, 34“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters* on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement.* This festival to the LORD will last for seven days. $5On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. 36For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lor. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the LORD. This will be a soleran occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day. 37(These are the LORD’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the LORD—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. 38These festivals must be observed in addition to the LORD’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the LORD.) 39”Remember that this seven-day festival to the LORD—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,* after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. 40On f36.45 the first day gather branches from magnificent trees*—paim fronds, boughs from leafy, trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the LORD your God for seven days. 41You must observe this festival to the LORD for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month* from generation to generation. 42For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. 42This will remind each new generation of 23:43 Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land be ut ess 15 of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” 44So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the {2y"33.07 LORD.

Textual footnotes

  1. 2/10 of an ephah (4.4 liters]; also in 23:17.
  2. Pentecost (see Acts 2:1). It is celebrated today as Shavuat (or Shabuoth). _ 23:24 Hebrew On the first day of the
  3. seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. This festival is
  4. celebrated today as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.
  5. gee 23:24 and the note there. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. It is
  6. celebrated today as Yom Kippur.
  7. you before.
  8. Harvest or Festiva! of Ingathering (see Exod 23:16b). It is celebrated today as Sukkot (or Succoth).
  9. on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; see 23:27a and the note there.
  10. 23:5 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March, April, or early May.
  11. 23:13a Hebrew
  12. 23:13b Hebrew 1/4 of a hin [1 liter].
  13. 23:21 This celebration, called the Festival of Harvest or the Festival of Weeks, was later calied the Festival of
  14. 23:27a Hebrew on the tenth day of the seventh month,
  15. 23:27b Or to fast; similarly in 23:29, 32.
  16. 23:28 Or when atonement is made for
  17. 23:34a Or Festival of Booths, ot Festival of Tabernacles. This was earlier called the Festival of the Final
  18. 23:34b Hebrew
  19. 23:39 Hebrew on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
  20. 23:40 Or gather fruit from majestic trees.
  21. 23:41 Hebrew

Life Application Notes 6 notes

23:1ffFestivals played a major role in!srael’s culture. Israel's festivals were different from those of any other nation because, being ordained by God, they were times of celebrating with him, not times of moral depravity. God wanted to set aside special days for the people to come together for rest, refreshment, and remembering with thanksgiving all he had done for them.

23:1-4God established several national holidays each year for celebration, fellowship, and worship. Much can be learned about people by observing the holidays they celebrate and the way they celebrate them. Take note of your holiday traditions. What do they say about your values? in what ways do your celebrations and holidays reflect your relationship with God?

23:6The Festival of Unleavened Bread reminded Israel of their escape from Egypt. For seven days they ate unleavened bread, just as they had eaten it back then (Exodus 12:14, 15). The symbolism of this bread made without yeast was important to the Israelites. First, because the bread was unique, it ilustrated Israel’s uniqueness as a nation. Second, because yeast was a symbol of sin, the yeast-less bread represented Israel’s moral purity. Third, the baking method reminded them to obey quickly. Their ancestors left the yeast out of their dough so they could leave Egypt quickly without waiting for the dough to rise.

23:9-14The Festival of First Harvest required that the first crops harvested be offered to God. The Israelites could not eat the food from their harvest until they had made this offering. Today God still expects us to set aside his portion first, not last. Giving leftovers to God is no way to express thanks. What does the “first harvest” represent in your life?

23:15-22The Festival of Harvest was a festival praising God for a bountiful harvest. members of all ages about God’s nature and what he had done for them and was a time of renewed commitment to God. Our families also need rituals of celebration to renew our faith and to pass it on to our children. In addition to Christmas and Easter, we should select other special days to commemorate God's goodness.

23:44Worship involves both celebration and confession. But in Israel’s national holidays, the balance seems heavily tipped in favor of celebration—five joyous occasions to two solemn ones. The God of the Bible encourages joy! God does not intend for religion to be only meditation and introspection. He also wants us to celebrate. Serious reflection and immediate confession of sin is essential, of course. But this should be balanced by celebrating who God is and what he has done for his people. What special occasions on your calendar would you describe as times for joy? Which would be times for confession? How are you doing with the five-to-two balance?

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Study feature · page 191

23:23, 24 Most of the trumpets used were rams’ horns, although some of the more special trumpets were made of beaten silver, Trumpets were blown to announce the begin- Ring of each month as well as the start of festivals. 23:33-43 The Festival of Shelters was a special celebration Involving the whole family (see 23:34; Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13, 14). Like Passover, this festival taught family

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