Reference: Feasts
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God appointed several festivals, or days of rest and worship, among the Jews, to perpetuate the memory of great events wrought in favor of them: the Sabbath commemorated the creation of the world; the Passover, the departure out of Egypt; the Pentecost, the law given at Sinai, etc. At the three great feasts of the year, the Passover, Pentecost, and that of Tabernacles, all the males of the nation were required to visit the temple, Ex 23:14-17; De 16:16-17; and to protect their borders from invasion during their absence, the shield of a special providence was always interposed, Ex 34:23-24. The other festivals were the Feast of Trumpets, or New Moon, Purim, Dedication, the Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee. These are described elsewhere. The observance of these sacred festivals was adapted not merely to freshen the remembrance of their early history as a nation, but to keep alive the influence of religion and the expectation of the Messiah, to deepen their joy in God, to dispel animosities and jealousies, and to form new associations between the different tribes and families. See also Day of EXPIATION.
In the Christian church, we have no festival that clearly appears to have been instituted by our Savior, or his apostles; but as we commemorate his death as often as we celebrate his supper, he has hereby seemed to institute a perpetual feast. Christians have always celebrated the memory of his resurrection by regarding the Sabbath, which we see, from Re 1:10, was in John's time commonly called "the Lord's day." Feasts of love, Jude 1:12, were public banquets of a frugal kind, instituted by the primitive Christians, and connected by them with the celebration of the Lord's supper. The provisions were contributed by the more wealthy, and were common to all Christians, whether rich or poor, who chose to partake. Portions were also sent to the sick and absent members. These love-feasts were intended as an exhibition of mutual Christian affection; but they became subject to abuses, and were afterwards generally discontinued, 1Co 11:17-34.
The Hebrews were a hospitable people, and were wont to welcome their guests with a feast, and dismiss them with another, Ge 19:3; 31:27; Jg 6:19; 2Sa 3:20; 2Ki 6:23. The returning prodigal was thus welcomed, Lu 15:23. Many joyful domestic events were observed with feasting: birthdays, etc., Ge 21:8; 40:20; Job 1:4; Mt 14:6; marriages, Ge 29:22; Jg 14:10; Joh 2:1-10; sheep shearing and harvesting, Jg 9:27; 1Sa 25:2,36; 2Sa 13:23. A feast was also provided at funerals, 2Sa 3:35; Jer 16:7. Those who brought sacrifices and offerings to the temple were wont to feast upon them there, with joy and praise to God, De 12:6-7; 1Sa 16:5; 2Sa 6:19. They were taught to invite all the needy to partake with them, De 16:11; and even to make special feasts for the poor, De 12:17-19; 14:28; 26:12-15; a custom which the Savior specially commended, Lu 14:12-14.
The manner of holding a feast was anciently marked with great simplicity. But at the time of Christ many Roman customs had been introduced. The feast or "supper" usually took place at five or six in the afternoon, and often continued to a late hour. The guests were invited some time in advance; and those who accepted the invitation were again notified by servants when the hour arrived, Mt 22:4-8; Lu 14:16-24. The door was guarded against uninvited persons; and was at length closed for the day by the hand of the master of the house, Mt 25:10; Lu 13:24. Sometimes very large numbers were present, Es 1:3,5; Lu 14:16-24; and on such occasions a "governor of the feast" was appointed, whose social qualities, tact, firmness, and temperance fitted him to preside, Joh 2:8. The guests were arranged with a careful regard to their claims to honor, Ge 43:33; 1Sa 9:22; Pr 25:6-7; Mt 23:6; Lu 14:7; in which matter the laws of etiquette are still jealously enforced in the East. Sometimes the host provided light, rich, loose robes for the company; and if so, the refusing to wear one was a gross insult, Ec 9:8; Mt 22:11; Re 3:4-5. The guests reclined around the tables; water and perfumes were served to them, Mr 7:2; Lu 7:44-46; and after eating, the hands were again washed, a servant pouring water over them. During the repast and after it various entertainments were provided; enigmas were proposed, Jg 14:12; eastern tales were told; music and hired dancers, and often excessive drinking, etc., occupied the time, Isa 5:12; 24:7-9; Am 6:5. See EATING, FOOD.
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But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made unleavened bread, of which they took.
And when the child was old enough to be taken from the breast, Abraham made a great feast.
And Laban got together all the men of the place and gave a feast.
Why did you make a secret of your flight, not giving me word of it, so that I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with melody and music?
Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his servants; and he gave honour to the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker among the others.
And they were all given their seats before him in order of birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were looking at one another in wonder.
Three times in the year you are to keep a feast to me You are to keep the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days let your bread be without leaven, as I gave you orders, at the regular time in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt); and let no one come before me without an offering: read more. And the feast of the grain-cutting, the first-fruits of your planted fields: and the feast at the start of the year, when you have got in all the fruit from your fields. Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord God.
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord, the God of Israel. For I will send out the nations before you and make wide the limits of your land; and no man will make an attempt to take your land while you go up to give worship to the Lord, three times in the year.
And there you are to take your burned offerings and other offerings, and the tenth part of your goods, and the offerings to be lifted up to the Lord, and the offerings of your oaths, and those which you give freely from the impulse of your hearts, and the first births among your herds and your flocks; There you and all your families are to make a feast before the Lord your God, with joy in everything to which you put your hand, because the Lord has given you his blessing.
In your towns you are not to take as food the tenth part of your grain, or of your wine or your oil, or the first births of your herds or of your flocks, or anything offered under an oath, or freely offered to the Lord, or given as a lifted offering; But they will be your food before the Lord your God in the place of his selection, where you may make a feast of them, with your son and your daughter, and your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is living with you: and you will have joy before the Lord your God in everything to which you put your hand. read more. See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.
At the end of every three years take a tenth part of all your increase for that year, and put it in store inside your walls:
Then you are to be glad before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is with you, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you, in the place marked out by the Lord your God as a resting-place for his name.
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord your God in the place named by him; at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents: and they are not to come before the Lord with nothing in their hands; Every man is to give as he is able, in the measure of the blessing which the Lord your God has given you.
When you have taken out a tenth from the tenth of all your produce in the third year, which is the year when this has to be done, give it to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and the child without a father, and the widow, so that they may have food in your towns and be full; And say before the Lord your God, I have taken all the holy things out of my house and have given them to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and him who has no father, and the widow, as you have given me orders: I have kept in mind all your orders, in nothing have I gone against them: read more. No part of these things has been used for food in a time of weeping, or put away when I was unclean, or given for the dead: I have given ear to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all you have given me orders to do. So, looking down from your holy place in heaven, send your blessing on your people Israel and on the land which you have given us, as you said in your oath to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Then Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and with an ephah of meal he made unleavened cakes: he put the meat in a basket and the soup in which it had been cooked he put in a pot, and he took it out to him under the oak-tree and gave it to him there.
And they went out into their fields and got in the fruit of their vines, and when the grapes had been crushed, they made a holy feast and went into the house of their god, and over their food and drink they were cursing Abimelech.
Then Samson went down to the woman, and made a feast there, as was the way among young men.
And Samson said, Now I have a hard question for you: if you are able to give me the answer before the seven days of the feast are over, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing;
And the people came to make David take food, while it was still day, but David with an oath said, May God's punishment be on me if I take a taste of bread or any other thing till the sun has gone down!
In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him;
And at the end of that time, the king gave a feast for all the people who were present in Shushan, the king's town, small as well as great, for seven days, in the outer square of the garden of the king's house.
His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them.
Do not take glory for yourself before the king, and do not put yourself in the place of the great: For it is better to have it said to you, Come up here; than for you to be put down in a lower place before the ruler.
Let your clothing be white at all times, and let not your head be without oil.
And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.
The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief. The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad. read more. There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.
No one will make a feast for them in sorrow, to give them comfort for the dead, or put to their lips the cup of comfort on account of their father or their mother.
Making foolish songs to the sound of corded instruments, and designing for themselves instruments of music, like David;
But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias was dancing before them, and Herod was pleased with her.
Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast. But they gave no attention, and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his trade: read more. And the rest put violent hands on his servants, and did evil to them, and put them to death. But the king was angry; and he sent his armies, and those who had put his servants to death he gave to destruction, burning down their town with fire. Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough.
But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a guest's robe;
And the things desired by them are the first places at feasts, and the chief seats in the Synagogues,
And while they went to get oil, the master came; and those who were ready went in with him to the feast: and the door was shut.
And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
And turning to the woman he said to Simon, You see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet: but she has been washing my feet with the drops from her eyes, and drying them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss: but she, from the time when I came in, has gone on kissing my feet. read more. You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet.
Do your best to go in by the narrow door, for I say to you, A number will make the attempt to go in, but will not be able to do so.
And he gave teaching in the form of a story to the guests who came to the feast, when he saw how they took the best seats; saying to them,
And he said to the master of the house, When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward. But when you give a feast, send for the poor and the blind and those who are broken in body: read more. And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead.
And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people.
And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people. And when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready.
And when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.
And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come. And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.
And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come. And another said, I have been married, and so I am not able to come.
And another said, I have been married, and so I am not able to come. And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body.
And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body. And the servant said, Lord, your orders have been done, and still there is room.
And the servant said, Lord, your orders have been done, and still there is room. And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and the fields, and make them come in, so that my house may be full.
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and the fields, and make them come in, so that my house may be full. For I say to you that not one of those who were requested to come will have a taste of my feast.
For I say to you that not one of those who were requested to come will have a taste of my feast.
And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad.
On the third day two people were going to be married at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there: And Jesus with his disciples came as guests. read more. When they had not enough wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, Woman, this is not your business; my time is still to come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it. Now six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews. Jesus said to the servants, Make the pots full of water. And they made them full to the top. Then he said to them, Now take some, and give it to the master of the feast. So they took it to him.
Then he said to them, Now take some, and give it to the master of the feast. So they took it to him. After tasting the water which had now become wine, the master of the feast (having no idea where it came from, though it was clear to the servants who took the water out) sent for the newly-married man, read more. And said to him, Every man first puts out his best wine and when all have had enough he puts out what is not so good; but you have kept the good wine till now.
But in giving you this order, there is one thing about which I am not pleased: it is that when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, it has come to my ears that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you, and I take the statement to be true in part. read more. For divisions are necessary among you, in order that those who have God's approval may be clearly seen among you. But now, when you come together, it is not possible to take the holy meal of the Lord: For when you take your food, everyone takes his meal before the other; and one has not enough food, and another is the worse for drink. What? have you not houses to take your meals in? or have you no respect for the church of God, putting the poor to shame? What am I to say to you? am I to give you praise? certainly not. For it was handed down to me from the Lord, as I gave it to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when Judas was false to him, took bread, And when it had been broken with an act of praise, he said, This is my body which is for you: do this in memory of me. In the same way, with the cup, after the meal, he said, This cup is the new testament in my blood: do this, whenever you take it, in memory of me. For whenever you take the bread and the cup you give witness to the Lord's death till he comes. If, then, anyone takes the bread or the cup of the Lord in the wrong spirit, he will be responsible for the body and blood of the Lord. But let no man take of the bread and the cup without testing himself. For a man puts himself in danger, if he takes part in the holy meal without being conscious that it is the Lord's body. For this cause a number of you are feeble and ill, and a number are dead. But if we were true judges of ourselves, punishment would not come on us. But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged. So then, my brothers, when you come together to the holy meal of the Lord, let there be waiting for one another. If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.
These men are unseen rocks at your love-feasts, when they take part in them with you, keepers of sheep who without fear take the food of the sheep; clouds without water rushing before the wind, wasted trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,
But you have some names in Sardis who have kept clean their robes; and as a reward they will go in white with me. He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Fausets
Hag (from a root, "to dance") is the Hebrew applied to the Passover, and still more to the feast of tabernacles, as both were celebrated with rejoicings and participation of food (Ex 12:14; Le 23:39; Nu 29:12; De 16:22). But moed is the general term for all sacred assemblies convoked on stated anniversaries; God's people by His appointment meeting before Him in brotherly fellowship for worship. Their communion was primarily with God, then with one another. These national feasts tended to join all in one brotherhood. Hence, arose Jeroboam's measures to counteract the effect on his people (1Ki 12:26-27). Hezekiah made the revival of the national Passover a primary step in his efforts for a reformation (2Ch 30:1). The Roman government felt the feast a time when especial danger of rebellion existed (Mt 26:5; Lu 13:1).
The "congregations," "calling of assemblies," "solemn meetings" (Isa 1:13; Ps 81:3), both on the convocation days of the three great feasts, passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles, and also on the sabbaths, imply assemblies for worship, the forerunners of the synagogue (compare 2Ki 4:23). The septenary number prevails in the great feasts. Pentecost was seven weeks (sevens) after Passover; passover and the feast of tabernacles lasted seven days each; the days of holy convocation were seven in the year, two at Passover, one at pentecost, one at the feast of trumpets, one on the day of atonement (the first day or new moon of the seventh month), and two at the feast of tabernacles. The last two solemn days were in the seventh month, and the cycle of feasts is seven months, from Nisan to Tisri. There was also the sabbatical year, and the year of Jubilee.
The continued observance of the three feasts commemorative of the great facts of Israelite history make it incredible that the belief of those facts could have been introduced at any period subsequent to the supposed time of their occurrence if they never took place. The day, the month, and every incident of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt are embalmed in the anniversary passover. On the three great feasts each Israelite was bound to "appear before the Lord," i.e., attend in the court of the tabernacle or temple and make his offering with gladness (Leviticus 23; De 27:7). Pious women often went up to the Passover: as Lu 2:41, Mary; 1Sa 1:7; 2:19, Hannah. Those men who might happen to be unable to attend at the proper time kept the feast the same day in the succeeding month (Nu 9:10-11). On the days of holy convocation all ordinary work was suspended (Le 23:21-35). The three great feasts had a threefold bearing.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history.
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the gospel kingdom.
I. They marked the three points of time as to the fruits of the earth.
(I.) At the Passover in spring, in the month Abib, the first green ears of barley were cut, and were a favorite food, prepared as parched grain, but first of all a handful of green ears was presented to the Lord.
(2) Fifty days (as Pentecost means) after Passover came the feast of weeks, i.e. a week of weeks after Passover. The now ripe wheat, before being cut, was sanctified by its firstfruits, namely two loaves of fine flour, being offered to Jehovah.
(3) At the feast of tabernacles, in the end of the common year and the seventh month of the religious year, there was a feast of ingathering when all the fruits of the field had been gathered in. There was no offering of consecration, for the offerings for sanctifying the whole had been presented long before. It was not a consecration of what was begun, but a joyful thanksgiving for what was completed. See for the spiritual lesson Pr 3:9; Ps 118:15.
II. They marked three epochs in Israel's past history. Each of the three marked a step in the HISTORICAL progress of Israel.
(1) The Passover commemorated the deliverance out of Egypt when Jehovah passed over Israel, protecting them from the destroying angel and sparing them, and so achieving for them the first step of independent national life as God's covenant people.
(2) Pentecost marked the giving of the law on Sinai, the second grand era in the history of the elect nation. God solemnly covenanted, "If ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, and ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:5).
(3) All the nation now wanted was a home. The feast of tabernacles commemorates the establishment of God's people in the land of promise, their pleasant and peaceful home, after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, living in shifting tents. They took boughs of palm and willows of the brook, and made temporary huts of branches and sat under the booths. So in their fixed home and land of rest their enjoyment was enhanced by the thankful and holy remembrance of past wanderings without a fixed dwelling. Joshua especially observed this feast after the settlement in Canaan (as incidentally comes out in Ne 8:17).
Solomon (appropriately to his name, which means king of peace) also did so, for his reign was preeminently the period of peaceful possession when every man dwelt under his own vine and figtree (1Ki 4:25); immediately after that the last relic of wilderness life was abolished by the ark being taken from under curtains and deposited in the magnificent temple of stone in the seventh month (2Ch 5:3), the feast of tabernacles was celebrated on the 15th day, and on the 23rd Solomon sent the great congregation away glad in heart for the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David, Solomon, and Israel His people.
The third celebration especially recorded was after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews were re-established in their home under Ezra and Nehemiah, and all gathered themselves together as one man on the first day of the seventh month, the feast of trumpets. Then followed the reading of the law and renewal of the covenant. Then finding in the law directions as to the feast of tabernacles, they brought branches of olive, pine, myrtle, and palm, and thick trees, and made booths on their roofs and in their courts, and in the courts of God's house, and sat under them with "great gladness" (Nehemiah 8).
III. They pointed prophetically to three grand antitypical events of the gospel kingdom. Prophetically and typically.
(1) The Passover points to the Lord Jesus, the true paschal Lamb sacrificed for us, whose sacrifice brings to us a perpetual feast (1Co 5:7).
(2) Pentecost points to our Whitsuntide (Acts 2) when the Holy Spirit descending on Christ's disciples confirms Christ's covenant of grace in the heart more effectually than the law of Sinai written on stone (2Co 3:3-18).
(3) Two great steps have already been taken toward establishing the kingdom of God. Christ has risen from death as "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1Co 15:20), even as the green ears of barley were offered as firstfruits at Passover. Secondly, the Holy Spirit has not merely once descended but still abides in the church as His temple, giving us a perpetual Whitsun feast, One step more is needed; we have received redemption, also the Holy Spirit; we wait still for our inheritance and abiding home. The feast of tabernacles points on to the antitypical Canaan, the everlasting inheritance, of which the Holy Spirit is the "earnest" (Eph 1:13-14; Heb 4:8-9). The antitypical feast of tabernacles shall be under the antitypical Joshua, Jesus the Captain of our salvation, the antitypical Solomon, the Prince of peace (Isa 9:6; Re 7:9-17).
The zest of the heavenly joy of the palmbearing multitude (antitypical to the palmbearers at the feast of tabernacles), redeemed out of all nations, shall be the remembrance of their tribulations in this wilderness world forever past; for repose is sweetest after toil, and difficulties surmounted add to the delight of triumph. Salvation was the prominent topic at the feast. In later times they used to draw water from the pool of Siloam, repeating from Isaiah 12 "with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation," r
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And this day is to be kept in your memories: you are to keep it as a feast to the Lord through all your generations, as an order for ever.
If now you will truly give ear to my voice and keep my agreement, you will be my special property out of all the peoples: for all the earth is mine:
And on the same day, let it be given out that there will be a holy meeting for you: you may do no field-work on that day: it is a rule for ever through all your generations wherever you are living And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain at the edges of the field be cut, and do not take up the grain which has been dropped in the field; let that be for the poor, and for the man from another country: I am the Lord your God. read more. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, let there be a special day of rest for you, a day of memory, marked by the blowing of horns, a meeting for worship. Do no field-work and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And the Lord said to Moses, The tenth day of this seventh month is the day for the taking away of sin; let it be a holy day of worship; you are to keep from pleasure, and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And on that day you may do no sort of work, for it is a day of taking away sin, to make you clean before the Lord your God. For any person, whoever he may be, who takes his pleasure on that day will be cut off from his people. And if any person, whoever he may be, on that day does any sort of work, I will send destruction on him from among his people. You may not do any sort of work: this is an order for ever through all your generations wherever you may be living. Let this be a Sabbath of special rest to you, and keep yourselves from all pleasure; on the ninth day of the month at nightfall from evening to evening, let this Sabbath be kept. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month let the feast of tents be kept to the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a holy meeting: do no field-work.
But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have got in all the fruits of the land, you will keep the feast of the Lord for seven days: the first day will be a Sabbath, and the eighth day the same.
Say to the children of Israel, If any one of you or of your families is unclean because of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, still he is to keep the Passover to the Lord: In the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the evening, they are to keep it, taking it with unleavened bread and bitter-tasting plants;
And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month let there be a holy meeting; do no field-work, and keep a feast to the Lord for seven days;
And you are to make your peace-offerings, feasting there with joy before the Lord your God.
And even among these nations there will be no peace for you, and no rest for your feet: but the Lord will give you there a shaking heart and wasting eyes and weariness of soul:
And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it.
And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food.
And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering.
So Judah and Israel were living safely, every man under his vine and his fig-tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will go back to the family of David: If the people go up to make offerings in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, their heart will be turned again to their lord, to Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they will put me to death and go back to Rehoboam, king of Judah.
And he said, Why are you going to him today? it is not a new moon or a Sabbath. But she said, It is well.
And all the men of Israel came together to the king at the feast in the seventh month.
Then Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and sent letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, requesting them to come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.
All the people who had been prisoners and had come back, made tents and were living in them: for from the time of Jeshua, the son of Nun, till that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy.
Let the horn be sounded in the time of the new moon, at the full moon, on our holy feast-day:
The sound of joy and salvation is in the tents of the upright; the right hand of the Lord does works of power.
The sound of joy and salvation is in the tents of the upright; the right hand of the Lord does works of power.
Send salvation now, O Lord; Lord, send us your blessing. A blessing be on him who comes in the name of the Lord; we give you blessing from the house of the Lord.
Give honour to the Lord with your wealth, and with the first-fruits of all your increase:
Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.
For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.
And the Lord will be King over all the earth: in that day there will be one Lord and his name one.
And it will come about that everyone who is still living, of all those nations who came against Jerusalem, will go up from year to year to give worship to the King, the Lord of armies, and to keep the feast of tents.
For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear of trouble among the people.
And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.
Now some people who were there at that time, gave him an account of how the blood of some Galilaeans had been mixed by Pilate with their offerings.
But the feast of the Jews, the feast of tents, was near. So his brothers said to him, Go away from here into Judaea so that your disciples may see the works which you do. read more. Because no man does things secretly if he has a desire that men may have knowledge of him. If you do these things, let yourself be seen by all men. For even his brothers had no belief in him. Jesus said to them, My time is still to come, but any time is good for you. It is not possible for you to be hated by the world; but I am hated by it, because I give witness that what it does is evil. Go you up to the feast: I am not going up now to the feast because my time has not fully come. Having said these things to them, he still kept in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he went up, not publicly, but in secret. At the feast the Jews were looking for him and saying, Where is he? And there was much discussion about him among the mass of the people. Some said, He is a good man; but others said, No, he is giving people false ideas. But no man said anything about him openly for fear of the Jews. Now in the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the Temple and was teaching. Then the Jews were surprised and said, How has this man got knowledge of books? He has never been to school. Jesus gave them this answer: It is not my teaching, but his who sent me. If any man is ready to do God's pleasure he will have knowledge of the teaching and of where it comes from--from God or from myself. The man whose words come from himself is looking for glory for himself, but he who is looking for the glory of him who sent him--that man is true and there is no evil in him. Did not Moses give you the law? Even so, not one of you keeps the law. Why have you a desire to put me to death? The people said in answer, You have an evil spirit: who has any desire to put you to death? This was the answer of Jesus: I have done one work and you are all surprised at it. Moses gave you circumcision--not that it comes from Moses, but from the fathers--and even on the Sabbath you give a child circumcision. If a child is given circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Let not your decisions be based on what you see, but on righteousness. Then some of the people of Jerusalem said, Is not this the man whose death is desired? And here he is talking openly and they say nothing to him! Is it possible that the rulers have knowledge that this is truly the Christ? However, it is clear to us where this man comes from: but when the Christ comes no one will have knowledge where he comes from. Then, when he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus said with a loud voice, You have knowledge of me and you have knowledge of where I come from; and I have not come of myself; but there is One who has sent me; he is true, but you have no knowledge of him. I have knowledge of him because I came from him and he sent me. Then they had a desire to take him: but no man put hands on him because his hour was still to come. And numbers of the people had belief in him, and they said, When the Christ comes will he do more signs than this man has done? This discussion of the people came to the ears of the Pharisees; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to take him. Then Jesus said, I will be with you a little longer and then I go to him who sent me. You will be looking for me, and you will not see me: and where I am you may not come. So the Jews said among themselves, To what place is he going where we will not see him? will he go to the Jews living among the Greeks and become the teacher of the Greeks? What is this saying of his, You will be looking for me and will not see me, and where I am you may not come? On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus got up and said in a loud voice, If any man is in need of drink let him come to me and I will give it to him.
This he said of the Spirit which would be given to those who had faith in him: the Spirit had not been given then, because the glory of Jesus was still to come.
And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need. And day by day, going in agreement together regularly to the Temple and, taking broken bread together in their houses, they took their food with joy and with true hearts,
And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need.
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.
Take away, then, the old leaven, so that you may be a new mass, even as you are without leaven. For Christ has been put to death as our Passover.
But now Christ has truly come back from the dead, the first-fruits of those who are sleeping.
For you are clearly a letter of Christ, the fruit of our work, recorded not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in stone, but in hearts of flesh. And this is the certain faith which we have in God through Christ: read more. Not as if we were able by ourselves to do anything for which we might take the credit; but our power comes from God; Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life. For if the operation of the law, giving death, recorded in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the eyes of the children of Israel had to be turned away from the face of Moses because of its glory, a glory which was only for a time: Will not the operation of the Spirit have a much greater glory? For if the operation of the law, producing punishment, had its glory, how much greater will be the operation of the Spirit causing righteousness? For the glory of the first no longer seems to be glory, because of the greater glory of that which comes after. For if the order which was for a time had its glory, much more will the eternal order have its glory. Having then such a hope, we keep nothing back, And are not like Moses, who put a veil on his face, so that the children of Israel might not see clearly to the end of the present order of things: But their minds were made hard: for to this very day at the reading of the old agreement the same veil is still unlifted; though it is taken away in Christ. But to this day, at the reading of the law of Moses, a veil is over their heart. But when it is turned to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there the heart is free. But we all, with unveiled face giving back as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord who is the Spirit.
In whom you, having been given the true word, the good news of your salvation, and through your faith in him, were given the sign of the Holy Spirit of hope, Which is the first-fruit of our heritage, till God gets back that which is his, to the praise of his glory.
For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have said anything about another day. So that there is still a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God.
So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.
For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with you in joy;
After these things I saw a great army of people more than might be numbered, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages, taking their places before the high seat and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and with branches in their hands, Saying with a loud voice, Salvation to our God who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb. read more. And all the angels were round about the high seat, and about the rulers and the four beasts; and they went down on their faces before the high seat, and gave worship to God, saying, So be it. Let blessing and glory and wisdom and praise and honour and power and strength be given to our God for ever and ever. So be it. And one of the rulers made answer, saying to me, These who have on white robes, who are they, and where did they come from? And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them. They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun: For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever.
Hastings
Introductory.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and he took his rest on the seventh day: for this reason the Lord has given his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy.
For six days do your work, and on the seventh day keep the Sabbath; so that your ox and your ass may have rest, together with the son of your servant and the man from a strange land living among you.
Three times in the year you are to keep a feast to me
So you are to keep the Sabbath as a holy day; and anyone not honouring it will certainly be put to death: whoever does any work on that day will be cut off from his people. Six days may work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he took his rest and had pleasure in it.
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord, the God of Israel.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at nightfall, is the Lord's Passover; And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread.
And on days of joy and on your regular feasts and on the first day of every month, let the horns be sounded over your burned offerings and your peace-offerings; and they will put the Lord in mind of you: I am the Lord your God.
Now while the children of Israel were in the waste land, they saw a man who was getting sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who saw him getting sticks took him before Moses and Aaron and all the people. read more. And they had him shut up, because they had no directions about what was to be done with him. Then the Lord said to Moses, Certainly the man is to be put to death: let him be stoned by all the people outside the tent-circle. So all the people took him outside the tent-circle and he was stoned to death there, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
And on the first day of every month you are to give a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark; And three tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for every ox; and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one sheep; read more. And a separate tenth part of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering for every lamb; for a burned offering of a sweet smell, an offering made by fire to the Lord. And their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for an ox, and the third part of a hin for a male sheep, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burned offering for every month through all the months of the year. And one he-goat for a sin-offering to the Lord; it is to be offered in addition to the regular burned offering and its drink offering. And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the Lord's Passover. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a feast; for seven days let your food be unleavened cakes.
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day do no work, you or your son or your daughter, or your man-servant or your woman-servant, or your ox or your ass or any of your cattle, or the man from a strange country who is living among you; so that your man-servant and your woman-servant may have rest as well as you. And keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God took you out of that land by his strong hand and his stretched-out arm: for this reason the Lord has given you orders to keep the Sabbath day.
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord your God in the place named by him; at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents: and they are not to come before the Lord with nothing in their hands;
Do not take into the house of the Lord your God, as an offering for an oath, the price of a loose woman or the money given to one used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: for these two things are disgusting to the Lord your God.
And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin.
For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine.
And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening. And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year.
Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.
So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.
And he said, Why are you going to him today? it is not a new moon or a Sabbath. But she said, It is well.
And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law.
And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of the Lord, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is recorded in the law;
In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and getting in grain and putting it on asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods which they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food.
And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.
And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.
Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.
Happy is the man who does this, and the son of man whose behaviour is so ordered; who keeps the Sabbath holy, and his hand from doing any evil.
And as for those from a strange country, who are joined to the Lord, to give worship to him and honour to his name, to be his servants, even everyone who keeps the Sabbath holy, and keeps his agreement with me:
If you keep the Sabbath with care, not doing your business on my holy day; and if the Sabbath seems to you a delight, and the new moon of the Lord a thing to be honoured; and if you give respect to him by not doing your business, or going after your pleasure, or saying unholy words;
And say to them, Give ear to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who come in by these doors: This is what the Lord has said: See to yourselves, that you take up no weight on the Sabbath day, or take it in through the doors of Jerusalem; read more. And take no weight out of your houses on the Sabbath day, or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I gave orders to your fathers; But they gave no attention and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff so that they might not give ear and might not get teaching. And it will be, that if with all care you give ear to me, says the Lord, and take no weight through the doorways of this town on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work in it;
And further, I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, so that it might be clear that I, who make them holy, am the Lord. But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.
Because they were turned away from my orders, and were not guided by my rules, and had no respect for my Sabbaths: for their hearts went after their images.
And keep my Sabbaths holy; and they will be a sign between me and you so that it may be clear to you that I am the Lord your God.
And I will put an end to all her joy, her feasts, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her regular meetings.
Crushing the head of the poor, and turning the steps of the gentle out of the way: and a man and his father go in to the same young woman, putting shame on my holy name:
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;
And on the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb is put to death, his disciples said to him, Where are we to go and make ready for you to take the Passover meal?
Morish
The feasts of Jehovah, as instituted under the law as given by Moses, partake more of the character of commemorations, or assemblies of the congregation to celebrate special dealings of the Lord, and consequently special seasons in the history of His people, being called 'holy convocations.' A list of the yearly feasts is given in Lev. 23. The first mentioned is the Sabbath, and if this is counted as one, by considering the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread as one there are seven in all
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Three times in the year you are to keep a feast to me You are to keep the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days let your bread be without leaven, as I gave you orders, at the regular time in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt); and let no one come before me without an offering: read more. And the feast of the grain-cutting, the first-fruits of your planted fields: and the feast at the start of the year, when you have got in all the fruit from your fields. Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord God.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at nightfall, is the Lord's Passover; And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread. read more. On the first day you will have a holy meeting; you may do no sort of field-work. And every day for seven days you will give a burned offering to the Lord; and on the seventh day there will be a holy meeting; you may do no field-work. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, When you have come to the land which I will give you, and have got in the grain from its fields, take some of the first-fruits of the grain to the priest; And let the grain be waved before the Lord, so that you may be pleasing to him; on the day after the Sabbath let it be waved by the priest. And on the day of the waving of the grain, you are to give a male lamb of the first year, without any mark, for a burned offering to the Lord. And let the meal offering with it be two tenth parts of an ephah of the best meal mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord for a sweet smell; and the drink offering with it is to be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And you may take no bread or dry grain or new grain for food till the very day on which you have given the offering for your God: this is a rule for ever through all your generations wherever you are living And let seven full weeks be numbered from the day after the Sabbath, the day when you give the grain for the wave offering; Let fifty days be numbered, to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you are to give a new meal offering to the Lord. Take from your houses two cakes of bread, made of a fifth part of an ephah of the best meal, cooked with leaven, to be waved for first-fruits to the Lord. And with the bread, take seven lambs of the first year, without any marks, and one ox and two male sheep, to be a burned offering to the Lord, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, an offering of a sweet smell made by fire to the Lord. And you are to give one male goat for a sin-offering and two male lambs of the first year for peace-offerings And these will be waved by the priest, with the bread of the first-fruits, for a wave offering to the Lord, with the two lambs: they will be holy to the Lord for the priest. And on the same day, let it be given out that there will be a holy meeting for you: you may do no field-work on that day: it is a rule for ever through all your generations wherever you are living And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain at the edges of the field be cut, and do not take up the grain which has been dropped in the field; let that be for the poor, and for the man from another country: I am the Lord your God. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, let there be a special day of rest for you, a day of memory, marked by the blowing of horns, a meeting for worship. Do no field-work and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And the Lord said to Moses, The tenth day of this seventh month is the day for the taking away of sin; let it be a holy day of worship; you are to keep from pleasure, and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And on that day you may do no sort of work, for it is a day of taking away sin, to make you clean before the Lord your God. For any person, whoever he may be, who takes his pleasure on that day will be cut off from his people. And if any person, whoever he may be, on that day does any sort of work, I will send destruction on him from among his people. You may not do any sort of work: this is an order for ever through all your generations wherever you may be living. Let this be a Sabbath of special rest to you, and keep yourselves from all pleasure; on the ninth day of the month at nightfall from evening to evening, let this Sabbath be kept. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month let the feast of tents be kept to the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a holy meeting: do no field-work. Every day for seven days give an offering made by fire to the Lord; and on the eighth day there is to be a holy meeting, when you are to give an offering made by fire to the Lord; this is a special holy day: you may do no field-work on that day These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, to be kept by you as holy days of worship, for making an offering by fire to the Lord; a burned offering, a meal offering, an offering of beasts, and drink offerings; every one on its special day; In addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, and in addition to the things you give and the oaths you make and the free offerings to the Lord But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have got in all the fruits of the land, you will keep the feast of the Lord for seven days: the first day will be a Sabbath, and the eighth day the same. On the first day, take the fruit of fair trees, branches of palm-trees, and branches of thick trees and trees from the riverside, and be glad before the Lord for seven days. And let this feast be kept before the Lord for seven days in the year: it is a rule for ever from generation to generation; in the seventh month let it be kept. For seven days you will be living in tents; all those who are Israelites by birth are to make tents their living-places: So that future generations may keep in mind how I gave the children of Israel tents as their living-places when I took them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. And Moses made clear to the children of Israel the orders about the fixed feasts of the Lord.
These are the offerings which you are to give to the Lord at your regular feasts, in addition to the offerings for an oath, and the free offerings you give, for your burned offerings and your drink offerings and your peace-offerings.
Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord your God in the place named by him; at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents: and they are not to come before the Lord with nothing in their hands;
For the holy bread, and for the regular meal offering and the regular burned offering on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and the fixed feasts, and for the sin-offerings to take away the sin of Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
Ordering them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month, every year,
So these days were named Purim, after the name of Pur. And so, because of the words of this letter, and of what they had seen in connection with this business, and what had come to them,
Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter;
Smith
Feasts.
[FESTIVALS; MEALS]
See Festivals
See Meals
Watsons
FEASTS. God appointed several festivals among the Jews.
1. To perpetuate the memory of great events; so, the Sabbath commemorated the creation of the world; the passover, the departure out of Egypt; the pentecost, the law given at Sinai, &c.
2. To keep them under the influence of religion, and by the majesty of that service which he instituted among them, and which abounded in mystical symbols or types of evangelical things, to convey spiritual instruction, and to keep alive the expectation of the Messiah, and his more perfect dispensation.
3. To secure to them certain times of rest and rejoicings.
4. To render them familiar with the law; for, in their religious assemblies, the law of God was read and explained.
5. To renew the acquaintance, correspondence, and friendship of their tribes and families, coming from the several towns in the country, and meeting three times a year in the holy city.
The first and most ancient festival, the Sabbath, or seventh day, commemorated the creation. "The Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it," says Moses, "because that in it he had rested from all his work," Ge 2:3. See SABBATH.
The passover was instituted in memory of the Israelites' departure out of Egypt, and of the favour which God showed his people in sparing their first-born, when he destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, Ex 12:14, &c. See PASSOVER.
The feast of pentecost was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the passover, in memory of the law being given to Moses on Mount Sinai, fifty days after the departure out of Egypt. They reckoned seven weeks from the passover to pentecost, beginning at the day after the passover. The Hebrews call it the feast of weeks, and the Christians, pentecost, which signifies the fiftieth day.
The feast of trumpets was celebrated on the first day of the civil year; on which the trumpets sounded, proclaiming the beginning of the year, which was in the month Tisri, answering to our September, O. S. We know no religious cause of its establishment. Moses commands it to be observed as a day of rest, and that particular sacrifices should be offered at that time.
The new moons, or first days of every month, were, in some sort, a consequence of the feasts of trumpets. The law did not oblige people to rest upon this day, but ordained only some particular sacrifices. It appears that, on these days, also, the trumpet was sounded, and entertainments were made, 1Sa 20:5-18.
The feast of expiation or atonement was celebrated on the tenth day of Tisri, which was the first day of the civil year. It was instituted for a general expiation of sins, irreverences, and pollutions of all the Israelites, from the high priest to the lowest of the people, committed by them throughout the year, Le 23:27-28; Nu 29:7. See EXPIATION, Day of.
The feast of tents, or tabernacle, on which all Israel were obliged to attend the temple, and to dwell eight days under tents of branches, in memory of their fathers dwelling forty years in tents, as travellers in the wilderness. It was kept on the fifteenth of the month Tisri, the first of the civil year. The first and seventh day of this feast were very solemn. But during the other days of the octave they might work, Le 23:34-35; Nu 29:12-13. At the beginning of the feast, two vessels of silver were carried in a ceremonious manner to the temple, one full of water, the other of wine, which were poured at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings, always on the seventh day of this festival.
Of the three great feasts of the year, the passover, pentecost, and that of the tabernacles, the octave, or seventh day after these feasts, was a day of rest as much as the festival itself; and all the males of the nation were obliged to visit the temple at these three feasts. But the law did not require them to continue there during the whole octave, except in the feast of tabernacles, when they seem obliged to be present for the whole seven days.
Beside these feasts, we find the feast of lots, or purim, instituted on occasion of the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot, in the reign of Ahasuerus. See PURIM.
The feast of the dedication of the temple, or rather of the restoration of the temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Mac. 4:52, &c, was celebrated in winter, and is supposed to be the feast of dedication mentioned in Joh 10:22. Josephus says, that it was called the feast of lights, probably because this happiness befel them when least expected, and they considered it as a new light risen on them.
In the Christian church, no festival appears to have been expressly instituted by Jesus Christ, or his Apostles. Yet, as we commemorate the passion of Christ as often as we celebrate his Supper, he seems by this to have instituted a perpetual feast. Christians have always celebrated the memory of his resurrection, and observe this feast on every Sunday, which was commonly called the Lord's day, Re 1:10. By inference we may conclude this festival to have been instituted by Apostolic authority.
The birth-day of Christ, commonly called Christmas-day, has been generally observed by his disciples with gratitude and joy. His birth was the greatest blessing ever bestowed on mankind. The angels from heaven celebrated it with a joyful hymn; and every man, who has any feeling of his own lost state without a Redeemer, must rejoice and be glad in it. "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, Isa 9:6. For this festival, however, there is no authority in Scripture, nor do we know that it was observed in the age of the Apostles.
On Easter Sunday we celebrate our Saviour's victory over death and hell, when, having on the cross made an atonement for the sin of the world, he rose again from the grave, brought life and immortality to light, and opened to all his faithful servants the way to heaven. On this great event rest all our hopes. "If Christ be not risen," says St. Paul, "then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept," 1Co 15:14,20.
Forty days after his resurrection, our Lord ascended into heaven, in the sight of his disciples. This is celebrated on what is called Ascension-day, or Holy Thursday. Ten days after his ascension, our Lord sent the Holy Spirit to be the comforter and guide of his disciples. This blessing is commemorated on Whit-Sunday, which is a very great festival, and may be profitably observed; for the assistance of the Holy Spirit can alone support us through all temptations, and guide us into all truth.
The pretended success of some in discovering the remains of certain holy men, called "relics," multiplied in the fourth century of the Christian church the festivals and commemorations of the martyrs in a most extravagant manner. These days, instead of being set apart for pious exercises, were spent in indolence, voluptuousness, and criminal pursuits; and were less consecrated to the service of God, than employed in the indulgence of sinful passions. Many of these festivals were instituted on a Pagan model, and perverted to similar purposes.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy: because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.
And this day is to be kept in your memories: you are to keep it as a feast to the Lord through all your generations, as an order for ever.
The tenth day of this seventh month is the day for the taking away of sin; let it be a holy day of worship; you are to keep from pleasure, and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And on that day you may do no sort of work, for it is a day of taking away sin, to make you clean before the Lord your God.
Say to the children of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month let the feast of tents be kept to the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a holy meeting: do no field-work.
And on the tenth day of this seventh month there will be a holy meeting; keep yourselves from pleasure, and do no sort of work;
And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month let there be a holy meeting; do no field-work, and keep a feast to the Lord for seven days; And give a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord, thirteen oxen, two male sheep, fourteen he-lambs of the first year, all without any mark on them;
And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening. And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year. read more. If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me. So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father? And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it? Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer? And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country. And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news? May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death! And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth. And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible. And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul. Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.
For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.
Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter;
And if Christ did not come again from the dead, then our good news and your faith in it are of no effect.
But now Christ has truly come back from the dead, the first-fruits of those who are sleeping.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,