Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17

Introduction

Quite literally, the watershed event for Israel as a nation was the Exodus.

Jacob and his sons and all their people had arrived in Egypt when Jacob’s son, Joseph, another of Jacob’s sons, was second-in-command of all Egypt. They fared well when Joseph was alive but when he died there arose in Egypt a Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph and didn’t care for Joseph’s people. Thus began a long period of Israelite slavery in Egypt. The people, however, cried out to YHWH and YHWH chose Moses to lead His chosen people out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land.

Moses went to Pharaoh and with the help of his brother, Aaron, spoke the words of YHWH to him, “Let my people go.” But Pharaoh was stubborn. Even when Egypt was crippled by plague after plague, Pharaoh refused to let Israel go. Finally though, the tenth plague—the plague of the firstborn—was so devastating that Pharaoh said, “Go.” But soon Pharaoh came after Israel in the wilderness. YHWH protected His people and parted the waters of the Red Sea so they could pass safely through. Pharaoh's army of chariots thought they would do the same, but the waters of God’s judgment fell on them so that no even one remained.

As I said, this was Israel’s watershed moment.

It’s why Israel was repeatedly told, “You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes,” (Deut. 16:12).

Israel was never to forget; Israel was to always remember what the Lord had done for them.

That’s the point of the three annual feasts we read about in Deuteronomy 16:1-17.

[READING - Deuteronomy 16:1-17]

Deuteronomy 16:1–17 NASB95

1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 “For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5 “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7 “You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it. 9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 “Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; 11 and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. 12 “You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. 13 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 15 “Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. 16 “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] The Israelites are now a generation removed from the Exodus, from the plagues, from the passover, and from the parting of the Red Sea. There were still eyewitnesses among them—Moses, for one—but as they crossed over the Jordan and entered the Promised Land and the years rolled on, well, soon there would be no one in Israel who had been there.

[INTER] How would Israel remember what YHWH had done when all the eyewitnesses to His rescue were gone?

Deuteronomy 16 (and other passages like it) give us the answer.

[CIT] In this chapter, Moses told Israel to remember how YHWH rescued them from Egypt by keeping three annual feasts—the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

[TS] The Feast of Unleavened Bread is commanded in vv. 1-8…

Exposition

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (16:1-8)

[EXP] This feast was to be observed in the month of Abib, the first month on the Hebrew calendar. (It’s around the time of March-April in our calendar and after the exile in Babylon it will be called Nisan.) It was a celebration of the Passover, for in that month the Lord brought His people out of Egypt by night.

I mentioned the plague of the firstborn earlier and that is what is being referenced here.

God had told His people to take a lamb without spot or blemish and to slaughter it on a certain night and to roast it over a fire. They were to eat everything that could be eat, nothing was to be left until morning. And the blood of the lamb was to be painted on to the doorposts of their house.

When God’s wrath swept through Egypt killing the firstborn of everyone and everything, the blood of the lamb would cause the wrath of God to passover them.

The people did as they were told and God spared their firstlings.

That salvation springing from sacrifice was to remember forever among God’s people.

Thus, every year at the place God would choose (first Shiloh and later the Temple in Jerusalem), the Israelite people (at least the men) were to gather and sacrifice the Passover.

This included the Passover lamb and others sacrifices during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is connected to the Passover celebration because when Israel was rescued from Egypt, they were told to make bread without leaven to take with them on their journey.

Leaven makes bread rise when cooked, but Israel had time for baking when they were fleeing Egypt. They hurriedly carried their unleavened bread out in bowls covered in clothes.

This Joshua and Caleb generation and all subsequent generations of Israelites were to remember how hastily their ancestors had fled Egypt by eating unleavened bread for six days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The seventh days was solemn assembly to the Lord their God; a sabbath day.

[TS] That’s the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Next, notice…

The Feast of Weeks (16:9-12)

[EXP] Seven weeks after the beginning of the grain harvest (i.e., seven weeks after Passover), the Feast of Weeks took place. It was sometimes called the Feast of Harvest or the Day of First Fruits.

It was a one day celebration where God’s people came before Him (eventually at the Temple in Jerusalem) and offered up freewill offerings according to God’s blessing.

If God blessed you with more, then you offered more as a freewill offering.

It was a time of rejoicing for the whole community.

It was a time of remembrance as v. 12 says…

Deuteronomy 16:12 NASB95

12 “You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

Israel was to remember Egypt and rejoice!

They were slaves but now they were free!

They were landless but now they were in the Promised Land!

They were hungry in the wilderness but now the full harvest had come in!

They would bake two big loaves of bread from fine flour and wave them before the Lord.

They would make animal sacrifices and eat together.

Israel was to rejoice in the Lord.

And Israel was to carefully obey the Lord.

Rejoicing in the Lord leads to obeying the Lord.

Later, because the Feast of Weeks was about 50 days after Passover, the Feast of Weeks became known as Pentecost.

And somewhere along the way, someone figured out that this was about three new moons after that very first Passover when God brought His people out of Egypt, which Exodus 19:1 tells us is when God gave His people His Law.

So the celebration of the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost became a celebration of God giving His Law to His people as well.

[TS] That’s the Feast of Weeks.

Let’s look at the Feast of Booths before we see how all this points to Christ…

The Feast of Booths (16:13-15)

[EXP] This feast took place at the end of the year after all the labors of field were gathered in and sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering.

This too was a celebration, a rejoicing by the whole community, but this one lasted seven days.

At least the males were to gather at the place of worship (again, eventually the Temple in Jerusalem) to make their offerings.

Leviticus 23:42-43 tells us that during this feast, God’s people were to…

Leviticus 23:42–43 NASB95

42 ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 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.’ ”

This is why this feast was called the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (i.e., Tents).

[TS] The Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Booths.

These were the three annual feasts on Israel’s yearly calendar—a calendar that was always reminding them of God’s grace in the past and encouraging them to trust Him in the future.

Illustration

I keep a paper calendar, a planner that most of the time just serves as a place to write down my to-do list. But I do make notes in there from time to time.

This past week I was preparing to throw away some old calendar pages from years gone by and couldn’t do it because those pages contain notes like this one from February 7, 2015…

“Visited with Mary Jo Main and Al Main. Al has lost weight and has been on hospice for a while. He seemed in good spirits though. Read Psalm 120 with him and prayed with him, Mrs. Mary Jo, and the nurse. Must share the Gospel (which I have in the past) but I must share it with a passage used to comfort people.”

Or it contains notes like this one from May 7th of that same year…

“Visited with George Massengale. Seemed ok, but his son said that he isn’t doing well. Son seemed hurt by George’s generosity to others in the past. Did get to share the Gospel with George’s son. Hope he responds in faith.”

Or it contains notes like this one from October 2014…

“Judy Burtt beat me up again and took my candy-corn because I wouldn’t share with her!”

No, seriously, the point is that our calendars are pointing us somewhere.

If they are a plan of what we hope to go and what we hope to accomplish, how much of that plan is aimed at Christ?

If they are a record of where we’ve gone and what we’ve done, how much of that record testifies that we’ve lived for Christ?

When we come to the NT, we see that the Israelite Calendar was about all about Christ.

Application

First, consider that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is about Jesus.

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread a lamb was sacrificed commemorating that first Passover lamb.

It was during Passover that Jesus presented Himself as the Passover lamb during the Passover meal shared with His disciples. Luke 22 says…

Luke 22:19–20 NASB95

19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Our observance of the Lord’s Supper is directly connected to the Passover because, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:7…

1 Corinthians 5:7 NASB95

7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

[TS] Jesus and the atonement He gives us by His sacrifice is the fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Second, consider that the Feast of Weeks is about Jesus.

As I said earlier, this feast took place 50 days after Passover and came to be referred to as Pentecost (pente meaning fifty).

It was, of course, on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon believers in Acts 2 when Peter preached Jesus as the Christ and called those who had gathered for Pentecost to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus.

If we recall that some celebrated the giving of the Law during the Feast of Weeks, we are reminded that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4).

And the Apostle Paul brings the idea of the Law giving way to the Spirit in several place.

Romans 7:6 says that in Christ…

Romans 7:6 NASB95

6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Romans 8:2 says…

Romans 8:2 NASB95

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

And Galatians 5:18 says…

Galatians 5:18 NASB95

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

[TS] Jesus and the new life He gives us by His Spirit is the fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks.

Third, consider that the Feast of Booths is about Jesus.

There’s more that could be said here, but I’ll just mention two things.

As we said a moment ago, this feast recalled the time of Israel’s wilderness wandering when they camped in tents.

During that time, God provided water for His people through miraculous means and He also led His people in a pillar of fire.

Concerning the water listen to this note from the MacArthur Study Bible…

MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

A tradition grew up in the few centuries before Jesus that on the 7 days of the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, a golden container filled with water from the pool of Siloam was carried in procession by the High-Priest back to the temple. As the procession came to the Water Gate on the S side of the inner temple court, 3 trumpet blasts were made to mark the joy of the occasion and the people recited Is 12:3, “you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” At the temple, while onlookers watched, the priests would march around the altar with the water container while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss 113–118). The water was offered in sacrifice to God at the time of the morning sacrifice. The use of the water symbolized the blessing of adequate rainfall for crops. Jesus used this event as an object lesson and opportunity to make a very public invitation

That very public invitation is found in John 7:37-38…

John 7:37–38 NASB95

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Concerning the pillar of fire, the Holman Bible Dictionary says that during the Feast of Booths huge menorahs would be lit at the Court of the Women at the Temple. Those blazing menorahs were meant to remind the people of God of how He had lead them in a pillar of fire during the Exodus.

It was likely in that context that Jesus said in John 8:12…

John 8:12 NASB95

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

[TS] Jesus and all that He offers us in Himself is the fulfillment of the Feast of Booths.

Fourth, and finally, consider that all the sacrificial animals offered during these annual feasts were pointing to Jesus (15:19-23)

Deuteronomy 15:19–23 NASB95

19 “You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 “You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. 21 “But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 “You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. 23 “Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

These verses come before chapter 16 on the annual feasts because every annual feast required animal sacrifices whether they be the Passover lamb or one of the others.

What animals would be sacrificed?

Those who were firstborn of their mother, so long as they had no defects. They had to be blameless and spotless if they were going to be sacrificed to the Lord.

Any other animal could be worked or shorn or eaten, but the firstborn of a sacrificial animal was set aside to the Lord.

Actually, all firstborn creatures—human and animal alike—were set apart for service to the Lord in Israel.

This was because of that first Passover when God took the firstborn of the Egyptians but passed over the firstborn of the Israelites due to the blood of the lamb.

Firstborn children could be redeemed by offering a sacrificial animal in their place, but we are here reminded that God has redeemed us all by way of Jesus, the perfect Lamb without spot or blemish, the firstborn of all creation, who gave His life so the wrath of God would Passover us.

Once again, we see that Deuteronomy is all about Jesus.

Conclusion

[PRAYER]