The Festivals

The Festivals

Q: What festival called for a day of complete rest?

• a. Festival of Firstfruits
• b. Festival of Harvest
• c. Festival of Trumpets

Do you look forward to days off school for holidays? Even if you’re homeschooled, you probably have time off at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or during the spring. The Israelites had special times of celebration too. They were called feasts or festivals. There were many festivals—Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Harvest, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Shelters. Each one had a different purpose, different foods, and different ways of being celebrated, and they lasted either one or seven days.

The Festival of Trumpets took place on the first day of the seventh month. For the Israelites, that was September or October. The sound of the trumpet was associated with this day, which was to be a day of complete rest. Some of the festivals were times of celebration as the Israelites remembered certain past events, but the Festival of Trumpets was a time of repentance and forgiveness.

Can you think of another time the trumpet is mentioned in the Bible? In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 it is written that “the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.”

Just as the trumpet marked the Festival of Trumpets, a trumpet blast will sound at the return of Christ. Are you ready?

For You

Do you have times of celebration at your house? Christmas and Easter are celebrations of Jesus’ birth and resurrection. How do you make those days special?

Answer: c

The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the LORD.”   Leviticus 23:23-25

(The Whole Story: Leviticus 23)