Israel's feasts and festivals were to be times of religious and community celebration. Ordained by God, they were to be the outward expression of a right spirital attitude.
Feasts and festivals were appointed by God
Exodus 5:1 See also Exodus 10:9; Hosea 9:5
After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
Israel's three annual festivals
The three pilgrim festivals
Exodus 23:14–19; 2 Chronicles 8:12–13 Exodus 12:14; Numbers 28:17; Leviticus 23:15–21; Numbers 28:26; Leviticus 23:39–41; Numbers 29:12; Judges 21:19; 1 Kings 8:65 parallel 2 Chronicles 7:8
Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD. You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning. Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico. He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts — the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
They were a joyful response to God's blessings
Zechariah 8:19 Contrasting with fasts. See also Nahum 1:15
“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”
They were celebrated with sacrifices and offerings
Israel's other festivals
New Moon festivals: Numbers 10:10; 1 Samuel 20:18; 1 Chronicles 23:31; Hosea 2:11; Exodus 32:5; 1 Kings 12:32–33
Festivals should be the outward expression of a right spiritual attitude
Isaiah 1:14, Isaiah 29:1; Hosea 5:7; Malachi 2:3; 1 Corinthians 5:8
OT festivals find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.