Day 39, Leviticus 22-23

Today started off pretty repetitive, but I’ve kind of been getting used to that. It continued to discuss the rules for uncleanness. Basically, the laws of uncleanness were the same for everyone, both priests and people, but the priests were held to much higher standards since they had greater responsibilities.

It also repeated acceptable offerings, making it very clear that no animal for offering could have a blemish: meaning no blindness; disability; mutilation; having discharge, itch, or scab; no bruised or crushed testicles; etc. However, if a bull or lamb had a part that was too short or too long for a freewill offering, that was acceptable. It also stated that the offering shall remain with its mother for seven days, and could be taken on the eighth day and after.

Then, it went on to discuss all the different feasts of the Lord explaining each.

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.'”

Convocation: large, formal assembly of people

-Leviticus 23:1-2

The Sabbath

Description: Day of rest; no work

Purpose: Rest for people and animals

“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.”

The principle of the seventh day as a day of rest and holiness is set forth in the account of creation. Two additional lambs were to be sacrificed as a burnt offering every weekly Sabbath.

The Passover

Description: Slaying and eating a lamb, together with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast, in every household

Purpose: Remember Israel’s deliverance from Egypt

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover.” This relates back to when the Lord would “pass over” and not destroy the occupants of houses that were under the sign of the blood.
https://liveandlearnjourney.com/day-21-exodus-10-12/

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Description: Eating bread made without yeast; holding several assemblies; making designated offerings

Purpose: Remember how the Lord brought the Israelite’s out of Egypt in haste

“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days.”

During the Feast, the first sheaf of the barley harvest was brought.

The Feast of Firstfruits

Description: Presenting a sheaf of the first of the barley harvest as a wave offering; making a burnt offering and a grain offering

Purpose: Recognize the Lord’s bounty in the land

“When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord.”

Also had to give a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma. The drink offering with is was wine.

The Feast of Weeks

Description: A festival of joy; mandatory and voluntary offerings, including firstfruits of the wheat harvest

Purpose: Show joy and thankfulness for the Lord’s blessing of harvest

“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering…burnt offering…drink offering…food offering…sin offering…wave offering…And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation”

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner.”

The Feast of Trumpets

Description: An assembly on a day of rest commemorated with trumpet blasts and sacrifices

Purpose: Present Israel before the Lord for his favor

“In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

Today this is known as the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), “the beginning of the year,” but no so called in the Bible. Trumpets were blown on the first of every month. With no calendars available, the trumpets sounding across the land were an important signal of the beginning of the new season, the end of the agricultural year.

The Day of Atonement

Description: A day of rest, fasting and sacrifices of atonement for priests and people and atonement for the tabernacle and altar

Purpose: Cleanse priests and people from their sins and purify the Holy Place

“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people…On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

https://liveandlearnjourney.com/day-37-leviticus-16-18/

The Feast of Booths

Description: A week celebration for the harvest; living in booths and offering sacrifices

Purpose: Memorialize the journey from Egypt to Canaan; give thanks for the productivity if Canaan

“On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths (or tabernacles) to the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eight day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord…

“You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of Egypt.”

“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, besides the Lord’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.”

-Leviticus 23:37-38

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