Reference: Feasts
American
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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he will press upon them greatly; and they will turn aside to him, and they will come in to his house; and he will make to them a drinking, and he baked unleavened loaves, and they will eat
And the child will become great, and shall be weaned; and Abraham will make a great drinking in the day of weaning Isaak.
And Laban will gather together all the men of the place, and will make a drinking.
For what didst thou hide to break away, and didst steal me, and didst not announce to me? and I will send thee away with gladness and with songs, with the drum and with the harp?
And it will be in the third day, the day of the birth of Pharaoh, and he will make a drinking to all his servants; and he will lilt up the head of the chief of the cup-bearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers, in the midst of his servants.
And they will set before him, the first-born, according to his seniority, and the small according to his minority: and the men will wonder each at his friend.
Three times thou shalt keep a festival to me in the year. Thou shalt watch the festival of unleavened: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened as I commanded thee according to the appointment of the month Abib; for in it thou camest forth out of Egypt: and they shall not be seen before me empty. read more. And the festival of the harvest, the first fruits of thy works, which thou shalt sow in the field: and the festival of gathering in the going out of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field. Three times in the year every male of thine shall be seen to the face of the Lord Jehovah.
Three times in the year all thy males shall be seen before the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel. For I will dispossess the nations from before thee; and I enlarged thy bound: and a man shall not desire thy land in thy coming up to see the face of Jehovah thy God, three times in the year.
And bring there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, and your tenths, and the offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your voluntary gifts and the first-born. of your cattle and your sheep: . And eat there before Jehovah your God, and rejoice in all the stretching forth of your hand, ye and your houses in which Jehovah thy God blessed thee.
Thou shalt not be able to eat in thy gates the tenth of thy grain, and thy new wine and thy new oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and thy flocks, and all the vows which thou shalt vow, and thy voluntaries, and the offerings of thy hand: But before Jehovah thy God thou shalt eat it, in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose in it, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite which is in thy gates: and rejoice thou before Jehovah thy God in all the stretching forth of thy hand. read more. Watch to thyself lest thou, shalt forsake the Levite all thy days upon the earth.
From the end of three years thou shalt bring all the tenth of thy produce in that year, and place thou it in thy gates:
And rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow, which are in the midst of thee in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
Three times in a year shall every one of thy males be seen before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose in the festival of unleavened, and in the festival of weeks, and in the festival of booths: and he shall not be seen before Jehovah empty: Each according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he gave to thee.
When thou shalt finish to tithe all the tenth part of thy produce, in the third year the year of the tenth part, and thou gavest it to the Levite and to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow, and they ate in thy gates and were satisfied. And thou saidst before Jehovah thy God, I took away the holy thing from the house, and also I gave it to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, according to all thy commands which thou didst command me: I passed not by from thy command, and I did not forget read more. I ate not from it in my mourning, and I took not away from it in uncleanness, and I gave not from it to the dead: I heard to the voice of Jehovah my God, I did according to all thou didst command me. Look forth from thy holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou gavest to us, as thou didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing milk and honey.
And Gideon went in, and he will do a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour of unleavened: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he will bring forth to him under the oak and will bring near.
And they will go forth to the field, and they will gather their vineyards, and they will tread down, and they will make rejoicings, and go in to the house of their God, and they will eat and drink, and curse Abimelech.
And his father will go down to the woman; and Samson will make there a drinking, for so did the young men.
And Samson will say to them, I will propose to you an enigma: if announcing, ye shall announce it to me in seven days of the drinking, and ye find out, and I will give to you thirty wide garments and thirty exchanges of garments:
And all the people will come to cause David to eat bread, while yet day. And David will swear, saying, Thus will God do to me, and thus will he add, if before the going down of the sun I shall taste bread or anything.
In the third year to his reign he made a drinking to all his chiefs and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and chiefs of the provinces before him:
And in these days being completed the king made to all the people being found in Shushan the fortress, a drinking to the great and even to the small, seven days, in the enclosure of the garden of the king's house;
And his sons went and made a drinking in the house, a man his day; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
Thou shalt not show thyself proud before the king, and thou shalt not stand in the place of the great. For good to say to thee, Come up hither, rather than humbling thyself before the noble whom thine eye saw.
In all time thy garments shall be white; and ointment shall not be wanting upon thy head.
And there was the harp and the lyre, the drum and the pipe, and the wine of their drinking's: but the work of Jehovah they will not look at, and the work of his hands they saw not
The new wine mourned, the vine languished, all they joyful of heart, sighed The exulting of the drums ceased, the noise of those triumphing, left off, the exulting of the harp ceased. read more. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to those drinking it
They shall not break bread in mourning to comfort him for the dead; and they shall not give them to drink the cup of consolations for his father and for his mother.
Prating upon the mouth of the lyre, as David they invented to them instruments of music;
The festivities of Herod's birthday being celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased Herod.
And again, he sent other servants, saying, Say to the called: Behold, I have prepared my supper; my bulls and stall-fed killed, and all prepared: come to the nuptials. And they, not having heeded, departed, one truly to his own field, and one to his traffic: read more. And the rest, having seized his servants, were insolent, and killed them. And the king, having heard, was angry, and having sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then says he to his servants, Truly the nuptial feast is prepared, and those called were not worthy.
And the king, having come in to behold the reclining, saw there a man not clad with the garment of the wedding:
And love the first place at suppers, and the first seat in the assemblies,
And they, going to buy, the bridegroom came; and they prepared, went in with him to the nuptials; and the door was locked.
And having seen some of his disciples with common hands, that is, unwashed, eating loaves, they rebuked.
And having turned to the woman, he said to Simon, Thou seest this woman? I came into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: and she wet my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: and she from when I came in left not kissing my feet. read more. Thou anointedst not my head with oil: and she anointed my feet with perfumed oil.
Strive earnestly to enter through the narrow gate: for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
And he spake a parable to the called, fixing his attention how they chose out the first places at table; saying to them,
And he also said to him having called him, When thou makest a breakfast or supper, call not thy friends, nor thy rich neighbors, nor thy brethren; lest they call thee in return, and a giving back be to thee. But when thou makest an entertainment, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: read more. And happy shalt thou be; for they have not to give back to thee: for it shall be given back to thee at the rising up of the just.
And he said to him, A certain man made a great supper and called many;
And he said to him, A certain man made a great supper and called many; And he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to say to the called, Come; for all things are already prepared.
And he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to say to the called, Come; for all things are already prepared. And from one they all began to conciliate. The first said to him, I bought a field, and have necessity to go and see it: I ask thee, have me pardoned.
And from one they all began to conciliate. The first said to him, I bought a field, and have necessity to go and see it: I ask thee, have me pardoned. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I ask thee, have me pardoned.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I ask thee, have me pardoned. And another said, I have married wife, and therefore I cannot come.
And another said, I have married wife, and therefore I cannot come. And approaching, that servant announced to his lord these things. Then the master of the house, angry, said to his servant, Go forth quickly into the streets and quarters of the city, and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind.
And approaching, that servant announced to his lord these things. Then the master of the house, angry, said to his servant, Go forth quickly into the streets and quarters of the city, and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it has been done as thou hest commanded, and yet there is place.
And the servant said, Lord, it has been done as thou hest commanded, and yet there is place. And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the ways and hedges, and compel to come in, that my house may be filled up.
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the ways and hedges, and compel to come in, that my house may be filled up. For I say to you, That none of those men called shall taste of my supper.
For I say to you, That none of those men called shall taste of my supper.
And having brought the fatted calf, sacrifice, and eating, let us be gladdened.
And the third day was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And Jesus was also called, and his disciples, to the wedding. read more. And wine having failed, the mother of Jesus says to him, They have no wine. And Jesus says to her, What to me and thee, woman mine hour comes not yet. His mother says to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do. And six stone water-buckets were placed there, according to the purification of the Jews, containing each two or three measures. Jesus says to them, Fill the water-buckets with water. And they filled them even up over. And he says to them, Draw now, and carry to the superintendent of the feast. And they carried.
And he says to them, Draw now, and carry to the superintendent of the feast. And they carried. And when the superintendent of the feast tasted the wine having been water, and knew not whence it is: (and the servants knew, having drawn the water;) the superintendent calls the bridegroom, read more. And says to him, Every man sets good wine first; and when they be intoxicated, then inferior: thou hast kept the good wine till now.
And this announcing I approve not, that not for the better come ye together, but for the worse. For truly first, ye coming together in the church, I hear divisions to be among you; and some part I believe. read more. For there must be also sects among you, that the tried might be made manifest among you. Therefore ye coming together upon the same, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For each takes his own supper in eating: and one is truly hungry, and one is intoxicated. For, have ye not houses for eating and drinking? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them not having? What should I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, That the Lord Jesus, in the night which he was delivered up, took bread: And having given thanks, he brake, and said, Take ye, eat; this is my body, broken for you: this do ye for my remembrance. Likewise the cup also, after supping, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do ye, as often as ye drink, for my remembrance. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye announce the Lord's death till he come. Therefore whoever should eat this bread, and drink the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be liable to the penalty of the body and blood of the Lord. And let a man try himself, and so eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he eating and drinking unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this many among you weak and sick, and enough are asleep. For if we examined ourselves, we should not be judged. And being judged, we are corrected of the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, coming together to eat, succeed one another. And if any hunger, let him eat in the house; lest ye come together for judgment. And the rest when I come I will regulate.
These are spots in your loves, feasting together fearlessly, taking care of themselves: clouds wanting water, carried about by winds; decayed trees, unfruitful, twice dead, uprooted;
I was in the Spirit In the day pertaining to the Lord, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying,
Thou hast a few names also in Sardis which stained not their garments; and they shall walk about with me in white things: for they are worthy. He conquering, the same shall be surrounded in white garments; and I will not wipe out his name from the book of life, but I will acknowledge his name before my Father, and before his messengers.
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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And this day shall be to you for a remembrance; and ye kept it a festival to Jehovah for your generations: ye shall keep a festival a law forever.
And now if hearing, ye shall hear to my voice, and watch my covenant, and ye were to me wealth above all peoples, for to me is all the earth.
And ye called in this self-same day a holy calling of Jehovah to you: any work of labor ye shall not do: a law forever in all your dwellings for your generations. And in your reaping the harvest of your land, thou shalt not finish the extremity of thy field in thy reaping, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not glean: to the poor and to the stranger thou shalt leave them: I Jehovah your God. read more. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in one of the month, there shall be to you a Sabbath, a remembrance, shouts of joy, a holy calling. Any work of labor ye shall not do; and ye brought a sacrifice to Jehovah. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, But in this tenth of the seventh month, a day of expiation; shall be a holy calling to you, and ye humbled your souls, and brought a sacrifice to Jehovah. And any work ye shall not do in that self-same day, for it is a day of expiation, to expiate for you before Jehovah your God. For every soul which shall not be humbled in, that same day, and it was cut off from its people. And any soul which shall do any work in that same day, I destroyed that soul from the midst of its people. Any work ye shall not do: a law forever to your generations in all your dwellings. A Sabbath of rest it is to you; ye humbled your souls: in the ninth of the month, in the evening, from evening to evening shall ye celebrate your Sabbath. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the fifteenth day of this seventh month the festival of tents seven days to Jehovah. In the first day a holy calling: any work of labor ye shall not do.
But in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in your gathering the produce of the land, ye shall keep a festival of Jehovah seven days: in the first day a Sabbath, and in the eighth day a Sabbath.
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, A man, a man when he shall be unclean by the soul, or in a way far off to you or to your generations, and he did the passover to Jehovah. In the second month, in the fourteenth day, between the evenings they shall do it, upon unleavened and bitter herbs they shall eat it
And in the fifteenth day to the seventh month, a holy calling shall be to you: all work of service ye shall not do, and keep ye a festival to Jehovah seven days.
And thou shalt not set up to thee a pillar, which Jehovah thy God hates.
And sacrifice peace, and eat there and rejoice before Jehovah thy God.
And among these nations thou shalt not rest, and there shall not be rest to the sole of thy foot: and Jehovah gave to thee there a trembling heart and a wasting away of the eyes, and a faintnesss of soul.
And Caleb will say, Whoever shall smite the city of the Book and take it, and I will give to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.
And so she will do year by year when she went up to the house of Jehovah, so she will be grieved, and she will weep and will not eat
And his mother will make to him a little upper garment, and bring up to him from days to days, in her coming up with her husband to sacrifice the sacrifice of days.
And Judah dwelt, and Israel, with confidence, a man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan and even to the Well of the Oath, all the days of Solomon.
And Jeroboam will say in his heart, Now will the kingdom turn back to the house of David. If this people shall go up to .do sacrifices in the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, and the heart of this people turned back to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and killing me, and they turned back to Rehoboam king of Judah.
And he will say, Wherefore goest thou to him this day? not new moon, and not Sabbath. And she will say, Peace.
And all the men of Israel will be convoked together to the king in this festival of the seventh month.
And Hezekiah will send to all Israel and Judah, and also he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, to do the passover to Jehovah the God of Israel.
And all the convocation of those turning back from the captivity will make booths, and they will dwell in booths; for from the days of Joshua son of Nun, the sons of Israel did not thus even to this day. And there will be great gladness exceedingly.
Strike ye the trumpet in the new in the full moon, for the day of our festival.
A voice of rejoicing and salvation in the tents of the just the right hand of Jehovah did strength.
A voice of rejoicing and salvation in the tents of the just the right hand of Jehovah did strength.
Now, O Jehovah, save now: now O Jehovah, give now success. Blessed he coming in the name of Jehovah: we blessed you from the house of Jehovah.
Honor Jehovah from thy substance, and from the first-fruits of all thy produce.
Ye shall not add to bring gifts of iniquity; incense, this an abomination to me; the new moon and the Sabbath, the calling of the assembly; I shall not be able to bear vanity and restraining.
For a child was born to us, a son was given to us, and the dominion shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Captain of Peace.
And Jehovah was for king over all the earth: in that day Jehovah shall be one, and his name one.
And every one being left of all the nations coming against Jerusalem, and they went up from year to year to worship to the king, Jehovah of armies, to keep a festival, the festival of booths.
For I say to you, Ye should not see me from henceforth, till ye should say, Praised be he coming in the name of the Lord.
And they said, Not in the festival, lest there should be an uproar among the people.
And his parents went every year to Jerusalem to the festival of the passover.
And certain were present in that time announcing to him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices.
And the festival of the Jews was near, the Pitching of tents. Then said his brethren to him, Go away thence, and retire to Judea, that also thy disciples might see thy works which thou doest. read more. For none does any thing in secret, and seeks himself to be in freedom of speech. If thou do these, make thyself manifest to the world. For neither believed his brethren in him. Then says Jesus to them, My time is not yet present: and your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you: but me it hates, for I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up to this festival: I go not yet up to the festival; for my time has not yet been completed. And speaking to them these things, he remained in Galilee. And when his brethren went up, then he went up to the festival, not openly, but as in secret. Then the Jews sought him in the festival, and said, Where is he And much murmuring was for him in the crowds: some truly said, That he is good: and others said, No; but he deceives the crowd. However none spake of him with freedom of speech, for fear of the Jews. And now the festival being in the midst, Jesus went up to the temple, and taught. And the Jews wondered, saying, How knows he letters, not having learned Jesus answered them, and said, My teaching is not mine, but his having sent me. If any desire to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or I speak from myself. He speaking from himself, seeks his own glory: but he seeking the glory of him having sent him, he is true, and no injustice is in him. Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you does the law? Why seek ye to kill me? The crowd answered and said, Thou hast a demon: who seeks to kill thee? Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work, and ye all marvel for this. Moses has given you circumcision; (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and in the sabbath ye circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision in the sabbath, that the law of Moses be not loosed; rage not at me, because I made a man wholly well on the Sabbath. Judge not according to sight, but judge just judgment. Then said some of the Jerusalemites' Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? And, behold, he speaks in freedom of speech, and they say nothing to him. Not at any time knew the rulers truly, that this is truly Christ? But we know this whence he is: and Christ, when he should come, none knows whence he is. Then cried Jesus in the temple, teaching, and saying, And ye know me, and ye know whence I am: and I have not come of myself, but he having sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him; for I am from him, and he sent me. Then sought they to seize him: and none put the hand upon him, for his hour had not yet come. And many of the crowd believed on him, and said, That Christ, when he should come, will he do more signs than these which he did? The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things of him; and the Pharisees and chief priests sent servants that they might seize him. Then said Jesus to them, Yet a little time am I with you, and I retire to him having sent me. And ye shall seek me and shall not find: and where I am, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves, Where is he about to go, that we shall not find him? is he not about to go to the dispersion of the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What is the word which he spake, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find: and where I am, ye cannot come? In the last day, the great one of the festival, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any thirst, let him come to me, and drink.
(This spake he of the Spirit which they believing in him were about to receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet; for Jesus was not yet honoured.)
And sold possessions and goods, and divided them to all, as any one had need And in the day persevering unanimously in the temple, and breaking bread in the house, they partook of food with lively joy and simplicity of heart,
And laid down at the feet of the sent: and it was distributed to each as any had need.
And in those days, the disciples multiplying, there was a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily service.
Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, that ye may be a new mixture, as ye are unleavened. For also our pascha was sacrificed for us, Christ:
And now Was Christ raised from the dead, he was the first fruits of those having died.
Made manifest that ye are the epistle of Christ served by us, not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables made of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. And we have such confidence through Christ to God: read more. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to reckon anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency of God; Who rendered as fitting servants of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, and the Spirit makes alive. And if the service of death, in letters imprinted in stones, was in glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently to the face of Moses for the glory of his face; being left unemployed How shall not rather the service of the Spirit be in glory? For if the service of condemnation glory, much more the service of justice abounds in glory. For also that having been glorified has not been glorified in this part, for sake of the glory excelling. For if that left unemployed by glory, much more that remaining in glory. Therefore having such hope, we use much freedom of speech: And not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the sons of Israel should not look intently to the end of that left unemployed: But their minds were hardened: for until this day the same veil upon the reading of the old covenant. remains not uncovered;for in Christ it is left unemployed. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart And whenever it turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord, there freedom. And we all, shown as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, with the face uncovered, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Spirit of the Lord.
In whom ye also, having heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation: in whom also having believed, ye were sealed by the holy Spirit of solemn promise, Which is the pledge of our inheritance for the redemption of the acquisition, to the praise of his glory.
For if Jesus had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken of another day after these things. Therefore a celebration of a sabbath remains to the people of God.
So Christ, once offered to have borne the sins of many, of the second time, without sin, shall be seen to them expecting him for salvation.
Receiving the reward of injustice, deeming luxurious indulgence pleasure in the day. Spots and blemishes, rioting in their deceits, feasting together with you
After these things I saw, and, behold, a great multitude, which none could number it, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, having put round white robes, and palm trees in their hands; And crying with a great voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb. read more. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell before the throne upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: praise, and glory, and wisdom, and gratitude, and honour, and power, and strength, to our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These having put round white robes, who are they? and whence came they And I said to him, Lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they coming out of great pressure, and they washed their robes, and whitened their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he sitting upon the throne will dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more; nor should the sun fall upon them, neither any heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall guide them to living fountains of water: and God shall wipe out every tear from their eyes.
Hastings
Introductory.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
For six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all which is in them, and he will rest in the seventh day: for this Jehovah praised the seventh day and consecrated it.
Six days thou shalt do thy works, and in the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox shall rest, and thine ass, and the son of thy maid shall be refreshed, and the stranger.
Three times thou shalt keep a festival to me in the year.
Three times in the year every male of thine shall be seen to the face of the Lord Jehovah.
And watch ye the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. He profaning it, dying, shall die; for all doing work in it, and that soul shall be cut off from the midst of his people. Six days shall work be done, and the seventh day the Sabbath, a holy rest to Jehovah: all doing work in the day of the Sabbath, dying, shall die.
Between me and between the sons of Israel it is a sign forever: for six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and in the seventh day he rested and he will be refreshed.
Three times in the year all thy males shall be seen before the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel.
In the first month, in the fourteenth of the month, between the two evenings, the passover to Jehovah. And in the fifteenth day of that month the festival of unleavened to Jehovah: seven days shall ye eat unleavened.
And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointments, and in the heads of your mouths, and ye shall sound with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace; and they were to you for a remembrance before your God: I am Jehovah your God.
And the sons of Israel shall be in the desert, and they shall find a man gathering wood in the day of the Sabbath. And they having found him, will bring him gathering wood to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the assembly. read more. And they will put him in watch, for it was not specified what shall be done to him. And Jehovah will say to Moses, Dying, the man shall die: all the assembly stoned him with stones without the camp. And all the assembly shall bring him forth without the camp, and they shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; as Jehovah commanded Moses.
And in the beginnings of your months, ye shall bring near a burnt-offering to Jehovah; two bullocks, sons of a cow, and one ram, seven blameless lambs, sons of a year; Three tenths of fine flour, a gift mingled with oil, for the one bullock, and two tenths of fine flour, a gift mingled with oil, for the one ram; read more. And a tenth, tenth of fine flour, a gift mingled with oil, for the one lamb, a burnt-offering, an odor of sweetness, a sacrifice to Jehovah. And their libations shall be half of the hin for the bullock, and the third of the hin for the ram; and the fourth of the hin of wine for the lamb: this the burnt-offering of the month in its month, for the months of the year. And one he goat of the goats for sin, to Jehovah, upon the burnt-offering of continuance, it shall be done, and libation. And in the first month, in the fourteenth day to the month, a passover to Jehovah. In the fifteenth day to this month, a festival: seven days shall unleavened be eaten.
And the seventh day, the Sabbath to Jehovah thy God: thou shalt not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and thy stranger who is in thy gates; so that thy servant and thy maid shall rest like thyself. And remember that thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God brought thee out from there by a strong hand and by an extended arm: for this, Jehovah thy God commanded thee to do the day of the Sabbath.
Three times in a year shall every one of thy males be seen before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose in the festival of unleavened, and in the festival of weeks, and in the festival of booths: and he shall not be seen before Jehovah empty:
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, and the price of a dog to the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow: for these two are also an abomination to Jehovah thy God.
And see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh shall come forth to dance in dances, and come ye out from the vineyards and catch for yourselves each his wife from the daughters of Shiloh) and go to the land of Benjamin.
And Hannah she speaking upon her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice will not be heard: and Eli will think her to be intoxicated.
And David will say to Jonathan, Behold, the new moon to-morrow, and I sitting, shall sit down with the king to eat: and thou sentest me away and I was hid in the field till the evening of the third. If reviewing, thy father shall review me, and thou saidst, Asking, David asked of me to run to the House of Bread, his city; for a sacrifice of days there to all the family.
And Jonathan will say to him, To-morrow the new moon: and thou wert reviewed, for thy seat will be reviewed.
And David will hide in the field: and it will be the new moon, and the king will sit down to the bread to eat
And he will say, Wherefore goest thou to him this day? not new moon, and not Sabbath. And she will say, Peace.
And Nehemiah, (he the Tirshatha) will say, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites causing the people to understand, To all the people this day is holy to Jehovah your God; ye shall not mourn, and ye shall not weep. For all the people weeping in their hearing to the words of the law.
And we cast the lots for the oblation of the woods, of the priests, the Levites and the people, to bring to the house of our God, for the house of our fathers at the times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as written in the law:
In those days I saw in Judah those treading the wine-presses in the Sabbath, and bringing in the sheaves, and loading upon the asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and every burden, and bringing into Jerusalem in the day of the Sabbath: and I shall testify in the day of their selling provision.
And saying to the Levites that they shall be purifying, and coming, watching the gates to consecrate the day of the Sabbath. Also this remember for me, O my God, and spare upon me according to the multitude of thy mercy.
And for the bringing near the woods in the times appointed, and for the first-fruits. Remember to me, O my God for good.
Ye shall not add to bring gifts of iniquity; incense, this an abomination to me; the new moon and the Sabbath, the calling of the assembly; I shall not be able to bear vanity and restraining.
Happy the man that shall do this, and the son of man that shall lay hold upon it; watching the Sabbath from defiling it, and watching his hand from doing all evil.
And the sons of the stranger joining themselves to Jehovah to serve him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be to him for servants, every one watching the Sabbath from defiling it, and taking hold upon my covenant;
If thou shalt turn back thy foot from the Sabbath, doing thy delight in my holy day; and thou calledst to the Sabbath a delight for the holy of Jehovah, being honored; and thou honoredst him from doing thy ways, from finding thy delight, and speaking the word.
And say to them, Hear the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabiting Jerusalem, coming in by these gates: Thus said Jehovah: Watch ye in your souls, and ye shall not lift up a lifting up in the day of the Sabbath, and bring in by the gates of Jerusalem. read more. And ye shall not bring forth a burden from your houses in the day of the Sabbath, and all work ye shall not do, and consecrate the day of the Sabbath as I commanded your fathers. And they heard not, and they inclined not their ear, and they will harden their neck not to hear, and not to receive instruction. And it was, if hearing, ye shall hear to me, says Jehovah, not to bring a burden into the gates of this city in day of the Sabbath, and to consecrate the day of the Sabbath, not to do in it any work;
And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be for a sign between me and between them, to know that I am Jehovah consecrating them. And the house of Israel will rebel against me fit the desert: in my laws they went not, and my judgments they rejected, which a man shall do them and he lived in them: and my Sabbaths they profaned greatly and saying, To pour out my wrath upon them in the desert to finish them.'
Because they rejected upon my judgments, and my laws they went not in them, and my Sabbaths they profaned: for their heart went after their blocks.
And consecrate my Sabbaths; and they were for a sign between me and between you to know that I am Jehovah your God.
And I caused all her rejoicing to cease, her festival and her new moon, and her Sabbath and all her appointment
Panting for the dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and they will turn away the way of the humble: and a man and his father will go to the same young girl to profane my holy name:
Saying, When will the month pass through, and we will sell grain? and the Sabbath, and we will open wheat to diminish the ephah, and to enlarge the shekel, and to make crooked the balance of deceit?
Saying, When will the month pass through, and we will sell grain? and the Sabbath, and we will open wheat to diminish the ephah, and to enlarge the shekel, and to make crooked the balance of deceit?
And in the first day of the unleavened, when they sacrificed the pascha, his disciples say to him, Where wilt thou, we, having gone, should prepare that thou eat the pascha
And the festival of unleavened drew near, called the Pascha.
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 thou shalt keep a festival to me in the year. Thou shalt watch the festival of unleavened: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened as I commanded thee according to the appointment of the month Abib; for in it thou camest forth out of Egypt: and they shall not be seen before me empty. read more. And the festival of the harvest, the first fruits of thy works, which thou shalt sow in the field: and the festival of gathering in the going out of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field. Three times in the year every male of thine shall be seen to the face of the Lord Jehovah.
In the first month, in the fourteenth of the month, between the two evenings, the passover to Jehovah. And in the fifteenth day of that month the festival of unleavened to Jehovah: seven days shall ye eat unleavened. read more. In the first day a holy calling shall be to you: any work of labor ye shall not do. And offer ye a sacrifice to Jehovah seven days: in the seventh day a holy calling; any work of labor ye shall not do. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When ye shall come into the land which I give to you, and ye reaped its harvest, and brought a handful of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest: And he lifted up the handful before Jehovah for your acceptance: on the morrow of the Sabbath the priest shall lift it up. And in the day of your lifting up the handful, ye did a blameless lamb, the son of its year, for a burnt-offering to Jehovah. And its gift two tenths of fine flour mingled with oil; a sacrifice to Jehovah, an odor of sweetness: and its libation of wine, the fourth of the hin. And ye shall not eat bread, and parched, and early groats of grain, till the self-same day till that ye brought an offering to your God: a law forever to your generations, in all your dwellings And ye counted to you from the morrow of the Sabbath from the day ye brought the handful of lifting up; seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Till from the morrow of the seventh Sabbath, shall ye number fifty days; and ye brought a new gift to Jehovah. From your dwellings shall ye bring two loaves lifted up, of two tenths of fine flour shall they be; leavened shall they be, baked, the first-fruits to Jehovah. And ye brought upon the bread seven blameless lambs, the sons of a year, and one bullock, the son of a cow, and two rams: they shall be a burnt-offering to Jehovah, and their gift and their libations, a sacrifice, an odor of sweetness to Jehovah. And ye did one he goat of the goats for sin, and two lambs the sons of a year, for a sacrifice of peace. And the priest lifted them up upon the bread of the first-fruits, a lifting up before Jehovah upon the two lambs: they shall be holy to Jehovah for the priest And ye called in this self-same day a holy calling of Jehovah to you: any work of labor ye shall not do: a law forever in all your dwellings for your generations. And in your reaping the harvest of your land, thou shalt not finish the extremity of thy field in thy reaping, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not glean: to the poor and to the stranger thou shalt leave them: I Jehovah your God. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in one of the month, there shall be to you a Sabbath, a remembrance, shouts of joy, a holy calling. Any work of labor ye shall not do; and ye brought a sacrifice to Jehovah. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, But in this tenth of the seventh month, a day of expiation; shall be a holy calling to you, and ye humbled your souls, and brought a sacrifice to Jehovah. And any work ye shall not do in that self-same day, for it is a day of expiation, to expiate for you before Jehovah your God. For every soul which shall not be humbled in, that same day, and it was cut off from its people. And any soul which shall do any work in that same day, I destroyed that soul from the midst of its people. Any work ye shall not do: a law forever to your generations in all your dwellings. A Sabbath of rest it is to you; ye humbled your souls: in the ninth of the month, in the evening, from evening to evening shall ye celebrate your Sabbath. And Jehovah will speak to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the fifteenth day of this seventh month the festival of tents seven days to Jehovah. In the first day a holy calling: any work of labor ye shall not do. Seven days shall ye bring a sacrifice to Jehovah; in the eighth day a holy calling shall be to you, and bring ye a sacrifice to Jehovah: it is a restraining: any work of labor ye shall not do. These the appointments to Jehovah, which ye shall call them callings holy, to bring a sacrifice to Jehovah, a burnt-offering and a gift, a sacrifice, and libations, the word of a day in its day: Besides the Sabbaths of Jehovah, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your voluntary gifts which ye shall give to Jehovah. But in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in your gathering the produce of the land, ye shall keep a festival of Jehovah seven days: in the first day a Sabbath, and in the eighth day a Sabbath. And take ye to yourselves in the first day the fruit of the tree of ornament, palms of the palm trees, and branches of the tree interwoven, and willows of the stream; and ye rejoiced before Jehovah your God seven days. And keep it a festival to Jehovah seven days in the year: a law forever to your generations; in the seventh month shall ye keep it Ye shall dwell in tents seven days; all the natives in Israel shall dwell in tents: So that your generations shall know that I caused the sons of Israel to dwell in tents in my bringing them out of the land of Egypt: I Jehovah your God. And Moses will speak the appointments of Jehovah to the sons of Israel.
These ye shall do to Jehovah in your appointments, besides your vows and your voluntary gifts, for your burnt-offerings, and for your gifts, and your libations, and for your peace.
Three times in a year shall every one of thy males be seen before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose in the festival of unleavened, and in the festival of weeks, and in the festival of booths: and he shall not be seen before Jehovah empty:
For the bread of the arrangement and the gift of continuance, and for the burnt-offering of continuance of the Sabbaths, the new moons, for the appointments and for the holies, and for the sins, to expiate for Israel and all the work of the house of our God.
To set up to them to be doing the fourteenth day to the month Adar, and the fifteenth day in it, in every year and year,
For this they called to these days Purim, for the name of Pur. For this upon all the words of this epistle, and What they saw upon this, and what came to them,
And there was the festival of inauguration among the Jerusalemites, and 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 will praise the seventh day, and will consecrate it, because in it he ceased from all his works which God formed to make.
And this day shall be to you for a remembrance; and ye kept it a festival to Jehovah for your generations: ye shall keep a festival a law forever.
But in this tenth of the seventh month, a day of expiation; shall be a holy calling to you, and ye humbled your souls, and brought a sacrifice to Jehovah. And any work ye shall not do in that self-same day, for it is a day of expiation, to expiate for you before Jehovah your God.
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the fifteenth day of this seventh month the festival of tents seven days to Jehovah. In the first day a holy calling: any work of labor ye shall not do.
And in the tenth to this seventh month a holy calling shall be to you: ye afflicted your souls: all work ye shall not do.
And in the fifteenth day to the seventh month, a holy calling shall be to you: all work of service ye shall not do, and keep ye a festival to Jehovah seven days. And ye brought near a burnt-offering, a sacrifice, an odor of sweetness to Jehovah: thirteen bullocks, sons of a cow, two rams, fourteen lambs, sons of a year: blameless shall they be.
And David will say to Jonathan, Behold, the new moon to-morrow, and I sitting, shall sit down with the king to eat: and thou sentest me away and I was hid in the field till the evening of the third. If reviewing, thy father shall review me, and thou saidst, Asking, David asked of me to run to the House of Bread, his city; for a sacrifice of days there to all the family. read more. If thus he shall say, Good; peace to thy servant; and if kindling, it shall kindle to him, know that evil was finished with him. And do thou mercy with thy servant; for into a covenant of Jehovah thou didst bring thy servant with thee: and if there is iniquity in me, do thou kill me; and wherefore wilt thou bring me even to thy father? And Jonathan will say, Far be it to thee: that if knowing, I shall know that evil was finished with my father to come upon thee, shall I not announce it to thee? And David will say to Jonathan, Who shall announce to me? or what if thy father shall answer thee harshly? And Jonathan will say to David, Come, and we will go forth to the field. And they two went forth to the field. And Jonathan will say to David, Jehovah, God of Israel when I shall search out my father about this time to-morrow, the third day, and behold, good to David, and I shall not then send to thee, and uncover thine ear. Thus shall Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus shall he add; for it shall be good to my father with evil to thee, and I uncovered thine ear and sent thee away, and thou wentest in peace: and Jehovah will be with thee as he was with my father. And not only while yet I live and wilt thou not do the mercy of Jehovah with me, and I shall not die. And thou shalt not cut off thy mercy from my house, even forever: and not in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David a man from the face of the earth. And Jonathan will cut out with the house of David, and Jehovah sought out from the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan will add to cause David to swear in his loving him; as loving his soul he loved him. And Jonathan will say to him, To-morrow the new moon: and thou wert reviewed, for thy seat will be reviewed.
For a child was born to us, a son was given to us, and the dominion shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Captain of Peace.
And there was the festival of inauguration among the Jerusalemites, and it was winter..
And if Christ has not risen, then our proclaiming vain, and also your faith vain.
And now Was Christ raised from the dead, he was the first fruits of those having died.
I was in the Spirit In the day pertaining to the Lord, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying,