DEUTERONOMY 16 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Passover
1 Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the
Passover of the Lord your God, because in the
month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by
night.
BARNES, "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.
CLARKE, "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 the notes on Exo_12:2, and Exo_12:3(note), etc.
GILL, "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
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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.
HENRY, "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.”
JAMISON, "Deu_16:1-22. The Feast of the Passover.
Observe the month of Abib — or first-fruits. It comprehended the latter part of our March and the beginning of April. Green ears of the barley, which were then full, were offered as first-fruits, on the second day of the passover.
for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night — This statement is apparently at variance with the prohibition (Exo_12:22) as well as with the recorded fact that their departure took place in the morning(Exo_13:3; Num_33:3). But it is susceptible of easy reconciliation. Pharaoh’s permission, the first step of emancipation, was extorted during the night, the preparations for departure commenced, the rendezvous at Rameses made, and the march entered on in the morning.
CALVIN, "1.Observe the month Abib. For what purpose God instituted the Passover,
has already been shewn in the exposition of the First Commandment; for since it was a
symbol of redemption, and in that ceremony the people exercised themselves in the pure
worship of the One God, so as to acknowledge Him to be their only Father, and to
distinguish Him from all idols, I thought that the actual slaying of the lamb should be
introduced amongst the Supplements to the First Commandment. It only remains for us
to speak here of what relates to the Sabbath. This then was the first solemn day, on
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which God would have His people rest and go up to Jerusalem, forsaking all their
business. But mention is here made not only of the Paschal Lamb, but He also
commands sheep and oxen to be slain in the place which He should choose. In these
words He signifies that on that day a holy convocation was to be held; which is soon
after more clearly expressed, for I have already given the two intermediate verses in the
institution of the Passover itself, He therefore prohibits their slaying the Passover apart
in their own cities, but would have them all meet in the same sanctuary. It has been
elsewhere said that one altar was prescribed for them, as if God would gather them
under one banner for the preservation of concord and the unity of the faith. What is
added respecting the solemnity of the seventh day is very appropriate to this place.
COFFMAN, "This chapter gives a brief summary of the three great national
feasts of the Jews, each of which required the general assembly of the people at
the central sanctuary. Two other great occasions of the year, the Feast of
Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement are not mentioned here because they did
not require the assembly of the whole nation. We have the Feast of the Passover
(Deuteronomy 16:1-7), The Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9-12), and the Feast
of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Anticipating the scattering of the people
in the occupation of Canaan, and discerning the need for more judges, "Moses
here enacts that judges and officers were to be appointed by the people in all
their gates, that is, in all of their various cities."[1] (Deuteronomy 16:16-20).
There is a special warning to judges in the last two verses (Deuteronomy
16:21-22) against being tainted in any manner with idolatry, that being one of
the greatest dangers to the judges, for idolatry was treason against the supreme
authority, God Himself.
Some commentators try to make a big thing out of what they call the
resemblance of these three great national feasts of the Jews to the agricultural
feasts of the pagan nations throughout antiquity, but the truth is that there is no
connection whatever between the religious feasts of Israel and the pagan
celebrations of the heathen, with one little exception. It is true that they
coincided time-wise with the agricultural festivals of antiquity.
However, take the Passover. There is nothing in any pagan celebration of all
history that even resembles the Jewish Passover. Martin Noth alleged that pagan
feasts were taken over by the Jews and adopted into their worship,[2] but the
Holy Scriptures deny this categorically. In all history, there is absolutely NO
record of unleavened bread being considered anything special in pagan religions,
but it is the foundation and cornerstone of the Passover. And where did the
unleavened bread become associated with Passover? It was in that hasty
departure of Israel from the land of Egypt, when they left so hurriedly that there
was no time to wait for bread to be leavened and allowed to rise. Also, the
elaborate ritual of the sprinkling of the blood of the Passover lamb is not merely
historical in forty particulars, every one of which pertains to the deliverance of
Israel, but it is prophetic of the central events of the atonement in the blood of
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Christ for all men. (See our introduction to Exodus (Vol. 2 in my series on the
Pentateuch) for literally dozens of the most minute and significant details in
which this is so abundantly true of the Passover.)
The same may be said for Pentecost, called also, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of
the Firstfruits, and throughout the Christian ages, Whitsunday! There appears
to be good reason for receiving the tradition that this feast originated in the
giving of the Law at Sinai, such a view being confirmed by the fact that in the
Great Antitype, Pentecost was the occasion of the giving of the law of the New
Dispensation on the birthday of the Church!
Regarding the Feast of Tabernacles, there is no suggestion whatever of any
pagan connections with this great Jewish festival, the feature of which was the
requirement that the Jews live in rudely-constructed arbors, brush shelters, or
boothes, as they were called. Why? Because some pagans did such things? Of
course not. This was because, that is the type of shelters the children of Israel
had at first when they came out of slavery in Egypt, a poverty and hardship that
were commemorated historically in the ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles.
There is not any indication whatever that the Jews ever paid the slightest
attention to pagan festivals. The Jews never accepted any kind of a national
festival unless it tied squarely into some significant historical delivery of the
JEWISH people. The Feast of Purim celebrated the salvation outlined in the
Book of Esther. The Feast of Lights celebrated the reopening of the Temple
following its closing and desecration under Antiochus Epiphanes. All of the
allegations to the effect that "all of the great festivals were originally connected
with agriculture and recognized God's bountifulness in the fruits of the
earth,"[3] are backed up by nothing except the imaginative guesses of
commentators.
It is in the great significance which those Three Great Feasts have for Christians
that we find our principal interest today. "Each was a type of some far greater
event to come."[4]
The Passover was a type of the Christian's deliverance from sin via the blood of
our Passover, who is Jesus Christ. It is not merely in a few scattered particulars,
but in literally scores of them, that this amazing Type bears such eloquent
testimony to the Greater Antitype!
The Pentecost was a type of the giving of the Law of Moses. The Antitype, of
course, is the Christian Pentecost. In the old Pentecost, three thousand souls
sinned and were put to death. When the new Pentecost came, the gospel was
preached and "three thousand souls gladly heard the Word of God, believed,
repented, and were baptized into Christ".
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The Feast of Tabernacles is a type of the Harvest Home, when the saints of all
ages shall be welcomed into the home of the soul. As Ackland said, "This awaits
fulfillment when the redeemed are gathered home."[5] Unger and other scholars
find what they believe to be "millennial suggestions" in this Feast of
Tabernacles, but we believe it refers to eternal blessings following the probation
of the Christian life.
THE PASSOVER
"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Jehovah thy God; for
in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover unto Jehovah thy God, of the flock and of
the herd, in the place which Jehovah 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 thou camest forth
out of the land of Egypt with 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 leaven seen with thee in all thy 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 within any of thy gates, which
Jehovah thy God giveth thee; but at the place which Jehovah thy God shall
choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there shalt thou 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 that Jehovah 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
Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work therein."
The omission of the particular "day" in Abib when the Passover was to be
celebrated clearly distinguishes this as supplementary material to the
instructions already given. A very great many of the particulars regarding the
Passover are here omitted because they were not needed by Moses in the purpose
of his speech at this point. In all of these great festivals, as Cook noted, "Nothing
is added to the rules given in Leviticus and Numbers, except that oft-recurring
clause restricting the sacrifices and celebrations to the central Sanctuary and
that enjoined the inclusion of the Levites, widows, orphans, and the poor in the
festivities."[6]
"Bread of affliction ..." (Deuteronomy 16:3). The unleavened bread was called
"the bread of affliction," because, "It was made in circumstances of trial and
pressure, when there was no time for the making of bread of a higher
quality."[7]
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"Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread ..." (Deuteronomy 16:8) It is a mistake
to read this "ONLY six days." The unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven
complete days, and the language here only means that the seventh day of
unleavened bread was to be a holy convocation to the Lord.
The Passover lamb, of course, came only from the flock (either of sheep or of
goats), and thus the mention of "the flock and the herd" in Deuteronomy 16:2
might seem a little confusing. Kline pointed out that, "The word Passover in this
passage refers not only to the Passover proper, but also to the seven days feast of
unleavened bread that accompanied it."[8] That extended feast after the
Passover would have been the occasion when sacrifices from the herd would
have been made.
There is no problem deriving from the fact that the very first Passover was slain
individually by each head of a family in his own residence, whereas the
commandment here requires that it be slain "in the place which the Lord should
choose in which his name was to dwell." At the FIRST Passover, there was no
central sanctuary, not even the tabernacle, thus there was nowhere else to slay
the Passover except in their residences. "During the wilderness wanderings only
one Passover was kept, and that is recorded in Numbers 9."[9] Thus, it was very
necessary for Moses here to impress upon the people the necessity of killing the
Passover only at the central Sanctuary. If the Passover had been kept during the
forty years in the wilderness, the tabernacle would have served as the central
sanctuary, for, although moved frequently, it was still "one sanctuary." It was to
meet the new situation that Moses delivered the instructions in Deuteronomy.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 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 Exodus 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.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 1-17
The celebration of Passover, Firstfruits, and Tabernacles 16:1-17
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The point of connection of this section with what precedes is the sacrificial meals.
Moses repeated here the instructions regarding those important feasts that
included sacrificial meals that the people would eat at the tabernacle (cf. Exodus
12; Leviticus 23; Numbers 28-29).
1. Passover and Unleavened Bread Deuteronomy 16:1-8
2. Pentecost (also called Harvest, Weeks, and Firstfruits) Deuteronomy
16:9-12
3. Tabernacles (also called Ingathering and Booths) Deuteronomy 16:13-17
God commanded all the male Israelites to assemble at the sanctuary for all these
feasts each year (Deuteronomy 16:16). These feasts amounted to a pledge of
allegiance to Yahweh each time the Israelites celebrated them. They came to His
presence to do so, as their Near Eastern neighbors returned to their kings
similarly to honor them periodically.
"The ancient requirement that the men of Israel should report to the central
sanctuary three times a year has an interesting parallel in the Near Eastern
treaty requirements. It was common practice for suzerains to require their
vassals to report to them periodically, in some cases three times a year, in order
to renew their allegiance and to bring tribute." [Note: Thompson, p. 198.]
The Passover and Unleavened Bread feasts were a more solemn occasion
(Deuteronomy 16:8), but the other two were joyous celebrations (Deuteronomy
16:11; Deuteronomy 16:15). Evidently the Israelites roasted the Passover lamb
(Exodus 12:9), but they boiled the additional offerings for that day
(Deuteronomy 16:7; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:13). [Note: Sailhamer, p. 452.]
God's people should celebrate God's redemption, remember our previous
enslaved condition, and rejoice in God's provisions corporately and regularly (cf.
Ephesians 5:4; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:7; Colossians 4:2; 1 Timothy 4:3-4).
These are the things God encourages Christians to remember at the Lord's
Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:1-8. THE PASSOVER. (See on Exodus 12)
(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 (Numbers 33:3-4).
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(2) Of the flock, and of the herd.—The Passover victim itself must be either lamb
or kid. (See on Deuteronomy 14:4, and comp. Exodus 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 Numbers 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 Numbers 33:3). But the word is also used generally of the time of
year (Exodus 23:15; Numbers 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 Leviticus 23:36, and Numbers 29:35, and does not occur elsewhere
in the Pentateuch.
HAWKER, "The HOLY GHOST hath evidently shown his divine approbation
of the observance of the typical representation of JESUS'S sufferings and death,
as our Paschal Lamb, by the frequent mention of it. This was largely set forth,
Ex 12. but here it is again repeated. It is sweet to the believer to reflect, that in
ages so remote, and at so long a period before the coming of JESUS, the
representation of our deliverance by him should be shadowed out in the church.
Reader! do you really and truly believe what the apostle saith, that CHRIST is
our Passover, and that he was sacrificed for us? Oh! then let us keep the feast,
and let us eat with holy joy the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth! 1
Corinthians 5:7-8
PETT, "Introduction
The Covenant Stipulations, Covenant Making at Shechem, Blessings and
Cursings (Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 29:1).
In this section of Deuteronomy we first have a description of specific
requirements that Yahweh laid down for His people. These make up the second
part of the covenant stipulations for the covenant expressed in Deuteronomy
4:45 to Deuteronomy 29:1 and also for the covenant which makes up the whole
book. They are found in chapters 12-26. As we have seen Deuteronomy 1:1 to
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Deuteronomy 4:44 provide the preamble and historical prologue for the overall
covenant, followed by the general stipulations in chapters 5-11. There now,
therefore, in 12-26 follow the detailed stipulations which complete the main body
of the covenant. These also continue the second speech of Moses which began in
Deuteronomy 5:1.
Overall in this speech Moses is concerned to connect with the people. It is to the
people that his words are spoken rather than the priests so that much of the
priestly legislation is simply assumed. Indeed it is remarkably absent in
Deuteronomy except where it directly touches on the people. Anyone who read
Deuteronomy on its own would wonder at the lack of cultic material it contained,
and at how much the people were involved. It concentrates on their interests, and
not those of the priests and Levites, while acknowledging the responsibility that
they had towards both priests and Levites.
And even where the cultic legislation more specifically connects with the people,
necessary detail is not given, simply because he was aware that they already had
it in writing elsewhere. Their knowledge of it is assumed. Deuteronomy is
building on a foundation already laid. In it Moses was more concerned to get
over special aspects of the legislation as it was specifically affected by entry into
the land, with the interests of the people especially in mind. The suggestion that
it was later written in order to bring home a new law connected with the Temple
does not fit in with the facts. Without the remainder of the covenant legislation in
Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers to back it up, its presentation often does not make
sense from a cultic point of view.
This is especially brought home by the fact that when he refers to their approach
to God he speaks of it in terms of where they themselves stood or will stand when
they do approach Him. They stand not on Sinai but in Horeb. They stand not in
the Sanctuary but in ‘the place’, the site of the Sanctuary. That is why he
emphasises Horeb, which included the area before the Mount, and not just Sinai
itself (which he does not mention). And why he speaks of ‘the place’ which
Yahweh chose, which includes where the Tabernacle is sited and where they
gather together around the Tabernacle, and not of the Sanctuary itself. He wants
them to feel that they have their full part in the whole.
These detailed stipulations in chapters 12-26 will then be followed by the details
of the covenant ceremony to take place at the place which Yahweh has chosen at
Shechem (Deuteronomy 27), followed by blessings and cursings to do with the
observance or breach of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28).
The Three Great Feasts (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).
Moses now reminded them that every year Israel were to gather at the three
great feasts, Passover, Sevens (Weeks or Harvest) and Tabernacles (or
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Ingathering/Booths). (See Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:23. Compare for details
Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-38; Numbers 28:16 to Numbers 29:39). This can be
compared with the gathering of under-kings to make regular submission to their
overlords and offer tribute, often required in treaties. Every adult male in Israel
was to be present. Again the idea of joyous worship is stressed (Deuteronomy
16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14).
That all males were to appear in the place of His choosing three times a year
'before Yahweh' or to 'see the face of Yahweh' is constantly emphasised (Exodus
23:17; Exodus 34:23) This was in fact necessary in order to maintain the unity of
the tribes and in order to maintain their covenant with God. This probably
means all males who were ‘of age’. We are not told about the logistics. They
would spread over available land. The weak and infirm together with male
children were probably not included in 'all males'.
But all, including women and children, were welcome at the feasts, especially
Weeks and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:1-14). It is interesting that wives are
not mentioned although daughters (unmarried) and widows are (Deuteronomy
16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14). Perhaps the wives were to stay behind to look after
the farms (compare Deuteronomy 3:19, although that was a call to arms, also
contrast Deuteronomy 29:11 where wives were specifically mentioned). But it is
more likely that the wives were simply seen as one with their husbands, as
elsewhere (e.g. Deuteronomy 5:14) and that their presence was thus assumed, not
because they were not considered important, but because they were of equal
importance with their husbands. God's promise was that none would invade
during these times (Exodus 34:23-24).
As these feasts were at times of harvest such times would tend not to be danger
periods as all nations would be gathering their own harvests and celebrating
their own feasts and would be too busy to make war. (Note 2 Samuel 11:1 which
indicates that there were certain times for invading). Of course the assumption is
that the whole land would belong to Israel as other nations would have been
driven out (if Israel had been obedient). This was different from the call to arms
which could happen at any time when danger threatened or tribal matters had to
be sorted out (Judges 20:1).
With these regulations given with regard to the three great feasts we come to an
end of this worship section of the speech. No mention is made of the great Day of
Atonement, nor of lesser feasts. This is not a general giving of the Law. It is a
speech given to the people to encourage them and prepare them for their direct
responsibilities in connection with entering the land and possessing it.
Deuteronomy generally avoids what mainly involves the priests and priestly
functions. That information Moses has dealt with in other records. Even in
dealing with uncleanness it has concentrated only on what the people had to
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make positive choices about with regard to it. And when he deals with priests
and Levites in Deuteronomy 18 it is in order to describe the people’s duties with
regard to them. It is this emphasis which explains why he never actually clearly
and specifically differentiates between the responsibilities of priests and Levites,
although once one accepts the differentiation given elsewhere it is clear where he
does differentiate them.
It will be noted that little detail is given as to how the feasts are to be observed
from the priests’ point of view. Apart from the bare bones, all the concentration
is on the aspects connected with the people. Thus at the feast of Passover and
unleavened bread the actual sacrificing is seen as performed by the people and
then partaken of, and the matter of the leaven is dwelt on more fully, while in the
other feasts the sacrificial offerings are ignored and all the emphasis is on joyful
participation in the feasting.
(The whole chapter is ‘thou’ throughout).
II. INSTRUCTION CONCERNING THE GOVERNING OF THE
COMMUNITY (Deuteronomy 16:18 to Deuteronomy 19:21).
Having established the principles of worship and religious response for the
community based on the dwellingplace where Yahweh would choose to establish
His name, Moses now moved on to various aspects of governing the community.
He had clearly been giving a great deal of thought to what would happen when
he had gone, and to that end had been meditating on God’s promises in Genesis
and the content of God’s Instruction (Torah).
Moses was doing here what he described himself as having done for the previous
generation (Deuteronomy 1:15-18). There he had established them with a system
of justice ready for entry into the land but they had refused to enter it when
Yahweh commanded. Now he was preparing their sons for entry into the land in
a similar way.
Justice was to be provided for in a number of ways:
1). By the appointment of satisfactory judges (Deuteronomy 16:18-20)
2). By rejecting Canaanite methods of justice (Deuteronomy 16:21-22). He
reiterated the necessity for the abolition of idolatry and religious impropriety,
and called for the judgment of it in the presence of witnesses (Deuteronomy
16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:7).
3). By setting up a final court of appeal. Here he dealt with what to do when
major judicial problems arose (Deuteronomy 17:8-13).
4). By legislating what kind of king to appoint when they wanted a king. At
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present they had him. Shortly he would be replaced by Joshua. Then would come
a time when they needed another supreme leader and here he faced up to the
issue of possible kingship, an issue that, in view of certain prophecies revealed in
the patriarchal records (Genesis 17:6; Genesis 17:16; Genesis 35:11; Genesis
36:31) would certainly arise in the future, and which Balaam had recently drawn
attention to (Numbers 24:17) as on the horizon. Thus it needed to be legislated
for so that when the time came they might not appoint the wrong kind of king,
and especially they were to be guides as to the kind of king that they should
consider (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
5). By providing for the sustenance of the priesthood and Levites who watch over
their spiritual welfare (Deuteronomy 18:1-8).
6). By warning against looking to the occult for guidance and promising instead
the coming of other prophets like himself (Deuteronomy 18:9-22).
But while we may see this as a separate unit it is not so in the Hebrew. As we
would expect in a speech not prepared by a trained orator it just goes smoothly
forward. ‘Thee, thou’ predominates as befits a section dealing with
commandments with an occasional subtle introduction of ‘ye, your’.
Verses 1-6
The Three Great Feasts (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).
Moses now reminded them that every year Israel were to gather at the three
great feasts, Passover, Sevens (Weeks or Harvest) and Tabernacles (or
Ingathering/Booths). (See Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:23. Compare for details
Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-38; Numbers 28:16 to Numbers 29:39). This can be
compared with the gathering of under-kings to make regular submission to their
overlords and offer tribute, often required in treaties. Every adult male in Israel
was to be present. Again the idea of joyous worship is stressed (Deuteronomy
16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14).
That all males were to appear in the place of His choosing three times a year
'before Yahweh' or to 'see the face of Yahweh' is constantly emphasised (Exodus
23:17; Exodus 34:23) This was in fact necessary in order to maintain the unity of
the tribes and in order to maintain their covenant with God. This probably
means all males who were ‘of age’. We are not told about the logistics. They
would spread over available land. The weak and infirm together with male
children were probably not included in 'all males'.
But all, including women and children, were welcome at the feasts, especially
Weeks and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:1-14). It is interesting that wives are
not mentioned although daughters (unmarried) and widows are (Deuteronomy
16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14). Perhaps the wives were to stay behind to look after
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the farms (compare Deuteronomy 3:19, although that was a call to arms, also
contrast Deuteronomy 29:11 where wives were specifically mentioned). But it is
more likely that the wives were simply seen as one with their husbands, as
elsewhere (e.g. Deuteronomy 5:14) and that their presence was thus assumed, not
because they were not considered important, but because they were of equal
importance with their husbands. God's promise was that none would invade
during these times (Exodus 34:23-24).
As these feasts were at times of harvest such times would tend not to be danger
periods as all nations would be gathering their own harvests and celebrating
their own feasts and would be too busy to make war. (Note 2 Samuel 11:1 which
indicates that there were certain times for invading). Of course the assumption is
that the whole land would belong to Israel as other nations would have been
driven out (if Israel had been obedient). This was different from the call to arms
which could happen at any time when danger threatened or tribal matters had to
be sorted out (Judges 20:1).
With these regulations given with regard to the three great feasts we come to an
end of this worship section of the speech. No mention is made of the great Day of
Atonement, nor of lesser feasts. This is not a general giving of the Law. It is a
speech given to the people to encourage them and prepare them for their direct
responsibilities in connection with entering the land and possessing it.
Deuteronomy generally avoids what mainly involves the priests and priestly
functions. That information Moses has dealt with in other records. Even in
dealing with uncleanness it has concentrated only on what the people had to
make positive choices about with regard to it. And when he deals with priests
and Levites in Deuteronomy 18 it is in order to describe the people’s duties with
regard to them. It is this emphasis which explains why he never actually clearly
and specifically differentiates between the responsibilities of priests and Levites,
although once one accepts the differentiation given elsewhere it is clear where he
does differentiate them.
It will be noted that little detail is given as to how the feasts are to be observed
from the priests’ point of view. Apart from the bare bones, all the concentration
is on the aspects connected with the people. Thus at the feast of Passover and
unleavened bread the actual sacrificing is seen as performed by the people and
then partaken of, and the matter of the leaven is dwelt on more fully, while in the
other feasts the sacrificial offerings are ignored and all the emphasis is on joyful
participation in the feasting.
(The whole chapter is ‘thou’ throughout).
The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:1-8).
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Here the whole feast is called the Passover (in Deuteronomy 16:17 it is called the
feast of unleavened bread). It is celebrated in the month of Abib (the ancient
name for Nisan), ‘the month of the ripening ears’. Its name probably dates back
to the patriarchs and their sojourn in Canaan. It came around March/April,
commencing at the new moon. First came the strict Passover, which was
celebrated on the afternoon of 14th of Abib by the slaying of lambs, with the
feast going on overnight to the following morning at the time of the full moon.
This was then followed by the seven days of unleavened bread, 15th-21st of Abib,
beginning with a festal sabbath and ending on a festal sabbath. (There could
thus be three sabbaths during the seven days, the two festal sabbaths and the
weekly Sabbath).
The Description of the Feast (Deuteronomy 16:1-6).
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a 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
(Deuteronomy 16:1).
b And 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 (Deuteronomy 16:2).
c You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat
unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of
the land of Egypt in fearful haste (Deuteronomy 16:3 a).
c That you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of
Egypt all the days of your life and there shall be no leaven seen with you in all
your borders seven days, neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the
first day at even, remain all night until the morning (Deuteronomy 16:3-4).
b 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 (Deuteronomy 16:5).
a There you shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the
sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:6).
In ‘a’ they are to observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to Yahweh
your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh their God brought them out of
Egypt by night, and in the parallel they will sacrifice the passover at even, at the
going down of the sun, at the season that they came forth out of Egypt. In ‘b’
they are to sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh their God, of the flock and the herd,
in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there, and in
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the parallel they may not sacrifice the Passover within any of their gates, which
Yahweh their God gives them, but at the place which Yahweh their God chooses,
to cause his name to dwell in. In ‘c’ they are not to eat leavened bread with it (‘it’
here means the whole round of sacrifices at this feast, for in what follows ‘it’ is
eaten for seven days, and above it includes cattle); for seven days they must eat
unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction, for they ‘came forth out of
the land of Egypt’ in fearful haste, and in the parallel it is so that they may
remember the day when they came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of
their lives and there was therefore no leaven to be seen within all their borders
for seven days, neither was any of the flesh, which they sacrificed the first day at
even, remain all night until the morning.
It will be observed therefore that the final two verses describing the Passover
actually pass over into the Feast of Sevens Yet it is also clear that they closely
connect with Deuteronomy 16:1-6, which they assume. The passage goes on
smoothly, but there is here at this point the flicker of a movement on in the mind
of the speaker, rather than in Deuteronomy 16:9. (We must beware of allowing
our division into sections to make us think that Moses was preaching in sections.
He was not. Thus could he have two chiasmi where the subjects run into each
other).
Deuteronomy 16:1-2
‘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. And
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.’
The Passover was observed on 14th of Abib but no mention of that is made here.
Nor are the other feasts specifically dated. Moses did not want to state the
obvious. This is a further indication of Mosaic ‘authorship’. A later writer would
probably have felt it necessary to date the events more specifically. ‘Observe the
month --’ may signify all the different religious days in it, thus the opening new
moon day on the 1st of Abib, the setting aside of the lambs/kids on the 10th, and
the weekly Sabbaths, as well as Passover itself including the feast of unleavened
bread with its special sabbaths on the opening and closing days. The whole
month was seen as important because it was the month of deliverance, and Moses
wanted it to be well remembered.
The Passover night, with the lamb (or kid) having been slain towards evening,
was itself a feast of remembrance as through the night they partook of the lamb
along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread and during it would go through
the question and answer ritual connected with the Passover (Exodus 12:26-27). It
was a reminder of how Yahweh had brought them out of Egypt ‘by night’, that
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is, in dark times.
“And 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.”
But there had been, or was now to be, a change in the pattern. On the actual
Passover night the lambs had been slain within the houses and the blood put on
the doorposts. Now the sacrificing of the Passover lambs was to take place at ‘the
place which God shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there’. Leaving their
homes they were all to come together to sacrifice in His presence, at the place to
which He Himself had chosen to come and dwell. He wanted to be a part with
them in their celebrations, and they were His sons (Deuteronomy 14:1) gathered
at His earthly home. But it would still also be a family affair for the actual eating
would take place in households gathered around the sanctuary in the place of
Yahweh’s choice. There is no mention of priestly participation, but they would
almost certainly apply the blood to the altar.
In fact this alteration of the Passover celebration was necessary so that the seven
days that followed could be one of the triad of feasts at the Central Sanctuary.
We note here, however, that ‘the sacrifice’ mentioned in the verse was to be
‘from the flock and from the herd’. This was different from the Passover offering
which was to be a lamb or kid. Was this then a change in the ritual? The fact is
that this is probably not intended to indicate that the specific Passover sacrifice
could be an ox bull instead of a lamb, it rather probably means that by the
phrase ‘sacrificing the Passover’ Moses is indicating all the offerings and
sacrifices that would take place over the eight days of the Passover, which would
include both ox bulls and lambs.
This would seem to be confirmed by Deuteronomy 16:3 which indicates that
‘keep the Passover’ is seen as including the whole seven days of the feast that
follows. The whole was to be observed ‘to Yahweh their God’, that is in honour
of Him, in recognition of Him and in accordance with what He had laid down.
For details see Exodus 12; Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 23:5-8; Numbers 28:16-25.
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:1, Deuteronomy 16:2
The month of Abib (cf. Exodus 12:2; Exodus 23:15). The time is referred to as a
date well known to the people. Keep the passover; make ( עשית ) or prepare the
passover. This injunction refers primarily to the preparation of the Paschal lamb
for a festal meal (Numbers 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 ( צאן ) and oxen ( בקר) in Deuteronomy 16:2, 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 ( שה ), and this was to be consumed at one meal; but on
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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. § 12; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:7, etc.).
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:1-8
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 1 Corinthians 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 John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18, 1
Peter 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"
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(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 (Galatians 3:1-29.), 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 Hebrews
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.
3. How should the Christian feast be kept? i.e. in what spirit? (cf. 1 Corinthians
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5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8). Three or four suggestions will embody the chief hints
hereon thrown out in the written Word.
"And with our joy for pardoned guilt,
Mourn that we pierced the Lord."
MACKINTOSH, "Verses 1-22
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 23:1-44 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.
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
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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
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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
21
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 Corinthians 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 12:1-51, 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
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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 12:1-51 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
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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
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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.
25
9-12.)
{*For further remarks on the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, the
reader is referred to Exodus 12:1-51, and Numbers 9:1-23. 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 14:1-20 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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God
an animal from your flock or herd at the place
the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
BARNES, "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.
GILL, "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God,.... In the month Abib, and in the night of that month they came out of Egypt, even on the fourteenth day of it at night, between the two evenings, as the Targum of Jonathan; which was a lamb, and typical of Christ, the passover sacrificed for us, 1Co_5:7.
of the flock and the herd; that is, you shall sacrifice also the offerings which were offered throughout the seven days of unleavened bread, and these were both sheep and oxen, Num_28:19 and are expressly called passover offerings and peace offerings, 2Ch_30:21, for what was strictly and properly the passover was only of the flock, a lamb, and not of the herd, or a bullock; though Aben Ezra says there were some that thought that in Egypt it was only a lamb or a kid, but now it might be a bullock; which he observes is not right. It may be indeed that the word "passover" here is a general term, comprehending the whole passover solemnity, and all the sacrifices of the seven days: the Jews commonly understand this clause of the Chagigah, or feast of the fifteenth day, the first day of unleavened bread, and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and the sheep and the oxen on the morrow;''some distinguish them thus, the flock for the duty of the passover, the herd for the peace offerings, so Aben Ezra; or as Jarchi interprets it, the flock of the lambs and kids, and the herd for the Chagigah or festival; in the Talmud (m); the flock, this is the passover; the herd, this is the Chagigah, so Abendana: there was a Chagigah of the fourteenth day, which was brought with the lamb and eaten first, when the company was too large for the lamb, that their might eat with satiety (n); but this was not reckoned obligatory upon them (o), but they were bound to bring their Chagigah on the fifteenth day:
in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there; that is, at Jerusalem, as the event has shown; hence we read of the parents of our Lord going up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover, Luk_2:41.
HENRY 2-3, "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 (1Co_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
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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, 2Ch_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, 1Co_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.
JAMISON, "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, Num_28:19; 2Ch_35:8, 2Ch_35:9), 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.”
K&D, "(Note: That the assembling of the people at the central sanctuary is the leading point of view under which the feasts are regarded here, has been already pointed out by Bachmann (die Feste, p. 143), who has called attention to the fact that “the place which Jehovah thy God will choose” occurs six times (Deu_16:2,
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Deu_16:6, Deu_16:7, Deu_16:11, Deu_16:15, Deu_16:16); and “before the face of Jehovah” three times (Deu_16:11 and Deu_16:16 twice); and that the celebration of the feast at any other place is expressly declared to be null and void. At the same time, he has once more thoroughly exploded the contradictions which are said to exist between this chapter and the earlier festal laws, and which Hupfeldhas revived in his comments upon the feasts, without troubling himself to notice the careful discussion of the subject by Hävernick in his Introduction, and Hengstenberg in his Dissertations.)
COKE, "Ver. 2. Thou shalt—sacrifice the passover, &c.— "Read," says Mr.
Locke, "from Dr. Cudworth, thou shalt sacrifice the passover of the flock, and
the peace-offerings (thereof) of oxen; i.e. sheep for the passover, and oxen for the
peace-offerings, or the chagigah
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 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 Exodus 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.
3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but
for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread
of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so
that all the days of your life you may remember
the time of your departure from Egypt.
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CLARKE, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.
GILL, "Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it,.... With the passover, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; that is, with the passover lamb, nor indeed with any of the passover, or peace offerings, as follows; see Exo_12:8.
seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread therewith; with the passover; this plainly shows, that by the passover in the preceding verse is not meant strictly the passover lamb, for that was eaten at once on the night of the fourteenth of the month, and not seven days running, and therefore must be put for the whole solemnity of the feast, and all the sacrifices of it, both the lamb of the fourteenth, and the Chagigah of the fifteenth, and every of the peace offerings of the rest of the days were to be eaten with unleavened bread:
even the bread of affliction; so called either from the nature of its being heavy and lumpish, not grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and was mortifying and afflicting to be obliged to eat of it seven days together; or rather from the use of it, which was, as Jarchi observes, to bring to remembrance the affliction they were afflicted with in Egypt:
for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; and had not time to leaven their dough; so that at first they were obliged through necessity to eat unleavened bread, and afterwards by the command of God in remembrance of it; see Exo_12:33,
that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life; how it was with them then, how they were hurried out with their unleavened dough; and that this might be imprinted on their minds, the master of the family used (p), at the time of the passover, to break a cake of unleavened bread, and say, this is the bread of affliction, &c. or bread of poverty; as it is the way of poor men to have broken bread, so here is broken bread.
JAMISON, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.
CALVIN, "Deuteronomy 16:3Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Because by this
sign they were reminded of their having escaped in haste, as it were from the very
flames; therefore does Moses so often enforce the prohibition of leaven. And here this
reason for it is alleged, viz., that their recollection should be recalled to the affliction
from which they were rescued; for they must needs have been involved in the greatest
straits, when there was no time even for baking bread. Unleavened bread is therefore
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called “the bread of affliction,” that the manner of their deliverance may the more
enhance God’s grace. He repeats what we have seen before, that none of the flesh of the
Lamb should be reserved to the following day. In the former passage from the Book of
Exodus, because Moses speaks generally, the command may at first sight be referred to
the perpetual sacrifice; but the latter passage takes away all obscurity, by the express
mention of the passover. We need not wonder that in one place the word “fat” is used
for the whole carcase, or any part of the lamb, either by synecdoche, or that God might
commend the superior sanctity of the fat, of which they were not permitted to eat, and
which was burnt in all sacrifices.
COKE, "Ver. 3. Even the bread of affliction— So called because it was insipid, and not
easily digested, and therefore served to remind them of their afflicted state in Egypt.
Concerning these several feasts, we refer to the passages in the Margins of our Bibles.
The word passover, in ver. 2 signifies not only the paschal lamb, which was offered on
the fourteenth day, but all the paschal service which followed after as appears by the
next words, of the flock and the herd.
PULPIT, "Bread of affliction; bread such as is prepared in circumstances of trial and
pressure, when there is no time or opportunity for the application of all the means
required for the preparation of bread of the better sort. The Israelites had in haste and
amid anxiety to prepare the Passover meal on the evening of their flight from Egypt,
and so had to omit the leavening of their bread; and this usage they had to observe
during the seven days of the festival in subsequent times, to remind them of the
oppression the nation had suffered in Egypt, and the circumstances of difficulty and
peril amidst which their deliverance had been effected.
SIMEON, "REDEMPTION TO BE EVER BORNE IN MIND
Deuteronomy 16:3. Remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt,
all the days of thy life.
OF all the facts recorded in the Old Testament, the Resurrection of our blessed Lord
created the most general and intense interest; because, by that, the hopes of his enemies
were blasted, and the fears of his followers were dispelled. We may judge of the
emotions that were excited by it from this circumstance, that, when two of the disciples,
in their way to Emmaus, had seen their Lord, and had returned to Jerusalem to inform
their brethren, they, on entering the room where they were assembled together, found
them all saying one to another with most joyous exultation, “The Lord is risen indeed!
the Lord is risen indeed [Note: Luke 24:1-3; Luke 24:30-34.]!” Between that and the
deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, there is a strict analogy. In fact, the deliverance from
Egypt was typical of our redemption by Christ: and, as God required that the people of
Israel should remember the one to their latest hour, so does he expect that we should
remember the other “all the days of our life.”
The words which I have read to you are assigned by Moses as the end for which the
paschal feast, and the feast of unleavened bread, were instituted; namely, to keep up in
the minds of that people, to their latest posterity, the remembrance of the typical
deliverance: and with the same object in view, I would now call your attention to the
Resurrection of our blessed Lord. Beloved Brethren, it is a subject of supreme
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importance: and to every one of you I would say,
I. Treasure it up in your minds—
Good reason was there why the Jews should remember their deliverance from Egypt—
[Most grievous was their bondage there [Note: Exodus 3:7.]: and most wonderful were
God’s interpositions for them [Note: The ten plagues, and the passage of the Red Sea,
&c] — — — Never, from the beginning of the world, had God exerted himself in behalf
of any people as he did for them [Note: Dent. 4:32–34.]. There was good reason,
therefore, why so singular a mercy should be had in everlasting remembrance.]
But far greater reason is there why we should bear in mind the resurrection of our
blessed Lord—
[Far more grievous was our bondage to sin and Satan, death and hell — — — And
infinitely more wonderful were the means used for our deliverance [Note: The
incarnation and death of God’s only-begotten Son.] — — — Yea, and infinitely more
blessed the issue of it [Note: Not mere temporal benefits in Canaan, but everlasting
happiness in heaven.] — — — Shall we, then, ever forget this? Would not the “very
stones cry out against us?” — — —[
Yet, dwell not on it as a mere fact; but,
II. Improve it in your lives—
The Jews, in remembrance of their redemption, were to kill the passover, and to keep
the feast of unleavened bread [Note: ver. 1– 3[. — — — And, if we would answer God’s
end in our deliverance, we must improve it,
1. By a renewed application to that sacrifice by which the deliverance was
obtained—
[It was by sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb on the door-posts and lintels of their
houses that the Jews obtained deliverance from the sword of the destroying angel [Note:
Deuteronomy 12:21-24.] — — — And to the blood of Christ, who is “the true paschal
sacrifice,”. must we apply, “sprinkling it on our hearts and consciences [Note: Hebrews
10:22.],” and expecting from it the most perfect deliverance [Note: Psalms
51:7.] — — — To those who use these means, there is no danger [Note: 1 John
1:7.] — — — to those who neglect to use them, there is no escape [Note: Hebrews
2:3.] — — —[
2. By more diligent endeavours after universal holiness—
[What the meaning of the unleavened feast was, we are told by the Apostle Paul, who
urges us to carry into effect what that typified: “Purge out 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 the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice
and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth [Note: 1
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Corinthians 5:7-8.].” In vain we keep the passover, if we do not also keep the feast of
unleavened bread: they are absolutely inseparable. The very end for which Christ
redeemed us, was, “that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works [Note: Titus 2:14.]:” and, if we would reap the full benefit of his resurrection,
“we must seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
God [Note: Colossians 3:1.].” — — — This was designed by God in the appointment of
the feast we have been speaking of [Note: Exodus 13:8-10.]; and the same is designed in
the mercy vouchsafed to us [Note: Romans 14:9.] — — —[
In conclusion, then, I say,
[Be thankful to God for the special call which is now given you to observe this day. If to
the Jews it was said, “This is a night to be much observed to the Lord, for bringing
them out of the land of Egypt; this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the
children of Israel in their generations [Note: Exodus 12:42.];” how much more may it
be said to us! Methinks, any man who kept the Passion-week, as it is appointed to be
observed amongst us, could scarcely fail of attaining the salvation of his soul; so plain
are the instructions given us throughout the whole course of our services, and so
exclusively is Christ held forth to us as “the way, the truth, and the life.” My dear
Brethren, we really are great losers by our neglect of these seasons. Doubtless they may
be observed with superstitious formality: but they may be kept with infinite profit to
the soul. And I beg of you not to let the present opportunity pass away without a
suitable improvement: but, as David said, with a direct reference to the Saviour’s
resurrection, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in
it [Note: Psalms 118:22-24.];” so do you engage with your whole souls in securing the
blessings which the Redeemer’s triumphs, as on this day, have obtained for us — — —[
4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all
your land for seven days. Do not let any of the
meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day
remain until morning.
GILL, "And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days,.... For before the passover they were to search diligently every room in the house, and every hole and crevice, that none might remain any where; see Exo_12:15,
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neither shall there be anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning; which may be understood both of the flesh of the passover lamb, as Aben Ezra, according to Exo_12:10 and of the flesh of flocks and herds, or of the Chagigah; according to Jarchi this Scripture speaks of the Chagigah of the fourteenth, which was not to remain on the first day of the feast (the fifteenth) until the morning of the second day (the sixteenth).
JAMISON, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.
5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any
town the Lord your God gives you
GILL, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates,.... Or cities, as the Targum of Jonathan, so called because they usually had gates to them, in which public affairs were transacted; but in none of these, only in the city of Jerusalem, the place the Lord chose, might they kill the passover and eat it, and other passover offerings:
which the Lord thy God giveth thee; in the land of Canaan, and which land was given them of God.
JAMISON 5-6, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates — The passover was to be observed nowhere but in the court of the tabernacle or temple, as it was not a religious feast or sacramental occasion merely, but an actual sacrifice (Exo_12:27; Exo_23:18; Exo_34:25). The blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and in the place where the true Passover was afterwards to be sacrificed for us “at even, at the going down of the sun” - literally, “between the evenings.”
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:5-6. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of
thy gates — That is, of thy cities, as that word often signifies: see Genesis 22:17; Genesis
24:60. But at the place which the Lord shall choose — And in no other place. The
reason of this is evident the passover itself was a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our
passover, is said to be sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians 5:3; and many other sacrifices, as
we have just seen, were to be offered during the seven days of the feast. Now no
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sacrifice was accepted but from the altar that sanctified it. It was therefore necessary
that they should go up to the place of the altar; for though the paschal lamb was
entirely eaten by the owners in their separate apartments, yet it must be killed in the
court of the tabernacle or temple, its blood sprinkled, and its inwards burned upon the
altar. Besides, by confining them to the appointed place, he kept 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. Add to this, that being appointed to attend
where God had chosen to place his name, they were hereby directed to have their eye up
to him in the solemnity, and the desire of their hearts toward the remembrance of his
name, and were pointed to the place where the Messiah, the true passover, was to be
slain. At even — at the season that thou camest out of Egypt — That is, about the time
thou wast preparing to come out.
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:5, Deuteronomy 16:6
Not in their own houses or places of abode might the Paschal lamb be slain and eaten,
but only at the place, which the Lord should choose to place his Name there. On the
first occasion, while the people were still in Egypt and had no sanctuary or specially
holy place where Jehovah s Name was set, the Passover was eaten in their own houses;
but when God should choose a place as his sanctuary, only there could the ordinance be
observed.
6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling
for his Name. There you must sacrifice the
Passover in the evening, when the sun goes
down, on the anniversary[a] of your departure
from Egypt.
GILL, "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in,.... To place the ark and the mercy seat with the cherubim over them, where he caused his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, to dwell; and this was at Jerusalem, where the temple was built by Solomon:
there thou shalt sacrifice the passover; kill and eat the paschal lamb:
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at even, at the going down of the sun; between the two evenings it was killed, before the sun was set, and afterwards at night it was eaten; the Targum of Jonathan is,"and at evening, at the setting of the sun, ye shall eat it until the middle of the night:"
at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt; or as the same Targum,"the time of the beginning of your redemption out of Egypt;''which was when Pharaoh rose at midnight, and gave them leave to go; from thence their redemption commenced, though they did not actually set out until the morning.
HENRY, "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, 2Ch_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, 1Co_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.
7 Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your
God will choose. Then in the morning return to
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your tents.
BARNES, "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.
GILL, "And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,.... The word for "roast" signifies to "boil", and is justly so used, and so Onkelos here renders it, and the Septuagint version both roast and boil; but it is certain that the passover lamb was not to be boiled, it is expressly forbidden, Exo_12:8 wherefore some think the Chagigah is here meant, and the other offerings that were offered at this feast; and so in the times of Josiah they roasted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance of God; but the other holy offerings sod or boiled they in pots, cauldrons and pans, and divided them speedily among the people, 2Ch_35:13, but the passover lamb seems plainly to be meant here by the connection of this verse with the preceding verses; wherefore Jarchi observes, that this is to be understood of roasting with fire, though expressed by this word:
and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents; not in the morning of the fifteenth, after the passover had been killed and eaten on the fourteenth, but in the morning, after the feast of unleavened bread, which lasted seven days, was over; though some think that they might if they would depart home after the passover had been observed, and were not obliged to stay and keep the feast of unleavened bread at Jerusalem, but march to their own cities; and so Aben Ezra observes, that some say a man may go on a feast day to his house and country, but, says he, we do not agree to it; and it appears from the observation of other feasts, which lasted as long as these, that the people did not depart to their tents till the whole was over; see 1Ki_8:66 and with this agrees the Targum of Jonathan,"and thou shall turn in the morning of the going out of the feast, and go to thy cities.''Jarchi indeed interprets it afterwards of the second day.
HENRY, "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, 2Ch_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
47
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, 1Co_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.
JAMISON, "thou shalt roast and eat it — (See on Exo_12:8; compare 2Ch_35:13).
thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents — The sense of this passage, on the first glance of the words, seems to point to the morning after the first day - the passover eve. Perhaps, however, the divinely appointed duration of this feast, the solemn character and important object, the journey of the people from the distant parts of the land to be present, and the recorded examples of their continuing all the time (2Ch_30:21 2Ch_35:17), (though these may be considered extraordinary, and therefore exceptional occasions), may warrant the conclusion that the leave given to the people to return home was to be on the morning after the completion of the seven days.
COKE, "Ver. 7. And thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents—
Moses speaks of tents here, because they had no other dwellings when these
precepts were delivered. It means, however, their habitations in general. These
words are to be considered barely as a permission, not a command. Thou shalt
turn, or thou mayest turn; i.e. "after you have eaten the paschal lamb at the
sanctuary, you are allowed to return home, if you please." Yet pious people, who
were able to bear so great a charge, were wont, no doubt, to stay the whole seven
days before they returned home. It is inferred likewise from ver. 8 that those who
went home after celebrating the passover, returned again to the place of public
worship against the seventh day of the feast, to keep the solemn assembly to the
Lord, unless they lived at too great a distance; in which case, their presence
might be dispensed with. See Lowth and Kidder.
REFLECTIONS.—God charges them here carefully to observe his solemnities,
as nothing would serve more effectually to secure them in their allegiance to him.
The first and chief of these is the passover; which was typical of that divine
Lamb, whose sacrifice is the price of our eternal redemption, Seven days they did
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eat unleavened bread in remembrance of their bondage, and the haste with
which they were thrust out of Egypt. And this signal mercy they must not only
once a year, but all their days, remember, as a constant motive to love and serve
God. Note: A dying Jesus, and our redemption by him, must be continually in
our eye; and his love towards us every day fresh in our memory, and warm upon
our hearts.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:7. Thou shalt turn in the morning — The words are
only a permission, not an absolute command. After the solemnity was over, they
might return to their several places of abode. Some think they might return, if
they pleased, 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
this is evidently a mistake; for the first day of the seven was so far from being the
day of their dispersion, that it was expressly appointed for a holy convocation.
Nor was it their practice to disperse on that day, but to keep together the whole
week, 2 Chronicles 35:17. The meaning, therefore, is, as the paraphrase of
Jonathan expounds it, In the morning, after the end of the feasts, thou shalt go to
thy tents; that is, thy dwellings, which Moses calls here tents, referring to their
present state, and to put them in mind afterward, when they were settled in
better habitations, that there was a time when they dwelt in tents.
PULPIT, "Thou shalt roast. The verb here primarily signifies to be matured by
heat for eating; hence to be ripened as by the sun's heat (Genesis 40:10; Joel
3:13; Hebrews 4:13); and to be cooked, whether by boiling, seething, or roasting.
Here it is properly rendered by roast, as it was thus only that the Paschal lamb
could be cooked. And go unto thy tents; return to thy place of abode; not
necessarily to thy proper home (which might be far distant), but to the place
where for the time thou hast thy lodging. The phrase, "thy tents," which
originally came into use while as yet Israel had no settled abodes in Canaan,
came afterwards to be used as a general designation of a man's home or usual
place of abode (cf. 1 Samuel 13:2; 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 8:66, etc.).
K&D, "He then once more fixes the time and place for keeping the Passover (the former according to Exo_12:6 and Lev_23:5, etc.), and adds in Deu_16:7 the express regulation, that not only the slaughtering and sacrificing, but the roasting (see at Exo_12:9) and eating of the paschal lamb were to take place at the sanctuary, and that the next morning they could turn and go back home. This rule contains a new feature, which Moses prescribes with reference to the keeping of the Passover in the land of Canaan, and by which he modifies the instructions for the first Passover in Egypt, to suit the altered circumstances. In Egypt, when Israel was not yet raised into the nation of Jehovah, and had as yet no sanctuary and no common altar, the different houses necessarily served as altars. But when this necessity was at an end, the slaying and eating of the Passover in the different houses were to cease, and they were both to take place at the sanctuary before the Lord, as was the case with the feast of Passover at Sinai (Num_9:1-5). Thus the smearing of the door-posts with the blood was tacitly abolished, since the blood was to be sprinkled upon the altar as sacrificial blood, as it had already been at Sinai. - The expression “to thy tents,” for
49
going “home,” points to the time when Israel was till dwelling in tents, and had not as yet secured any fixed abodes and houses in Canaan, although this expression was retained at a still later time (e.g., 1Sa_13:2; 2Sa_19:9, etc.). The going home in the morning after the paschal meal, is not to be understood as signifying a return to their homes in the different towns of the land, but simply, as even Riehm admits, to their homes or lodgings at the place of the sanctuary. How very far Moses was from intending to release the Israelites from the duty of keeping the feast for seven days, is evident from the fact that in Deu_16:8 he once more enforces the observance of the
seven days' feast. The two clauses, “six days thou shalt eat mazzoth,” and “on the
seventh day shall be azereth (Eng. Ver. 'a solemn assembly') to the Lord thy God,” are
not placed in antithesis to each other, so as to imply (in contradiction to Deu_16:3and Deu_16:4; Exo_12:18-19; Exo_13:6-7; Lev_23:6; Num_28:17) that the feast of Mazzoth was to last only six days instead of seven; but the seventh day is brought
into especial prominence as the azereth of the feast (see at Lev_23:36), simply
because, in addition to the eating of mazzoth, there was to be an entire abstinence
from work, and this particular feature might easily have fallen into neglect at the close of the feast. But just as the eating of mazzoth for seven days is not abolished by the first clause, so the suspension of work on the first day is not abolished by the second clause, any more than in Exo_13:6 the first day is represented as a working day by the fact that the seventh day is called “a feast to Jehovah.”
Deu_16:9-12
8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the
seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your
God and do no work.
GILL, "Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread,.... In other places it is ordered to be eaten seven days, Exo_12:15 and here it is not said six only; it was to be eaten on the seventh as on the other, though that is here distinguished from the six, because of special and peculiar service assigned to it, but not because of an exemption from eating unleavened bread on it. The Jews seem to understand this of different corn of which the bread was made, and not of different sort of bread; the Targum of Jonathan is, on the first day ye shall offer the sheaf (the firstfruits of the barley harvest), and on the six days which remain ye shall begin to eat the unleavened bread of the new fruits, and so Jarchi:
K&D, "How very far Moses was from intending to release the Israelites from the duty of keeping the feast for seven days, is evident from the fact that in Deu_16:8 he once more enforces the observance of the seven days' feast. The two clauses, “six days
thou shalt eat mazzoth,” and “on the seventh day shall be azereth (Eng. Ver. 'a solemn
50
assembly') to the Lord thy God,” are not placed in antithesis to each other, so as to imply (in contradiction to Deu_16:3 and Deu_16:4; Exo_12:18-19; Exo_13:6-7; Lev_23:6; Num_28:17) that the feast of Mazzoth was to last only six days instead of
seven; but the seventh day is brought into especial prominence as the azereth of the
feast (see at Lev_23:36), simply because, in addition to the eating of mazzoth, there
was to be an entire abstinence from work, and this particular feature might easily have fallen into neglect at the close of the feast. But just as the eating of mazzoth for seven days is not abolished by the first clause, so the suspension of work on the first day is not abolished by the second clause, any more than in Exo_13:6 the first day is represented as a working day by the fact that the seventh day is called “a feast to Jehovah.”
PULPIT, "On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly. This is not placed in
antithesis to the injunction, six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as if the
Feast of Unleavened Bread (mazzoth) lasted only for six days and the seventh
was to be devoted to a service of a different kind; it simply prescribes that the
seventh day of the festival was to be celebrated by an assembling of the whole of
those who had come to the feast; the festival was to be wound up with a day of
holy convocation, in which no work was to be done (Leviticus 23:36). On all the
days unleavened bread was to be eaten, and on the seventh there was besides to
be a solemn assembly to the Lord ( עצרת ), called in Le 23:36, "a holy
convocation" ( מקרא קדש).
The Festival of Weeks
9 Count off seven weeks from the time you
begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
BARNES 9-12, "Feast of Weeks; and Deu_16:13-17, Feast of Tabernacles. Nothing is here added to the rules given in Leviticus and Numbers except the clauses so often recurring in Deuteronomy and so characteristic of it, which restrict the public celebration of the festivals to the sanctuary, and enjoin that the enjoyments of them should be extended to the Levites, widows, orphans, etc.
GILL, "Seven weeks then shalt thou number unto thee,.... And then another feast was to take place, called from hence the feast of weeks, and sometimes Pentecost, from its being the fiftieth day:
begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put
51
the sickle to the corn; for the sheaf of the wave offering, as the first fruits of barley harvest, which was done on the morrow after the sabbath in the passover week, and from thence seven weeks or fifty days were reckoned, and the fiftieth day was the feast here ordered to be kept; so the Targum of Jonathan,"after the reaping of the sheaf ye shall begin to number seven weeks;''see Lev_23:15.
HENRY, "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.
JAMISON 9-12, "Seven weeks shalt thou number — The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on Lev_23:10; also see Exo_34:22; Act_2:1). As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new wheat was presented as first-fruits (Exo_23:16; Num_28:26), a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law, that spiritual food by which man’s soul is nourished (Deu_8:3).
CALVIN, "9.Seven weeks shalt thou number. It must be observed that the Passover fell
in a part of the year when the harvests were beginning to ripen; and consequently the
first-fruits, of which I treated under the First Commandment, were then offered. Seven
weeks afterwards they celebrated another feast-day, which was called Pentecost, i.e.,
the fiftieth, by the Greeks. There was just this number of days between the departure of
the people and the publication of the Law. Another offering of first-fruits was then
made, in which each one, according to his ability, and in proportion to the produce of
the year, consecrated a gift to God of the harvested fruits. In order that they might be
more ready and cheerful in their liberality, God’s blessing is set before them, as if
Moses had commanded the people to testify their gratitude; since whatever springs
from the earth, is the mere bounty of God Himself.
COFFMAN, "The exact time for beginning of the calculation of the seven weeks was
already given in Leviticus 23:16, where the exact day of beginning was tied to the
Passover celebration. There have been many disputes about the exact manner of
calculating the Pentecost. (For those who would like to explore the matter thoroughly,
reference is made to Vol. 5 in our N.T. series of commentaries, pp. 31-34.) We agree
with Kline that the reason for the very indefinite indication here as to when the
counting should begin was due to there being "no necessity for specific instructions,
because the exact day had already been indicated."[10]
CALCULATING THE PENTECOST
[@Pentecost] is a Greek word, meaning "fiftieth"; and thus the counting always ended
52
on the day of the week that marked the beginning. If the counting began on Saturday it
ended on Saturday. If it began on Sunday, it ended on Sunday, etc., because the number
was counted inclusively for those first and last days.
Now the Leviticus instructions (Leviticus 23:15ff) indicated that the counting was to
begin "on the morrow after the sabbath." The next day after the sabbath is Sunday,
therefore the Pentecost was a Sunday! So far, it is simple enough, but here is what
complicates the problem. There were always TWO sabbaths in every full week of a
feast, and since the first and last days of the holy week were always counted sabbaths,
that would make THREE sabbaths, if the last day was counted. Those "extra" sabbaths
were counted to be especially holy and were called "high sabbaths." Now John tells us
that the sabbath before which Jesus was crucified was one of those "high days" (John
19:31). All such high days could come on any given day of the week, as is true with all
days numbered by the calendar (Christmas can come on any day of the week). The year
Jesus was crucified (April 6,30 A.D.), the high day (sabbath) of the Passover week came
on Friday, and because Christ was crucified on the day of the "preparation," that is,
the day before the sabbath, therefore he was most certainly crucified on THURSDAY.
There were back-to-back sabbaths on Friday and Saturday while Jesus was in the tomb
as attested by the Greek text of Matthew 28:1. It is easy to see that if the counting began
"on the morrow after" that first sabbath (which would have been a Saturday), then we
would have had Pentecost on another Saturday fifty days later, as the Sabbatarians
have always insisted. On the other hand, if the counting began on the "morrow after"
the first ordinary, weekly sabbath, then it would have given a Sunday Pentecost, which
we believe is the correct reckoning. (In addition to the reference to our Vol. 5 in the
N.T. series, above, reference is also made to Vol. 2 in the same series, under Mark
15:42, where eight pages are given on this subject.)
The freewill-offerings mentioned in this paragraph were outlined in Leviticus and
Numbers, and there was no need for Moses to add anything here. Such gifts and
sacrifices were appropriate to be brought at any time, "according as Jehovah had
blessed" the offerer. Specifically, Moses reminded the people over and over of the
necessity of including the Levite, sojourners, widows, fatherless, etc. in the festivities of
joy which were such a vital part of their religion. The reason, of course, was simply that
the Israelites themselves had once been oppressed in the land of bondage.
"Tribute ..." (Deuteronomy 16:10). This word appears nowhere else in the Bible,[11]
and it is of very doubtful meaning. The margin in our Cross-Reference Version gives an
alternate reading of, "after the measure of."[12] The Septuagint (LXX) gives
Deuteronomy 16:10 as follows: "And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks before the Lord
thy God, according as thy hand has power, in as many things as the Lord thy God shall
give thee."[13
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:9-10. Thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn — To
reap the first-fruits of the barley-harvest, the wave sheaf in particular, which was
offered to the Lord on the sixteenth day of that month. Thou shalt keep the feast of
weeks — So called, because it was seven weeks after the bringing the sheaf at the
passover, that is, fifty days, whence it was termed pentecost: see on Leviticus 23:16. It
was also called the feast of first- fruits, Numbers 28:26. With a tribute of free-will-
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offering — Over and besides the sacrifice for the day, and the two loaves and sacrifices
with them, Numbers 28:27-31; Leviticus 23:17-20. God here directs that they should
make some voluntary oblation.
ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:9-12. THE FEAST OF WEEKS, OR PENTECOST.
See also Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:18-23; Leviticus 23:15-22; Numbers 28:26-31. The
feast itself is ordained in Exodus; the time is given in Leviticus; and the sacrifices in
Numbers.
(9) From such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.—The word for sickle
only occurs here and in Deuteronomy 23:25. In Leviticus the weeks are ordered to be
reckoned from the offering of the wave sheaf on the sixteenth day of the first month,
two days after the Passover. This sheaf was of barley, the first ripe corn. A different
view is sometimes taken of the word “Sabbath “in Leviticus 23:11; but the view given
here is correct according to the Talmud.
(10) A tribute.—This word (missah) occurs nowhere else in the Bible. The marginal
rendering, “sufficiency,” is its Aramaic or Chaldזan sense. The idea seems to be “a
proportionate offering “—i.e., a free will offering, proportioned to a man’s means and
prosperity. In Exodus 34:20; Exodus 23:15, we read, “None shall appear before me
empty.” The command is made general for all the three feasts in Deuteronomy 16:16-17
further on.
(11) Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God.—This aspect of the feast of weeks is
specially insisted upon in Deuteronomy. Its relation to the poor appears also in the
command connected with this feast in Leviticus 23:22, to leave the corners of the fields
un-reaped for them.
HAWKER, "Reader! is it not a subject of heartfelt satisfaction, and demanding a most
grateful acknowledgment to our GOD, that as the observance of the Passover happened
at the very time JESUS our Passover was offered upon the cross; so the feast of weeks,
which represented the outpouring of the HOLY GHOST, happened at the very time
when the blessed SPIRIT came down at first in an open display at the day of Pentecost,
upon the minds of the Apostles and first followers of the LORD? Could anything more
decidedly point out the wisdom of GOD in this ordination? See Luke 22:1 compared
with Acts 2:1.
PULPIT, "From such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn; i.e. from the
commencement of the corn harvest. The seven weeks were to be counted from this
terminus; and as the corn harvest began by the presentation of the sheaf of the
firstfruits on the second day of the Passover, this regulation as to time coincides with
that in Le Deuteronomy 23:15.
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:9-12
The Feast of Weeks, or of Harvest.
54
This Feast of Weeks was not commemorative in the same sense as that of the Passover;
it was connected, not with a great national epoch, but with the seasons of the year and
the times of harvest. The method in which it was to be observed is stated in Leviticus
23:10, et seq. We find there, and in the various Scripture references to this festival, the
following principles indicated.
1. That the Hebrews were to regard the produce of the soil as given to them by the
bounty of God.
2. That they were to honor Jehovah by a public thanksgiving for his goodness.
3. That they were to yield the firstfruits to him.
4. That they were to rejoice and be glad before him, for what he was and for what he
gave.
5. That they were to recognize the equality before God of master and servant. National
festivals were holidays for the laborer, and times when good will and kindliness
towards the "stranger, the fatherless, and widow" were to be specially manifested.
6. They were thus to recognize their national unity by showing their joint thankfulness
for a common mercy. These festivals would strengthen Israel's feeling of kinship, and
these united gatherings before the Lord their God would proclaim, as often as they
were held, their separation unto him.
7. Though this was a harvest festival, and as such chiefly expressive of thankfulness for
the bounty of God as seen in nature, yet it was not to be observed without the sin
offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering (cf. Le Leviticus 23:18-20). Other
offerings were to be presented along with the offering for sin. Natural blessings are
given to sinful men only under a dispensation of mercy which comes through a bleeding
sacrifice.
Now all these forms have passed away. But the principles which underlay them are of
eternal obligation. We trust we can see, by means of these signs, the everlasting truths
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signified by them. In each of the particulars named above some permanent principle is
enclosed.
I. THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH ARE TO BE RECEIVED BY US AS GRANTED TO
US BY THE BOUNTY OF A GRACIOUS GOD. So commonplace, or rather so well-
known, a truth is this, that it is not easy for us to picture to ourselves a time when a
nation needed to have it engraved on its heart and conscience by such means as these
divinely appointed festivals. Still, we cannot be unconscious of forces around us being at
work which, if we succumbed to them, would lead us to think of the ordinary products
of the harvest-field as coming simply in due course of law, and to regard the Supreme
Being as so remotely concerned in earth's fruitfulness, that it would be but a slight step
to take to think of him as not concerned therein at all! But in no part of the sacred
records is any such thinking warranted. Reason itself would lead us to suppose that, if
one order of creation is higher than another, the lower was made to serve it; and
consequently, that if man be the highest of all, that the rest is ordered to serve him. The
Psalmist expressed this when he sang, "Thou hast put all things under his feet." Our
Lord Jesus Christ points us to the most common blessings, even to the sun and the rain,
in proof of the good will of a heavenly Father. And this is at once the philosophy and the
faith of a Christian. It is the conclusion of sober sense; it is the dictum of devoutness,
piety, and love. "Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."
II. THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH SHOULD THEREFORE BE RECEIVED WITH
THANKSGIVING. The doctrine that God is the benevolent Author of all our mercies is
not to be a barren and unfruitful dogma. It is meant to call forth thankfulness. It is said
of the heathen, "neither were they thankful." They did not know enough of God to
understand what true thankfulness meant. But we do. He is revealed in Scripture as
having such watchful concern for our good, that we may well feel an exuberance of
thankful delight that our daily joys come to us from a fountain of love. And it behooves
us to pay our God the homage of grateful hearts.
III. THIS THANKFULNESS SHOULD BE EXPRESSED PRACTICALLY. The truly
loyal heart will need no reminder of this. Cela va sans dire. Jacob needed no precept to
lead him to say, "Of all that thou givest me, I wilt surely give the tenth unto thee." Nor,
if our hearts are as sensitive as they should be to our own unworthiness and to God's
loving-kindness, shall we fail to "honor the Lord with our substance, and with the
firstfruits of all our increase."
IV. OUR GRATITUDE TO GOD SHOULD TAKE THE FORM OF UNITED
WORSHIP AND SONG. We may set apart special seasons for harvest festivals, or no,
as circumstances dictate; but certainly the Divine provision for the temporal wants of
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man should find gladsome acknowledgment in the social worship of a thankful people.
V. A UNITED ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD'S KINDNESS TO US ALL SHOULD
HAVE THE EFFECT OF PROMOTING KINDLINESS AMONG EACH OTHER. If
God makes us glad with his loving goodness, we should make others glad with our
radiant kindness (1 John 3:17; 1 John 4:11). The love streaming from heaven is
revealed for the purpose of creating benevolence upon earth. The blessings that come to
us, unworthy as we are, from the pure benevolence of God, should make us eager, as
much as in us is, to emulate the goodness of heaven!
VI. For, lastly, NOT EVEN IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD FOR COMMON
MERCIES MAY WE FORGET THEIR RELATION TO THAT DIVINE
REDEMPTIVE PLAN WROUGHT OUT BY THE GREAT SON OF GOD. Israel's
rejoicing was to be sanctified by a sin offering; by which we see
K&D, "Deu_16:9-12
With regard to the Feast of Weeks (see at Exo_23:16), it is stated that the time for its observance was to be reckoned from the Passover. Seven weeks shall they count “from the beginning of the sickle to the corn,” i.e., from the time when the sickle began to be applied to the corn, or from the commencement of the corn-harvest. As the corn-harvest was opened with the presentation of the sheaf of first-fruits on the second day of the Passover, this regulation as to time coincides with the rule laid down in Lev_23:15. “Thou shalt keep the feast to the Lord thy God according to the measure of the free gift of thy hand, which thou givest as Jehovah thy God blesseth
thee.” The π. λεγ. מ�ת is the standing rendering in the Chaldee for �י, sufficiency,
need; it probably signifies abundance, from מסס .to flow, to overflow, to derive ,מסה =
The idea is this: Israel was to keep this feast with sacrificial gifts, which every one 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 bondmen in Egypt (cf. Deu_15:15). The “free-will offering of the hand,” which the Israelites were to bring with them to this feast, and with which they were to rejoice before the Lord, belonged to the free-will gifts of burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, drink-offerings, and thank-offerings, which might be offered, according to Num_29:39 (cf. Lev_23:38), at every feast, along with the festal sacrifices enjoined upon the congregation. The latter were binding upon the priests and congregation, and are fully described in Num 28 and 29, so that there was no necessity for Moses to say anything further with reference to them.
BI 9-12, "Keep the feast of weeks.
The Feast of Pentecost
(a Harvest Thanksgiving sermon):—
I. The sacred character of the harvest. Indicated by time appointed for it—fiftieth day after Passover. As God hallowed the seventh day, so He hallowed the harvest fields of
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the world.
II. The great trouble God took to impress His people with the significance and meaning of common things. We walk along streets of gold, set with jewels, as though they were granite cubes. In the hand of Him who saw the kingdom of God everywhere and in everything, a grain of corn contained in its suggestiveness the deepest mysteries of the kingdom.
III. This feast was a providential mirror in which to see again all the way in which the Lord their God had led them. Happy, thrice happy, is the man who, in the land of plenty, has a wilderness history on which to look back. There is nothing more sublime to the mariner in the haven of rest than the conflicts with the tempests in mid-ocean through which he passed.
IV. This feast was a new bond of brotherhood forged in the fires of the ever-new and never-ceasing love of God. They were to call the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Plenty in some natures petrifies, but this is not its legitimate effect. It should enlarge the heart, and broaden and deepen the sympathies of a man.
V. This feast was to be a time of great moral and spiritual rectification on the part of the people. Repentance. Thanksgiving. (H. Simon, Ph. D.)
Harvest home a national festival
Harvest to the Jews was an event of great and general interest. It was the occasion of one of their grand national festivals. This feast was called by different names—the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of First-fruits. From commencement to close, their harvest festivities included seven weeks.
I. The harvest home was a season for national gratitude. What they offered conferred no favour on God, it was His own; but it expressed the sense of their obligation and the depth of their gratitude. Three things are necessary to the very existence of gratitude towards the giver.
1. That the gift should be felt to be valuable.
2. A belief that the favour is benevolently bestowed.
3. A consciousness that the favour is undeserved.
II. The harvest home is a season for national rejoicing. Where there is gratitude, there is joy, will be joy; gratitude is praise, and praise is heaven. The revelation of the Creator in the harvest field may well make human hearts exult. The God of the harvest there appears, mercifully considerate of the wants of His creatures; as a loving Father, with a bountiful hand, furnishing the table with abundant supplies for His children. There He appears punctual to the fulfilment of His promise. There He appears rewarding human labour.
III. The harvest home is a season for national philanthropy (see Deu_24:19-21).
1. Where God gives liberally, He demands liberality.
2. The liberality demanded is to be shown to the poor. God has planted the poor amongst all peoples, in order that the benevolence of the rich may have scope for development. (Homilist.)
Rejoice before the Lord thy God.
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Thanksgiving Day
I. We may be thankful for this day of thanksgiving, on account of its happy religious influence. It is a day which, in all its appropriate exercises and enjoyments, presents to us our life as a blessing, and our God as a Benefactor; the seasons as a circle of elemental adaptations to our comfort, and the Regulator of the seasons as the Almighty Being who takes care for our varied good; the course of our rolling days, as a series of lessons and opportunities, and the Everlasting and Uncreated One as the Friend who crowns our days with His loving kindness. Thus a great deal is done every year, by a common and hearty expression of thankfulness, to break up, or at least to modify the alliance brought about by several causes in many minds, between religion and great strictness and gloominess. We find that “it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord; yea, a joyful and a pleasant thing it is to be thankful”; for when we dwell on the causes of thankfulness, our gratitude must needs flow naturally and spontaneously out of our bosoms, and go to swell the general stream of praise and gladness which spreads over the land. And we find that it is not at all inconsistent with thankfulness to God for the bounties of His providence, that we should enjoy those bounties freely and honestly and smilingly.
II. We have reason to rejoice in our feast, on account of its happy domestic influence. The day is peculiarly a domestic day; a day for the reunion of families. The houses of the land are glad on this day.
III. Our festival is to be honoured, on account of its happy political influence. If it exerts a happy influence on our religions sentiments and on our domestic relations, it cannot but act with a benign power on those relations which hold us all together in one community. A genial nationality is fostered by that mingling together of prayers, and common interests, and pleasant hospitalities, which occurs on this day. And so far as our nationality is brought about in this manner, there is nothing repulsive or exclusive in it. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the
Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in
proportion to the blessings the Lord your God
has given you.
GILL, "And thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of Pentecost, at which time the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, Act_2:1.
with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand; there were two wave loaves which were ordered to be brought and seven lambs, one young bullock and two rams
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for a burnt offering, together with the meat and drink offerings belonging thereunto, and a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs for a peace offering, Lev_23:17, and besides all this, there was to be a voluntary contribution brought in their hands; for this was one of those feasts at which all the males were to appear before the Lord, and none of them empty:
which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God,
according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; no certain rate was fixed, it was to be a free gift, and in proportion to a man's abilities, or what the Lord had blessed him with.
HENRY, " 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.
PULPIT, "This feast was to be kept with sacrificial gifts according to the measure of the
free-will offerings of their hand, i.e. voluntary offerings which they gave as the Lord had
blessed them; nothing was specially prescribed, each was to give of his own free-will as
the Lord had prospered him. The word translated "tribute" in the Authorized Version
מסת ) ) occurs only here, and is of doubtful signification. The LXX. render it by καθὼς,
as, according to; it is identical with the Aramaic מסת sufficiency, enough, and may be
understood here of the full measure according to which their offerings were to be
presented. The freewill offering of thine hand, here referred to, belonged to the gifts of
burnt offerings, meat offerings, drink offerings, and thank offerings which might be
offered at every feast along with the sacrifices prescribed (of. Le 23:38; Numbers
29:39). Of the latter no mention is made here, as the law regarding them was already
sufficiently proclaimed (Numbers 31-28:1 and Numbers 40-29:1 .); and in a popular
address it was rather to what depended on the will of the people than to what was
imperative by law, that attention had to be directed.
11 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the
place he will choose as a dwelling for his
Name—you, your sons and daughters, your
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male and female servants, the Levites in your
towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the
widows living among you.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt rejoice - The offerings of the Israelites were to be eaten with festivity, communicated to their friends with liberality, and bestowed on the poor with great generosity, that they might partake with them in these repasts with joy before the Lord. To answer these views it was necessary to eat the flesh while it was fresh, as in that climate putrefaction soon took place; therefore they were commanded to let nothing remain until the morning, Deu_16:4. This consideration is sufficient to account for the command here, without having recourse to those moral and evangelical reasons that are assigned by the learned and devout Mr.
Ainsworth for the command. How beneficent and cheerful is the design of this institution! - Harmer, vol. i., p. 396.
GILL, "And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,.... Make a liberal feast, and keep it cheerfully, in the presence of God, in the place where he resides, thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours:
thou, and thy son, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; that dwelt in the same city, who were all to come with him to Jerusalem at this feast, and to partake of it with him:
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; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.
HENRY, "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.
CALVIN, "11.And thou shalt require. On another ground he exhorts and excites them
to willingness, because the service of God brings this rejoicing; for there is nothing
which ought more to stimulate us to obedience, that when we know that God rather
consults our good than seeks to obtain any advantage from us. Ungodly men, indeed,
rejoice also, nay, they are wanton and intemperate in their joy; but since that joy is not
only transient, but their laughter is turned into weeping and gnashing of teeth, it is not
without cause that Moses here magnifies it as a peculiar blessing, to rejoice before God;
as if a father should invite his children to delight themselves together with him. But by
this external exercise, believers were reminded that there is no real or desirable joy,
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unless in reference to God. And surely, however the wicked may exult in their
pleasures, and abandon themselves to gratifcations, still, since tranquillity of
conscience, which alone brings true rejoicing, is wanting to them, they do not enjoy the
merriment into which they plunge themselves. Finally, Moses amplifies by a
comparison the good which they enjoyed in the service of God, when he says, “And thou
shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt;” for that their present condition
might be more pleasant to them, he heightened its sweetness by the recollection of their
most miserable captivity. I have here neglected Cicero’s (360) very subtle distinction
between the words gaudium and laetitia, for unless I take both of them in a good sense,
I could not translate the Hebrew words, whereby God would express how indulgently
He deals with His children. Meanwhile, this passage contains an exhortation to render
thanks to God our deliverer.
12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,
and follow carefully these decrees.
GILL, "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,.... And now delivered from that bondage; the consideration of which should make them liberal in their freewill offering, and generous in the feast they provided, and compassionate to the stranger, widow, and fatherless:
and thou shalt observe and do these statutes; concerning the passover, the feast of unleavened bread, and of Pentecost, and the peace offerings and the freewill offerings belonging to them: and nothing could more strongly oblige them to observe them than their redemption from their bondage in Egypt; as nothing more engages to the performance of good works than the consideration of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ, 1Co_6:19.
K&D, "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 preceptsof it.
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The Festival of Tabernacles
13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for
seven days after you have gathered the produce
of your threshing floor and your winepress.
GILL, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days,.... Which began on the fifteenth day of Tisri, or September; see Lev_23:34, &c.
after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and therefore sometimes called the feast of ingathering, Exo_23:16, barley harvest began at the passover, and wheat harvest at Pentecost; and before the feast of tabernacles began, the vintage and the gathering of the olives were over, as well as all other summer fruits were got in.
HENRY, "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.
JAMISON 13-17, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days — (See on Exo_23:14; see on Lev_23:34; see on Num_29:12). Various conjectures have been formed to account for the appointment of this feast at the conclusion of the whole harvest. Some imagine that it was designed to remind the Israelites of the time when they had no cornfields to reap but were daily supplied with manna; others think that it suited the convenience of the people better than any other period of the year for dwelling in booths; others that it was the time of Moses’ second descent from the mount; while a fourth class are of opinion that this feast was fixed to the time of the year when the Word was made flesh and dwelt - literally, “tabernacled” - among us (Joh_1:14), Christ being actually born at that season.
CALVIN, "13.Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles. Its first day was called the
day of In-gathering, (collectionum ,) because the produce of the whole year was then
stored in their granaries (361) and provision cellars. Since, therefore, they then rested
from their rural labors, it was a convenient time of year for the celebration of the
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festivals; for in order that they might more willingly go up to Jerusalem, it was
arranged by God, that it should be done with but little expense and sacrifice of their
domestic interests. Where our translation is, “When Jehovah shall have blessed thee,” it
stands literally, “Because he shall bless thee,” (362) but the sense is nearly the same; for
Moses assures them that, provided they devote their minds diligently and faithfully to
the service of God, they shall never want grounds for rejoicing, since He will never
interrupt the flow of His blessing. The end, therefore, of the fifteenth verse, is not a
mere command, but also a promise; as if he had said, that, if they were not ungrateful,
there was no fear but that God would continually supply new cause for gladness; and
these two clauses are to be taken in connection, “God will bless thee, and, therefore,
thou shalt only rejoice;” for in this passage I willingly interpret thus (363) the particle
ak. It is indeed absurd to take it adversatively. It will not, therefore, be improper to ,אך
explain it exclusively, as if he said, that, there should be no sorrow or anxiety, which
should hinder them from the performance of their pious duty; those who render it
“surely,” approach also to this meaning.
"Only (Utique, Vatablus; veruntamen, Pagninus; profrcto,Malvenda ) joyful;
understand, and not sad, i.e., You shall indulge in nothing but rejoicing.” —Pol. Syn. in
loco,
COFFMAN, "In addition to the requirement regarding the central Sanctuary, another
thing that dominates these chapters is the commandment to "REJOICE!" It was
evidently intended by the Lord that a great portion of Hebrew wealth and prosperity
was designed to be spent in the celebration of God's rich and overflowing blessings
upon the people. This same quality of "rejoicing" is also one of the cardinal principles
of the New Covenant. When the Jewish people turned away from this central
admonition to "rejoice" and adopted instead all kinds of fasts and days of
MOURNING, they made the most fundamental departure from God's will. The most
familiar picture of Judaism today is that mournful scene at the "WAILING WALL."
(For a full discussion of this preoccupation of the Jews with fasting and mourning see in
Vol. 4 of our series of commentaries on the minor prophets, pp. 100-102,122.)
The parallel Scriptures with instructions on these three great feasts are:
Passover: Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-8; Numbers 28:16-25
Pentecost: Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31
Tabernacles: Leviticus 23:33-43; Numbers 29:12-38
"Shall not appear before Jehovah empty ..." (Deuteronomy 16:16). This has reference
to appearing before Jehovah to worship him without any kind of gift or sacrifice. How
many Christians are put to shame by this? How many are there who exercise no care
whatever to give of their substance to the support of the gospel of Christ! And, if no
Israelite was permitted to appear before God without an offering, what kind of conceit
is it that makes an "alleged Christian" suppose that he may worship continually
without giving anything at all, or at most a mere pittance which he throws in as it may
please him?
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Even in this matter of the pilgrimages three times a year to the central Sanctuary,
Cousins found a reminder of the suzerainty treaties, which "required vassals to report
periodically to renew their oath of allegiance."[14] Kline also stressed this: "These
verses bring into relief the character of the pilgrimages as tributary trips to the throne
of the God-King (Deuteronomy 16:16b)."[15
K&D 13-15, "Deu_16:13-15
In connection with the Feast of Tabernacles also, he simply enforces the observance of it at the central sanctuary, and exhorts the people to rejoice at this festival, and not only to allow their sons and daughters to participate in this joy, but also the man-servant and maid-servant, and the portionless Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans. After what had already been stated, Moses did not consider it necessary to mention expressly that this festal rejoicing was also to be manifested in joyous sacrificial meals; it was enough for him to point to the blessing which God had bestowed upon their cultivation of the corn, the olive, and the vine, and upon all the works of their hands, i.e., upon their labour generally (Deu_16:13-15), as there was nothing further to remark after the instructions which had already been given with reference to this feast also (Lev_23:34-36, Lev_23:39-43; Num 29:12-38).
ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-15. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
(13) Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days.—For details of the
observance see the passages already referred to in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but
more especially Leviticus 23:33-43.
(14) Thou, and thy son . . .—The rejoicing of the Feast of Tabernacles was proverbial
among the Jews. On the persons who are to share the joy, Rashi has an interesting note.
“The Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow,—My four (Jehovah’s),
over against thy four—thy son, thy daughter, thy manservant, thy maidservant. If thou
wilt make My four to rejoice, I will rejoice thy four.”
(15) Seven days.—An eighth day is mentioned both in Leviticus 23:36 and Numbers
29:35. But the seven days of this feast are also spoken of in both those passages
(Leviticus 23:36 and Numbers 29:12). There is, therefore, no contradiction between the
two passages. The eighth day is treated apart from the first seven days of the Feast of
Tabernacles, somewhat in the same way as the Passover is always distinguished in the
Pentateuch from the six days which followed it, and which are called the Feast of
Unleavened bread. The reason for the distinction in that case becomes clear in the
fulfilment of the feast by our Lord. The Passover is His sacrifice and death. We keep
the feast of unleavened bread by serving Him in “sincerity and truth.” The Feast of
Tabernacles has not yet been fulfilled by our Lord like the two other great feasts of the
Jewish calendar. Unfulfilled prophecies regarding it may be pointed out, as in
Zechariah 14. Our Lord refused to signalise that feast by any public manifestation
(John 7:2-10). There may, therefore, be some reason for separating the eighth and last
day of the Feast of Tabernacles from the former seven, which will appear in its
fulfilment in the kingdom of God. It is remarkable that the dedication of Solomon’s
temple, the commencement of the second temple and the dedication of the wall of
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Jerusalem, all occurred about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Thou shalt surely rejoice.—In the Hebrew this is a somewhat unusual form of
expression. Literally, thou wilt be only rejoicing. Rashi says it is not a command, but a
promise.
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-15
The Feast of Tabernacles, properly, Booths (cf. Leviticus 23:33-44; Numbers 29:12-38).
This feast was to be observed at the end of harvest, after the corn had been gathered
into granaries, and the produce of the vineyard had been put through the press.
Nothing is added here to the instructions already given respecting this festival; only the
observance of it at the appointed sanctuary is enforced, and stress is laid on their
making not only their sons and daughters and domestics, but also the Levite, the
fatherless, the widow, and the stranger participators in their rejoicings. Thou shalt
surely rejoice; rather, thou shalt be wholly joyous; literally, rejoicing only; Rosenm;
"adnodum laetus."
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-17
The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Ingathering.
"The festival of tabernacles, as originally instituted, presents but little symbolism. Its
primary design was to give expression to joy and gratitude in view of the products of
the earth, every kind of which had now been gathered; and it was therefore also called
the Festival of Ingathering." As the Passover commemorated the first deliverance, so
the Feast of Booths would recall the wilderness life. And "nothing was more natural
than to associate in thought the richness of their inheritance with the probationary
trials by means of which the nation had been prepared to possess it". It is scarcely
necessary here to do more than suggest the underlying principles which are presented
here. They must needs have some similarity with those in the preceding Homily. Israel
is taught the following truths:
1. After the corn and wine have been gathered in, and the anxieties of the year are so
far over, they are then expected to look up gratefully to God as the Author of all.
2. God's mercies are to be enjoyed, in grateful and delightful repose.
3. With the gladsome rest there is to be associated a thankful memory of past guidance
and help in the wilderness life.
4. In this rejoicing and thankfulness, master and servant are alike to share, as both
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equal in the sight of God.
5. By Israel's gladness, the sorrows of the poor, the sad, the lonely, are to be relieved,
and the solitary ones are to be made conscious of a kindly care encompassing them.
6. The recognition of a reception of mercy is to be accompanied with a loving offering to
God in return (Deuteronomy 16:16, Deuteronomy 16:17). According to the blessing, so
is to be the tribute.
7. Thus Israel's nationality is to be thrice sealed every year, as a specifically religious
one, in holy and joyful covenant with the Lord their God. Manifestly on each of these
points, Israel's temporary and local forms illustrated permanent and worldwide
principles, in the exposition of which the Christian teacher may well delight.
BI 13-15, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.
Harvest home
The Feast of Tabernacles was the harvest home of Israel. Where is the antitype of the festival of Tabernacles? The vision of the “great multitude which no man could number” is a vision throughout of a heavenly Feast of Tabernacles; the harvest home of the Church triumphant.
I. These festivals are occasions of hospitality and of reunion. A selfish life is an unchristian life. A man might possibly remember God in solitude, a monastery has ere now fostered devotion: but there is one virtue which cannot be practised in seclusion—charity; the Gospel virtue—without which we are nothing. The very exertion which it costs some men to come out is salutary. If some are made frivolous by the love of society, some are made selfish by isolation from their kind.
II. Two things were especially required of the Israelites when they assembled for their three annual feasts: first, that they should not appear before the lord empty; secondly, that children and servants, the Levite and the stranger, the fatherless and widow, should be allowed to rejoice with them. The feast only becomes a blessing when it remembers God, and remembers man.
III. The law of God was read over, once in seven years, to the assembled Israelites at their Feast of Tabernacles. If there be a time when we remember duty, surely it should be when our hands are full of gifts. A time of feasting, nay, a time of prosperity, nay, a time of unmarked, of average sufficiency, brings its own peculiar risk of practical ungodliness.
IV. Yet we recognise in this festival the comforting side of true religion. God’s voice never comes to make us miserable. If it condemns, it is that we may rise out of condemnation into a state altogether joyous. A harvest home is a glimpse of the love and of the peace and of the joy of the Gospel.
V. It is also a memento of the place of thankfulness in the Gospel. Is there any test so
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condemning as that which touches us on the point of gratitude? Who really gives God thanks for life, for health, for motion, for speech, for reason? Well may we have one day in the year set apart for the work of simple praise.
VI. Recognise in this celebration the identification of the God of nature and providence with the God of revelation and of the Gospel. The things that are seen become a very sign and sacrament of the things that are not seen. The harvest of the natural world indicates to us, by its marvellous yet now familiar phenomena, the working of the same power which alone can melt the heart of stone, and impress upon a trifling soul the realities of a life and a home in heaven. VII. Finally, let the service which gives thanks for an earthly harvest carry your thoughts to that great “reaping after sowing,” which is before every one of us, in the resurrection of the body and in the eternity which is yet beyond (Mat_13:39; Gal_6:7-8). God grant us all a place in that ingathering, the close of a world’s labour, the inauguration of a heavenly rest! (Dean Vaughan.)
14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons
and daughters, your male and female servants,
and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless
and the widows who live in your towns.
GILL, "And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast,.... At this feast of tabernacles and ingathering of the fruits of the earth, in token of gratitude and thankfulness for the goodness of God bestowed on them; the Targum of Jonathan adds, with the flute and the pipe, making use of instrumental music to increase the joy on this occasion:
thou and thy son, &c. See Gill on Deu_16:11
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:14-16. Thou shalt rejoice — In God, and in the effects of
his favour, serving and praising him with a glad heart. Shall all thy males appear before
the Lord — That is, from twenty to fifty years of age. The women were not obliged to
be present at these solemnities; 1st, Because the weakness of their sex rendered them
unable to bear so long a journey as many of them would have had to take, without more
fatigue than would have been consistent with their health. 2d, Because the care of their
children and servants demanded their presence at home. 3d, Because they were
represented in the men. No doubt the chief intention of these sacred feasts was to
promote piety toward God, and mutual love toward each other, among the Israelites.
By the various solemn services in which they were engaged at these seasons, their minds
would be awakened to a sense of the infinite importance of religion, and excited to
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reverence and stand in awe of the Divine Majesty, while many would be inspired
unfeignedly to praise and love the Author of all their mercies. By being brought so often
together from all parts of the country, their acquaintance with, and regard for each
other, would be both continued and increased, and the bond of union among them, as a
community, greatly strengthened. Thus also they would be preserved from the
idolatrous rites and superstitious practices of their heathen neighbours, and their
attachment to their own happy constitution, both civil and religious, would be
confirmed.
15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the
Lord your God at the place the Lord will
choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in
all your harvest and in all the work of your
hands, and your joy will be complete.
GILL, "Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of tabernacles still spoken of:
in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: the city of Jerusalem:
because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase, and in all the works of thine hands; both in the increase of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, and also in their several handicraft trades and occupations they were employed in; so Aben Ezra interprets all the works of their hands of merchandise and manufactories:
therefore thou shalt surely rejoice; extremely, heartily, and sincerely, and not fail to express joy on this occasion, and manifest it by a generous freewill offering to the Lord, and a bountiful entertainment for himself, his family, friends, and others.
HENRY, "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
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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.
COKE, "Ver. 15. Therefore thou shalt surely rejoice— Cecrops ordained at
Athens a similar law to this; commanding that masters of families should make a
feast for their servants after harvest, and eat together with them who had jointly
laboured in tilling the ground; for that God delighted in the honour done to
servants in consideration of their labour. Macrob. Saturnal. lib. 1: cap. 10. It is
probable, that Cecrops derived this law from Moses. He lived about the time of
the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and, according to Eusebius, first
instructed the Greeks to give to God the name of Ξευς, that is to say, the living
God. Prep. Evan. lib. 10: p. 487. Pausanias says more than once, that Cecrops
first gave to Ξευς, or Jupiter, the appellation of most high. See Arcad. Oper. p.
237 and Horat. Ephesians 1 lib. 2.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear
before the Lord your God at the place he will
choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the
Festival of Weeks and the Festival of
Tabernacles. No one should appear before the
Lord empty-handed:
CLARKE, "Three times in a year - See Exo_23:14 (note), where all the Jewish feasts are explained. See also Lev_23:34 (note).
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GILL, "Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God,.... This has been observed before, Exo_23:17, and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place where they were to appear, which before now was not observed, and indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here recited:
in the place which he shall choose; which though not expressed is now easily understood; and the three times at which they were to appear there were, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; or passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles; and of numbers of people going up from the country to each of these feasts, we have instances in the New Testament; to the passover, Luk_2:42, to Pentecost, Act_2:5, to tabernacles, Joh_7:2,
and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; Aben Ezra observes, the meaning is, not empty of the tribute of the freewill offering of their hand, and which Jarchi more fully explains of the burnt offerings of appearance, and of the peace offerings of the Chagigah, or money answerable to them; which, according to the Misnah (q) was a meah of silver for a burnt offering, and two pieces of silver for the Chagigah, which weighed thirty two barley corns (r).
HENRY, "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, 1Co_16:2. Those that give to their power shall be accepted, but those that give beyond their power are accounted worthy of double honour (2Co_8:3), as the poor widow that gave all she had, Luk_21:4.
K&D, "Deu_16:16-17
In conclusion, the law is repeated, that the men were to appear before the Lord three times a year at the three feasts just mentioned (compare Exo_23:17 with Exo_23:14, and Exo_34:23), with the additional clause, “at the place which the Lord shall choose,” and the following explanation of the words “not empty:” “every man according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of Jehovah his God, which He hath given thee,” i.e., with sacrificial gifts, as much as every one could offer, according to the blessing which he had received from God.
SBC, "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.
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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.
CALVIN, "16.Three times in a year. We have previously said that although the other
feast-days were not to be neglected, still, because God would make some allowance
for the infirmity of His people, the necessity of going up to Jerusalem five times a year
was not imposed upon them. Again, because only half of the seventh month contained
three feast-days, i.e., from the first to the fifteenth, for the same reason it is only
required of the males that they should leave their houses and celebrate the sacred
convocations; for thus the females are spared, to whom traveling is not so convenient.
Besides, through the fecundity promised them by God, they were almost always either
pregnant or nursing. It is also certain that the boys and young men were excepted
under the age of twenty, since God includes under the term males only those who
were comprised in the census. If any object that in God’s spiritual worship there is no
difference between males and females; the reply is easy, that the fathers of families
presented themselves there in the names of their wives and children: so that the
profession was extended to the other sex, and to those of tender age. To this David
seems to allude, when he says: (364)
"Thy people shall come with voluntary offerings in the day of thy assembly, in the
beauties of holiness,” (Psalms 110:3;)
for, speaking of the free-will-offerings of the people, he seeks an example of it, after
the manner of the prophets, from the legal worship. Lest the Jews should object that
there was danger of hostile invasion, if the land should be stripped of its defenses by
the gathering together of all the men into one place, God anticipates this doubt in
Exodus 34:0, promising that He will provide that no one shall desire to assail their
forsaken homes; for to this the sentence refers: “I will cast out the nations before thee,
and enlarge thy borders, so that no man shall desire thy land, ” Exodus 34:24 Whence
also we gather, that God’s worship was not entirely established until all the
neighboring nations were subdued, and He had placed His sanctuary in Mount Zion.
Not that it was allowable for the people to omit the feast-days before that time; but
that experience itself might teach them that God was wroth with them, whilst He
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deprived them of this special blessing; for fear and alarm arose only from their own
fault. But let believers collect from hence the useful doctrine that, whenever they are
following God, they will be safe under His protection, since it is in His power to repel
the assaults of enemies, and everything that can harm them.
And they shall not appear before the Lord empty, (365) I know not how it could have
entered the minds of some to suppose that God here promised that all should be rich
who should present themselves three times (a year) before His sanctuary: whereas it is
plain from the words of Moses that He requires from every one some gift in token of
their gratitude. And perhaps (366) what historians relate respecting the Persians, that
none should dare to address the king without a gift, was a more ancient custom, and
common to other nations. God would indeed have a gift presented Him by each
individual, as a symbol or earnest of their subjection; and, although this legal rite has
ceased, yet its substance is to be retained, viz., that those only are true servants of God
who do not boastfully make a mere empty profession, but effectually testify that they
acknowledge Him as their King.
Dr. Kitto, in his little work, “The Court of Persia,” gives some remarkable particulars
from Morier respecting this custom as still existing.
COKE, "Ver. 16. All thy males— i.e. all from twenty to fifty years old. Males only
were obliged to be present on these occasions. 1. Because the weakness and infirmity
of the female sex rendered them not able to bear so long a journey without great
danger and fatigue. 2. Because their chastity would be exposed to many dangers in so
vast a concourse of people. 3. Because the care of their families and their domestic
offices must have been neglected. The chief intention of these solemnities was to keep
the Israelites from corrupting their religion by idolatrous practices, or superstitious
rites; and the providence of God is remarkable in defending their country during their
absence at these seasons; there having been scarcely any instance of its being attacked
by their enemies, though nothing could have invited them more strongly to an
incursion, than the advantages which these occasions gave them. See Joseph Mede's
Discourses.
HAWKER, "Verse 16-17
Here the whole three feasts are brought within one precept for their observance. And
who is there but must, in a gospel sense, desire to honour JEHOVAH in the
observance of ordinances and means of grace, which keep in view the sacrifice of
JESUS, the effusion of the HOLY GHOST, and that GOD hath tabernacled among us
in substance of our flesh? These things are indeed great joy to all people. Luke 2:10.
BI 16-17, "Three times in a year.
The command respecting festivals
We are informed by ancient writers that the Egyptians kept many stated festivals and religious assemblies in honour to the gods, and that they held no less than six every year at
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different places. It is probable that this custom was of great antiquity, and observed when Israel dwelt in Egypt. Therefore, when Moses went to Pharaoh, and asked leave for the Hebrews to celebrate a feast to the Lord, the Egyptians could not say that it was an unreasonable request, since they accounted it a duty to do the like. This opens to us one reason for which these festivals were appointed in the law, namely, in compliance with the inclinations of the people, who doubtless were desirous to have their feasts and assemblies, as well as the Egyptians with whom they had dwelt.
I. The work or action enjoined—to appear before the Lord. God condescended to take upon Him the government of the Jewish nation, and is here represented as their King; and they, as dutiful subjects, and required to come and salute Him, and present themselves before Him at certain times. The same respect which other nations showed to their princes, the Jews were to show to God, as He was their King. Thus far it was a civil or political duty. But as their King was also the Almighty, to appear before Him was a religious duty; it was to serve and worship Him in a public manner; and herein this law is moral, universal, and everlasting.
II. The persons who were to appear at these solemn feasts. “All thy males shall appear before
the Lord.” These words are to be understood not as excluding the females from being present at these assemblies, but as giving them leave of absence, and intimating that it might sometimes be more proper for them to stay at home. The reasons for which the females had an exemption from this solemn duty seem to have been these first, the weakness of the sex, not so fit to bear the fatigue of these frequent journeys; secondly, the care of their children and families, which could not be thus wholly abandoned; and, thirdly, the dangers to which they would be exposed in such a numerous and mixed assembly. The Egyptians, when they repaired to the feasts, sailed together upon the river Nile in large companies, men and women, and many indecencies were committed, which this law seems to have been intended to prevent. Thus were they excused from these religious journeys when it was inconvenient. But at other times, and on other occasions, they frequented the places appointed for instruction and for the worship of God; as we may conclude from such examples as are recorded in Scripture, and from that piety and gratitude which are usually more observable in them than in the other sex.
III. The place where the men were to appear—in the place which the Lord shall choose, namely, in the place where the ark and the tabernacle of God should be, which at the first was at Shiloh, in the country of Samaria and tribe of Ephraim, and afterwards at Jerusalem in the tribe of Judah, where David erected a tabernacle, and Solomon built a magnificent temple. One reason for which these festivals were appointed, and appointed at one place, was to keep up peace and friendship and unity, both in Church and State. Nothing is more likely to conduce to this end than a religious association and intercourse, and a participation of the same sacred rites.
IV. The time when the Jews were to meet together—it was thrice in the year; in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. From these religious institutions it may he observed that the hallowing unto God more days in the week than one is not, as some have fancied, against the design and meaning of the Fourth
Commandment. For by these three solemn feasts, which were each of them of a week’s
continuance at least, it is manifest that “Six days thou shalt labour” was no commandment, but expressed only an ordinary permission of working; and to think that God would contradict His own law by a contrary ordinance is inconceivable. As, therefore, when He commanded the Jews to give Him the tenth part of their increase, He forbade not free-will offerings; so, when He enjoined them to keep holy one day in seven, this hindered not but that they might hallow unto Him other days even of the six. Hence it is concluded that the Christian Church hath likewise a power to set apart days for the more solemn service of God. But this should be done sparingly, discreetly, and cautiously; it should rather be recommended than required, and never without manifest reasons.
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V. A particular duty required of all the people when they came to worship God at these feasts, namely, not to appear empty. It was a custom in those parts of the world when subjects came before their king, to make him a present; and even a little fruit, or a single flower, was favourably accepted from one who was not in circumstances to offer more. The Jews were commanded to bring a present; not a burnt offering or a sacrifice by fire; for these, though at the same time they were also required, yet were of another nature, and for another end; but a heave offering, a freewill offering, which was a tribute of thankfulness to God, and likewise an acknowledgment of His supreme lordship and dominion over all. (J. Jortin, D. D.)
They shall not appear before the Lord empty.
The law of gifts in the Pentateuch
Empty in one sense, empty of blessing, none of us can appear before the Lord, or our prayer has mocked Him, and our praise. Crowned with His goodness, you have come up hither; crown His goodness in return with praise.
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.
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. It is the plea which is constantly urged in the Old Testament, which we accuse of low and material views, both of
man and of God. It is the highest witness to man’s essential God-likeness which can be
conceived. Man’s nature only finds free, that is joyful play, when it is doing God-like things,
when it is striving to think, will, and act like God. The only complete form of man’s life is the life which is also Divine.
III. The exhortations of the 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. He who does a deed purely unselfish, who yields free play to the most generous, heavenly impulses.
IV. Part of this God-like duty finds expression in the text. “none shall appear before the Lord
empty.” The Lord has filled you with good; you are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and in fearful and wonderful harmony with the world. Your organs, exquisitely fashioned, and all
the beauty and splendour of the creation, form a concord which at once expresses God’s loving kindness, and is to you a fountain of intense delight. And there is an inner harmony which He is striving to develop by uniting your heart to fear His name, which will make this
great universe a Father’s house, and the awful future all eternal home. 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. His ends can never be reached without us, in the way in which His wisdom has ordered the world. He might have ruled as a despot; He has chosen to seek rather to
rule—as the Bishop of Argyll has happily phrased it as a constitutional king. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Is giving a help or a hindrance
I. Every individual is addressed.
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1. All have been blessed; all are under obligations to recognise this fact by giving. Everyone should help. It is the mites that make the great aggregations.
2. Giving in accordance with God’s command is husbanding—it is investing. Said a great
millionaire when asked, “Where can I safely invest my money?” “Give to God’s cause, where I have put uncounted thousands, and I find that the interest due is always promptly paid, and the investment is perfectly safe. I shall meet it beyond the river, laid up in
heaven, and shall enjoy it forever.”
II. This command requires us to give as necessity requires and according to blessings received. Give, because you have received. Bless, because you have been blessed. Love, because you have been loved. Help, because you have been helped. Be liberal, because you thus glorify your Benefactor. The great giver is a great gatherer. He gathers love, power, influence, and revels in the smile of God. (J. D. Fulton, D. D.)
An offering of gratitude
One day an Indian asked Bishop Whipple to give him two one-dollar bills for a two-dollar
note. The Bishop asked, “Why?” He said, “One dollar for me to give to Jesus, and one dollar
for my wife to give.” The Bishop asked him if it was all the money he had. He said, “Yes.”The Bishop was about to tell him, “It is too much,” when an Indian clergyman who was
standing by whispered, “It might be too much for a white man to give, but not too much for
an Indian who has this year heard for the first time of the love of Jesus.”
Giving according to conscience
A minister was about to leave his own congregation for the purpose of visiting London, on
what was by no means a pleasant errand—to beg on behalf of his place of worship. Previous to his departure he called together the principal persons connected with his charge, and said
to them, “Now, I shall be asked whether we have conscientiously done all that we can for the removal of the debt. What answer am I to give? Brother So-and-so, can you in conscience say
that you have given all you can?” “Why, sir,” he replied, “if you come to conscience, I don’t know that I can.” The same question he put to a second, and a third, and so on, and similar answers were returned, until the whole sum required was subscribed, and there was no longer any need for their pastor to wear out his soul in going to London on any such unpleasant excursion. (Christian Age.)
17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion
to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
GILL, "Every man shall give as he is able,.... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law, but the wise men appointed it, as observed on Deu_16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them; see 1Co_16:2 so Jarchi,"every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many
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burnt offerings and many peace offerings.''
Judges
18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your
tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving
you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
BARNES, "These verses are closely connected in subject with the following chapter, and introduce certain directions for the administration of justice and the carrying on of the civil government of the people in Canaan. During the lifetime of Moses, he himself, especially inspired and guided by God, was sufficient, with the aid of the subordinate judges (compare Exo_18:13 ff), for the duties in question. But now that Moses was to be withdrawn, and the people would soon be scattered up and down the land of Canaan, regular and permanent provision must be made for civil and social order and good government.
CLARKE, "Judges and officers shalt thou make - Judges, שפטים shophetim,
among the Hebrews, were probably the same as our magistrates or justices of the
peace. Officers, שטרים shoterim, seem to have been the same as our inquest sergeants,
beadles, etc., whose office it was to go into the houses, shops, etc., and examine weights, measures, and the civil conduct of the people. When they found any thing amiss, they brought the person offending before the magistrate, and he was punished by the officer on the spot. They seem also to have acted as heralds in the army, Deu_20:5. See also Rab. Maimon in Sanhedrin. In China, for all minor offenses, the person when found guilty is punished on the spot, in the presence of the magistrate or mandarin of justice.
GILL, "Judges and officers shall thou make thee,.... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges, and go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and all they do is by order of the judges; so Maimonides (s): the qualifications of judges to be chosen and constituted by the people are thus described by him. In the sanhedrim, greater or lesser, they place only men wise and understanding, expert in the wisdom of the law, and masters of great knowledge, and that know some of the other sciences, as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, and
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astrology, the ways of soothsayers, diviners, and wizards, and the vanities of idolatry, that they may know how to judge them; and they set in the sanhedrim only priests, Levites, and Israelites, who are genealogized; nor do they set an old man there, nor an eunuch, nor a king, but an high priest, if he is qualified with wisdom; and they must be free from blemishes, and of a good stature and appearance, and understand many languages, and not hear by an interpreter; and though all this was not precisely required of the sanhedrim of three judges, yet these same things ought to be in everyone of them, wisdom, and meekness, and fear, and hatred of money, and love of truth, and love of men, and to be of a good report (t) and these were to be placed in
all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes; that is, in every city, as Onkelos, and so Jarchi; and usually the courts of judicature were held in the gates of cities, and it was only in the land of Israel, not without it, that they were obliged to set up courts of judicature, as Maimonides (u) observes; who also asks, how many courts were fixed in Israel, and what the number they consisted of? to which he answers, they fixed at first the great court in the sanctuary, and it was called the great sanhedrim, and its number were seventy one; and again, they set up two courts of twenty three, one at the door of the court, and the other at the door of the mountain of the house (and so in the Misnah) (w); and they set up in every city in Israel, in which were one hundred and twenty (men or families) or more, a lesser sanhedrim, which sat in the gate, and their number were twenty three judges; in a city in which there were not one hundred and twenty, they placed three judges, for there is no court less than three (x):
and they shall judge the people with just judgment; give a right and just sentence in all cases that come before them, according to the laws of God, and the rules of justice and equity.
HENRY, "Here is, I. Care taken for the due administration of justice among them,
that controversies might be determined, matters in variance adjusted, the injured
redressed, and the injurious punished. While they were encamped in the wilderness,
they had judges and officers according to their numbers, rulers of thousands and
hundreds, Exo_18:25. When they came to Canaan, they must have them according to
their towns and cities, in all their gates; for the courts of judgment sat in the gates.
Now, 1. Here is a commission given to these inferior magistrates: “Judges to try and
pass sentence, and officers to execute their sentences, shalt thou make thee.”
However the persons were pitched upon, whether by the nomination of their
sovereign or by the election of the people, the power were ordained of God, Rom_
13:1. And it was a great mercy to the people thus to have justice brought to their
doors, that it might be more expeditious and less expensive, a blessing which we of
this nation ought to be very thankful for. Pursuant to this law, besides the great
sanhedrim that sat at the sanctuary, consisting of seventy elders and a president,
there was in the larger cities, such as had in them above 120 families, a court of
twenty-three judges, in the smaller cities a court of three judges. See this law revived
by Jehoshaphat, 2Ch_19:5, 2Ch_19:8. 2. Here is a command given to these
magistrates to do justice in the execution of the trust reposed in them. Better not
judge at all than not judge with just judgment, according to the direction of the law
and the evidence of the fact.
JAMISON, "Judges and officers shalt thou make — These last meant heralds
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or bailiffs, employed in executing the sentence of their superiors.
in all thy gates — The gate was the place of public resort among the Israelites and other Eastern people, where business was transacted and causes decided. The Ottoman Porte derived its name from the administration of justice at its gates.
CALVIN, "18.Judeges and officers shalt thou make. I have placed this passage
among the Supplements of the Fifth Commandment, for, if it pleases God that
judges should be appointed for ruling the people, it follows that their laws and
edicts should be obeyed; and thus the parental authority extends also to them.
But, in order that the people may more readily submit themselves to judges, God
reminds them that the human race could not otherwise be preserved. Public
utility, therefore, renders the authority of magistrates pleasant and agreeable,
though it would else be hateful. But, although it be not conceded to all to elect
their judges, because God honored His chosen people with this prerogative, still
he here recommends in general a regular government, since He signifies that
human society cannot hold together unless the lawful rulers have authority to
execute justice. Whether, then, magistrates are appointed by the suffrages of the
people, or imposed in any other way, let us learn that they are the necessary
ministers of God, to confine all men under the yoke of the laws. The latter
passage, which I have annexed from Deuteronomy 7:0, refers to the same thing,
viz., that even in war discipline is necessary, lest all things should be thrown into
confusion. Now, if it pleases God that certain superior officers should have the
command, it follows that they must be obeyed; for it would be ridiculous to
appoint governors, if it were lawful to despise them with impunity. When,
therefore, God sets military commanders over the people, He enforces the duty of
humble submission.
COFFMAN, "Although, acting upon the advice of Jethro, Moses had indeed
appointed assistants to help him in the administration of justice,. Moses still
remained as the final court of appeals and continued to handle many problems
up until the very hour of this speech, but all that was shortly to change, as soon
as the people entered Canaan and settled down in many places, separated by
considerable distances. The proper dispensation of justice required the
appointment of the officers here mentioned.
"Judge the people with righteous judgment ..." (Deuteronomy 16:18). What a
noble ideal for judges to follow. The restrictions here, throughout history, have
proved to be precisely in those areas where the judiciary most needs them -
partiality, bribe-taking, and the rendering of unjust decisions. This very day in
America, our judiciary needs these instructions as sorely as any of the judges of
Israel ever needed them!
"That thou mayest live and inherit the land ..." (Deuteronomy 16:20). When the
judiciary of Northern Israel was completely perverted, and precisely for that
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reason, God removed the whole kingdom from their inheritance, never to return.
Thus, this was no empty threat. The minor prophets, especially Amos, have
much material that bears on the condition of the judiciary. Zephaniah's
evaluation of Israel's judiciary was brief but clear: "Her judges are evening
wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow!" (Zephaniah 3:3).
COKE, "Ver. 18. In all thy gates— This expression is thought to refer to the
custom of keeping their courts in the gates, or in chambers over the gates of their
cities: the gate, among the Hebrews, being the same as the forum among the
Romans. See Genesis 19:1. 2 Kings 7:1. It is probable, that the Ottoman court
was called the Porte, because all their affairs, public as well as private, were
transacted under the gate of the palace. See Dr. Shaw's Travels, vol. 1: p. 409.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The feast of the tabernacles was the last holy solemnity,
during which they dwelt in booths, in memory of their sojourning in the
wilderness; and with feasting and holy joy commemorated God's mercies
towards them. They were enjoined to invite, as before, the necessitous to partake
with them, that none might be mourning for want in these days of rejoicing.
Note; (1.) When we are happy ourselves, we should call our neighbours to rejoice
with us, and seek to communicate that gladness of heart which we enjoy. (2.) God
expects a grateful acknowledgment; and be it little or much, it is alike accepted,
according to our several abilities.
2nd, 1. Magistrates are to be appointed in every city. The charge given them is to
observe impartial justice: they must be swayed by no influence, nor take any gift;
but, alike above the love of money as the fear of man, judge righteous judgment.
Note; Uprightness, in the seat of justice, is among the greatest blessings that any
land can enjoy. 2. All groves are forbidden near God's altar; and every image, as
the object or medium of worship which God abhors, idolatry being among the
greatest of crimes, and most to be dreaded in all its appearances. Let us beware
then of the delusions of the church of Rome, where this accursed idol-worship is
established; and God not only dishonoured by images, but adoration paid to
pictures and statues of pretended saints, yea, even to dead men's bones, and such
vile relicks.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:18. Judges — Chief magistrates, to examine and
determine causes and differences. Officers — Who were subordinate to the
other, to bring causes and persons before them, to acquaint people with the
sentence of the judges, and to execute their sentence. Thy gates — Thy cities,
which he here calls gates, because there were the seats of judgment set. Pursuant
to this law, in every town which contained above a hundred and twenty families,
there a court of twenty-three judges; in the smaller towns, a court of three
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judges.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 18-20
Probably the people chose the judges, and the leaders of the nation appointed
them (cf. Deuteronomy 1:13). "Judges" were individuals responsible for
administering justice, and "officers" were administrators charged with the
enforcement of law, perhaps similar to modern police officers. [Note: Craigie,
The Book . . ., p. 247.] The number of these in each town probably varied
according to the needs of the community.
". . . in order to give the people and the judges appointed by them a brief
practical admonition, as to the things they were more especially to observe in
their administration of justice, Moses notices by way of example a few crimes
that were deserving of punishment (Deuteronomy 16:21-22, and chap. xvii. 1),
and then proceeds in chap. xvii. 2-7 to describe more fully the judicial
proceedings in the case of idolaters." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:379-80.]
"For most of us today, the notion that it is always and everywhere wrong for a
judge to take a gift from a litigant probably seems so obvious as to be virtually
self-evident. Nevertheless, the fact remains that that idea has historically been far
from apparent to a large part of humankind. In the ancient Near East, for
instance, almost every society regarded the practice of judges taking gifts from
litigants as being perfectly moral and absolutely legitimate ...
". . . a gift-giver placed upon a recipient a binding moral obligation to respond in
kind ...
"Importantly, such reciprocity is not considered morally reprehensible. Indeed
the failure of either judge or litigant to reciprocate is what is deemed immoral
and unjust ..." [Note: Goldberg, pp. 15-17.]
In this respect then Israel was to be different from other nations.
". . . in Israel, as in much of the ancient world, the human judge was considered
proxy for the divine judge. For instance, ... in 2 Chronicles 19:6-7 ..." [Note:
Ibid., p. 22.]
"Deuteronomy is passionately concerned about justice (Hebrew tsedeq,
mishpat): 'Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (Deuteronomy 16:20,
which makes this a condition of living and prospering in the land). This follows
from the doctrine of Israel as a community of 'brothers' equal before God."
[Note: Whybray, p. 101.]
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Verses 18-22
5. Laws arising from the fifth commandment 16:18-18:22
The fifth commandment is, "Honor your father and your mother"
(Deuteronomy 5:16). What follows is legislation that advocates respecting
authority figures in the nation, which was an extended family.
"With the regency of Yahweh and the proper protocol by which He had to be
approached having been established, the covenant text then addresses the human
leaders who serve Him and exercise authority over the nation at large." [Note:
Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 80.]
"Just as in its religious worship the Israelitish nation was to show itself to be the
holy nation of Jehovah, so was it in its political relations also. This thought forms
the link between the laws already given and those which follow." [Note: Keil and
Delitzsch, 3:378.]
LANGE, "REFLECTIONS
BLESSED GOD! give me grace to observe, with holy joy and thankfulness, the
solemn seasons of thine appointment, in communication of thy mercies. I would
pray indeed for the leadings of the HOLY SPIRIT, to observe the month of Abib,
which pointed to JESUS, and his one, all-sufficient sacrifice, all the year; and
since CHRIST, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, I would, all the year, keep the
feast. And no less, thou blessed HOLY SPIRIT, would I beseech thee to pour
upon me thy precious influence, that every day may be the renewal of the day of
Pentecost to my soul. Oh! that thou wouldst come down as showers on the new-
mown grass, to revive my drooping, languishing heart, by the soul-strengthening
communications of thy love. And dearest LORD, when I appear before thee in
thy courts, and house of prayer, oh! constrain my heart that I may not appear
before thee empty. But, having so much communicated to me of thy fulness, my
poorer brother may partake of my overflowing cup; and I may by grace be able,
both in temporals and spirituals, to comfort others with the same comforts
wherewith I myself am comforted of GOD.
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:18-20
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Moses had at an earlier period appointed judges to settle disputes among the
people, and had given instructions to them for the discharge of their duty
(Exodus 18:1-27; Deuteronomy 1:12-18). Whilst the people were in the
wilderness, united as one body and under the leadership of Moses, this
arrangement was sufficient; but a more extended arrangement would be
required when they came to be settled in Canaan and dispersed in towns and
villages over the whole land. In prospect of this, Moses here enacts that judges
and officers were to be appointed by the people in all their gates, in all their
places of residence, which the Lord should give them.
Deuteronomy 16:18
Judges and officers. The "officers" (shoterim, writers) associated with the judges
both in the earlier arrangements and in that which was to succeed were
secretaries and clerks of court, and acted also as assessors and advisers of the
judges. No instruction is given as to the number of judges and officers, or as to
the mode of appointing them; nor was this necessary. The former would be
determined by the size and population of the place where they were appointed,
and the latter would, as a matter of course, follow the method instituted by
Moses in the earlier arrangement (see Deuteronomy 1:13-15; Exodus 18:21-26).
K&D, "Just as in its religious worship the Israelitish nation was to show itself to be the holy nation of Jehovah, so was it in its political relations also. This thought forms the link between the laws already given and those which follow. Civil order -that indispensable condition of the stability and prosperity of nations and states -rests upon a conscientious maintenance of right by means of a well-ordered judicial constitution and an impartial administration of justice. - For the purpose of settling the disputes of the people, Moses had already provided them with judges at Sinai, and had given the judges themselves the necessary instructions for the fulfilment of their duties (Ex 18). This arrangement might suffice as long as the people were united in one camp and had Moses for a leader, who could lay before God any difficult cases that were brought to him, and give an absolute decision with divine authority. But for future times, when Israel would no longer possess a prophet and mediator like Moses, and after the conquest of Canaan would live scattered about in the towns and villages of the whole land, certain modifications and supplementary additions were necessary to adapt this judicial constitution to the altered circumstances of the people. Moses anticipates this want in the following provisions, in which he first of all commands the appointment of judges and officials in every town, and gives certain precise injunctions as to their judicial proceedings (Deut 16:18-17:7); and secondly, appoints a higher judicial court at the place of the sanctuary for the more difficult cases (Deu_17:8-13); and thirdly, gives them a law for the future with reference to the choice of a king (Deu_16:14-20).
Deu_16:18-20
Appointment and Instruction of the Judges. - Deu_16:18. “Judges and officers thou shalt appoint thee in all thy gates (place, see at Exo_20:10), which Jehovah thy God shall give thee, according to thy tribes.” The nation is addressed as a whole, and directed to appoint for itself judges and officers, i.e., to choose them, and have them appointed by its rulers, just as was done at Sinai, where the people chose the judges, and Moses inducted into office the persons so chosen (cf. Deu_1:12-18). That the
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same course was to be adopted in future, is evident from the expression, “throughout thy tribes,” i.e., according to thy tribes, which points back to Deu_1:13. Election by
majorities was unknown to the Mosaic law. The shoterim, officers (lit., writers, see at
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 genealogical lists, and who are mentioned as already existing in Egypt as overseers of the people and of their work (see at Exo_5:6; and for the different opinions concerning their official position, see Selden, de Synedriis, i. pp. 342-3). The new features, which Moses introduces here, consist simply in the fact that every place was to have its own judges and officers, whereas hitherto they had only been appointed for the larger and smaller divisions of the nation, according to their genealogical organization. Moses lays down no rule as to
the number of judges and shoterim to be appointed in each place, because this would
depend upon the number of the inhabitants; and the existing arrangement of judges over tens, hundreds, etc. (Exo_18:21), would still furnish the necessary standard. The statements made by Josephus and the Rabbins with regard to the number of judges in each place are contradictory, or at all events are founded upon the circumstances of much later times (see my Archהologie, ii. pp. 257-8). - These judges were to judge the people with just judgment. The admonition in Deu_16:19 corresponds to the instructions in Exo_23:6 and Exo_23:8. “Respect persons:” as in Deu_1:17. To this there is added, in Deu_16:20, an emphatic admonition to strive zealously to maintain justice. The repetition of the word justice is emphatic: justice, and nothing but justice, as in Gen_14:10, etc. But in order to give the people and the judges appointed by them a brief practical admonition, as to the things they were more especially to observe in their administration of justice, Moses notices by way of example a few crimes that were deserving of punishment (Deu_16:21, Deu_16:22, and Deu_17:1), and then proceeds in Deu_17:2-7 to describe more fully the judicial proceedings in the case of idolaters.
19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do
not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of
the wise and twists the words of the innocent.
GILL, "Thou shall not wrest judgment,.... Or pervert it, pass a wrong sentence, or act contrary to justice; this is said to the judges as a direction to them, and so what follows:
thou shalt not respect persons; so as to give the cause on account of outward circumstances and relations; as in favour of a rich man against a poor man merely for
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that reason, or of a near relation or intimate friend and acquaintance against a stranger, but justice should be administered without favour or affection to any; as Jarchi puts it, he was to make no difference in his address and behaviour to contending parties before him; he was not to be tender and soft to one and hard to the other, or let one stand and another sit:
neither take a gift: as a bribe to give the cause wrong: at Thebes, in Egypt, as Diodorus Siculus (y) relates, in a court on a wall, were images of judges to the number of thirty; in the midst of them was the chief judge; having Truth hanging down from his neck (which seems to be in imitation of the Urim of the high priest of the Jews), his eyes shut, and many books by him; by which image was shown, that judges should receive nothing, and that the chief judge should look to truth only:
for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous; see Exo_23:8 the Jews have a saying, that a judge that takes a bribe, and perverts judgment, does not die of old age, or till his eyes become dim (z).
HENRY, " The judges are here cautioned not to do wrong to any (Deu_16:19), nor to take any gifts, which would tempt them to do wrong. This law had been given before, Exo_23:8. (2.) They are charged to do justice to all: “That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, Deu_16:20. Adhere to the principles of justice, act by the rules of justice, countenance the demands of justice, imitate the patterns of justice, and pursue with resolution that which appears to be just. Justice, justice, shalt thou follow.” This is that which the magistrate is to have in his eye, on this he must be intent, and to this all personal regards must be sacrificed, to do right to all and wrong to none.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:19-20. Thou shalt not wrest judgment — Not give a forced
and unjust sentence. Thou shalt not respect persons — Not give sentence according to
the quality of the person, his riches or poverty, friendship or enmity, but according to
the justice of the cause. A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise — Biases his mind, that he
cannot discern between right and wrong. And pervert the words of the righteous —
That is, the sentence of those judges who are inclined and used to do righteous things,
and have the reputation of being righteous men; it makes them give a wrong judgment.
That which is altogether just — Hebrew, righteousness, righteousness, doubling the
expression to give it emphasis; that is, nothing but righteousness in all causes and times,
and to all persons equally.
BI, "Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift.
Equality before the law
I. Some facts and tendencies in legal administration.
1. The sentence pronounced against a poor man is often very heavy, and that against a rich man very light. In New Jersey a poor man was sentenced to five years of hard labour in prison for stealing a ham; in the same court a rich banker, who had ruined two banks and stolen the money of hundreds of people, received the same sentence.
2. After conviction rich convicts receive favours. In the case just cited the poor man and the rich man went to the same prison. But the poor man was put at hard
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labour; the rich man was made clerk in the prison library.
3. Rich men have an unfair advantage over poor men when brought to trial. The big fee that hires the eloquent pleader “buys out the law.”
4. Even judges are sometimes corrupt.
5. Juries are accused of taking bribes.
II. The perils of these forms of injustice.
1. They threaten the property and lives of the poor.
2. They weaken the spirit of obedience (Num_22:23).
3. They develop the communistic spirit of destruction.
4. We are all unsafe when one poor wretch is unsafe only because he lacks money or friends.
III. The remedies for existing evils.
1. More and better teaching, in home, school, and church, on God’s law of equality.
2. Wiser conversation on such matters when citizens meet together. It is dangerous and unpatriotic to treat the miscarriage of justice as a jest.
3. A sound public opinion should be cultivated by press, pulpit, and platform.
4. Our social power may be used to condemn a triumph over the law.
5. Seek to associate in all minds the idea of obedience to God with that of just judgment. (Homiletic Monthly.)
An upright judge
Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, went into a hatter’s shop in order to purchase a pair of shoe brushes. The master of the shop presented him with a couple. “What is your price?” said the judge. “If they will answer your purpose,” replied the other, “you may have them and welcome.” The judge, upon hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was leaving the shop; upon which the hatter said to him, “Pray, sir, your honour has forgotten the principal object of your visit.” “By no means,” answered the judge; “if you please to set a price, I am ready to purchase; but ever since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving to the value of a single copper, lest at some future period of my life it might have some kind of influence in determining my judgment.”
The acceptance of bribes discouraged
In the Soudan, he said, he had £6000 a year, as Governor, but he brought nothing out of the country when he returned to England. He spent his income in adding to the insufficient salaries of the officials, to keep them from accepting bribes, and thus to secure justice for the people at large. (Memoir of General Gordon.)
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20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you
may live and possess the land the Lord your
God is giving you.
GILL, "That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or "justice", "justice" (a), strict justice, and nothing else:
that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is, continue in the possession of it.
CALVIN, "20.That which is altogether just (131) By an emphatic repetition God
inculcates that judges should study equity with inflexible constancy; nor is this
done without cause, for nothing is more likely to happen than that men’s minds
should be clouded by favor or hatred. Besides there are so many quibbles
whereby justice is perverted, that, unless judges are very cautious in watching
against deception, they will often find themselves ensnared.
BI, "That which is altogether Just shalt thou follow.
Justice the decorum of the character of judges
(preached at the Assizes):—The duties which are incumbent upon us may be very properly divided into two classes—such as are incumbent upon all men, and such as are incumbent upon particular ranks of men.
I. Justice is immediately connected with the end of that office which magistrates, judges, and rulers bear. The exercise of justice itself is the proximate means of answering the purposes of government and judgment. One of the principal ways in which other virtues promote these purposes is by contributing to the steady and vigorous exercise of incorruptible justice. Injustice, directly and of itself, defeats these purposes, and is in every instance absolutely inconsistent with them. Other vices obstruct them sometimes very strongly, but always more remotely and indirectly, often by preparing the way to injustice.
II. Rulers and judges have, from their office, opportunity for many exertions of justice wholly peculiar to themselves. On this account also justice may be considered as in a special manner the virtue of their character and station. The poor man, who cannot himself resist the oppression of the great; the peaceable man, who is harassed by the encroachments of the man of violence; the orphan, whose rights are invaded by him that hath no bowels, claim the protection of the judge, and can obtain redress only by brining their cause under his cognisance. Differences arising from the ignorance or the self-partiality of persons well disposed can be determined only by the superior knowledge and unbiassed justice of the judge. When individuals are injured or the public disturbed by crimes, it is to the integrity of the judge that they must look up for help. How extensive, then, is the sphere of public justice which is peculiar to the ruler and the judge! In every instance of public justice he must make conscience of doing what is right, else he forfeits the character of a just and honest man, in the very same way as another person would forfeit it by being convicted of a
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transgression of private justice.
III. Justice may be considered as in a peculiar manner belonging to rulers, judges, and magistrates because they are under peculiar obligations to it. Every act of injustice brings positive hurt on the person who is affected by it; but an unjust judgment hurts with the cutting aggravations of its being done under form of law, and of its impeaching the person whom it injures, as if he had been injurious. Private persons are connected only with a few, and therefore only a few can be hurt by their injustice; but the injustice of a judge is of more extensive consequence, it hurts all who are subject to his jurisdiction. Private injustice may be checked or redressed by the righteousness of the judge; but if the judge be unrighteous, by whom shall his injustice be restrained? (Alex. Gerard, D. D.)
Civil justice
That which the air is in the elementary world, the sun in the celestial, the soul in the intelligible, justice is the same in the civil. It is the air which all afflicted desire to breathe; the sun which dispelleth all clouds; the soul which giveth life to all things. The unhappiness is, it is more found on the paper of writers than in the manners of the living. To be just is to be all that which an honest man may be, since justice is to give everyone what appertaineth to him. (N. Caussin.)
Justice in small things
Nouschirvan, the Persian king, having been hunting, and desirous of eating some of the venison in the field, several of his attendants went to a neighbouring village, and took away a quantity of salt to season it. The king suspecting how they had acted, ordered that they should immediately go and pay for it; then turning to his attendants, he said, “This is a small matter in itself, but a great one as it regards me: for a king ought ever to be just, because he is an example to his subjects; and if he swerves in trifles, they will become dissolute. If I cannot make all my people just in the smallest things, I can, at least, show them it is possible to be so.”
Worshiping Other Gods
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole
beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,
BARNES, "A grove ... - Render, Thou shalt not plant for thee any tree as an idol: literally as an Asherah,” “i. e.” an image of Astarte or Ashtaroth, the Phoenician goddess (compare Deu_7:5 note, Deu_7:13 note). The word is rendered “grove” by the King James Version also in Deu_7:5; Deu_12:3; Exo_34:13; Jdg_6:25, but cannot be maintained, for the word is connected with various verbs which are quite
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inapplicable to a grove. The wooden idol in question was the stem of a tree, stripped of its boughs, set upright in the ground, and rudely carved with emblems.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove, etc. - We have already seen that groves were planted about idol temples for the purpose of the obscene worship performed in them. (See on Deu_12:3 (note)). On this account God would have no groves or thickets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspicion that any thing contrary to the strictest purity was transacted there. Every part of the Divine worship was publicly performed, for the purpose of general edification.
GILL, "Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees,.... Of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly
near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee; as the Heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use; which evil the Jews sometimes fell into in the times of wicked reigns, and which their good and pious kings removed and destroyed; see 2Ki_18:4 and Hecataeus (b), an Heathen historian, relates of the city of Jerusalem, that there were there no image, nor plantation, nor grove, nor any such thing.
HENRY, "II. Care taken for the preventing of all conformity to the idolatrous customs of the heathen, Deu_16:21, Deu_16:22. They must not only not join with the idolaters in their worships, not visit their groves, nor bow before the images which they had set up, but, 1. They must not plant a grove, nor so much as a tree, near God's altar lest they should make it look like the altars of the false gods. They made groves the places of their worship either to make it secret (but that which is true and good desires the light rather), or to make it solemn, but the worship of the true God has enough in itself to make it so and needs not the advantage of such a circumstance. 2. They must not set up any image, statue, or pillar, to the honour of God, for it is a thing which the Lord hates; nothing belies or reproaches him more, or tends more to corrupt and debauch the minds of men, than representing and worshipping by an image that God who is an infinite and eternal Spirit.
JAMISON, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove — A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations - a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (Jdg_6:25; 2Ki_23:4-6). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them.
CALVIN, " 21.Thou shalt not plant thee. It is plain from the end of this verse that
it is part of the Second Commandment. We know (300) that amongst the heathen
nations groves were sacred, so that with them no religious object would receive
due reverence, except under the shade of trees. Wherefore lest conformity with
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this general custom should vitiate the pure worship of God, this distinction was
made; and this then is the intent of the prohibition, that the Jews should fly from
all strange rites, lest by too closely approaching the Gentiles, they should
introduce a sinful medley. But how necessary this prohibition was, appears from
their eager imitation (of the heathen), of which mention is constantly made in the
sacred history. For there was scarcely any period in which they abstained from
“high places.” Nor is it without reason that Isaiah and Jeremiah reprove them
for “playing the harlot under every green tree.” (Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20.)
COFFMAN, ""An Asherah ..." (Deuteronomy 16:21). "She was a false deity
whose name was often mistranslated in the KJV, following the Septuagint (LXX)
"groves." She was the goddess of Tyre, the bride of Anu (heaven), the consort of
El, and the mother of 70 gods, including Baal. She was worshipped with animal
sacrifices."[16] In this light, therefore, "plant thee" does not refer to the planting
of a tree in an ordinary sense, but means to install, set up, arrange. Many of the
old commentators thought that the Septuagint (LXX) was correct here, as did
Adam Clarke:
"The groves were planted around idol temples for the purposes of the obscene
worship performed in them. On this account, God would have no groves or
thickets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspicion that anything
contrary to the strictest purity was transacted there.[17]
We have included Clarke's view here despite the opinion so firmly stated in the
Encyclopedias. One thing that favors Clarke's view here is the use of the word
"plant," allegedly meaning, "to set up." However, the sacred author knew that
word, using it in the very next sentence, and the choice of another word (plant) in
connection with the Asherah leaves some uncertainty as to what exactly is meant.
After all, the Septuagint (LXX) could be correct here.
"A pillar ..." (Deuteronomy 16:22). A pillar was a column of wood or of stone, or
a carved object of veneration, such as a statue or a device resembling a totem
pole, installed as an object of worship. It is not usually mentioned, but it is
certain that some of these "pillars" were phallic symbols of a very repulsive
kind.
Now and then one encounters a complaint that Deuteronomy 16:18-22 "do not fit
in" to the chapter on the three great festivals! Well, so what? Some of the
commentators seem never to have heard about "a shotgun sermon," and that is
certainly the kind that Moses delivered on this occasion. Incidentally, that is a
sure mark of its authenticity. If the priests of any particular era had done these
chapters, we may be certain that they would have been organized in a far
different manner from that encountered in this Farewell Address by the Great
Lawgiver of Israel.
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BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove — To plant
groves in honour of the true God, was a part of primitive worship, as we see by
the example of Abraham, Genesis 21:33. But the Gentiles having abused this
custom, and made trees and groves, dedicated to their idols, the scenes of the
most vile and abominable superstitions, God saw fit to prohibit the Israelites
from planting any such groves near the place of divine worship, lest they should
have taken occasion from hence to blend the worship of idols, and the impure
rites of heathenism, with the service of the true God.
CONSTABLE, "Verse 21-22
An asherah (Deuteronomy 16:21) was perhaps a sacred tree or group of trees or
wooden pole that the Canaanites used in the worship of their female fertility
goddess, Asherah. Asherah was evidently both the name of a Canaanite goddess
as well as a cult object used in her worship. The pagans usually made their
sacred pillars (Deuteronomy 16:22) of stone or wood and used them in the
worship of Baal, the male Canaanite god of fertility, and Asherah.
"In Canaan the 'asherah ('trees,' 'pillars,' or 'groves') were associated with
oracular verdicts by their gods and goddesses." [Note: Schultz, p. 61. See Andre
Lemaire, "Who or What Was Yahweh's Asherah?" Biblical Archaeology Review
10:6 (November-December 1984):42-51; and especially John Day, "Asherah in
the Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Literature," Journal of Biblical
Literature 105:3 (September 1986):385-408.]
The judges were not to tolerate the planting (Deuteronomy 16:21) of these trees
or poles that were so common in Canaan that the people regarded them as a
prominent part of the native culture. Judges customarily dispensed justice in the
open space near the main gate of the towns. This area was the main congregating
place of the community (cf. Ruth 4:1-12).
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:21, Deuteronomy 16:22
In all states, the highest crime of which the judge has to take note is that of
treason against the supreme Rower; and, under the theocracy, the act most
distinctly treasonable was idolatry. In proceeding, therefore, to give some
practical admonitions as to the things to be observed in the administration of
justice, Moses begins by denouncing and forbidding this most flagrant form of
iniquity.
Deuteronomy 16:21
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees; thou shalt not plant, i.e. place or
set up, an asherah of any wood. The asherah was an idol of wood in the form of a
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pillar, usually placed by the side of the altars of Baal. It was the symbol of
Astarte, the great Canaanitish goddess, the companion and revealer of Baal. The
two are usually associated in the Old Testament (cf. 2:13; 6:28; 1 Kings 18:19; 2
Kings 23:4). The rendering "grove" has been taken from the LXX. and the
Vulgate; but that it is an error is evident from 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; and
Jeremiah 17:2; where the asherah is said to be under a green tree; and from the
use of such words as make, set up, cause to stand, build, to denote the action of
producing an asherah (cf. 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings
17:10; 2 Chronicles 33:19; 1 Kings 14:23), none of which are appropriate to the
planting of a grove. Here, indeed, the word "plant" is used, but this is only
because, as the asherah was sunk in the earth that it might stand firm, it might
be figuratively said to be planted, just as nails driven in are said to be planted
(Ecclesiastes 12:11, where the same verb is used; comp. also Isaiah 51:16; Amos
9:15; Daniel 11:25).
PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:21, Deuteronomy 16:22
The pathways to temptation to be shunned.
A rash and hare-brained pilot may venture as near as he can to a sunken reef,
but a wise captain will prefer plenty of sea-room. It is no proof of wisdom to
tamper with temptation. One cannot handle pitch without being defiled.
I. GOD WISHES TO IMPART TO MEN HIS OWN FEELING TOWARDS
IDOLATRY. (Deuteronomy 16:22.) To be like God is the summit of every good
man's ambition. This is God's intention also. But the attainment can only
gradually be made. We must have God's thoughts rooted in us; we must cultivate
similar feelings; we must cherish similar purposes or we cannot be like him in
character. Idolatry corrupts the soul and generates death. To know and worship
God leads up to richest life.
II. EXTERNAL AIDS TO IDOLATRY MUST BE CAREFULLY AVOIDED. A
stone which is a stumbling-block to a child has no peril for a strong man; for the
sake of the young and the weak, the stone should be taken out of the way. It is
wise and noble to abstain from self-indulgences which will imperil the piety of
others. A shady grove would be pleasant enough for worshippers in the
scorching climate of the East; nevertheless, if it shall tend in the least measure to
lure the ignorant into idolatry, we will forego the pleasure. This is Godlike, to
deny self in order to bless others. If umbrageous groves make my weak brother
to offend, I will endure the noontide heat so long as life shall last. Our mental
tastes, our love of the beautiful, our desire for pleasure,—all must give way to
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honest endeavor for the moral elevation of the race.
III. GOD'S FATHERLY KINDNESS IS EXPRESSED IN THESE PLAIN
PRECEPTS. We might reach these wise maxims as reasonable deductions from
moral principles; yet they come to us clothed with irresistible authority, when
they appear as the revealed will of God, A twofold light blends to point out the
path of human conduct, viz. the light of conscience and the light of Scripture; yet
these twin rays emanate from the selfsame sun.—D.
K&D, "“Thou shalt not plant thee as asherah any wood beside the altar of
Jehovah.” נטע, to plant, used figuratively, to plant up or erect, as in Ecc_12:11; Dan_
11:25; cf. Isa_51:16. Asherah, the symbol of Astarte (see at Exo_34:13), cannot mean either a green tree or a grove (as Movers, Relig. der Phצnizier, p. 572, supposes), for
the simple reason that in other passages we find the words עשה, make (1Ki_14:15;
1Ki_16:33; 2Ki_17:16; 2Ki_21:3; 2Ch_33:3), or ה%יב, set up (2Ki_17:10), העמיד, stand
up (2Ch_33:19), and נה), build (1Ki_14:23), used to denote the erection of an
asherah, not one of which is at all suitable to a tree or grove. But what is quite decisive is the fact that in 1Ki_14:23; 2Ki_17:10; Jer_17:2, the asherah is spoken of as being set up under, or by the side of, the green tree. This idol generally consisted of a wooden column; and a favourite place for setting it up was by the side of the altars of Baal.
BI, 21-22, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove.
Idolatry forbidden
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 everyone 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 choose 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? Nothing belies God nor degrades man like the worship of images and statues.
III. Idolatry must be utterly forsakes. We must neither join the worshippers nor sanction the worship. Plant no grove of trees, for truth loves light and reproves darkness. (J. Wolfendale.)
Neither shalt thou set up any image.
Images forbidden
Thus imagery is forbidden—even religious imitation and attempted reproduction of things Divine and inexpressible. We are prone to do something to show our
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handiwork in God’s sanctuary; it pleases us to try to add something to the circle; it delights us to run one rim of gilt around the refined gold which burns with the image and superscription of God. We are told not to interfere; we must keep our hands off everything. We must learn to stand still; sometimes to do everything by doing nothing; and we must learn to rebuke our inventive faculty and become learned in the utterance of simple prayer. God will have His altar untouched: He will have human attention undistracted by any human devices. The altar is to stand alone in its simple dignity—most adorned when unadorned. There must be no attempt to link true religion and false religion, inspired worship and idolatrous worship, groves humanly planted and altars Divinely built. The Lord will have a time for Himself, and place for Himself, a gift for Himself, an altar for Himself. Why for Himself? Because He is the Lord, and because He means to train the human mind and heart without distraction towards the highest sublimity of law. Who will not set up his reason against the altar, and delight because his religion is rational?—as well hold up a candle to the sun, because all fire is of the same quality; because there is but one fire in the universe, and that is God. The sun says, Thou shalt not light a candle in my presence. We do it, but the candle is literally of no service in the presence of the midday sun. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world—the Sun of the great firmament of the soul—and He alone can light the space that is to be illumined. Who will not throw the little flower of self-approval upon the altar, saying, I am not as other men: I fast, I pay tithes, I do not practise extortion: I am not as the publicans are? The Lord has forbidden all groves and all images and all distractions. Only one man is permitted near the altar; only one soul is heard in heaven. His name?—the broken-hearted sinner! (J. Parker, D. D.).
22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the
Lord your God hates.
CALVIN, "22.Neither shalt thou set thee up. Hence also it more clearly appears
what is the meaning and tendency of the Second Commandment. God elsewhere
commands, (100) (as we have seen,) that statues (101) should be erected on the
borders of the land, on which the sum of the Law should be inscribed. At first
sight this prohibition seems to be contradictory; and indeed it would be so,
unless you understand “statue” to be a false image of God, in which men set Him
before them in bodily form; and, therefore, it is added, that He hates such
statues. But I have preferred translating (102) the relative in the neuter gender,
that the sentence might be fuller; i.e., that the erecting of statues is an
abomination to the Lord; because in this way His glory is dishonored, when He is
transfigured into a body, or when anything corporeal is mixed with His spiritual
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nature.
HAWKER, "REFLECTIONS
BLESSED GOD! give me grace to observe, with holy joy and thankfulness, the
solemn seasons of thine appointment, in communication of thy mercies. I would
pray indeed for the leadings of the HOLY SPIRIT, to observe the month of Abib,
which pointed to JESUS, and his one, all-sufficient sacrifice, all the year; and
since CHRIST, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, I would, all the year, keep the
feast. And no less, thou blessed HOLY SPIRIT, would I beseech thee to pour
upon me thy precious influence, that every day may be the renewal of the day of
Pentecost to my soul. Oh! that thou wouldst come down as showers on the new-
mown grass, to revive my drooping, languishing heart, by the soul-strengthening
communications of thy love. And dearest LORD, when I appear before thee in
thy courts, and house of prayer, oh! constrain my heart that I may not appear
before thee empty. But, having so much communicated to me of thy fulness, my
poorer brother may partake of my overflowing cup; and I may by grace be able,
both in temporals and spirituals, to comfort others with the same comforts
wherewith I myself am comforted of GOD.
PULPIT, "Any image; any pillar, etc. The Hebrew word ( מצבה, mazzebah)
denotes generally any pillar or stone that is set up, whether as a memorial
(Genesis 28:18 ), or as a sign (Exodus 24:4; Isaiah 19:19), or for purposes of
utility or ornament (Jeremiah 43:13). Here, as in other passages, it is a pillar or
statue set up as an object of worship (cf. 2 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 10:26; Hosea 10:1;
Micah 5:12).
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