Leviticus 23: 4-14, “These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even 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 ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 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. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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: 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. 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. 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. 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.”
The Lord called Abram when he lived in a pagan land and Abram went, just as the Lord called him. At that stage Abram was just another man but the Lord gave him special promises and, eventually in the Lord’s perfect time, his descendants became a mighty nation. These people were delivered from slavery and given a precise, formal, ceremonial religion so that they could worship the Lord God and be the means of passing His blessing on to all the families of the earth. It was important for these people to remember that the Lord God chose them and gave them everything they possessed. In order for them to remember this the Lord gave them a weekly reminder of His grace and mercy by asking them to celebrate His rest of completion on the seventh day. However, this was not enough and the Lord asked them to further rest for seven days during the time of the Passover. This was a time for them to reflect and rejoice in all that the Lord had done for them. The contract Israel made with the Lord involved prosperity and success with their crops so they were asked to celebrate at harvest time as well. These days were days of rest to give them respite from their labours as well. The Lord in the abundance of His wisdom had a dual purpose in establishing these feasts. Firstly for the people to remember what He had done and secondly for them to have rest and recreation to enjoy the good things that He had done for them.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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