As a pastor, I have often been asked if Christians should celebrate the seven biblical feasts in Leviticus 23. The common answer is that we don’t celebrate the feasts because Jesus fulfilled them. But in Leviticus 23:14, 21, 31, and 41, God said the feasts should be celebrated forever, and in 1 Corinthians 5:8, Paul wrote, “Therefore let us keep the feast by...” referring to the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. If God wanted people to stop celebrating the feasts when Jesus fulfilled them, why would He command people to celebrate them forever, and why would Paul say to celebrate them? Read on, watch, or listen to find out!

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Table of contentsCelebrating Spiritually Versus PhysicallyKeep the Feast of Passover By Believing Jesus Is the Lamb of GodKeep the Feast of Unleavened Bread By Removing SinRemoving Sin Corporately and PersonallyMust Be Passover Followed By the Feast of Unleavened BreadKeep the Feast of Firstfruits By Believing in the ResurrectionKeep the Feast of Pentecost with a Circumcised HeartWhen the Jews Finally Experienced Spiritual Circumcision of the HeartNo Guarantee Spiritual Circumcision Will OccurWhy Such Different Responses to Similar Sermons?Celebrating in the True and Greaqter Way

As a pastor, I have often been asked, "Do we celebrate the seven Old Testament feasts today?" The simple, quick answer is no, because Jesus fulfilled them for us. Orthodox Jews who don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah keep celebrating the feasts because they don’t see Jesus as the fulfillment of them.

Let me briefly review the ways the feasts find their fulfillment in Christ. Jesus fulfilled the first four spring feasts in His first coming:

Passover began the first month of the Hebrew calendar and looked forward to Jesus’s crucifixion on Passover as our Passover Lamb.

The second feast, Unleavened Bread began the following day, and looked forward to Jesus’s burial when His sinless or unleavened body was in the grave.

The third feast, Firstfruits, occurred on Sunday in the middle of Unleavened Bread and looked forward to Jesus’s resurrection. This is why Jesus is called the firstfruits of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

The space of seven weeks, or 49 days, between the third and fourth feasts looked forward to the seven weeks between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension when He revealed Himself to over 500 witnesses.

The fourth feast, Pentecost, is also called the Feast of Weeks because it was seven weeks after Firstfruits. It looked forward to the church's birth when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit.

We look forward to Jesus fulfilling the three fall feasts in His Second Coming:

He will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets at the rapture when He meets the church in the air.

He will fulfill The Day of Atonement during the tribulation when He pours out his wrath on a world that rejected him, which is why in Revelation 6:16 people cry out to be hidden from “the wrath of the Lamb.”

He will fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths when He returns, establishes His millennial kingdom on earth, and dwells or Tabernacles among us.

But let me share something interesting with you. Consider these verses in Leviticus 23, the chapter describing the seven feasts:

Leviticus 23:14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS IN ALL YOUR DWELLINGS.

God told the Israelites to celebrate Firstfruits forever.

Leviticus 23:21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

God told the Israelites to celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost forever.

Leviticus 23:31 You shall not do any work. IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER throughout your generations in all your dwelli...