Leviticus 23:4-14

b. PASSOVER AND THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD 23:4-14
TEXT 23:4-14

4

These are the set feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season.

5

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is Jehovah's passover.

6

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Jehovah: seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread.

7

In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.

8

But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.

9

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

10

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest:

11

and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12

And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.

13

And the meal-offering thereof shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah for a sweet savor; and the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

14

And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the oblation of your God: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 23:4-14

523.

What is involved in the word proclaim in Leviticus 23:4? (Cf. Numbers 10:1-10.)

524.

There seems to be a civil and religious calendar for the Jewish nation, or two methods of counting the months. Research this question in a good Bible Dictionary.

525.

Does the feast of unleavened bread have a direct relationship to the Passover, or is it a separate feast? Cf. Exodus 13:4; Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:1; Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7; John 19:14.

526.

Why eat unleavened bread? What did it symbolize?

527.

Once again: what is a holy convocation?

528.

Some work could be done. What was it?

529.

What type of offering is suggested in the expression, an offering made by fire?

530.

Why give regulations for activities that would only happen years later?

531.

Is the feast of the first-fruits separate from the passover and the feast of unleavened bread? If not, what possible connection is there?

532.

What was meant by the feast of the first-fruits?

533.

Waving the sheaf carried what symbolism?

534.

What is involved in the drink offering?

535.

Why not eat until the feast day?

PARAPHRASE 23:4-14

These are the holy festivals which are to be observed each year: The Passover of the Lord: This is to be celebrated at the end of March. The Festival of Unleavened Bread: This is to be celebrated beginning the day following the Passover. On the first day of this festival, you shall gather the people for worship, and all ordinary work shall cease. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the festival. On each of the intervening days you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord. The Festival of First Fruits: When you arrive in the land I will give you and reap your first harvest, bring the first sheaf of the harvest to the priest on the day after the Sabbath. He shall wave it before the Lord in a gesture of offering, and it will be accepted by the Lord as your gift. That same day you shall sacrifice to the Lord a male yearling lamb without defect as a burnt offering. A grain offering shall accompany it, consisting of a fifth of a bushel of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, to be offered by fire to the Lord; this will be very pleasant to Him. Also offer a drink offering consisting of three pints of wine. Until this is done you must not eat any of the harvest for yourselvesneither fresh kernels nor bread nor parched grain. This is a permanent law throughout your nation.

COMMENT 23:4-14

Leviticus 23:4 The heading is here repeated because the feasts or festivals which follow are separate from the sabbath. The gathering of the people was done by blowing the silver trumpets. Cf. Numbers 10:10.

Leviticus 23:5 A copy of the chart showing the Hebrew calendar is given here because it is important to our understanding just here. We need to add that the two names for the same months come from the two calendarsthe civil and the religious. The second set of names were not given until after the exilic captivity. The civil calendar began numbering with the seventh month of the religious calendar.

HEBREW CALENDAR

Each month (new moon) began with the blowing of trumpets and offering of sacrifices. Numbers 28:11; Numbers 10:10; Psalms 81:3.

We also reproduce our comments on The Passover as they appear in OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, pages 153-54:

The primary purpose of this festival was to commemorate Jehovah's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he passed through the land of Egypt to slay the first-born in every house. (Exodus 12:11-12). But just as the history of Israel was typical of the whole pilgrimage of man, and as their rescue from Egypt answers to that crisis in the life of God's redeemed people, at which they are ransomed by the blood of the atonement from the penalty of sin, to which they also are subject, so we trace this wider and higher meaning in every feature of the institution.

The day, reckoned from sunset to sunset, in the night of which the first-born of Egypt were slain and the Israelites departed, was the fourteenth of the Jewish month Nisan or Abib (March to April), which began about the time of the vernal equinox, and which was now made the first month of the ecclesiastical year. (The civil year began, like that of the Egyptians, about the autumnal equinox, with the month Tishri.) This was the great day of the feast, when the paschal supper was eaten. But the preparations had already been made by the command of God. (Exodus 12:1-27). On the tenth day of the month, each household had chosen a yearling lamb (or kid, for either might be used) (Exodus 12:5), without blemish. This Paschal Lamb was set apart till the evening which began the fourteenth day, and was killed as a sacrifice (Exodus 12:27) at that moment in every family of Israel. But before it was eaten, its blood was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the lintel and door-posts of the house: the divinely-appointed sign, that Jehovah might pass over that house, when He passed through the land to destroy the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:7; Exodus 12:12-13; Exodus 12:22-23). Thus guarded, and forbidden to go out of doors till the morning, the families of Israel ate the lamb, roasted and not boiled, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bones were not suffered to be broken, but they must be consumed by fire in the morning, with any of the flesh that was left uneaten; The people were to eat in haste, and equipped for their coming journey. For seven days after the feast, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first, they were to eat only unleavened bread, and to have no leaven in their houses, under penalty of death. The fourteenth and twenty-first were to be kept with a holy convocation and Sabbatic rest. The Passover was to be kept to Jehovah throughout their generations, a feast by an ordinance forever. (Exodus 12:14). No stranger might share the feast, unless he were first circumcised; but strangers were bound to observe the days of unleavened. (Exodus 12:18-20; Exodus 12:43-49). To mark more solemnly the perpetual nature and vast importance of the feast, fathers were especially enjoined to instruct their children in its meaning through all future time. (Exodus 12:25-27).

Leviticus 23:6-8 As we have observed, the feast of unleavened bread became a vital part of the passover; indeed it is even called the feast of unleavened breadthe terms are linked in Leviticus 23:5-6. Cf. Exodus 12:15; Exodus 12:18-20. The time of the day for the observance of the passover became quite an issue between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The controversy hinged on the meaning of the phrase, at even in Leviticus 23:5. It literally means between the two evenings. Ginsburg observes on this point: According to the Sadducees it denotes the time between the setting of the sun and the moment when the stars become visible, or when darkness sets in, i.e. between six and seven o-'clock, a space of about one hour and twenty minutes. According to the Pharisees, however, -between the two evenings-' means from the afternoon to the disappearing of the sun. The first evening is from the time when the sun begins to decline towards the west, whilst the second is when it goes down and vanishes out of sight. This is the reason why the paschal lamb in the evening sacrifice began to be killed and the blood sprinkled at 12:30 P.M. This is more in harmony with the fact that the large number of sacrifices on this could be offered up in the longer period of time.

The seven days of unleavened bread were intended to be a week-long reminder of the conditions which prevailed in Egypt at the time of deliverance. No work of a gainful purpose was permitted on the first or the seventh days. No building or pulling down edifices, weaving, threshing, winnowing, grinding, etc.while needful work could be done such as killing beasts, kneading dough, baking bread, boiling, roasting, etc. The violators were not stoned but received forty stripes.
The offerings on each of these days in addition to the daily sacrifices were: two young bulls, a ram, seven lambs of the first year, along with a meat or meal offering to accompany these burnt offerings, and a goat for a sin offering. Cf. Numbers 28:19-23. During this festive occasion each worshipper was also expected to bring offerings of his own. Cf. Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:16; Deuteronomy 27:7. These offerings were to be given as peace offerings. Cf. Leviticus 3:1-5; Leviticus 7:16-18; Leviticus 7:29-34.

Leviticus 23:9-14 Some commentators wish to separate the offering of the sheaf of the first-fruits from the Passover and the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread. They wish to consider it as an independent action. Others like Charles F. Pfeiffer unite it with the feast of unleavened bread. He says: During the Feast of Unleavened Bread -on the morrow after the sabbath-' a sheaf of first-fruits of barley was offered as a wave-offering before the Lord. Oil and frankincense were mixed with flour and the whole offered as a meal offering. In waving the sacrifice, i.e. holding it out toward the altar, and bringing it back again, God was recognized as the author of the entire harvest. The harvest was ceremonially dedicated to Him. It was then received back, symbolizing the fact that the blessing of the harvest had come from Him. A portion was burned on the altar, and the rest was eaten by the worshipper. It was on this day the counting began to complete forty-nine days in establishing the day of Pentecost. Forty-nine days were counted (which included the day on which the first-fruit was offered). The day following the forty-ninth day (seven times seven days) was the Day of Pentecost. The Passover was always on the 14th of Nisan. The first day of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which was called a sabbath (Cf. Leviticus 23:24; Leviticus 23:32; Leviticus 23:34 for such a term) was the 15th of Nisan. On the day following, or on the 16th of Nisan, the sheaf of first-fruits was offered and the counting for Pentecost began. (i.e. according to one point of view.) By a simple reasoning process it becomes apparent that if this interpretation is right we cannot conclude that the day of Pentecost was always on the first day of the week, since the counting did not always begin on the same day of the week. The whole issue is decided on how the term sabbath is used in Leviticus 23:11; Leviticus 23:15.

The provisions here required anticipate occupying the land of Canaan. The eating of the unleavened bread must not begin until after the sheaf of the first fruit has been offered. The grain for the unleavened bread of the first two days was from the harvest of the previous year. The meal used in the bread in the remaining five days came from the new or current harvest. At this time of the year only barley was ripe.

FACT QUESTIONS 23:4-14

533.

Was the Passover held on the fourteenth day of the first month or the fourteenth day of the seventh month?

534.

In what month according to our calendar?

535.

How many days involved in the observance of the Passover?

536.

There are two opinions as to the time for the observance of the Passover. Give them and discuss.

537.

What was the purpose of the seven days of unleavened bread?

538.

What work was unlawful? On what days?

539.

List the offerings on the seven days. What was the grand total of the seven days?

540.

When was the sheaf of the first fruit offered? Why?

541.

Discuss one method of counting the 49 days between the day of the sheaf offering and Pentecost.

542.

Did the counting begin on the seventeenth of Nisan or on the Saturday following the Passover? Discuss.

543.

When did the Israelities begin eating the unleavened bread?