Read Exodus 23

The 3 Annual "Pilgrimage" Feasts

On the following page is a chart showing five Old Testament passages in which the various "Pilgrimage" feasts are discussed. These were not the only feasts, nor the only "holy convocations", but these were the feasts when all the men were to go to the place which God would choose "to establish his name" (Dt. 16:2, cf. 16:15-16). Exodus 34:24 even explains how property would be secure when all the men left their customary abodes: "For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God."

1. In the chart on the accompanying page, provide whatever information is available from each passage regarding the name of the feast, the date of the feast, and the harvest events associated with the feast, or from which the date of the feast is determined.

2. Find N.T. passages where each of these feasts are mentioned. (The names may not be the same in the New Testament!)

Passover/Unleavened Bread: Mt. 26:5,17;27:15; Mk 14:1;14:2,12;15:6; Lk. 2:41ff;22:1; Jn. 2:23;4:45;6:4;11:55ff;12:1,12,20;13:1,21;Ac 12:3, 20:6

Pentecost: Ac 2:1; 20:16, 1 Cor 16:8

Tabernacles: Jn 7: 2, 8, 10f, 14, 37

3. Determine what day of the week it was when the Apostles received "Power" and first publicly proclaimed the gospel after Jesus' ascension.

Ex. 23:14-17 ("Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me"- 23:14")
Name	Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread	Feast of Harvest	Feast of Ingathering
Date	Abib		"end of the year"
Harvest Event		"first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field"	"gather in the fruit of your labors from the field"
Ex. 34:18-24 ("Three times all your males are to appear before the Lord" - 34:23)
Name	Feast of Unleavened Bread	Feast of Weeks	Feast of Ingathering
Date	Abib		"turn of the year"
Harvest Event		first fruits of Wheat Harvest (Ex. 34:22)
Lv. 23:1-44
Name	Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread	A New Grain Offering	Feast of Booths
Date	1st mo. 14th day/15th day-	50 days to the day after the 7th Sabbath	15th day-21st day (cf. Jn 7:37), 7th mo.
Harvest Event			when you have gathered in the crops of the land (23:39)
Nu. 29:12-38
Name			A Feast
Date			15th day, 7th month-22nd day, 7th month
Harvest Event
Dt. 16:1-17 ("Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD" 16:16)
Name	Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread	Feast of Weeks	Feast of Booths
Date	Abib
Harvest Event		count 7 weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain	7 days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat

Read Exodus 24

Three points we want to note in Exodus 24:

1. The blood of the Covenant

a. List everything that chapter 24 mentions as having been sprinkled with blood.

b. What did Moses say about the blood in Ex. 24:8?

c. What did Jesus say in Mt. 26:28?

d. Notice: Two different covenants dedicated with blood, but how different the blood! What New Testament passage compares and contrasts the dedication of these two covenants by blood?

e. In that New Testament passage, there is in verse 7, a reference to the priest doing what with blood?

f. Again, in that New Testament passage, what contrast is made in vers 11-14?

2. Seeing God

a. Who saw God according to Ex. 24:9-11?

b. Why does the text make note of fact that God did not stretch out his hand against those who "saw God"? See Ex. 33:17-23

c. What did Abraham see according to Gen. 18:1? Note the further description in the same context of exactly what Abraham saw.

d. Explain what Isaiah and Ezekiel saw. Is. 6:5, Ezek. 1:26

e. Read John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12. Do you see how all these passages are consistent? Explain.

3. 40 days

a. Ex. 24:18 tells us that Moses was in the mountain 40 days. This is, of course, a familiar number in the Bible. Note that in addition to the number of days, there are similarities between this event and two others. Read Dt. 9:9 for further information about Moses' 40 days, and then read 1 Kings 19:8, noting the context, and Mt. 4:1ff, and then list the similarities between the three incidents.

b. What event brings together the three men involved in those incidents?

Read Exodus 25-30

1. What passage in Exodus 25 tells us that the structure and furnishings of the tabernacle were from God, and that their placement had significance? 25:8-9

2. What things are mentioned in Hebrews 9:2-8?

3. What is said about these things in Hebrews 9:9?

4. Are the particular significances of the various furnishings given in Hebrews 9? (See 9:5)

The Bronze Altar (Read Exodus 27; 29:10-25, 31-42; 40:6; Leviticus 1:1-17 )

5. Read Ephesians 5:2 and notice an expression that is found five times with reference to the offerings made on the altar. Identify the expression and the five Old Testament passages. "soothing aroma" or "sweet savor" Ex. 29:18, 25, 41; Lev. 1:9, 17

6. In Ephesians 5:2, who corresponds to the offerings of the altar?

7. Where was the altar positioned in relation to the tabernacle?

The Laver (Read Exodus 30:17-21; 40:6-7, 30; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5)

8. Exactly where was the laver, or basin (NIV) positioned relative to the altar and to the tabernacle? Exodus 30:18; 40:7

9. For what purpose was this laver, or basin?

10. What Greek word is translated "washing" in Eph. 5:26 and Tit. 3:5?

11. The Greek word used in the Septuagint (LXX) for the laver is louth/r, or in English letters, loutr. What is the "Septuagint"?

12. The priests were to wash before entering the tabernacle, or serving at the altar. However, the layout of these things was such that upon entering the court, one would first encounter the altar, and then the laver, and then the tabernacle. Do you see any significance to this order, given your understanding of what these things typified? Or, to turn the question around, does the order of these things help you to see what the laver typified?

The Table of Shewbread, and the Candlestick (Read Ex. 25:23-40)

13. What might these represent?

The Altar of Incense (Read Ex. 30:1-10)

14. How often was incense to be burned on the altar of incense? 30:7-8

15. To what degree should prayer characterize the lives of God's people? (See Eph. 6:18, 1 Thess 5:17, and cf. Dan. 6:10.)

16. According to Rev. 5:8, what is represented by incense? (Cf. Rev. 8:3-4, Heb. 13:15)

13. In Hebrews 9:6-7, the "first tabernacle", and the "second" refer to the two rooms within the tabernacle. According to Hebrews 9:7, what was signified by the limitation that the high priest go into the Most Holy Place (a.k.a. "Holy of Holies", and occasionally, "Holy Place" only once a year, alone?

14. Who has now entered into the "Holy Place" and what is represented by the "Holy Place"? (Hebrews 9:11-12; 24-26)

15. When Hebrews 9 refers to Christ having entered the "holy place," which room of the tabernacle is meant? (See Heb. 9:24-26)

16. What, then, did the second room, wherein was the ark of the covenants, represent?

17. In connection with the previous question, consider Heb. 6:18-20. Explain the mixed metaphor of hope as an anchor both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil.

18. Has the way into the second room now been made manifest, and if so, what is that way?

19. What did the first room represent?

20. What was represented by the veil? (Heb. 10:20, note also Mt. 27:51)