Festivals of the Lord - Jewish Feasts

God’s Appointed Times

In Leviticus 23, God calls the feasts “my appointed
times”. The feasts are God’s way to remind His
people that He is Lord of the calendar, King of
creation, Ruler over time, past, present, and future.
He established special times to meet with us in a
particular way to commemorate events in His dealings
with man. When we celebrate the feasts in the way
He ordained we reinforce the relationship He
established with us and honor His sovereignty over us.

The timing of the feasts is important...God is very
specific on when we are to celebrate these events.
The calendar used to calculate the dates, the Jewish
calendar, is based on the lunar cycle. (verses the
solar cycle used in the Gregorian, or “modern”
calendar) Psalm 104:19 says “He made the moon for
the seasons; the sun knows the place of its setting.”
Since the calendar is based on the moon cycle, the
arrival of the new moon is a crucial event. In ancient
times three witnesses were needed to confirm when
the first sliver of the moon was visible. At that time a
fire was lit on the Mount of Olives to signal others
watching to light fires on the surrounding hills until the
message was spread throughout Israel that a new
month had begun. Month and moon are the same
word in Hebrew: “chodesh”. Thus a new month is
called “Rosh Chodesh”, head of the month.

Festivals of the Lord

Preparing for the Perfect Passover
(This is for groups that we are doing a Passover
service with.)

Shabbat
Day of Rest

Rosh Hashanah
New Year / Feast of Trumpets

Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement

Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles

Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

Tu B'Shvat
Jewish New Year for Trees

Chanukah
Feast of Dedication

Purim
Feast of Lots

Passover
Feast of Unleavened Bread

Yom Ha Shoah
Holocaust Remembrance

Yom Ha Atzmu'ta
Israel's Independence

Sfirat Haomer
Feast of First Fruits

Shavuot
Latter First Fruits

Tisha B’Av
Ninth of Av