FESTIVALS OF THE LORD

God’s Appointed Times

In Leviticus 23, God calls the feasts “my appointed times”. The feasts are God’s way to remind His people that He is Lord of the calendar, King of creation, Ruler over time, past, present, and future. He established special times to meet with us in a particular way to commemorate events in His dealings with man. When we celebrate the feasts in the way He ordained we reinforce the relationship He established with us and honor His sovereignty over us.

The timing of the feasts is important...God is very specific on when we are to celebrate these events. The calendar used to calculate the dates, the Jewish calendar, is based on the lunar cycle. (verses the solar cycle used in the Gregorian, or “modern” calendar) Psalm 104:19 says “He made the moon for the seasons; the sun knows the place of its setting.” Since the calendar is based on the moon cycle, the arrival of the new moon is a crucial event. In ancient times three witnesses were needed to confirm when the first sliver of the moon was visible. At that time a fire was lit on the Mount of Olives to signal others watching to light fires on the surrounding hills until the message was spread throughout Israel that a new month had begun. Month and moon are the same word in Hebrew: “chodesh”. Thus a new month is called “Rosh Chodesh”, head of the month.

Preparing for the Perfect Passover

(This is for groups that we are doing a Passover service with.)

Shabbat
Day of Rest

Rosh Hashanah
New Year / Feast of Trumpets

Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement

Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles

Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

Tu B'Shvat
Jewish New Year for Trees

Chanukah
Feast of Dedication

Purim
Feast of Lots

Passover
Feast of Unleavened Bread

Yom Ha Shoah
Holocaust Remembrance