Reference: Feasts
American
God appointed several festivals, or days of rest and worship, among the Jews, to perpetuate the memory of great events wrought in favor of them: the Sabbath commemorated the creation of the world; the Passover, the departure out of Egypt; the Pentecost, the law given at Sinai, etc. At the three great feasts of the year, the Passover, Pentecost, and that of Tabernacles, all the males of the nation were required to visit the temple, Ex 23:14-17; De 16:16-17; and to protect their borders from invasion during their absence, the shield of a special providence was always interposed, Ex 34:23-24. The other festivals were the Feast of Trumpets, or New Moon, Purim, Dedication, the Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee. These are described elsewhere. The observance of these sacred festivals was adapted not merely to freshen the remembrance of their early history as a nation, but to keep alive the influence of religion and the expectation of the Messiah, to deepen their joy in God, to dispel animosities and jealousies, and to form new associations between the different tribes and families. See also Day of EXPIATION.
In the Christian church, we have no festival that clearly appears to have been instituted by our Savior, or his apostles; but as we commemorate his death as often as we celebrate his supper, he has hereby seemed to institute a perpetual feast. Christians have always celebrated the memory of his resurrection by regarding the Sabbath, which we see, from Re 1:10, was in John's time commonly called "the Lord's day." Feasts of love, Jude 1:12, were public banquets of a frugal kind, instituted by the primitive Christians, and connected by them with the celebration of the Lord's supper. The provisions were contributed by the more wealthy, and were common to all Christians, whether rich or poor, who chose to partake. Portions were also sent to the sick and absent members. These love-feasts were intended as an exhibition of mutual Christian affection; but they became subject to abuses, and were afterwards generally discontinued, 1Co 11:17-34.
The Hebrews were a hospitable people, and were wont to welcome their guests with a feast, and dismiss them with another, Ge 19:3; 31:27; Jg 6:19; 2Sa 3:20; 2Ki 6:23. The returning prodigal was thus welcomed, Lu 15:23. Many joyful domestic events were observed with feasting: birthdays, etc., Ge 21:8; 40:20; Job 1:4; Mt 14:6; marriages, Ge 29:22; Jg 14:10; Joh 2:1-10; sheep shearing and harvesting, Jg 9:27; 1Sa 25:2,36; 2Sa 13:23. A feast was also provided at funerals, 2Sa 3:35; Jer 16:7. Those who brought sacrifices and offerings to the temple were wont to feast upon them there, with joy and praise to God, De 12:6-7; 1Sa 16:5; 2Sa 6:19. They were taught to invite all the needy to partake with them, De 16:11; and even to make special feasts for the poor, De 12:17-19; 14:28; 26:12-15; a custom which the Savior specially commended, Lu 14:12-14.
The manner of holding a feast was anciently marked with great simplicity. But at the time of Christ many Roman customs had been introduced. The feast or "supper" usually took place at five or six in the afternoon, and often continued to a late hour. The guests were invited some time in advance; and those who accepted the invitation were again notified by servants when the hour arrived, Mt 22:4-8; Lu 14:16-24. The door was guarded against uninvited persons; and was at length closed for the day by the hand of the master of the house, Mt 25:10; Lu 13:24. Sometimes very large numbers were present, Es 1:3,5; Lu 14:16-24; and on such occasions a "governor of the feast" was appointed, whose social qualities, tact, firmness, and temperance fitted him to preside, Joh 2:8. The guests were arranged with a careful regard to their claims to honor, Ge 43:33; 1Sa 9:22; Pr 25:6-7; Mt 23:6; Lu 14:7; in which matter the laws of etiquette are still jealously enforced in the East. Sometimes the host provided light, rich, loose robes for the company; and if so, the refusing to wear one was a gross insult, Ec 9:8; Mt 22:11; Re 3:4-5. The guests reclined around the tables; water and perfumes were served to them, Mr 7:2; Lu 7:44-46; and after eating, the hands were again washed, a servant pouring water over them. During the repast and after it various entertainments were provided; enigmas were proposed, Jg 14:12; eastern tales were told; music and hired dancers, and often excessive drinking, etc., occupied the time, Isa 5:12; 24:7-9; Am 6:5. See EATING, FOOD.
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But Lot kept urging them strongly, so they turned aside and entered his house. He prepared a festival and baked unleavened flat bread for them, and they ate.
The child grew and eventually was weaned, so Abraham threw a tremendous banquet on the very day Isaac was weaned.
So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival.
ran away from me secretly, and stole from me by not keeping me informed. Otherwise, I could have sent you off with a party and singing, accompanied by a band playing tambourines and harps.
On the third day, which just happened to be Pharaoh's birthday, he threw a party for all his servants. He lifted the head of both his senior security advisor and of his head chef in front of his servants
Meanwhile, the brothers were seated in front of Joseph in birth order, from firstborn to youngest. The men stared at one another in astonishment.
"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival for me. You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month Abib, because in it you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty handed. read more. You are to observe the Festival of Harvest, celebrating the first fruits of your work in planting the field, and the Festival of Tabernacles at the end of the year, when you gather the fruit of your work from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear in the presence of the Lord GOD."
Three times during the year all your males are to appear in the presence of the LORD God of Israel, since I'm going to drive out nations before you, and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land, when you go up to appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year.
Bring your burnt offerings there, along with your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of promises, your freely given offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he blessed you.
"You won't be allowed to eat your tithe of grain, new wine, oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, your voluntary offerings that you pledged, your free-will offerings, and the works of your hands in your own cities. You'll eat only in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he will choose you, your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your cities. Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God in everything you undertake. read more. Be careful not to forget the descendant of Levi while you live in the land.
Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store it in your cities
Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God with your son, daughter, male and female slaves, the descendants of Levi who is in your city, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow among you, at the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish his name.
"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed, but each one must appear with his own gift, proportional to the blessing that the LORD your God has given you."
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"When you have finished your harvest, reserve the tithe in the third year (the year of the tithe), and give the entire tithe to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows, so they may eat and be satisfied in your cities. Then declare in the presence of the LORD your God: read more. "I've removed the holy offering from my house and given it to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows just as you have commanded me. I haven't violated or forgotten your commands. I haven't eaten any part of it while mourning, nor removed any part of it while unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I've obeyed the voice of the LORD my God and did all that he commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land that you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors a land flowing with milk and honey.'"
Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and brought them to the angel right under the oak tree. Then he made his offering.
They went out into the fields, harvested their vineyards, made some wine, and threw a party. Then they went into the temple of their god, ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.
Later on, when his father went down to visit the woman, Samson threw a party there, since young men customarily did this.
"Let me tell you a riddle," Samson told them. "If you can solve it during this week-long festival, I'll give you 30 linen garments and 30 formal garments.
Then all the people cried again because of him. Everyone tried to persuade David to have a meal while there was still daylight, but David took an oath by saying, "May God to do like this to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"
In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers, and the military leaders of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the provincial officials were present.
When those days were over, the king held a seven-day banquet in the courtyard of the garden of his palace for all the people who were present in Susa the capital, from the greatest to the least important.
His sons used to travel to each other's houses in turn on a regular schedule and hold festivals, inviting their three sisters to celebrate with them.
Don't magnify yourself in the presence of a king, and don't pretend to be in the company of famous men, for it is better that it be told you, "Come up here," than for you to be placed lower in the presence of an official. What you've seen with your own eyes,
Always keep your garments white, and don't fail to anoint your head.
They have the lyre and harp, the tambourine and flute, as well as wine at their festivals, but they don't respect what the LORD is doing, nor do they consider his actions.
The new wine evaporates; the vine and the oil dry up; all the merrymakers groan. "The celebrations of the tambourine have ended, the noise of the jubilant has stopped, and the mirth that the harp produces has ended. read more. No longer do they drink wine accompanied by singing; even beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
They won't break bread for the mourner to be consoled for the dead. They won't give anyone the cup of consolation to drink for his father or mother.
chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David, composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians,
But when Herod's birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests. She pleased Herod
So he sent other servants after saying, "Tell those who have been invited, "Look! I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!"' But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. read more. The rest grabbed the king's servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city. "Then he told his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
"When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
They love to have the places of honor at festivals, the best seats in the synagogues,
"While they were away buying it, the groom arrived. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was closed.
They noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.
Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You didn't give me any water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn't give me a kiss, but this woman, from the moment I came in, has not stopped kissing my feet. read more. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with perfume.
He told them, "Keep on struggling to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you that many people will try to enter, but won't be able to do so.
When Jesus noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable.
Then he told the man who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, stop inviting only your friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return and you would be repaid. Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. read more. Then you will be blessed because they can't repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected."
Jesus told him, "A man gave a large banquet and invited many people.
Jesus told him, "A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, "Come! Everything is now ready.'
When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, "Come! Everything is now ready.' Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, "I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.'
Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, "I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.' Another said, "I bought five pairs of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
Another said, "I bought five pairs of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, "I recently got married, so I can't come.'
Still another said, "I recently got married, so I can't come.' "So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, "Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'
"So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, "Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' The servant said, "Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.'
The servant said, "Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' Then the master told the servant, "Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.
Then the master told the servant, "Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.'"
Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.'"
Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let's eat and celebrate!
On the third day of that week there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. read more. When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother told him, "They don't have any more wine." "How does that concern us, dear lady?" Jesus asked her. "My time hasn't come yet." His mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars used for the Jewish rites of purification, each one holding from two to three measures. Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them up to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet." So they did.
Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet." So they did. When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine (without knowing where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called for the bridegroom read more. and told him, "Everyone serves the best wine first, and the cheap kind when people are drunk. But you have kept the best wine until now!"
Now I am not praising you in giving you the following instructions. When you gather, it is not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. read more. Of course, there must be factions among you to show which of you are genuine! When you gather in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For as you eat, each of you rushes to eat his own supper, and one person goes hungry while another gets drunk. You have homes in which to eat and drink, don't you? Or do you despise God's church and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, "This is my body that is for you. Keep doing this in memory of me." He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup in an unworthy manner will be held responsible for the Lord's body and blood. A person must examine himself and then eat the bread and drink from the cup, because whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That's why so many of you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dying. But if we judged ourselves correctly, we would not be judged. Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won't be condemned along with the world. Therefore, my brothers, when you gather to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather it may not bring judgment on you. And when I come I will give instructions concerning the other matters.
These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.
I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet,
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothes because they are worthy. The person who conquers in this way will wear white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and his angels.
Fausets
Hag (from a root, "to dance") is the Hebrew applied to the Passover, and still more to the feast of tabernacles, as both were celebrated with rejoicings and participation of food (Ex 12:14; Le 23:39; Nu 29:12; De 16:22). But moed is the general term for all sacred assemblies convoked on stated anniversaries; God's people by His appointment meeting before Him in brotherly fellowship for worship. Their communion was primarily with God, then with one another. These national feasts tended to join all in one brotherhood. Hence, arose Jeroboam's measures to counteract the effect on his people (1Ki 12:26-27). Hezekiah made the revival of the national Passover a primary step in his efforts for a reformation (2Ch 30:1). The Roman government felt the feast a time when especial danger of rebellion existed (Mt 26:5; Lu 13:1).
The "congregations," "calling of assemblies," "solemn meetings" (Isa 1:13; Ps 81:3), both on the convocation days of the three great feasts, passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles, and also on the sabbaths, imply assemblies for worship, the forerunners of the synagogue (compare 2Ki 4:23). The septenary number prevails in the great feasts. Pentecost was seven weeks (sevens) after Passover; passover and the feast of tabernacles lasted seven days each; the days of holy convocation were seven in the year, two at Passover, one at pentecost, one at the feast of trumpets, one on the day of atonement (the first day or new moon of the seventh month), and two at the feast of tabernacles. The last two solemn days were in the seventh month, and the cycle of feasts is seven months, from Nisan to Tisri. There was also the sabbatical year, and the year of Jubilee.
The continued observance of the three feasts commemorative of the great facts of Israelite history make it incredible that the belief of those facts could have been introduced at any period subsequent to the supposed time of their occurrence if they never took place. The day, the month, and every incident of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt are embalmed in the anniversary passover. On the three great feasts each Israelite was bound to "appear before the Lord," i.e., attend in the court of the tabernacle or temple and make his offering with gladness (Leviticus 23; De 27:7). Pious women often went up to the Passover: as Lu 2:41, Mary; 1Sa 1:7; 2:19, Hannah. Those men who might happen to be unable to attend at the proper time kept the feast the same day in the succeeding month (Nu 9:10-11). On the days of holy convocation all ordinary work was suspended (Le 23:21-35). The three great feasts had a threefold bearing.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history.
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the gospel kingdom.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
(I.) At the Passover in spring, in the month Abib, the first green ears of barley were cut, and were a favorite food, prepared as parched grain, but first of all a handful of green ears was presented to the Lord.
(2) Fifty days (as Pentecost means) after Passover came the feast of weeks, i.e. a week of weeks after Passover. The now ripe wheat, before being cut, was sanctified by its firstfruits, namely two loaves of fine flour, being offered to Jehovah.
(3) At the feast of tabernacles, in the end of the common year and the seventh month of the religious year, there was a feast of ingathering when all the fruits of the field had been gathered in. There was no offering of consecration, for the offerings for sanctifying the whole had been presented long before. It was not a consecration of what was begun, but a joyful thanksgiving for what was completed. See for the spiritual lesson Pr 3:9; Ps 118:15.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history. Each of the three marked a step in the HISTORICAL progress of Israel.
(1) The Passover commemorated the deliverance out of Egypt when Jehovah passed over Israel, protecting them from the destroying angel and sparing them, and so achieving for them the first step of independent national life as God's covenant people.
(2) Pentecost marked the giving of the law on Sinai, the second grand era in the history of the elect nation. God solemnly covenanted, "If ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, and ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:5).
(3) All the nation now wanted was a home. The feast of tabernacles commemorates the establishment of God's people in the land of promise, their pleasant and peaceful home, after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, living in shifting tents. They took boughs of palm and willows of the brook, and made temporary huts of branches and sat under the booths. So in their fixed home and land of rest their enjoyment was enhanced by the thankful and holy remembrance of past wanderings without a fixed dwelling. Joshua especially observed this feast after the settlement in Canaan (as incidentally comes out in Ne 8:17).
Solomon (appropriately to his name, which means king of peace) also did so, for his reign was preeminently the period of peaceful possession when every man dwelt under his own vine and figtree (1Ki 4:25); immediately after that the last relic of wilderness life was abolished by the ark being taken from under curtains and deposited in the magnificent temple of stone in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3), the feast of tabernacles was celebrated on the 15th day, and on the 23rd Solomon sent the great congregation away glad in heart for the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, Solomon, and Israel His people.
The third celebration especially recorded was after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews were re-established in their home under Ezra and Nehemiah, and all gathered themselves together as one man on the first day of the seventh month, the feast of trumpets. Then followed the reading of the law and renewal of the covenant. Then finding in the law directions as to the feast of tabernacles, they brought branches of olive, pine, myrtle, and palm, and thick trees, and made booths on their roofs and in their courts, and in the courts of God's house, and sat under them with "great gladness" (Nehemiah 8).
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the gospel kingdom. Prophetically and typically.
(1) The Passover points to the Lord Jesus, the true paschal Lamb sacrificed for us, whose sacrifice brings to us a perpetual feast (1Co 5:7).
(2) Pentecost points to our Whitsuntide (Acts 2) when the Holy Spirit descending on Christ's disciples confirms Christ's covenant of grace in the heart more effectually than the law of Sinai written on stone (2Co 3:3-18).
(3) Two great steps have already been taken toward establishing the kingdom of God. Christ has risen from death as "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1Co 15:20), even as the green ears of barley were offered as firstfruits at Passover. Secondly, the Holy Spirit has not merely once descended but still abides in the church as His temple, giving us a perpetual Whitsun feast, One step more is needed; we have received redemption, also the Holy Spirit; we wait still for our inheritance and abiding home. The feast of tabernacles points on to the antitypical Canaan, the everlasting inheritance, of which the Holy Spirit is the "earnest" (Eph 1:13-14; Heb 4:8-9). The antitypical feast of tabernacles shall be under the antitypical Joshua, Jesus the Captain of our salvation, the antitypical Solomon, the Prince of peace (Isa 9:6; Re 7:9-17).
The zest of the heavenly joy of the palmbearing multitude (antitypical to the palmbearers at the feast of tabernacles), redeemed out of all nations, shall be the remembrance of their tribulations in this wilderness world forever past; for repose is sweetest after toil, and difficulties surmounted add to the delight of triumph. Salvation was the prominent topic at the feast. In later times they used to draw water from the pool of Siloam, repeating from Isaiah 12 "with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation," r
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""This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance from generation to generation.
And now if you carefully obey me and keep my covenant, you are to be my special possession out of all the nations, because the whole earth belongs to me,
"On the same day, proclaim a sacred assembly for yourselves. You are not to do any servile work and this is to be an eternal ordinance wherever you live throughout your generations. Furthermore, when you harvest the produce of your land, you are not to harvest all the way to the corners of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and resident alien. I am the LORD your God." read more. The LORD told Moses, "Tell the Israelis that on the first day of the seventh month you are to have a Sabbath of rest for you a memorial announced by a loud blast of trumpets. It is to be a sacred assembly. You are not to do any servile work. Instead, bring an offering made by fire to the LORD." The LORD spoke to Moses, "However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It's a sacred assembly for you. Humble yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. You are not to do any work that same day. It's the Day of Atonement, because your atonement is made in the presence of the LORD your God. Anyone who doesn't humble himself that same day is to be eliminated from contact with his people. I'll eliminate anyone who does work that day from among his people. You are not to do any work. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live. It's a Sabbath of rest for you on which you are to humble yourselves starting the evening of the ninth day of the month. You are to observe your Sabbath from evening to evening." The LORD spoke to Moses, "Tell the Israelis that starting the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the week-long Festival of Tents to the LORD. On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, when you are not to do any servile work.
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you've harvested the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of the LORD for seven days. The first day is to be a Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is to be a Sabbath rest.
"Instruct the Israelis that when any of you or your descendants becomes unclean due to contact with a corpse, or if he is on a long journey, he nevertheless is to observe the LORD's Passover. On the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight, they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the fifteenth day of the same seventh month. No servile work is to be done. You are to celebrate a festival to the LORD for seven days by
Furthermore, you are not to erect for yourselves a sacred stone pillar, because the LORD your God detests these things.
Offer a burnt offering there, then eat and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God.
Among those nations you'll have no rest. There'll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit.
Caleb announced, "I'll give my daughter Achsah in marriage to whomever leads the attack against Kiriath-sepher and captures it."
Elkanah would do this year after year, as often as Hannah went up to the house of the LORD. Likewise, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would cry and would not eat.
His mother would make a small robe for him, and she would bring it each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
Judah and Israel lived safely, and everyone enjoyed their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba through all of Solomon's life.
Jeroboam was thinking to himself, "The kingdom is about to return to David's control. If these people keep going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD there, the hearts of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they'll kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah!"
He asked her, "What's the point of visiting him today? It's not a New Moon, and it isn't the Sabbath!" But she kept saying, "Things will go well."
All the men of Israel assembled in front of the king during the Festival of Tents that takes place in the seventh month of the year.
Hezekiah also sent word to all of Israel and Judah, and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.
The entire assembly of those who had returned from exile erected tents and lived in them. Indeed, from the days of Nun's son Joshua until that day the Israelis had not done so. Joy was everywhere,
Blow the ram's horn when there is a New Moon, when there is a full moon, on our festival day,
There's exultation for deliverance in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD is victorious!
There's exultation for deliverance in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD is victorious!
Please LORD, deliver us! Please LORD, hurry and bring success now! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Let us bless you from the LORD's house.
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first of all your produce,
Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one.
"It will come about that all of the survivors of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come there from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and to observe the Festival of Tents.
I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
But they kept saying, "This must not happen during the festival. Otherwise, there'll be a riot among the people."
At that time, some people who were there told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Now the Jewish Festival of Tents was approaching. So his brothers told him, "You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can see the actions that you're doing, read more. since no one acts in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you're going to do these things, you should reveal yourself to the world!" Not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus told them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its actions are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival yet, because my time hasn't fully come yet." After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but, as it were, in secret. The Jewish leaders kept looking for him at the festival, asking, "Where is that man?" And there was a great deal of discussion about him among the crowds. Some were saying, "He is a good man," while others were saying, "No, he is deceiving the crowds!" Nevertheless, no one would speak openly about him because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching. The Jewish leaders were astonished and remarked, "How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?" Jesus replied to them, "My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do his will, he'll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking on my own. The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there's nothing false in him. Moses gave you the Law, didn't he? Yet none of you is keeping the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?" Jesus answered them, "I performed one action, and all of you are astonished. Moses gave you circumcision not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath? Stop judging by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment!" Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, "This is the man they are trying to kill, isn't it? And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from." At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, "So you know me and know where I've come from? I haven't come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he's the one you don't know. I know him because I've come from him, and he sent me." Then the Jewish leaders tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, "When the Messiah comes, he won't do more signs than this man has done, will he?" The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus. Then Jesus said, "I'll be with you only a little while longer, and then I'm going back to the one who sent me. You'll look for me but won't find me. And where I am, you cannot come." Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? What does this statement mean that he said, "You'll look for me but won't find me,' and, "Where I am, you cannot come'?" On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.
They made it their practice to sell their possessions and goods and to distribute the proceeds to anyone who was in need. United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other's homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts.
and lay it at the apostles' feet. Then it was distributed to anyone who needed it.
In those days, as the number of the disciples was growing larger and larger, a complaint was made by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.
Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For the Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed.
But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died.
You are demonstrating that you are the Messiah's letter, produced by our service, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have in God through the Messiah. read more. By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come from God, who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death that was inscribed in letters of stone came with such glory that the people of Israel could not gaze on Moses' face (because the glory was fading away from it), will not the Spirit's ministry have even more glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, then the ministry of justification has an overwhelming glory. In fact, that which once had glory lost its glory, because the other glory surpassed it. For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory? Therefore, since we have such a hope, we speak very boldly, not like Moses, who kept covering his face with a veil to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of what was fading away. However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed. Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord's Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord's Spirit.
You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory.
For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep,
so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him.
suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you.
After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!" read more. All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, saying, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!" "Who are these people wearing white robes," one of the elders asked me, "and where did they come from?" I told him, "Sir, you know." Then he told me, "These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. That is why: "They are in front of the throne of God and worship him night and day in his Temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them, because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."
Hastings
Introductory.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
because the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them in six days. Then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
You are to do your work for six days, but on the seventh day you are to refrain from work so that your ox and donkey may rest, and so the son of your maidservant and the alien may be refreshed.
"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival for me.
You are to observe the Sabbath, because it's holy for you. Whoever profanes it is certainly to die; indeed, whoever does work on it is to be cut off from among his people. Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does work on the Sabbath is certainly to die.
It is a sign forever between me and the Israelis, because the LORD made the heavens and the earth in six days, but on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"
Three times during the year all your males are to appear in the presence of the LORD God of Israel,
"The LORD's Passover is to begin on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight. On the fifteenth day of that month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread.
At the beginning of the month, during your time of rejoicing at the appointed place, sound the trumpet over your burnt offering, then sacrifice your peace offering, since they are to be your memorial before the LORD your God. I am the LORD your God."
As it was when the Israelis were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day. The ones who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and all the people. read more. Then they confined him until it could be declared what should be done to him. Then the LORD told Moses, "The man is certainly to die. The entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp." So the whole community brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones so that he died, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
"On the first day of each month, you are to offer a burnt offering to the LORD consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old lambs, all of them without any defects, along with three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for each bull, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for the one ram, read more. and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each lamb. This burnt offering will be a pleasing aroma, incinerated as an offering to the LORD. Their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for each bull, one third of a hin for the ram, and one fourth of a hin for each lamb. This burnt offering is to be presented each and every month throughout the year. One goat is to be offered at regular intervals as a sin offering to the LORD, accompanied by its corresponding drink offering." "The LORD's Passover is to take place on the fourteenth day of the first month. You are to hold a festival on the fifteenth day of this month for seven days, during which time unleavened bread is to be eaten."
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You are not to do any work neither you, your son, nor your daughter, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys, nor any of your livestock, nor any foreigner who lives among you, so that your male and female servants may rest as you do. You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out from there with great power and a show of force. Therefore, the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed,
Don't bring the earnings of a female prostitute nor the income of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God as payment for any vow. Both of these are detestable to the LORD your God."
Watch when the unmarried women from Shiloh come out to participate in the dances. Then come out of the vineyards and each of you grab a wife from the unmarried women from Shiloh. Then go back home to the territory of Benjamin.
Hannah was praying inwardly. Her lips were quivering, and her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
David told Jonathan, "Look, the New Moon is tomorrow, and I'm expected to sit down with the king to eat. Let me go so I can hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father actually notices that I'm not there, then you are to say, "David urgently requested that I allow him to run to his hometown of Bethlehem because the yearly sacrifice for the entire family was taking place there.'
Jonathan told him, "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed because your seat is empty.
He asked her, "What's the point of visiting him today? It's not a New Moon, and it isn't the Sabbath!" But she kept saying, "Things will go well."
Because all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Law, Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the descendants of Levi who taught the people told everyone, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep."
We the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the people cast lots to determine when to bring the wood offering into the Temple of our God, just as our ancestors' families were appointed annually to maintain the altar fire of the LORD our God, as recorded in the Law.
At that time I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sacks of grain, loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. They brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I rebuked them on the day on which they were selling food.
Then I commanded the descendants of Levi to purify themselves and to come as gate keepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, my God, and show mercy to me according to the greatness of your gracious love.
and I arranged at the appointed time for the supply of wood, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, with favor.
Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly.
Blessed is the one who does this, and the person that holds it fast, who observes the Sabbath without profaning it, and restrains his hands from practicing any evil.
"Also, the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, and to bless the LORD'S name, observing the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold fast my covenant
"If you keep your feet from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable; and if you honor it by not going your own ways and seeking your own pleasure or speaking merely idle words,
Say to them, "Kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem entering these gates, hear this message from the LORD. This is what the LORD says: "Be careful! On the Sabbath day, don't carry any load or bring anything through the gates of Jerusalem. read more. Don't bring any load out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor are you to do any work. You are to consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors. But they didn't listen, nor did they pay attention. They were determined not to listen and not to accept instruction. If you listen to me carefully," declares the LORD, "and don't bring a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and you consecrate the Sabbath day and don't do any work on it,
Also, I instituted my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD, who has set them apart." "But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn't live by my statutes. They despised my ordinances, which if a person observes, he'll live by them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my anger on them and bring them to an end in the wilderness.
because they kept on rejecting my ordinances. They didn't live life consistent with my statutes, they profaned my Sabbaths, and their hearts followed their idols.
You are to make my Sabbaths holy, and you are to let them serve as a sign between you and me, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'"
I'll put a stop to her mirth, along with her celebrations, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all of her festive assemblies.
moving quickly to rub the face of the needy in the dirt. Corrupting the ways of the humble, a man and his father go to the same woman, deliberately defiling my holy name.
and who are saying, "When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat? shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery,
and who are saying, "When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat? shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery,
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover meal?"
Morish
The feasts of Jehovah, as instituted under the law as given by Moses, partake more of the character of commemorations, or assemblies of the congregation to celebrate special dealings of the Lord, and consequently special seasons in the history of His people, being called 'holy convocations.' A list of the yearly feasts is given in Lev. 23. The first mentioned is the Sabbath, and if this is counted as one, by considering the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread as one there are seven in all
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival for me. You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month Abib, because in it you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty handed. read more. You are to observe the Festival of Harvest, celebrating the first fruits of your work in planting the field, and the Festival of Tabernacles at the end of the year, when you gather the fruit of your work from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear in the presence of the Lord GOD."
"The LORD's Passover is to begin on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight. On the fifteenth day of that month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread. read more. On the first day that you hold the sacred assembly, you are to do no servile work. Instead, you are to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD daily for seven days. On the seventh day, you are also to hold a sacred assembly during which you are to do no servile work." The LORD told Moses, "Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I'm about to give you and gather its produce, you are to bring a sheaf from the first portion of your harvest to the priest, who will offer the sheaf in the LORD's presence for your acceptance. The priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a one year old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering in the LORD's presence. Also present a meal offering of two tenths of a measure of fine flour mixed with olive oil as an offering made by fire to the LORD, a pleasing aroma. Now as to a drink offering, you are to present a fourth of a hin of wine. You are not to eat bread, parched grain, or fresh grain until that day when you've brought the offering of your God. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live." "Starting the day after the Sabbath, count for yourselves seven weeks from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. They are to be complete. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, then bring a new meal offering to the LORD. Bring two loaves of bread from home as wave offerings made from two tenths of fine flour baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD. Along with the loaves of bread, bring seven lambs (each of them one year old and without defect), one young bull as an offering, and two rams as offerings to the LORD along with your gift and drink offerings and present them as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Prepare one male goat for a sin offering and two one year old rams for peace offerings. Then the priest is to wave them the two lambs with the bread of first fruits as raised offerings in the LORD's presence. They'll be sacred to the LORD on account of the priest. "On the same day, proclaim a sacred assembly for yourselves. You are not to do any servile work and this is to be an eternal ordinance wherever you live throughout your generations. Furthermore, when you harvest the produce of your land, you are not to harvest all the way to the corners of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and resident alien. I am the LORD your God." The LORD told Moses, "Tell the Israelis that on the first day of the seventh month you are to have a Sabbath of rest for you a memorial announced by a loud blast of trumpets. It is to be a sacred assembly. You are not to do any servile work. Instead, bring an offering made by fire to the LORD." The LORD spoke to Moses, "However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It's a sacred assembly for you. Humble yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. You are not to do any work that same day. It's the Day of Atonement, because your atonement is made in the presence of the LORD your God. Anyone who doesn't humble himself that same day is to be eliminated from contact with his people. I'll eliminate anyone who does work that day from among his people. You are not to do any work. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations, wherever you live. It's a Sabbath of rest for you on which you are to humble yourselves starting the evening of the ninth day of the month. You are to observe your Sabbath from evening to evening." The LORD spoke to Moses, "Tell the Israelis that starting the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the week-long Festival of Tents to the LORD. On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, when you are not to do any servile work. For seven days, bring offerings made by fire to the LORD. The eighth day is also to be a sacred assembly for you. Bring offerings made by fire to the LORD. It's a sacred assembly. You are not to do any servile work. "These are the LORD's appointed festivals that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. Bring offerings made by fire to the LORD a whole burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings. Do this every day on its assigned date in addition to the LORD's Sabbath regarding your gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of vows, and your freely given offerings that you will bring to the LORD. "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you've harvested the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of the LORD for seven days. The first day is to be a Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is to be a Sabbath rest. "On the first day, take branches from impressive fruit trees, branches from palm trees, boughs from thick trees, and poplars from the brooks. Then you are to rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God for seven days. Observe it as a pilgrimage festival in the presence of the LORD for seven days of the year. This is to be an eternal ordinance throughout your generations. Observe the festival during the seventh month. You are to live in tents for seven days. Every native born of Israel is to live in tents in order for your future generations to know that the Israelis lived in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." This is what Moses spoke about to the Israelis regarding the LORD's appointed festivals.
"Present these to the LORD at your appointed festival, in addition to your offerings in fulfillment of vows, free will offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings."
"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed,
for the bread set out on the table, for the daily grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbath offerings, for the New Moon festivals, for the appointed festivals, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the service of the Temple of our God.
establishing that they should celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar every year,
Therefore these days were called , from the word . Because of all that was written in this letter, because of what they experienced in this matter, and because of what happened to them,
Now Hanukkah was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter,
Smith
Feasts.
[FESTIVALS; MEALS]
See Festivals
See Meals
Watsons
FEASTS. God appointed several festivals among the Jews.
1. To perpetuate the memory of great events; so, the Sabbath commemorated the creation of the world; the passover, the departure out of Egypt; the pentecost, the law given at Sinai, &c.
2. To keep them under the influence of religion, and by the majesty of that service which he instituted among them, and which abounded in mystical symbols or types of evangelical things, to convey spiritual instruction, and to keep alive the expectation of the Messiah, and his more perfect dispensation.
3. To secure to them certain times of rest and rejoicings.
4. To render them familiar with the law; for, in their religious assemblies, the law of God was read and explained.
5. To renew the acquaintance, correspondence, and friendship of their tribes and families, coming from the several towns in the country, and meeting three times a year in the holy city.
The first and most ancient festival, the Sabbath, or seventh day, commemorated the creation. "The Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it," says Moses, "because that in it he had rested from all his work," Ge 2:3. See SABBATH.
The passover was instituted in memory of the Israelites' departure out of Egypt, and of the favour which God showed his people in sparing their first-born, when he destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, Ex 12:14, &c. See PASSOVER.
The feast of pentecost was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the passover, in memory of the law being given to Moses on Mount Sinai, fifty days after the departure out of Egypt. They reckoned seven weeks from the passover to pentecost, beginning at the day after the passover. The Hebrews call it the feast of weeks, and the Christians, pentecost, which signifies the fiftieth day.
The feast of trumpets was celebrated on the first day of the civil year; on which the trumpets sounded, proclaiming the beginning of the year, which was in the month Tisri, answering to our September, O. S. We know no religious cause of its establishment. Moses commands it to be observed as a day of rest, and that particular sacrifices should be offered at that time.
The new moons, or first days of every month, were, in some sort, a consequence of the feasts of trumpets. The law did not oblige people to rest upon this day, but ordained only some particular sacrifices. It appears that, on these days, also, the trumpet was sounded, and entertainments were made, 1Sa 20:5-18.
The feast of expiation or atonement was celebrated on the tenth day of Tisri, which was the first day of the civil year. It was instituted for a general expiation of sins, irreverences, and pollutions of all the Israelites, from the high priest to the lowest of the people, committed by them throughout the year, Le 23:27-28; Nu 29:7. See EXPIATION, Day of.
The feast of tents, or tabernacle, on which all Israel were obliged to attend the temple, and to dwell eight days under tents of branches, in memory of their fathers dwelling forty years in tents, as travellers in the wilderness. It was kept on the fifteenth of the month Tisri, the first of the civil year. The first and seventh day of this feast were very solemn. But during the other days of the octave they might work, Le 23:34-35; Nu 29:12-13. At the beginning of the feast, two vessels of silver were carried in a ceremonious manner to the temple, one full of water, the other of wine, which were poured at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings, always on the seventh day of this festival.
Of the three great feasts of the year, the passover, pentecost, and that of the tabernacles, the octave, or seventh day after these feasts, was a day of rest as much as the festival itself; and all the males of the nation were obliged to visit the temple at these three feasts. But the law did not require them to continue there during the whole octave, except in the feast of tabernacles, when they seem obliged to be present for the whole seven days.
Beside these feasts, we find the feast of lots, or purim, instituted on occasion of the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot, in the reign of Ahasuerus. See PURIM.
The feast of the dedication of the temple, or rather of the restoration of the temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Mac. 4:52, &c, was celebrated in winter, and is supposed to be the feast of dedication mentioned in Joh 10:22. Josephus says, that it was called the feast of lights, probably because this happiness befel them when least expected, and they considered it as a new light risen on them.
In the Christian church, no festival appears to have been expressly instituted by Jesus Christ, or his Apostles. Yet, as we commemorate the passion of Christ as often as we celebrate his Supper, he seems by this to have instituted a perpetual feast. Christians have always celebrated the memory of his resurrection, and observe this feast on every Sunday, which was commonly called the Lord's day, Re 1:10. By inference we may conclude this festival to have been instituted by Apostolic authority.
The birth-day of Christ, commonly called Christmas-day, has been generally observed by his disciples with gratitude and joy. His birth was the greatest blessing ever bestowed on mankind. The angels from heaven celebrated it with a joyful hymn; and every man, who has any feeling of his own lost state without a Redeemer, must rejoice and be glad in it. "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, Isa 9:6. For this festival, however, there is no authority in Scripture, nor do we know that it was observed in the age of the Apostles.
On Easter Sunday we celebrate our Saviour's victory over death and hell, when, having on the cross made an atonement for the sin of the world, he rose again from the grave, brought life and immortality to light, and opened to all his faithful servants the way to heaven. On this great event rest all our hopes. "If Christ be not risen," says St. Paul, "then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept," 1Co 15:14,20.
Forty days after his resurrection, our Lord ascended into heaven, in the sight of his disciples. This is celebrated on what is called Ascension-day, or Holy Thursday. Ten days after his ascension, our Lord sent the Holy Spirit to be the comforter and guide of his disciples. This blessing is commemorated on Whit-Sunday, which is a very great festival, and may be profitably observed; for the assistance of the Holy Spirit can alone support us through all temptations, and guide us into all truth.
The pretended success of some in discovering the remains of certain holy men, called "relics," multiplied in the fourth century of the Christian church the festivals and commemorations of the martyrs in a most extravagant manner. These days, instead of being set apart for pious exercises, were spent in indolence, voluptuousness, and criminal pursuits; and were less consecrated to the service of God, than employed in the indulgence of sinful passions. Many of these festivals were instituted on a Pagan model, and perverted to similar purposes.
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Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God stopped working on everything that he had been creating.
""This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance from generation to generation.
"However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It's a sacred assembly for you. Humble yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. You are not to do any work that same day. It's the Day of Atonement, because your atonement is made in the presence of the LORD your God.
"Tell the Israelis that starting the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the week-long Festival of Tents to the LORD. On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, when you are not to do any servile work.
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this same seventh month. You are to humble yourselves, and no servile work is to be done.
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the fifteenth day of the same seventh month. No servile work is to be done. You are to celebrate a festival to the LORD for seven days by bringing these burnt offerings made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD: Thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without any defects,
David told Jonathan, "Look, the New Moon is tomorrow, and I'm expected to sit down with the king to eat. Let me go so I can hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father actually notices that I'm not there, then you are to say, "David urgently requested that I allow him to run to his hometown of Bethlehem because the yearly sacrifice for the entire family was taking place there.' read more. If he says, "Good,' then your servant will be safe. But if he actually gets angry, you will know that his intentions are evil. Now, show gracious kindness to your servant because you have entered into a sacred covenant with your servant. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself why should you bring me to your father?" "Nonsense!" Jonathan replied. "If I actually knew that my father intended evil against you, wouldn't I tell you about it?" Then David told Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?" Then Jonathan told David, "Come, let's go into the field." So the two of them went into the field. Jonathan told David, "The LORD God of Israel is my witness that I'll carefully question my father by tomorrow or the next day. And if the response is favorable for David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD strike me dead if I don't let you know and send you away so you may go safely. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. If I remain alive, don't fail to show me the LORD's gracious love so that I don't die. And don't stop showing your gracious love to my family forever, not even when the LORD eliminates each of David's enemies from the surface of the earth." Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David: "May the LORD punish any violation of this covenant by the hand of David's enemies." Jonathan made David vow again out of his love for him, because he loved him as himself. Jonathan told him, "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed because your seat is empty.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Now Hanukkah was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter,
and if the Messiah has not been raised, then our message means nothing and your faith means nothing.
But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died.
I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet,