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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
L E V I T C U S
CHAP. XXIII.
Hitherto the levitical law had been chiefly conversant about holy
persons, holy things, and holy places; in this chapter we have the
institution of holy times, many of which had been mentioned
occasionally before, but here they are all put together, only the new
moons are not mentioned. All the rest of the feasts of the Lord are,
I. The weekly feast of the sabbath,
II. The yearly feasts,
1. The passover, and the feast of unleavened bread
(ver. 4-8),
to which was annexed the offering of the sheaf of firstfruits,
2. Pentecost,
3. The solemnities of the seventh month. The feast of trumpets on the
first day
(ver. 23-25),
the day of atonement on the tenth day
(ver. 26-32),
and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth,
&c.
| Sundry Feasts. | B. C. 1490. |
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1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to
be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the
sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work
therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Here is,
I. A general account of the holy times which God appointed
(v. 2),
and it is only his appointment that can make time holy; for he is the
Lord of time, and as soon as ever he had set its wheels a-going it was
he that sanctified and blessed one day above the rest,
Man may by his appointment make a good day
(Esth. ix. 19),
but it is God’s prerogative to make a holy day; nor is any thing
sanctified but by the stamp of his institution. As all inherent
holiness comes from his special grace, so all adherent holiness from
his special appointment. Now, concerning the holy times here ordained,
observe,
1. They are called feasts. The day of atonement, which was one
of them, was a fast; yet, because most of them were appointed for joy
and rejoicing, they are in the general called feasts. Some read it,
These are my assemblies, but that is co-incident with
convocations. I would rather read it, These are my
solemnities; so the word here used is translated
where Zion is called the city of our solemnities: and, reading
it so here, the day of atonement was as great a solemnity as any of
them.
2. They are the feasts of the Lord (my feasts), observed to the
honour of his name, and in obedience to his command.
3. They were proclaimed; for they were not to be observed by the
priests only that attended the sanctuary, but by all the people. And
this proclamation was the joyful sound concerning which we read,
Blessed are the people that know it,
Ps. lxxxix. 15.
4. They were to be sanctified and solemnized with holy convocations,
that the services of these feasts might appear the more honourable and
august, and the people the more unanimous in the performance of them;
it was for the honour of God and his institutions, which sought not
corners and the purity of which would be best preserved by the public
administration of them; it was also for the edification of the people
in love that the feasts were to be observed as holy convocations.
II. A repetition of the law of the sabbath in the first place. Though
the annual feasts were made more remarkable by the general attendance
at the sanctuary, yet these must not eclipse the brightness of the
sabbath,
v. 3.
They are here told,
1. That on that day they must withdraw themselves from all the affairs
and business of the world. It is a sabbath of rest, typifying
our spiritual rest from sin, and in God: You shall do no work
therein. On other holy days they were forbidden to do any servile
work
(v. 7),
but on the sabbath, and the day of atonement (which is also called a
sabbath), they were to do no work at all, no, not the dressing of meat.
2. On that day they must employ themselves in the service of God.
(1.) It is a holy convocation; that is, “If it lie within your
reach, you shall sanctify it in a religious assembly: let as many as
can come to the door of the tabernacle, and let others meet elsewhere
for prayer, and praise, and the reading of the law,” as in the schools
of the prophets, while prophecy continued, and afterwards in the
synagogues. Christ appointed the New-Testament sabbath to be a holy
convocation, by meeting his disciples once and again (and perhaps
oftener) on the first day of the week.
(2.) “Whether you have opportunity of sanctifying it in a holy
convocation or not, yet let it be the sabbath of the Lord in all
your dwellings. Put a difference between that day and other days in
your families. It is the sabbath of the Lord, the day on which
he rested from the work of creation, and on which he has appointed us
to rest; let it be observed in all your dwellings, even now that you
dwell in tents.” Note, God’s sabbaths are to be religiously observed in
every private house, by every family apart, as well as by many families
together in holy convocations. The sabbath of the Lord in our dwellings
will be their beauty, strength, and safety; it will sanctify, edify,
and glorify them.
4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations,
which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the
LORD‘s passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of
unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened
bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall
do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD
seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall
do no servile work therein.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When
ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap
the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the
firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted
for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave
it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he
lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto
the LORD.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of
fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the
LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall
be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green
ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering
unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings.
Here again the feasts are called the feasts of the Lord, because
he appointed them. Jeroboam’s feast, which he devised of his own
heart
was an affront to God, and a reproach upon the people. These feasts
were to be proclaimed in their seasons
(v. 4),
and the seasons God chose for them were in March, May and September
(according to our present computation), not in winter, because
travelling would then be uncomfortable, when the days were short, and
the ways foul; not in the middle of summer, because then in those
countries they were gathering in their harvest and vintage, and could
be ill spared from their country business. Thus graciously does God
consult our comfort in his appointments, obliging us thereby
religiously to regard his glory in our observance of them, and not to
complain of them as a burden. The solemnities appointed them were,
1. Many and returned frequently, which was intended to preserve in
them a deep sense of God and religion, and to prevent their inclining
to the superstitions of the heathen. God kept them fully employed in
his service, that they might not have time to hearken to the
temptations of the idolatrous neighbourhood they lived in.
2. They were most of them times of joy and rejoicing. The weekly
sabbath is so, and all their yearly solemnities, except the day of
atonement. God would thus teach them that wisdom’s ways are
pleasantness, and engage them to his service by encouraging them to be
cheerful in it and to sing at their work. Seven days were days of
strict rest and holy convocations; the first day and the seventh of the
feast of unleavened bread, the day of pentecost, the day of the feast
of trumpets, the first day and the eighth of the feast of tabernacles,
and the day of atonement: here were six for holy joy and one only for
holy mourning. We are commanded to rejoice evermore, but not to
be evermore weeping. Here is,
I. A repetition of the law of the passover, which was to be observed on
the fourteenth day of the first month, in remembrance of their
deliverance out of Egypt and the distinguishing preservation of their
first-born, mercies never to be forgotten. This feast was to begin
with the killing of the paschal lamb,
v. 5.
It was to continue seven days, during all which time they were to eat
sad bread, that was unleavened
(v. 6),
and the first and last day of the seven were to be days of holy
rest and holy convocations,
v. 7, 8.
They were not idle days spent in sport and recreation (as many that are
called Christians spend their holy days), but offerings were made by
fire unto the Lord at his altar; and we have reason to think that
the people were taught to employ their time in prayer, and praise, and
godly meditation.
II. An order for the offering of a sheaf of the first-fruits, upon the
second day of the feast of unleavened bread; the first is called the
sabbath, because it was observed as a sabbath
(v. 11),
and, on the morrow after, they had this solemnity. A sheaf or handful
of new corn was brought to the priest, who was to heave it up, in token
of his presenting it to the God of Heaven, and to wave it to and fro
before the Lord, as the Lord of the whole earth, and this should be
accepted for them as a thankful acknowledgment of God’s mercy to them
in clothing their fields with corn, and of their dependence upon God,
and desire towards him, for the preserving of it to their use. For it
was the expression both of prayer and praise,
A lamb for a burnt-offering was to be offered with it,
As the sacrifice of animals was generally attended with meat-offerings,
so this sacrifice of corn was attended with a burnt-offering, that
bread and flesh might be set together on God’s table. They are
forbidden to eat of their new corn till this handful was offered to
God; for it was fit, if God and Israel feast together, that he should
be served first. And the offering of this sheaf of first-fruits in the
name of the whole congregation did, as it were, sanctify to them their
whole harvest, and give them a comfortable use of all the rest; for
then we may eat our bread with joy when we have, in some
measure, performed our duty to God, and God has accepted our works, for
thus all our enjoyments become clean to us. Now,
1. This law was given now, though there was no occasion for putting it
in execution till they came to Canaan: in the wilderness they sowed no
corn; but God’s feeding them there with bread from heaven
obliged them hereafter not to grudge him his share of their bread out
of the earth. We find that when they came into Canaan the manna ceased
upon the very day that the sheaf of first-fruits was offered; they had
eaten of the old corn the day before
(Josh. v. 11),
and then on this day they offered the first-fruits, by which they
became entitled to the new corn too
(v. 12),
so that there was no more occasion for manna.
1. This sheaf of first-fruits was typical of our Lord Jesus, who has
risen from the dead as the first-fruits of those that slept,
1 Cor. xv. 20.
That branch of the Lord
was then presented to him, in virtue of the sacrifice of himself, the
Lamb of God, and it was accepted for us. It is very observable that our
Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the very day that the first-fruits
were offered, to show that he was the substance of this shadow.
3. We are taught by this law to honour the Lord with our substance,
and with the first-fruits of all our increase,
Prov. iii. 9.
They were not to eat of their new corn till God’s part was offered to
him out of it
(v. 14),
for we must always begin with God, begin our lives with him, begin
every day with him, begin every meal with him, begin every affair and
business with him; seek first the kingdom of God.
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the
sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave
offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye
number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto
the LORD.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of
two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken
with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
18 And ye 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
meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made
by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin
offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of
peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the
firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two
lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be
an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work
therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings
throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not
make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou
reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest:
thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am
the LORD your God.
Here is the institution of the feast of pentecost, or
weeks, as it is called
(Deut. xvi. 9),
because it was observed fifty days, or seven weeks, after the passover.
It is also called the feast of harvest,
Exod. xxiii. 16.
For as the presenting of the sheaf of first-fruits was an introduction
to the harvest, and gave them liberty to put in the sickle, so they
solemnized the finishing of their corn-harvest at this feast.
1. Then they offered a handful of ears of barley, now they offered
two loaves of wheaten bread,
v. 17.
This was leavened. At the passover they ate unleavened bread, because
it was in remembrance of the bread they ate when they came out of
Egypt, which was unleavened; but now at pentecost it was leavened,
because it was an acknowledgment of God’s goodness to them in their
ordinary food, which was leavened.
2. With that sheaf of first-fruits they offered only one lamb for a
burnt-offering, but with these loaves of first-fruits they offered
seven lambs, two rams, and one bullock, all for a burnt-offering, so
giving glory to God, as the Lord of their land and the Lord of their
harvest, by whose favour they lived and to whose praise they ought to
live. They offered likewise a kid for a sin-offering, so taking shame
to themselves as unworthy of the bread they ate, and imploring pardon
for their sins, by which they had forfeited their harvest-mercies, and
which they had been guilty of in the receiving of them. And lastly, two
lambs for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, to beg a blessing upon the
corn they had gathered in, which would be neither sure nor sweet to
them without that blessing,
These were the only peace-offerings that were offered on the behalf of
the whole congregation, and they were reckoned most holy
offerings, whereas other peace-offerings were but holy. All
these offerings are here appointed,
3. That one day was to be kept with a holy convocation,
It was one of the days on which all Israel was to meet God and one
another, at the place which the Lord should choose. Some suggest that
whereas seven days were to make up the feast of unleavened bread there
was only one day appointed for the feast of pentecost, because this was
a busy time of the year with them, and God allowed them speedily to
return to their work in the country. This annual feast was instituted
in remembrance of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, the fiftieth
day after they came out of Egypt. That was the feast which they were
told in Egypt must be observed to God in the wilderness, as a memorial
of which ever after they kept this feast. But the period and
perfection of this feast was the pouring out of the Spirit upon the
apostles on the day of this feast
(Acts ii. 1),
in which the law of faith was given, fifty days after Christ our
passover was sacrificed for us. And on that day (as bishop Patrick well
expresses it) the apostles, having themselves received the
first-fruits of the Spirit, begat three thousand souls, through
the word of truth, and presented them, as the first-fruits of the
Christian church, to God and the Lamb.
To the institution of the feast of pentecost is annexed a repetition of
that law which we had before
(ch. xix. 9),
by which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields, and
the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor,
Probably it comes in here as a thing which the priests must take
occasion to remind the people of, when they brought their first-fruits,
intimating to them that to obey even in this small matter was better
than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their offerings
should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy of harvest
should express itself in charity to the poor, who must have their due
out of what we have, as well as God his. Those that are truly sensible
of the mercy they receive from God will without grudging show mercy to
the poor.
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh
month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath,
a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall
be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you;
and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by
fire unto the LORD.
28 And ye 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.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in
that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same
day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for
ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall
afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from
even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Here is,
I. The institution of the feast of trumpets, on the first day of the
seventh month,
That which was now the seventh month had been reckoned the first month,
and the year of jubilee was still to begin with this month
(ch. xxv. 8),
so that this was their new year’s day. It was to be as their other
yearly sabbaths, a day of holy rest–You shall do no servile work
therein; and a day of holy work–You shall offer an offering to
the Lord; concerning these particular directions were afterwards
given,
That which is here made peculiar to this festival is that it was a
memorial of blowing of trumpets. They blew the trumpet every new
moon
(Ps. lxxxi. 3),
but in the new moon of the seventh month it was to be done with more
than ordinary solemnity; for they began to blow at sun-rise and
continued till sun-set. Now,
1. This is here said to be a memorial, perhaps of the sound of
the trumpet upon mount Sinai when the law was given, which must never
be forgotten. Some think that it was a memorial of the creation of the
world, which is supposed to have been in autumn; for which reason this
was, till now, the first month. The mighty word by which God made the
world is called the voice of his thunder
(Ps. civ. 7);
fitly therefore was it commemorated by blowing of trumpets, or a
memorial of shouting, as the Chaldee renders it; for, when the
foundations of the earth were fastened, all the sons of God shouted
for joy,
Job xxxviii. 6, 7.
2. The Jewish writers suppose it to have a spiritual signification.
Now at the beginning of the year they were called by this sound of
trumpet to shake off their spiritual drowsiness, to search and try
their ways, and to amend them: the day of atonement was the ninth day
after this; and thus they were awakened to prepare for that day, by
sincere and serious repentance, that it might be indeed to them a day
of atonement. And they say, “The devout Jews exercised themselves more
in good works between the feast of trumpets and the day of expiation
than at any other time of the year.”
3. It was typical of the preaching of the gospel, by which joyful sound
souls were to be called in to serve God and keep a spiritual feast to
him. The conversion of the nations to the faith of Christ is said to
be by the blowing of a great trumpet,
Isa. xxvii. 13.
II. A repetition of the law of the day of atonement, that is, so much
of it as concerned the people.
1. They must on this day rest from all manner of work, and not only
from servile works as on other annual festivals; it must be as strict a
rest as that of the weekly sabbath,
The reason is: For it is a day of atonement. Note, The humbling
of our souls for sin, and the making of our peace with God, is work
that requires the whole man, and the closest application of mind
imaginable, and all little enough. He that would do the work of a day
of atonement in its day, as it should be done, had need lay aside the
thoughts of every thing else. On that day God spoke peace unto his
people, and unto his saints; and therefore they must lay aside all
their worldly business, that they might the more clearly and the more
reverently hear that voice of joy and gladness. Fasting days should be
days of rest.
2. They must afflict their souls, and this upon pain of being cut off
by the hand of God,
They must mortify the body, and deny the appetites of it, in token of
their sorrow for the sins they had committed, and the mortifying of
their indwelling corruptions. Every soul must be afflicted, because
every soul was polluted, and guilty before God; while none have
fulfilled the law of innocency none are exempt from the law of
repentance, besides that every man must sigh and cry for the
abominations of the land.
3. The entire day must be observed: From even to even you shall
afflict your souls
(v. 32),
that is, “You shall begin your fast, and the expressions of your
humiliation, in the ninth day of the month at even.” They were
to leave off all their worldly labour, and compose themselves to the
work of the day approaching, some time before sun-set on the ninth day,
and not to take any food (except children and sick people) till after
sun-set on the tenth day. Note, The eves of solemn days ought to be
employed in solemn preparation. When work for God and our souls is to
be done, we should not straiten ourselves in time for the doing of it;
for how can we spend our time better? Of this sabbath the rule here
given is to be understood: From even unto even shall you celebrate
your sabbath.
33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34 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.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do
no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the
LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you;
and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it
is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work
therein.
37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim
to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto
the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and
drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and
beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings,
which ye give unto the LORD.
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have
gathered in the fruit of the land, ye 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.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly
trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your
God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the
year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye
shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites
born shall dwell in booths:
43 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.
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of
the LORD.
We have here,
I. The institution of the feast of tabernacles, which was one of the
three great feasts at which all the males were bound to attend, and
celebrated with more expressions of joy than any of them.
1. As to the directions for regulating this feast, observe,
(1.) It was to be observed on the fifteenth day of the seventh
month
(v. 34),
but five days after the day of atonement. We may suppose, though they
were not all bound to attend on the day of atonement, as on the three
great festivals, yet that many of the devout Jews came up so many days
before the feast of tabernacles as to enjoy the opportunity of
attending on the day of atonement. Now,
[1.] The afflicting of their souls on the day of atonement prepared
them for the joy of the feast of tabernacles. The more we are grieved
and humbled for sin, the better qualified we are for the comforts of
the Holy Ghost.
[2.] The joy of this feast recompensed them for the sorrow of that
fast; for those that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
(2.) It was to continue eight days, the first and last of which were to
be observed as sabbaths, days of holy rest and holy convocations,
The sacrifices to be offered on these eight days we have a very large
appointment of,
Num. xxix. 12, &c.
(3.) During the first seven days of this feast all the people were to
leave their houses, and the women and children in them, and to dwell in
booths made of the boughs of thick trees, particularly palm trees,
The Jews make the taking of the branches to be a distinct ceremony from
the making of the booths. It is said, indeed
that they made their booths of the branches of trees, which they
might do, and yet use that further expression of joy, the carrying of
palm-branches in their hands, which appears to have been a token of
triumph upon other occasions
(John xii. 13),
and is alluded to,
The eighth day some make a distinct feast of itself, but it is called
that great day of the feast; it was the day on which they
returned from their booths, to settle again in their own houses.
(4.) They were to rejoice before the Lord God during all the
time of this feast,
The tradition of the Jews is that they were to express their joy by
dancing, and singing hymns of praise to God, with musical instruments:
and not the common people only, but the wise men of Israel, and their
elders, were to do it in the court of the sanctuary: for (say they) the
joy with which a man rejoices in doing a commandment is really a great
service.
2. As to the design of this feast,
(1.) It was to be kept in remembrance of their dwelling in tents in the
wilderness. Thus it is expounded here
(v. 43):
That your generations may know, not only by the written history,
but by this ocular tradition, that I made the children of Israel to
dwell in booths. Thus it kept in perpetual remembrance,
[1.] The meanness of their beginning, and the low and desolate state
out of which God advanced that people. Note, Those that are comfortably
fixed ought often to call to mind their former unsettled state, when
they were but little in their own eyes.
[2.] The mercy of God to them, that, when they dwelt in tabernacles,
God not only set up a tabernacle for himself among them, but, with the
utmost care and tenderness imaginable, hung a canopy over them, even
the cloud that sheltered them from the heat of the sun. God’s former
mercies to us and our fathers ought to be kept in everlasting
remembrance. The eighth day was the great day of this feast, because
then they returned to their own houses again, and remembered how, after
they had long dwelt in tents in the wilderness, at length they came to
a happy settlement in the land of promise, where they dwelt in goodly
houses. And they would the more sensibly value and be thankful for the
comforts and conveniences of their houses when they had been seven days
dwelling in booths. It is good for those that have ease and plenty
sometimes to learn what it is to endure hardness.
(2.) It was a feast of in-gathering, so it is called,
When they had gathered in the fruit of their land
(v. 39),
the vintage as well as the harvest, then they were to keep this feast
in thankfulness to God for all the increase of the year; and some think
that the eighth day of the feast had special reference to this ground
of the institution. Note, The joy of harvest ought to be improved for
the furtherance of our joy in God. The earth is the Lord’s and the
fulness thereof, and therefore whatever we have the comfort of he
must have the glory of, especially when any mercy is perfected.
(3.) It was a typical feast. It is supposed by many that our blessed
Saviour was born much about the time of this feast; then he left his
mansions of light above to tabernacle among us
(John i. 14),
and he dwelt in booths. And the worship of God under the New Testament
is prophesied of under the notion of keeping the feast of
tabernacles,
Zech. xiv. 16.
For,
[1.] The gospel of Christ teaches us to dwell in tabernacles, to sit
loose to this world, as those that have here no continuing city, but by
faith, and hope and holy contempt of present things, to go out to
Christ without the camp,
Heb. xiii. 13, 14.
[2.] It teaches us to rejoice before the Lord our God. Those are the
circumcision, Israelites indeed, that always rejoice in Christ
Jesus,
Phil. iii. 3.
And the more we are taken off from this world the less liable we are to
the interruption of our joys.
II. The summary and conclusion of these institutions.
1. God appointed these feasts
(v. 37, 38),
besides the sabbaths and your free-will offerings. This teaches
us,
(1.) That calls to extraordinary services will not excuse us from our
constant stated performances. Within the days of the feast of
tabernacles there must fall at least one sabbath, which must be as
strictly observed as any other.
(2.) That God’s institutions leave room for free-will offerings. Not
that we may invent what he never instituted, but we may repeat what he
has instituted, ordinarily, the oftener the better. God is well pleased
with a willing people.
2. Moses declared them to the children of Israel,
He let them know what God appointed, and neither more nor less. Thus
Paul delivered to the churches what he had received from the
Lord. We have reason to be thankful that the feasts of the Lord,
declared unto us, are not so numerous, nor the observance of them so
burdensome and costly, as theirs then were, but more spiritual and
significant, and surer sweeter earnests of the everlasting feast, at
the last in-gathering, which we hope to be celebrating to eternity.
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