seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 16:13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
So three times a year, they were going to pack up the gifts and go to the Temple, wherever God told them to place it....
The commentary this morning comes from the blueletterbible site.
These were only three (four, actually, counting the feast of unleavened bread as a separate feast) of the seven feasts of Israel. Not mentioned in this chapter are the feasts of trumpets, of firstfruits, and of the Day of Atonement.
Yet, the feasts mentioned in this chapter were the most important feasts in Israel - and every Jewish man, to the best of His ability, was to go to the place of the tabernacle (or later, the temple) and celebrate this feast with the whole nation of Israel.
Yet, the feasts mentioned in this chapter were the most important feasts in Israel - and every Jewish man, to the best of His ability, was to go to the place of the tabernacle (or later, the temple) and celebrate this feast with the whole nation of Israel.
I have to keep reminding myself that Moses is giving the marching orders for the men who will go into the Promised Land to make it theirs. They've been wandering around in the desert for 40 years, with the portable Temple at the center of their settlement. The Temple was where they met, discussed issues, and settled arguments. It was also where they gathered to enjoy themselves as well. They were there every day.... but now... once they crossed over the River Jordan, the Temple would be a hefty trip.... not by car or truck.... they weren't going to load up the van and go.... it would be on foot or by animal, three times a year.
