God’s Appointed Feasts: Understanding the Biblical Holy Days
The Bible outlines specific appointed feasts (moedim) that are holy convocations established by God. These feasts are not merely Jewish traditions but divine appointments that hold prophetic significance. They foretell God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ and offer deep spiritual lessons for believers today.
📖 Leviticus 23:1-2 – “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.”
The seven feasts of the Lord are divided into Spring Feasts (fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming) and Fall Feasts (foreshadowing His second coming). Understanding and observing these feasts deepens our appreciation of God’s prophetic timeline.
Special Note
Passover
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of Firstfruits
Feast of Weeks
Feast of Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles
Biblical Feast Dates
Calculating the Feasts
Special Note
🚨 Special Note
While the article promotes study of the feasts for spiritual enrichment, it’s essential to clarify that believers are not mandated to keep these feasts. Paul emphasizes freedom in observing special days (Romans 14:5-6) and warns against legalism (Galatians 4:9-10).
Passover
Passover (Pesach) – Jesus Our Sacrificial Lamb
📖 Leviticus 23:5 – “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s passover.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: Commemorates the night when God spared the Israelites in Egypt by the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. This act marked their deliverance from slavery (Exodus 12:13).
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Jesus was crucified on the very day of Passover, becoming the ultimate sacrificial Lamb whose blood delivers us from the bondage of sin and eternal death (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of Unleavened Bread – Purging Sin
📖 Leviticus 23:6–8 – “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: After leaving Egypt in haste, the Israelites had no time to let their bread rise. They ate unleavened bread, representing a break from their past life of bondage (Exodus 12:39).
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Jesus, the sinless One (leaven represents sin), was laid in the tomb during this feast. His perfect, uncorrupted body fulfilled the symbol of unleavened purity (1 Peter 2:22).
Feast of Firstfruits
Feast of Firstfruits – Jesus’ Resurrection
📖 Leviticus 23:10–11 – “Ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest… he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: Israel offered the very first sheaf of their spring harvest to the Lord in gratitude, acknowledging Him as the source of provision.
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Jesus rose from the dead on this exact feast day, becoming the “firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). His resurrection is the guarantee of the future resurrection of believers.
🔹 Prophetic Insight: Just as the firstfruits sheaf was a pledge of the full harvest to come, Christ’s rising points to a greater harvest—the resurrection of His people at the end of the age.
Feast of Weeks
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost/Shavuot) – The Holy Spirit Given
📖 Leviticus 23:15–16 – “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath… even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: Fifty days after Passover, Israel celebrated the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai—a covenant moment that formed them into a nation under God’s law (Exodus 19).
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: On the same day, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out on believers (Acts 2), writing God’s law on their hearts and marking the birth of the New Covenant church.
🔹 Prophetic Insight: Pentecost reveals the shift from external tablets of stone to internal transformation by the Spirit. What began in fire on Sinai was fulfilled in cloven tongues of fire in Jerusalem.
Feast of Trumpets
Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) – The Coming King
📖 Leviticus 23:24 – “In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: Trumpets were used in ancient Israel to gather the people, signal battle, or announce the arrival of a king. This feast marked a solemn call to awaken spiritually and prepare for the Day of Atonement.
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Prophetically, this feast foreshadows the second coming of Christ, when He will return with the sound of a trumpet to gather His people (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, Matthew 24:31).
🔹 Prophetic Insight: This trumpet blast will not be a symbol—but a real, earth-shaking event signaling judgment for the world and redemption for the faithful. It awakens both hearts and history to the arrival of the King of Kings.
Day of Atonement
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – Judgment & Mercy
📖 Leviticus 23:27 – “On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: This was the most solemn day of the year for Israel. The high priest would enter the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16). It was a time of deep reflection, fasting, and spiritual cleansing.
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Prophetically, Yom Kippur points to the final phase of Christ’s high priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary—a time of investigative judgment before His return (Daniel 7:9–10, Revelation 20:12).
🔹 Judgment & Mercy: This day embodies both divine justice and mercy. God judges sin, but also extends mercy to the truly repentant. It reminds us that salvation is a gift, but judgment is real.
Feast of Tabernacles
Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) – God Dwelling with Us
📖 Leviticus 23:34 – “The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.”
🔹 Historical Meaning: Israel lived in booths (temporary shelters) to remember their time in the wilderness, when God dwelled among them and provided for their every need (Leviticus 23:42–43). It was a joyful celebration of God’s presence and faithfulness.
🔹 Spiritual Fulfillment: Prophetically, Sukkot points forward to the time when God will again dwell fully with His people—first during Christ’s Millennial Reign (Zechariah 14:16–19), and ultimately in the New Earth, when the tabernacle of God is with men (Revelation 21:3).
🔹 Messianic Connection: Many believe Jesus was born during this feast, when “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14)—literally, tabernacled among us.
Biblical Feast Dates
Spring Feasts (Fulfilled in Jesus’ First Coming)
Fall Feasts (Prophetic of Jesus’ Second Coming)
Extra-Biblical Observances
📖 Notes on the Calendar System
The Hebrew calendar is lunar-based, meaning the feasts shift each year according to the sighting of the new moon.
The Biblical day starts at sunset, so feasts begin the evening before the Gregorian date.
Many modern Jewish communities follow a rabbinic calculation system rather than the Biblical sighted moon method.
Calculating the Feasts
Calculating the Feast Dates Using Biblical Methods
The Biblical (Hebrew) calendar is lunar-based and differs from the modern Jewish (rabbinic) calendar used today. To determine the correct Feast Days using Biblical methods, we must return to how God commanded time to be reckoned:
📖 Genesis 1:14 – “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
Here, the word “seasons” is moedim (מועדים), meaning appointed times, referring to the feasts! The moon determines the feasts, not human calculations.
Step 1: Identify the Biblical New Year (Rosh Chodesh)
The first month of the Biblical year is called Abib (Nisan). 📖 Exodus 12:2 – “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
🔹 The new year begins with the first sighted new moon after the barley is “Abib” (ripened) in Israel. 🔹 This means that the Hebrew year does not begin on January 1st, but in the spring (March-April). 🔹 If barley is not yet Abib, the year is delayed by one month (intercalation).
Step 2: Identify the Feast Days Based on the First New Moon
Once the first new moon of the year is sighted, we can count to determine the Feasts of the Lord.
Step 3: Using the Sighted Moon, Not the Jewish Calendar
Many Jewish communities today use a fixed, pre-calculated calendar (Hillel II Calendar), but this is not the Biblical way.
📖 Psalm 104:19 – “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.”
The rabbinic calendar does not wait for barley ripeness or the new moon sightings, meaning it can be one month off from the Biblical method.
✅ Biblical method → Uses new moon sightings & barley ripeness. ❌ Rabbinic method → Uses pre-calculated dates, sometimes incorrect.
Step 4: Confirming the Dates Each Year
Since the Biblical calendar depends on observable events, the exact Gregorian dates of the Feasts change yearly.
🔹 Check the barley in Israel – If it is Abib, the next new moon begins the year. 🔹 Watch for the first crescent moon – This starts each Biblical month. 🔹 Count the feast days accordingly – Using the table above.
Why Is This Important?
Many prophetic events align with the Feasts of the Lord, meaning accurate dating matters!
🔹 Passover – Jesus was crucified exactly on this day. 🔹 Firstfruits – Jesus rose on this feast. 🔹 Pentecost – The Holy Spirit came on this feast. 🔹 Trumpets – May signal Jesus’ second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16). 🔹 Atonement – May signal judgment day (Revelation 20:11-15). 🔹 Tabernacles – May signal God’s kingdom on earth (Revelation 21:3).
📖 Conclusion: Observing Feasts the Right Way
To correctly keep the Feasts, one must: 🔹 Look for the first ripened barley in Israel. 🔹 Observe the first visible crescent moon to start the new year. 🔹 Count days from there to each Feast rather than using pre-set dates.
This method restores Biblical accuracy and helps believers prepare for prophetic fulfillment in God’s calendar.
