Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you; but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt. You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work.
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Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you; but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt. You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work. You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks. You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to how Yahweh your God blesses you. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes. You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. You shall keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh chooses, because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty. Every man shall give as he is able, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you. You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside Yahweh your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves. Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.
Parallel Translations
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Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.
You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you;
but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt.
You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents.
Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work.
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Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
Show all 3 translations
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Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God; for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
And thou shalt sacrifice the passover-offering unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for in haste didst thou come forth out of the land of Egypt; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all they borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover-offering within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee;
but at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.
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Cross-references (74)
- Exodus 34:18 (vv1, 3) “You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the…
- Exodus 12:2-20 (v1) “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of…
- Exodus 13:4 (v1) Today you go out in the month Abib.
- Exodus 12:39 (v3) They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt,…
- Numbers 28:16 (v1) “ ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Yahweh’s Passover.
Show all 69 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (vv2, 6) But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you…
- Exodus 12:10 (v4) You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.
- Exodus 34:25 (v4) “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Passover shall not be left to the…
- Leviticus 23:5 (v1) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover.
- Exodus 12:19-20 (v3) There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the…
- Exodus 13:7 (v4) Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you. No yeast shall be seen with you,…
- Exodus 23:15 (v1) You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in…
- Deuteronomy 12:26 (v2) Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose.
- 2 Chronicles 35:13 (v7) They roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance. They boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and…
- Exodus 12:8 (vv3–4) They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.
- Numbers 9:11 (vv3, 6) In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
- Deuteronomy 16:2 (vv5, 7) You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to cause his name to…
- Exodus 12:15 (v4) “ ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened…
- Numbers 9:2-5 (v1) “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season. On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it…
- Deuteronomy 12:5-6 (v5) But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you…
- Matthew 26:17 (v2) Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the…
- Matthew 26:20 (v6) Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
- Mark 14:12 (v2) On the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare…
- Luke 22:8 (v2) Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
- Luke 22:15 (v2) He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,
- Luke 22:19 (v3) He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in…
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 (v2) Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in…
- Hebrews 9:26 (v6) or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put…
- 1 Peter 1:19-20 (v6) but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the…
- Exodus 12:5-7 (v2) Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats. You shall keep it until the…
- Exodus 12:6-9 (v6) You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at…
- Exodus 12:8-9 (v7) They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Don’t eat it raw, nor…
- Exodus 12:11 (v3) This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in…
- Exodus 12:14-15 (v3) This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by…
- Exodus 12:15-16 (v8) “ ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened…
- Exodus 12:26-27 (v3) It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s…
- Exodus 12:29-42 (v1) At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of…
- Exodus 12:32-33 (v3) Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!” The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send…
- Exodus 13:3-9 (v3) Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh…
- Exodus 13:6-8 (v8) Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout…
- Leviticus 23:6 (v3) On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
- Leviticus 23:6-8 (v8) On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. In the first…
- Leviticus 23:36 (v8) Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an…
- Numbers 9:3 (v6) On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season. You shall keep it according to all its statutes…
- Numbers 28:16-19 (v2) “ ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Yahweh’s Passover. On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast.…
- Numbers 28:17 (v3) On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.
- Numbers 28:17-19 (v8) On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. In the first day shall be a holy…
- Deuteronomy 12:11 (v2) then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that…
- Deuteronomy 12:14 (v2) but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I…
- Deuteronomy 12:18 (v2) but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male…
- Deuteronomy 15:20 (v2) You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household.
- Deuteronomy 16:6 (v7) but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at…
- 1 Kings 22:27 (v3) Say, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in…
- 2 Kings 23:23 (v7) but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, this Passover was kept to Yahweh in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 35:7 (v2) Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were…
- Psalms 22:14-15 (v7) I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a…
- Psalms 102:9 (v3) For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
- Psalms 111:4 (v3) He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered. Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
- Psalms 127:2 (v3) It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
- Zechariah 12:10 (v3) I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom…
- Matthew 26:2 (v2) “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
- John 2:13 (v7) The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
- John 2:23 (v7) Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did.
- John 11:55 (v7) Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
- 1 Corinthians 5:8 (v3) Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of…
- 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 (v3) When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same…
- 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (v3) For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold, this…
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6 (v3) You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
- Hebrews 1:2-3 (v6) has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son…
69 distinct cross-references across this passage (74 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6 Read Exod. 13:4.
Read Exod. 13:4.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Deu 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep…
Deu 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Ver. 1. And keep the passover.] Every man that seeth another stricken and himself spared is still to keep a passover for himself.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Object. They came out of Egypt by day, and…
Object. They came out of Egypt by day, and in the morning, as appears from Exo 12:22; 13:3; Num 33:3.
Answ. They are said to be brought out by night, because in the night Pharaoh was forced to give them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Much of the communion between God and his people…
Much of the communion between God and his people Israel was kept up, and a face of religion preserved in the nation, by the three yearly feasts, the institution of which, and the laws concerning them, we have several times met with already; and here they are repeated.
I. The law of the passover, so great a solemnity that it made the whole month, in the midst of which it was placed, considerable: Observe the month Abib, Deu 16:1. Though one week only of this month was to be kept as a festival, yet their preparations before must be so solemn, and their reflections upon it and improvements of it afterwards so serious, as to amount to an observance of the whole month. The month of Abib, or of new fruits, as the Chaldee translates it, answers to our March (or part of March and part of April), and was by a special order from God, in remembrance of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, made the beginning of their year (Exo 12:2), which before was reckoned to begin in September. This month they were to keep the passover, in remembrance of their being brought out of Egypt by night, Deu 16:1. The Chaldee paraphrasts expound it, "Because they came out of Egypt by daylight," there being an express order that they should not stir out of their doors till morning, Exo 12:22. One of them expounds it thus: "He brought thee out of Egypt, and did wonders by night." The other, "and thou shalt eat the passover by night." The laws concerning it are, 1. That they must be sure to sacrifice the passover in the place that God should choose (Deu 16:2), and in no other place, Deu 16:5-7. The passover was itself a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our passover, is said to be sacrificed for us (Co1 5:7), and many other sacrifices were offered during the seven days of the feast (Num 28:19, etc.), which are included here, for they are said to be sacrificed of the flock and the herd, whereas the passover itself was only of the flock, either a lamb or a kid: now no sacrifice was accepted but from the altar that sanctified it; it was therefore necessary that they should to up to the place of the altar, for, though the paschal lamb was entirely eaten by the owners, yet it must be killed in the court, the blood sprinkled, and the inwards burned upon the altar. By confining them to the appointed rule, from which they would have been apt to vary, and to introduce foolish inventions of their own, had they been permitted to offer these sacrifices within their own gates, from under the inspection of the priests. They were also hereby directed to have their eye up unto God in the solemnity, and the desire of their hearts towards the remembrance of his name, being appointed to attend where he had chosen to place his name, Deu 16:2 and Deu 16:6. But, when the solemnity was over, they might turn and go unto their tents, Deu 16:7. Some think that they might, if they pleased, return the very morning after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the priests and Levites being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week's work; but the first day of the seven is so far from being the day of their dispersion that it is expressly appointed for a holy convocation (Lev 23:7; Num 28:18); therefore we must take it as Jonathan's paraphrase expounds it, in the morning after the end of the feast thou shalt go to thy cities. And it was the practice to keep together the whole week, Ch2 35:17. 2. That they must eat unleavened bread for seven days, and no leavened bread must be seen in all their coasts, Deu 16:3, Deu 16:4, Deu 16:8. The bread they were confined to is here called bread of affliction, because neither grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and therefore proper to signify the heaviness of their spirits in their bondage and to keep in remembrance the haste in which they came out, the case being so urgent that they could not stay for the leavening of the bread they took with them for their march. The Jewish writers tell us that the custom at the passover supper was that the master of the family broke this unleavened bread, and gave to every one a piece of it, saying, This is (that is, this signifies, represents, or commemorates, which explains that saying of our Saviour, This is my body) the bread of affliction which your fathers did eat in the land of Egypt. The gospel meaning of this feast of unleavened bread the apostle gives us, Co1 5:7. Christ our passover being sacrificed for us, and we having participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort, let us keep the feast in a holy conversation, free from the leaven of malice towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and love. Lastly, Observe, concerning the passover, for what end it was instituted: "That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of Egypt, not only on the day of the passover, or during the seven days of the feast, but all the days of thy life (Deu 16:3), as a constant inducement to obedience." Thus we celebrate the memorial of Christ's death at certain times, that we may remember it at all times, as a reason why we should live to him that died for us and rose again.
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II. Seven weeks after the passover the feast of pentecost was to be observed, concerning which they are here directed, 1. Whence to number their seven weeks, from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn (Deu 16:9), that is, from the morrow after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, for on that day (though it is probable the people did not begin their harvest till the feast was ended) messengers were sent to reap a sheaf of barley, which was to be offered to God as the first-fruits, Lev 23:10. Some think it implies a particular care which Providence would take of their land with respect to the weather, that their harvest should be always ripe and ready for the sickle just at the same time. 2. How they were to keep this feast. (1.) They must bring an offering unto God, Deu 16:10. It is here called a tribute of a free-will-offering. It was required of them as a tribute to their Sovereign Lord and owner, under whom they held all they had; and yet because the law did not determine the quantum, but it was left to every man's generosity to bring what he chose, and whatever he brought he must give cheerfully, it is therefore called a free-will offering. It was a grateful acknowledgment of the goodness of God to them in the mercies of these corn-harvests now finished, and therefore must be according as God had blessed them. Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly. (2.) They must rejoice before God, Deu 16:11. Holy joy is the heart and soul of thankful praises, which are as the language and expression of holy joy. They must rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to him; our duty must be our delight as well as our enjoyments. They must have their very servants to rejoice with them, "for remember (Deu 16:12) that thou wast a bond-man, and wouldest have been very thankful if thy taskmasters would have given thee some time and cause for rejoicing; and thy God did bring thee out to keep a feast with gladness; therefore be pleasant with thy servants, and make them easy." And, it should seem, those general words, thou shalt observe and do these statutes, are added here for a particular reason, because this feast was kept in remembrance of the giving of the law upon Mount Sinai, fifty days after they came out of Egypt; now the best way of expressing our thankfulness to God for his favour to us in giving us his law is to observe and do according to the precepts of it.
III. They must keep the feast of tabernacles, Deu 16:13-15. Here is no repetition of the law concerning the sacrifices that were to be offered in great abundance at this feast (which we had at large, Num 29:12, etc.), because the care of these belonged to the priests and Levites, who had not so much need of a repetition as the people had, and because the spiritual part of the service, which consisted in holy joy, was most pleasing to God, and was to be the perpetual duty of a gospel conversation, of which this feast was typical. Observe what stress is laid upon it here: Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast (Deu 16:14), and, because the Lord shall bless thee, thou shalt surely rejoice, Deu 16:15. Note, 1. It is the will of God that his people should be a cheerful people. If those that were under the law must rejoice before God, much more must we that are under the grace of the gospel, which makes it our duty, not only as here to rejoice in our feasts, but to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always. 2. When we rejoice in God ourselves we should do what we can to assist others also to rejoice in him, by comforting the mourners and supplying the necessitous, that even the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow may rejoice with us. See Job 29:13. 3. We must rejoice in God, not only because of what we have received and are receiving from him daily, but because of what he has promised, and we expect to receive yet further from him: because he shall bless thee, therefore thou shalt rejoice. Those that make God their joy may rejoice in hope, for he is faithful that has promised.
IV. The laws concerning the three solemn feasts are summed up (Deu 16:16, Deu 16:17), as often before, Exo 23:16, Exo 23:17; Exo 34:23. The general commands concerning them are, 1. That all the males must then make their personal appearance before God, that by their frequent meeting to worship God, at the same place, and by the same rule, they might be kept faithful and constant to that holy religion which was established among them. 2. That none must appear before God empty, but every man must bring some offering or other, in token of a dependence upon God and gratitude to him. And God was not unreasonable in his demands; let every man but give as he was able, and no more was expected. The same is still the rule of charity, Co1 16:2. Those that give to their power shall be accepted, but those that give beyond their power are accounted worthy of double honour (Co2 8:3), as the poor widow that gave all she had, Luk 21:4.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–8 Observe the month of Abib,.... Sometimes called Nisan; it…
Observe the month of Abib,.... Sometimes called Nisan; it answered to part, of our March, and part of April; it was an observable month, to be taken notice of; it was called Abib, from the corn then appearing in ear, and beginning to ripen, and all things being in their verdure; the Septuagint calls it the month of new fruit; it was appointed the first of the months for ecclesiastic things, and was the month in which the Israelites went out of Egypt, and the first passover was kept in it, and therefore deserving of regard; see Exo 12:2.
for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night; for though they did not set out until morning, when it was day light, and are said to come out in the day, yet it was in the night the Lord did wonders for them, as Onkelos paraphrases this clause; that he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, and passed over the houses of the Israelites, the door posts being sprinkled with the blood of the passover lamb slain that night, and therefore was a night much to be observed; and it was in the night Pharaoh arose and gave them leave to go; and from that time they were no more under his power, and from thence may be reckoned their coming out of bondage; see Exo 12:12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–8 A repetition of the laws concerning the passover, ver.…
A repetition of the laws concerning the passover, ver. 1-8. The feast of pentecost, ver. 9-12 That of tabernacles, ver. 13-15. All the males are to attend them, ver. 16, 17. An appointment of Judges and officers, ver. 18-20. A caution against groves and images, ver. 21, 22.
Observe the month of Abib - Or of new fruits, which answers to part of March and part of April, and was by a special order from God made the beginning of their year, in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt. By night - In the night Pharaoh was forced to give them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 The month of Abib to be observed, 1.
CHAPTER XVI
The month of Abib to be observed, 1.
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The feast of the passover and of unleavened bread, 2-8.
The feast of weeks, 9-12.
The feast of tabernacles, 13-15.
All the males to appear before the Lord thrice in the year, none
to come empty, each to give according to his ability, 16, 17.
Judges and officers to be made in all their cities, 18.
Strict justice shall be executed, 19, 20.
No grove to be planted near the altar of God, nor any image to
be set up, 21, 22.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVI
Verse 1. Keep the passover] A feast so called because the angel that destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, seeing the blood of the appointed sacrifice sprinkled on the lintels and door-posts of the Israelites' houses, passed over THEM, and did not destroy any of their firstborn. See Clarke on Ex 12:2, "Ex 12:3", &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 7, 8 Deu 16:1. As a further preservative against idolatry, Moses…
Deu 16:1. As a further preservative against idolatry, Moses proceeds to inculcate upon them a strict regard to the most exact observance of the three great annual festivals, appointed by their law to be celebrated at the stated place of national worship, these being designed for this very end, to keep the people steady to the profession and practice of the religion of the one true God. The first of these feasts was the passover, with that of unleavened bread; comprehending the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, with other sacrifices and oblations prescribed for each day of that whole week during which it was to continue. Of which see on Exo 12:13. Observe the month of Abib — Or of new fruits, which answers to part of our March and April, and was, by a special order from God, made the beginning of their year, in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt. By night — In the night Pharaoh was forced to give them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v1 The cardinal point on which the whole of the…
The cardinal point on which the whole of the prescriptions in this chapter turn, is evidently the same as has been so often insisted on in the previous chapters, namely, the concentration of the religious services of the people round one common sanctuary. The prohibition against observing the great Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and tabernacle, the three annual epochs in the sacred year of the Jew, at home and in private, is reiterated in a variety of words no less than six times in the first sixteen verses of this chapter Deu 16:2, Deu 16:6-7, Deu 16:11, Deu 16:15-16. Hence, it is easy to see why nothing is here said of the other holy days.
The Feast of Passover Exo. 12:1-27; Num 9:1-14; Lev 23:1-8. A re-enforcement of this ordinance was the more necessary because its observance had clearly been intermitted for thirty-nine years (see Jos 6:10). One Passover only had been kept in the wilderness, that recorded in Num. 9, where see the notes.
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Deu 16:2
Sacrifice the passover - “i. e.” offer the sacrifices proper to the feast of the Passover, which lasted seven days. Compare a similar use of the word in a general sense in Joh 18:28. In the latter part of Deu 16:4 and in the following verses Moses passes, as the context again shows, into the narrower sense of the word Passover.
Deu 16:7
After the Paschal Supper in the courts or neighborhood of the sanctuary was over, they might disperse to their several “tents” or “dwellings” 1Ki 8:66. These would of course be within a short distance of the sanctuary, because the other Paschal offerings were yet to be offered day by day for seven days and the people would remain to share them; and especially to take part in the holy convocation on the first and seventh of the days.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 Corn. Hebrew abib, "green ears of corn," when barley…
Corn. Hebrew abib, "green ears of corn," when barley begins to ripen, and wheat is yet green in Palestine; at the time of the year which corresponds with half of our March and April. The Chaldeans called this month Nisan, "of the standards;" because the armies then left thir winter quarters. The first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered on the second day of the paschal solemnity, Leviticus xxiii. 10., and Exodus xiii. 4. (Calmet) --- Night. We read (Exodus xii. 22., and Numbers xxxiii. 3,) that the Hebrews were ordered not to leave their houses till morning, and that they departed from Ramesses on the day after the passage of the destroying angel. They began, therefore, to prepare for their journey on the evening of the 14th, and began their march at day-break on the 15th of Nisan, ver. 6. Their departure may be considered in its different stages: 1. Of eating the paschal lamb, with their staves in their hands; 2. of being urged by the Egyptians to depart, at midnight; 3. of their leaving their respective homes, to meet all together at Ramesses; and lastly, [4.] of their beginning their march from that place to leave Egypt. They did not, however, quit the confines till they had passed the Red Sea, which took place effectually in the night, Exodus xiv. 20, 24. (Haydock) --- Thus they departed in the evening, at night, in the morning, and in the open day. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 6, 7 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover--not the paschal lamb,…
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover--not the paschal lamb, which was strictly and properly the passover. The whole solemnity is here meant, as is evident from the mention of the additional victims that required to be offered on the subsequent days of the feast (Num 28:18-19; Ch2 35:8-9), and from the allusion to the continued use of unleavened bread for seven days, whereas the passover itself was to be eaten at once. The words before us are equivalent to "thou shalt observe the feast of the passover."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 THE THREE GREAT RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS: PASSOVER, FEAST OF WEEKS…
THE THREE GREAT RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS: PASSOVER, FEAST OF WEEKS OR PENTECOST, AND FEAST OF TABERNACLES, Deu_16:1-17.
The directions for the observance of these feasts have already been given in the preceding books, Exodus xii; Leviticus xxiii; Numbers xxviii, 29. What is here said is on the supposition that the hearers were familiar with the nature of these sacred festivals and with the general regulations for their observance. The assembling of the people at one central place of worship, to be appointed by Jehovah their God, is enjoined, and the requirement emphasized by the repetition of the expression “in the place which the Lord shall choose.” Deu_16:2; Deu_16:6-7; Deu_16:11; Deu_16:15-16. The feast of trumpets and the great day of atonement are as positively required as these festivals, (see Lev_23:23, seq.,) but need not be referred to here, as the assembling of the people at the central sanctuary is the thing Moses wished to impress upon the people.
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1. Observe… Abib — The day for the commencement of the observance would be known from tradition as well as from Exo_12:2. Comp. also Num_9:1-14, and Lev_23:1-8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 1.Observe] As of the Sabbath, Deu_16:12.
1.Observe] As of the Sabbath, Deu_16:12.
month of Abib] Abib = young ears of corn (Exo_9:31; Lev_2:14) and the month fell in our March–April. So E and J (Exo_13:4; Exo_23:15; Exo_34:18). The name, belonging to the early agricultural calendar, was replaced after the Exile by the name Nisan of the later priestly calendar, in which it was the first month (P, Exo_12:1 f. etc.).
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and keep] Lit. make or perform; see Deu_5:15.
passover] Heb. pésaḥ, so named according to P, Exo_12:13; Exo_12:23; Exo_12:27, because God passed over (pasaḥ) the Hebrews’ houses when He smote the Egyptian first-born on the eve of the Exodus. Other etymologies suggested are:—(1) from the passage into the New Year (Reuss), but the Passover month did not become the first of Israel’s year till after the Exile; (2) from pasaḥ to limp (1Ki_18:26) as if of some sacred dance connected with threshold-rites; (3) from its expiatory value; cp. Ass. pasahu, to placate the deity (Zimmern in Schrader’s KAT3[137], 610 n.). Since the Passover was celebrated at night others (4) connect its origin with the phases of the moon. Whatever that origin may have been, the feast (as we have seen) was observed by Israel earlier than the Exodus and was possibly the same as the spring sacrifice of firstlings or other tribute from the flocks, common throughout the Semitic world. But its association with the Exodus was undoubtedly early and has ever since constituted its chief, if not its only, significance. The history and the meaning of the Passover have been so exhaustively treated in this series, Driver, Exod. Appendix I., that it is unnecessary to discuss the subject further here.
[137] Die Keilinschriften und das AIte Testament, 3rd edition (1903), by H. Zimmern and H. Winckler.
1–8. The Passover (with Maṣṣôth)
To be kept in Abib—for in that month Israel was brought out of Egypt—by the sacrifice of a victim from herd or flock at the One Altar (Deu_16:1 f.). For seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten—Israel’s food in the haste of quitting Egypt,—and no leaven shall be found in their borders, nor any of the Passover flesh after the first evening (Deu_16:3 f.). The Passover shall be boiled and eaten, the people returning next morning to their tents (Deu_16:5-7); for six days Israel shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh hold a convocation and do no work (Deu_16:8).—The integrity of the passage has been questioned (Steuern., Stȧrk, Berth., Marti) and with reason. For not only do Deu_16:3 f. on Maṣṣôth break the connection of Deu_16:1 f. with 5–7 on the Passover, while Deu_16:8 also on Maṣṣôth reflects the style of P; but Deu_16:7, fixing the Feast for one day after which the people are to return home, is difficult to harmonise with the seven days of Deu_16:3 f. and Deu_16:8. Two explanations are possible;—(1) D’s law originally consisted of Deu_16:1 f., Deu_16:5-7, and dealt only with the Passover; and the vv. on Maṣṣôth are from an editor. But there is no reason why the original code of D should ignore Maṣṣôth—for which certainly E has a law, Exo_23:15 a, and (Steuern. notwithstanding) J also, Exo_34:18 a—unless Maṣṣôth, a purely agricultural feast, had become too closely associated with the cults of the Baalim. (2) More probably we have here a compilation of two laws of D, originally separate, one on Passover and one on Maṣṣôth. In either case the combination of Passover and Maṣṣôth, which was not original and is not accepted even by H in Leviticus 23 (Lev_23:5; Lev_23:9 ff.; Lev_23:6-8 are added by P), took place between the date of the original code of D and that of the final composition of the Book of Deuteronomy.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v1 Deu_16:1-8. THE PASSOVER. (See on Exodus 12)
XVI.
Deu_16:1-8. THE PASSOVER. (See on Exodus 12)
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(1) The month Abib was so called from the “ears of corn” which appeared in it.
By night.—Pharaoh’s permission was given on the night of the death of the first-born, though Israel did not actually depart until the next day (Num_33:3-4).
(2) Of the flock, and of the herd.—The Passover victim itself must be either lamb or kid. (See on Deu_14:4, and comp. Exo_12:5.) But there were special sacrifices of bullocks appointed for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which followed the Passover. (See Num_28:19.)
(6) At even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou comest forth from Egypt.—The word “season” here is ambiguous in the English. Does it mean the time of year, or the time of day? The Hebrew word, which usually denotes a commemorative time, might seem to point to the hour of sunset as the time when the march actually began. If so, it was the evening of the fifteenth day of the month (See Num_33:3). But the word is also used generally of the time of year (Exo_23:15; Num_9:2, &c.); and as the Passover was to be kept on the fourteenth, not the fifteenth day, the time actually commemorated is the time of the slaying of the lamb which saved Israel from the destroyer, rather than the time of the actual march. It is noticeable that, while the Passover commemorated the deliverance by the slain lamb in Egypt, the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated the encampment at Succoth, the first resting-place of the delivered nation after the exodus had actually begun.
(8) A solemn assembly.—Literally, as in the Margin, a restraint—i.e., a day when work was forbidden. The word is applied to the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles in Lev_23:36, and Num_29:35, and does not occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Deuteronomy 16
Deuteronomy 16
We now approach one of the most profound and comprehensive sections of the Book of Deuteronomy, in which the inspired writer presents to our view what we may call the three great cardinal feasts of the Jewish year, namely, the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles; or redemption, the Holy Ghost, and the glory. We have here a more condensed view of lovely institutions than that given in Leviticus 23 where we have, if we count the Sabbath, eight feasts but if we view the Sabbath as distinct, and having its own special place as the type of God’s own eternal rest, then there are seven feasts, namely, the Passover; the feast of unleavened bread; the feast first-fruits; Pentecost; trumpets; the day of atonement; and tabernacles.
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Such is the order of feasts in the Book of which, as we have ventured to remark in our studies on that most marvellous book, may be called "The priests guide book" But in Deuteronomy, which is pre-eminently the people’s book, we have less of ceremonial detail, and the lawgiver confines himself to those great moral and national landmarks which, in the very simplest manner, as adapted to the people, present the past, the present, and the future.
"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God; for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days; neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee" - as if it were a matter of no importance where, provided the feast were kept - "but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there" - and nowhere else "thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God; thou shalt do no work therein" (vers. 1-8.)
Having, in our "Notes on Exodus," gone, somewhat fully, into the great leading principles of this foundation feast, we must refer the reader to that volume, if he desires to study the subject. But there are certain features peculiar to Deuteronomy to which we feel it our duty to call his special attention. And, in the first place, we have to notice the remarkable emphasis laid upon "the place" where the feast was to be kept. This is full of interest and practical moment. The people were not to choose for themselves. It might, according to human thinking, appear a very small matter how or where the feast was kept provided it was kept at all. But - be it carefully noted and deeply pondered by the reader - human thinking had nothing whatever to do in the matter; it was divine thinking and divine authority altogether. God had a right to prescribe and definitively settle where He would meet His people; and this He does in the most distinct and emphatic manner, in the above passage, where, three times over, He inserts the weighty clause, "In the place which the Lord thy God shall choose."
Is this vain repetition? Let no one dare to think, much less to assert it. It is most necessary emphasis; Why most necessary? Because of our ignorance, our indifference, and our wilfulness. God, in His infinite goodness, takes special pains to impress upon the heart, the conscience and the understanding of His people, that He would have one place, in particular, where the memorable and most significant feast of the Passover was to be kept.
And be it remarked that it is only in Deuteronomy that the place of celebration is insisted upon. We have nothing about it in Exodus, because there it was kept in Egypt. We have nothing about it in Numbers, because there it was kept in the wilderness. But, in Deuteronomy, it is authoritatively and definitively settled, because there we have the instructions for the land. Another striking proof that Deuteronomy is very far indeed from being a barren repetition of its predecessors.
The all-important point, in reference to "the place" so prominently and so peremptorily insisted upon in all the three great solemnities recorded in our chapter, is this, God would gather His beloved people around Himself, that they might feast together in His presence; that He might rejoice in them, and they in Him and in one another. All this could only be in the one special place of divine appointment. All who desired to meet Jehovah and to meet His people, all who desired worship and communion according to God, would thankfully betake themselves to the divinely appointed centre. Self-will might say, "Can we not keep the feast in the bosom of our families? What need is there of a long journey? Surely if heart is right, it cannot matter very much as to place." To all this we reply that the clearest, and best proof of the heart being right would be found in the simple, earnest desire to do the will of God. It was quite sufficient for every one who loved and feared God that He had appointed a Place where He would meet His people; there they would be found and nowhere else. His presence it was that could alone impart joy, comfort, strength and blessing to all their great national reunions. It was not the mere fact of a large number of people gathering together, three times a year, to feast and rejoice together; this might minister to human pride, self complacency and excitement. But to flock together to meet Jehovah, to assemble in His blessed presence, to own the place where He had recorded His Name, this would be the deep joy of every truly loyal heart throughout the twelve tribes of Israel. For any one, wilfully, to abide at home, or to go anywhere else than to the one divinely appointed place, would not only be to neglect and insult Jehovah, but actually to rebel against His supreme authority.
And now, having briefly spoken of the place, we may, for a moment, glance at the mode of celebration This, too, is, as we might expect, quite characteristic of our book. The leading feature here is "the unleavened bread." But the reader will specially note the interesting fact that this bread is "the bread of affliction." Now what is the meaning this? We all understand that unleavened bread is the type of that holiness of heart and life so absolutely essential to the enjoyment of true communion with God. We are not saved by personal holiness but, thank God, we are saved to it. It is not the ground of our salvation; but it is an essential element in our communion. Allowed leaven is the death-blow to communion and worship.
We must never, for one moment, lose sight of this great cardinal principle in that life of personal holiness and Practical godliness which, as redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we are called, bound and privileged to live from day to day, in the midst of the scenes and circumstances through which we are journeying home to our eternal rest in the heavens. To speak of communion and worship while living in known sin is the melancholy proof that we know nothing of either the one or the other In order to enjoy communion with God or the communion of saints, and in order to worship God in spirit and in truth, we must be living a life of personal holiness, a life of separation from all known evil. To take our place in the assembly of God’s people, and appear to take part in the holy fellowship and worship pertaining thereto, while living in secret sin, or allowing evil in others, is to defile the assembly, grieve the Holy Ghost, sin against Christ, and bring down upon us the judgement of God, who is now judging His house and chastening His children in order that they may not ultimately be condemned with the world.
All this is most solemn, and calls for the earnest attention of all who really desire: to walk with God, and serve Him with reverence and godly fear It is one thing to have the doctrine of the type in the region of our understanding, and another thing altogether to have its great, moral lesson engraved on heart and worked out in the life. May all who profess to have the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on their conscience seek to keep the feast of unleavened bread. "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5: 6-8.)
But what are we to understand by "the bread of affliction"? Should we not rather look for joy, praise and triumph, in connection with a feast in memory of deliverance from Egyptian bondage and misery? No doubt, there is very deep and real joy, thankfulness and praise in realising the blessed truth of our full deliverance from our former condition, with all its accompaniments and all its consequences. But it is very plain that these were not the prominent features of the paschal feast; indeed, they are not even named. We have "the bread of affliction," but not a word about joy, praise or triumph.
Now, why is this? What great moral lesson is conveyed to our hearts by the bread of affliction? We believe it sets before as those deep exercises of heart which the Holy Ghost produces by bringing powerfully before us what it cost our adorable Lord and Saviour to deliver us from our sins and from the judgement which those sins deserved. Those exercises are also typified by the "bitter herbs" of Exodus 12, and they are illustrated, again and again, in the history of God’s people of old who were led, under the powerful action of the word and Spirit of God to chasten themselves and "afflict their souls" in the divine presence.
And be it remembered that there is not a tinge of the legal element, or of unbelief in these holy exercises; far from it. When an Israelite partook of the bread of affliction with the roasted flesh of the Passover, did it express a doubt or a fear as to his full deliverance? Impossible! How could it? He was in the land; he was gathered to God’s own centre, His own very presence. How could he then doubt his full and final deliverance from the land of Egypt? The thought is simply absurd.
But although he had no doubts or fears as to his deliverance, yet had he to eat the bread of affliction; it was an essential element in his paschal feast, "For thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
This was very deep and real work. They were never to forget their Exodus out of Egypt; but to keep up the remembrance of it, in the promised land throughout all generations. They were to commemorate their deliverance by a feast emblematic of those holy exercises which ever characterise true, practical Christian piety.
We would, very earnestly, commend to the serious attention of the Christian reader the whole line of truth indicated by "that bread of affliction." We believe it is much needed by those who profess great familiarity with what are called the doctrines of grace. There is very great danger, especially to young professors, while seeking to avoid legality and bondage, of running into the opposite extreme of levity - a most terrible snare. Aged and experienced Christians are not so liable to fall into this sad evil; it is the young amongst us who so need to be most solemnly warned against it. They hear, it may be, a great deal about salvation by grace, justification by faith, deliverance from the law, and all the peculiar privileges of the Christian position.
Now, we need hardly say that all these are of cardinal importance; and it would be utterly impossible for any one to hear too much about them Would they mere more spoken about, written about, and preached about. Thousands of the Lord’s beloved people spend all their days in darkness, doubt and legal bondage, through ignorance of those great foundation truths.
But, while all this is perfectly true, there are, on the other hand, many - alas! too many who have a merely intellectual familiarity with the principles of grace but - if we are to judge from their habits and manners, their style and deportment - the only way we have of judging - who know but little of the sanctifying power of those great principles - their power in the heart and in the life.
Now, to speak according to the teaching of the paschal feast, it would not have been according to the mind of God for any one to attempt to keep that feast without the unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction. Such a thing would not have been tolerated in Israel of old. It was an absolutely essential ingredient. And so, we may rest assured, it is an integral part of that feast which we, as Christians, are exhorted to keep, to cultivate personal holiness and that condition of soul which is so aptly expressed by the "bitter herbs" of Exodus 12 or the Deuteronomic ingredient, "the bread of affliction," which latter would seem to be the permanent figure for the land.
In a word, then, we believe there is a deep and urgent need amongst us of those spiritual feelings and affections, those profound exercises of soul which the Holy Ghost would produce by unfolding to our hearts the sufferings of Christ - what it cost Him to put away our sins namely - what He endured for us when passing under the billows and waves of God’s righteous wrath against our sins. We are sadly lacking - if one may be permitted to speak for others - in that deep contrition of heart which flows from spiritual occupation with the sufferings and death of our precious Saviour. It is one thing to have the blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience, and another thing to have the death of Christ brought home, in a spiritual way, to the heart, and the cross of Christ applied, in a practical way, to our whole course and character.
How is it that we can so lightly commit sin, in thought, word and deed? How is it that there is so much levity, so much unsubduedness, so much self-indulgence, so much carnal ease, so much that is merely frothy and superficial? Is it not because that ingredient typified by "the bread of affliction" is lacking in our feast? we cannot doubt it. We fear there is a very deplorable lack of depth and seriousness in our Christianity. There is too much flippant discussion of the profound mysteries of the Christian faith, too much head knowledge without the inward power.
All this demands the serious attention of the reader. We cannot shake off the impression that not a little of this melancholy condition of things is but too justly traceable to a certain style of preaching the gospel, adopted, no doubt, with The very best intentions, but none the less pernicious in its moral effect. It is all right to preach a simple Gospel It cannot, by any possibility, be put more simply than God the Holy Ghost has given it to us in scripture.
All this is fully admitted; but, at the same time we are persuaded there is a very serious defect in the preaching of which we speak. There is a want of spiritual depth, a lack of holy seriousness. In the effort to counteract legality, there is that which tends to levity. Now, while legality is a great evil, levity is much greater. We must guard against both. We believe grace is the remedy for the former, truth for the latter; but spiritual wisdom is needed to enable us rightly to adjust and apply these two. If we find a soul, deeply exercised, under the powerful action of truth, thoroughly ploughed up by the mighty ministry of the Holy Ghost, we should pour in the deep consolation of the pure and precious grace of God, as set forth in the divinely efficacious sacrifice of Christ. This is the divine remedy for a broken heart, a contrite spirit, a convicted conscience. When the deep furrow has been made by the spiritual ploughshare, we have only to cast in the incorruptible seed of the gospel of God, in the assurance that it will take root, and bring forth fruit in due season.
But, on the other hand, if we find a person going on in a light, airy, unbroken condition, using very high-flown language about grace, talking loudly against legality, and seeking, in a merely human way to set forth an easy way of being saved, we consider this to be a case calling for a very solemn application of truth to the heart and conscience.
Now, we greatly fear there is a vast amount of this last named element abroad in the professing church. To speak according to the language of our type, there is a tendency to separate the Passover from the feast of unleavened bread - to rest in the fact of being delivered from judgement and forget the roasted lamb, the bread of holiness, and the bread of affliction. In reality, they never can be separated, inasmuch as God has bound them together; and, hence, we do not believe that any soul can be really in the enjoyment of the precious truth that "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," who is not seeking to "keep the feast." When the Holy Spirit unfolds to our hearts something of the deep blessedness, preciousness, and efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, He leads us to meditate upon the soul-subduing mystery of His sufferings, to ponder in our hearts all that He passed through for us, all that it cost Him to save us from the eternal consequences of that which we, alas! so often lightly commit.
Now this is very deep and holy work, and leads the soul into those exercises which correspond with "the bread of affliction" in the feast of unleavened bread. There is a wide difference between the feelings produced by dwelling upon our sins and those which flow from dwelling upon the sufferings of Christ to put those sins away.
True, we can never forget our sins, never forget, the hole of the pit from whence we were digged. But it is one thing to dwell upon the pit, and another and a deeper thing altogether to dwell upon the grace that digged us out of it, and what it cost our precious Saviour to do it. It is this latter we so much need to keep continually in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts. We are so terribly volatile, so ready to forget.
We need to look, very earnestly, to God to enable us to enter more deeply and practically into the sufferings of Christ, and into the application of the cross to all that in us which is contrary to Him. This will impart depth of tone, tenderness of spirit, an intense breathing after holiness of heart and life, practical separation from the world, in its every phase, a holy subduedness, jealous watchfulness over ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our ways, our whole deportment in daily life. In a word, it would lead to a totally different type of Christianity from what we see around us, and what, alas! we exhibit in our own personal history. May the Spirit of God graciously unfold to our hearts, by His own direct and powerful ministry, more and more of what is meant by "the roasted lamb," the "unleavened bread," and "the bread of affliction"!* We shall now briefly consider the feast of Pentecost which stands next in order to the Passover. "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." (Vers. 9-12.)
{*For further remarks on the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, the reader is referred to Exodus 12, and Numbers 9. Specially, in the latter, the connection between the Passover and the Lord’s supper. This is a point of deepest interest, and immense practical importance. The Passover looked forward to the death of Christ; the Lord’s supper looks back to it. What the former was to a faithful Israelite, the latter is to the church. If this were more fully seen it would greatly tend to meet the prevailing laxity, indifference and error as to the table and supper of the Lord.
To any one who lives habitually in the holy atmosphere of scripture, it must seem strange indeed to mark the confusion of thought and the diversity of practice in reference to a subject so very important, and one so simply and clearly presented in the word of God.
It can hardly be called in question by any one who bows to scripture, that the apostles and the early church assembled on the first day of the week to break bread. There is not a shadow of warrant, in the New Testament, for confining that most precious ordinance to once a month, once a quarter, or once in six months. This can only be viewed as a human interference with a divine institution. We are aware that much is sought to be made of the words, "as oft as ye do it;" but we do not see how any argument based on this clause can stand, for a moment, in the face of apostolic precedent, in Acts 20: 7. The first day of the week is, unquestionably, the day for the church to celebrate the Lord’s supper.
Does the Christian reader admit this? If so, does he act upon it? It is a perilous thing to neglect a special ordinance of Christ, and one appointed by Him the same night in which He was betrayed, under circumstances so deeply affecting. Surely all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity would desire to remember Him in this special way, according to His own word, "This do in remembrance of me." Can we understand any true lover of Christ living in the habitual neglect of this precious memorial? If an Israelite of old neglected the Passover, he would have been "cut off." But this was law, and we are under grace. True; but is that a reason for neglecting our Lord’s commandment?
We would commend this subject to the reader’s careful attention. There is much more involved in it than most of us are aware. We believe the entire history of the Lord’s supper, for the last eighteen centuries, is full of interest and instruction. We may see in the way in which the Lord’s table has been treated, a striking moral index of the church’s real condition. In proportion as the church departed from Christ and His word, did she neglect and pervert the precious institution of the Lord’s supper. And, on the other hand, just as the Spirit of God wrought, at any time, with special power in the church, the Lord’s supper has found its true place in the hearts of His people.
But we cannot pursue this subject further in a footnote; we have ventured to suggest it to the reader, and we trust he may be led to follow it up for himself. We believe he will find it a most profitable and suggestive study.}
Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of first-fruits is the striking figure of a risen Christ. And, in the feast of weeks, we have prefigured before us the descent of the Holy Ghost, fifty days after the resurrection.
We speak, of course, of what these feasts convey to us, according to the mind of God, irrespective altogether of the question of Israel’s apprehension of their meaning. It is our privilege to look at all these typical institutions in the light of the New Testament; and when we so view them we are filled with wonder and delight at the divine perfectness, beauty and order of all those marvellous types.
And not only so, but - what is of immense value to us - we see how the scriptures of the New Testament dovetail, as it were, into those of the Old; we see the lovely unity of the divine Volume, and how manifestly it is one Spirit that breathes through the whole, from beginning to end. In this way we are inwardly strengthened in our apprehension of the precious truth of the divine inspiration of the holy scriptures, and our hearts are fortified against all the blasphemous attacks of infidel writers. Our souls are conducted to the top of the mountain where the moral glories of the Volume shine upon us in all their heavenly lustre, and from whence we can look down and see the clouds and chilling mists of infidel thought rolling beneath us. These clouds and mists cannot affect us, inasmuch as they are far away below the level on which, through infinite grace, we stand. Infidel writers know absolutely nothing of the moral glories of scripture; but one thing is awfully certain, namely, that one moment in eternity will completely revolutionise the thoughts of all the infidels and atheists that have ever raved or written against the Bible and its Author.
Now, in looking at the deeply interesting feast of weeks or Pentecost, we are at once struck with the difference between it and the feast of unleavened bread. In the first place, we read of "a freewill offering" Here we have a figure of the church, formed by the Holy Ghost and presented to God as "a kind of first-fruits of his creatures."
We have dwelt upon this feature of the type in the "Notes on Leviticus," chapter 23, and shall not therefore enter upon it here, but confine ourselves to what is purely Deuteronomic. The people were to present a tribute of a freewill offering of their hand, according as the Lord their God had blessed them. There was nothing like this at the Passover, because that sets forth Christ offering Himself for us, as a sacrifice, and not our offering anything. We remember our deliverance from sin and Satan, and what that deliverance cost. We meditate upon the deep and varied sufferings of our precious Saviour as prefigured by the roasted lamb. We remember that it was our sins that were laid upon Him. He was bruised for our iniquities, judged in our stead, and this leads to deep and hearty contrition, or, what we may call, true Christian repentance. For we must never forget that repentance is not a mere transient emotion of a sinner when his eyes are first opened, but an abiding moral condition of the Christian, in view of the cross and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this were better understood, and more fully entered into, it would impart a depth and solidity to the Christian life and character in which the great majority of us are lamentably deficient.
But, in the feast of Pentecost, we have before us the power of the Holy Ghost, and the varied effects of His blessed presence in us and with us. He enables us to present our bodies and all that we have as a freewill offering unto our God, according as He hath blessed us. This, we need hardly say, can only be done by the power of the Holy Ghost; and hence the striking type of it is presented, not in the Passover which prefigures the death of Christ; not in the feast of unleavened bread, which sets forth the moral effect of that death upon us, in repentance, self-judgment and practical holiness; but in Pentecost, which is the acknowledged type of the precious gift of the Holy Ghost.
Now, it is the Spirit who enables us to enter into the claims of God upon us - claims which are to be measured only by the extent of the divine blessing. He gives us to see and understand that all we are and all we have belong to God. He gives us to delight in consecrating ourselves, spirit, soul and body, to God. It is truly "a freewill offering." It is not of constraint, but willingly. There is not an atom of bondage, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
In short we have here the lovely spirit and moral character of the entire Christian life and service. A soul under law cannot understand the force and beauty of this. Souls under the law never received the Spirit. The two things are wholly incompatible. Thus the apostle says to the poor misguided assemblies of Galatia, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by works of law, or by the hearing of faith?... He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by works of law, or by the hearing of faith?" The precious gift of the Spirit is consequent upon the death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and consequently can have nothing whatever to do with "works of law" in any shape or form. The presence of the Holy Ghost on earth, His dwelling with and in all true believers is a grand characteristic truth of Christianity. It was not, and could not be known in Old Testament times. It was not even known by the disciples in our Lord’s life time. He Himself said to them, on the eve of His departure, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient [or profitable - sumpherei] for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him Unto you." (John 16: 7.)
This proves, in the most conclusive manner, that even the very men who enjoyed the high and precious privilege of personal companionship with the Lord Himself, were to be put in an advanced position by His going away, and the coming of the Comforter. Again, we read, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you."
We cannot, however, attempt to go elaborately into this immense subject here. Our space does not admit of it, much as we should delight in it. We must just confine ourselves to one or two points suggested by the feast of weeks, as presented in our chapter.
We have referred to the very interesting fact that the Spirit of God is the living spring and power of the life of personal devotedness and consecration beautifully prefigured by "the tribute of a freewill offering." The sacrifice of Christ is the ground, the presence of the Holy Ghost, is the power of the Christian’s dedication of himself, spirit, soul and body, to God. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12: 1.)
But there is another point of deepest interest presented in verse 11 of our chapter, "And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God." We have no such word in the paschal feast, or in the feast of unleavened bread. It would not be in moral keeping with either of these solemnities. True it is, the Passover lies at the very foundation of all the joy we can or ever shall realise here or hereafter; but, we must ever think of the death of Christ, His sufferings, His sorrows - all that He passed through, when the waves and billows of God’s righteous wrath passed His soul It is upon these profound mysteries that our hearts are, or ought to be mainly fixed, when we surround the Lord’s table and keep that feast by which we show the Lord’s death until He come.
Now, it is plain to the spiritual and thoughtful reader that the feelings proper to such a holy and solemn institution are not of a jubilant character. We certainly can and do rejoice that the sorrows and sufferings of our blessed Lord are over, and over for ever; that those terrible hours are passed never to return. But what we recall in the feast is not simply their being over, but their being gone through - and that for us. "Ye do show the Lord’s death," and we know that, whatever may accrue to us from that precious death, yet when we are called to meditate upon it, our joy is chastened by those profound exercises of soul which the Holy Spirit produces by unfolding to us the sorrows, the sufferings, the cross and passion of our blessed Saviour. Our Lord’s words are, "This do in remembrance of me but what we especially remember in the Supper is Christ suffering and dying for us; what we show is His death; and with these solemn realities before our souls, in the power of the Holy Ghost, there will - there must be holy subduedness and seriousness.
We speak, of course, of what becomes the immediate occasion of the celebration of the Supper - the suited feelings and affections of such a moment. But these must be produced by the powerful ministry of the Holy Ghost. It can be of no possible use to seek, by any pious efforts of our own, to work ourselves up to a suitable state of mind. This would be ascending by steps to the altar, a thing most offensive to God. It is only by the Holy Spirit’s ministry that we can worthily celebrate the holy Supper of the Lord. He alone can enable us to put away all levity, all formality, all mere routine, all wandering thoughts, and to discern the body and blood of the Lord in those memorials which, by His own appointment, are laid on His table.
But, in the feast of Pentecost, rejoicing was a prominent feature. We hear nothing of "bitter herbs" or "bread of affliction," on this occasion, because it is the type of the coming of the other Comforter, the descent of the Holy Ghost, Proceeding from the Father, and sent down by the risen, ascended and glorified Head in the heavens, to fill the hearts of His people with praise, thanksgiving and triumphant joy, yea to lead them into full and blessed fellowship with their glorified Head, in His triumph over sin, death, hell, Satan and all the powers of darkness. The Spirit’s presence is connected with liberty, light, power and joy. Thus we read, "The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." Doubts, fears, and legal bondage flee away before the precious ministry of the Holy Ghost.
But we must distinguish between His work and indwelling - His quickening and His sealing. The very first dawn of conviction in the soul is the fruit of the Spirit’s work. It is His blessed operation that leads to all true repentance, and this is not joyful work; it is very good, very needful, absolutely essential; but it is not joy, nay, it is deep sorrow. But when, through grace, we are enabled to believe in a risen and glorified Saviour, then the Holy Ghost comes and takes up His abode in us, as the seal of our acceptance and the earnest of our inheritance.
Now this fills us with joy unspeakable and full of glory; and being thus filled ourselves, we become channels of blessing to others. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." The Spirit is the spring of power and joy in the heart of the believer. He fits, fills and uses us as His vessels in ministering to poor thirsty, needy souls around us. He links us with the Man in the glory, maintains us in living communion with Him, and enables us to be, in our feeble measure, the expression of what He is. Every movement of the Christian should be redolent with the fragrance of Christ. For one who professes to be a Christian to exhibit unholy tempers, selfish ways, a grasping, covetous, worldly spirit, envy and jealousy, pride and ambition, is to belie his profession, dishonour the holy Name of Christ, and bring reproach upon that glorious Christianity which he professes, and of which we have the lovely type in the feast of weeks - a feast pre-eminently characterised by a joy which had its source in the goodness of God, and which flowed out far and wide, and embraced in its hallowed circle every object of need: "Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you."
How lovely! How perfectly beautiful! Oh! that its antitype were more faithfully exhibited amongst us! Where are those streams of refreshing which ought to flow from the church of God? Where those unblotted epistles of Christ known and read of all men? Where can we see a practical exhibition of Christ in the ways of His people - something to which we could point and say, "There is true Christianity"? Oh! may the Spirit of God stir up our hearts to a more intense desire after conformity to the image of Christ, in all things. May He clothe with His own mighty power the word of God which we have in our hands and in our homes; that it may speak to our hearts and consciences, and lead us to judge ourselves, our ways, and our associations by its heavenly light, so that there may be a thoroughly devoted band of witnesses gathered out to His Name, to wait for His appearing! Will the reader join us in asking for this?
We shall now turn for a moment to the lovely institution of the feast of tabernacles which gives such remarkable completeness to the range of truth presented in our chapter.
"Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose; because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee." (Vers. 13-17.)
Here, then we have the striking and beautiful type of Israel’s future. The feast of tabernacles has not yet had its antitype. The Passover and Pentecost have had their fulfilment in the precious death of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Ghost; but the third great solemnity points forward to the times of the restitution of all things which God has spoken of by the mouth of all His holy prophets which have been since the world began.
And let the reader note particularly the time of the celebration of this feast. It was to be "after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine;" in other words, it was after the harvest and the vintage. Now there is a very marked distinction between these two things. The one speaks of grace, the other of judgement. At the end of the age, God will gather His wheat into His garner, and then will come the treading of the winepress, in awful judgement.
We have in Revelation 14 a very solemn passage bearing upon the subject now before us. "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."
Here we have the harvest; and then, "Another came out of the temple which is in heaven, he having a sharp sickle. And another angel came from the altar, which had power over fire" - the emblem of judgement - "and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Equal to the whole length of the land of Palestine!
Now these apocalyptic figures set before us in a characteristic way, scenes which must be enacted previous to the celebration of the feast of tabernacles. Christ will gather His wheat into His heavenly garner, and after that He will come in crushing judgement upon Christendom. Thus, every section of the Volume of inspiration, Moses, the Psalms, the Prophets, the Gospels - or the acts of Christ - the Acts of the Holy Ghost, the Epistles, and Apocalypse - all go to establish unanswerably the fact that the world will not be converted by the gospel, that things are not improving and will not improve, but grow worse and worse. That glorious time prefigured by the feast of tabernacles must be preceded by the vintage, the treading of the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God.
Why, then, we may well ask, in the face of such an overwhelming body of divine evidence, furnished by every section of the inspired canon, will men persist in cherishing the delusive hope of a world converted by the gospel? What mean "gathered wheat and a trodden winepress"? Assuredly, they do not and cannot mean a converted world.
We shall perhaps be told that we cannot build anything upon Mosaic types and Apocalyptic symbols. Perhaps not, if we had but types and symbols. But when the accumulated rays of inspiration’s heavenly lamp converge upon these types and symbols and unfold their deep meaning to our souls, find them in perfect harmony with the voices of prophets and apostles, and the living teachings our Lord Himself, In a word, all speak the same language, all teach the same lesson, all bear the unequivocal testimony to the solemn truth that, the end of this age, instead of a converted world, prepared for a spiritual millennium, there will be a vine covered and borne down with terrible clusters fully ripe for the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God.
Oh! may the men and women of Christendom, and the teachers thereof apply their hearts to these solemn realities! May these things sink down into their ears, and into the very depths of their souls, so that they may fling to the winds their fondly cherished delusion, and accept instead the plainly revealed and clearly established truth of God!
But we must draw this section to a close; and ere doing so, we would remind the Christian reader, that we are called to exhibit in our daily life the blessed influence of all those great truths presented to us in the three interesting types on which we have been meditating. Christianity is characterised by those three great formative facts, redemption, the presence of the Holy Ghost, and the hope of glory. The Christian is redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, sealed by the Holy Ghost, and he is looking for the Saviour.
Yes, beloved reader, these are solid facts, divine realities, great formative truths. They are not mere principles or opinions, but they are designed to be a power in our souls, and to shine in our lives. See how thoroughly practical were these solemnities on which we have been dwelling; mark what a tide of praise and thanksgiving and joy and blessing and active benevolence flowed from the assembly of Israel when gathered round Jehovah in the place which He had chosen. Praise and thanksgiving ascended to God; and the blessed streams of a large-hearted benevolence flowed forth to every object of need. "Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.... And they shall not appear before the Lord empty; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath, given thee."
Lovely words! They were not to come empty into the Lord’s presence; they were to come with the heart full of praise, and the hands full of the fruits of divine goodness to gladden the hearts of the Lord’s workmen, and the Lord’s poor. All this was perfectly beautiful. Jehovah would gather His people round Himself, to fill them to overflowing with joy and praise, and to make them His channels of blessing to others. They were not to remain under their vine and under their fig tree, and there congratulate themselves upon the rich and varied mercies which surrounded them. This might be all right and good in its place; but it would not have fully met the mind and heart of God. No; three times in the year they had to arise and betake themselves to the divinely appointed meeting place, and there raise their hallelujahs to the Lord their God, and there too, to minister liberally of that which He had bestowed upon them to every form of human need. God would confer upon His people the rich privilege of rejoicing the heart of the Levite, the stranger, widow and the fatherless. This is the work in He Himself delights, blessed for ever be His Name, and He would share His delight With His people. He would have it to be known, seen and felt, that the place where He met His people was a sphere of joy and praise, and a centre from whence streams of blessing were to flow forth in all directions.
Has not all this a voice and a lesson for the church of God? Does it not speak home to the writer and the reader of these lines? Assuredly it does. May we listen to it! May it tell upon our hearts! May the marvellous grace of God so act upon us that our hearts may be full of praise to Him and our hands full of good works. If the mere types and shadows of our blessings were connected with so much thanksgiving and active benevolence, how much more powerful should be the effect of the blessings themselves!
But ah! the question is, Are we realising the blessings? Are we making our own of them? Are we grasping them in the power of an artless faith? Here lies the secret of the whole matter. Where do we find professing Christians in the full and settled enjoyment of what the Passover prefigured, namely, full deliverance from judgement and this present evil world? Where do we find them in the full and settled enjoyment of their Pentecost, even the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the seal, the earnest, the unction and the witness? Ask the vast majority of professors the plain question, "Have you received the Holy Ghost?" and see what answer you will get. What answer can the render give? Can he say, "Yes, thank God, I know I am washed in the precious blood of Christ, and sealed with the Holy Ghost"? It is greatly to be feared that comparatively few of the vast multitudes of professors around us know anything of those precious things, which nevertheless are the chartered privileges of the very simplest member of the body of Christ.
So also as to the feast of tabernacles, how few understand its meaning! True, it has not yet been fulfilled; but the Christian is called to live in the present power of that which it set forth. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Our life is to be governed and our character formed by the combined influence of the "grace" in which we stand, and the "glory" for which we wait.
But if souls are not established in grace, if they do not even know that their sins are forgiven; if they are taught that it is presumption to be sure of salvation, and that it is humility and piety to live in perpetual doubt and fear; and that no one can be sure of their salvation until they stand before the judgement-sent of Christ, how can they possibly take Christian ground, manifest the fruits of Christian life, or cherish proper Christian hope? If an Israelite of old was in doubt as to whether he was a, child of Abraham, a member of the congregation of the Lord, and in the land, how could he keep the feast of unleavened bread, Pentecost or tabernacles? There would have been no sense, meaning or value in such a thing; indeed, we may safely affirm that no Israelite would have thought, for a moment, of anything so utterly absurd.
How is it then that professing Christians, many of them, we cannot doubt, real children of God, never seem to be able to enter upon proper Christian ground? They spend their days in doubt and fear, darkness and uncertainty. Their religious exercises and services, instead of being the outcome of life possessed and enjoyed, are entered upon and gone through more as a matter of legal duty, and as a moral preparation for the life to come. Many truly pious souls are kept in this state all their days; and as to "the blessed hope" which grace has set before us, to cheer our hearts and detach us from present things, they do not enter into it or understand it. It is looked upon as a mere speculation indulged in by a few visionary enthusiasts here and there. They are looking forward to the day of judgement, instead of looking out for "the bright and morning star." They are praying for the forgiveness of their sins and asking God to give them His Holy Spirit, when they ought to be rejoicing in the assured possession of eternal life, divine righteousness, and the Spirit of adoption.
All this is directly opposed to the simplest and clearest teaching of the New Testament; it is utterly foreign to the very genius of Christianity, subversive of the Christian’s peace and liberty, and destructive of all true and intelligent Christian worship, service and testimony. It is plainly impossible that people can appear before the Lord with their hearts full of praise for privileges which they do not enjoy, or their hands full of the blessing which they have never realised.
We call the earnest attention of all the Lord’s people, throughout the length and breadth of the professing church, to this weighty subject. We entreat them to search the scriptures and see if they afford any warrant for keeping souls in darkness, doubt and bondage all their days. That there are solemn warnings, searching appeals, weighty admonitions, is most true, and we bless God for them; we need them, and should diligently apply our hearts to them. But let the reader distinctly understand that it is the sweet privilege of the very babes in Christ to know that their sins are all forgiven, that they are accepted in a risen Christ, sealed by the Holy Ghost and heirs of eternal glory. Such, through infinite and sovereign grace, are their clearly established and assured blessings - blessings to which the love of God makes them welcome, for which the blood of Christ makes them fit, and as to which the testimony of the Holy Ghost makes them sure.
May the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls lead all His beloved people, the lambs and sheep of His blood-bought flock, to know, by the teaching of His holy Spirit, the things that are freely given to them of God! And may those who do know them, in measure, know them more fully, and exhibit the precious fruits of them in a life of genuine devotedness to Christ and His service!
It is greatly to be feared that many of us who profess to be acquainted with the very highest truths of the Christian faith are not answering to our profession; we are not acting up to the principle set forth in verse 17 of our beautiful chapter, "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee." We seem to forget that, although we have nothing to do and nothing to give for salvation, we have much that we can do for the Saviour, and much that we can give to His workmen and to His poor. There is very great danger of pushing the do-nothing and give-nothing principle too far. If, in the days of our ignorance and legal bondage, we worked and gave upon a false principle, and with a false object, we surely ought not to do less and give less now that we profess to know that we are not only saved but blessed with all spiritual blessings, in a risen and glorified Christ. We have need to take care that we are not resting in the mere intellectual perception and verbal profession of these great and glorious truths, while the heart and conscience have never felt their sacred action, nor the conduct and character been brought under their powerful and holy influence.
We venture, in all tenderness and love, just to offer these practical suggestions to the reader for his prayerful consideration. We would not wound, offend, or discourage the very feeblest lamb in all the flock of Christ. And, further, we can assure the reader, that we are not casting a stone at any one, but simply writing, as in the immediate presence of God, and sounding in the ears of the church a note of warning as to that which we deeply feel to be our common danger. We believe there is an urgent call, on all sides, to consider our ways, to humble ourselves before the Lord, on account of our manifold failures, shortcomings and inconsistencies, and to seek grace from Him to be more real, more thoroughly devoted, more pronounced in our testimony for Him, in this dark and evil day.
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 Vers. 1-17. (Comp. Exo_23:14-19 Exo_34:18, 22-26 Le 23. On…
CELEBRATION OF THE PASSOVER FESTIVAL, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST AND OF TABERNACLES. APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND PREVENTION OF IDOLATRY.
Vers. 1-17. (Comp. Exo_23:14-19 Exo_34:18, 22-26 Le 23. On the Passover, see Exo 12:13:3-10) The other great festivals of the Israelites, the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, are not here referred to, because on these no assembling of the whole people at the sanctuary was required, and such assembling is the point of view under which the feasts are mainly regarded here.
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Vers. 1-7. The Feast of the Passover.
Vers. 1, 2. The month of Abib. (cf. Exo_12:2 Exo_23:15) The time is referred to as a date well known to the people. Keep the passover; make (tyci) or prepare the passover . This injunction refers primarily to the preparation of the Paschal lamb for a festal meal; (Num_9:5) but here it is used in a wider sense as referring to the whole Paschal observance, which lasted for seven days. Hence the mention of sheep (aox) and oxen (rq; b) in ver. 2, and the reference to the eating of unleavened bread for seven days "therewith," i.e. with the Passover. The animal for the Paschal supper was expressly prescribed to be a yearling of the sheep or of the goats (hc,), and this was to be consumed at one meal; but on the other days of the festival the flesh of other animals offered in sacrifice might be eaten. The term "Passover" here, accordingly, embraces the whole of the festive meals connected with the Passover proper what the rabbins call chagigah. (Maimon., in "Kor-ban Pesach," c. 10. cf. 2Ch_35:7, etc.)
Vers. 1-8. The Feast of the Passover.
(For a reference to the minute points of difference, necessitated by different circumstances, between the first Passover and subsequent ones, see art. "Passover," in Smith"s "Bibl. Dict.;" see also the Exposition for its historical significance.) We now take for granted that all this is well understood by, and perfectly familiar to, the reader. Our purpose now is to "open up," not its historical meaning, nor even its symbolism for Israel, but its typical intent as foreshadowing gospel truths, showing how in Christ our Passover, and in the ordinance of the Lord"s Supper as our Passover feast, the far-reaching significance of the offering of the Paschal lamb is most clearly seen.
I ISRAEL"S PASSOVER HAS ITS ANTITYPE IN CHRIST. So argues the apostle, in 1Co_5:7, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." We cannot but feel here the wondrous condescension of our God in permitting us to look at aught so sublime as the sacrifice of his dear Son, through the means of aught so humble as the Paschal lamb. Yet it is an infinite mercy that, whatever might so help the conceptions of his children then, and whatever may so aid them now, the Great Father does not disdain to use.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Sacrificial Lamb; so Joh_1:29; 1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19. He is spoken of as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and is beheld, in the Apocalypse, "a Lamb as it had been slain." He, too, is "without blemish." He was "without sin." In him alone is the ideal of a perfect sacrifice found.
2. The Passover was to be killed without breaking a bone thereof. This was fulfilled in Christ, that men might be aided in seeing the fulfillment of the type, through the close analogy of the treatment; and because "God would permit no dishonor to be done to the body of Christ, after the atoning act was complete" (Halley).
3. The blood of the first Paschal lamb was to be sprinkled on the posts of the doors, signifying that there must be the actual acceptance and application of the atoning blood, and that through the atoning blood so applied we are saved.
4. In the first instance, the lamb was offered without the intervention of a priest. So that, though priesthood was afterwards instituted for a time for educational purposes, (Ga 3) yet the priest was in no wise necessary to ensure men"s acceptance with God.
5. The flesh was to be eaten, in token of fellowship. It was thus "the most perfect of peace offerings," symbolizing and typifying communion with God on the ground of the atoning blood. In all these respects, how very far does the Christian Antitype surpass the Jewish type? Devout hearts may and do love to linger long in meditation on a theme so touching and Divine!
II CHRISTIANS HAVE THEM PASSOVER FEAST.
1. Where. Here we may be permitted to point out a distinction, which, though obvious enough at first mention thereof, yet is so far lost sight of in some directions, as to lead to serious error. In later times, though the lamb was slain at an altar, yet the feast thereon was at a table. So in heathen sacrifices too, the victim was slain at an altar, the sacrificial feast was at a table. Hence, analogy suggests that the spot where the Victim is slain should be called the altar, but that the sacrificial feast should be at a table. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." The altar here meant is the cross on which the Savior died. Besides, it is only on the theory that the sacrifice is actually repeated at Holy Communion, that there can be any possible warrant for calling the Lord"s table an altar. But this theory is absolutely negatived by the statements in Heb_10:10-14. The Victim was offered once for all on an altar, even the cross; but we partake at the Lord"s table, of the sacrificial feast.
2. What is the meaning of the feast.
(1) It is a standing historical declaration of the offering of God"s one Great Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. "Ye do show the Lord"s death." It is declaration of the historic fact on the part of those to whom that fact is full of richest and most wondrous meaning. For it is the divinest expression of righteousness and of love that the world has ever known.
(2) This sacrificial feast is the expression also of a sublime fact on the earthward side, viz. that by virtue of the redeeming efficacy thus continuously proclaimed, there has been formed a new commonwealth of Israel, to which belongs the freedom, immunity, and honor of a kingdom of God (see Ephesians it.).
(3) It also seals a fellowship a fellowship of redeemed souls, who have been bought with a price, and transferred from the kingdom of Satan to that of God"s dear Son; in which they are raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, having here below a union of hearts which will be perfected in an unseen state. This fellowship is openly sealed by their taking of one bread and drinking one cup.
(4) It is a joint pledge of loyalty to the Church"s Head and Lord; in renewing their remembrance of his love to them, they seal afresh their pledge of love and allegiance in him. Hence the Lord"s Supper came to be called sacramentum, the Church"s military oath of obedience to her Great Commander.
(5) It is a service of thanksgiving. Hence it came to be called the Eucharist. The Passover feast was a grateful recall of a mighty deliverance. So is the Christian feast.
(6) It is a declaration of hope and expectancy. "Ye do show the Lord"s death till he come." Believers in Israel were expecting Canaan. We are waiting for the Son of God from heaven to bring us to our heavenly rest. (Heb 4)
3. How should the Christian feast be kept? i.e. in what spirit? (cf. 1Co_5:7, 1Co_5:8) Three or four suggestions will embody the chief hints hereon thrown out in the written Word.
(1) The Passover was to be eaten with unleavened bread. All leaven was to be put away. So are believers to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth. They are "to examine themselves," and so to eat of that bread and drink of that cup. "As the scrupulous Israelites searched with lighted candles every hidden corner and dark recess of their houses for any latent particle of leaven, so let our language be, "Search me, O God, and know my heart," etc." (Bush).
(2) It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, partly as in remembrance of the hard bondage and bitter sorrows of Egypt, and partly as shadowing forth the need of penitence for sin. We should mingle with our thanksgiving "penitential tears
And with our joy for pardoned guilt, Mourn that we pierced the Lord.
(3) It was to be eaten in a standing posture, as if ready to depart at a moment"s warning. Even so we, as we gather round the sacramental board, are but on pilgrimage. We halt awhile to refresh us by the way, but we have, soon as our celebration-day is over, to renew our march in the desert, and to resume the toil and fight. We have not yet come to the rest and inheritance the Lord hath promised to give us.
(4) The Apostle Paul says, "Let us keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice," etc., i.e. not with any ill feeling harbored in the soul, nor with ill actions practiced in the life. For it is not only as so much evil in the individual that Paul there regards the kakia and ponhria, but as so much pervasive leaven in the Church, that, if not cast out, will be its bane, yea, even its ruin. (see 1Co_10:16, 1Co_10:17) We should therefore cultivate always, and specially bring to the table of the Lord, a spirit of loving fellowship. So strongly did the early Christians feel this, that they were wont to ask of each other the mutual forgiveness of injuries before observing the sacred feast. And that same spirit of love, so specially incumbent then, should be the prevailing habit of soul with believers towards each other. For are not all redeemed by the same precious blood? Are not all members of one family? If our God loves us so much, in spite of our sins, as to own us as his, should not that shame us into a loving regard for each other in spite of our faults? With one Savior, one salvation, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one home, well may we strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to cultivate, in the fellowship of believers at the table of the Lord, the same spirit which alone will pervade the higher fellowship of heaven.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-9. The Passover.
The Passover was a sacrifice, (Exo_12:2) and was connected with sacrifices (Lev_23:5-8; Num_28:15-26) hence "flock and herd" (ver. 2) covering the sacrifices of the seven days" feast. It was the sacrifice which mediated the new relationship established between Jehovah and the people on the night of the Exodus. There was a fitness, at so solemn a crisis in the history of the chosen nation, in the line of demarcation between them and the Egyptians being drawn so strongly in atoning blood. Not for any righteousness of theirs, but through God"s mercy, under cover of blood of atonement, was Israel collectively a part of Egypt, and individually partakers of its guilt and corruptions spared the stroke of judgment. The sacrifice then offered was:
1. Pacificatory. In their blood-sheltered dwellings, the Israelites enjoyed the presence of God, communion with God, peace with God. A feast of peace was held upon the flesh, as in the later peace offerings.
2. Purificatory. It sanctified the people in view of their departure from Egypt; and separation as a peculiar people to Jehovah in view also of his peculiarly near approach to them in their deliverance.
3. Protective. As warding off the stroke of the destroying angel. Later Passovers, as the yearly presentation of the blood implied, were not only commemorations, but in some sense also perpetuations of the original one. The Passover, as observed from year to year, was
I A MEMORIAL. It stood as a historical monument, testifying to the reality of the events of the Exodus. In this view of it, it is of great value. No criticism of documents can impair its witness. It is a Bible outside of the Bible, confirmatory of the Bible narratives. No one has yet succeeded in showing how a festival like the Passover could have been introduced at any period later than that to which it historically refers. It has, so far as we can make out anything in history, been observed by the Jews from the very beginning of their national existence. Note to what it testifies
1. To the fact of the Exodus.
2. That the Exodus was accomplished without warlike resistance from the Egyptians.
3. That it was looked forward to, prepared for, sacrifice offered, and a sacrificial meal eaten, in anticipation of it.
4. That the preparations for departure were hurried, yet orderly.
5. That on the night in question a judgment fell on Egypt, from which the Israelites were exempted a circumstance which gives to the feast its name, the Passover. The festival has thus all the value of a contemporary witness, and fully corroborates the Scripture history. The Lord"s Supper, in like manner, is a historical witness, not to be got rid of, testifying to acts and words of our Lord on the night of his betrayal, and furnishing clear evidence as to the light in which his death was regarded by himself.
II A TYPE. The typological features have often been dwelt on.
1. The lamb select, unblemished, of full age, subjected to fire, unmutilated, (Joh_19:36) fitness of the victim to represent Christ. (Isa_53:7)
1. The blood atoning, need of personal application, sole shelter from death, under its shelter inviolable security. (Rom_8:1)
2. The feast the slain lamb the food of a new life; (Joh_6:51-57) a feast of reconciliation and peace, with fellow-believers, with bitter herbs (affliction, repentance), and without leaven memorial of haste (ver. 3), but also emblematic of spiritual incorruption, of the purity which is to characterize the new life; (1Co_5:7-9) no part of the flesh to remain till morning (ver. 4), for same reason, to avoid corruption; the feast to last seven days a week, an entire circle of time, symbolical of lifelong consecration to holiness of walk.
3. The redemption great, once for all, a redemption, by blood and by power, from wrath, from bondage. All these types are conspicuously fulfilled in Christ.
III AN ORDINANCE.
1. The first and chief of the feasts (ver. 1).
2. To be observed regularly (ver. 1). So now the Lord"s Supper. (1Co_11:25)
3. At the central sanctuary (vers. 2, 5, 6). Christians should seek to realize their unity with all saints at the Lord"s table.
4. With due seriousness and solemnity (vers. 2, 6). J.O.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-8. The Passover, a memorial of deliverance.
The institution of the Passover (Ex 12) was preliminary to their deliverance from Egypt, just as the Lord"s Supper was preliminary to the death of Jesus Christ, which it was designed subsequently to commemorate. On the first occasion it was a sacrifice presented at home, as was most proper. But when the central altar was set up in Palestine, it became the center of the Passover festival, and to it the Jews in their multitudes repaired. This secured a national assembly under very solemn circumstances, and was an important element in sustaining the national spirit.
I THE DELIVERANCE OF THE SOUL FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN SHOULD BE HELD IN PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE. The Passover was the yearly celebration of national redemption. By it the Jews were annually reminded that they were a redeemed people. Gratitude to God would be elicited, and that self-denial and abstinence from evil which the unleavened bread typified. And it is evident that a similar memorial is contemplated in the New Testament dispensation. The Lord"s Supper coming regularly round is intended to recall the deliverance from sin and guilt which we believe God has wrought for us, and to foster that holiness of walk which should characterize the redeemed of the Lord.
II THE DELIVERANCE OF THE SOUL HAS BEEN THROUGH SACRIFICE. The Passover taught this, if it taught anything. Egypt had to part with her firstborn before God"s firstborn, Israel, could be redeemed. (Exo_13:15) This was evidently the idea the firstborn of Egypt must die to ensure the liberty of the firstborn of God. (Exo_4:22, Exo_4:23) This was the spirit of the Mosaic commission, "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
But if the involuntary sacrifice of the Egyptian firstborn be primarily referred to in the Passover, it unquestionably refers secondarily and typically to the great voluntary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, through which our souls are redeemed. Hence Paul speaks of" Christ our Passover being sacrificed for us". (1Co_5:7) Just as the blood was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel that the destroying angel might spare the inmates, so the blood of Christ is sprinkled on our hearts and consciences, and our safety from condemnation becomes assured.
III THE UNITY OF THE SACRIFICE THAT REDEEMS US WAS STRIKINGLY ILLUSTRATED AT THE PASSOVER. None of the flesh was to remain until the morning, all was to be eaten or burnt with fire. The sacrifice was to be a finished unity, not a protracted feast, which might through delay become corrupt. So with the sacrifice of which it is the type. Jesus Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. (Heb_9:28) He was not allowed to see any corruption. (Act_13:37) The unity of the sacrifice the once for all was thus strikingly brought out.
Upon this our assurance of acceptance rests. We have now no doubt that the satisfaction is complete. "It is finished," said Jesus triumphantly on the tree. It is surely a matter of great moment and thankfulness to have our case disposed of at once, without uncertain delays, without any possible appeals. God is satisfied, and we are justified and free.
IV SALVATION BY SACRIFICE IS WITH A VIEW TO HOLY LIVING. The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover. Leaven was the type of self-indulgence and sin. The unleavened bread indicated how hastily they had to flee out of Egypt, and how little consideration for self there could be in their flight. Paul interprets the reference for us when he says, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth". (1Co_5:8) The feast of unleavened bread symbolized, therefore, the life of holy living which succeeds our salvation. Self-righteousness reverses this Divine order. It insists on the holy living meriting the salvation; but God gives the salvation gratuitously, and respects the holy living as a matter of gratitude. We should not make the way more difficult than God has done. R.M.E.
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES Vers. 1-8. The Passover a memorial and a prophecy.
In a singular and a miraculous manner, the national existence of the Hebrews had commenced. God had signally interposed as their Champion, in a way altogether unparalleled. Without question, it was an event pregnant with vast issues to the history of mankind. Every opportunity was afforded Pharaoh to escape from destruction. The host of God, composed of natural forces and invisible powers, enclosed him gradually within narrower and narrower bounds, until the king himself was captured and destroyed. This was a conspicuous step in the development of the redemptive scheme. In that night of destruction the elect nation was born.
I EMANCIPATION OF NATIONAL LIFE FROM BONDAGE IS A FIT SUBJECT FOR YEARLY COMMEMORATION. It is God"s will that such commemoration should be observed, and be observed in a most religious spirit. The effect of such commemoration upon the minds of the people would be most beneficial. The nation is but a collection of units; and as every unit had shared in the boon, so every unit should partake in the acknowledgment. It is a sin when we forget our participation in national blessings. Our pious example will be a benign stimulus to others.
II GRATEFUL COMMEMORATION SHOULD PERPETUATE ALL THE METHODS AND INCIDENTS OF THE DIVINE DELIVERANCE.
1. Life had to be sacrificed in order to obtain that redemption. It was, in the most proper sense, a redemption. They had belonged to God; a usurper had despoiled God of his right; hence, the people had to be "bought back." Natural agencies had been employed to soften Pharaoh"s heart; but in vain. Nothing short of the death of the firstborn sufficed to procure deliverance. Therefore the commemoration of the event fitly included the sacrifice of the lamb.
2. The release had been with haste. This incident was deserving of commemoration. So urgent was Pharaoh"s desire that they should depart, that they had not time to bake their daily ration of bread; hence the yearly commemoration was to be with "bread unleavened." Bodily appetites must be forgotten when the golden moment of emancipation dawns.
3. The sense of obligation should be deep and abiding. On this account, the commemoration was appointed to extend over seven days. Gladness was to be tempered with self-denial and pain.
III GRATEFUL COMMEMORATION TAKES THE FORM OF DEEDS AND SELF-SACRIFICES. The gratitude that contents itself with words is cheap and shallow. God delights to hear the language of deeds. This is the real language of the heart. It feels the pain of restraint and disappointment, if it may not bring some visible expression of its love or perform some service for its friend. In the case of the Hebrews, long journeys had to be undertaken, lambs had to be slain, much time had to be devoted to the sacred festival. Yet all this was performed with radiant gladness.
IV THE COMMEMORATION OF THE PASSOVER WAS TO BE OBSERVED UNDER THE SOLEMN SANCTIONS OF RELIGION. Under the theocratic government, every public act was baptized at the fountain of religion. Religion was not simply a particular department of the State: it was a spirit of heaven that ennobled and beautified every public deed. The Paschal lamb might not be slain anywhere, it must be slain at the temple gate. It was an offering made to God, and God at once returned it, with added blessing to the offerer. Thus, year by year, they professed that their emancipation was a gift from God, that national life and earthly home and prospective hope came from the goodness of God.
V NATIONAL EMANCIPATION WAS A PROPHECY OF THE WORLD"S REDEMPTION. A man is a type of a nation; a nation is a type of the world. What God has done for a nation, he is prepared to do (if need be) for the race. We too are under bondage, in the grasp of a mightier tyrant than Pharaoh. "Christ our Passover is for us slain." From all on whom is the effectual mark of Messiah"s blood, doom is removed. "They shall never perish." Their destiny is the heavenly Canaan the new Jerusalem. We too have our Paschal feast the Eucharist. As the deliverance of the earthly Israel was complete, "not a hoof was left behind," so Christ Jesus shall eventually be Victor over all his foes. Redemption of the true Israel is in progress. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL NOTES.—The religious ordinances to be observed in Canaan…
CRITICAL NOTES.—The religious ordinances to be observed in Canaan are continued. Three great festivals are prominently mentioned—Feast of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Former regulations concerning them are presupposed (Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 28, 29), and attention is drawn to certain additional particulars.
Deu_16:1-8. The Feast of Passover. Abib, first month of the ecclesiastical year, corresponds with our April (Exo_12:2; Exo_13:4). Passover, prepare, i.e., keep the Passover in its widest sense, including not only the paschal lamb, but sacrifices and offerings during the seven days.
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Deu_16:2. Sacrifice, i.e., offer sacrifices proper to the feast (Num_28:19-26).
Deu_16:3. Affliction. Israel had to leave in anxious flight and were unable to leaven the dough. This reminds them of oppression and deliverance from it.
Deu_16:4. Leavened. A repetition of two points in the observance. No leaven to be seen for the seven days (Exo_13:7); and none of the flesh of the paschal lamb was to be left till the next morning (Exo_23:18). Coasts, borders, districts.
Deu_16:5. Gates. The place is fixed. The slaughtering, sacrificing, roasting and eating were to take place at the sanctuary, not as formerly, in different houses.
Deu_16:6. Thy tents, not to their homes in the country but their lodgings near the sanctuary. “Other paschal offerings were yet to be offered day by day for seven days, and the people would remain to share them, and especially to take part in the holy convocation on the first and seventh days. The expression, ‘unto thy tents,’ means simply ‘to thy dwellings,’ as in 1Ki_8:66. The use of ‘tents’ as a synonym for ‘dwellings,’ (cf. Isa_16:5) is a trace of the original nomadic life of the people.” (Speak. Com.)
Deu_16:9-13. Feast of weeks—Seven weeks, called feast of weeks, week of weeks (Exo_34:22; Lev_23:10; Act_2:1-4). Begin, lit. “from the beginning of the sickle to the corn”—i.e., from beginning of corn harvest. Corn harvest began by the presentation of the sheaf of first-fruits on the second day of the Passover, which agrees with the time in Lev_23:15.
Deu_16:10. Tribute. A word which is only used here, and signifies sufficiency, need. “Israel was to keep this feast with sacrificial gifts, which everyone was able to bring according to the extent to which the Lord had blessed him. and—
Deu_16:11. To rejoice before the Lord at the place where His name dwelt with sacrificial meals, to which the needy were to be invited (cf. Deu_14:29), in remembrance of the fact that they also were bondsmen in Egypt.” (Del.) Rejoice, i.e., honour the Lord with sacred songs.
Deu_16:13-16. Feast of Tabernacles. This was observed at the end of harvest after the corn had been gathered in. Nothing fresh is added except the appointment of the place and the attendance of domestics, portionless Levites, the stranger, fatherless and widow.
Deu_16:16. Three times a year the males were to attend. “Women were not commanded to undertake the journey, partly from natural weakness of their sex, and partly on account of domestic cares.” None must appear empty. Gifts must be offered according to God’s blessing upon each.
Deu_16:18-20. Officers formerly appointed to aid Moses in settlement of disputes were sufficient while they were in the wilderness. In Canaan a different arrangement will be required. Judges—the Shoterim, officers (lit. writers, see Exo_5:6) who were associated with the judges, according to Deu_1:15, even under the previous arrangement, were not merely messengers and servants of the courts, but secretaries and advisers of the judges, who derived their title from the fact that they had to draw up and keep the geneaological lists, and who are mentioned as already existing in Egypt as overseers of the people and their work. (Keil). Gates. The place of public resort and courthouse of Eastern cities. No rule is given for the number. They were to be just in their decisions; not to respect persons, nor take gifts. Grove, a group of trees, adorned with altars, and dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (Jdg_6:25; 2Ki_23:4-6). These places were strong allurements to idolatry. Image. Statue, pillar, or memorial stone dedicated to Baal. See Exo_23:24; Lev_26:1; 2Ki_10:26; Hos_10:1; Mic_5:12.
THE PASSOVER.—Deu_16:1-8
The Passover is one of the most important of all feasts. In its design and circumstances it is most impressive, solemn, and full of instruction to the Christian. Its lessons are repeated in the New Testament and embodied in the great work of the Redeemer.
I. The feast in its design. Hearers are supposed to be well informed concerning these ordinances. But “a re-inforcement of this ordinance was the more necessary because its observance had clearly been intermitted for thirty-nine years. One passover only had been kept in the wilderness, that recorded in Numbers 9.” (Speak. Com.)
1. To commemorate wonderful deliverance. For “the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt.” Deliverance from bondage, from Pharaoh, cruel task masters, from scenes of horror and ghastly death which no imagination can depict. God is in history, working death for the sinner and life for the believer. “He can create and He destroy.”
2. To celebrate a new birth. The deliverance marks a new era in Jewish history. “History herself was born on that night when Moses led forth his countrymen from the land of Goschen,” says Bunsen. Hence the month of its occurrence is the beginning of the sacred year. “This month shall be to you the beginning (the head) of months” (Exo_12:1). The day of deliverence was the beginning of national life, and its observance was “the celebration of the day of independence.” Men only begin to live when they are converted to God, and redeemed from sin. Then they are new creatures, one people under Jehovah their King. No longer enslaved, they are led forth to victory, and to a land which God gives for an heritage for ever.
II. The feast in its circumstances of time and place. These are specific.
1. The time. “In the month Abib,” (Exo_13:4), from March to April in the spring of the year, when barley ripens and nature assumes its beauty, a fit picture of that new life bestowed in redemption, a striking proof of harmony between the works of God and the wonders of grace. God in wisdom connects the celebration of the nation’s birth with the regeneration of nature (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:15-17).
2. The place. “In the place which the Lord shall choose.” The place was chosen and sanctified by God Himself. Formerly they met and partook of sacrifice in their own homes. Now all males had to appear in the sanctuary. They were thus confined to appoint places kept from self-will and foolish devices, and governed by one law of worship. We must ever recognise God in the solemnity of the place where He puts His name. No sacrifice is accepted unless presented on the altar which sacrifices it.
3. Its duration. Seven days, and the last, the seventh, was a day of solemn assembly in which no servile work was done. “A holy convocation,” a special season of social intercourse and devotion.
III. The feast in its typical meaning. As a sacred memorial to be continually observed, it reminds of many events and sets forth many truths.
1. It was a type of Christ—the lamb slain for us, by whose blood we are sprinkled (Heb_12:24; 1Pe_1:2), and in whom we have redemption. In Him is created a people, a nation of kings and priests to God, to whom belong freedom, holiness, and honour. “Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us” (1Co_5:7).
2. It was a symbol of Christian fellowship. The lamb was not eaten alone, but in families and by companies at first. In later times it was slain at the altar, yet eaten at the table. In the Christian Church we have a fellowship of redeemed souls, bought with a price and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. In Christ we have one faith, one baptism, one hope, and one home. At His table we should keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and cultivate that feeling which is a foretaste of the joys of heaven. “Ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
THE REDEMPTION OF GOD’S PEOPLE
In the deliverance of Israel from bondage, we have a type of greater deliverance in Christ’s redemption through His blood.
I. Redemption by great sacrifice. Egypt lost her firstborn—firstborn of man and beast. What a ghastly scene, death everywhere! What a loss, what a sacrifice for the freedom of the oppressed! “I gave Egypt for thy ransom” (Isa_43:3). But how great the price of our redemption! Paul obtained his Roman privileges “with a great sum” (Act_22:28). Our deliverance cost the life of the Son of God. “Who gave Himself a ransom for all.”
II. Redemption by great power. In the great deliverance which made Israel free, God was manifest in every step.
1. It was timely. It was a “night” of despair and distress, a night of thick darkness. But God never forgets His promise; times all events and works deliverance in His own way. “When the tale of bricks is doubled, then comes Moses.” “Even the self-same day it came to pass” (Exo_12:41).
2. It was miraculous. God accomplished what Moses and Aaron could not. They were saved from plagues, from death of the firstborn, from a watery grave and a mighty foe. “Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. Now shalt thou see what I will do” (Exo_5:23; Exo_6:1). All enemies must fall and all difficulties vanish before Omnipotence.” “For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place” (Exo_13:3).
III. Redemption commemorated. “Observe the month and keep the Passover.” This has no common event, but a special display of Divine power towards a helpless people. “It was a memorable night—‘a night of observations,’ that night of the Lord” (Exo_12:42). God’s mercies in providence and grace should be remembered.
1. Gratefully.
2. Continually.
3. Socially. As long as Jewish polity existed the Passover was to be observed. “Ye shall keep it a feast throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever” (Exo_12:14; Lev_23:4).
IV. Redemption a motive to consecrated life. Israel were bought and claimed by God for Himself and no other. “I will redeem you, and I will take you to me for a people.” If we have been delivered from the captivity of Satan, the bondage and corruption of sin, we must live to God. No longer in Egypt, no longer our own, but a new life—a life of righteousness, faith, and obedience in Christ. Life through Christ is a redemptive force, the motive power, the Divine impulse to a higher destiny. Moral suasion, moral stimulants, moral laws, can never work out moral freedom and beget moral character. “Being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
UNLEAVENED BREAD
What does this unleavened bread mean? Two things, I think. First, Christ; for He is the believer’s food. The unleavened bread sets forth Christ in one aspect, as much as the lamb sets Him forth in another. The main portion of the feast was the flesh of the lamb, for which the life of the redeemed was derived. In the Israelite feeding upon unleavened bread, we have presented to us the believer drawing his strength from Jesus, the spotless and holy one—the unleavened bread. “I am the bread of life.” But there is another meaning of the unleavened bread, and that is holiness, uprightness, singleness of eye. Just as the bread was not the main staple of the passover feast, but the lamb, so holiness is the accompaniment rather than the principal portion of the Christian feast. In the case of every believer the unleavened bread must accompany feeding upon Christ as the lamb. God has joined these two things together, let us not put them asunder. If we are redeemed by the blood of the lamb, let us live upon the unleavened bread; let us show forth the sincerity and truth which God requires in our life. “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1Co_5:7.)—From Step. A. Blackwood,
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_16:1-2. The appointed ordinance.
1. Obligatory, appointed by direct authority of God. “Observe, thou shalt sacrifice.” It should always be a privilege, but God makes it a duty to remember providential deliverances. The observance is not optional, a matter of convenience, but a necessity. 2, Universal. Offspring reap benefits given to ancestors. Ordinances bind families to each other and to God.
3. Perpetual in Jewish Church. Not only in the night of deliverance, but annually in the journeys of the wilderness, and “for ever” in Canaan. Christians will thus celebrate the Lord’s supper to the end of time, and in heaven for ever will they praise their Redeemer.
Deu_16:2. Of the flock.
1. The lamb slain.
2. The blood sprinkled.
3. The flesh eaten. Deliverance possible through it, the Lamb of God. But the blood must be sprinkled and spiritual strength sustained. The provisions of the atonement must be applied to the need of the soul. “By one we enter into the divine covenant, and by the other are made partakers of the divine nature.”
Deu_16:4. Unleavened bread.
1. Affliction. “The bread of affliction.
2. Haste. “For thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste.”
3. Purity. No decay, no corruption, the purity of new life. No leaven in heart, home and assembly. “Watch carefully against corruption in life and doctrine, be punctual in your preparation to and participation of the Christian passover.”—Trapp.
“At the going down of the sun (Deu_16:6), between three and six o’clock in the evening. This corresponds with the ninth hour of the great atonement day, when Jesus, the Lamb of God, cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost.”
Deu_16:8. A solemn assembly. Observed personally, publicly and socially Those who violate the Sabbath and neglect religious ordinances disobey God and endanger the welfare of the nation.
Deu_16:1-8. We may learn—
1. That there is no service without separation from the world.
2. That separation from the world is only accomplished by God’s help.
3. That the consequences of separation must be sanctification to God.
(1) By self surrender.
(2) By continual obedience. Or—
1. Christian life is of divine origin.
2. Christian life is social in its nature.
3. Christian life is supreme in our conduct.
THE FEAST OF WEEKS.—Deu_16:9-12
Pentecost signifies fiftieth. This feast was held seven weeks (a week of weeks) after the Passover, counting from the second day of that feast. It is called “the feast of harvest” (Exo_23:16). On this fiftieth day the second festival commenced by the offer of two loaves of fine flour, “which were the first fruits of the wheat harvest” (Lev_23:17). The feast was to be kept by sacrificial gifts and joy.
I. A festival of joy. “Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God.’,
1. The joy of harvest. Joy after severe toil and long patience—joy in reaping the results of labour and enjoying the bounty of God—the joy of public thanks giving. “They joy before thee according to the joy of harvest” (Isa_9:3).
Now o’er the corn the sturdy farmer looks,
And swells with satisfaction to behold
The plenteous harvest which repays his toil.
We, too, are gratified, and feel a joy
Inferior but to his, partakers all
Of the rich bounty Providence has strew’d
In plentiful profusion o’er the field.—Hurdis.
2. Joy of social intercourse. Thou, thy son and daughter, thy domestics, strangers, and fatherless (Deu_16:11). Goodwill and kindness to men were manifested in these festivals. Our joys are increased by letting others share them. “Happiness was born a twin,” says Byron. The blessings of God upon us, should create a glad heart, a radiant countenance, and a liberal hand.
II. An acknowledgement of dependence upon God. This festival was a national and devout expression of their dependence upon God for the fruits of the earth and the possession of their privileges. The Jew was not permitted to touch his crop until he had presented the first fruits. “This,” says a writer, “was a beautiful institution, to teach the Israelites that it was not the soil, nor the raindrops, nor the sunbeams, nor the dews, nor the skill of their agriculturists, that they had to thank for their bounteous produce, but that they must rise above the sower and reaper, and see God, the giver of the golden harvest, and make His praise the key-note to their harvest home.”
III. A memorial of great events. Two grand events seem to be referred to.
1. Deliverance from bondage. “Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt.” To stimulate gratitude to God and liberality to men.
2. The giving of the law. The law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day from Egypt. These stated celebrations would commemorate and authenticate ancient events. Written records are not always safe; get corrupted or lost, and only impress the few who read them. But general celebrations of a nation’s birth and history recall to gratitude and keep alive a conscious dependence upon Divine providence. The exodus of Israel is not a matter of curious antiquity. but of world interest. The giving of the law and the miracles of early history are revelations of God to man, an evidence that heaven and earth are near to each other in government and purpose.
IV. A type of Pentecost in the Christian Church. It was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was poured out and new power bestowed on the Church. As “the first fruits” of the earth were presented of old, so the first fruits from heaven were gathered in by the conversion of three thousand from “every nation under heaven.” The thunders of Sinai were hushed by the mighty wind at Jerusalem, and the curse of the Law contrasted by the blessings of the gospel. “The voice of words” is followed by “the tongue of fire.”
THE TRIBUTE OF FREEWILL.—Deu_16:10
In the sacrifices there must not only be devout acknowledgement of Divine goodness, but voluntary dedication to God.
I. Our offerings must be presented with a willing mind. “A free will offering.” The heart must be touched before the gift is taken by “the hand.” There must be no hesitation, no constraint. Without this, whatever be the value of the gift, and the splendour of the altar on which it is put, there can be no acceptance.” Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2Co_9:7).
II. Our offerings should be proportionate to God’s blessing upon us. This frees us from all excuse. We can give something. “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (2Co_8:12). Think of God’s mercies.
1. In ordinary affairs. In our harvests and families, in prosperous trades and professions. In the comforts and privileges of life. What shall we render to God for these?
2. In special providences. Many like Israel have special deliverances to commemorate, almost miraculous escapes from danger and death. These should affect our hearts “Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly.” “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee” (Deu_16:17).
III. Our offerings should be an expression of the subjection of our will to God’s will. If we love God we shall obey Him. Our hearts and gifts will be presented without delay. But if we hate God and forget His mercies, we shall withhold His due. The mind is discovered by its expressions, the willingness measured by the quality of the offering. Gifts full and free indicate gratitude and readiness to please; gifts blemished and stingy prove lack of reverence and submission to God. If we render not according to God’s blessing upon us we may lose all we have. “Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_16:10-11. Keep the feast.
1. In national union. All the tribes, rich and poor, were to go up to Jerusalem, and there proclaim in united gatherings their dependence upon God. National unity was recognised by worship to a common Redeemer.
2. In national joy. They must rejoice in receiving from and giving to God, and in helping one another. (a) Sacredjoy. “Rejoice before the Lord thy God.” True joy is a serious thing (Bonar). Worldly joy is like a shallow brook, deceptive and gliding away. (b) Social joy. All within the family and in the gates were to rejoice together. Common mercies should create common joys.
3. In national beneficence. Servants, Levites and strangers, the widow and the fatherless, must be remembered. The wants of the needy must be supplied. The law of beneficence then as always must be “as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.”
Feast of first fruits. The appointment of these feasts may be considered as—I. Commemorative: Of the day on which they came out of Egypt, and of the day on which they received the law. II. Typical: Of the Resurrection, and of the descending of the Spirit on the Apostles,. III. Instructive: Of our obligations and duty towards God.—C. Simeon, M.A.
Deu_16:9-11. The feast of Pentecost prefigured the mission of the Holy Spirit. The first fruits of the Spirit which followed that sacred day on which the law was given, and by which the spirit of bondage was introduced, as it also prefigured the first fruits of the new church (Acts 2), and of the Ministry of the Apostles, and of that new bread with which the Jews first, and then the Gentiles were to be fed.—Spanheim, Chron. Sac.
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.—Deu_16:13-15
This festival was instituted in grateful commemoration of the security of Israel when dwelling in booths or tabernacles in the wilderness. It began on the 15th day of the month Tisri (from the end of our September and beginning of October), and lasted a week. It was celebrated only at the sanctuary. Offerings were presented on the altar every day and booths were used. on the housetops, in the streets, or in the fields for the dwelling of the people. (Lev_23:42; Neh_8:15-16.)
I. A Feast of Ingathering. “After that thou hast gathered in thy corn and wine.” There was no disappointment, no failure in the crops. In these “harvest homes,” each season was marked with devout recognition of God’s providence. In the Passover the sickle “was put to the corn.” In Pentecost the cereal crops were harvested, and now in the Feast of Tabernacles, everything was gathered in, securely stored, and the husbandman rewarded for his toil. “Thou shalt keep the feast of ingathering in the end of the year when thou hast gathered in thy labours.” (Exo_23:16.)
II. A time of universal joy. “Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast.” Gladness was a special characteristic of this autumnal gathering, it was a standing type of festivity, and there was a standing proverb that “He who had never seen the rejoicing at the pouring out of the water of Siloam (a ceremonial of the Feast of Tabernacles) had never seen rejoicing in his life.” The joy was on two accounts.
1. For the past. For God’s miraculous deliverance and guidance through the wilderness. For the corn, wine and oil, and the produce of the land. What a contrast between the land of promise and the desert draught!
2. For the future. God opened up a bright prospect. They were to rejoice in hope and expectation of further blessings. “Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase,” etc. (Deu_16:15). God’s people are commanded and should always be a cheerful people to “rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always.”
III. A Memorial of Pilgrim Life. “That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev_23:43). The people left their homes and abode in “tabernacles.” “The feast typifies this our pilgrim state, the life of simple faith in God, for which God provides; poor in this world’s goods but rich in God. The church militant dwells as it were in tabernacles; hereafter in hope to be received into everlasting habitations in the Church triumphant. It was the link which bound on their deliverance from Egypt to the close of their pilgrim life, and their entrance into rest. The yearly commemoration of it was not only a thanksgiving for God’s past mercies, it was a confession also of their present relation to God, that here we have no continuing city; that they still needed the guidance and support of God; and that their trust was not in themselves nor in man, but in Him.”—Dr. Pusey.
IV. A type of Heaven. The booths on earth were frail, temporary and easily destroyed. “For a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from the storm and rain” (Isa_4:6.) But there is “a tabernacle that shall not be taken down.” The rest of Canaan typified the rest of heaven, the eternal home of the Christian pilgrim; where there are no tents, no wanderings and no sorrows; no thirst, no pain, no sin, no death. The convocation reminds us of “the general assembly” in the celestial city. In this world we are “strangers and sojourners,” let us prepare for the final ingathering of the fruits of God’s grace.
THE THREE ANNUAL GATHERINGS.—Deu_16:16-17
The rules concerning the three feasts are here summed up as in Exo_23:16-17; Exo_34:23. All males must appear. None must appear empty. All must give according to God’s blessing upon them. View these gatherings—
I. In their fixed periods. There was nothing arbitrary. The seasons corresponded to yearly epochs natural to an agricultural people. There is, something that may worthily bring them together. The energy which slept in the powers of nature, and which gradually developed in the produce of the seasons was the same which was roused in terror to destroy their foes. The god of nature was the moral governor of mankind. “The great fact of a moral government which men are pepetually forgetting, was, in the institutions of one people, linked on to those constantly recurring periods which man’s physical wants will not allow him to neglect, and thus challenged their attention, and if anything could, coloured as it were, and inoculated their whole consciousness.”
II. In promoting commercial prosperity. Facilities for buying and selling for mutual intercourse and trade were great. “Such festivals,” says a writer, “have always been attended with this effect. The famous old fair near Hebron arose from the congregating of pilgrims to the famous terebinth-tree of Abraham. The yearly fairs of the Germans are said to have had a similar origin and so the annual pilgrimage of the Mohammedans to Mecca, in spite of many adverse circumstances, has given birth to one of the greatest markets in the Eastern world. Thus, perhaps, more of the wealth of the Jews and of the greatness and glory of Jerusalem is to be traced to the simple laws of this one chapter than to all the wisdom and power of either or all of their kings.”
III. In cementing national unity. Three times a year did rich and poor meet in one place and on one common ground. Great multitudes would see each other and have opportunity of knowing each other. They would become interested in one another’s welfare and a bond of brotherhood would be formed to counteract schism and rebellion. Union gave firmness and solidity to the nation. One spirit cemented and animated all the tribes. Community of principles, fellowship in festivals and privileges bound all in one compact family. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
IV. In preserving the religious sentiment. They were reminded of God in every feast, sacrifice, and offering. Faith, gratitude, love, and all the religious feelings, would be quickened and rightly centred. In their annual worship, God, the one supreme object, was kept before them. In their habitual charity they recognised the claims of the poor. Thus, in its twofold aspects towards God and man, their religion was strengthened to govern individual, social, and national life. Our religion must be the sovereign of the soul, ruling all life and controlling all its activities.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_16:13-15. National philanthropy.
1. When God blesses a nation with prosperity He demands its liberality. Wealth, corn and wine are given not for selfish, but for useful purposes. Covetousness plans for selfish ends, benevolence should counter plan and organize resources for objects of divine philanthropy.
2. This liberality should be displayed to the nation’s own poor. (a.) In social feasts. “Rejoice in thy feast.” (b.) In benevolence to all classes. Those related and those not related (Deu_16:14). God has identified himself with the orphans and the poor, and delegated them to receive bounty meant for himself (Jas_2:5). The poor in our families, churches and nation have the first claim. “Charity begins at home.”
Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race.
Pope.
Deu_16:16. Three times a year. The chief objects of the feast.
1. To recount God’s mercies.
2. To enhance the piety and patriotism of the people.
3. To promote friendly intercourse among families and sections and thus
4. To aid in preserving the society of the Church and the nation. (S. S. Journal). The connection of the feasts with the Life of Jesus. The Passover. Jesus and the cross. The Pentecost. Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Tabernacles. Jesus and our heavenly home.—S. S. Journal.
Appear before the Lord. The journey to Jerusalem pictured in “the Songs of Degrees” (Psalms 120-134).
The twofold aspects of the Feasts.
1. Looking back to deliverance.
2. Looking forward in hope of entering the “house not made with hands,” of being “gathered into the Lord’s garner.”
Deu_16:16-17. Not appear empty. Viewed religiously, the festivals were annual national thanksgivings for mercies received, both natural and miraculous—the first from the commencement of harvest and the deliverance out of Egypt; the second for the completion of the grain harvest and the passage of the Red Sea; the third for the final gathering in of the fruits and the many mercies of the wilderness. At such seasons we must not “appear before God empty,” we must give Him not only “the salves of our lips,” but some substantial acknowledgment of His goodness towards us. (Com. for English Readers).
Not empty.
1. An offering to be brought.
2. An offering for each individual.
3. An offering according to the ability of each. 4. An offering to the Lord (a) as an acknowledgment of His mercy, (b) as an expression of gratitude. Gifts are the natural results of gratitude and joy. “Bring an offering and come into His courts” (Psa_145:8).
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.—Deu_16:18-20
These words with the four next chapters give certain directions for the administration of justice. While Moses lived, he himself specially taught of God, was sufficient. But the people were soon to be scattered in the land and would no longer be encamped together, hence regular and permanent provision must be made for future order in civil and social government.
I. Right men must be chosen. The nation must select its own judges and officers, secretaries and advisers of judges, and every place was now to have its own administration. Imperfect sinful men were to be entrusted with solemn duty, to represent God and train up a nation in righteousness and truth.
II. These men must judge with impartial spirit. God seeks to implant right principles and cultivate right dispositions in men. Good laws must be rightly administered. Corruption and tyranny must disgrace no community, ruler, or subject.
1. No injustice. “They shall judge the people with just judgment.”
2. No perversion of judgment. “Thou shalt not wrest judgment” (Deu_16:19) in social, civil, or religious matters.
3. No partiality. “Thou shalt not respect persons,” rich or poor. “Hear the small as well as the great, be not afraid of the face of man for the judgment is God’s” (Deu_1:16-17).
4. No bribery. “Neither take a gift.” Pure justice was not often administered. Corruption was prevalent in Hebrew, as well as Oriental judges, was one of the crying evils which provoked God’s anger against his people and led first to the Babylonian captivity, and afterwards to the Roman conquest.
5. Nothing but right. “That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,” literally justice, justice; “the repetition for the sake of emphasis and solemnity. God is just, and at the great day will give to everyone his due. He should therefore rule and stay in fear of Him.” “Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (2Ch_19:5-7).
“Mercy more becomes a magistrate
Than the vindictive wrath which men call justice!”—Longfellow.
III. The blessings which follow justice rightly administered. Right performance of duty always brings pleasure and reward.
1. Life is relieved. Evils are prevalent enough, without increasing them by official injustice. The purpose of government is to remove unjust burdens, to encourage progress, and reconcile all classes. “Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants” says Burke. “That thou mayest live.”
2. Inheritance is secured. Strife and emnity, robbery and injustice, create disorder and endanger life and property. Righteous laws duly administered bring peace to to the city, give security to the throne, and stability to the state. “Inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
3. Society is improved. When vice is unchecked and virtue neglected, when judgment is perverted and authority set at nought, there can be no improvement and progress in society. Wealth does not christianise, change does not ameliorate society. Laws must command good and forbid evil, punish transgression and reward obedience. “The function of a government,” says Gladstone, “is to make it easy for people to do good, and difficult for them to do evil.” “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil” (Rom_13:3).
IDOLATRY FORBIDDEN.—Deu_16:21-22
In giving practical directions for the administration of justice, Moses begins by denouncing idotatry, which is rebellion against supreme power. They are neither to plant groves, nor set up pillars in the worship of God.
I. Idolatry is enticing. This on many accounts.
1. By its prevalence. In some form or other it is the most popular religion in the world. Men bow down to the idols of luxury, ambition, pleasure and avarice. “For all people will walk every one in the name of his god” (Mic_4:5).
2. By its use. We naturally forsake God and cling to sin. Evil inclination leads to wrong choice, and men chose darkness rather than light.
II. Idolatry is treason against God. God is the sum of all moral qualities, the proprietor of all resources, and the giver of all existences. What more rational than to worship Him? We are bound, obligated to love Him. Nothing belies God, nor degrades man like the worship of images and statues. This is treason against heaven, the firstborn of all folly, the total of all absurdities. “An idol is nothing.”
III. Idolatry must be utterly forsaken. We must neither join the worshippers nor sanction the worship. Plant no grove of trees, for truth loves light and reproves dark. Set up no image by hands or in imagination. We must not enquire for idols, transfer our affections to them, nor address our prayers to them. God’s people are forbidden to examine or look at them. “Turn ye not (face not) unto idols, nor make to yourselves molton gods. I am the Lord your God.” (Lev_19:4.)
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_16:18-20. Judges and Justice.
1. The supremacy of justice and right outweighed all personal considerations, all private pleasures and friendships. Right must be upheld and honoured.
2. The method of upholding justice. By imperfect men, chosen by the people, acting with impartial spirit and representing God. “Ye shall be as gods.”
3. The places in which justice was upheld. “In all thy gates.” The places of public resort where courts were held and business transacted. The Ottoman Porte derives its name (Porta) from this custom of administration. The word here means in every city and town. Amid the homes and daily affairs of men right and authority must be obeyed. Earthly courts must be a type of heavenly; human tribunals remind us of the power and jurisdiction of Him against whom “the gates of hell shall not prevail.”
Deu_16:21-22. Idolatry.
1. Its various forms. Idolatry previously forbidden; but law repeated against particular forms and places.
2. The people’s proneness to it.
3. The divine prohibition. No intermixture of worship, no tampering with danger. Entire avoidance.
ILLUSTRATIONS ON CHAPTER 16
Deu_16:1-4. Remember. A good memory is the best monument. Others are subject to casualty or time; and we know that the pyramids themselves, doting with age, have forgotten the names of their founders.—Fuller. The memory of past labours is very sweet.—Cicero.
Deu_16:4-8. The place. Public worship is the nearest resemblance of heaven.—Clarkson.
Deu_16:11-14. If men lived like men their houses would be temples—temples which we should hardly dare to inquire, and in which it would make us holy to be permitted to live (Ruskin).—Joy.
All who joy would win
Must share it—Happiness was born a twin.
Byron.
Deu_16:9; Deu_16:13; Deu_16:16. Feasts. Festivals, when duly observed, attach men to the civil and religious institutions of their country: it is an evil therefore when they fall into disuse. For the same reason the loss of local observances is to be regretted: who is there that does not remember their effect upon himself in early life. (Southey.) Those are the rarest feasts which are graced with the most royal guests.—W. Secker.
Deu_16:18-20. Judge. Sir Mt. Hale was very exact and impartial in the administration of justice. He would never receive any private addresses or recommendation from the highest persons. One of the first peers of England once called upon him privately, to acquaint him with a suit in law to be tried before him, that he might better understand it in open court. Sir Mt. stopped him and told him that he never received information of causes, but where both parties might be heard alike. The nobleman went away, complained to the king and declared it a rudeness that could not be endured. His Majesty bade him to content himself that he was no worse used, and said “He verily believed he would have used himself no better if he had gone to solicit him in any of his own causes.”—Buck.
Deu_16:21-22. Image. Idolatry has its origin in the human heart. Men love sin and do not want to be reproved for it; therefore they form themselves a god that will not reprove them. (J. H. Evans.) All the princes of the earth have not had so many subjects betrayed and made traitors by their enemies as God hath lost souls by the means of images. Christ saith not, “Go preach unto the people by images,” but “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.”—Bp. Hooper.
“Yet man, this glorious creature, can debase
His spirit down to worship wood and stone,
And hold the very beasts which bear his yoke
And tremble at his eye for sacred things.
Landon
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 (with Neh 9:9-11)
Deu 16:1
(with Neh 9:9-11)
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The sacred Scriptures record two chief outbursts of miraculous power: one at the foundation of the Hebrew commonwealth at the exodus from Egypt and one at the time of Christ’s appearing and the foundation of Christianity. It is a matter of infinite importance to every man to ascertain whether these great miracles of the Exodus and of Christ’s first advent were really wrought.
I. The facts of the case are these: (1) The Hebrew people and the ancient Hebrew books now exist, and they throw light on one another. (2) Wherever the Jewish people exist they celebrate in the spring the festival of the Passover, which they universally regard as a historical memorial of the deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt, about fourteen hundred years before Christ, by the supernatural intervention of God the Almighty.
II. In the same manner, the feast of Pentecost, or the festival of the wheat-harvest, fifty days after the Passover, came to be regarded as a memorial of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day after the Exodus. In like manner, the autumnal festival of Succoth, or Booths, called "the feast of tabernacles," is now celebrated just as universally as the Passover in the spring, as a memorial of the children of Israel dwelling in huts or booths. These festivals and commemorations have been celebrated now for more than three thousand years.
III. The rule is that national celebrations and public monuments maintain the remembrance of real events in past ages. It may be objected that if Athens, with all its wisdom, could celebrate the fictitious history of Minerva, why may we not believe that the Jews were capable of commemorating things that happened only in the imagination of later writers and poets? To this we answer: (1) that even in the festivals of mythology there has been a strange interweaving of historical truth and a constant tendency to give this element prominence in the lapse of time; (2) that the Jews were utterly destitute of the dramatic imagination of the Greeks: to them the origination of a myth like that of the Exodus, if it were a myth, would be an uncongenial exercise, its adoption as history an impossibility.
E. White, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 120.
References: Deu 16:10.—A. Pott, Sermons for the Festivals and Fasts, p. 375. Deu 16:13.—C. J. Vaughan, Good Words, 1864, p. 700. Deu 16:13-17.—J. Bruce, Sermons, p. 155; E. H. Plumptre, Church Sermons by Eminent Clergymen, vol. ii., p. 244 (see also Old Testament Outlines, p. 51).
Deu 16:16
I. A leading feature, the leading feature, of the Old Testament revelation, is that life and all that crowns it—its crown of blessings—is the gift of a living, intelligent Being, and comes to us bearing the seal of His love. The Jews were separated to this end, that God’s methods and purposes with all men might be laid bare, that for once the Hand might be clearly manifest which is busy about every life. All things happened unto them for our ensamples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come.
II. The motive which is pleaded for all the noblest human effort is God’s example. God has done thus and thus for you; "Go ye and do likewise" for your fellow-men.
III. The exhortations of Scripture are amply sustained by our own experience of life. There is no joy that fills man’s heart which is comparable with that which he shares with God. Man’s gladdest experiences, his most self-approved acts and ministries, are those which have absolutely no explanation but in his Godlikeness.
IV. Part of this Godlike duty finds expression in the text. "They shall not appear before the Lord empty." Help God, for His great mercy’s sake, to help the world.
V. Another great thought of the Old Testament is the help which it is in man’s power to render to God. These old records show us how much there is that God’s heart most deeply cares for in which our help is essential. His ends can never be reached without us in the way in which His wisdom has ordered the world.
J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 71.
References: Deu 16:17.—Parker, vol. v., p. 10. Deu 16:18.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 208. Deut 16—Parker, vol. iv., p. 255.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Injunctions Regarding Feasts, Judges, Groves, and Images
Injunctions Regarding Feasts, Judges, Groves, and Images
1-8. On the Passover see Exodus 12 Lev_23:4-8; Num_28:16-25, and the notes on these passages. It will be observed that the general law of Deu_12:5 (see on Deu_12:4-28) is here applied to each of the three great annual festivals: see Deu_16:2, Deu_16:11, Deu_16:15.
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3. Bread of affliction] So called from the circumstances in which the festival was instituted and which the unleavened bread and bitter herbs were meant to symbolise: see Exo_12:8.
8. Solemn assembly] see Lev_23:36.
9-12. On the Feast of Weeks see on Lev_23:15-21; Num_28:26-31.
10. With a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand] better, 'after the measure of a freewill Offering of thine hand,' i.e. according to thine ability as God has prospered thee, as in Deu_16:17.
11. The joyous nature of this festival is emphasised here. The people are to present thank-offerings and remember the poor: cp. Deu_16:16.
13. On the Feast of Tabernacles see on Lev_23:33-43; Num_29:12-38.
16. Shall not appear.. empty] To 'appear before God' is to visit the sanctuary for worship: e.g. Psa_42:2, Psa_42:4. On this injunction to bring an offering see on Exo_23:15, and cp. Psa_96:8.
18. This is the beginning of the subdivision that deals mainly with civil matters. See heading of Deuteronomy 12.
19. See on Exo_23:8.
21. Grove of any trees] RV ' Asherah of any kind of tree': see on Exo_34:13.
22. Image] RV 'pillar': see on Exo_24:4; Exo_34:13.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 keep the passover
keep the passover
Cf. the order of the feasts in Leviticus 23. Here the Passover and Tabernacles are given especial emphasis as marking the beginning and the consummation of God’s ways with Israel; the former speaking of redemption, the foundation of all: the latter, or re-gathered Israel blessed in the kingdom. Between, in Deu 16:9-12 comes the Feast of Weeks--the joy of a redeemed people, anticipating a greater blessing yet to come. It is, morally, Rom 5:1; Rom 5:2.
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Abib First month i.e. April.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
v. 1. Observe The month of Abib, the first month of the church-pear, and keep the Passover unto the Lord, thy God, on the fourteenth of the month; for in the-month of Abib the Lord, thy God, brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Cf Exodus 12; Leviticus 23; Numbers 9.
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v. 2. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord, thy God, of the flock and the herd, for the offerings of the entire week, especially those of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are here included, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there, where the central Sanctuary would be erected.
v. 3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it, Exodus 12-15; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction, to remind the people of the oppression which they suffered in Egypt and of the suddenness of the delivery; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, the Egyptians almost thrusting them forth, Exo 12:39; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
v. 4. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast, in the entire country, to its utmost boundaries, seven days, as long as the double festival lasted; neither shall there anything of the flesh which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, the Passover sacrifice proper, remain all night until the morning, Exo 12:10; Exo 34:25.
v. 5. Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates, in any city of the land of Canaan where the worshipers happened to live, which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee;
v. 6. but at the place which the Lord, thy God, shall choose to place His name in, where the Sanctuary of the entire nation would be erected, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, when night was coming on, Exo 12:6, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt, at that exact time of the year.
v. 7. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord, thy God, shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning and go unto thy tents, the standing expression for centuries for going home.
v. 8. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord, thy God, Lev 23:36, a high festival day on which all work was forbidden; thou shalt do no work therein. Note that even here the two festivals are considered practically as one, also that the ordinances as originally given were modified, for the entire Passover celebration took place at the central Sanctuary, and the individual houses were no longer regarded as the places of sacrifice, nor was the blood used to paint the door-posts, as in Egypt.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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month of Aviv
This is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. It marks when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. It is during the last part of March and the first part April on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and How to Translate Names)
keep the Passover
It is implied by "keep the Passover" that they would celebrate and eat the Passover meal. AT: "celebrate the Passover meal" or "eat the Passover meal" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
You will sacrifice the Passover
Here "Passover" represents the animal that is sacrificed for the Passover celebration. AT: For the Passover you will offer a sacrifice" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Passover
Yahweh
God
Egypt
sacrifice
flocks
sanctuary
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–3 16:1-8 The Passover (Hebrew pesakh) was the festival marking…
16:1-8 The Passover (Hebrew pesakh) was the festival marking Israel’s deliverance from the tenth plague and from bondage in Egypt (see Exod 11–12; Lev 23:5-8). • The Exodus was such a significant event in Israel’s history that the month of Abib, when the Exodus took place, became the beginning of Israel’s annual calendar (see Exod 12:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.