Harvests.882
HARVEST FESTIVALS
Ref. 882
BIBLE READING: Exodus 23:16
INTRODUCTION: Harvest Festivals throughout the world are times of great rejoicing. When there has been a good harvest one sees all traits of character revealed. e.g. Generosity and Selfishness. The rich fool that Jesus spoke about was interested only in himself. God intended it to be a time of sharing and worship. There are three harvest festivals spoken of in the Bible. They are the three pilgrimage festivals when all the men had to go to the Temple in Jerusalem at Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.
1. THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
Origin of the Feast of Unleavened bread.
The feast of Matzoth marked the beginning of the barley harvest, which was the first crop to be gathered. For the first seven days of the barley harvest, only bread made with the new grain was eaten `without leaven’, i.e. without anything from the harvest of the previous year in it. It represented, therefore, a new beginning.
Further it was wrong to present oneself before God with empty hands:
EXODUS 23:15 “Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:”). The characteristic feature of this feast lay, therefore, in an offering of the first fruits. The feast of unleavened bread was an agricultural feast, and was not observed until the Israelites had settled in Canaan.
The two rituals have nothing in common except the date, and in Israel the Feast of Unleavened bread was always bound up with the week: the feast lasted seven days.
2. SHAVUOT.
Called - i. Feast of the Harvest Exodus 23:16
ii. Feast of Weeks Exodus 34:22
iii. Day of First Fruits Numbers 28:26
iv. Atzeret (Concluding Festival)
v. Season of the giving of The Law.
vi. Judgement day of the Trees.
vii. Pentecost (50)
Bible Readings
a. Leviticus 23:9 - 22
b. Exodus 20:1 - 17 (Sabbath of Creation)
Deuteronomy 5:6 - 21 (Sabbath of Exodus)
c. Ruth Chapters 1 - 4 (One of the 5 Biblical scrolls called `Megilot’. Ruth has many pastoral scenes.
Ruth traces the ancestry of David.
Who was born and died at Shavuot.
1. Bikkurim - Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olive Oil, Date Honey. Deu. 8:7-8. Tied with Reed rope, `Let these be Bikkurim.’ Preparation. Inhabitants gather night before at an open place. Early next morning the head of the Ma’amad (district), calls out, `Let us arise and go up to Zion into the house of the Lord our God.’
Procession:-
a. Fruit in Willow baskets.
b. Doves tied to baskets (for Burnt Offering).
c. Ox with horns bedecked with gold, an Olive wreath on its head, led the way - it was to be the Peace Offering.
d. Flute Player
e. Temple Officers come out to meet the pilgrims.
f. Artisans Greeting “Brethren, men of..., we are delighted to welcome you.” (They had no produce).
g. At the Temple Court
h. Levitical Choir “I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast raised me up, and hast not suffered my enemies to rejoice over me.” Psalm 30:2
i. Turtle Doves offered.
j. Fruits presented to the priests. Holding basket on shoulder the pilgrim recites, DEU 26:3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us.”
DEU 26:4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God.
DEU 26:5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God:
“My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
DEU 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.
DEU 26:7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
DEU 26:8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.
DEU 26:9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
DEU 26:10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.” Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.
k. Stalls
l. Teaching - e.g. Gods voice split into 70 voices, representing the seventy nations.
m. Hospitality
3. TABERNACLES
The feast of Tabernacles completes the sacred festivals of the seventh month. In contrast to the sombre tone of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the third feast of Tishri was a time of joy. Israel had passed through a season of repentance and redemption. The Lord wanted His people to enjoy the benefits of their renewed relationship with Him. The rigors of introspection and searching would now make way for the feast called “The Season of Our Rejoicing.
As Israel gathered leaves and branches, meticulously choosing the best and least blemished, as they laid the foundations of the flimsy booths, their every move reminded them of their time of wandering in the wilderness. It was only by the grace of God that they were granted the security of their present and permanent homes. As their nostrils filled with the pungent smell of myrtle and freshly cut palm, they remembered their days of uncertainty in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all natural laws, they should have perished, were it not for the Lord who guided their path, quenched their thirst, and satisfied their hunger above and beyond their needs.
The delicate willow branches, a welcome sight growing along the banks of flowing brooks, filled their minds with thoughts of water springing from desert rocks.
For seven long days and nights the Israelites were to dwell in booths. The sensitive heart could not help but be overwhelmed with a feeling of poignancy, for certainly joy and plenty have not characterised the history of the Jewish people. Many a “season of joy” has been marred by prejudice, persecution, desecration, and bloodshed.
Such calamities were graphically predicted by the prophet Moses when he declared to the people: “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God . . . all these blessings shall come upon you . . . if you will not obey the Lord your God ....all these curses shall come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15; see vv. 16-68 and Leviticus 26:14-39).
Moses gave Israel the choice between obedience and disobedience, a life of joy and plenty or curses and desolation. If Israel chose disobedience, they would have no cause for rejoicing, nor would they care to celebrate the feast in gratitude to the God of joy!
THE NAMES OF THE FEAST
The many names for the feast of Booths attest to its prominent role in the Hebrew calendar. As each facet in a diamond yields a new prism of colours, the names of the feast serve as windows into the world of the festival.
THE FEAST OF BOOTHS
The name “The Feast of Booths” (Hebrew, Sukkot) recalls the commandment in Leviticus: “You shall live in booths for seven days . . . so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:42-43).
The impermanent, vulnerable, leafy shelters were to remind the Israelites of God’s faithfulness during their forty years of wandering in the desert. The booths symbolised man’s need to depend on God for His provision of food, water, and shelter. This is true in the spiritual realm as well, for without the provision of His presence and power, all men would be left naked and destitute. Our world is a spiritual desert, scorching the soul without the Holy One’s life-giving intervention on our behalf.
In ancient Israel, booths were in common use throughout the land. The Hebrew word Sukkah originally meant “woven.” Temporary shelters were woven together from branches and leaves to protect livestock (Genesis 33:17), to provide resting places for warriors during battle (2 Samuel 11:11), to shelter watchers in the vineyard (Isaiah 1:8), and to protect the people from the incessant heat of the merciless Middle-Eastern sun. During harvest time, Israelite fields were dotted with such booths, woven hastily together as temporary homes for the harvesters.
THE FEAST OF INGATHERING
The command to build booths and dwell in them coincided annually with Israel’s final harvest, and so the name “Feast of Ingathering” was used for the holiday as well. In Leviticus 23:34 we read that the feast was to begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, but in other portions of Scripture the beginning point for the feast is less definite. For example, in Exodus 23:16 the celebration is to start “at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labours from the field.” In the previous verse where God ordains the celebration of Passover, He makes mention of the “appointed time in the month Abib” (Exodus 23:15). So it is interesting that the fifteenth of Tishri is not mentioned in this verse. In Deuteronomy 16:13 Moses again leaves out the date: “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered it from your threshing floor and your wine vat.”
We are not certain why the date of the feast, which is certainly significant, is not mentioned in these two passages. Perhaps the reason is simply that the emphasis of the passage is on the relationship of the holiday to the final gathering of crops in the fall. Some would suggest that the Exodus passage reflects an earlier tradition that set a date for the feast of Tabernacles whenever the harvest was complete. This is an unacceptable solution because Leviticus 23 clearly states that the feast was to begin on the fifteenth of Tishri. If the “Torah” was given by God at Mount Sinai it would be unreasonable to suggest that the Exodus passage was written before Leviticus. A better solution might simply involve a matter of emphasis. The Exodus and Deuteronomy passages emphasise the relationship of Tabernacles to the Ingathering of the crops, whereas the institution of the feast in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29:12-38 depicts the feast in its broadest and most panoramic sense.
Ancient Israel’s economy was agrarian. There was no industry; there were no office buildings. Extensive foreign trade had not yet been established by the young nation. The focal point of daily life revolved around the crops the people needed for sustenance. The seasons guided Israel’s activities-the rain decreed their sustenance from year to year. Without rain, Israel, in its arid Middle-Eastern location, was as much in peril of famine as Egypt had been in the time of Joseph.
In our day of international trade and relief organisations, it is difficult to grasp the impact that a year with scant rainfall would have upon a fledgling nation. If there is a food shortage today, we have many alternative sources for supplies. However, that was not so for the Hebrews.
Each season’s plentiful harvest brought a renewed sense of relief and thankfulness that children would not go hungry, for God had once more provided for His people.
THE SEASON OF OUR JOY
Perhaps this is why the feast of Ingathering also came to be called “The Season of Our Joy.” The agricultural year was at an end, the crops were gathered into the store-houses. The work was done, the harvest was over; and the joy that was unleashed at the end of a long, hard labour found the perfect outlet for expression. God gave Israel seven festival days to set aside all worldly cares and thank and praise Him who had provided in abundance.
THE FEAST
The impact of the holiday upon the Israelites was so significant that the feast of Booths came to be known as the “feast of the Lord,” or more familiarly, “the feast.” The Hebrew word has comes from the root meaning “to dance or to be joyous” and applies exclusively to the three festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, in which all males were to appear before the Lord in the sanctuary. There was no need to ask a fellow Jew what he meant by “the feast,”. Just as there is no need today to ask a fellow countryman what he means by “the flag.” This most loved of all holidays, this season of our joy, this final feast in the annual cycle, was indeed a high point in the life of the Israelites. It was the feast!
Two other names for the feast bear a short note of explanation. In “the feast of Sukkot,” Sukkot is merely the original Hebrew term for “booths.” Likewise, in “the feast of Tabernacles,” a well-known name in non-Jewish circles, Tabernacles is a transliteration from the Vulgate of the Latin word TABERNACULA. A tabernacle always alludes to that which is temporary; whether that be the Holy Tabernacle that housed the Shekinah until the building of the more permanent Temple or the booths that housed the Israelites until they settled and built stone dwellings in the land of promise.
