The Three Feasts of God’s Chosen People
October 21, 2019
Commentary
Every Israelite male was obligated to attend three feasts at God’s chosen place every year (v. 16). Apparently, some Jews of this period did not take this command any more serious than some Christians of our day do in attending the services of the church (Hebrews 10:25). If possible, their families were also to go with them (v.v. 11,14). These three festivals were:
1. Feast of the Passover. (v.v. 1-8) – Celebrated in March or April.
2. Feast of Pentecost. (v.v. 9-12) – Celebrated in May or June.
3. Feast of Tabernacles. (v.v. 13-22) – Celebrated in September or October.
The “Feast of the Passover” was to celebrate the night the Lord “passed over” the blood sprinkled door posts, sparing the life of the first-born Israelite child while the Egyptians lost their children.
The Feast of Pentecost was held 50 days after the Passover (Lev. 23:15-16). It was to be a time of rejoicing and sharing because the Lord had been generous to the Israelites.
The Feast of Tabernacles was called by this name because after the fall harvest the Israelites were to live for one week in tabernacles as “booths” made of tree branches. This was done to remind them of the journey through the desert after the nation had come out of Egypt.
Application
At each of these festivals, each participant was encouraged to give what he could in proportion to what God had given him. God expects me to give what I can. (I Corinthians 16:2).
Deuteronomy 16:1– 22 (NET)
1 Observe the month Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month he brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to locate his name. 3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your lives the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but you must sacrifice it in the evening in the place where he chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 7 You must cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day.
9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 10 Then you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering that you will bring, in proportion to how he has blessed you. 11 You shall rejoice before him —you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you—in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.
13 You must celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. 14 You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. 15 You are to celebrate the festival seven days before the Lord your God in the place he chooses, for he will bless you in all your productivity and in whatever you do; so you will indeed rejoice! 16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed. 17 Every one of you must give as you are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
18 You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous. 20 You must pursue justice alone so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.
21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, a thing the Lord your God detests.
Illustration: The Sumptuous Feast After Bankruptcy
Author Leo Buscaglia tells this story about his mother and their “misery dinner.” It was the night after his father came home and said it looked as if he would have to go into bankruptcy because his partner had ran away with their firm’s funds. His mother went out and sold some jewelry to buy food for a sumptuous feast. Other members of the family scolded her for it. But she told them that “the time for joy is now, when we need it most, not next week.” Her courageous act rallied the family. (Christopher News Notes, August, 1993).