-- And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year.
This verse names two of Israel's yearly gatherings, both tied to the harvest. One comes at the start of the wheat crop. The other comes when everything has been gathered in. God gives them at a striking moment — after Israel had broken the first covenant with Him.
These feasts are not new here. What is new is the setting in which God repeats them, and the stretch of history they cover.
They were first spoken of in the covenant made between the Lord and Israel at Sinai (Ex. 23:14-16), and mentioned again in that unconditional covenant made by the Lord in favour of Israel after they had broken the first covenant (Ex. 34:18-22)... In Leviticus 23 we have what may be called a kind of calendar. It is really the history of God's ways in grace with the nation, from the day He took them up to bring them out of Egypt, until the day He will bring them into full and lasting rest on earth under the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Each feast here carries more than one name. Their purpose was to keep God Himself before the people.
The feasts were designed to keep Jehovah, His power and His grace, as a living reality before the nation... the feast of the first fruits, also called the feast of weeks, because it came seven weeks after the feast of unleavened bread (Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9), and still another name is "the feast of the first fruits of the wheat harvest." It was now known by the name of Shavuoth. The third feast came on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:34), and is the feast of ingathering, known as Succoth, the feast of tabernacles.
Each crop had its own appointed moment before God.
Barley harvest was at the feast of first fruits; the wheat harvest at the feast of weeks; and the vintage at the feast of tabernacles. Lev. 23:10, 16, 34. Harvest was a joyful time, Isa. 9:3, and the poor were not to be forgotten. Deut. 24:19-22.
Commentators read the wheat feast as a picture of the day the Church began.
This is the feast of Pentecost. It pictures God's people, gathered by the Holy Spirit and presented before Him, in connection with all the preciousness of Christ. In the Passover, we have the death of Christ. In the sheaf of first fruits, we have the resurrection of Christ. And in the feast of Pentecost, we have the coming of the Holy Spirit to form the Church. All this is divinely perfect. Christ had to die and rise again before the Church could be formed. The sheaf was offered and then the loaves were baked.
The last feast waits until nothing is left in the field. That timing carries its meaning.
The feast of tabernacles took place after the increase of the earth had been gathered in. As we learn elsewhere, it came not only after the harvest but after the vintage as well. That is, it came after separation by judgment, and after the final carrying out of judgment on the earth, when heavenly and earthly saints will all be gathered in. Israel was to rejoice seven days before Jehovah.
The feast of weeks called for a different state of heart from the Passover.
A freewill offering was a statute in Israel at every feast, because nothing draws the heart out towards need like the sense of what God in Christ has been to our own souls... At the feast of weeks we hear of overflowing grace. Here the heart is set free and goes out in freewill offering, in the sense of Jehovah's blessing. The Passover only rises as high as the removal of judgment. There is personal security from the Lord. But here He has blessed already — "as the Lord your God has blessed you." Along with this, too, there is joy that spreads all around.
Keeping these feasts meant a journey, three times a year. A promise came attached to it.
Three times in the year they were to go up to Jerusalem for that purpose. This meant leaving the portion and place given to them, and it looked as though they were leaving their land open to danger while they were away. It is then that Jehovah assures His obedient people: "No one shall desire your land, when you go up to appear before Jehovah your God three times in the year."
- Renewed. The two feasts stand inside a covenant God gave freely after Israel had already broken the first one.
- Named. Weeks, firstfruits of the wheat harvest, Shavuoth — one feast, several names, all keeping God's power and grace in view.
- Filled. The wheat feast met its counterpart when the Holy Spirit came to form the Church, after Christ had died and risen.
- Awaited. Ingathering comes only after harvest and vintage are finished — a joy still ahead, when all are gathered in.
- Given. The response God asks is a freewill offering, given as He has blessed you, with joy that spreads all around and does not forget the poor.
Thrice in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Israel had worshipped a golden calf, and Moses had pleaded for them. Now God gives the covenant terms a second time. Among them is a rhythm for Israel's year. Three times a year, every man must come and stand before God.
This is not new law. It repeats terms Israel already had, now set inside the renewed covenant. One writer shows how the demands run two ways at once — away from the nations around them, and toward God Himself.
The terms of this covenant are not new, though He now commands them again... God lays the foundation of it all in what He would do for His people. On that basis He commands complete separation from the nations around... But there must not only be separation from evil. There must also be separation to God.
Israel did not choose the calendar, and later they would not choose the location either. Both were settled from above.
The third section — verses 14-19 — gives in short form the rules for the three great feasts of the year. Israel was to keep them, and at each one all the males were to appear before God. Deuteronomy 16:16 tells us they were to appear in the place the Lord would choose. So God settled the place as well as the times, not the people.
The three feasts were the Passover, Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. One writer reads them as a rising scale, each one carrying more joy than the last.
In Deuteronomy 16 we get three feasts: the Passover; Pentecost; and the feast of Tabernacles, which is not yet accomplished. The Passover is the sacrifice of Christ for us, and Pentecost is the Holy Spirit already given to us, but the feast of tabernacles is still future. There is very little joy in the Passover; as soon as it was done they returned to their tents. At Pentecost I find, "You shall rejoice before the LORD your God," and, "You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt"... but the feast of tabernacles has something more. Here they have entered the fullest blessing, and worship flows out of being in that fullness of blessing.
To appear before God was never to arrive with nothing in hand. The parallel command in Deuteronomy links what a man brings to what he has received, and one writer notes what such a gathering produced.
See how thoroughly practical these gatherings were. Notice what a tide of praise, thanksgiving, joy, blessing and active generosity flowed from the assembly of Israel when they gathered round the Lord in the place He had chosen... "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God... They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that He has given you."
Obeying this command meant every able man walking away from his farm and family three times a year. The very next verse answers the fear this raises.
They had the land, with each portion given out and enjoyed. Now they were to count on the Lord to protect both the land and their interests, while they went up to appear before Him at the appointed feasts. His power had driven out the nations before them. While they were busy with Him in this special way, He would not allow anyone even to desire their land. So the Lord secured it all for them, not by any human scheme or planning, but through their doing His will. Their obedience in appearing before Him fully guaranteed His power and protection.
Behind the command lies a desire on God's side. He speaks the same desire to His people now.
The Lord desires the fellowship of His people now, and He desired it in the days of old also. He desired it so much that He thought of the difficulties His people would face in coming together to meet Him. And He made provision for those difficulties. We all know that it would be impossible for us to rejoice before the Lord if we were worrying about our cares at home... The God who could think of these things and take special care of His people in those days will not forget them now. He tells us now not to neglect meeting together (Heb. 10:25), and will He not take care that those who hear and obey His Word will not lose by it?
- Renewed — The command is not new law. It gives old terms again after the golden calf, and it rests first on what God would do for His people.
- Appointed — God set the times, and later the place. The gathering was His arrangement, not a convenience Israel could adjust.
- Rising — The feasts climb from Passover to Pentecost to tabernacles: Christ's sacrifice, the Spirit given, then the fullest blessing. Joy grows at every step.
- Full-handed — Nobody came empty. Each man gave as he was able, in keeping with what God had given him. Praise and generosity flowed out of the assembly.
- Guaranteed — Leaving home to meet God left everything they owned exposed. God undertook to guard it. Their obedience was their security.