Deuteronomy 16:1-8 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to the LORD your God… The darker side of the Jewish religion was more than relieved by its outlets for joy. It identified in a marvelous manner the holy day and the holiday (see the, two words translated "feast" in Leviticus 23, meaning, the one "holy convocation," the other "festival"), showing that the people with deepest religious feelings are, after all, the happiest people. The three great yearly feasts were — 1. The Passover, in the middle of Abib (nearly our April); 2. Seven weeks after, Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks; and 3. The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Ingathering, in the end of autumn (October). Notice of all three — I. THEIR ORIGIN. They have their root in the weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath itself is the first of the feasts (Leviticus 23:2, 3), in which respect it also is a joyful day (Psalm 18:24; Isaiah 56:7; Isaiah 58:14). And the great feasts are framed upon its model. They are ruled by the sabbatical number, seven. They begin and generally end on the seventh day. Two of them last for seven days each, and there are seven days of "holy convocation" in the year. Pentecost takes place seven weeks — a sabbath of weeks — after the Passover. The seventh month is specially distinguished (vers. 23-36). Moreover, every seventh year is of the nature of a Sabbath, and seven times seven years bring the Jubilee. Smaller festivals formed connecting links between the Sabbath and the yearly feasts. There was the Feast of Months, distinguishing the first Sabbath of each month with special sacrifices (Numbers 28:11), and with blowing of trumpets (Numbers 10:10), which trumpets were used again on the first day of the seventh month — the "Feast of Trumpets" (Leviticus 23:24, 25). Our Sabbaths, like those of the Jews, form the backbone and safeguard of our own national festivities. II. THEIR PURPOSE. They accomplished on a larger scale what was already aimed at by the weekly Sabbath. 1. They called away from the round of yearly duty to the public recognition of God. In spring and summer and autumn they presented anew to the people's conscious. ness, through the most impressive vehicle of national festivals, their covenant relation to Jehovah. 2. They had a most important educational function. They were a compendium in dramatic form of early Israelitish history, "What mean ye by this service?" (Exodus 12:26.) Moreover, they gave opportunity for special religious instruction. (Josiah's Passover, 2 Chronicles 34:29ff.; and Ezra's Feast of Tabernacles, Nehemiah 8.) 3. They subserved important ends not directly religious. They promoted the national unity of the Israelites, stimulating their patriotism. (See the action of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12:26.) III. THEIR REGULATIONS. 1. The males from all parts of the country must assemble to the three feasts (Deuteronomy 16:16); for which purpose all ordinary labour ceases. 2. The worshippers are to bring contributions (Deuteronomy 16:16, 17), both for the necessary sacrifices of themselves and others, and for hospitality (Nehemiah 8:10). 3. The people are to rejoice in their feasts. So Leviticus 23:40 commands for the Feast of Tabernacles, and Deuteronomy 16:11, 15 for the Feasts of Pentecost and Tabernacles. Ezra tells of the joy at the Feast of the Passover (Ezra 6:22); and Nehemiah of the "very great gladness" at the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:17). But where is happiness to be found if not in the recognition of God's relation to us? Special protection was promised during the celebration of the feasts. There are frequent promises that the fruits of the earth will not suffer, as Deuteronomy 16:15. And it was specially promised that the absence of its defenders would not expose the country to invasion (Exodus 34:24). In short, Israel's compliance with God's will here as everywhere was to be to the advantage even of his worldly prosperity. A truth for all times and all peoples (Psalm 1:3; Psalm 92:13-15). (W. Roberts, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Observe the month of Abib, 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. |
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