The Seventh Festival

The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly. [Leviticus 23.1-2]

While each of the six festivals described in Leviticus 23 have their meaning, I find it interesting first, that there are six of these festivals. When I began to read today, the thought came to me to count these festivals and, sure enough, there were six. 

As the Bible goes, six is the number of man. It is imperfect, particularly as it relates to the number seven.

I believe God laid out six festivals so that there would be an understanding of His redemption in Christ.

Simply in the observance of the festivals, we see the effort of incomplete man. While these festivals are in honor of God, they are, in fact, man's effort to honor God.

Threaded throughout the descriptions of these festivals is the reminder about the Sabbath Day - the seventh day - a day of complete rest. By its very description, it brings the completion to the preceding six days of man's efforts - and that completion is complete rest. There is no irony here, but highly focused imagery of Christ!

The six festivals point to the Seventh Festival Who is Jesus. He is the Sabbath of Rest. He is the completion of God's plan. He is to be honored and observed. He is to be completely rested in! Not mentioned in Leviticus, but revealed in Jesus, we have the opportunity to live in the Seventh Festival - the blessed life of faith in Jesus.

If we will look at each of these festivals in the shadow of Christ, we will begin to see God's amazing plan for mankind's redemption from the beginning of time!

Amazing.

Father, thank you for Your Word! Thank You for the mathematics of the Bible that points to Jesus. Help us - help me - to understand how Jesus fulfills all and, in Him, we find completion.