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Leviticus 23 Bible study: The set feasts of the LORD
The LORD calls Israel's feasts "my set feasts" (23:2), using the same Hebrew word as the Tent of Meeting (1:1). No one could eat the new grain until the first sheaf was waved before the LORD (23:14), and Paul calls the risen Christ "the first fruit of those who are asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).
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“that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”
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“The two loaves of the new meal offering in Leviticus 23:17 were baked with yeast.”
Is that in Leviticus 23, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The LORD's own appointments
The chapter opens, "The set feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts" (23:2). They aren't Israel's festivals first; the LORD calls them his. The Hebrew word for "set feasts" is mo'ed, an appointed time or meeting, and it is the same word in "the Tent of Meeting" (1:1). The book began, "The LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting" (1:1). Now Israel is to "proclaim" the LORD's appointed times (23:2), and in Hebrew "proclaim" is the same verb as "called" in 1:1. The place where the LORD meets his people, and the times he sets, share one word.
Where it leads to Jesus
After two days the Passover is coming
Leviticus 23:5leads toMatthew 26:2
"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD’s Passover" (23:5). Two days before the Passover in Jerusalem, Jesus told his disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified" (Matthew 26:2). In one sentence Jesus named the Passover and his being delivered up to be crucified.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Leviticus 23
That was a taste
The rest of Leviticus 23 is waiting in Favor
- Laws for a harvest they didn't have yet
- Remember the shelters when the harvest is in
- A rhythm of sevens
- Three holy days in the seventh month
- 15 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
מוֹעֵדmo'edsay mo-EID
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "appointed time, place, meeting". Strong's: "properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival". The chapter uses it six times, and the WEB gives it as "set feasts" (23:2, 23:4), "appointed season" (23:4) and "appointed feasts" (23:37, 23:44). It is the same word in "the Tent of Meeting", where Leviticus began: "The LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting" (1:1). Its first use in the Hebrew Bible is on the fourth day of creation, when the lights are made "for signs to mark seasons, days, and years" (Genesis 1:14).
For your group
Leviticus 23 Bible study questions
- 1The LORD calls these "my set feasts" (23:2), times set aside to meet with him. What set times with God does your week or year have? Is there one you'd like to begin, or keep better?
- 2In the middle of the harvest feasts, Israel was told to leave the corners and gleanings "for the poor and for the foreigner" (23:22). What might it look like to leave some edges of your time, money or plans for others?
- 3Israel lived in shelters "that your generations may know" how the LORD brought them out of Egypt (23:43). What do you do, or could you do, so that people after you know what God has done for you?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Leviticus 23 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home