Christ’s Fulfillment of the Old Testament Feasts
Have you ever wondered where the Old Testament feasts fit into the New Testament? So much attention is given to them under the Law, yet the New Testament does not mention them often. Do the feasts have a place in Christian worship today?
If you are unfamiliar with the Old Testament feasts, pause here and read Leviticus 23. You will read about seven feasts that the Israelites were charged to keep throughout the year. God gave the feasts to the people so they would remember God’s provision and reenact them annually. God structured them within the bounds of time-regulated worship, which revolved around weekly, monthly, and seasonal celebrations. By structuring the worship of Israel in this manner, God set them apart from other people groups. They worshipped the one true God.
As we are in the midst of Holy Week, it is important to see how Christ fulfilled the Law. He did not abolish the Law. The first four feasts find fulfillment in Christ’s death and resurrection, and the final three feasts will find ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s second coming.
Jesus Fulfilled the Sabbath
In Leviticus 23:1-3, God invites the Israelites to change the pattern of their lives by setting aside the Sabbath. They are to rest from their work and hold a holy convocation. This Sabbath would have greatly contrasted the other six days of the week, and they were to worship God as a community of believers. This ordinance did not change in the New Testament (nor should it be disregarded today).
In Mark 2:23-28, Jesus was walking through grainfields with his disciples when a few of them decided to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees attempted to discredit them by accusing the disciples of working on the Sabbath. But Jesus responds with the story of David and his men eating the consecrated bread, of which only the priests should eat. He then states, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus was declaring that God sets the standard of the Sabbath, not man. God established the Sabbath rest all the way back at creation, and since that time, it has been a day of rest and a day of worship.
Jesus Fulfilled the Passover
Passover was a 3-day festival that was sometimes called the week of Passover or the week of unleavened bread. In Exodus 12, we read how the Israelites covered the doorposts of their houses with the blood of an unblemished lamb, causing the Spirit to pass over their homes, consecrating them unto the Lord. The Israelites then ate the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, signifying the quick flight from Egypt. The Passover became a memorial that the Israelites continued to celebrate after the birth of Jesus.
When we see Jesus celebrate Passover, it is when he gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room. Matthew 26:17 finds Jesus’ disciples asking him where they will celebrate the Passover. Jesus gathered his disciples around the table and instituted a new instruction for Passover. He offered his body and blood as the atoning sacrifice. Our Passover Lamb was killed on Passover, following the pattern established in Leviticus 23.
Jesus Fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread
During the week after Passover, people were to eat unleavened bread, with the first and last days being complete Sabbaths. They were to eat unleavened bread for an entire week, making them more thankful for the bounty they were about to consume. During the week, no leaven should be found within their homes per the Law of Moses. If leaven was found in someone’s home, they were to be cut off from Israel (Ex. 12:15).
In the New Testament, Paul references leaven in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. He tells the Corinthians that a little leaven, or sin, leavens the whole lump. Instructing the Corinthians to discard any lingering sin from their lives before Christ, he tells them, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” He then tells them to celebrate the festival as new creations in Christ, with the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Jesus Fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits
In Leviticus 23:9-14, God tells Moses how to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits. This feast continued for several weeks, beginning the morning after the Sabbath of Passover. The sheaf of the firstfruits of barley was presented to the Lord in the sanctuary. In this reenactment and remembrance ceremony, the remembered and anticipated. They remembered their deliverance from the Egyptians, but they anticipated the harvest to come.
The New Testament mentions this feast in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are new creations in Christ. In fulfillment of the Old Testament Law, Christ fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits by raising from the dead and being the firstfruit himself. Christ’s bodily resurrection fulfilled the offering of the firstfruit.
Jesus Fulfilled the Feast of Weeks
The Feast of Weeks began after the Feast of Firstfruits and lasted 50 days. This celebration culminated with the harvest of wheat and the ripening of the firstfruit of the land. This also commemorated the giving of the law at Sinai. The festival began with a presentation of two loaves of bread, which represented the harvest period. The climax of the festival was when two male lambs were offered as peace offerings, and later, the book of Ruth was read at this time.
In the New Testament, we read about Christ’s fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks in Acts 1:1-11. Jesus died on Passover. He rested on the Sabbath (the Jewish Sabbath was on the last day of the week). And he rose on the Feast of Firstfruits. After his resurrection, Jesus stayed with his disciples as they waited “for the promise of the Father,” the Holy Spirit. Thus, God and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks. Through this, all believers were to be united into one body. This was God’s plan to write the law on the hearts of believers as he had given at Sinai.
Jesus Will Fulfill the Feast of Trumpets
As I mentioned, Christ fulfilled the first four feasts with his first coming, death, and resurrection. He will fulfill these final three feasts in his second coming. The Feast of Trumpets in the Old Testament signaled a day of rest proclaimed with a blast of trumpets. The Israelites were to do no ordinary work and present an offering to the Lord. This feast signaled the end of the harvest. It’s important to note that the use of trumpets in Israel was a call to all Isarelites that the time of worship had come.
As we wait for Jesus’ return, we read in the books of the prophets about how trumpets will be used to signal that day. Isaiah 27:13 states, “And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” Joel 2:1 reads, “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming.” Lastly, Revelation 11:15 states, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Crhsit, and he shall reign forever and ever.’” When we hear the trumpet sound at the rapture of the believers, we will gather as Christ’s followers to worship him wholly forever! What a day that will be!
Jesus Will Fulfill the Day of Atonement
Ever since the Fall in Genesis 3, sin has required an atoning sacrifice. In the rhythm of the feasts, God commanded his people to set aside a special day to present offerings to the Lord and to cease from their labors. This day was the high holy day in which God’s people were to humble themselves before him in an act of self-denial (fasting and meditation). If the people did not obey God’s command, they risked God’s judgment on their actions. This feast occurred ten days after the Feast of Trumpets and climaxed with the high priest entering the holy of holies, seeking atonement for the people. This feast marked a new beginning for the people.
In Matthew 27:45-56, after Jesus died on the cross and atoned for the sins of his people, the veil in the temple was torn in two. Without knowing the purpose and methods of the Day of Atonement, we would not know that the torn veil signified a new covenant. With Christ’s atoning sacrifice, God moved in to dwell with his people as never before. The torn veil did not allow us to move into God’s presence as much as it signaled God’s movement to dwell in and among his people. This Day of Atonement also looks to the future day of judgment when God will judge the living and the dead. On that day when Jesus returns, we will either be covered by Jesus’ righteousness or be sentenced to an eternity of separation from God.
Jesus Will Fulfill the Feast of Booths
The final feast listed in Leviticus 23 is the Feast of Booths, which occurred five days after the Day of Atonement. This feast beautifully parallels God’s work of creation (Genesis 1) with six days of work and one day of rest. Again, this rhythm reflects the new pattern God instituted with his people within the boundaries of time-regulated worship. For this feast, the Israelites camped in tents as they remembered and reenacted God’s deliverance from Egypt. They celebrated by recalling God’s many provisions during their wilderness wanderings.
Knowing that the previous two feasts look toward the return of Jesus, we can see the parallel of the Feast of Booths with the new heaven and new earth. Revelation 21:3 reads, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” God will change our time-regulated worship into continual worship around his throne. He will be our sun and light. There will be no more night and no more suffering. We look forward to that day when we sing with the saints and heavenly beings, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12)
Conclusion
This quick observation of the Old Testament feasts shows over and over again how Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish the law (Matthew 5:17-20). The feasts were important to the Israelites because they structured their worship within weeks, months, and years. Likewise, our worship is structured under the new covenant with the weekly celebration of the Sabbath, the monthly celebrations of ordinances, and the annual celebrations of Christ’s birth and death. The church calendar helps us to remember and proclaim.
A song that helps describe this theme of remembering and reenacting (or proclaiming) is Andrew Peterson’s Remember and Proclaim. I encourage you to find it on your listening platform and meditate on its truths. Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Testament feasts reminds us that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again! Hallelujah!
Kim has been married to her college sweetheart, Jason, for 24 years and they have one son who is a high school senior. Most recently, Kim completed her Ph.D in Church Music and Worship from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She has presented at Evangelical Theological Society and The Society of Christian Scholarship in Music, and her works have appeared in The Hymn, Artistic Theologian, and Baptist History and Heritage Journal.
