FEAST DAYS AND FAST DAYS

Feast Days and Fast Days

God's covenant people were instructed during Moses' day to hold certain days apart as "holy" days, times when the children of Israel were to remember specific gifts from God or commemorate times when He intevened in their behalf. From the Bible Dictionary we read: "The law commanded that three times a year all the males of the covenant people were to appear before the Lord in the place that He should choose; that is, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Passover}, in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles (Ex. 23:14–17; Deut. 16:16)."

There is rich symbolism in the specific ceremonies surrounding Israelite feast and fast days, as they were instituted in order to teach God's people to recognize His hand and His Son. Below is some basic information on these holy days, taken mostly from the LDS Bible Dictionary. See also a few links below that reference articles discussing the symbolism of these feast days and fast days.

FEAST DAYS

Passover: The Feast of the Passover was instituted to commemorate the passing over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when God smote the firstborn of the Egyptians, and more generally the redemption from Egypt (Ex. 12:27;13:15).

The first Passover differed somewhat from those succeeding it. On the 10th Abib (March or April) a male lamb (or kid) of the first year, without blemish, was chosen for each family or two small families in Israel. It was slain by the whole congregation between the evenings (between sunset and total darkness) of the 14th Abib, and its blood sprinkled on the lintel and two sideposts of the doors of the houses. It was roasted with fire, and no bone of it was broken. It was eaten standing, ready for a journey, and in haste, with unleavened loaves and bitter herbs. Anything left was burned with fire, and no persons went out of their houses until the morning.

Three great changes or developments were made almost immediately in the nature of the Feast of the Passover: (1) It lost its domestic character and became a sanctuary feast. (2) A seven days’ feast of unleavened bread (hence its usual name), with special offerings, was added (Ex. 12:15; Num. 28:16–25). The first and seventh days were Sabbaths and days of holy convocation. (3) The feast was connected with the harvest. On the morrow after the Sabbath (probably 16th Abib) a sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest (barley) was waved before the Lord (Lev. 23:10–14). In later times the Passovers were remarkable (1) for the number of Jews from all parts of the world who attended them, (2) for the tumults that arose and the terrible consequent massacres. Two Passovers of the deepest interest were the Passover of the death of our Lord and the last Passover of the Jewish dispensation. Titus with his army shut up in Jerusalem those who came to keep the latter. The city was thus overcrowded, and the sufferings of the besieged by famine, etc., were terribly increased. Since the destruction of Jerusalem the Jews have kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread but not the Feast of the Passover—that is, they do not offer the sacrificial lamb. The Passover is still eaten by the colony of Samaritans on Gerizim.

Feast of Weeks (Pentecost): Fifty days (Lev. 23:16) after the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost was kept. During those 50 days the harvest of wheat was being gathered in. It is called (Ex. 23:16) “the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours” and (Deut. 16:10) “the feast of weeks.” The feast lasted a single day, which was a day of holy convocation (Lev. 23:21); and the characteristic rite was the new meal offering; that is, two loaves of leavened bread made of fine flour of new wheat. Special animal sacrifices (Lev. 23:18) and freewill offerings (Deut. 16:10) were also made. The festival was prolonged in later times, and huge numbers of Jews attended it. Of this the narrative in Acts 2 is sufficient proof. It had the same evil reputation as the Feast of the Passover for tumults and massacres. We have no record of the celebration of this feast in the Old Testament.

Feast of Trumpets: This feast is also known as the "Day of the Sounding of the Shofar," or the "Day of Remembrance." From the Read article linked below, "Latter-day Saints can find it especially instructive to study some of the meanings Jewish scholars have attributed to the Feast of Trumpets. It signifies (1) the beginning of Israel’s final harvest, (2) the day God had set to remember His ancient promises to regather Israel, (3) a time for new revelation that would lead to a new covenant with Israel, and (4) a time to prepare for the Millennium." Today, Jews celebrate the Feast of Trumpets as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Trumpets are symbolic of revelation, as well as gathering. On this day the shofar or trumpet sounds very specific blasts intended to reflect God's offer of hope, man's weeping for transgressions, and God's forgiveness. "Rosh Hoshanah" is related etymologically to the Arabic "Ras a-Sanah," the name chosen by Muslim lawmakers for the Islamic New Year.

Feast of Tabernacles: The Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:34) or of Ingathering (Ex. 23:16), called by later Jews the Feast (John 7:37) and reckoned by them to be the greatest and most joyful of all, was celebrated on the 15th to 21st days of the seventh month. Modern Jews refer to this holiday as "Sukkot." To the seven days was added an eighth, “the last day, that great day of the feast” (John 7:37), a day of holy convocation, which marked the ending not only of this particular feast, but of the whole festival season. The events celebrated were the sojourning of the children of Israel in the wilderness (Lev. 23:43) and the gathering-in of all the fruits of the year (Ex. 23:16). The sacrifices prescribed by the law were more numerous than for any other feast, and impressive ceremonies were added in later times; that is, (1) the drawing of water from Siloam and its libation on the altar (of this it was said that he who has not seen the joy of the drawing of water at the Feast of Tabernacles does not know what joy is); and (2) the illumination of the temple courts by four golden candelabra. It is probably to these ceremonies that our Lord refers in John 7:37 and 8:12. (3) The making of a canopy of willows over the altar. The characteristic rite of the Feast of Tabernacles was the dwelling in booths made of the boughs of trees. This rite seems to have been neglected from the time of Joshua to the time of Ezra (Neh. 8:17). It is practiced by the Jews of modern times. Remarkable celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles took place at the opening of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 8:2; 2 Chr. 5:3; 7:8) and in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 8:14). Jeroboam adapted this feast to the later seasons of the northern kingdom (1 Kgs. 12:32). Zechariah in prophetic imagery represents the nations as coming up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and describes the curse that should fall on those who did not come (Zech. 14:16–19).

Note: Jewish High Holy Days today include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. They occur in the fall of the year, usually August - October. Yom Kippur is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

FAST DAYS

Day of Atonement: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) appears to be the only fast ordered by the law. Other fasts were instituted during the exile (Zech. 7:3–5; 8:19); and after the return, fasting is shown to be a regular custom (Luke 5:33; 18:12). The directions for its observance are given in Ex. 30:10; Lev. 16; 23:26–32; Num. 29:7–11. The day was kept as a national fast. The high priest, clothed in white linen, took a bullock as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself and his house; and two he-goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for the congregation of Israel. He presented the bullock and the two goats before the door of the tabernacle. He then cast lots upon the two goats. One was to be for the Lord for a sin offering. The other was for Azazel (the completely separate one, the evil spirit regarded as dwelling in the desert), to be sent away alive into the wilderness. He then killed the bullock, his own sin offering, and, taking a censer full of live coals from off the brazen altar with two handfuls of incense into the Holy of Holies, cast the incense on the coals there so that the cloud of smoke might cover the mercy seat and, as it were, hide him from God. He then took of the blood of the bullock and sprinkled it once on the east part of the mercy seat (as an atonement for the priesthood) and seven times before the mercy seat (as an atonement for the Holy of Holies itself). Then he killed the goat, the congregation’s sin offering, and sprinkled its blood in the same manner, with corresponding objects. Similar sprinklings were made with the blood of both animals (bullock and goat) on the altar of incense (Ex. 30:10;Lev. 16:15) to make an atonement for the Holy Place. No one besides the high priest was allowed to be present in the tabernacle while these acts of atonement were going on.

Lastly, an atonement was made for the altar of burnt offering in a similar manner. The goat for Azazel was then brought before the altar of burnt offering. Over it the high priest confessed all the sins of the people of Israel, after which it was sent by the hand of a man into the wilderness to bear away their iniquities into a solitary land. This ceremony signified the sending away of the sins of the people now expiated to the Evil One to convince him that they could no more be brought up in judgment against the people before God. Then the high priest took off his linen garments, bathed, put on his official garments, and offered the burnt offerings of two rams for himself and his people.

In Heb. 9:6–28 a contrast is drawn between the work of the high priest on the Day of Atonement and the work of Christ, the great High Priest, who offered once for all the perfect sacrifice of Himself. The sacrifices provided an annual “remembrance” of sin (Heb. 10:3–4), while the sacrifice of Christ removes the sin and leads to the complete sanctification of the believer (9:12, 14, 26; 10:10–18).

"The Passover Supper," Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2014 Ensign.

"The Golden Plates and the Feast of Trumpets," Lenet Hadley Read, January 2000 Ensign.

"Symbols of the Harvest: Old Testament Holy Days and the Lord's Ministry," Lenet H. Read, January 1975 Ensign