seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 23:14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Well, it's the easy English commentary this morning.
All the men who are adults, must go to God’s holy place three times each year.
The three parties called Feasts were part of the agricultural year. The Israelites gave honour to God for his gifts of food. Also, they remembered all the things that he had done for them in the past. So they gave honour to God. The Feast of flat bread without yeast followed the night called the Passover. It reminded the Israelites how God had rescued them from Egypt. This feast happened when the harvest of the first grain began in April.
7 weeks later was the Feast of early harvest. Another name for that was the Feast of weeks. (7 weeks = 49 days. We know that feast by the name Pentecost, which is the word in the Latin language for day 50.) This came during the harvest of the wheat. At that time they must remember how God gave the Law to them at Mount Sinai.
The third feast was in the autumn. That was when they gathered the harvest of the fruit (especially the fruit called grapes and olives). They called it the Feast of tents or the Feast of tabernacles. The Israelites lived in tents or small shelters during that feast. That reminded them about how God had looked after them in the desert (Leviticus 23:39-43). Even today, the Jews have parties during these feasts. They build temporary shelters. And live in them during the Feast of tents in October.
Usually, people use yeast when they make bread. It makes the bread rise. So bread without yeast is flat or thin bread. Perhaps the rule reminded the Israelites about the Passover. It was not suitable to give bread with yeast in it to God. Maybe they did not burn all the animal’s fat when they gave it to God. But they must throw it away, because it would become bad fat by the next day.
Only the best grain and fruit from the year’s first crops was good enough to give to God.
It was probably a local Canaanite custom to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. The Canaanites used acts of magic like that. They wanted to encourage things to increase. They wanted good harvests and they wanted plenty of new animals. But the Israelites must trust God. They must not trust magic.
7 weeks later was the Feast of early harvest. Another name for that was the Feast of weeks. (7 weeks = 49 days. We know that feast by the name Pentecost, which is the word in the Latin language for day 50.) This came during the harvest of the wheat. At that time they must remember how God gave the Law to them at Mount Sinai.
The third feast was in the autumn. That was when they gathered the harvest of the fruit (especially the fruit called grapes and olives). They called it the Feast of tents or the Feast of tabernacles. The Israelites lived in tents or small shelters during that feast. That reminded them about how God had looked after them in the desert (Leviticus 23:39-43). Even today, the Jews have parties during these feasts. They build temporary shelters. And live in them during the Feast of tents in October.
Usually, people use yeast when they make bread. It makes the bread rise. So bread without yeast is flat or thin bread. Perhaps the rule reminded the Israelites about the Passover. It was not suitable to give bread with yeast in it to God. Maybe they did not burn all the animal’s fat when they gave it to God. But they must throw it away, because it would become bad fat by the next day.
Only the best grain and fruit from the year’s first crops was good enough to give to God.
It was probably a local Canaanite custom to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. The Canaanites used acts of magic like that. They wanted to encourage things to increase. They wanted good harvests and they wanted plenty of new animals. But the Israelites must trust God. They must not trust magic.
So GodVine has the concise list.
1. The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt.
2. The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost.
3. The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites' dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness.
2. The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost.
3. The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites' dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness.
These feasts will be important in the future. Remember, Moses is up on the Mountain with God. God is giving him rules and laws. Moses already has the Ten Commandments, but he's still up there talking to God. Aaron and the Israelites are down at the bottom of the mountain waiting.
