Introduction
As regards the scope of Lev. 23, it is very broad indeed. The Sabbath's being set forth at the very outset of the chapter, our thoughts are directed back to the time when God's dealings with man on the earth first began. After having prepared the earth for man's habitation and happiness, God placed man upon it and rested from His work; hence, Jehovah's Sabbath. The Sabbath therefore was given to man as a memorial of God's own rest in creation. His rest though was soon marred by the coming in of sin, whereupon He began working all over again. This time though, it was with a view to the bringing in of something far better than that which had just been spoiled. (See Gen. 1:31-2:3; 3:7-10, 17-19; and John 1:29; 5:17.)
After having set forth the Sabbath then, our chapter proceeds on through the seven feasts of Jehovah proper, beginning with the Passover feast and ending with the feast of tabernacles. The former takes our thoughts back to the beginning of Jehovah's dealings with Israel as a nation, and the latter takes them on to the end of those dealings...and even beyond.
As to this latter point, when God's dealings with Israel are over, His dealings with man on the earth will be over as well. At that point, the heavens and earth of Gen. 1:1 will pass away to make room for a new heaven and a new earth. This marks an altogether new beginning, called "the day of God" (2 Peter 3:12), typified by an eighth day added at the end of the seven days of the feast of tabernacles. (See Lev. 23:36, 39.) The feast of tabernacles then speaks of the final phase of God's dealings both with man on the earth and with Israel as a nation, and the eighth day of God's eternal day.
As regards the structure of the chapter though, it has five sections or divisions. Each one begins with the words "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying." (See Lev. 23:1, 9, 23, 26, and 33.) The first section consists of instructions regarding the Sabbath, the Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread; the second, the feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks; the third, the blowing of trumpets; the fourth, the feast of atonement; and the fifth, the feast of tabernacles.