Day 68 · Part 4: The Wilderness
The Place He Chooses (2 of 2)
In the Story
In context
Every seventh year, debts between Israelites were to be cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1–2). A Hebrew servant went free after six years of work, and “you shall not let him go empty” (15:12–14). Moses says, “surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor” (15:11).
Three times a year every man was to appear before the Lord at the chosen place (16:16): at the Passover and the bread without yeast, in the spring month of Abib; at the Feast of Weeks, seven weeks after the grain harvest began; and at the Feast of Booths, after the harvest was in (16:1–15). The Feast of Weeks is the New Testament’s Pentecost (Acts 2:1).
Judges were to “follow that which is altogether just” (16:20). Anyone who served other gods was to be stoned, but only on the word of two or three witnesses (17:2–7). If Israel wanted a king “like all the nations,” he had to be the Lord’s choice, without many horses, wives or riches, and he was to read a copy of the law all his life (17:14–20); generations later Israel asked Samuel for “a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). The Lord promises “a prophet from among their brothers,” like Moses (18:15–18), words Peter quotes when he speaks of Jesus (Acts 3:20–22).
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10 · Moses tells Israel to rejoice at the feasts with the fatherless and the widow; in Nehemiah’s day the people are told, “send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared.”
For families
At the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths, whole households were to rejoice together: “you, your son, your daughter,” the servants, and with them the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow (Deuteronomy 16:11, 14). Moses says they “shall be altogether joyful” (16:15).
If your family held a feast that lasted a week, who would you want to be there?
In the Bible
World English Bible, as published by eBible.org (public domain).
Deuteronomy 15
Loading…
Deuteronomy 16
Loading…
Deuteronomy 17
Loading…
Deuteronomy 18
Loading…
A hymn for today
To God Be the Glory · words by Fanny J. Crosby
- To God be the glory, great things He hath done;So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,And opened the life-gate that all may go in.RefrainPraise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the earth hear His voice!Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the people rejoice!O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
- O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,To every believer the promise of God;The vilest offender who truly believes,That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.RefrainPraise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the earth hear His voice!Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the people rejoice!O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
- Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;But purer, and higher, and greater will beOur wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.RefrainPraise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the earth hear His voice!Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,Let the people rejoice!O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.