What Are the Biblical Feasts?

God's Appointed Times

Throughout the year there are several days that God declares to be "appointed times" in the Bible (Leviticus 23:2). These are special times that God told us to remember and observe — appointed times to celebrate every year, kind of like a wedding anniversary. God scheduled these appointments with us in his Word, and he never misses them.

The feast days break down into two seasons: the four spring feasts — Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Shavuot — and the three fall feasts — Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The spring feasts rehearse the Messiah's first coming: his death, burial, resurrection, and the giving of the Spirit. The fall feasts look ahead to his return.

• Passover Deliverance — the Gospel in a meal
• Unleavened Bread Seven days of putting sin out
• Firstfruits The resurrection, guaranteed
• Shavuot Torah and Spirit, both given
• Yom Teruah The trumpet blast of his return
• Yom Kippur Atonement and our High Priest
• Sukkot God dwelling with his people

The Weekly Appointed Time: The Sabbath

Before Leviticus 23 lists a single annual feast, it names the appointed time that comes every week: the seventh-day Sabbath (Leviticus 23:1–3). The Sabbath is the rhythm the feasts are built on — several of the feast days are themselves called Sabbaths of solemn rest — and for most people it is the first appointed time they ever keep.

Why Would a Christian Celebrate These?

Because God gives us physical things to do in order to teach us spiritual principles. He didn't give us a bunch of random commandments just to watch us jump through religious hoops. He is a loving Father, and his Torah — his instructions — is designed to teach us his character and his truth.

The feast days are designed to help us grow spiritually. They're "wedding rehearsals" to help us prepare to meet our Bridegroom. Eating unleavened bread every year is an affirmation of the Gospel and a celebration of our redemption through the blood of Messiah — and each feast makes the same move in its own way. These are not "Jewish holidays" a Christian borrows; they are the appointed times of the God Christians worship, and every one of them preaches the Messiah.

The Spring Feasts

Passover

Passover commemorates the Exodus story — the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. For Christians, that story is a prophetic picture of our own deliverance from slavery to sin. God commanded it as a statute forever (Exodus 12:14); Yeshua kept it with his disciples and said "do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19); and Paul told the Corinthians to celebrate the festival, "for Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).

Unleavened Bread

For seven days, two commandments: eat unleavened bread, and remove the leaven from your home (Exodus 12:18–19). The unleavened bread recalls the haste of deliverance; the search for leaven — a biblical symbol of sin — is a season of introspection, asking God to search every corner of our hearts the way we search every corner of our homes.

Firstfruits

During Passover week, the priest waved the firstfruits of the barley harvest before the Lord (Leviticus 23:9–11). The apostles teach that this ceremony is a prophetic symbol of Yeshua's resurrection: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). Just as the firstfruits assured Israel of the full harvest to come, the Messiah's resurrection guarantees the future resurrection of all God's redeemed people.

Shavuot (Pentecost)

Shavuot marks the end of the spring feasts. According to Jewish tradition, it was at Shavuot that God betrothed his people at Mount Sinai and gave the Torah; in the New Testament, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Yeshua's disciples also fell on Shavuot (Acts 2). God gave both the truth of his Word and his Spirit on this day — enabling his people to worship in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).

The Fall Feasts

The season of Teshuvah

On the Hebrew calendar, the month before the fall feasts is called Elul — traditionally a season of teshuvah: repentance. It's a time of introspection, reconciliation, and preparation, a wake-up call for believers to refocus on what's most important before the appointed times arrive.

Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets)

Yom Teruah — also known as the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh HaShanah — is a memorial proclaimed with the blast of the shofar (Leviticus 23:24). For believers in Messiah, the shofar blast is sounded in anticipation of the second coming of Yeshua, who will return at the sound of a "trumpet" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). It also opens the "Ten Days of Awe" of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement — is regarded as the most important appointed time of all. It is the day the High Priest entered the holy of holies to atone for Israel (Leviticus 16), a pattern we see again in our heavenly High Priest, Yeshua, who "always lives to intercede" for those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). It is a day of fasting, forgiveness, and rest — ultimately, a day to reflect on the Gospel.

Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)

Sukkot — "booths" — marks the end of the fall feasts and is the most joyous celebration on the Hebrew calendar. Dwelling in temporary shelters recalls the wilderness years after the Exodus (Leviticus 23:42), and the ingathering of the harvest prophetically symbolizes the day all of God's people are gathered together in the Kingdom: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with man. He will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3).

Purim and Hanukkah: The Feasts of Deliverance and Dedication

Two celebrations on the Hebrew calendar commemorate deliverances that came after the Torah was given. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from Haman's conspiracy to destroy them — a celebration of God's love and protection in the midst of a hostile world. Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, commemorates the rededication of the second Temple — a celebration of faith and uncompromising commitment to God's Word.

Neither is a commanded feast in the Torah, and nobody is adding them to Leviticus 23. But not-commanded is not the same as prohibited: the Father accepts all our praise, as long as it is not prohibited in Scripture. A holiday that commemorates cleansing the Temple from pagan worship is a strange candidate for a pagan origin.

What About Christmas?

Instead of asking first whether a holiday has pagan origins, ask the question Charles Spurgeon asked: is it in the Bible? And if not, is it worth doing? Christmas is not a biblical holiday, and it is unnecessary — we don't need Christmas to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We have several biblical holy days every year designed for that very purpose, and it's a tragedy that they have largely been replaced in the lives of most believers.

My family does not celebrate Christmas; we have found the biblical holy days to be much more meaningful. But each of us needs to prayerfully consider the matter and come to our own conclusions — without condemning or looking down on other sincere believers.

"Didn't Colossians Abolish the Festivals?"

Colossians 2:16–17 — "let no one pass judgment on you … with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath" — is the passage most often cited against feast-keeping. But a growing body of scholarship argues the opposite reading: the Colossian believers were observing the biblical calendar, and the illegitimate judgment came from ascetic critics who did not. On that reading, Paul is not abolishing the festivals; he is defending the people keeping them.

When Do the Feasts Fall?

The feasts are dated by the Hebrew calendar, so they land on different Gregorian dates each year — Passover in the spring, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot in the fall. One thing that surprises many people: a biblical day runs from sunset to sunset, so every feast begins at sundown the evening before its calendar date.

Common Questions About the Biblical Feasts

Books on the Biblical Feasts

Published by Pronomian Publishing, a Messiah-centered and Torah-affirming publishing house.

Start here

The Power of Passover: A Christian's Guide to the Festival of Redemption

Why the festival of redemption belongs in a Christian's year, and how to keep it.

The Power of Passover: A Christian Haggadah

The companion seder guide — the book you actually use at the table.

Let No One Judge You: A Pronomian Pocket Guide to Colossians 2

The passage most often raised against feast-keeping, studied at pocket-guide length.

Also worth reading

Where to Start

1. Understand why the feasts matter for Christians. Read Unleavened Bread and the Gospel — the whole theology of the feasts in one short article.
2. Find the next feast on the calendar and read its "how to celebrate" guide in the feast list above. You don't start with all seven; you start with the next one.
3. Keep it simply the first time. A meal, a day of rest, a reading — the feasts are learned by keeping them, not by reading about them.
4. Got an objection standing in the way? It's probably Colossians 2. Read Does Colossians 2:16–17 Abolish the Sabbath and Festivals?

Explore related topics

• Pronomian Theology
• Biblical Law
• The Sabbath