"Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD. "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. "The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Exodus 23:14-19
Three national feasts are now enjoined upon Israel, the feast of unleavened bread, or the Passover, the feast of harvest or first-fruits, sometimes called the feast of weeks, and Pentecost (from its taking place seven weeks after the Passover, giving rise to the word 'Pentecost' which means fifty), and the feast of ingathering, or Tabernacles. It is significant to note the position of these feasts (or festivals) as included in, and following, the Law. This has something important to teach us, namely that, being religious observances, and involving the offering of sacrifices, God requires of His people more than obedience to His laws, and that man's duties are not fulfilled simply by keeping them. God desires worship, adoration, fellowship from man, and the willing giving of himself in devotion and surrender to God. It is not difficult to discern the spiritual illustration these feasts give of Christian life and experience. The Passover foreshadows the Passion and victory of our Lord, the Feast of Weeks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (it is wonderfully suggestive in this connection to see that the Passover is reckoned as the beginning of harvest), and the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles) the final consummation of the Kingdom. Thus, past, present and future in Christian experience are all covered by the three feasts. On the one hand, we are to have as the basis and foundation of our spiritual lives the solitary dignity of the shed blood, and thus our past is dealt with. Then, we are to have, as a constant working principle, the reality of Pentecost; our present must be empowered by the gift and presence of the Spirit. And finally, we are to have, as the goal of all our striving, the coming glory of the Kingdom; our future must glow with the reality of the blessed hope. (For further reference to the feasts, see Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16:1-17).