Seven weeks shalt thou count from the beginning of putting the sickle into the corn shalt thou begin to count seven weeks.
God tells Israel to count seven weeks, and to start when the harvest starts. The verse raises two questions: why the clock starts at the first cut of the sickle, and what those fifty days were pointing to.
The count starts with an event in the field, not a date on a calendar. The seven weeks that follow are a kind of waiting.
Seven weeks having passed, the people were again to gather around Jehovah. They counted seven weeks from the time they began to put the sickle to the standing grain, from the day they began to reap the fruit of the land of promise. They waited for the perfect time of the work of God.
That first cutting opened more than the farming season. It set the two ends of the count: what Israel offered at the start, and what they offered seven weeks later.
Notice that Pentecost is directly connected with the unleavened bread, not with the Passover. It was then that they offered the first of the firstfruits, a type of Christ risen from the dead. From the time they put the sickle to the standing grain, they counted seven weeks — that is, in type, to the Church at Pentecost. On the day of the firstfruits they offered ears of grain without leaven. But seven weeks later, when they offered the firstfruits, they put leaven in the two cakes, because there the Church was, in type, offered to God.
The count also had a fixed shape in the week, at both ends.
The day of Pentecost clearly worked like this. Whatever day the first handful could be had, they offered it on the day after the Sabbath (Sunday). From then to the seventh Sabbath was forty-nine days, and on the fiftieth day (Sunday) they celebrated Pentecost. In itself it had no connection with the earlier feast of unleavened bread. Historically there was such a connection, but they were separate ordinances. See also Leviticus 23:15-16.
Read alongside the feasts before it, the count belongs to a sequence, and each stage answers to something already fulfilled.
Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of firstfruits is the striking figure of a risen Christ. And in the feast of weeks we have pictured before us the descent of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after the resurrection.
The earlier feast was about escape. The feast this count leads to has people bringing something.
But when you come to the day of Pentecost you get this: "You shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you." There is not a bit of that in the feast of unleavened bread. There they had to escape, and that was all; but here I get the heart satisfied with the Holy Spirit. They had the fruits of the land now; they had what they were brought into, and not only what they were brought out of.
The Spirit is what makes such giving possible.
Now, it is the Spirit who enables us to enter into the claims of God upon us — claims measured only by how much God has blessed us. He gives us to see and understand that all we are and all we have belong to God. He gives us to delight in consecrating ourselves, spirit, soul and body, to God. It is truly "a freewill offering." It is not of constraint, but willingly. There is not an atom of bondage, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
The count ends in gladness that does not stay private. Another writer traces where that joy comes from and where it goes.
It is not the death of Christ with all its solemn, though blessed, results. It is founded on the life of Christ in resurrection, when the Holy Spirit brings us into the power of enjoyment. It is Pentecost... And mark this: it is not only joy in the Lord, but calling others to joy. We are to keep the statutes and to do them. Once more obedience is above all the matter, and this too as delivered men — once slaves, but now free to obey.
- Start — the count begins at the first cut of the sickle, when the land's fruit is reaped. God sets the clock by His own work.
- Sheaf — that first cutting is the offering of the firstfruits, a picture of Christ risen from the dead.
- Fifty — seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath brings you to the fiftieth day, the same day of the week at both ends.
- Spirit — the count lands on the descent of the Holy Spirit. Passover is Christ's death, the sheaf His resurrection, the Feast of Weeks the gift that follows.
- Offering — the count ends with full hands: a freewill gift measured by God's blessing, and joy that calls others in.
And thou shalt hold the feast of weeks to Jehovah thy God with a tribute of a voluntary-offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give, according as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee;
Seven weeks after the first grain was cut, Israel kept the Feast of Weeks with a gift each person chose for himself. Why a free gift here and nowhere earlier in the year, and what fixes its size?
Writers read the order of Israel's feasts as a sequence fulfilled in Christ.
Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of firstfruits is the striking figure of a risen Christ. And the Feast of Weeks pictures the coming of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after the resurrection.
Why a freewill offering here and none at Passover? The answer lies in what each feast pictures.
There was nothing like this at the Passover, because that sets forth Christ offering Himself for us, as a sacrifice, and not our offering anything. We remember our deliverance from sin and Satan, and what that deliverance cost.
One writer contrasts what the people had at each feast:
There they had to escape, and that was all; but here my heart is satisfied with the Holy Spirit. They had the fruits of the land now; they had what they had been brought into, and not only what they had been brought out of.
The gift is free, but not random. What God has already given sets its size.
It is the Spirit who enables us to enter into the claims of God upon us. Only the extent of the divine blessing measures those claims. He gives us to see and understand that all we are and all we have belong to God. He gives us to delight in consecrating ourselves, spirit, soul and body, to God. It is truly "a freewill offering." It is not of constraint, but willingly. There is not an atom of bondage, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
The same words also weigh the giver, not just the gift.
Here I have the Holy Spirit. I give freely and come with my gift, "as the LORD your God blesses you." I can bring this offering only in the measure of my spirituality.
The verse does not end with the offering; the next lines name a household, a servant, a foreigner, an orphan, a widow. The offering and the joy travel outward together.
In the Feast of Pentecost there was joy. The people brought God a voluntary offering, matching the blessing the Lord had granted. There was joy in communion. They raised up the downcast heart of the widow, of the orphan, of the Levite, and of the stranger. They rejoiced before the Lord their God in His presence where He had set His name. They remembered that they had once been slaves. But they remembered it while enjoying their freedom before God, who had poured out His blessing on the people He had set free. Here again we find the true spirit of worship.
The giver decides the amount, so no rule can settle it. One writer says this makes giving itself worship.
Far be the thought that it is a matter of law now with us. Never in the New Testament, as far as we are aware, is there any suggestion that we must give one tenth of our income. No, it is a "voluntary offering," given entirely of our own free will. We give it while we remember how the Lord gave Himself, gave all, for us. My gift is the mark of how much I value His gift. It is the overflow of my heart in thanksgiving to Him... Our giving is in reality just as true worship as our hymns of praise or thanksgiving.
The same writer names where this breaks down:
Sometimes we give as little as we can and still be respectable. Sometimes it is merely a matter of habit. We always give the same fixed amount. We never think about how God has prospered us, or how the Lord has blessed us... We pray for the Lord's blessing. But when He blesses us, we forget to give back to Him in recognition of that blessing, and in its measure.
- Sequence. Passover pictures the death of Christ. The sheaf of firstfruits pictures His resurrection. This feast pictures the Holy Spirit coming fifty days later.
- Gift. Passover has no freewill offering. There Christ offers Himself and we bring nothing. Only after the harvest does the worshipper have something of his own to give.
- Measure. The blessing received sets the claim on the giver. Writers add that his own spiritual state also shapes the gift.
- Reach. The offering does not stop at the altar. It lifts the widow, the orphan, the Levite and the stranger. Writers call that shared joy the true spirit of worship.
- Result. No tenth is required now. Giving is worship as real as a hymn. The question left is whether the gift still matches the blessing.
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are in thy midst in the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there.
This command comes at the feast of weeks, one of the yearly feasts Israel kept at the place God chose. Its keynote is joy that spreads outward — from the household to the servant, the Levite, and the stranger. Why does joy appear here and not at Passover, and why is the guest list so wide?
The feasts of this chapter do not share one tone. One commentator points out that joy is missing from the earlier feast:
As Deuteronomy 16:3-8 shows us, the character of the feast in the month of Abib was not one of joy. Scripture mentions no joy as belonging to any Jewish festival until the time came to keep the feast of weeks. Then, holding the fruits of resurrection in the land, they were to rejoice.
Another writer sets the two feasts side by side:
There they had to escape, and that was all. But here the Holy Spirit satisfies my heart. They had the fruits of the land now. They had what God brought them into, and not only what He brought them out of. Of course, we must not forget what He brought them out of; we shall not forget it in heaven. The Lamb slain is the foundation of everything. But I have more than that here: I have the freewill offering of thanksgiving and praise.
One commentator reads the three feasts as a set of pictures:
Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of firstfruits is the striking figure of a risen Christ. And in the feast of weeks we have pictured for us the descent of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after the resurrection.
Another writer ties the day of Pentecost in Acts back to this feast:
God gave the Holy Spirit at this feast, exactly to the day. "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place… And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." So the death of Christ fulfilled the Passover, and the gift of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the feast of weeks.
The joy of this verse follows a gift, and what God has given sets the size of it:
Here I have the Holy Spirit. I am a free giver and come up with my gift, "according as the LORD your God has blessed you." I can bring this offering only in the measure of my spiritual state… You must have grace going out to the poor and the needy. Then come with a freewill offering according as God has blessed you.
One commentator walks through the list of names, person by person:
Mark the effect (verse 11): "you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter." But it does not end there: "your male servant and your female servant." Those who serve in the humblest position are to feel the blessing. Is it only for those in the houses? No — "the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you." These are samples of the various classes of sorrow and need in this poor world. There we have the opening of the heart to all.
Another writer sets the two feasts against each other and names what should mark us:
The feast of Passover mentions only the individual, taken up with mercy to himself or his own. But here there is joy that spreads all around. It is not only being happy, but making happy. This is what ought above all to mark us.
This joy has one address:
Jerusalem was the one holy place on earth. Every true Israelite turned his heart there with thoughts of worship and praise… Because of the LORD's house, Jerusalem was the one place of blessing in the whole world. It was no small privilege to join the assembly that gathered there from time to time in obedience to the Word.
- Blessed — this joy rests on what God has already given, and His blessing sets the size of the gift you bring.
- Filled — Passover pictures the death of Christ, and the sheaf a risen Christ. This feast pictures the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost.
- Glad — Israel's calendar names joy for the first time here. Escape alone did not produce it; holding the fruits of the land did.
- Shared — the blessing reaches the humblest servant, then goes past the household to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. They stand for every class of need.
- Gathered — it all happens before the LORD at the one place He chose for His name. So this joy is worship, not just good feeling.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and thou shalt keep and do these statutes.
The Feast of Weeks closes with a memory, not a ritual: look back at slavery while standing in freedom. The verse ties together three things we often keep apart — past bondage, present joy, and careful obedience.
This verse closes the instructions for the Feast of Weeks. Commentators read the cycle of feasts as a picture of what God would later do in Christ.
Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of firstfruits is the striking figure of a risen Christ. And in the feast of weeks, we have prefigured before us the descent of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after the resurrection.
The command is not to relive the chains. It is to recall a condition that no longer holds — which is why the sentence can move straight from memory to obedience.
"And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt" (v. 12). This is not a man tied and bound with the chain of his sins. No, he remembers that he was a slave. It is the denial of that… "You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes." That is, the sense of this complete deliverance and this blessed union with Christ strengthens the spirit of obedience in the soul to the highest degree.
How God had treated Israel was to set the measure for how Israel treated others.
The remembrance of having been slaves themselves was to touch the heart of Israel and shape their conduct. Understanding the grace which had delivered them when they were in that condition would lead them to act in grace towards those who were slaves to them.
The feast is a celebration, yet it ends with statutes to keep. The Spirit who gives the joy also presses the claim of obedience.
"You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes." That is, the power of the Holy Spirit keeps before us what we were, and the mighty deliverance God has worked for us. It also reminds us of our responsibility to do nothing but the will of the Lord, now that His grace has dealt with us in this way. The grace of God teaches us to obey, not to relax. It is a law of liberty.
The same instruction is not repeated at the Feast of Tabernacles later in the chapter. Darby notices the difference and reads it as a mark of where we still are.
Notice another thing connected with Pentecost which struck me. As long as we are here, "you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes." At Tabernacles I do not remember that I was a slave in Egypt. But here I have to be watchful and obedient. I have to remember that I was a thorough slave of sin and of everything else.
Darby elsewhere names what we already hold, and why the guard is still needed.
We enjoy the down payment and the firstfruits before God; but it is still down here, where watchfulness and restraint are needed.
Why keep looking back at all? Because our hearts handle blessing badly.
Possession without the sense of this deliverance — such are our poor hearts — only tends to ruin, and the richer the possession the greater the danger. We must keep alive in the soul the sense of how, and from what depths, we have been delivered. The light of the place we have been brought into shines back on what we have been brought out of. That increases for us the preciousness of the grace that has done it. It also deepens our knowledge of ourselves, which humbles us and keeps us humble before God.
- Remember — the command looks back at a slavery that is over. A man who recalls that he was a slave is proving he is no longer one.
- Rejoice — the memory sits inside a feast. Commentators read that feast as a picture of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
- Reach — grace received sets the pattern for grace given. Those who were once slaves are to act in grace towards their own servants.
- Respond — joy does not loosen the statutes; the same Spirit who gives the gladness keeps the will of the Lord in view. Grace teaches obedience, not relaxation.
- Retain — forgetting is the danger. The richer the blessing, the greater that danger grows.