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.
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And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal from me; and did not tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth, and with songs, with tambourine, and with harp?
And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another.
Three times you shall keep a feast unto me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) read more. And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Three times in the year shall all your male children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you, and enlarge your borders: neither shall any man desire your land, when you shall go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vowed offerings, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand unto, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your wine, or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herds or of your flock, nor any of your offerings which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand: But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you put your hands unto. read more. Take heed to yourself that you forsake not the Levite as long as you live upon the earth.
At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.
Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.
When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: read more. I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I taken away any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, as you swore unto our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.
And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trod the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if you can certainly declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing:
And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, till the sun be down.
In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
And when these days were completed, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the citadel, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;
And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one on his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
Put not forth yourself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto you, Come up here; than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen.
Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.
And the harp, and the lyre, the timbrel, and flute, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted do sigh. The mirth of timbrels ceases, the noise of them that rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases. read more. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Neither shall men break bread for those in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
That chant to the sound of the harp, and invent for yourselves instruments of music, like David;
But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them who are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: read more. And the remnant took his servants, and treated them shamefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was angry: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were bidden were not worthy.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment:
And love the uppermost places at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault.
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, See this woman? I entered into your house, you gave me no water for my feet: but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet. read more. My head with oil you did not anoint: but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.
Strive to enter in at the narrow gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
And he put forth a parable to those who were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief places; saying unto them,
Then said he also to him that bade him, When you give a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brethren, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you. But when you give a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: read more. And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Then said he unto him, A certain man gave a great supper, and bade many:
Then said he unto him, A certain man gave a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it: I pray you have me excused.
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it: I pray you have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them: I pray you have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them: I pray you have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the Master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind.
So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the Master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper.
For I say unto you, That none of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper.
And bring here the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
On the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. read more. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus said unto her, Woman, what have I to do with you? my hour has not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he says unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the steward of the feast. And they bore it.
And he said unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the steward of the feast. And they bore it. When the steward of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not from where it was: (but the servants who drew the water knew;) the steward of the feast called the bridegroom, read more. And said unto him, Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now.
Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. read more. For there must be also heresies among you, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you. When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one takes first his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have you not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise you the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, after he had eaten, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that you come not together unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
These are spots in your love feasts, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about by winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white clothing; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess 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 shall be unto you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
And you shall proclaim on the same day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: you shall do no regular work on it: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest: you shall leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. read more. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work on it: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall humble yourselves, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be humbled in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that does any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and you shall humble yourselves: in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall you celebrate your sabbath. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work on it.
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your descendants shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work, and you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days:
And you shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God.
And among these nations shall you find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest: but the LORD shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
And Caleb said, He that strikes Kiriathsepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.
And as year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.
Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
And he said, Why will you go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
Therefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
Save now, I beseech you, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech you, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase:
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
For I say unto you, you shall not see me again, till you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.
There were present at that time some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said unto him, Depart from here, and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you do. read more. For there is no man that does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For neither did his brothers believe in him. Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hates, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go you up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet fully come. When he had said these words unto them, he remained still in Galilee. But when his brothers were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceives the people. However no man spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knows this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory: but he that seeks his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why go you about to kill me? The people answered and said, You have a demon: who goes about to kill you? Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and you on the sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are you angry at me, because I have made a man every bit whole on the sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? But, lo, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? However we know this man where he is from: but when Christ comes, no man knows where he is from. Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, You both know me, and you know where I am from: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. But I know him: for I am from him, and he has sent me. Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than these which this man has done? The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. You shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, there you cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves, Where will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? What manner of saying is this that he said, You shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, there you cannot come? In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
(But this spoke he of the Spirit, whom they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
And sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their food with gladness and sincerity of heart,
And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Since you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ toward God: read more. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministry of the Spirit be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation be glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, who put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly see the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remains the same veil not taken away in the reading of the old covenant; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their hearts. Nevertheless when one shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, reveling themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. read more. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes? and from where did they come? And I said unto him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white 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 that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Hastings
Introductory.
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For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest: that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Three times you shall keep a feast unto me in the year.
You shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but on the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever does any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Three times in the year shall all your male children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. read more. And they put him in custody, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
And in the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot; And three-tenths of an ephah of flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for one bullock; and two-tenths of an ephah of flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for one ram; read more. And a tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with oil for a grain offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet aroma, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of a hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of a hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the LORD shall be offered, besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering. And on the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
You shall not bring the wages of a harlot, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD your God for any vow: for even both of these are an abomination unto the LORD your God.
And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunk.
And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening. If your father at all misses me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you shall be missed, because your seat will be empty.
So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat himself down to eat the feast.
And he said, Why will you go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
And Nehemiah, who is the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law:
In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them about the day in which they sold provisions.
And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy.
And provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the sabbath from defiling it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Also the sons of the foreigner, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, everyone that keeps the sabbath from defiling it, and takes hold of my covenant;
If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:
And say unto them, Hear you the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: Thus says the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; read more. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do you any work, but hallow you the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if you diligently hearken unto me, says the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work on it;
Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man does, he shall even live by them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
That trample on the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maiden, to defile my holy name:
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where will you that we go and prepare that you may eat the passover?
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 you shall keep a feast unto me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) read more. And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD's passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread. read more. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work on it. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf a male lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the grain offering thereof shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet aroma: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh grain, until the same day that you have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. And you shall count unto you from the day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be completed: Even unto the day after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new grain offering unto the LORD. You shall bring out of your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the first fruits unto the LORD. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their grain offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet aroma unto the LORD. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day, that it may be a holy convocation unto you: you shall do no regular work on it: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest: you shall leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work on it: but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall humble yourselves, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be humbled in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that does any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and you shall humble yourselves: in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall you celebrate your sabbath. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work on it. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and you shall do no regular work on it. These are the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a grain offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything on its day: Besides the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of choice trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And you shall keep it as a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are born Israelites shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
These things you shall do unto the LORD in your appointed feasts, besides your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.
Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
For the showbread, and for the continual grain offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,
And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, 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," 2000'>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.
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And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall humble yourselves, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work on it.
And you shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month a holy convocation; and you shall humble yourselves: you shall not do any work on it:
And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work, and you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: And you shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet aroma unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:
And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening. If your father at all misses me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. read more. If he say thus, It is well; your servant shall have peace: but if he is very angry, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you: nevertheless, if there be in me iniquity, slay me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father? And Jonathan said, Far be it from you: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, then would not I tell it to you? Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if your father answers you roughly? And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father tomorrow about this time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto you, and show it to you; The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will show it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. And you shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: But also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever: no, not when the LORD has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you shall be missed, because your seat will be empty.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,