The Holy Feasts of Israel as the Means of Liberation
Netivyah International
The holy feasts of Israel are a cycle of appointed times established by God in Leviticus 23. They begin with the weekly Shabbat and move through the annual spring and fall festivals, mapping out the agricultural and spiritual year. For followers of Yeshua (Jesus), these biblical holidays are not just historical events. They are a step-by-step cycle designed by God to liberate the human soul and awaken our spiritual senses.
Lion Erwteman, a guest writer in our Teaching From Zion magazine and leader of Beth Yeshua in Amsterdam, points out that God laid down these feasts as deliberate steps for liberation. Our souls are bound by many factors. We are restricted by our culture, our habits, our physical limitations, and our past. Liberation from these things takes ongoing effort.
Erwteman notes that each holy feast targets a specific human sense: taste, smell, hearing, feeling, and sight. By walking through God’s Biblical Calendar, we subject our senses to a yearly spiritual inspection. Let us look at how the main biblical feasts serve as means of liberation, what they mean for believers, and how you can mark them in your home.
The Weekly Anchor: Shabbat
Before detailing the annual holidays, Leviticus 23 begins with the Sabbath. Shabbat is the weekly anchor, beginning Friday evening at sunset and ending Saturday night. It confirms the rest that the Eternal enjoyed after creation, and the rest He grants to us.
For a people just freed from slavery in Egypt, Shabbat was a radical concept. Slaves do not get days off. By resting one day in seven, Israel practically demonstrated their new freedom. Today, observing a weekly day of rest frees us from the tyranny of constant production. It reminds us that our identity is not based on what we can accomplish.
Passover (Pesach): The Liberation of Taste
Passover is the first annual festival in the Torah, falling in the spring during the Hebrew month of Nisan. It commemorates the night God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Leviticus 23:4-8 and Exodus 12 outline the command to eat the Passover lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs.
Jewish families observe Passover by holding a Seder. This is a structured meal where the story of the Exodus is retold. We drink four cups of wine representing the four promises of deliverance in Exodus 6:6-7: leading out, saving, liberating, and redeeming.
The New Testament clearly links Yeshua to this feast. He is the Passover Lamb whose blood marks us for salvation. The crossing of the Red Sea that followed Passover is described by the apostle Paul as a type of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:2). The old life is washed away.
Erwteman connects Passover with the sense of taste. Exodus 12:8 commands the eating of roasted meat, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. The sharp, uncomfortable taste of the bitter herbs awakens us to the bitter reality of our own enslavement to sin. This makes the sweetness of redemption that much better.
You do not need to host a full Seder to remember Passover. Read Exodus 12 around your dinner table. Give everyone a piece of unleavened bread and something sharply bitter, like horseradish. Taste the bitterness, discuss what God has freed your family from, and thank Yeshua for His sacrifice. Read The Ultimate Guide to Pesach for more practical ideas.
The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot): The Smell of Life
Exactly fifty days after the Sabbath of Passover week, the Torah commands the observance of Shavuot. It falls in the early summer month of Sivan. Leviticus 23:15-21 details the agricultural grain harvest and the offering of two loaves of leavened bread at the Temple.
In Jewish tradition, Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Synagogues stay open all night for Torah study. It is customary to read the Book of Ruth and eat dairy foods.
In Acts 2, the disciples were gathered in Jerusalem for Shavuot (Pentecost) when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Just as the Torah was given on stone tablets at Sinai, the Spirit was given to write the Torah on human hearts. The reading of Ruth, a Gentile widow grafted into Israel, illustrates how the nations are brought into this heavenly liberation.
This feast is tied to the sense of smell. It is the time of the grain harvest. The mowing, threshing, grinding, and baking of fresh bread produce distinct aromas. It reminds us of God's provision and the fragrance of life that believers are called to carry (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).
Bake a fresh loaf of bread with your family. As the smell fills your house, read the short Book of Ruth together. Talk about how God provides for us physically through the earth and spiritually through His Word.
The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): Opening Our Ears
After a long summer, the calendar shifts to the fall feasts in the month of Tishrei. The first is Yom Teruah, commonly known as Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Leviticus 23:23-25 describes this day as a memorial of blowing trumpets, a day of rest, and a holy convocation.
The central command is to hear the blast of the shofar (a ram's horn). It is a day of spiritual awakening, examining our deeds, and recognizing God as King and Judge over all the earth. The shofar is an instrument of spiritual warfare and a herald of the Messiah's coming.
Hearing the trumpet blast reminds believers to stay spiritually awake. We anticipate the return of Yeshua, who will come with the sound of a trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Hearing is the sense awakened here. The shofar forces us to stop talking and start listening. Spiritual liberation often begins when we finally open our ears to hear God's correction and His call to repentance.
Find an audio recording of a traditional shofar blast. Play it for your family. Discuss what things distract you from hearing God's voice, and read What's Rosh Hashanah, And How To Celebrate? to learn more about the traditional greetings and foods.
The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): Feeling the Soul's Need
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets comes the holiest and most solemn day on the biblical calendar. Leviticus 23:26-32 commands the people to afflict their souls and do no work. It was the one day a year the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation.
Yom Kippur is observed with a strict 25-hour fast from food and water. The Book of Jonah is read in the synagogue. This reminds the congregation that God desires repentance and extends mercy even to the most unlikely people.
We recognize that Yeshua is our ultimate High Priest. His blood provided the final atonement. We do not fast to earn forgiveness, but to humble ourselves, search our hearts, and align our will with the Father's.
Feeling is the sense awakened on this day. When you fast, your skin feels different, your body feels weak, and you physically feel your own frailty. Erwteman notes that learning to feel our own pain helps us feel the pain of our Messiah. It also helps us develop true empathy for our neighbors.
If health permits, choose to fast from a specific meal or a daily comfort for the day. Use the time you would normally spend eating to pray for reconciliation in relationships where there is friction. You can also read Why Do I Fast and Pray on Yom Kippur? for more insight.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot): Resetting Our Sight
The fall festival cycle concludes with Sukkot, a seven-day celebration of joy starting on the fifteenth of Tishrei. Leviticus 23:33-43 commands the Israelites to live in temporary booths (sukkot) for seven days. They are to rejoice before the Lord with branches of leafy trees.
Jewish families build temporary, fragile huts outside their homes with roofs made of branches. They eat their meals inside them. They also wave the lulav (a bundle of palm, myrtle, and willow branches) alongside an etrog (a citron fruit) while singing praises. We read the Book of Ecclesiastes, remembering that earthly life is fleeting.
Sukkot reminds us that this world is temporary. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). It also points prophetically to the future Kingdom, when the Messiah will dwell on earth and all nations will go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16).
Sight is the sense awakened here. The visual beauty of the lulav, the stars seen through the roof of the sukkah, and the bright joy of the festival correct our vision. Eve was seduced by her eyes in the Garden of Eden. Sukkot trains our eyes to look past permanent earthly structures and fix our sight on the visible Kingdom of God.
You do not need to build a full sukkah to capture the meaning. Eat a meal outside on your patio or in your yard. Look up at the sky. Discuss how fragile human life is, and how our true security only comes from the Lord.
Hanukkah and Purim: Balance and Movement
Erwteman adds that two later, post-biblical festivals complete this picture of liberation. Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Temple in 167 BC after heavy oppression. Erwteman connects it to the sense of balance. The Jewish people were forced to bow to dictators. Hanukkah brought the healing of standing upright again.
Purim, found in the Book of Esther, celebrates deliverance from genocide in Persia. Erwteman links it to proprioception, the awareness of our body's movement. The Jewish people had to move quickly to defend themselves. They learned to recognize God's hidden intervention in their physical circumstances.
A Question to Sit With
The biblical calendar is a powerful tool for spiritual inspection. God uses taste, smell, hearing, feeling, and sight to pull us out of our natural numbness. Look at your own life this week. Which of your spiritual senses has grown dull? Ask the Lord which sense He is trying to awaken in you right now, and what step of liberation He is asking you to take.
Questions people ask
What are the holy feasts of Israel?
The holy feasts of Israel are the appointed times established by God in Leviticus 23. They include the weekly Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
Do Christians need to celebrate the Jewish feasts?
Christians are not required by the New Covenant to keep the Jewish feasts for salvation. However, many believers choose to study and observe them because they reveal the character of God, provide deep historical context for the Bible, and point directly to the redemptive work of Yeshua (Jesus).
What do the biblical feasts mean for believers?
For believers, the spring feasts map out Yeshua's first coming, including His death as the Passover lamb and the pouring out of the Spirit at Shavuot. The fall feasts point to His future return, signaling a wake-up call, ultimate atonement, and God coming to dwell permanently with His people.