Where do God’s Festivals first appear in the Bible? Surprisingly, they are on the very first page of Genesis, at the center of the seven days of creation, in Genesis 1:14. Day four becomes the epicenter of God’s light from day one, and what God places at the midpoint signifies the heart, the centerpiece, and points to the conclusion, the Sabbath.

Day One ———-> Day Four ———-> Day Seven

Day one, day four, and day seven mark time: day and night; appointed feasts, times, and years as signs; and the seven-day week. The sequence of 1-4-7 itself becomes an important sign that is revealed later.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” Gen. 1:14-15 NIV [i mine]

Italicized words above:
Lights: ma-owr (s), מְאֹר, meh-o-raw (root of menorah), me-o-rot (p) מְאֹרֹת; Strong’s Hebrew 3974
Contextual meaning: a bright, luminous body necessary for order (by rightly dividing)1

Signs: owth (s), אוֹת, o-tot (p), אֹתֹת; Strong’s Hebrew 226, TWOT 41a
Contextual meaning: a signal of an agreement, evident by moving together toward a mark, entering an area of destination; the proof of an unusual event, such as the exodus signs and wonders².  The Greek equivalent is semeion (Strongs’ Greek 4592), a token by which a person is known, a sign pointing to an event soon to happen, evidence of a miracle and wonder used to authenticate.          

Seasons: mow-ed, מוֹעָדָ, mo-aw-daw (s), mow-a-dim (p) מוֹעֲדִים; Strong’s Hebrew 4150
Contextual meaning: an appointed time, place, meeting; sacred feast, to see the door of the tent/tabernacle at the set repeated times³.

Days: yamim, יָמִ֖ים, (p), yom, יוֹם (s); Strong’s Hebrew 3117
Contextual meaning: a point in time or a division of time, a period of light (in contrast to a period of darkness), times⁴

Years: shanim, שָׁנִֽים, (p), shanaw, שָׁנָה (s), Strong’s Hebrew 8141
Contextual meaning: a measure of time or a revolution of time, age⁵

Divide: badal, בָּדַל, Strong’s Hebrew 914
Contextual meaning: to divide or separate something (as metal smelting), set apart, make a distinction⁶

The author of Genesis 1 presents a key concept of wisdom: division.  The text links YHWH’s act of dividing day and night on the first day to His fourth day, appointing the sun and moon to divide day from night and light from darkness (vv. 14, 18). The fourth day is unique among days 4, 5, and 6–days that fill the spaces created on days 1, 2, and 3–because it continues the act of dividing initiated earlier.  The authority given to the heavenly bodies is directly connected to division and their role in separating light from dark (symbols of life and death), marking out the appointed feast times, which serve as signs (semeion) of the Creator’s work in guiding His creation toward its ultimate goal–eternal life in the Sabbath.  Genesis 1:16, which describes God creating the sun, moon, and stars, is central to day four, positioned between God’s desire in verses 14-15 and His placement of these lights in the sky in verses 17-18.  The importance of God’s creation of the heavenly lights is emphasized by the repeated reason for their existence⁷.  Their role in dividing is essential to serve the larger purpose of the seven days.

Genesis 1 emphasizes that Israel’s God created light and appointed meeting times, set in order by the sun, moon, and stars, to bring His creation to a harmonious completion–a state of lasting well-being and peace (shalom). His arrangement of these shining lights demonstrates His power as Creator, making Him the only One worthy of worship and forbidding the worship of lesser gods such as the sun, moon, and stars.  The placement of the lights to govern day and night also signifies the ordering of time as a sign of YHWH’s superiority over other gods.  The evidence that Israel’s YHWH surpasses all that He created lies in His ability to order and establish His creation through repeated, fixed cycles of appointed sacred festivals.                                                            

Takeaway:
The fixed times of the Festivals of Light are God’s center focus of the creation week.  In wisdom, He ordered and established them to shape what He was doing.  The heavenly lights distinguish death from life by serving to mark time as signs, semeion, of the appointed times of His Feasts, which authenticate that YHWH is God, directing His creation towards the Sabbath reality.  The apostle John reaches back to Genesis 1, using the same word, semeion, to describe the eight signs in his Gospel account, authenticating that Yeshua is God.