The Law

While the Jews were in the wilderness, God spoke to Moses and gave him much to tell the people. As well as the 10 commandments, there were many other laws the Jews had to keep, such as eating the right food, having healthy relationships and so on. There was also a lot of instruction for religious observances, with details on what to do, when to do it and what it signified. All these laws and observances can be found in Leviticus, and much of it is repeated again in Deuteronomy. Here we will look at the sacrifices and the feasts that he people were to observe.

Sacrifices (Leviticus 1-7)

There were five types of sacrifices, or offerings, the people could make to God. Three of these were voluntary and two were required of them. These were:

• Burnt offering - this was a voluntary offering of an animal made when someone wanted to say sorry for a sin they had committed.
• Meat offering - (or meal offering) was a voluntary offering of an amount of grain. This was brought to the priests and offered to God to show honour and respect towards Him.
• Peace offering - was a voluntary offering of an animal which was made when someone wanted to show gratitude to God.
• Sin offering - this was a required offering for the people, and covered unintentional sins which were minor. They could bring an animal, or some flour if they were poor, to give to the Lord to say sorry for the sin.
• Trespass offering - was for more serious sins. For these the person had to bring a ram to be sacrificed, and also pay reparation for the sin to the victim.

Feasts (Leviticus 16)

The Jews were given times when they were to stop working and dedicate the day to God. One of these occasions was the Sabbath, our Saturday. This day each week was to be set aside for time with God, and no work was to be done. There were another 7 feasts throughout the year when this was the case as well:

• The Passover - 14th day of 1st month - this special feast was to remember the time when the plagues were upon the land of Egypt. The Jews were spared the last plague, death of the firstborn, by putting blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintel. At the Passover celebrations, parents were to teach their children about what God had done for them.
• Unleavened Bread - the 7 days after the passover were also a feast, remembering the time when God helped them escape from Egypt. At the time they didn't have time to make normal bread so had to make unleavened bread for their journey.
• Firstfruits - when the harvest came in each year, the people were to take the first of the crop to the priests, to be offered to God as a thanksgiving. The day after the Sabbath after the first harvest was the feast of the Firstfruits.
• Feast of Weeks - another thanksgiving celebration was to be held 50 days after the Firstfruits sabbath, to thank God for the bountiful harvest.
• Trumpets - On the first day of the 7th month, the people were to hold the Feast of Trumpets. Trumpets were to be blown, and the people celebrate with joy and thanksgiving.
• Day of Atonement - this was a special day, on the 10th day of the 7th month. On this day there was a special format to be observed, culminating in the high priest entering the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle to pour the blood of the sacrifice onto the mercy seat, symbolising the forgiveness of sin for the nation of Israel.
• Tabernacles - from the 15th day of the 7th month, for 7 days, the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering how the Lord guided them through the wilderness when they dwelt in tents.

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