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Are Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread the same thing? Although many think they are, they’re described as two separate Feasts in the Bible. The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows right after Passover, though the two events overlap, as I’ll explain below.
Both Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are meaningful celebrations for Christians as we explore our Hebrew roots and grow in our faith. Our Savior and what he’s done for us can be clearly symbolized through both of these Feasts, and if they’re not yet traditions in your home, I highly recommend you consider adopting them! They give such vivid pictures of who Jesus is and why we need him!
While often referred to as such, Passover isn’t a week or even a
day, but a meal held on the 14th day of the month of Nisan on the Hebrew
calendar. This corresponds to a date in
March or April on our Gregorian calendar.
Although the original command can’t be kept since it includes the
sacrifice of the Passover lamb at the Temple, an annual celebration allows us
to remember what God did for His people in Egypt.
The meal for Passover, called a Seder, isn’t merely to nourish those who partake, but to serve as a memorial to what God did for His people in the Exodus from Egypt. It’s to be eaten on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, at twilight. It’s important to note here that days on the Hebrew calendar start at twilight the night before.
The Passover lamb in Egypt foreshadows Jesus, our Passover Lamb, and this is clearly shown during the Seder. Just as the blood of the Passover Lamb rescued the Hebrew people from slavery, it’s the blood of Jesus that saves us from the slavery of our sin as well.
Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is to start on the 15th day of Nisan, the same month as Passover, at twilight. This is a 7-day feast, and the first and last days are to be Sabbaths. These Sabbaths differ from the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) and may occur on any day of the week. Which day of the week they’re on changes from year to year, but no matter what day they occur on, the same rules apply as for the weekly Sabbath – rest and keeping the day holy.
The command for this feast says to eat unleavened bread for seven
days and to remove all leaven from your homes before the feast begins (this is
the period where the Feast of Unleavened Bread overlaps Passover). In our home, we get rid of anything leavened
as well as any leavening agents. For the
rest of the 7-day period, all meals and snacks don’t contain any leavening
agents or leavened products.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread gives those who participate in it
such a great picture of the sin in our lives!
The Bible often uses “yeast” or “leaven” to signify sin. In the process of cleaning it out of our
homes, we realize very quickly how difficult it is to find and remove it
all. There are crumbs in the corners of
our pantries and even under our refrigerators.
In a house like mine, with seven people, is it even possible to get it
all?
But this is the part of this feast that points us right to
Jesus. When we see how difficult it is to
get all the leaven out of our homes, we realize just how difficult it is to get
the sin out of our lives. It’s easy to
find the obvious loaves of bread in the pantry but you have to really hunt for
the Cheerios between the couch cushions (those of you who have toddlers
understand. The rest of you stay with me
on this). In the same way, it’s easier
to get the big, obvious sins out of our lives, but more difficult to get the hidden,
seemingly small ones out before they fester.
Even though we can’t get all of the sin out of our lives, we have Jesus to cover them all. Though we should still strive to live in a way that pleases God, if we believe in Jesus as our Savior, he even forgives the sins we’d rather leave in the dark places under the fridge. Even if the “home” of our life is sparkling clean, chances are that there’s some leaven hiding somewhere.
This is why we need Jesus!
He’s the only one capable of perfectly cleaning the “homes” of our
lives, which allows us to have a relationship with a holy God. What a wonderful picture!
Just like all of the Seven Biblical Feast Days, Passover and Unleavened Bread both point to our Savior in different but clear ways. My family’s faith has grown so much since we included these important days or “Appointed Times” in the Bible. If they aren’t yet traditions in your home, I encourage you to include them, and I’m sure you’ll be glad you did!
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Passover is a very significant event for the Christian believer. As followers of Jesus, we desire both to walk in his footsteps and to celebrate the sacrifice he made for us. A Passover Seder (traditional “meal” in which the story of Passover is told) is a wonderful tradition in which Christians can both remember God’s faithfulness and celebrate our Savior!
The Haggadah is read during Passover.
Note: If you’re not familiar with the story of the Passover in the Bible, I recommend you review it, as this article and the celebration of Passover are based on it. The story of the Passover is found in Exodus, chapters 3-15. Here’s a Quick Overview of the Passover Story, but please read the real story in the Bible when you get a quiet moment. It’s amazing!
Here are some of the reasons the celebration of Passover is beneficial to our Christian Faith.
It Points to Jesus
Slavery and the Passover Lamb
Just like the Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians, we
all were once slaves to our sin. Romans
6:6 highlights this parallel.
“…our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin…”
But like the Hebrew slaves, God sent a savior for us. For them, the blood of the Passover lamb saved them from the last plague, the death of the firstborn. This foreshadowed Jesus’s blood saving us from our sins. John the Baptist recognized that Jesus would fulfill this role for us.
“…he [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
During a Passover Seder, we have two lambs to celebrate. We both remember the lambs whose blood saved
the Hebrew people and Jesus, the Lamb who gave his blood to save us.
The timing of Jesus’s crucifixion also shows us why he came and was crucified. His being crucified during Passover was no coincidence. God shows us through this that he truly is our Passover Lamb whose blood is worthy to take away punishment for the sin of all!
Although much of the Passover Seder points to Jesus, a very interesting part is what’s known as the afikomen. The word means “the coming one,” and it’s the name for the middle piece of matzah (unleavened bread) in a group of three set-aside pieces.
This matzah piece is then broken, wrapped in cloth, hidden, and then found again. When doing this, we remember that Jesus was broken when crucified, wrapped, buried, and rose again! Read this last sentence again if you’re not awestruck by the parallel in this tradition!
The Leaven Clean-Out
Prior to Passover comes one of the best ways I can think of to picture sin and its effect on our lives. The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15), which occurs during Passover, is when we not only eat bread without yeast or leaven but also clean the leaven out of our homes entirely!
If you’ve never done this before, let me tell you—it’s difficult, especially if you have a bunch of little people living in your house like I do, who tend to leave crumbs everywhere!
The Bible often uses yeast or
leaven to signify sin. Here’s an
example.
“…Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of
dough? Clean out the old leaven so
that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For
Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth.” 1 Cor. 5:6-8
Here, Paul tells the Corinthian people that sin spreads. Even a little bit of sin will spread
throughout a family, church, community, etc., just as it takes just a bit of
yeast to leaven a whole lump of dough.
When you try to clean every bit of the leaven from your entire home, you
realize just how hard it is – and that you can never get it all!
This is just like our sin. We come before a perfect God, desiring to be accepted by Him, but we’ve got sin tucked in all the nooks and crannies of our lives. This is why we can be so grateful for Jesus! He covers all of our sin, even the dirty nooks and crannies, so we can appear before God as clean and acceptable!
Jesus Himself Participated
The story of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem is celebrated by Christians on Palm Sunday. This is when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, and the people laid palm branches in his path and waved them, saying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”.
Why was Jesus headed into Jerusalem that day? To celebrate the Passover! This can be found in all four Gospel books in
the New Testament. It was during their
Passover Seder that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and instituted
communion. In three of the four Gospels,
he even said that he’d celebrate Passover again with us someday!
A seder plate.
As believers in Jesus, we have the common goal of being more like
Jesus. In celebrating Passover, we’re
not only walking in his footsteps but also practicing and preparing for a
Passover feast with Jesus himself one day!
Wow!
God Tells Us to Remember
Obedience – a Result of Salvation
God’s people want to please and obey Him. We obey not to try to earn our salvation but because we have a God who knows our needs intimately enough to have provided us with a Savior. It’s out of that same love that God provided us with many commands in the Bible. Being our creator, He knows what’s best for us and has shown us how to live.
So, one wonderful reason to celebrate Passover is because God told us to! He knows that it’s in our best interest and that our celebration can bring glory to Him!
The Command
The command to celebrate Passover
is found in many places throughout the Bible.
We know that the most important or notable things in the Bible are
repeated. God must have placed high
importance on the annual celebration of Passover because the command is
repeated many times!
Passover is to be observed on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) at twilight. It should also be noted that many of the places Passover is commanded specify that it’s to be done forever – not just while wandering in the desert, not just until that generation was gone, and not just until Jesus comes. Forever. Throughout all generations.
Speaking of generations, some of these commands come with an explanation that we’re to teach our children about Passover and answer their questions about God by recounting the Passover story to them. What an effective way to teach them who God is!
The command to observe Passover includes the sacrifice of the Passover lamb at the Temple. Since we currently have no Temple that we have access to for this, we unfortunately can’t fully obey this command. We can, however, obey God when He said to remember when God rescued His people from Egypt. We can also obey Him in teaching our children what God did and who He is through the Passover story.
When we have a Passover Seder, we do just that. We remember what God did for the Hebrew people as well as what God did for us when He sent Jesus to die to atone for our sins. The Bible doesn’t mention a seder, but it does tell us to recall the events of the Passover to our children to teach them about God (Ex. 12:25-27). The seder serves to do just that – to remember what God did and to teach our children so generations after us don’t forget who God is and what He does for His people.
Here’s a list of the verses in the Bible that include a command to observe Passover:
We read and study the Bible not for our own intellectual
advancement but to get to know God. As
we see Him interact with His people throughout the Bible, we can learn His
character. It’s in learning who He is
that we can develop a relationship with Him.
The story of Passover is just one example.
God explains more fully why Passover shows us who He is.
“Then I will
take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the
Egyptians.” Ex. 6:7
God used His supernatural power to free His people from slavery to show them that they were His people, He was their God, and He was faithful to them. Every year, He wants us to retell the story to our children and remember it ourselves so that we know that the Creator of the universe, the one who freed His people from the Egyptians, will be our God. We will be His people, and He will be forever faithful!
If you’re planning a Passover Seder, check out my calendar for the dates. It’s on this list as an 8-day celebration, like it will be on most calendars but the Seder is traditionally held on the second day. The date of Passover stays the same on the Hebrew calendar but changes yearly on our Gregorian calendar.
If you’re new to the concept of a Gospel-centered Passover, the book Christ in the Passover by Ceil and Moishe Rosen and Jews for Jesus will further explain the themes I touched on here.
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In addition to the seven biblically commanded feasts in Leviticus 23, some Christians observe Purim and Hanukkah. While these celebrations have been primarily Jewish throughout history, they offer a rich supplement to the faith of a Christian. They also serve to pass traditions on to the next generation that increase biblical understanding and, ultimately, understanding of God Himself!
Purim
The back story of Purim is the book of Esther. It’s an exciting story with plotting, scheming, suspense, and an unlikely hero. To summarize, God saved the Jewish people from destruction through Queen Esther, a young Jewish orphan, and Mordecai, the cousin who raised her. In Esther 9:20-22, Mordecai instituted Purim as an annual celebration to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the evil Haman who had plotted to destroy them. He said it would be a day of feasting, rejoicing, sending food gifts to one another, and giving gifts to the poor.
Purim doesn’t seem to have changed much since then. Lasting two days, it is still a joyful time of feasting. Gifts are still given to others, and charity is given to the poor. One of the most memorable Purim traditions is dressing up like characters from the story or wearing masks. Our Messianic Synagogue once had an Esther costume contest, and all the young women put on their best Queen Esther costume.
Another Purim tradition is reading the Megillah or the book of Esther. This reading is often done dramatically or theatrically, including omitting Haman’s name or booing each time his name is read.
Hamantachen are a traditional Purim dessert. They’re tri-cornered pastries with a sweet filling and are a tasty addition to the celebration. There are many different explanations for Hamantaschen being the official dessert of Purim, and the most common is that they’re made to represent Haman’s hat, ear, or pockets.
Aside from being fun to celebrate, why would a Christian be interested in celebrating Purim? What message does the book of Esther and, thus, Purim have for Gentiles? The simple answer is two-fold.
Having been grafted into God’s kingdom (Rom. 11:11-24), Christians are the Gentile version of God’s people, the Jews. The importance of the Jewish people to God cannot be overlooked when studying the Old Testament. It was God’s clear intention to send the Messiah to them (Rom. 1:16). Because many Jews rejected him as the Messiah, Gentiles, whose faith was in Jesus as Messiah, were then included in the Kingdom of God as well. This inclusion means that God’s promises, protection, and provision given to the Jewish people also apply to Christians. We celebrate His deliverance of the Jews in Esther’s time as our deliverance as God’s people.
The second reason Christians celebrate Purim is that it celebrates God’s faithfulness. As Christians, we are the living testimony to God’s eternal faithfulness, and that’s the hope we have to offer the Godless world. The story of Esther is just one of an endless list of examples of God’s protection and provision at a time that seemed hopeless for His people.
With many different spellings in English, Hanukkah is also called the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights. It celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple following a miraculous victory by a small number of Jews against a large army determined to extinguish them. Jewish traditions were outlawed under the Hellenistic Syrian rule of Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes). The Temple scrolls were confiscated, and Sabbath observation, adherence to a Kosher diet, and circumcision were punishable by death!
When forced to eat pork or offer sacrifices to foreign gods, many Jews were tortured and put to death. Idols were placed in the Temple. In the writings of Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, it’s recorded that pigs were sacrificed on the Temple altar. Some Jews protected themselves by simply assimilating with the Hellenistic culture. A few hid from the Syrians in caves in the hills of Judea.
A few Jews led by Judah called Maccabee decided to fight for the Torah and their God. Of course, Antiochus sent men to defeat them, but they were instead victorious! Antiochus sent another group, again defeated, and then organized a larger war effort of 40,000 men. Judah and his men were again victorious over a series of battles, though the odds were against them.
Upon their return to Jerusalem, they removed the idols from the Temple. The story goes that they found the Temple menorah gone and had to make another one. There was only one day’s worth of oil to light the menorah, and it would take eight days to make more. Since the menorah is supposed to stay lit, this posed a problem. They lit the menorah with the oil they had, and it stayed lit for the eight days it took to make more oil – a miracle.
Hanukkah’s most noticeable symbol today is the Hanukkiah, a modified menorah with nine lights. One more light is lit each night of Hanukkah until all lights are lit on the last night of Hanukkah. The ninth light is used to light the other candles. Traditional foods during Hanukkah are cooked in oil (in reference to the Temple Menorah story). Latkes, a fried potato pancake, and jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot are popular during Hanukkah. Another common symbol for this festival – the dreidel – represents the dreidel game played during the eight-day celebration.
The story behind Hanukkah is not in the Protestant bible. It’s found in the first and second books of the Maccabees and combined with Jewish legend. Observing an occasion found in an extrabiblical source makes many Christians uncomfortable, but the historical story’s main conclusion is one Christians can fully embrace. Like the time of Esther, the Jewish people were again faced with extinction and seemingly impossible circumstances. And yet again, God preserved them through His own means, by His own plan, to show His glory.
Another reason Hanukkah holds meaning for Christians is that we, as God’s people, also face persecution. American Christians are comfortable now due to our freedom to worship, but it may not always be that way, and that isn’t the case currently for Christians elsewhere in the world. God’s people have been and will be persecuted throughout history, but the faithful of us will stand for our God despite even horrific circumstances.
Hanukkah celebrates the cleansing and rededication of the Temple. It was cleansed of idols and desecration and rededicated to God as it was meant to be. This concept should cause a Christian to look inward. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, our bodies are temples. As Christians, we should live our entire lives as a Hanukkah celebration – lives that celebrate our cleansing from sin through Jesus and our rededication to God as we accept him as our Savior and His Spirit lives in us! The Hanukkah story is a beautiful picture of the change that’s taken place in the souls of each Christian!
Furthermore, John 10:22-33 records Jesus celebrating the Feast of Dedication. If it was important enough to be observed by our Savior, it should also be important to us! On the Temple porch, he chooses this day to announce that he is the Messiah.
These two Jewish celebrations have much to offer when integrated into the Christian faith. Since Christians share a place with Jews in the Kingdom of God, Jewish religious festivals can also be meaningful to our faith. The messages of God’s sovereignty, deliverance, faithfulness, cleansing, and rededication are portrayed through stories and the celebrations they’re based upon. Observing Hanukkah and Purim has grown my family spiritually, and I believe it will benefit yours as well!
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The traditionally Jewish celebration of Purim commemorates God’s
deliverance of the Jewish people as recounted in the historical book of Esther
in the Bible’s Old Testament. It’s an
exciting story but more than that, it has an important message for Christians. It tells of God’s faithfulness and His love
for His people and of His plan for their deliverance through the courage and faith
of a young woman.
The Story of Esther
The celebration of Purim doesn’t mean much if you’re not familiar
with the story of Esther, found in the book of Esther. The themes of this holiday tie very directly
into this exciting story with queens and kings, an evil villain, and an
unexpected hero. The paraphrased story
follows but don’t neglect to read the real version! There’s no substitute for the Word of God!
The Bash of the Century
The story begins with a party.
A big one. It was thrown by King
Ahashverosh. That’s his Persian name but
he’s called King Xerxes or Artaxerxes
depending on which Bible translation you read.
For 6 months, King Ahashverosh
of the Medes and Persians, who ruled 127
provinces total, partied with his army and the leaders of surrounding
provinces. The afterparty was a smaller
party, but this time with more drinking.
And this one lasted 7 days!
It was during this afterparty that a very inebriated King
Ahashverosh called for his queen, Vashti, to “display her beauty” at the
party. He also asked her to wear her
crown, which some interpret to mean that he wanted her to appear wearing only
her crown!
Queen Vashti refused, which greatly angered her husband. It also raised the eyebrows of the men close to him. They convened, deciding that Vashti’s punishment must be severe lest other wives follow suit, disobeying their husbands as well.
Queen Vashti was dethroned and prohibited from being in the
presence of the king. It wasn’t long
before King Ahashverosh
decided to replace her. It’s here that
we meet Esther, winner of a 127 province-wide beauty pageant, thrown by the
king. He
chose and married Esther after seeing her magnificent beauty.
Orphaned at a young age, Esther was being raised by her uncle, a
Jewish man named Mordecai. He’d advised
her to keep Jewish heritage a secret from her new royal acquaintances, so they
didn’t know she was Jewish and she carried on with her new royal life, Mordecai
looking on during his daily walks in front of the harem courts.
Mordecai Saves the King
In his usual position at the king’s gate, Mordecai overheard a
plot between two guards to assassinate King Ahashverosh and reported them through Queen Esther. The guards’ plan was discovered, and they
were hanged for their crime. Hailed as a hero, Mordecai’s actions won him
a place in the king’s Book of Chronicles, a historical account of the kingdom.
Enter the Villain
King Ahashverosh chose Haman of Amalekite decent, as his second
in command. Historically, the Amalekites
hated the Jewish people. Descendants of
Esau (and subsequently Amalek), these are the same people who went out of their
way to attack the Hebrew people in the desert after their Exodus from Egypt.
Because of his position, all were to bow before Haman when in his presence. Mordecai, knowing Haman’s background, refused to bow before him which drew intense animosity toward Mordecai. Haman not only wanted to kill Mordecai but also the Jewish people as a whole.
Haman’s Plot
Haman convinced King
Ahashverosh that it was in his best interest to get rid of the Jewish
people. At the time of this
conversation, neither man knew the true identity of their queen. The king granted Haman the authority to
extinguish the Jewish people and the decree was sent out to all provinces.
The Jewish community grieved deeply upon hearing the news and
word of the decision eventually reached Queen Esther. She sought out Mordecai and he encouraged her
to approach the king and plead for her people.
Knowing her appearance before the king without being summoned may be a
death sentence for her, she told him to have all Jews fast and pray for 3 days,
along with Esther and her maidens. Then
she courageously said that she’d go before the king, even though it was against
the law and, quote, “if I perish, I perish”.
Esther’s Invitation
When Esther appeared before King Ahashverosh, he not only spared her life, he said she could
have whatever she wanted – even up to half the kingdom! We can conclude he likes her a whole
lot! She
then invited the king and Haman to a banquet.
When they attended, King
Ahashverosh again asked her what she requested, offering her up to half the
kingdom and she invited them to a second banquet.
That evening, when Mordecai again had refused to bow before
Haman, the villain went home and vented his frustration with Mordecai to his
wife. Haman’s wife suggested he have gallows
constructed and hang Mordecai on it before the banquet the following evening.
That night, the king had a bout of insomnia and ordered that the
Book of Chronicles be read to him. Miraculously,
the part about Mordecai thwarting the assassination plan against King Ahashverosh was read. The king asked his servants what had been
done to reward Mordecai for his allegiance and they replied that nothing had
been done.
King Ahashverosh
had Haman brought in and asked him his opinion of what should be done for a man
the king wants to honor. Not-so-humbly
thinking it was himself, Haman suggested the honored man should be paraded
around the kingdom, riding the king’s horse and wearing royal robes and a
crown.
Just imagine the horrified look on Haman’s face when King Ahashverosh told him it was
actually Mordecai he intended to honor in this way. It was Haman himself that had to lead the
horse around with Mordecai on it!
Esther Accuses Haman
Then the time arrived for Esther’s second banquet. It was at this event that the tables turned. Esther revealed two pivotable bits of information that changed history. The first was that she was Jewish. The second was Haman’s plan to extinguish her people.
The king was angry at Haman and hanged
him on the very gallows Haman had intended to hang Mordecai on. King
Ahashverosh then promoted Mordecai to the position once held by Haman
and learned of the relationship between Mordecai and Esther.
At the request of Queen Esther, King Ahashverosh allowed Esther and
Mordecai to write letters in his name that revoked the previous decree for the
destruction of the Jews. It said that
they could defend themselves and even avenge themselves against their enemies. Haman’s 10 sons were hung and many of those
who had intended to destroy the Jews were killed as well.
Purim Established
There was great joy among the Jewish people because the king’s
decree had been lifted. They feasted and
celebrated, and Mordecai established Purim as the day that the Jewish people
would forever commemorate their preservation in the face of destruction.
The End. And God’s people
lived happily ever after. Well, we will
eventually. But that’s another story.
While it makes for a very entertaining story, how does the book
of Esther apply to us as Christians?
Does God have a message in this story and in the celebration centered
upon it?
Themes of Purim
On Purim, we celebrate the sovereignty of God’s plan over
man’s. Just like when Joseph told his
brothers “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20), God
took this seemingly tragic situation and turned it into a victory for His
people.
We also see that it was as Israel united that they were able to
overcome their enemies. If Esther had
accepted the king’s offer of half the kingdom (it would be tempting, no?)
instead of courageously pleading for her people, it appears that they would
have been destroyed!
Faith and Courage
Like Esther, we should have the faith and courage to do the work
God has for us. If we’re listening
closely in His Word, in prayer, and among His people, the Holy Spirit will make
what God has for us to do on Earth clear to each of us. He has uniquely gifted each of us for the job
he has for us. What a blessing that He
allows us to participate in His plans!
One thing that makes the book of Esther unique from others in the
Bible is that it doesn’t mention the name of God at all. Not once.
It shows that God was glorified through the actions of His people. When we step out in faith, God works through
us to show His power and glory to a watching world!
God’s Faithfulness
God’s faithfulness to and deliverance of His people is clearly
shown in the story of Esther. He not
only preserved the Jewish people through Esther, but He was with them before
this story and has been with them ever since.
Despite great persecution throughout history, the Jewish people don’t just
merely exist but are thriving!
As Christians, we’re grafted in to the promises God gave to His people in the Old Testament through Jesus, our Messiah, and we’re God’s people as well! He has been, is now, and will forever be faithful to us, just as He was to the Jews in the book of Esther. We know this because it’s shown in His word, in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us!
How Christians Celebrate Purim
Christians can celebrate Purim in much the same way the Jewish people have for thousands of years. While not one of the Biblical Feasts, Purim holds great significance for Christians also. The only difference is that we can also celebrate the deliverance from sin God has provided in Jesus as our savior. God’s always faithful, even when we’re not! Below are a few ways Purim can be celebrated in a Christian home and here’s a calendar of future Purim dates.
Read the book of Esther
This relatively short, yet fun to read book in the Old Testament
will bring to light the reasons for celebration on Purim. Many make this fun by booing or shaking an
unpleasant-sounding instrument called a “gragger” whenever Haman’s name is read
in the story or by cheering for Esther and Mordecai. These things also help keep children
entertained throughout the story.
Make
hamantaschen
This is not only the traditional dessert served on Purim, it’s a great gift to give on that day as well (see below). It’s a lot like a cookie or small pastry with fruit filling inside. Its three-cornered shape is supposed to represent Haman’s hat or even his ears! Tori Avey’s hamantaschen recipe is not only delicious, it also includes folding instructions and hints for success that other recipes don’t.
Give
gifts
Giving gifts was one of the ways Mordecai from the story of
Esther recommended we celebrate. These
are often edible gifts, with hamantaschen
topping the list of possibilities.
Give
to charity
Another of Mordecai’s suggestions, a gift to charity is a great idea any day but on Purim, it shows we’re grateful for the faithfulness of our God!
It’s not what you serve at this meal that’s Purim-specific. It just needs to be a joyful meal! This is not the time to be health-conscious
or anything. Make something everyone
loves and plenty of it – with hamantaschen for dessert!
Act
it out
A favorite of both children and adults, this is also a great way
to learn the story! Kids are suckers for
any dress-up game and this one is no exception.
You’ll need a Queen Esther, an evil Haman, a King Ahashverosh, a
Mordecai, and maybe even a Queen Vashti!
Fast
on Purim Eve
Also called the Fast of Esther, many fast the day before Purim in
remembrance of Queen Esther asking her people to fast and pray for three days
before she appeared before the king.
This is a great time to both praise God for what He’s done as well as
petition for His people. And don’t
worry! You can make up for those lost
calories with hamantaschen the next day!
*wink*
Greet
with Happy Purim!
While you could also say “Happy Purim”, you could kick it up a
notch with “Chag Purim Sameach”
(pronounced khog pur-im suh-may-ach).
That means “happy Purim festival”.
It’s literally festival Purim happy, but you get the idea!
Praise
God!
This is another thing you could do any day of the year but on
Purim, we praise Him specifically for His faithfulness, deliverance, and His never-ending
love for His people.
If you’d like to learn more about how Esther’s story relates to
the Gospel or to yourself, as a woman in this century, below are two books for
further study.
Enjoy your Purim celebration and give all the glory to God! Chag Purim Sameach!
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You may have heard many Christians started observing the Biblical Feast Days. You may even have heard them claim these seven Feast Days point to Jesus as our Messiah. Since the connection between the commands to observe these days in Leviticus and our faith in Jesus as our Savior can be confusing, here’s an overview of these important days and how each relates to Jesus and, thus, to our faith.
I must add that salvation is not found in keeping the Feast Days or God’s commands. Salvation through works is a significant misconception about the Hebrew Roots Movement and the source of many people’s objection to Christians keeping The Holy Days or following the commands of the Torah. Salvation is found in Jesus alone and is based on the grace we’ve been given through Jesus’s sacrifice, not on our adherence to God’s laws (Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5). We follow His laws only out of love and respect for God and His commands and because His grace has saved us, not because the obedience itself will save us. On the other hand, although the laws don’t save us, we shouldn’t blatantly disregard the way God wants us to live. We should instead delight in His perfect laws (Psalm 1:2, 19:7, and 40:8)!
This article is a basic overview; the verses I give for each refer only to the command. All these observances are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible as well. Click on the day’s name for a more in-depth explanation of how it relates to the Christian faith and can be celebrated in a Christian home.
Known as “Shabbat” in Hebrew, this Feast Day occurs weekly. The Sabbath is a day to rest and to keep holy – that is, to focus on our God and Savior.
Jesus said that he is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8 and Mark 2:28). In addition to revealing his divine nature in this verse, having been there at the creation of the universe, Jesus took part in the creation of the Sabbath when God first declared it (John 1:1-5, Gen. 1:26 and 2:3).
Jesus is our “Sabbath rest” (Hebrews 4). As believers, we can rest in our salvation and observe the Sabbath just as God did. We should strive to align our behavior with what God desires of us despite and because of our salvation. However, we can rest in the mercy and grace we’ve been given and approach God with no shame after repenting and turning from our sin.
“Pesach” in Hebrew, this Feast is a remembrance of the Passover and the resultant exodus from slavery in Egypt. During the Passover, the blood of the Passover Lamb on the doorposts of the Hebrew people saved them from the final plague of the death of the firstborn.
John the Baptist prophetically calls Jesus “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). After Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, Paul refers to him as “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7). What these two men realized is that the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb that saved the Hebrew people foreshadowed the sacrifice Jesus made that saves us today!
Jesus also tells us he’ll celebrate The Passover with us again someday (Mark 14:24-25 and Luke 22:15-16). Wow! What an exciting Feast to look forward to!
Also called “Chag HaMatzot,” this week-long Feast occurs during the week of Passover. It’s generally a time to remember the Passover further. Being in a hurry to leave Egypt when Pharaoh finally allowed them to, they didn’t have time to leaven their dough and had to cook and eat unleavened bread.
The command for this Feast is to remove all leaven (also called “chametz”) from one’s household and to eat none for seven days. “Leaven” or yeast is a biblical reference to sin or corruption. When something is described as “unleavened,” it’s pure or uncorrupted.
For example, when yeast is placed in bread, it spreads until it is in the entire batch. Think about people you know who have let a minor sin enter their lives; likewise, it spreads and spreads and sometimes ends up ruining lives. Think about a married man who friends an old girlfriend on social media and what damage this tiny action can lead to.
Jesus, our “bread of life,” was able to be the only atoning sacrifice for our sin because he was “unleavened” or uncorrupted by sin. Having adhered to the entire law (Torah), his perfection made his crucifixion the one-time blood sacrifice that could cover the sins of all mankind forever.
In 1 Cor. 5:6-7, Paul explains that a bit of leaven leavens the whole lump. Even if we lead perfect lives, we cannot achieve perfection, causing us not to be able to experience true communion with God. Having to clean out all the leaven in every nook and cranny of our homes reminds us that even the tiniest bits of sin left in the nooks and crannies of our hearts must be dealt with. If not, they will indeed “leaven the whole lump” and spread throughout our lives and those around us.
How blessed are we? Jesus has dealt with each crumb of leaven in our hearts so that we can approach God pure and “unleavened” as well!
Called “Yom Bikkurim” (the Day of First Fruits) or “Reshit Katzir” (beginning of the harvest) in Hebrew, this Feast Day is the dedication of the future harvest to God, which was demonstrated by waving a sheaf of green barley before God. It begins the 49-day countdown to The Feast of Weeks, the next Feast. The command also includes sacrificing a blemish-free male lamb as well. However, this part can only be done with the Temple.
Here’s another Feast Day that Paul sheds light on for us. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, he tells us that Jesus is the “first fruits” to both the dead and those “in Christ” when Jesus returns to Earth. Just as the First Fruits Feast offerings looked forward to the future harvest, so did Jesus’s resurrection. He came to save us and will raise the dead and rule the Earth when he returns! What a glorious day that will be!
“Shavuot,” in Hebrew, means “weeks,” and is another name for this Feast. It’s more commonly known among Christians as Pentecost (which means “fifty”). It marks the 50th day after the original Passover, the day God gave His law (Torah) to His people on Mount Sinai. It’s called the Feast of Weeks because the counting was to be done in weeks. The command says to count seven Sabbaths (seven weeks) from the Day of First Fruits until this Feast.
Before his ascension into Heaven, 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus foretold what would happen on the day the apostles celebrated The Feast of Weeks. In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus tells them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit.
Sure enough, just as he said, the apostles were celebrating the Feast of Weeks ten days later, thanking God for giving His Word on Mount Sinai. During this celebration, they received the Word in their hearts just as was prophesied (Jer. 31:31-33 and Joel 2:28-29). While they thanked God for His Word, His Word entered their hearts as the Holy Spirit indwelt them.
Jesus said that he had to leave so that they could receive the Holy Spirit, and that’s precisely what happened. The Word was given on Mount Sinai, then lived among us, personified in Jesus, and then the Word was given to each believer personally through the Holy Spirit!
A Shofar or Ram’s horn. A type of “trumpet” discussed in the Bible.
Commonly called Rosh Hashanah due to its designation as the first day of the Jewish New Year, this day is called Yom Teruah in the Hebrew Bible. The command says it is a Sabbath, and trumpets (or shofars – rams’ horns) are to be blown, along with a sacrifice brought to the Temple. Biblically, it’s not the New Year but is a method of numbering and counting the years.
Generally, the creation of the universe is celebrated, and it marks the beginning of the “Ten Days of Awe,” which continues over the year’s remaining Feast Days. This ten-day period is a time of introspection where each person evaluates their life, repents for sin, and resolves to live more according to God’s will.
We must first understand the “Teruah” to fully understand this Feast. More than just the noise of a trumpet blast, this was the same call made by the priests when the wall of Jericho fell. It’s the one used when King David returned the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and it will be the one heard on “the Day of The Lord” (Zeph. 1:16). This type of trumpet blast (or even shouting) is like a call to war or a celebration of a victory of God or His people.
The Feast of Trumpets is when we anticipate Jesus’s return to Earth. Jesus gives a chilling explanation of this day in Matthew 24. He says that after the sun, moon, and stars are darkened, and the powers of the heavens are shaken (woah…), the trumpet call will bring his elect from the Earth’s four corners. “His elect”? That’s us, Christian Brothers and Sisters! And so we remember to blow our trumpets yearly on The Day of Trumpets. And in the meantime, we wait… And listen for the trumpets…
And in the meantime, we wait… And listen for the trumpets…
As we think of a new year beginning and prepare our hearts for Yom Kippur, we can focus on repentance and re-aligning our lives with God’s will. An honest and prayerful examination of our lives can highlight the sin we must deal with and the changes we must make.
This process will naturally bring us to a state of thankfulness for our Savior. We can repent, turn from our sin, and know that his unselfish sacrifice on the cross covers it.
Also called Yom Kippur (the Day of Coverings), this was the only day of the year that the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and make a sin sacrifice for God’s people. He was the only one who could stand between them and God to make atonement, and only on this day, according to specific procedures. Without the Temple to make these sacrifices today, the Jewish people see this as the day that God writes our names in the Book of Life or the Book of Death, depending on which we deserve.
As Christians, we see this day a bit differently, of course. While focusing on repentance, we can also celebrate and be grateful for the sacrifice that made atonement for our sin, Jesus. He is also our high priest (Heb. 4:14-15 and 8:1-6) and is therefore qualified to make atonement for our sins. Furthermore, if we profess Jesus as our Savior, we know that our names are already written in the Book of Life, so we can thank God for that!
Prophetically, we can also look forward to the day when Jesus returns as judge. Although one judgment was carried out when Jesus was crucified, there remains a Judgement Day for those who have rejected him. There are also a few places in the Bible (Matt. 12:36-37, 1 Cor. 3:13, and 2 Cor. 5:10) indicating that, as Christians, our actions will be judged as well (although not with gravity equal to those not in Christ). Because of this, we all must closely examine our actions and the fruit of our lives and further align with God’s will.
This Feast is also referred to as the Feast of Booths or Sukkot (“booths” or “tabernacles” in Hebrew). It’s traditionally a time to remember God’s provisions for His people and His dwelling or “tabernacling” with His people. The command includes living in a temporary dwelling for the week.
Many Christians use this time of the year to celebrate the time Jesus spent tabernacling with us, from birth to resurrection. Sukkot is a time to celebrate God’s dwelling with His people. Jesus was precisely that! He is God and came to Earth as a man to walk with us!
We can also thank God for His provision and blessings during this time. Yes, He gives us more than we need in a material sense, but He also does in a spiritual sense. Being the sinful people we all are, we’re separated from God and in dire need of a way to Him that we can’t provide ourselves. Although we’re undeserving of it, God chose to give us a second chance. He sent Jesus so we could approach God even though we were unworthy. That’s the best blessing of all!
Many places in the Bible foretell a time when God will dwell with us again. The Feast of Tabernacles is when we can look forward to the Wedding Feast in Revelation. Jesus—the groom—will finally be united with us, his people—his bride—and there will be a great, joyful Wedding Feast! What an event to behold! I can’t wait, can you?!
All these Feasts point to Jesus in powerful yet unique ways. Bringing these traditions into your Christian faith will provide reminders of the part we all have in God’s Kingdom and of our eternal Savior and what he’s done in the past, what he’s doing right now, and what he will do in the future. Celebrate Jesus throughout the year—on the Feast Days and every day!
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According to the Bible, there are seven Feasts that God calls His Feasts (Lev. 23:2, Ez. 44:24) and commands His people to keep. Although it became rare for Christians to keep these Feasts in recent times, many are returning to a more Biblical way of life and realizing all that God has to teach us through these Feasts!
Each Feast teaches us about our God’s attributes. By observing these Feasts, we can learn what a wonderful God He is! The Feasts also teach us about ourselves, how we should live as His people, and what our relationship with Him should look like.
These Feasts are also prophetic. When God commanded them, he wanted His people to look back on what He had done for them in the past and forward to the rest of the story of Him and His people.
One important thing – the Sabbath is covered before these Feasts are listed in the Bible. It’s the holiest of all the Feasts, and observing it demonstrates to God, others, and ourselves that we belong to God. Although it’s not on this list, it’s of great importance in the life of any Believer. For more info on the Sabbath and how to keep it, visit this page.
Below, I will cover each Feast very briefly. Know that, with each Feast, you can go more into the practices, symbolism, sacrifices, where they occur in the Bible, etc., and learn more of what God has for you with each of them. Here, I want to cover the basics for those who want to see just a summary of these Feasts and their meanings.
Passover is the first Feast of the year, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. It helps us remember how God redeemed His people from captivity and brought them out so they could freely worship Him. Like the blood on the doorways of the Hebrew people in Egypt was a protective covering from the plague of the firstborn, the blood of Jesus provides a covering for our sin.
Passover (Pesach in Hebrew, meaning “skip”) is usually celebrated with a seder. In this seder, the story of the Exodus is retold, and each aspect of it is “experienced” by the participants. It’s a time of celebration, and each element of the seder represents a part of this incredible story.
Just after Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Observing this Feast is to remember the Exodus further and that the Israelites needed to flee Egypt in a hurry and didn’t have time to leaven their dough before leaving. Leaven often represents sin in the Bible, so the lack of leaven represents sinlessness. Jesus fulfilled this Feast by following the Laws of the Torah and was, therefore, a pure candidate for atonement.
Unleavened Bread is called Matzah in Hebrew, so this Feast is Biblically called the Feast of Matzah. It is observed by eating unleavened bread for seven days and even cleaning all the leaven out of the home (Ex. 12:19). The first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread are Sabbaths.
First Fruits
The first of something, like the harvest, firstborn child, or firstborn animals, were given to God as an offering, thanking Him for providing and putting faith in Him to continue to provide in the future (Deut. 26:1; Ex. 13:1-2, 11-16). During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits is a time to bring the first of what we reap to God and look to Jesus as the first and best offering to God. He’s also the first of those to be raised from the grave (1 Cor. 15:20).
The Hebrew word for First Fruits is Bikkurim, which comes from the same root word as the word for “firstborn,” which is bekhor. It’s commonly thought that Jesus rose from the dead on First Fruits, so many celebrate his resurrection during this two-day celebration.
Starting on First Fruits, many “count the omer.” This practice comes from Leviticus 23:15-16, where God says to count 7 Sabbaths or 50 days from First Fruits, then to observe Shavuot. We symbolically prepare our hearts to receive the Law and the Spirit during this time, and Shavuot is a Sabbath.
Shavuot is a time to celebrate God giving us His Law (Yes, it’s worth celebrating!) and eventually His Spirit to live in us. His Law was given on Mount Sinai, and the prophetic side of this Feast (Jere. 31:33) was fulfilled when the Spirit was given, and the Law was no longer external but written on our hearts instead.
The word Shavuot means “weeks.” It’s also known as Pentecost, which comes from a Greek word meaning “fiftieth.” Biblically, Shavuot includes an offering from the wheat harvest, a sign of gratitude to God for providing through the land. To further celebrate the giving of the land, milk and honey (or recipes containing the two) are often eaten on Shavuot. It’s also a time to celebrate the Law and the Spirit, showing that we’re thankful for both.
This Feast is often confused with Rosh Hashanah, but they are different celebrations, and you can read more about the differences here. Yom Teruah is another Sabbath, observed on the first day of the seventh month, and it’s supposed to be “a reminder by blowing of trumpets.”
A “teruah” or trumpet blast is heard in the Bible when God’s doing something incredible. What we remember on Yom Teruah are all of the awesome things our God has done throughout time. Prophetically, we look forward to the day we hear the “teruah” announcing the return of our Savior!
This day is observed at sundown by looking for the New Moon (indicating the first day of the month has started) and blowing the shofar when it’s spotted. Some mix traditions from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Teruah, celebrating the beginning of the Hebrew calendar year at this time.
The tenth day of the month of Tishrei is Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is when the priest made atonement for the nation of Israel in the days of the Temple. It’s a Sabbath, and the Bible says we’re to be “humbled” or “afflicted” on this day. This Holy Day is more somber and focused, less celebratory, where people wear white, attend services, and fast.
On Yom Kippur, we can look to Jesus and be grateful for his covering (Kippur means “covering”) of our sin in response to our repentance. As a people, though, we need to repent, pray for God’s mercy, and turn to Him for forgiveness. Yom Kippur is a day when we examine our actions and those of our nation, repent where needed, and turn back to the path God wants us to take.
The prophecy in Yom Kippur is that we look forward to a time when Jesus will be the judge. It will be up to him who enters God’s Kingdom and who doesn’t.
Sukkot is the last of the Holy Days on the Biblical calendar. It’s a joyful celebration lasting eight days, starting on the fifteenth day of the seventh month on the Biblical calendar, also known as Tishrei. The first and last of the eight days of Sukkot are Sabbaths.
According to the command for Sukkot in Leviticus 23, God’s people are to celebrate by living in temporary dwellings called Sukkot. God says this is to remind us that God had the people live in dwellings like these when He brought them out of Egypt. During Sukkot, we remember many things – that God provides, that God supernaturally rescued the Hebrew people and provided for them in the wilderness, and that He sent Jesus to “tabernacle” or temporarily dwell with us on earth.
Sukkot is also prophetic in that there will be one day when Jesus will not just tabernacle but will live among us on earth. It points forward to the wedding feast, where we, as God’s people, will finally be joined with Jesus and live with him physically among us, ruling on earth.
This article is just a summary of each of these Holy Days, but don’t stop here in your study of them. God has so much for you to learn as you study these meaningful Feasts that He calls His. Explore them further by browsing the Traditions category on HolyBranches.com or in my book, Bring Shalom to Your Home.
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As Believers seek to enrich their faith by incorporating biblical Holy Days into their family traditions, the amount of information on these days and how to celebrate them can be overwhelming and confusing. I want to offer just a basic overview of the 7 “appointed times” commanded by God to be kept by His people in Leviticus 23 (and elsewhere).
Chapter 23 opens with a repeat of the command to keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath is sometimes called the most holy of days, so it would be an excellent place to start if you don’t already keep it. It then lists and explains the 7 Holy Days: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.
The focus of Pesach (Passover in Hebrew) is to remember what God did for His people when He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The whole story is found in Exodus chapters 3-15 (it’s incredible!), but here’s a brief overview. The Passover celebration, combined with the Festival of Unleavened Bread (below), lasts eight days (seven in Israel), and a symbolic meal called a Seder, meaning “order,” is traditionally held on the first and second nights. Passover is celebratory rather than somber because it’s a reminder of our freedom and what God has done for us – both as His people and through our Messiah.
Matzah (unleavened bread). The matzah symbolizes the unleavened bread the Israelites ate because they left Egypt with no time for their bread to rise. The matzah is also like Jesus, who wasn’t “leavened” with sin so that he could be a sacrifice for ours.
A shank bone. This bone symbolizes the lamb sacrificed to save the Israelites from the final plague on the firstborn. For Christians, this would also point to Jesus, our Passover lamb, who was sacrificed to save us from the slavery of our sin.
Charoset. A mixture of apples, honey, and nuts. Charoset reminds us of the mortar used by the Israelite slaves to build brick buildings for the Egyptians.
Wine. Four to five cups are used in the Seder, and one is used in a procedure resembling the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament.
The Festival of Unleavened Bread takes place during Passover week. Although this seems like the remainder of the Passover week, the Bible separately mentions Chag HaMatzot, or the Festival of Unleavened Bread. It specifically says that we are to live these seven days without leaven, otherwise known as yeast. Biblically, yeast can symbolize sin in our lives (Matt. 16:6, 1 Cor. 5:6-8, and others). Called chametz in Hebrew, foods containing yeast are cleaned out of the homes of those participating in this festival.
This cleanout provides a beautiful picture of the sin in our lives and how we must work diligently to clean it all out. It also shows our need for a savior because we can’t get rid of all of it! It sounds difficult because it is, but I challenge you to do this with your family! Mine has had so many great conversations about invasive sin in our lives during this process and how difficult it is to get rid of. Even if a tiny bit is left, it can grow and take our lives over, just like it only takes a small amount of yeast to leaven the whole batch of dough.
The “deadline” for the leaven cleanout is the first night of Passover. Since yeast can naturally occur in grains mixed with water, many people rid their homes of wheat, oats, barley, spelt, and rye. Some very devout Jews go so far as to get rid of anything resembling a grain, including corn and beans. My family cleans out all leavening agents and their products. We include yeast, baking soda, baking powder, etc.
The second day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread is called The Day of First Fruits or Yom HaBikkurim. It marks the first day of the countdown to the next Feast, the Feast of Weeks, which occurs 50 days later. On the Day of First Fruits, the priest would wave a sheaf of green barley, an omer, to start the countdown. A male lamb would also be sacrificed. Today, people celebrate this day and the next 49 days as days of spiritual introspection. Since these days lead up to the day God’s Law (the Torah) was given, on the Feast of Weeks, they’re a time for preparation to receive the word of God.
One fantastic thing about First Fruits is that it’s thought to be the day that Jesus rose from the dead! Paul also refers to Jesus as the first fruits (1 Cor 15:20-23).
Christians know this Feast as Pentecost, and Jews as Shavuot. It is the fiftieth day and the conclusion of the counting of the omer, which started on the day of First Fruits. Shavuot is the day, 50 days or 7 Sabbaths plus one day, after the Exodus from Egypt, that the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. (Ex. 24). It’s also the day the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles (Acts 2:1-36), seven weeks after Jesus’s resurrection.
Out of respect for the Torah, or Law, being given to them by God, many Jews stay up all night on Shavuot, reading the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). Milk and honey are often served in some fashion as a reminder that God kept His promise to give a “land flowing with milk and honey” to His people (Lev. 20:24). Christians often celebrate Pentecost as the birth of the church – a celebration of our salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit within us.
Also known as Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah, this solemn memorial Feast marks the beginning of the High Holy Days in autumn. It lasts two days and includes the following:
Blowing the shofar (ram’s horn).
Calling for the people to repent of their sins.
Offering burnt offerings.
In the Temple’s absence, Jews celebrate the Feast of Trumpets with ten days of repentance and examination of their lives before God. After the ten days is the Day of Atonement.
As the first day of the Jewish year, hope for a “sweet” new year is expressed by eating apples dipped in honey. While straight challah loaves are served on the Sabbath and other Jewish celebrations, round challah is traditionally served during this Feast. A round challah can symbolize either the cyclic nature of the calendar year or a crown, a reminder that God is the King of the universe.
The Feast of Trumpets is a kind of Judgement Day, with the final verdict delivered on The Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, there are references to trumpet blowing combined with judgment, reminiscent of this Feast (Matt. 24:30-31, 1 Thess. 4:16-17, and Rev. 11:15).
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets is the most important Holy Day, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur in Hebrew. This day included the sacrifices through which God would forgive the sins of His people as a group, not individually. The command was to make payment for their sins through offerings and to “humble their souls.” In these post-temple days, the Feast of Trumpets includes a 25-hour fast, giving to charity, and intense prayer focused on confession and repentance.
Other traditions on the Day of Atonement include wearing white to signify purity or burial clothing and thus the need for repentance. Messianic Jews and Hebraic Believers view this Feast similarly, but some change the focus to Jesus, the complete atonement for our sin. At the end of the Day of Atonement, a breakfast-type meal is served to break the day’s fast.
Five days after the Day of Atonement, this seven-day Feast is
called the Feast of Booths or Ingathering. It’s called Sukkot in Hebrew, meaning “booths” or “shelters.” Biblically, this harvest feast required sacrifices each day of the Feast.
Today, the Feast of Tabernacles is observed mainly by God’s people leaving their comfortable homes and living in a temporary dwelling called a sukkah in Hebrew. A sukkah is like a hut, with at least three sides, and its roof is made of leaves or branches and decorated with flowers or other décor. In doing this, they remember when God rescued them from slavery in Egypt and provided for them in the desert, as He also provides for us today and will forever.
It is somewhat like a Thanksgiving Day Feast to thank God for His provision. In reference to Leviticus 23:40, waving or shaking four plants (the Four Species) from Israel – myrtle, palm, willow, and citron, is also done while a blessing is said.
It is also a celebration of God’s “tabernacling,” or coming to live with His people. On the Feast of Tabernacles, Jews looked forward to the day God would pour out His Spirit on His people as prophesied in Joel 2:28. In John 7, during the Feast of Booths, Jesus spoke of the Spirit being given and called it Living Water, which would be an eternal thirst quencher for the soul.
Although mentioned separately, the Eighth Day is simply the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This day is a Sabbath (even if it doesn’t fall on Saturday) and is more spiritual than the previous seven joyful days of the Feast of Tabernacles. Shemini Atzeret is this Feast’s Hebrew name, and its traditions vary. The Four Species is not waved on this day, and the sukkah may or may not be used. Different prayers are said than during the previous seven days, and a prayer for rain is often included.
The day following the Eighth Day is called Simchat Torah. It’s not one of the Biblical Holy Days. It’s a festive celebration, celebrating the end and subsequent beginning of the Jewish Torah reading cycle. It is a celebration of thanksgiving to God for giving His word to His people. This celebration is sometimes combined with the Eighth Day Feast.
While these Feasts may initially be foreign to Christians, they add value and enrich our faith. Physical symbols and biblical celebrations remind us of what God has done, is, and will do in our lives. They give us engaging ways to pass our beliefs on to the next generation and provide our families with traditions that bind us together in our faith and as God’s kingdom here on earth.
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The celebration of Passover has become more common among Christians in recent years. This celebration is so beneficial because Passover has many elements that point to our Messiah and highlight the greatness of our God and His love for us!
But did you know other holidays celebrate our God and Savior while honoring the Jewish history of our faith? Some of them are Biblical, and others are traditionally Jewish in our culture but also have implications for us as Gentile believers.
Adding these significant days to your family’s legacy can enrich and deepen your faith and help you pass it on to your children and others. It can even bring you and your family closer to God and Jesus as we learn more about them through observation of these meaningful times.
Purim is the celebration of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people through Queen Esther. A man named Haman was plotting their destruction, but Esther bravely approached the king and revealed her identity as a Jew to encourage him to save her people. He did and had Haman executed instead.
As Christians, we’re familiar with persecution and how God orchestrates historical events that affect His people. We can celebrate that Esther was in the place she was because God knew what the need for her to be there would be and made her an instrument for His plan.
Purim is a fun celebration. Both children and adults dress as characters from the story and act it out in dramatic fashion. It is held on the 14th day of Adar on the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to February or March on our Gregorian calendar.
This celebration commemorates God’s rescuing the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians. Its relevance to Christians is very basically two-fold. Firstly, since we are also God’s people, we have a part in this history, and secondly, we have been rescued from the slavery of our sin by the blood of Jesus.
Biblically, Passover is to be celebrated on the “fourteenth day of the first month.” On the Hebrew calendar, it starts on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, which corresponds with our Gregorian calendar, which is sometime in March or April.
Holocaust Remembrance Day (יוֹם הַשׁוֹאָה – Yom HaShoah)
This somber observance was established in 1953. It’s a national holiday in Israel to remember the Holocaust in Europe during World War II and the murder of over six million Jewish people, including children. This remembrance occurs on the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, during March or April.
Why should Gentile (non-Jew) Christians observe Holocaust Remembrance Day? Romans 1:16 tells us that salvation came first to the Jew and then to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). Christians are the Gentile believers that are “grafted in” to the promises to God’s people described in Romans 11.
Throughout the Old Testament, God clarifies that the Jewish people are His chosen people. He made a covenant with Abraham concerning their lineage throughout history and brought the Savior to the world through the Jewish line. God also says that He will never abandon the Jewish people.
If the Jewish people are this important to God and are the roots of the tree we’re grafted into; we must be concerned with their well-being in our day and throughout history. The tragedy that struck as the Holocaust brutally and senselessly extinguished the lives of so many people precious to God (Jews and others) must never be forgotten, and its horrors never repeated.
I combine these two celebrations because they’re similar in meaning and history. Before the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire and inhabited the Apostles in Acts 2, this time was known as Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks.
It was commanded in Leviticus 23 and was a type of harvest festival that was to occur 50 days after the Passover. Also recognized on this date is the gift of God’s Laws being given to His people on Mt. Sinai. Shavuot is what the Apostles were celebrating when they were “gathered” when God’s Spirit was given to them.
They would have realized the significance of the gift of God’s Spirit being given specifically on this day during a celebration of the gift of God’s Word being given as well. Jesus also foretold it when he said they’d be baptized by the Spirit in Acts 1:4-5.
The command says it is to take place on the 6th and 7th of the month of Sivan. It is to be observed 50 days (or 7 Sabbaths and one day) after the Day of Firstfruits during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (when the Passover and Exodus from Egypt occurred).
This holiday is commonly known as the Jewish New Year and is called Yom Teruah in the Bible. It was designated the first day of the new year primarily for year-counting purposes, but it’s also one of the commanded Feasts in Leviticus 23. It was a two-day festival during which trumpets (shofars) were blown and sacrifices were performed.
Today, it marks the beginning of the High Holy Days in Autumn. It’s a time when people examine their lives, seek to rid them of their old, sinful ways, and make a change for the better. In this way, it’s a lot like the American New Year, but it’s also a type of Judgment Day or the beginning of a season of judgment for the Jewish people.
Christians can remember on Rosh Hashanah that we will be judged with Jesus as our substitute. We can also examine our lives and see whether we’re living in a way that expresses the joy of this salvation. The command to blow a trumpet on this day should cause us to look forward to the day when Jesus has returned and the dead are raised (1 Cor. 15:52).
The Feast of Trumpets occurs on the 1st and 2nd days of the month of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar and in September or October on the Gregorian calendar.
This Holy Day is another of the commanded Feasts in Leviticus 23. It’s observed ten days after Rosh Hashanah and is a day of confession and repentance. Biblically, it was a day when sacrifices were offered for the people’s sins. As Christians, this is a day we can celebrate the mercy we have been given in having our sins fully atoned for by Jesus!
The date is the 10th of Tishrei, which occurs in September or October.
Another Holy Day from Leviticus 23, Sukkot, is a seven-day celebration, five days after the Day of Atonement. Also known as the Feast of Booths, it is a time when people leave the comfort of their homes and live in temporary shelters.
This celebration serves to appreciate God’s provision for us and to celebrate God being among His people on earth. Christians can be even more thankful at the time of Sukkot for Jesus, who, as God, came down to earth to be with us.
Eighth Day (שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת – Shimini Atzeret)
This day is the day just following the last day of
Sukkot. It’s on the 22nd day
of Tishrei, which falls in September or October. It is the final commanded Feast in the List
in Leviticus 23.
It’s a day to remain with God and rest in His provision, even after the previous seven have been focused on Him. This day is more spiritual and considered greater than the 7 of Sukkot. A formal prayer for rain is often said, and it’s said to be a time to store the memories of what God has provided in our hearts.
Simchat Torah (שִׂמְחַת תּוֺרָה)
This celebration is not in the Bible but is a great way to thank and praise God for giving us His Word! It’s held on the 22nd day of Tishrei and is also known as “rejoicing in the Torah.”
Jews and Christians enjoy the immense blessing through the words and commands God Gave us in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the rest of His Word. Simchat Torah’s joyful celebration marks the end of the annual Torah reading cycle and the beginning of a new one. When celebrated in a synagogue, there is dancing and singing, and it’s a beautiful time of worship.
Although not a commanded Holy Day, Jesus celebrates it in the Book of John. It commemorates the dedication of the rebuilt temple after the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple.
The story of Hanukkah is miraculous. The Jewish people were vastly outnumbered as they decided to fight against the destruction of their people and culture and the blasphemy of God. God was with them as they fought, and they were victorious!
Celebrated from the 25th of Kislev to the 2nd or 3rd day of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah falls in late November or December.
Christians can celebrate God’s power displayed in His people and the victory over persecution. We are also interested in this day as we can see Jesus having shown up in Jerusalem for its celebration, translated as the Feast of Dedication. At this time, Jesus said that his sheep would never perish and that no one could snatch them out of his or His Father’s hand.
Here’s a calendar of the dates of these important days. Print out the free PDF version to keep handy in planning for these days.
Having a Jewish calendar to see what holidays are approaching and plan for them is helpful. Many are out there, but I like the First Fruits of Zion calendar best!
I hope observing these holidays brings you joy, deepens your Christian faith, and provides yet another way to pass your faith on in your family’s legacy, as they have for my family. I’ll continue to post ways for Christian families to observe these meaningful days on the Hebrew Roots Mom website, so stay tuned!
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This time of year, it seems everyone’s thinking about resolutions – losing weight, quitting smoking, reading their bible more, etc. But we’ve also heard that statistics show these resolutions often don’t last long. People stick to them for the first few weeks or months of the New Year and then return to their previous ways.
But what if there was more than one New Year’s Eve? What if there were a few more times in the year marked for a reassessment of our lives and the making of resolutions with the overall goal of bettering ourselves? Just think of who we’d be and what we could accomplish if we routinely adjusted the direction of our lives.
A GPS navigation system recalculates our route if we get off track. If we take a wrong turn or go straight instead of turning left, the system recalculates the course, ensuring that we still reach our destination despite deferring from the path we should be on.
Fortunately, we can do the same with our lives! Though we may be dedicated to God and genuinely want to follow His plan, we all veer off the route He has for us. It takes repeated examination, re-dedication, and re-adjustment to stay where God wants us.
Enter the Holy Days
Recalculating the route is what I love about celebrating the Biblical Holy Days. That’s one purpose of them – introspection and examination of our lives, re-aligning them with God’s plan. Each of these set-aside times also points us back to Jesus! This re-alignment is done many times yearly, and celebrating these days helps my family and I continually recalculate the routes our lives are on. Here are some of those times.
God commands us to “remember” the Sabbath and keep it holy. But what exactly are we to remember? Ezekiel chapter 20 (verses 12 and 20) tells us that the Sabbath is a sign that we belong to God. Keeping the Sabbath is our acknowledgment of the covenant God made with us.
Our activities on the Sabbath should then point us to Him and remind us of Him and His goodness. The Sabbath, combined with Bible study and attending services, should encourage us to look at our lives weekly and see where we need to make changes to adhere more closely to the will of God.
The Sabbath also provides a time to rest before the next busy week. It gives us time to plan the days ahead and make the necessary changes to help us be more effective weekly.
The themes of Passover will also encourage close examination of our lives. That we are no longer slaves to Egyptian captors or to sin causes us to recall all God has done for His people. We could never have obtained this freedom for ourselves. Just as the blood of the lamb freed the Hebrew people from Egypt, Jesus, our Passover Lamb, freed us from the sin that enslaved us.
Think of God’s faithfulness to all His people. In the most challenging times, God can free you from what afflicts you, often working a miracle in your life as he did throughout Exodus. Nothing is too hard for God, and there is no limit to how good your life can be when following Him.
Passover brings a question of identity to mind. Who are we? Or, instead – whose are we? The answer for Christians is that we belong to God. He is the one who rescued us and the one who provided a way to Him despite our sinfulness. As His people, we mature in our faith and begin to learn to look at ourselves through His eyes. While He loves, accepts, and forgives us with our flaws, our desire to obey Him grows as our love for Him does.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is seven days where leaven (yeast) is not only not eaten but also cleaned out of homes altogether. The Bible often uses leaven as a symbol of sin or wickedness. Cleaning leaven out of your home and diet for seven days is difficult! Think of all the crumbs in your pantry or even under your fridge!
The cleanout of leaven causes us to look closer at the sin in our lives. If we’re honest, it’s there on the surface but also in the dark pantry-type corners of our lives! We must constantly be on the lookout for the crumbs of sin in our lives and get rid of them before we end up with a filthy mess. We must also do the more unpleasant cleaning in the parts of our life we’d rather ignore – like that mess under the fridge. During this period, we should sincerely evaluate our lives and identify where sin has been festering, then work to make ourselves more pleasing to God.
Cleaning sin out of our lives should also awaken us to the grace we’ve received. Isn’t it amazing that God knows we aren’t capable of a flawless cleanout and has provided us with a perfectly leaven-free Savior – a gift so indescribably good it makes even a clean home seem like chopped liver!
First Fruits is a Spring festival that celebrates the fertility of the land as a blessing from God. Part of this new growth (a lamb without defect along with wine and bread) is given back to God as an offering and show of gratitude for His blessings. In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 explains that Jesus is the first fruits.
Just like the Holy Day of First Fruits, which is to recognize ahead of time the blessings that God will give, Paul shows in Corinthians that Jesus’s resurrection assures us of the blessing we’ll receive in the harvest at the end of time. We look ahead to when we’ll commune with God, and Jesus will rule.
Looking forward to this time in the future should prompt us to be grateful and prepare ourselves as offerings. We need to do all we can to align our lives with what God wants of us and be continually and earnestly hunting for what that looks like.
This celebration commemorates the Law God gave to the Hebrew people on Mount Sinai. Also known as The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, this is what the apostles were celebrating when the Holy Spirit was given in Acts 2. Shavuot is a reminder that God gave us His Law as a blessing and that the Holy Spirit is the Law written on our hearts that was prophesied by Jeremiah (31:33).
But do we see God’s Laws as a blessing? Or do we compromise, justify our disobedience, and declare that certain ancient Laws don’t apply to us? Shavuot is a time to thank God for His Law and to delight in it as the Psalmist does in chapter 1, verse 2. It’s a time to take a close look at our actions and see whether there’s truth in saying that we aim to obey them and delight in them. We should reflect on how God’s Law has improved our lives and its blessing for all his people. How can we better please God by following his commands?
Shavuot is also when we thank God for the gift of His Spirit. Having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us serves many functions, confirmation of our salvation being just one of many. He’s also our guide and convicts us when we need to change the course of our lives. As we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, we pay special attention to whether we’re listening to this conviction and guidance and adjust our hearts, minds, and actions accordingly.
Also known as Rosh Hashanah, this Feast gives many reasons for introspection and re-calculation of the routes of our lives. Celebrating our names being written in the Book of Life, remembering the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac (Gen. 22), casting off sin, and calling attention to trumpet blasts are all themes of this celebration.
These themes should make us want to audit our behavior and encourage us to make adjustments. The Bible says the names of the righteous are written in the Book of Life. Sin in all our lives prevents us from being wholly righteous, which is why we can celebrate the gift we have in Jesus, who stands in our place just as God provided a ram to stand in Isaac’s place.
But just because we have Jesus as our substitute does not mean we don’t try our best to obey. It’s not to earn our salvation that we obey but out of love for God. Focusing on repentance provokes change. I always tell my children when they say apologize that sorry people change. If they’re genuinely sorry, I’ll see it in their actions, not just their words. It’s the same with us and God. Being genuinely sorry will change us noticeably.
We also focus on trumpet blasts at this time. The original command for this celebration includes the blowing of trumpets. This trumpet blowing is not just for musical enjoyment or celebratory noise. This type of trumpet blowing, using a ram’s horn or shofar, is Biblically an indication that God’s about to do something big! Other times trumpet blasts of this type are used is when the wall of Jericho was brought down or when Jesus returns (Joshua 6:20 and 1 Thess. 4:16-17, respectively)!
We often forget the supernatural aspects of God, and the trumpet blasts remind us that the miraculous events in the bible are REAL and not just stories. If we believe that, we should look forward to Jesus’s return and listen for the accompanying trumpet blasts, for real! If this doesn’t motivate us to ponder our lives and make necessary adjustments, I don’t know what will!
Yom Kippur is also known as the Day of Atonement because it’s on this day that confession of and atonement for sin is to be made. This atonement is as a people, not necessarily an individual level. We’re apologizing for the things we’ve done to turn away from God as His people, not just for the individual disobedience in our own lives.
There are two things a Christian can focus on during Yom Kippur. The first is the honest and humble confession of sin. Yes, we can do this on any day of the year, but this day, set aside for confession, reminds us to do so when we may otherwise forget. Some pray and fast on Yom Kippur because it’s a time when we’re genuinely sorry and commit to change.
The other focus is that Jesus has eternally atoned for our sins! While we’re repentant, we’re also grateful for the undeserved grace we’ve been given. Even if we were to maintain a “good” life, we cannot earn our salvation and deserve condemnation. But that’s not our destiny if we’ve received Jesus as our Savior, and that’s something we should be humbly grateful for.
If we take even a glance at our lives, we’ll see that God has richly blessed us. This day is to celebrate what God has given us – food, shelter, and everything we need. He not only meets our needs; He goes above and beyond to provide for His people. In our culture, we often take these things for granted, and his graciousness is difficult to see, but Sukkot encourages us to see it for what it is – lavish blessings on His people!
He not only meets our physical needs but, more importantly, our spiritual needs. Among all other provisions, He’s also provided Jesus as a way for our sin debt to be paid. A theme of Sukkot is that God tabernacled with His people in the desert. He didn’t just observe them from Heaven; he was with them on their travels, guiding them. This guidance is the same thing Jesus does for us! He came from Heaven to Earth to live among us and become the provision for our sin.
Sukkot prompts us to look around again and see what God has done. He’s met and continues to meet our needs, especially the most desperate – the need for a Savior. Acknowledging this should alter the way we live. If we’re grateful, we will grumble and complain less about what we don’t have. We’ll show our gratitude for forgiveness by extending it to others, as well as repenting for sin and striving to live obedient lives.
While not one of the seven appointed times in the book of Leviticus, Hanukkah is also an excellent time for resolutions. This celebration is all about re-dedication – both of God’s Temple and ourselves. Hanukkah celebrates the amazing things God has done for His people and our re-dedication to Him of what was His in the first place.
Hanukkah is a time to consider what or who we stand for. Having to state what we stand for seems optional when we live in a time and place that’s one of comfort and little persecution. But Christians everywhere don’t enjoy this type of comfort now, and we probably won’t experience it forever, either. Even our daily actions will show what we stand for, though. An honest review of our lives will show who we serve and where we need to get back on track.
So, go ahead and make that resolution for the New Year. But revisit it soon! If you don’t already celebrate the Biblical Holy Days, getting started is easier than you think! Visit the pages linked above to read more about each Holy Day on this website. Happy New Year!
