From Shadows to Substance: Finding Christ in Leviticus

Leviticus 23 gives Israel more than a calendar. God gives rhythms that call his people to remember, rest, return, and rejoice, but those rhythms also point forward. Paul says the festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths are “a shadow of the things to come,” while “the substance belongs to Christ.” Shadows are real, meaningful, and beautiful, but nobody should confuse a shadow for the real thing.

Passover remembers a lamb dying so Israel could go free from Egypt, and Christ becomes the true Passover Lamb who takes away sin. Jesus does not merely rescue guilty people from judgment. Jesus frees people from the sin that used to own them. The Feast of Unleavened Bread therefore points to a redeemed people leaving the old leaven behind, because salvation brings people into a new life rather than leaving them as the old people they were.

Firstfruits declares that the first part of the harvest guarantees more is coming. Christ’s resurrection is not an isolated miracle. Christ is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” announcing that resurrection season has arrived and that empty tombs are coming for his people too. Pentecost then moves from a grain harvest to a harvest of souls, as the Spirit comes, the gospel is proclaimed, and thousands respond in faith.

The trumpets summon, gather, and announce that something is about to happen. The trumpet of God will announce the return of the King, the resurrection of the dead, and the gathering of God’s people. The Day of Atonement, with its repeated sacrifices and yearly return, points to Christ’s once-for-all offering of his own blood. Jesus does not offer temporary atonement. Jesus says, “It is finished.”

The Feast of Booths remembers God dwelling with Israel in the wilderness. John declares that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among humanity, while Revelation promises that God will dwell with his people forever. Every shadow in Leviticus 23 leads to the same substance: Jesus Christ.

Christ also exposes the danger of settling for shadows. Money, success, marriage, family, career, pleasure, and even church activity are good gifts, but none can become the substance. Religious knowledge, Christian culture, baptism, and communion can become mere outward forms unless they draw people to Christ himself. God does not offer a system of religion at the edges. God offers himself, and lasting joy is found only in knowing him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ is the substance, not shadows. Paul does not dismiss God’s Old Testament gifts as meaningless. Those gifts carried real weight because they gave shape to the coming Christ. Yet religious rhythms become empty when they are treated as the destination instead of a signpost to Jesus. [30:12]
• 2. Freedom means leaving old leaven behind. Christ’s sacrifice does more than cancel judgment. Christ breaks sin’s claim over those he saves, giving them real freedom to stop living as the people they once were. Grace does not excuse bondage; grace brings people out of it. [35:27]
• 3. Resurrection season has already begun. Christ rose as firstfruits, not as a one-time exception with no connection to his people. His empty tomb guarantees that death will not have the final word over those in him. Christian hope rests not merely in survival after death, but in bodily resurrection. [38:52]
• 4. Christ’s atonement is truly finished. The yearly Day of Atonement showed that animal sacrifices could not finally finish the job. Jesus enters with his own blood, bears guilt himself, and secures eternal atonement by a single offering. Ongoing sanctification grows from a completed sacrifice, not from anxious attempts to earn acceptance. [45:44]
• 5. Good gifts cannot become ultimate things. Money, family, achievement, pleasure, and even church involvement can become shadows when they are asked to provide identity and satisfaction. Christ alone can carry the weight of being Savior, substance, and deepest joy. A life full of Christian activity can still miss the One those activities are meant to reveal. [53:19]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [23:28] - A Change of Plans
• [23:54] - The Shadow Puppet Illustration
• [26:57] - Leviticus 23 and the Shadows
• [29:33] - The Substance Belongs to Christ
• [31:47] - Passover and the Better Lamb
• [33:54] - Unleavened Bread and New Life
• [36:46] - Firstfruits and Resurrection Hope
• [39:41] - Pentecost and the Gospel Harvest
• [42:27] - Trumpets and the Coming King
• [44:11] - Atonement Finished in Jesus
• [46:18] - Booths and God Dwelling With His People
• [50:57] - The Danger of Settling for Shadows
• [55:15] - Responding to the Substance
• [58:27] - Baptism, Communion, and Christ

Bible Reading

Colossians 2:16-17
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” [30:12]

Leviticus 23
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places. These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work." And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. 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. You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 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. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God." And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD." And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath." And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.” [26:57]

1 Corinthians 15:20
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” [38:52]

Observation questions

1. In Colossians 2:16–17, what kinds of religious practices does Paul describe as shadows, and to whom does he say the substance belongs? [30:12]
2. In Leviticus 23, what events from Israel’s history and life are remembered through Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and the Feast of Booths? [32:17]
3. What does the offering of firstfruits communicate about the rest of the harvest that is still to come, and how does 1 Corinthians 15:20 use that same idea for Christ’s resurrection? [38:27]
4. What repeated feature of the Day of Atonement shows that its sacrifices were not the final answer for sin? [44:55]

Interpretation questions

1. If the festivals and Sabbaths were real gifts from God but also shadows, what does that reveal about the purpose of the Old Testament law and worship practices? [30:14]
2. Why is it important that Christ is called the “firstfruits” rather than simply the only person to rise from the dead? How does that shape Christian hope when facing death? [38:33]
3. How does Christ’s once-for-all atonement give believers both assurance of acceptance with God and a reason to pursue ongoing growth in holiness? [45:01]
4. Why can good things such as family, success, pleasure, and church involvement become harmful when they are treated as the substance rather than as gifts from God? [52:23]

Application questions

1. Is there an area of old “leaven”—a pattern of sin, a relationship, a habit, or a way of thinking—that still feels like it owns you? What would it look like to trust that Christ has freed you to leave it behind? [35:46]
2. When fear, grief, or anxiety about death rises up, how could Christ’s resurrection as the firstfruits reshape the way you respond this week? [39:21]
3. Do you tend to relate to God as though you must continually prove yourself, earn his favor, or make up for failure? What would it look like to rest more fully in the finished atonement of Christ? [45:44]
4. Which good gift is most likely to become too important in your life right now—money, achievement, marriage, family, career, comfort, or something else? What signs would show that it is becoming a substitute for Christ? [52:48]
5. What Christian activity could become routine or merely outward for you—church attendance, Bible reading, serving, baptism, or communion? How can that practice become a genuine way of drawing near to Christ rather than settling for a shadow? [58:46]
6. God’s goal is not simply religious activity but dwelling with his people. What could help you pursue a more personal, honest relationship with God in the ordinary rhythms of your week? [49:14]