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Deuteronomy 16 beginning in verse 
1. Observe the month of Abib and 
keep the Passover to the Lord your God. For in the month of 
Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore 
you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the 
flock and the herd in the place where the Lord chooses to put 
his name. You shall eat no leavened bread 
with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, 
that is the bread of affliction, for you came out of the land 
of Egypt in haste, that you may remember the day in which you 
came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. and 
no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for 
seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrificed 
the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning. You 
may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which 
the Lord your God gives you, but at the place where the Lord 
your God chooses to make his name abide, there you shall sacrifice 
the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun. at 
the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it 
in the place which the Lord your God chooses. And in the morning 
you shall turn and go to your tents. Six days you shall eat 
unleavened bread. And on the seventh day there 
shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall 
do no work on it. You shall count seven weeks for 
yourself. Begin to count the seven weeks 
from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then 
you shall keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God with the 
tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall 
give as the Lord your God blesses you. You shall rejoice before 
the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male 
servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your 
gates, the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, 
at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make his name 
abide. And you shall remember that you 
were a slave in Egypt. And you shall be careful to observe 
these statutes. You shall observe the Feast of 
Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing 
floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your 
feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and 
your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger and the 
fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. Seven 
days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in 
the place which the Lord chooses. Because the Lord your God will 
bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands 
so that you surely rejoice. Three times a year, all your 
males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which 
he chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, 
and at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before 
the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is 
able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which he 
has given you. Amen. Well, as we have seen over 
the last several chapters, chapter 13 was a chapter that highlighted 
what happens to those who would seduce you to idolatry. And then 
the gears sort of shift in chapters 14 and 15, to a more humanitarian 
or the social or communal life of Israel. And here we see Israel's 
rhythm of celebration, three annual feasts that they were 
supposed to keep each and every year. The Passover and Unleavened 
Bread are linked together here in verses 1 to 8, then the Feast 
of Weeks in verses 9 to 12, and then the Feast of Tabernacles 
in 13 to 15, and then a summary statement concerning all three 
feasts in verses 16 to 17. So within Israel, communal life 
was important. Within Israel, they were supposed 
to feast as unto the Lord. And we'll learn several lessons 
at the conclusion of our study tonight as the emphases that 
we see in each of these feasts. But I just want to do a bit of 
a cursory study of these three. There's a lot more that could 
be said Other passages speak to these particular feasts in 
the Book of Exodus, in the Book of Leviticus, and in the Book 
of Numbers as well. But also key to this chapter 
is what we learned in Chapter 12. I'd like to say, does anyone 
remember what we learned in Chapter 12? But for the sake of any awkward 
pauses that may go out on the Internet, I'll just tell you 
what we learned in Chapter 12. There was the specification of 
a centralized sanctuary. there was to be one place that 
Israel was to go in order to worship. The tabernacle would 
be located at a various spot, eventually the temple would be 
built in Jerusalem, and it would be a centralized place of worship. That was necessary to safeguard 
the community from idolatry. If people began to worship in 
any old way they wished, or they began to worship in any old place 
that they wished, the tendency would be to slide into idolatry 
or into apostasy. So God spoke to that issue very 
clearly in chapter 12. When you go into the land, you 
are to worship, you are to sacrifice, you are to do your religious 
doings at the place that the Lord your God chooses. Now in 
the reading here in chapter 16 verses 1 to 17, I hope that you 
saw the emphasis on that theme, in the place God chooses. It was stated in verse 2, verse 
6, verse 7, verse 11, verse 15, and verse 16. So what God is 
saying is that Israel as the community is to continue to engage 
in these particular feasts. What has changed or what is modified 
as they enter into the land is that no longer does the family 
sacrifice the Passover in their home, but rather they go to the 
sanctuary, they go to that central place in order to worship God 
in the place he chooses. So that is key in our study tonight 
is that the Lord God specifies where these feasts are to be 
carried out. Again, there's no magic involved. It's not as if the land of Jerusalem 
or the ground there is somehow better than it might be. It was 
a safeguard to prohibit idolatry and the slide into apostasy that 
unfortunately still happen among the Israelites. But anyway, that 
is an emphasis in this particular section. So let's look at these 
three feasts. The first, the Feast of Passover 
and Unleavened Bread. They're spoken of as one feast. Klein says, as used in these 
verses, The term Passover comprehends both the Passover proper and 
the following seven-day feast of unleavened bread. The month 
of Abib, also known as the month Nisan, after the exile It was 
then called Nissan. This corresponds to about March 
or April in our calendar. So you've got this particular 
feast in March or April, 50 days or 50 weeks after that you have 
the Feast of Weeks, and then the Feast of Tabernacles takes 
place in the fall, in September, October. at that particular harvest. So that's sort of the calendar 
involved here. The Passover was on the 14th 
day and the unleavened bread was on the 15th through the 21st. Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 
28 and 29 for parallel legislation. The first instance of them obeying 
this particular or engaging in this particular Feast of Passover 
when they get into the Promised Land is recorded in Joshua chapter 
5 verses 10 to 12. So there they are in the land, 
they celebrate the Passover. So the command is given, observe 
the month and keep the Passover to the Lord your God. Now note 
the reason, verse 1b. For in the month of Abib, the 
Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night." That is central 
to each of these feasts. The Feast of Passover and Unleavened 
Bread, you do so because of the Exodus. The Feast of Weeks, you 
do so because of the Exodus. The Feast of Tabernacles, while 
it doesn't say it in this passage, in the parallel in Leviticus 
23-43, you do so because of the Exodus. In other words, God redeemed 
you. God brought you out. Therefore, 
pattern your calendar with this rhythm of celebration to recall 
this blessed fact and rejoice in the Lord your God. It's really 
an amazing section of scripture here. God commands them to be 
happy. God commands them to celebrate. God commands them to feast. God commands them to rejoice. It is quite interesting. You 
know, oftentimes people read the Old Testament or they have 
some cursory understanding of the Old Testament and they just 
think of how oppressive it is and how barbaric it is and how 
bad it is. And here we have a whole chapter 
telling us how we are supposed to respond to the living and 
true God who redeemed us out of the land of Egypt by feasting, 
by praising, by delighting, by rejoicing. Notice they are to 
offer sacrifice. Verse 2, therefore you shall 
sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, notice from the 
flock in the herd. It was very specific in Exodus 
that it was supposed to be a Passover lamb. Here it's expanded to the 
herd, not just flock, but herd. Some hypothesize or some speculate 
that it's because of the increase of the tribes. The eastern tribes 
already had vast amounts of cattle and herds, so God has given them 
the liberty to offer up something out of that. Whatever the case 
may be, they are in this feast of Passover slash unleavened 
bread. to offer a sacrifice to the Lord 
your God. The sacrifice recalls redemption 
from Egypt. It is no accident that John the 
Baptist, when he lays eyes upon the Lord Jesus, says, Behold 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What does 
he have in mind? He has in mind the Passover lamb. He has in mind substitutionary 
curse bearing. He has in mind the blood of the 
lamb that the angel of the Lord saw and passed over judgment 
upon those Israelite homes. Paul equates the redemptive work 
of Jesus Christ with the Passover. He says Christ is our Passover. In 1 Corinthians, I believe chapter 
5, and verse 7. So the sacrifice is for the Lord. The sacrifice recalls redemption 
from Egypt. The sacrifice was substitutionary 
in nature. And again, the sacrifice would 
be offered at the central sanctuary. Notice in verse 2, in the place 
where the Lord chooses to put His name. That recurring theme, 
again, speaks to the tendency of man to try to take into his 
own hands how we worship God. God says worship is serious business. Worship is holy business. Worship 
bears directly upon the nature of God. And so God specifies, 
God defines, God orders the way that we approach Him. He tells 
us the who, the what, the why, the when, the where, the how. 
Everything necessary for our instruction in how to approach 
God is revealed by God himself. Remember that principle back 
in chapter 12 at verse 32. Whatever I command you, be careful to 
observe it. You shall not add to it nor take 
away from it." Man does not have the prerogative in the worship 
of God to introduce his own ideas, to introduce his own elements, 
to introduce an alternate place. God has spoken, we must obey. It is that simple. It's as simple 
as matters concerning sexual morality, matters concerning 
property and theft and all that sort of thing. God says don't 
steal. We're not supposed to steal. God says worship this 
way, we're supposed to worship that way. The Reformed have referred 
to this as the regulative principle of worship and the fact that 
this point is emphasized so many times in the book of Deuteronomy 
indicates to us that God takes this seriously and we are not 
to add and we are not to take away from the prescription to 
worship. So the reason sacrifice for the 
Lord, the sacrifice recalls redemption from Egypt, the sacrifice was 
substitutionary in nature, and the sacrifice would be offered 
at the central sanctuary. Notice the specific manner in 
verses 3 to 8. There was a prohibition against 
leaven. Now it could be because the leavening 
process was seen as impure, so therefore do not use leaven in 
this holy feast. It's not a prohibition against 
never using leaven, but in this time frame, this days of unleavened 
bread, They were not supposed to use a leavening agent in their 
bread. But notice what the text specifically 
says. Verse 3, you shall eat no leavened 
bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened 
bread with it. That is the bread of affliction. 
For you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. that you may 
remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt, 
all the days of your life." So this time of eating the unleavened 
bread would cause them to recall that time of haste. They didn't 
have time to make bread with a leavening agent. That takes 
time, doesn't it? I'm not a baker, I just have 
seen my wife at times with a big lump of dough that has to swell 
up before she puts it into the oven. As far as I know, that 
means the leaven has to take root in the dough, cause it to 
rise, so that when you bake the bread it's light and fluffy and 
delicious when you put butter on it. Well, if you're a people 
that are on the go, you don't have time to put your dough there 
to let it rise. No, the idea here is that the 
unleavened bread in this season would cause them, it would be 
the bread of affliction, to cause them to remember the events associated 
with that particular Passover night. When God gave them instructions 
on how they were to cook their lamb, how they were to cook their 
bread, how they were to eat the bitter herbs, and how they were 
to escape from Egypt or boldly leave from Egypt. So the idea, 
the association here, is that when they ate that unleavened 
bread, it would cause them to recall the events associated 
with that night in redemptive history. There was a reason for 
this bread of affliction, for you came out of the land of Egypt 
and Aced, that you may remember the day in which you came out 
of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. And then notice, 
no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for 
seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrificed 
the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning." So 
again, Exodus 12 speak specifically to these particular requirements. Here on the plains of Moab they 
are being reminded as to how they are to engage in this particular 
feast before the Lord God. The elements, the animal sacrifice 
and the unleavened bread were to associate in their mind the 
night that they were led out of the land of Egypt. So they 
were tangible elements, something similar to what we find when 
we get to the Lord's Supper, for instance. Tangible elements 
to help us remember a specific event in redemptive history. So it's an interesting reality 
that this Passover slash unleavened bread, it looked back in history 
to what God had done. It also pointed forward to what 
God promised to do in terms of blessing them when they went 
into the land. The Lord's Supper functions in 
the same manner. When we eat this bread and we 
drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death. We look back in 
history at the greatest act of redemption that ever took place. 
But we're also pointed forward. As often as you eat this bread 
and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. There is an eschatological or 
a future-oriented element to us participating in the supper. 
In the same manner, the way they ate the Passover, it looked back, 
it looked forward, and it was to be a time of encouragement 
to the people of God. what the Lord had done in their 
lives in terms of redemption. Notice again the emphasis in 
verse 5. You may not sacrifice the Passover 
within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, 
but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His 
name abide. You see, it's a corporate reality. It's a corporate feast. It wasn't 
bad in Exodus 12 for the family to do this. In fact, it was commanded. But now as the corporate community, 
the covenant community, is being shaped and molded by God, they 
are now being pressed to that central sanctuary where it is 
there that the head of the household will slit the throat and then 
the priest will sprinkle the lamb's blood and do all of the 
act of sacrifice. So you see the emphasis here. 
You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which 
the Lord your God gives you, but at the place where the Lord 
your God chooses to make His name abide. And then it gets 
very detailed. There you shall sacrifice the 
Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun at the 
time you came out of Egypt. You shall roast and eat it in 
the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning 
you shall turn and go to your tents." Now, by tents, it is 
not meant their home. Remember, this was travel to 
the central sanctuary. Eventually, it would be Jerusalem, 
right? So if you lived out, you know, 
in Galilee, you made this journey to Jerusalem, it was a seven-day 
feast. So what would happen? You'd pitch 
a tent outside the city limits. It'd be much like going to a 
Christian conference or camping. I mean, they had it even back 
then. For those of you who didn't like 
camping, you would have to get over it in these feast periods 
in the rhythm of celebration in Israel's history. So when 
he says that you shall roast it and eat it in the place which 
the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn 
and go to your tents. Again, not go home. It's a seven-day 
feast. And feast means feast, brethren. Don't miss that. This is a time 
of joy. These are seasons of happiness. In fact, in the next two feasts, 
There is a specific command given to rejoice. God calls His people 
to be joyful in Him. And how can we not in light of 
His redemptive activity? In light of the fact that He 
brought Israel out of Egypt, in light of the fact that Jesus 
has brought us out of the darkness of sin and death and hell into 
His marvelous light, how can we not be happy? Now again, that's 
not saying there aren't seasons of depression, melancholy, being 
downcast. The Christian life isn't one 
where you just soar all the way and you're always smiles and 
happy and all that sort of thing. But the general tenor and trajectory 
of the Christian's disposition ought to be one of joy. It ought 
to be one of hope. It ought to be one of happiness. 
So then notice in verse 8, six days you shall eat unleavened 
bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly 
to the Lord your God. A closing ceremony. a way to bring it to fruition 
and completion, you shall do no work on it." So the Feast 
of Passover slash unleavened bread are treated as one event 
in this particular situation in verses 1 to 8. They go hand 
in hand. Passover on the 14th of the month, 
unleavened bread from the 15th on. So we have a seven-day window 
there where the people of God are told how to worship the Lord 
specifically to recall His redemptive activity. in bringing them out 
of the land of Egypt. Don't forget that in verse 1. What is the reason behind these 
particular feasts? It is the God of absolute sovereignty 
and glory bringing his people out of bondage into his peace, 
into his love, into his favor. The second is the Feast of Weeks. This is also called the Feast 
of Harvest in Exodus 23-16. It is called the Day of Firstfruits 
in Numbers 28-26. It is also referred to as Pentecost. And Pentecost is simply the Greek 
translation of 50 days in Leviticus chapter 23 at verse 15 and 16. So on the day of Pentecost in 
Acts chapter 2, that was what the people had gathered in Jerusalem 
for. You see, God chose a particular 
day and a particular event. Why did God choose that? Because 
all the peoples from the outlying regions would be gathered together 
in Jerusalem so that God could display that in fact Jesus was 
enthroned at his right hand and Jesus was sending the Spirit 
upon the church in a manner that before that time had not been 
seen. So the Feast of Weeks is given 
here. The text is a little bit ambiguous. You shall count seven weeks for 
yourself. Begin to count the seven weeks 
from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. One 
man believes that this coincided with the Feast of Unleavened 
Bread. I think in Leviticus 23 it seems best to see it as 50 
weeks after this... I'm sorry, 7 weeks, 50 days after 
the day following the presentation of the first sheaf at the Passover. 
In other words, you have the Passover, and then 7 weeks, and 
then this period, or this feast of weeks. And one man, Harmon, 
says the interval between Passover and harvest festivals was to 
allow the pilgrims to return home, complete the harvest, and 
then come back to the central sanctuary again. I mean, just 
look at this as well. you know, that there's this attitude 
and there's this mindset that, you know, and it's probably something 
we all struggle with, it's, you know, I'm not trying to pick 
on anybody, but when, you know, we hear of church service or 
worship, oh man, it's gone, you know, an extra 15 minutes, or 
oh, we sang an extra hymn, or the preacher went, you know, 
10 extra minutes, and doesn't he know it's, you know, 1230 
and my ham is gonna burn? How many of these people spent 
a week? If you lived in Galilee, you 
left Galilee, you traveled to Jerusalem, and you spent seven 
days there. This was part of the law code. And probably the unfaithful, 
the unbeliever, grumbled and complained. I mean, having to 
give God anything for an unbeliever is tedious and horrible. But 
for the faithful, they sang psalms as they marched their way to 
Jerusalem. The song of ascents. What does 
ascent mean? It means they're ascending their 
way up. to Jerusalem and they're singing the Psalter, they're 
praising their God. They're looking at this as a 
time of joy and happiness and thanksgiving to recall the great 
works that God had done. But it's an interesting reality 
that three times on this calendar there are large sections given 
to the worship of the triune God. We ought not to begrudge 
him our time. We ought not to begrudge him 
our talents, as we'll see as we move on in this particular 
text. We ought not to begrudge him 
anything. So this whole idea, the seven 
weeks after, or from the time you begin to put the sickle to 
the grain, notice verse 10, then you shall keep the feast of weeks 
to the Lord your God." There's the command, keep the Feast of 
Weeks to the Lord your God and then the manner in which they 
are to keep it. There is the necessity of tribute. Now this was not solitary to 
Israel. Some have done studies on specifically 
Deuteronomy and the competing nations or nations surrounding 
Israel. And the nations surrounding Israel had treaty documents. And these treaty documents were 
written by the king. And they were told to the subject. And there were certain parties 
defying king and subject. There were stipulations built 
in. There were blessings promised for obedience and curses for 
disobedience. So this was not unique to Israel. I'm not saying that Moses borrowed 
from the Hittites or Hivites, but what's going on here had 
its sort of parallels in the pagans around them. And so what 
we find here is that you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the 
Lord your God, and there is a necessity to bring tribute, with tribute 
of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as 
the Lord your God blesses you. Now it's not defined as the 10% 
here. This freewill offering means 
that as God blesses you, so you give back. Don't begrudge him. If the Lord has blessed and prospered 
you, don't be saying, what's the bare percentage I have to 
give to satisfy my obligation? That is not how the text reads. It says, with the tribute of 
a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as 
the Lord your God blesses you. So if the Lord your God has prospered 
you richly, then give. richly. If the Lord your God 
has blessed you with great increase, then don't be stingy and don't 
be a miser. That's one of the emphases we'll 
see at the end of our study with reference to these feasts. It 
highlights the reciprocal nature of blessing and giving. God blesses 
so that we'll give. When we give, what happens? God 
usually blesses, right? It's an amazing thing. Not one-to-one, 
it's not a formula. Mathematicians sometimes struggle, 
but the faithful realize that as a general rule, when I give 
to the Lord and His cause, God blesses me. When I am stingy, 
when I'm miserly, when I'm begrudging that, then I ought not to look 
for God's blessing. You see, that is something built 
in to this celebration rhythm, to this feast structure, is the 
reciprocal nature of blessing and giving. There was a necessity 
here for joy. Notice in verse 11. Imagine asking, 
Mom, Dad, what are we supposed to do when we go to this feast? 
You're supposed to be happy. Really? Yes. You're supposed 
to rejoice. This isn't drudgery. This isn't 
hardship. This isn't heartache. I remember 
one time preaching in the book of Acts on what the church did 
after they gladly received the word, they were baptized, and 
then Luke displays or Luke records for us what the early church 
looked like. They continue steadfastly in 
the Apostle's Doctrine. Fellowship, the breaking of bread, 
and prayers. And someone took me aside, someone 
not in this church at this particular time, said, yeah, you know, preaching 
the law, and that's the law. Well, yeah, I mean, doing what 
God says is the law. But for the Christian, there's 
joy continuing steadfastly in the Apostle's Doctrine. There 
is joy in fellowship. There is joy in breaking bread. There is joy in prayers. They're commanded here to rejoice. Yeah, that's law. But look at 
the nature of the command. You're told to be happy. Paul 
says this in Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always, again 
I will say rejoice. I remember preaching on it. The 
first book I ever preached when I came to Chilliwack was the 
book of Philippians. I remember being struck when 
I got to Philippians 4 with the reality that God takes our joy 
seriously. God takes our happiness seriously. He commands us to be joyful and 
that is specifically what we see here in this Feast of Weeks. You shall rejoice before the 
Lord your God. A time of feasting, yes? The Bible specifies times of 
fasting. The Bible specifies times where 
we chasten our soul before the Lord. But the Bible also specifies 
times of feasting, and rejoicing, and happiness, and delighting. There's nothing wrong with having 
a church get together and cooking turkeys and having a time for 
people to share what they're thankful to the Lord God for. That is a good thing. The people 
of Jehovah ought to express their joy and thanksgiving to the Lord 
God Most High. So there is a necessity for tribute, 
the necessity of joy. Notice the necessity of community 
participation. This is everybody's time. This 
is everybody's joy. You and your son and your daughter 
are supposed to rejoice at this feast. You, your male servant 
and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, 
the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, 
at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name 
abide. You see, this was a blessed time 
for the downtrodden and poor. They made this trek to Jerusalem 
as well. They had not been blessed or 
prospered temporally as the others had. So the ones who had been 
blessed temporally would give. They would be large hearted. 
And then what would happen to those monies given to the Lord? 
Does God put it in his safe? Does God bury it under his mattress? No, God says give it to the Levite, 
He says give it to the poor, He says give it to the fatherless, 
give it to the widow. Certainly the downtrodden and 
poor loved these feast weeks in Israel's history. They probably 
joyfully ran to the house of the Lord so that they could not 
only worship, but they could receive the blessing of God Most 
High. When you start to appreciate 
these feasts, And then you realize that the weekly Sabbath was something 
of the same sort of a thing. The weekly Sabbath was that recurring 
rhythm of celebration and joy. You won't stumble on Psalm 122. When David says, I was glad when 
they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord, you're 
not going to scratch your melon and say, why was David glad? 
Well, you had built into the system a time of rejoicing each 
and every week, and then three times in the year, where it was 
corporate feasting, corporate delight, corporate participation 
in the service of the living and true God. God the Lord loves 
the gates of Zion more than the dwelling places of Jacob, according 
to Psalm 87. God is more present in a corporate 
sense than even in the individual sense. There is that reality 
that when we miss or we are remiss with reference to our corporate 
responsibilities, we will be hindered. We will not know the 
presence of God as we ought to know him in these corporate celebrations. And oh yes, go ahead. Oh good, 
all right. Very good, awesome. And then 
notice the necessity of remembrance, verse 12. And you shall remember 
that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe 
these statutes. Kind of an interesting thing, 
right? There is the joy of harvest. God the Lord has reigned upon 
the ground. He has provided. This isn't the 
fertility cults that will punctuate, that will populate Canaan. This is the God of absolute sovereignty 
who causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine in order that 
you may reap benefit from the land which He has given. But 
that same God, the Lord, who is sovereign in providence, who 
is sovereign over the reign, is never to be divorced from 
this God of redemption. You shall remember that you were 
a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. So the Feast of Passover and 
Unleavened Bread are tied to the events of the Exodus. The 
Feast of Weeks, yes you're celebrating and rejoicing in the early harvest, 
but you're rejoicing in the fact that you were slaves and the 
Lord God redeemed you. And then notice thirdly and finally 
the Feast of Tabernacles. I'll just read from Leviticus 
23. It doesn't specify it in Deuteronomy 
16, but in Leviticus 23 at verse 34, with reference to the Feast 
of Tabernacles. I'll just pick up in verse 33. 
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children 
of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall 
be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the 
first day there should be a holy convocation, you shall do no 
customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer 
an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall 
have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made 
by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly and you 
shall do no customary work on it." And then notice specifically 
in verse 43, Verse 42, "...and you shall dwell in booths," or 
tabernacles, dwelling places. The feast is called either the 
Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. What it was meant 
to recall is when the children of Israel were in the wilderness. 
when they were a wandering and wayfaring people. So this particular 
feast time, this particular feast of tabernacles was to recall, 
was to remember that period in redemptive history when the Lord 
God cared for them and saw them through those wilderness wanderings. So you shall dwell in booths 
for seven days, all who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. 
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel 
dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
I am the Lord your God." So you see this Feast of Tabernacles 
shares the same reason as the other two feasts. It is the great 
redemptive activity of God Most High that calls for us to remember 
in a special way and to engage in this feast. It was a seven-day 
feast that began after the harvest. It's a little bit more ambiguous 
in the Deuteronomy text. In Leviticus it says the 15th 
day of this seventh month. It's also referred to as the 
feast of ingathering in Exodus 23 and in Exodus 34. Klein says the name Tabernacles 
reflects the custom of dwelling in booths during the festival, 
which served as a memorial of life in the wilderness." At this 
time, this is about the September-October time frame, it's not the wheat 
or barley harvest at this point, it's grapes, olives, dates, figs, 
those sorts of things. So again, they're remembering, 
they're looking at what God has blessed them with, they're looking 
back at what God has done for them. So the Feast of Tabernacles, 
it is prescribed how they are to engage in it, very similar 
to what we saw in the Feast of Weeks, the necessity of joy. Again, you need to be happy. 
It's amazing. Oh, your God, the God of the 
Old Testament, it's all oppression. He commands his people to be 
joyful. Where do you get the God of oppression? Oppression is Egypt. Oppression 
is the bondage of sin. The lack of joy is to be seen 
in those who are slaves to sin. When we are slaves to Christ, 
the presence of joy is our lot and our blessed reality. So the 
necessity of joy, verse 14a, the necessity again of community 
participation, Seven days you shall keep, I'm sorry, verse 
14, you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son, your 
daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, 
the stranger, the fatherless, the widow who are within your 
gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your 
God in the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your 
God will bless you in all your produce and in all the works 
of your hands so that you surely rejoice. The backward look, what 
God has done, forward look, what God will do when we get into 
the land and how he will prosper us. It is a blessed statement, 
again, of Israel's rhythm of celebration in these three feasts. Verses 16 to 17, just summarize. It mentions the three occasions. 
We've just looked at them. the participants, the specification 
of males does not prohibit females. It couldn't prohibit females 
because they're told to rejoice before the Lord with your son 
and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, 
the widow. Women were not prohibited from 
attending. I think the emphasis is on the 
minimum participation. There is a specific mandate for 
all the males in the entirety of the land to go to make that 
journey to the central sanctuary those three times in the year. 
Maybe the wife is at home with her sick baby and she can't make 
that trek. That's a reality, but at a minimum, 
and God would promise in later times in redemptive history to 
protect the women folk when the men went to that central sanctuary. So those are the specific occasions 
and the manner of compliance we need to see in verses 16 and 
17. The end of verse 16, they shall 
not appear before the Lord empty handed. Don't be a deadbeat. Even the downtrodden and poor 
has something they can bring. You bring tribute to the Lord 
your God. Do not come empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is 
able. And again, if somebody is destitute 
and they just don't have, they're still required to go to the feast. 
But every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing 
of the Lord your God which he has given you. So this was a 
means by which the people of Israel would come before the 
Lord to acknowledge his redemptive work, to look forward to his 
future blessing, to rejoice before him, to participate as a whole. 
This wasn't an individualized religion. It was a covenant corporate 
community religion. And as well, they were to bring 
something so that God would be glorified in their sacrifice. And then that money would be 
funneled down, or those items would be funneled down to the 
downtrodden and poor in their ranks. So several lessons, and 
then we close. These feasts teach us the necessity 
to remember history, especially redemptive history. You see, 
these aren't feasts just given so you can have fun. These aren't 
feasts just given so that you don't have to pump gas for the 
week and you can go to Jerusalem and hang out. These feasts are 
given so that you will use your mind, you will employ it before 
the Lord, and you will focus upon who God is and upon what 
He has done in your life. The continual emphasis on the 
Exodus as the reason for this celebration. Christopher Wright 
said, Yahweh was to be worshipped as the saving God of their history 
and also as the providing God of their land, the giver of all 
fertility, the Lord of every harvest. So the one who redeems 
you is the one who sustains you. The one who redeems you is the 
one who blesses your land. But these feasts underscore the 
reality that the people of God must know their history. And for the new covenant application, 
we certainly participate in the Lord's Supper so that we won't 
forget that we will be forced. Unfortunately, we have to be. 
Well, I don't think we have to be all the time, but we need 
to be reminded to focus upon the great redemptive work of 
Jesus Christ on the cross. God gave the ordinance so that, 
for various reasons, but one of the that's is so that we would 
remember. Do this in remembrance of me. We eat this bread, we drink this 
cup in order to remember redemptive history, vis-a-vis the cross. The second thing that these feasts 
teach us or this doctrine of, or this practice of feasting 
or feasted days in Israel's history, is the emphasis on joy in Israel's 
life. Joy is highlighted, verses 11, 
14, and 15. When we get to the New Covenant, 
the same is expressed over and over and over again. In fact, 
let's just look at one specimen passage. I already mentioned 
the one in Philippians 4. But notice in 1 Thessalonians 
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Have you ever met anyone who said, 
I wonder what the will of God is for me? Have you ever met 
that person? Or maybe you've thought it in 
your own heart. I wonder what the will of God is for me. I 
often think, or I often say, the will of God is expressed 
in 10 words in the Old Testament and in a lot of amplification 
in the New Testament. There are several statements 
that say, this is the will of God for you. 1 Thessalonians 
4 has one of those. This is the will of God, your 
sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. That's 
in 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 5, notice in 
verse 16, rejoice always. pray without ceasing, in everything 
give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What is the will of God for your 
life? Well, you're to be happy, you're to be prayerful, and you're 
to be thankful. I guarantee you pursuing those 
three things will keep you busy in a day. Pursuing those three 
things will keep you busy for a month, for years, for your 
entire life. I have yet to meet the man that 
says, I've mastered the will of God for my life. I always 
rejoice, I always pray, and I'm always thankful. That's just 
not the reality of the Christian life. These feasts emphasize 
joy in Israel's corporate life. It's a blessed thing. You're 
not supposed to always be unhappy. You're not supposed to always 
be miserable. Guys like me need to come to 
Deuteronomy 16 and 1 Thessalonians 5 and realize God the Lord is 
sovereign. He has saved to the uttermost 
and He blesses His people. Smile! Rejoice. Life isn't as bad as the Democratic 
Party, you know, looks. I mean, there are blessings to 
be had, man. There's babies to look at. There's 
sun to feel. There's rain to feel. We're probably 
going to not count that as joy. air to breathe, water to drink, 
steaks to eat, all given by a good God who has redeemed us from 
our sins. These feasts highlight and emphasize 
for us that the Israel of God are a happy people. Thirdly, 
these feasts emphasize the importance of the community. The community, 
it is not an isolated religion. Your Christianity isn't just 
about you. Your Christianity is about others. You are connected to families. 
You are connected to churches. You are connected to the larger 
kingdom of Jesus Christ as a whole. We ought to imbibe the ethic 
of a former Democrat. They just happened to be on my 
mind. They were on my mind until we got to Deuteronomy 16. But 
Kennedy said, I don't know if he wrote it or who wrote it, 
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can 
do for your country. That ethic needs to be imbibed 
by the church. We're always looking at what 
we get from church, what we get from this, what we get from... 
How about we look at how can I contribute to church life? 
How can I be a benefit to other Christians? How can I be an encouragement? If God the Lord specifies in 
these three feasts in Israel's history, that it's not just you, 
but it's your son, it's your daughter, it's your male servant, 
it's your female servant, it's the Levite, it's the stranger, 
it's the widow, it's the fatherless, the entirety of the Israel of 
God ought to rejoice before God the Lord. See what part you have 
to play in promoting that particular ethic. I've already touched on 
the fourth emphasis that we find in these feasts is the relationship 
between blessing and giving, verses 10, 15, and 17. Look specifically 
at verse, I'm sorry, 10, 15, and 17, but look at verse 16 
in the chapter. They shall not appear before 
the Lord empty-handed. It's not the first time we've 
met that word in the recent context. Go back to chapter 15 and verse 
12. Remember the laws concerning 
the release of slaves. Were you supposed to just say, 
OK, you're free. Beat it. Go. Out with you. Time is up. No, look at what 
it says. Verse 12, if your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, 
has sold you and served you six years, then in the seventh year 
you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him away 
free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed. Okay, so the idea is, is that 
as a faithful Israelite I am not empty-handed. I am full-handed 
so that I can make my slave full-handed as well. I am not to be empty-handed 
toward my slave. I am certainly not to be empty-handed 
toward my God. The end of verse 16, they shall 
not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Again, the emphasis is not that 
God needs your money because he has to pay his hydro bill. 
The emphasis is upon sacrifice. The emphasis is upon recognizing 
that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness therein. That 
God has given us good things to enjoy and to be stewards of. When we give back to the Lord, 
we acknowledge His sovereignty, we acknowledge that gifts come 
from Him, and we acknowledge the reality that we want. to be a blessing to other people 
as well. There is a relationship between 
blessing and giving. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2 sounds 
very similar to what we find here in Deuteronomy 16. On the 
first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside 
storing up as he may prosper. If God has prospered you then 
the requirement, the privilege, the blessed responsibility is 
to give back to God so that he may in turn bless someone else. Paul highlights that ethic in 
Ephesians 4. Let him who stole, steal no longer. but rather let him work with 
his hands, making enough dough so that he may be able to give 
to those who are in need." You see, he not only wants you to 
stop stealing, but he wants you to work hard. And he not only 
wants you to work hard to provide for your own needs, but he wants 
you to work hard enough that after your needs are provided 
for, you can provide for the needs of others. It's a beautiful 
thing. Fifthly, these feasts have built 
into them a helpful protection from idolatry. a helpful protection 
from idolatry. Remember the emphasis in Deuteronomy 
4 and Deuteronomy 6 and many other places as well when there 
is a prohibition against idolatry. Do not go after the other gods. 
What oftentimes follows is an admonition or an exhortation 
about the reality of God's having redeemed you from the land of 
Egypt. In other words, the idea seems 
to be, don't chase Baal, Jehovah brought you out of Egypt. Don't 
go after Molech, Yahweh brought you out of bondage. Serve him, 
fear him, love him. So at least three times in the 
year, your mind was focused upon that great redemptive act, and 
it would be a helpful precaution against falling prey to idolatry. Craigie explains it this way, 
I think it's beautiful. He says, thus the Passover, just 
commenting on the first piece, but I think it has application 
to all, thus the Passover was a celebration of freedom, but 
at the same time it was a reminder that freedom from Egypt and worldly 
domination had been exchanged immediately for a new commitment. They were free but not autonomous. They were free but now were slaves. He goes on to say, the new commitment 
was made evident in that the celebration was made by the Israelites 
as the covenant people of God. So when you are feasting before 
Yahweh, there is a helpful, not always foolproof, but a helpful 
precaution so that you don't go chase after Baal or Moloch. And then, sixthly and finally, 
these feasts help promote obedience. Help promote obedience. The celebration 
of the feasts themselves was a means of obeying God. In other 
words, those three times a year when God said, do this, and you 
did it, that's obedience. As well, it reinforced what I 
call the indicative imperative paradigm. Let me explain that. 
That's actually not me calling that. Others have recognized 
that. The indicative is what is true. Okay? The indicative is true. The imperative is the command. Take for instance, the husband 
is the head of the wife. That's not a command. It's not 
an imperative. Paul is not commanding husbands 
to be the head of their wives. He is stating what is true. The 
husband is the head of the wife. In the same manner, redemption 
by God in His sovereign grace is the indicative. That is true. He has done that. He has brought 
us into this state of reality, and it's based on that indicative 
that the imperative follows, the commands to obey, the commands 
to serve. He redeemed us in order to glorify, 
honor, and worship Him. Harman says the unhappy condition 
of Israel and Egypt was to be a marked contrast with the joyful 
celebration of this feast. The harshness of their slavery 
was to be recalled as they celebrated. The Passover. You're eating the 
bread of affliction. When you eat that unleavened 
bread, you're supposed to remember the events associated with the 
exodus. Why was there an exodus? Because 
there was a period of severe bondage. There was a period of 
severe slavery. There was a period of great distress. He says, this reminder would 
emphasize the wonder of their redemption and reinforce the 
need for obedience to the decrees of God. So these feasts teach 
us these several lessons, and it is my hope and prayer that 
we as New Covenant Christians, though we're not told to keep 
these feasts in the same manner that Israel of old was, these 
emphases ought to be remembered by each and every one of us. 
We ought to remember history. We ought to emphasize joy. There 
ought to be community participation among the covenant people. There 
is a relationship between blessing and giving. There is a protection 
from idolatry. And there is the promotion of 
obedience. So though it may seem a bit odd 
and antiquated in terms of the actual activity of traveling 
to a central sanctuary and engaging in this manner of worship, what 
is consistent is the same emphases throughout. in the New Testament 
scriptures for the people of God. So that, Deuteronomy 16, 
God willing, we'll start looking at the leadership, governmental 
structure in Old Covenant Israel in the weeks to come. Well, let 
us pray. Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you, 
God, for these emphases. We thank you for these various 
themes that we see displayed here in these three feasts. We 
ask God in heaven that you would just help us to consider these 
things in light of our own lives, our own responsibilities before 
you. We thank you for redemption, we thank you for the blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, that great act by which you bought us back, 
you saved us, you redeemed us from the slave market of sin, 
you brought us into marvelous light, marvelous grace. God, 
as we sang earlier this evening, it is amazing grace, and it was 
grace that taught our hearts to fear, and we give all glory 
and praise and honor unto you, and ask that you would watch 
over us, and we pray in Jesus' holy name, amen.