Reference

Israel's Annual Festivals

It is important to understand the yearly festivals that the Lord appointed for Israel, as these provide a framework for the plan of salvation. There were two harvests during the year--the spring harvest and the fall harvest--and there were particular festivals assocated with each. In the spring, the Israelites observed the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Firstfruits, and the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost). In the fall, they observed the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The spring festivals pertained to Jesus' first coming; the fall festivals to his second.

The material on this page is taken from Leviticus 23. Take time to become acquainted with these festivals, as they will aid in understanding Revelation.

The name of each festival is a link to a page containing a description of its fulfillment in the New Testament.

These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. (Leviticus 23:4)

Passover: 14th day of first month (Leviticus 23:5).

Feast of Unleavened Bread: 15th day of first month to 21st day of first month; sacred assembly on 15th and 21st . (Leviticus 23:6-7).

1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17
Passover Unleavened Bread
(sacred)		 Unleavened Bread Unleavened Bread
1/18 1/19 1/20 1/21
Unleavened Bread Unleavened Bread Unleavened Bread Unleavened Bread
(sacred)

Firstfruits: Sunday after first grain is harvested (Leviticus 23:10-11).

Feast of Weeks: 50 days from Firstfruits—seventh Sunday after first grain is harvested. (Leviticus 23:15-16). This was a day of sacred assembly (Leviticus 23:21).

First grain harvested Sabbath
1
Firstfruits
 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sabbath
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Sabbath
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Sabbath
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Sabbath
29 30 31 32 33 34 35
Sabbath
36 37 38 39 40 41 42
Sabbath
43 44 45 46 47 48 49
Sabbath
50
Feast of
Weeks
(sacred)
            

Feast of Trumpets: First day of seventh month; sacred assembly (Leviticus 23:24).

Day of Atonement: 10th day of seventh month; sacred assembly (Leviticus 23:27).

Feast of Tabernacles: 15th day of seventh month to 21st day of seventh month; closing sacred assembly on 22nd day (Leviticus 23:34-36).

7/15 7/16 7/17 7/18
Feast of
Tabernacles
(sacred)		 Feast of
Tabernacles		 Feast of
Tabernacles		 Feast of
Tabernacles
7/19 7/20 7/21 7/22
Feast of
Tabernacles		 Feast of
Tabernacles		 Feast of
Tabernacles		 Closing Assembly
(sacred)