Leviticus 23 explained: Israel's Calendar of Holy Days

The weekly rest (vv. 1-3)

Before the yearly festivals, the list starts with the Sabbath, every seventh day set apart for complete rest from work. It was to be kept in every home, not only at the place of worship.

Passover and flat bread (vv. 4-8)

Passover, in early spring, remembered the night Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt. For the week after it, people ate bread made without yeast, recalling the bread their ancestors baked in a hurry as they left.

The first sheaf (vv. 9-14)

Once settled in the land, farmers brought the first bundle of the barley harvest to the priest, who lifted and waved it before God, and no one ate the new crop until this was done, a way of saying thank you first. Christians later read this as a picture of Jesus rising from the dead, whom the apostle Paul calls the 'firstfruits' of those who will be raised.

The Festival of Weeks (vv. 15-22)

Fifty days after the first sheaf, as the wheat harvest came in, two loaves of ordinary yeast bread were offered; this festival later became known as Pentecost, from the Greek word for 'fiftieth.' Right among the harvest rules comes a reminder to leave the edges of fields and the leftover grain for the poor and for foreigners.

Trumpets and Atonement (vv. 23-32)

The seventh month, in autumn, opened with a day of rest marked by trumpet blasts, and ten days later came the Day of Atonement, a solemn fast when the whole people's wrongs were dealt with so they could be right with God again. The penalties for ignoring it are severe, and scholars are unsure whether being 'cut off' meant death, being driven out of the community, or God himself ending a person's family line.

The Festival of Shelters (vv. 33-44)

After the autumn crops were gathered, families lived for a week in simple shelters made of branches, remembering how their ancestors lived in temporary dwellings after leaving Egypt. Unlike the fast before it, this week was meant for joy, with leafy branches and celebration before God.

Key verse: Leviticus 23:2

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether these festivals have been fulfilled in Jesus and so no longer need keeping, or whether they still hold value or even meaning for believers to observe today.

Something to think about

What dates or rituals in your own year help you remember where you came from, and what would be lost if they disappeared?