by J. Riddle (Cheshunt)
Read Chapter 16 : 1-17
Deuteronomy ch.16 may be divided as follows:
Having said this, the latter part of the chapter, v18-22, can be regarded as part of a larger section extending to the end of ch.18 in which Moses deals with the responsibility of ‘officials’ to maintain purity of worship, to promote the law, and to administer justice impartially.
The gatherings of God's people are most important, and this section of the chapter deals with three of the seven “feasts of the Lord” described in Lev.23, where they are called ‘my set feasts,’ v2 (JND). The word “feast”, Lev.23.2,4,37,44, means ‘an appointed meeting’ or ‘set time,’ and these occasions are also described as “holy convocations,” v2 etc. A “convocation” is simply ‘a calling together.’ The word “feast” also occurs in Lev.23.6,34,39,41, and in each case it means ‘festival.’ The same word is used of the “feasts” mentioned in Deut.16. This raises two questions:
a) Why are these three particular “feasts” singled out in this chapter? The answer evidently lies with the fact that they represented the entire seven.
(i) The feasts of Passover and unleavened bread are never divided in Scripture. See, for example, Num.28.16-17.
(ii) The feast of weeks took place fifty days after the feast of firstfruits, Lev.23.15-16, and the precise dating emphasises their close connection. This is confirmed here: “Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God,” v9-10. See also Num.28.26.
(iii) the feast of tabernacles was the third of three closely connected feasts in the “seventh month.” The sequence is significant: trumpets (regathering); atonement (repentance); tabernacles (rejoicing). In Ex.23.14-17, the same three “feasts” are called “the feast of unleavened bread,” “the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours,” and “the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year.”
b) What did these three “feasts” actually mean to the children of Israel? Whilst we rightly study the “feasts of the Lord” in terms of God's calendar (they cover the entire history of God's people from the exodus to the millennium, and beyond), it is important to give some thought to their significance for the people at that time. The emphasis in this chapter is not so much on the typical and prophetical aspects of the “feasts of the Lord,” but on the fact that God's people were never to forget that they owed everything to Him. For this reason they were required to attend “the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there” on each occasion, v2,6,11,15. They were to keep each of these three “feasts” in His presence. Bearing this aspect of the “feasts of the Lord” in mind, these three “feasts” commemorated:
The feast of tabernacles looked back to His faithfulness during the wilderness journey as well as in providing abundant harvests in the land. They gave God's people the opportunity to acknowledge Him as their Deliverer: “that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life, v3, and Provider: “thou shalt give … as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, v10; “seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto thy God … because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase,” v15. It would not be inappropriate to write over this passage “in everything give thanks,” 1Thess.5.18. These three “feasts” were times of gratitude to God. The word “rejoice” occurs in v11,14.
The feast of Passover reminded God's people of their deliverance from Egypt, and we can look at these verses in the following way:
i) Why it was to be kept, v1. “Observe the month of Abib (meaning ‘the month of the green ears’), and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.” See also v3. Like Israel, we must never forget our redemption. “O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good … Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy,” Ps.107.1-2. We have been “redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” 1Pet.1.18-19.
ii) How it was to be kept, v2-4. Three things are mentioned in this connection
but a fleeting reference to the first and third will have to suffice. The
Passover was to be kept with a sacrifice “of the flock and the herd,” v2. This
refers, not to the Passover lamb itself, but to the offerings required in
connection with the associated feast of unleavened bread. See Num.28.16-19.
Nothing remaining from the Passover meal was to “be left overnight until the
morning,” v4 (JND). See also Ex.12.10. This was to preserve the close connection
between the blood of the lamb and the nourishment provided by the lamb. We must
never forget that the Saviour who provides our spiritual nourishment is the very
Saviour who died for us at Calvary.
For the purpose of this study, however, we must emphasise the connection between
the feasts of Passover and unleavened bread. This is stressed throughout the
section: see v 3,4,8. The same connection is emphasised in the New Testament:
read Matt.26.17; Mk.14.1; Lk.22.1. The lesson from this is clearly stated in
1Cor.5.7-8, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us
keep the feast (this does not refer to the Lord's supper), not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth.” Leaven in the Bible is always a picture of sin
(including Matt.13.33) and the close connection between the two “feasts” clearly
teaches that redeemed people are to be holy people. The Lord Jesus warned His
disciples against “the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,”
Mk.8.15, together with the “leaven of the Sadducees,” Matt.16.6, and these three
varieties of leaven should be carefully studied. Unleaven bread is called “the
bread of affliction,” v3, not just because it is comparatively unpalatable, but
because it reminded Israel that their deliverance from Egypt involved the
surrender of their normal food, Ex.12.34, reminding us that redeemed people
should have no time for “leaven” in their lives. Israel left Egypt “in haste”
and believers should deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and “live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world,” Tit.2.12.
iii) Where it was to be kept, v5-7. The Passover was not to be kept “within any of thy gates,” v5, but “at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover … thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,” v6-7. But the associated feast of unleavened bread was to be eaten at home: “thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents,” v7. It has been suggested that this could refer either to their ordinary homes or to their temporary homes near Jerusalem. Either way, there was to be consistency between conduct “at the place of the name” and in the “tents”, reminding us that we should not be people of double standards. Our conduct in the day to day round of life should not be at variance with our conduct in assembly gatherings. Since the number seven in Scriptures indicates completeness, the “seven days,” v3,9, reminds us that the injunction, “Be ye holy,” 1Pet.1.16, is a life-embracing command. Notice further “sevens” in v13,15.
“And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God,” v10. As we have already noticed, this “feast” was to be kept seven weeks from the time “that thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn,” v9, i.e. seven weeks from the feast of firstfruits. It is called “the day of Pentecost” (meaning ‘the fiftieth’) in Acts 2.1.
Leaving aside its prophetic significance (which must not be forgotten), the purpose of this “feast” was to give God's people the opportunity to express their acknowledgment of His goodness, which they were to do by offering “a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee,” v10. According to Gesenius the word “tribute” refers to the rate applicable to the offering which is “according as the Lord thy God blessed thee.” This is strikingly similar to the rate at which believers are to exercise their stewardship: “let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him,” 1Cor.16.2. The “freewill offering” here is evidently not the same as the offering described in Lev. 23.17-20. We should notice the following:
i) That thanksgiving to the Lord should be a joyful experience, not an onerous duty: ''And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God ... in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place His name there,'' v11. See also v14-15.
ii) That thanksgiving to the Lord should be accompanied by provision for other people. Our appreciation of His generosity and goodness to us should overflow in generosity to others: “And thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you,” v11. (This is not mentioned in Lev.23 or in Num.28). The ‘place of the name’ should be a generous place! The assembly should be a place of kindness, care and fellowship. See also v14. Now read Jms.2.4-16 and 1Jn.3.16-18.
iii) That thanksgiving to the Lord should never be disassociated from redemption: “And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,” v12. Their prosperity must not make them forgetful that the Lord had delivered them from slavery. The Egyptians were anything but generous to God's people!
The “feast of tabernacles” stressed the ongoing goodness of God. He had both provided for them in the wilderness and in the land. This “feast” looked back to deliverance from Egypt, hence the “tabernacles” or “booths”, and celebrated God's ongoing provision for them.
i) It reminded them that they were dependent upon Him in the wilderness. It has been rightly said that “other accounts of the feast in the Old Testament link it specially with the years when the Israelites were refugees, homeless pilgrims, travelling through the wilderness” (Raymond Brown, The Message of Deuteronomy). See Lev.23.42 in this connection: this may refer, in the first place to Ex.12.37: “And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth (meaning ‘booths’).” So “the feast of tabernacles” commemorated deliverance and dependence. It reminded them of their God-given protection, and proclaimed their dependence on Him. They went from houses to booths! Booths are temporary and fragile structures. The Lord was their only defence.
ii) It reminded them that they were dependent upon Him in the land. The “feast of tabernacles” celebrated ‘harvest home’: it was to take place “after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine,” v13. Such rejoicing was assured “because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase,” v15, although we know that disobedience would rob them of divine blessing: see Deut.28.15-68. Like “the feast of weeks,” the seven-day “feast of tabernacles” was to be a time of rejoicing and provision for others, v14-15. The word “solemn”, v15, is omitted by JND as the word “feast” here means ‘festival’. If God's gifts are bountifully received they ought to be generously shared.
On each of the above occasions, the men in Israel were commanded to “appear before the Lord … in the place which He shall choose.” See also Ex.23.15-17 and 34.22-24. According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, “No command was laid on the women to undertake the journeys, partly from regard to the natural weakness of their sex, and partly to their domestic cares.” Although this explanation would not be popular with the Equal Opportunities Commission, it should be quite acceptable to the Bible student. Whilst there is no room in the Bible for the ‘feminist movement,’ it is equally clear that the Scriptures do not rank men higher than women in importance. Their respective roles most certainly differ, but that does not mean that sisters have an inferior position in God's service and in the assembly. In this case, the men in Israel were fulfilling their God-given role as head of the house in appearing “before the Lord.” It should be said that men in the assembly should function in their proper sphere. Sisters should be able to find joy and pleasure in the way that the brothers exercise godly leadership in the praise, prayer, worship and service of the assembly.
We must notice that the men were not to “appear before the Lord empty.” This did not mean that every man was to offer a sacrifice of identical size and value, but that “every male shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.” We have already noted the significance of this in terms of our material stewardship (see our comments on v10), but the principle is equally applicable to our spiritual stewardship. It is not a case of striving to emulate another brother in the length and content of his prayer and praise, but contributing “as he is able.” That ability will enlarge as we enjoy “the blessing of the Lord” in reading and studying His Word. The silent but equally precious contributions of the sisters should be made in exactly the same way — ‘as she is able.’ It would transform our assembly gatherings if we all participated in ‘the place of the name’ in this way.
—to be continued (DV)