Deuteronomy 16 commentary

DEUTERONOMY 16 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

The Passover

1 Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the

Passover of the Lord your God, because in the

month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by

night.

BARNES, "The cardinal point on which the whole of the prescriptions in this chapter turn, is evidently the same as has been so often insisted on in the previous chapters, namely, the concentration of the religious services of the people round one common sanctuary. The prohibition against observing the great Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and tabernacle, the three annual epochs in the sacred year of the Jew, at home and in private, is reiterated in a variety of words no less than six times in the first sixteen verses of this chapter Deu_16:2, Deu_16:6-7, Deu_16:11, Deu_16:15-16. Hence, it is easy to see why nothing is here said of the other holy days.

The Feast of Passover Exo. 12:1-27; Num_9:1-14; Lev_23:1-8. A re-enforcement of this ordinance was the more necessary because its observance had clearly been intermitted for thirty-nine years (see Jos_6:10). One Passover only had been kept in the wilderness, that recorded in Num. 9, where see the notes.

CLARKE, "Keep the passover - A feast so called because the angel that destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, seeing the blood of the appointed sacrifice sprinkled on the lintels and door-posts of the Israelites’ houses, passed over Them, and did not destroy any of their firstborn. See the notes on Exo_12:2, and Exo_12:3(note), etc.

GILL, "Observe the month of Abib,.... Sometimes called Nisan; it answered to part, of our March, and part of April; it was an observable month, to be taken notice of; it was called Abib, from the corn then appearing in ear, and beginning to ripen, and all things being in their verdure; the Septuagint calls it the month of new fruit; it was appointed the first of the months for ecclesiastic things, and was the month in which the Israelites went out of Egypt, and the first passover was kept in it, and therefore deserving of regard; see Exo_12:2.

for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt

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by night; for though they did not set out until morning, when it was day light, and are said to come out in the day, yet it was in the night the Lord did wonders for them, as Onkelos paraphrases this clause; that he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, and passed over the houses of the Israelites, the door posts being sprinkled with the blood of the passover lamb slain that night, and therefore was a night much to be observed; and it was in the night Pharaoh arose and gave them leave to go; and from that time they were no more under his power, and from thence may be reckoned their coming out of bondage; see Exo_12:12.

HENRY, "Much of the communion between God and his people Israel was kept up, and a face of religion preserved in the nation, by the three yearly feasts, the institution of which, and the laws concerning them, we have several times met with already; and here they are repeated.

I. The law of the passover, so great a solemnity that it made the whole month, in the

midst of which it was placed, considerable: Observe the month Abib, Deu_16:1.

Though one week only of this month was to be kept as a festival, yet their

preparations before must be so solemn, and their reflections upon it and

improvements of it afterwards so serious, as to amount to an observance of the whole

month. The month of Abib, or of new fruits, as the Chaldee translates it, answers to

our March (or part of March and part of April), and was by a special order from God,

in remembrance of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, made the beginning of their

year (Exo_12:2), which before was reckoned to begin in September. This month they

were to keep the passover, in remembrance of their being brought out of Egypt by

night, Deu_16:1. The Chaldee paraphrasts expound it, “Because they came out of

Egypt by daylight,” there being an express order that they should not stir out of their

doors till morning, Exo_12:22. One of them expounds it thus: “He brought thee out

of Egypt, and did wonders by night.” The other, “and thou shalt eat the passover by

night.”

JAMISON, "Deu_16:1-22. The Feast of the Passover.

Observe the month of Abib — or first-fruits. It comprehended the latter part of our March and the beginning of April. Green ears of the barley, which were then full, were offered as first-fruits, on the second day of the passover.

for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night — This statement is apparently at variance with the prohibition (Exo_12:22) as well as with the recorded fact that their departure took place in the morning(Exo_13:3; Num_33:3). But it is susceptible of easy reconciliation. Pharaoh’s permission, the first step of emancipation, was extorted during the night, the preparations for departure commenced, the rendezvous at Rameses made, and the march entered on in the morning.

CALVIN, "1.Observe the month Abib. For what purpose God instituted the Passover,

has already been shewn in the exposition of the First Commandment; for since it was a

symbol of redemption, and in that ceremony the people exercised themselves in the pure

worship of the One God, so as to acknowledge Him to be their only Father, and to

distinguish Him from all idols, I thought that the actual slaying of the lamb should be

introduced amongst the Supplements to the First Commandment. It only remains for us

to speak here of what relates to the Sabbath. This then was the first solemn day, on

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which God would have His people rest and go up to Jerusalem, forsaking all their

business. But mention is here made not only of the Paschal Lamb, but He also

commands sheep and oxen to be slain in the place which He should choose. In these

words He signifies that on that day a holy convocation was to be held; which is soon

after more clearly expressed, for I have already given the two intermediate verses in the

institution of the Passover itself, He therefore prohibits their slaying the Passover apart

in their own cities, but would have them all meet in the same sanctuary. It has been

elsewhere said that one altar was prescribed for them, as if God would gather them

under one banner for the preservation of concord and the unity of the faith. What is

added respecting the solemnity of the seventh day is very appropriate to this place.

COFFMAN, "This chapter gives a brief summary of the three great national

feasts of the Jews, each of which required the general assembly of the people at

the central sanctuary. Two other great occasions of the year, the Feast of

Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement are not mentioned here because they did

not require the assembly of the whole nation. We have the Feast of the Passover

(Deuteronomy 16:1-7), The Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9-12), and the Feast

of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). Anticipating the scattering of the people

in the occupation of Canaan, and discerning the need for more judges, "Moses

here enacts that judges and officers were to be appointed by the people in all

their gates, that is, in all of their various cities."[1] (Deuteronomy 16:16-20).

There is a special warning to judges in the last two verses (Deuteronomy

16:21-22) against being tainted in any manner with idolatry, that being one of

the greatest dangers to the judges, for idolatry was treason against the supreme

authority, God Himself.

Some commentators try to make a big thing out of what they call the

resemblance of these three great national feasts of the Jews to the agricultural

feasts of the pagan nations throughout antiquity, but the truth is that there is no

connection whatever between the religious feasts of Israel and the pagan

celebrations of the heathen, with one little exception. It is true that they

coincided time-wise with the agricultural festivals of antiquity.

However, take the Passover. There is nothing in any pagan celebration of all

history that even resembles the Jewish Passover. Martin Noth alleged that pagan

feasts were taken over by the Jews and adopted into their worship,[2] but the

Holy Scriptures deny this categorically. In all history, there is absolutely NO

record of unleavened bread being considered anything special in pagan religions,

but it is the foundation and cornerstone of the Passover. And where did the

unleavened bread become associated with Passover? It was in that hasty

departure of Israel from the land of Egypt, when they left so hurriedly that there

was no time to wait for bread to be leavened and allowed to rise. Also, the

elaborate ritual of the sprinkling of the blood of the Passover lamb is not merely

historical in forty particulars, every one of which pertains to the deliverance of

Israel, but it is prophetic of the central events of the atonement in the blood of

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Christ for all men. (See our introduction to Exodus (Vol. 2 in my series on the

Pentateuch) for literally dozens of the most minute and significant details in

which this is so abundantly true of the Passover.)

The same may be said for Pentecost, called also, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of

the Firstfruits, and throughout the Christian ages, Whitsunday! There appears

to be good reason for receiving the tradition that this feast originated in the

giving of the Law at Sinai, such a view being confirmed by the fact that in the

Great Antitype, Pentecost was the occasion of the giving of the law of the New

Dispensation on the birthday of the Church!

Regarding the Feast of Tabernacles, there is no suggestion whatever of any

pagan connections with this great Jewish festival, the feature of which was the

requirement that the Jews live in rudely-constructed arbors, brush shelters, or

boothes, as they were called. Why? Because some pagans did such things? Of

course not. This was because, that is the type of shelters the children of Israel

had at first when they came out of slavery in Egypt, a poverty and hardship that

were commemorated historically in the ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles.

There is not any indication whatever that the Jews ever paid the slightest

attention to pagan festivals. The Jews never accepted any kind of a national

festival unless it tied squarely into some significant historical delivery of the

JEWISH people. The Feast of Purim celebrated the salvation outlined in the

Book of Esther. The Feast of Lights celebrated the reopening of the Temple

following its closing and desecration under Antiochus Epiphanes. All of the

allegations to the effect that "all of the great festivals were originally connected

with agriculture and recognized God's bountifulness in the fruits of the

earth,"[3] are backed up by nothing except the imaginative guesses of

commentators.

It is in the great significance which those Three Great Feasts have for Christians

that we find our principal interest today. "Each was a type of some far greater

event to come."[4]

The Passover was a type of the Christian's deliverance from sin via the blood of

our Passover, who is Jesus Christ. It is not merely in a few scattered particulars,

but in literally scores of them, that this amazing Type bears such eloquent

testimony to the Greater Antitype!

The Pentecost was a type of the giving of the Law of Moses. The Antitype, of

course, is the Christian Pentecost. In the old Pentecost, three thousand souls

sinned and were put to death. When the new Pentecost came, the gospel was

preached and "three thousand souls gladly heard the Word of God, believed,

repented, and were baptized into Christ".

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The Feast of Tabernacles is a type of the Harvest Home, when the saints of all

ages shall be welcomed into the home of the soul. As Ackland said, "This awaits

fulfillment when the redeemed are gathered home."[5] Unger and other scholars

find what they believe to be "millennial suggestions" in this Feast of

Tabernacles, but we believe it refers to eternal blessings following the probation

of the Christian life.

THE PASSOVER

"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Jehovah thy God; for

in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover unto Jehovah thy God, of the flock and of

the herd, in the place which Jehovah shall choose, to cause his name to dwell

there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat

unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth

out of the land of Egypt with haste: that thou mayest remember the day when

thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall

be no leaven seen with thee in all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the

flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the

morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which

Jehovah thy God giveth thee; but at the place which Jehovah thy God shall

choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there shalt thou sacrifice the Passover at

even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of

Egypt. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place that Jehovah thy God shall

choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six days thou

shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to

Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work therein."

The omission of the particular "day" in Abib when the Passover was to be

celebrated clearly distinguishes this as supplementary material to the

instructions already given. A very great many of the particulars regarding the

Passover are here omitted because they were not needed by Moses in the purpose

of his speech at this point. In all of these great festivals, as Cook noted, "Nothing

is added to the rules given in Leviticus and Numbers, except that oft-recurring

clause restricting the sacrifices and celebrations to the central Sanctuary and

that enjoined the inclusion of the Levites, widows, orphans, and the poor in the

festivities."[6]

"Bread of affliction ..." (Deuteronomy 16:3). The unleavened bread was called

"the bread of affliction," because, "It was made in circumstances of trial and

pressure, when there was no time for the making of bread of a higher

quality."[7]

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"Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread ..." (Deuteronomy 16:8) It is a mistake

to read this "ONLY six days." The unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven

complete days, and the language here only means that the seventh day of

unleavened bread was to be a holy convocation to the Lord.

The Passover lamb, of course, came only from the flock (either of sheep or of

goats), and thus the mention of "the flock and the herd" in Deuteronomy 16:2

might seem a little confusing. Kline pointed out that, "The word Passover in this

passage refers not only to the Passover proper, but also to the seven days feast of

unleavened bread that accompanied it."[8] That extended feast after the

Passover would have been the occasion when sacrifices from the herd would

have been made.

There is no problem deriving from the fact that the very first Passover was slain

individually by each head of a family in his own residence, whereas the

commandment here requires that it be slain "in the place which the Lord should

choose in which his name was to dwell." At the FIRST Passover, there was no

central sanctuary, not even the tabernacle, thus there was nowhere else to slay

the Passover except in their residences. "During the wilderness wanderings only

one Passover was kept, and that is recorded in Numbers 9."[9] Thus, it was very

necessary for Moses here to impress upon the people the necessity of killing the

Passover only at the central Sanctuary. If the Passover had been kept during the

forty years in the wilderness, the tabernacle would have served as the central

sanctuary, for, although moved frequently, it was still "one sanctuary." It was to

meet the new situation that Moses delivered the instructions in Deuteronomy.

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:1. As a further preservative against idolatry, Moses

proceeds to inculcate upon them a strict regard to the most exact observance of

the three great annual festivals, appointed by their law to be celebrated at the

stated place of national worship, these being designed for this very end, to keep

the people steady to the profession and practice of the religion of the one true

God. The first of these feasts was the passover, with that of unleavened bread;

comprehending the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, with other sacrifices and

oblations prescribed for each day of that whole week during which it was to

continue. Of which see on Exodus 12:13. Observe the month of Abib — Or of

new fruits, which answers to part of our March and April, and was, by a special

order from God, made the beginning of their year, in remembrance of their

deliverance out of Egypt. By night — In the night Pharaoh was forced to give

them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their

departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.

CONSTABLE, "Verses 1-17

The celebration of Passover, Firstfruits, and Tabernacles 16:1-17

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The point of connection of this section with what precedes is the sacrificial meals.

Moses repeated here the instructions regarding those important feasts that

included sacrificial meals that the people would eat at the tabernacle (cf. Exodus

12; Leviticus 23; Numbers 28-29).

1. Passover and Unleavened Bread Deuteronomy 16:1-8

2. Pentecost (also called Harvest, Weeks, and Firstfruits) Deuteronomy

16:9-12

3. Tabernacles (also called Ingathering and Booths) Deuteronomy 16:13-17

God commanded all the male Israelites to assemble at the sanctuary for all these

feasts each year (Deuteronomy 16:16). These feasts amounted to a pledge of

allegiance to Yahweh each time the Israelites celebrated them. They came to His

presence to do so, as their Near Eastern neighbors returned to their kings

similarly to honor them periodically.

"The ancient requirement that the men of Israel should report to the central

sanctuary three times a year has an interesting parallel in the Near Eastern

treaty requirements. It was common practice for suzerains to require their

vassals to report to them periodically, in some cases three times a year, in order

to renew their allegiance and to bring tribute." [Note: Thompson, p. 198.]

The Passover and Unleavened Bread feasts were a more solemn occasion

(Deuteronomy 16:8), but the other two were joyous celebrations (Deuteronomy

16:11; Deuteronomy 16:15). Evidently the Israelites roasted the Passover lamb

(Exodus 12:9), but they boiled the additional offerings for that day

(Deuteronomy 16:7; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:13). [Note: Sailhamer, p. 452.]

God's people should celebrate God's redemption, remember our previous

enslaved condition, and rejoice in God's provisions corporately and regularly (cf.

Ephesians 5:4; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:7; Colossians 4:2; 1 Timothy 4:3-4).

These are the things God encourages Christians to remember at the Lord's

Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).

ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:1-8. THE PASSOVER. (See on Exodus 12)

(1) The month Abib was so called from the “ears of corn” which appeared in it.

By night.—Pharaoh’s permission was given on the night of the death of the first-

born, though Israel did not actually depart until the next day (Numbers 33:3-4).

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(2) Of the flock, and of the herd.—The Passover victim itself must be either lamb

or kid. (See on Deuteronomy 14:4, and comp. Exodus 12:5.) But there were

special sacrifices of bullocks appointed for the first day of the Feast of

Unleavened Bread, which followed the Passover. (See Numbers 28:19.)

(6) At even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou comest forth

from Egypt.—The word “season” here is ambiguous in the English. Does it mean

the time of year, or the time of day? The Hebrew word, which usually denotes a

commemorative time, might seem to point to the hour of sunset as the time when

the march actually began. If so, it was the evening of the fifteenth day of the

month (See Numbers 33:3). But the word is also used generally of the time of

year (Exodus 23:15; Numbers 9:2, &c.); and as the Passover was to be kept on

the fourteenth, not the fifteenth day, the time actually commemorated is the time

of the slaying of the lamb which saved Israel from the destroyer, rather than the

time of the actual march. It is noticeable that, while the Passover commemorated

the deliverance by the slain lamb in Egypt, the Feast of Tabernacles

commemorated the encampment at Succoth, the first resting-place of the

delivered nation after the exodus had actually begun.

(8) A solemn assembly.—Literally, as in the Margin, a restraint—i.e., a day when

work was forbidden. The word is applied to the eighth day of the feast of

tabernacles in Leviticus 23:36, and Numbers 29:35, and does not occur elsewhere

in the Pentateuch.

HAWKER, "The HOLY GHOST hath evidently shown his divine approbation

of the observance of the typical representation of JESUS'S sufferings and death,

as our Paschal Lamb, by the frequent mention of it. This was largely set forth,

Ex 12. but here it is again repeated. It is sweet to the believer to reflect, that in

ages so remote, and at so long a period before the coming of JESUS, the

representation of our deliverance by him should be shadowed out in the church.

Reader! do you really and truly believe what the apostle saith, that CHRIST is

our Passover, and that he was sacrificed for us? Oh! then let us keep the feast,

and let us eat with holy joy the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth! 1

Corinthians 5:7-8

PETT, "Introduction

The Covenant Stipulations, Covenant Making at Shechem, Blessings and

Cursings (Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 29:1).

In this section of Deuteronomy we first have a description of specific

requirements that Yahweh laid down for His people. These make up the second

part of the covenant stipulations for the covenant expressed in Deuteronomy

4:45 to Deuteronomy 29:1 and also for the covenant which makes up the whole

book. They are found in chapters 12-26. As we have seen Deuteronomy 1:1 to

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Deuteronomy 4:44 provide the preamble and historical prologue for the overall

covenant, followed by the general stipulations in chapters 5-11. There now,

therefore, in 12-26 follow the detailed stipulations which complete the main body

of the covenant. These also continue the second speech of Moses which began in

Deuteronomy 5:1.

Overall in this speech Moses is concerned to connect with the people. It is to the

people that his words are spoken rather than the priests so that much of the

priestly legislation is simply assumed. Indeed it is remarkably absent in

Deuteronomy except where it directly touches on the people. Anyone who read

Deuteronomy on its own would wonder at the lack of cultic material it contained,

and at how much the people were involved. It concentrates on their interests, and

not those of the priests and Levites, while acknowledging the responsibility that

they had towards both priests and Levites.

And even where the cultic legislation more specifically connects with the people,

necessary detail is not given, simply because he was aware that they already had

it in writing elsewhere. Their knowledge of it is assumed. Deuteronomy is

building on a foundation already laid. In it Moses was more concerned to get

over special aspects of the legislation as it was specifically affected by entry into

the land, with the interests of the people especially in mind. The suggestion that

it was later written in order to bring home a new law connected with the Temple

does not fit in with the facts. Without the remainder of the covenant legislation in

Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers to back it up, its presentation often does not make

sense from a cultic point of view.

This is especially brought home by the fact that when he refers to their approach

to God he speaks of it in terms of where they themselves stood or will stand when

they do approach Him. They stand not on Sinai but in Horeb. They stand not in

the Sanctuary but in ‘the place’, the site of the Sanctuary. That is why he

emphasises Horeb, which included the area before the Mount, and not just Sinai

itself (which he does not mention). And why he speaks of ‘the place’ which

Yahweh chose, which includes where the Tabernacle is sited and where they

gather together around the Tabernacle, and not of the Sanctuary itself. He wants

them to feel that they have their full part in the whole.

These detailed stipulations in chapters 12-26 will then be followed by the details

of the covenant ceremony to take place at the place which Yahweh has chosen at

Shechem (Deuteronomy 27), followed by blessings and cursings to do with the

observance or breach of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28).

The Three Great Feasts (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).

Moses now reminded them that every year Israel were to gather at the three

great feasts, Passover, Sevens (Weeks or Harvest) and Tabernacles (or

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Ingathering/Booths). (See Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:23. Compare for details

Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-38; Numbers 28:16 to Numbers 29:39). This can be

compared with the gathering of under-kings to make regular submission to their

overlords and offer tribute, often required in treaties. Every adult male in Israel

was to be present. Again the idea of joyous worship is stressed (Deuteronomy

16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14).

That all males were to appear in the place of His choosing three times a year

'before Yahweh' or to 'see the face of Yahweh' is constantly emphasised (Exodus

23:17; Exodus 34:23) This was in fact necessary in order to maintain the unity of

the tribes and in order to maintain their covenant with God. This probably

means all males who were ‘of age’. We are not told about the logistics. They

would spread over available land. The weak and infirm together with male

children were probably not included in 'all males'.

But all, including women and children, were welcome at the feasts, especially

Weeks and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:1-14). It is interesting that wives are

not mentioned although daughters (unmarried) and widows are (Deuteronomy

16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14). Perhaps the wives were to stay behind to look after

the farms (compare Deuteronomy 3:19, although that was a call to arms, also

contrast Deuteronomy 29:11 where wives were specifically mentioned). But it is

more likely that the wives were simply seen as one with their husbands, as

elsewhere (e.g. Deuteronomy 5:14) and that their presence was thus assumed, not

because they were not considered important, but because they were of equal

importance with their husbands. God's promise was that none would invade

during these times (Exodus 34:23-24).

As these feasts were at times of harvest such times would tend not to be danger

periods as all nations would be gathering their own harvests and celebrating

their own feasts and would be too busy to make war. (Note 2 Samuel 11:1 which

indicates that there were certain times for invading). Of course the assumption is

that the whole land would belong to Israel as other nations would have been

driven out (if Israel had been obedient). This was different from the call to arms

which could happen at any time when danger threatened or tribal matters had to

be sorted out (Judges 20:1).

With these regulations given with regard to the three great feasts we come to an

end of this worship section of the speech. No mention is made of the great Day of

Atonement, nor of lesser feasts. This is not a general giving of the Law. It is a

speech given to the people to encourage them and prepare them for their direct

responsibilities in connection with entering the land and possessing it.

Deuteronomy generally avoids what mainly involves the priests and priestly

functions. That information Moses has dealt with in other records. Even in

dealing with uncleanness it has concentrated only on what the people had to

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make positive choices about with regard to it. And when he deals with priests

and Levites in Deuteronomy 18 it is in order to describe the people’s duties with

regard to them. It is this emphasis which explains why he never actually clearly

and specifically differentiates between the responsibilities of priests and Levites,

although once one accepts the differentiation given elsewhere it is clear where he

does differentiate them.

It will be noted that little detail is given as to how the feasts are to be observed

from the priests’ point of view. Apart from the bare bones, all the concentration

is on the aspects connected with the people. Thus at the feast of Passover and

unleavened bread the actual sacrificing is seen as performed by the people and

then partaken of, and the matter of the leaven is dwelt on more fully, while in the

other feasts the sacrificial offerings are ignored and all the emphasis is on joyful

participation in the feasting.

(The whole chapter is ‘thou’ throughout).

II. INSTRUCTION CONCERNING THE GOVERNING OF THE

COMMUNITY (Deuteronomy 16:18 to Deuteronomy 19:21).

Having established the principles of worship and religious response for the

community based on the dwellingplace where Yahweh would choose to establish

His name, Moses now moved on to various aspects of governing the community.

He had clearly been giving a great deal of thought to what would happen when

he had gone, and to that end had been meditating on God’s promises in Genesis

and the content of God’s Instruction (Torah).

Moses was doing here what he described himself as having done for the previous

generation (Deuteronomy 1:15-18). There he had established them with a system

of justice ready for entry into the land but they had refused to enter it when

Yahweh commanded. Now he was preparing their sons for entry into the land in

a similar way.

Justice was to be provided for in a number of ways:

1). By the appointment of satisfactory judges (Deuteronomy 16:18-20)

2). By rejecting Canaanite methods of justice (Deuteronomy 16:21-22). He

reiterated the necessity for the abolition of idolatry and religious impropriety,

and called for the judgment of it in the presence of witnesses (Deuteronomy

16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:7).

3). By setting up a final court of appeal. Here he dealt with what to do when

major judicial problems arose (Deuteronomy 17:8-13).

4). By legislating what kind of king to appoint when they wanted a king. At

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present they had him. Shortly he would be replaced by Joshua. Then would come

a time when they needed another supreme leader and here he faced up to the

issue of possible kingship, an issue that, in view of certain prophecies revealed in

the patriarchal records (Genesis 17:6; Genesis 17:16; Genesis 35:11; Genesis

36:31) would certainly arise in the future, and which Balaam had recently drawn

attention to (Numbers 24:17) as on the horizon. Thus it needed to be legislated

for so that when the time came they might not appoint the wrong kind of king,

and especially they were to be guides as to the kind of king that they should

consider (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).

5). By providing for the sustenance of the priesthood and Levites who watch over

their spiritual welfare (Deuteronomy 18:1-8).

6). By warning against looking to the occult for guidance and promising instead

the coming of other prophets like himself (Deuteronomy 18:9-22).

But while we may see this as a separate unit it is not so in the Hebrew. As we

would expect in a speech not prepared by a trained orator it just goes smoothly

forward. ‘Thee, thou’ predominates as befits a section dealing with

commandments with an occasional subtle introduction of ‘ye, your’.

Verses 1-6

The Three Great Feasts (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).

Moses now reminded them that every year Israel were to gather at the three

great feasts, Passover, Sevens (Weeks or Harvest) and Tabernacles (or

Ingathering/Booths). (See Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:23. Compare for details

Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-38; Numbers 28:16 to Numbers 29:39). This can be

compared with the gathering of under-kings to make regular submission to their

overlords and offer tribute, often required in treaties. Every adult male in Israel

was to be present. Again the idea of joyous worship is stressed (Deuteronomy

16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14).

That all males were to appear in the place of His choosing three times a year

'before Yahweh' or to 'see the face of Yahweh' is constantly emphasised (Exodus

23:17; Exodus 34:23) This was in fact necessary in order to maintain the unity of

the tribes and in order to maintain their covenant with God. This probably

means all males who were ‘of age’. We are not told about the logistics. They

would spread over available land. The weak and infirm together with male

children were probably not included in 'all males'.

But all, including women and children, were welcome at the feasts, especially

Weeks and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:1-14). It is interesting that wives are

not mentioned although daughters (unmarried) and widows are (Deuteronomy

16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14). Perhaps the wives were to stay behind to look after

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the farms (compare Deuteronomy 3:19, although that was a call to arms, also

contrast Deuteronomy 29:11 where wives were specifically mentioned). But it is

more likely that the wives were simply seen as one with their husbands, as

elsewhere (e.g. Deuteronomy 5:14) and that their presence was thus assumed, not

because they were not considered important, but because they were of equal

importance with their husbands. God's promise was that none would invade

during these times (Exodus 34:23-24).

As these feasts were at times of harvest such times would tend not to be danger

periods as all nations would be gathering their own harvests and celebrating

their own feasts and would be too busy to make war. (Note 2 Samuel 11:1 which

indicates that there were certain times for invading). Of course the assumption is

that the whole land would belong to Israel as other nations would have been

driven out (if Israel had been obedient). This was different from the call to arms

which could happen at any time when danger threatened or tribal matters had to

be sorted out (Judges 20:1).

With these regulations given with regard to the three great feasts we come to an

end of this worship section of the speech. No mention is made of the great Day of

Atonement, nor of lesser feasts. This is not a general giving of the Law. It is a

speech given to the people to encourage them and prepare them for their direct

responsibilities in connection with entering the land and possessing it.

Deuteronomy generally avoids what mainly involves the priests and priestly

functions. That information Moses has dealt with in other records. Even in

dealing with uncleanness it has concentrated only on what the people had to

make positive choices about with regard to it. And when he deals with priests

and Levites in Deuteronomy 18 it is in order to describe the people’s duties with

regard to them. It is this emphasis which explains why he never actually clearly

and specifically differentiates between the responsibilities of priests and Levites,

although once one accepts the differentiation given elsewhere it is clear where he

does differentiate them.

It will be noted that little detail is given as to how the feasts are to be observed

from the priests’ point of view. Apart from the bare bones, all the concentration

is on the aspects connected with the people. Thus at the feast of Passover and

unleavened bread the actual sacrificing is seen as performed by the people and

then partaken of, and the matter of the leaven is dwelt on more fully, while in the

other feasts the sacrificial offerings are ignored and all the emphasis is on joyful

participation in the feasting.

(The whole chapter is ‘thou’ throughout).

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:1-8).

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Here the whole feast is called the Passover (in Deuteronomy 16:17 it is called the

feast of unleavened bread). It is celebrated in the month of Abib (the ancient

name for Nisan), ‘the month of the ripening ears’. Its name probably dates back

to the patriarchs and their sojourn in Canaan. It came around March/April,

commencing at the new moon. First came the strict Passover, which was

celebrated on the afternoon of 14th of Abib by the slaying of lambs, with the

feast going on overnight to the following morning at the time of the full moon.

This was then followed by the seven days of unleavened bread, 15th-21st of Abib,

beginning with a festal sabbath and ending on a festal sabbath. (There could

thus be three sabbaths during the seven days, the two festal sabbaths and the

weekly Sabbath).

The Description of the Feast (Deuteronomy 16:1-6).

Analysis in the words of Moses:

a Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to Yahweh your God,

for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night

(Deuteronomy 16:1).

b And you shall sacrifice the passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and

the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause His name to dwell

there (Deuteronomy 16:2).

c You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat

unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of

the land of Egypt in fearful haste (Deuteronomy 16:3 a).

c That you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of

Egypt all the days of your life and there shall be no leaven seen with you in all

your borders seven days, neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the

first day at even, remain all night until the morning (Deuteronomy 16:3-4).

b You may not sacrifice the passover within any of your gates, which

Yahweh your God gives you, but at the place which Yahweh your God shall

choose, to cause His name to dwell in (Deuteronomy 16:5).

a There you shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the

sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:6).

In ‘a’ they are to observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to Yahweh

your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh their God brought them out of

Egypt by night, and in the parallel they will sacrifice the passover at even, at the

going down of the sun, at the season that they came forth out of Egypt. In ‘b’

they are to sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh their God, of the flock and the herd,

in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there, and in

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the parallel they may not sacrifice the Passover within any of their gates, which

Yahweh their God gives them, but at the place which Yahweh their God chooses,

to cause his name to dwell in. In ‘c’ they are not to eat leavened bread with it (‘it’

here means the whole round of sacrifices at this feast, for in what follows ‘it’ is

eaten for seven days, and above it includes cattle); for seven days they must eat

unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction, for they ‘came forth out of

the land of Egypt’ in fearful haste, and in the parallel it is so that they may

remember the day when they came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of

their lives and there was therefore no leaven to be seen within all their borders

for seven days, neither was any of the flesh, which they sacrificed the first day at

even, remain all night until the morning.

It will be observed therefore that the final two verses describing the Passover

actually pass over into the Feast of Sevens Yet it is also clear that they closely

connect with Deuteronomy 16:1-6, which they assume. The passage goes on

smoothly, but there is here at this point the flicker of a movement on in the mind

of the speaker, rather than in Deuteronomy 16:9. (We must beware of allowing

our division into sections to make us think that Moses was preaching in sections.

He was not. Thus could he have two chiasmi where the subjects run into each

other).

Deuteronomy 16:1-2

‘Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to Yahweh your God, for in

the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And

you shall sacrifice the passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd,

in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.’

The Passover was observed on 14th of Abib but no mention of that is made here.

Nor are the other feasts specifically dated. Moses did not want to state the

obvious. This is a further indication of Mosaic ‘authorship’. A later writer would

probably have felt it necessary to date the events more specifically. ‘Observe the

month --’ may signify all the different religious days in it, thus the opening new

moon day on the 1st of Abib, the setting aside of the lambs/kids on the 10th, and

the weekly Sabbaths, as well as Passover itself including the feast of unleavened

bread with its special sabbaths on the opening and closing days. The whole

month was seen as important because it was the month of deliverance, and Moses

wanted it to be well remembered.

The Passover night, with the lamb (or kid) having been slain towards evening,

was itself a feast of remembrance as through the night they partook of the lamb

along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread and during it would go through

the question and answer ritual connected with the Passover (Exodus 12:26-27). It

was a reminder of how Yahweh had brought them out of Egypt ‘by night’, that

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is, in dark times.

“And you shall sacrifice the passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the

herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.”

But there had been, or was now to be, a change in the pattern. On the actual

Passover night the lambs had been slain within the houses and the blood put on

the doorposts. Now the sacrificing of the Passover lambs was to take place at ‘the

place which God shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there’. Leaving their

homes they were all to come together to sacrifice in His presence, at the place to

which He Himself had chosen to come and dwell. He wanted to be a part with

them in their celebrations, and they were His sons (Deuteronomy 14:1) gathered

at His earthly home. But it would still also be a family affair for the actual eating

would take place in households gathered around the sanctuary in the place of

Yahweh’s choice. There is no mention of priestly participation, but they would

almost certainly apply the blood to the altar.

In fact this alteration of the Passover celebration was necessary so that the seven

days that followed could be one of the triad of feasts at the Central Sanctuary.

We note here, however, that ‘the sacrifice’ mentioned in the verse was to be

‘from the flock and from the herd’. This was different from the Passover offering

which was to be a lamb or kid. Was this then a change in the ritual? The fact is

that this is probably not intended to indicate that the specific Passover sacrifice

could be an ox bull instead of a lamb, it rather probably means that by the

phrase ‘sacrificing the Passover’ Moses is indicating all the offerings and

sacrifices that would take place over the eight days of the Passover, which would

include both ox bulls and lambs.

This would seem to be confirmed by Deuteronomy 16:3 which indicates that

‘keep the Passover’ is seen as including the whole seven days of the feast that

follows. The whole was to be observed ‘to Yahweh their God’, that is in honour

of Him, in recognition of Him and in accordance with what He had laid down.

For details see Exodus 12; Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 23:5-8; Numbers 28:16-25.

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:1, Deuteronomy 16:2

The month of Abib (cf. Exodus 12:2; Exodus 23:15). The time is referred to as a

date well known to the people. Keep the passover; make ( עשית ) or prepare the

passover. This injunction refers primarily to the preparation of the Paschal lamb

for a festal meal (Numbers 9:5); but here it is used in a wider sense as referring

to the whole Paschal observance, which lasted for seven days. Hence the mention

of sheep ( צאן ) and oxen ( בקר) in Deuteronomy 16:2, and the reference to the

eating of unleavened bread for seven days "therewith," i.e. with the Passover.

The animal for the Paschal supper was expressly prescribed to be a yearling of

the sheep or of the goats ( שה ), and this was to be consumed at one meal; but on

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the other days of the festival the flesh of other animals offered in sacrifice might

be eaten. The term "Passover" here, accordingly, embraces the whole of the

festive meals connected with the Passover proper—what the rabbins call

chagigah (Maimon; in 'Kor-ban Pesach,' c. 10. § 12; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:7, etc.).

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:1-8

The Feast of the Passover.

(For a reference to the minute points of difference, necessitated by different

circumstances, between the first Passover and subsequent ones, see art.

'Passover,' in Smith's 'Bibl. Dict.;' see also the Exposition for its historical

significance.) We now take for granted that all this is well understood by, and

perfectly familiar to, the reader. Our purpose now is to "open up," not its

historical meaning, nor even its symbolism for Israel, but its typical intent as

foreshadowing gospel truths, showing how in Christ our Passover, and in the

ordinance of the Lord's Supper as our Passover feast, the far-reaching

significance of the offering of the Paschal lamb is most clearly seen.

I. ISRAEL'S PASSOVER HAS ITS ANTITYPE IN CHRIST. So argues the

apostle, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." We

cannot but feel here the wondrous condescension of our God in permitting us to

look at aught so sublime as the sacrifice of his dear Son, through the means of

aught so humble as the Paschal lamb. Yet it is an infinite mercy that, whatever

might so help the conceptions of his children then, and whatever may so aid them

now, the Great Father does not disdain to use.

1. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Sacrificial Lamb; so John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18, 1

Peter 1:19. He is spoken of as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the

world," and is beheld, in the Apocalypse, "a Lamb as it had been slain." He, too,

is "without blemish." He was "without sin." In him alone is the ideal of a perfect

sacrifice found.

2. The Passover was to be killed without breaking a bone thereof. This was

fulfilled in Christ, that men might be aided in seeing the fulfillment of the type,

through the close analogy of the treatment; and because "God would permit no

dishonor to be done to the body of Christ, after the atoning act was complete"

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(Halley).

3. The blood of the first Paschal lamb was to be sprinkled on the posts of the

doors, signifying that there must be the actual acceptance and application of the

atoning blood, and that through the atoning blood so applied we are saved.

4. In the first instance, the lamb was offered without the intervention of a priest.

So that, though priesthood was afterwards instituted for a time for educational

purposes (Galatians 3:1-29.), yet the priest was in no wise necessary to ensure

men's acceptance with God.

5. The flesh was to be eaten, in token of fellowship. It was thus "the most perfect

of peace offerings," symbolizing and typifying communion with God on the

ground of the atoning blood. In all these respects, how very far does the

Christian Antitype surpass the Jewish type? Devout hearts may and do love to

linger long in meditation on a theme so touching and Divine!

II. CHRISTIANS HAVE THEM PASSOVER FEAST.

1. Where. Here we may be permitted to point out a distinction, which, though

obvious enough at first mention thereof, yet is so far lost sight of in some

directions, as to lead to serious error. In later times, though the lamb was slain at

an altar, yet the feast thereon was at a table. So in heathen sacrifices too, the

victim was slain at an altar, the sacrificial feast was at a table. Hence, analogy

suggests that the spot where the Victim is slain should be called the altar, but

that the sacrificial feast should be at a table. The writer of the Epistle to the

Hebrews says, "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve

the tabernacle." The altar here meant is the cross on which the Savior died.

Besides, it is only on the theory that the sacrifice is actually repeated at Holy

Communion, that there can be any possible warrant for calling the Lord's table

an altar. But this theory is absolutely negatived by the statements in Hebrews

10:10-14. The Victim was offered once for all on an altar, even the cross; but we

partake at the Lord's table, of the sacrificial feast.

2. What is the meaning of the feast.

3. How should the Christian feast be kept? i.e. in what spirit? (cf. 1 Corinthians

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5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8). Three or four suggestions will embody the chief hints

hereon thrown out in the written Word.

"And with our joy for pardoned guilt,

Mourn that we pierced the Lord."

MACKINTOSH, "Verses 1-22

We now approach one of the most profound and comprehensive sections of the

Book of Deuteronomy, in which the inspired writer presents to our view what we

may call the three great cardinal feasts of the Jewish year, namely, the Passover,

Pentecost, and Tabernacles; or redemption, the Holy Ghost, and the glory. We

have here a more condensed view of lovely institutions than that given in

Leviticus 23:1-44 where we have, if we count the Sabbath, eight feasts but if we

view the Sabbath as distinct, and having its own special place as the type of

God's own eternal rest, then there are seven feasts, namely, the Passover; the

feast of unleavened bread; the feast first-fruits; Pentecost; trumpets; the day of

atonement; and tabernacles.

Such is the order of feasts in the Book of which, as we have ventured to remark

in our studies on that most marvellous book, may be called "The priests guide

book" But in Deuteronomy, which is pre-eminently the people's book, we have

less of ceremonial detail, and the lawgiver confines himself to those great moral

and national landmarks which, in the very simplest manner, as adapted to the

people, present the past, the present, and the future.

"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God; for

in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock

and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.

Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened

bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the

land of Egypt in haste; that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest

forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no

leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days; neither shall there

anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all

night until the morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy

gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee" — as if it were a matter of no

importance where, provided the feast were kept — "but at the place which the

Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there" — and nowhere else

"thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the

season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the

place which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning,

and go unto thy tents. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the

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seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God; thou shalt do no

work therein" (vers. 1-8.)

Having, in our "Notes on Exodus," gone, somewhat fully, into the great leading

principles of this foundation feast, we must refer the reader to that volume, if he

desires to study the subject. But there are certain features peculiar to

Deuteronomy to which we feel it our duty to call his special attention. And, in the

first place, we have to notice the remarkable emphasis laid upon "the place"

where the feast was to be kept. This is full of interest and practical moment. The

people were not to choose for themselves. It might, according to human thinking,

appear a very small matter how or where the feast was kept provided it was kept

at all. But — be it carefully noted and deeply pondered by the reader — human

thinking had nothing whatever to do in the matter; it was divine thinking and

divine authority altogether. God had a right to prescribe and definitively settle

where He would meet His people; and this He does in the most distinct and

emphatic manner, in the above passage, where, three times over, He inserts the

weighty clause, "In the place which the Lord thy God shall choose."

Is this vain repetition? Let no one dare to think, much less to assert it. It is most

necessary emphasis; Why most necessary? Because of our ignorance, our

indifference, and our wilfulness. God, in His infinite goodness, takes special

pains to impress upon the heart, the conscience and the understanding of His

people, that He would have one place, in particular, where the memorable and

most significant feast of the Passover was to be kept.

And be it remarked that it is only in Deuteronomy that the place of celebration is

insisted upon. We have nothing about it in Exodus, because there it was kept in

Egypt. We have nothing about it in Numbers, because there it was kept in the

wilderness. But, in Deuteronomy, it is authoritatively and definitively settled,

because there we have the instructions for the land. Another striking proof that

Deuteronomy is very far indeed from being a barren repetition of its

predecessors.

The all-important point, in reference to "the place" so prominently and so

peremptorily insisted upon in all the three great solemnities recorded in our

chapter, is this, God would gather His beloved people around Himself, that they

might feast together in His presence; that He might rejoice in them, and they in

Him and in one another. All this could only be in the one special place of divine

appointment. All who desired to meet Jehovah and to meet His people, all who

desired worship and communion according to God, would thankfully betake

themselves to the divinely appointed centre. Self-will might say, "Can we not

keep the feast in the bosom of our families? What need is there of a long

journey? Surely if heart is right, it cannot matter very much as to place." To all

this we reply that the clearest, and best proof of the heart being right would be

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found in the simple, earnest desire to do the will of God. It was quite sufficient

for every one who loved and feared God that He had appointed a Place where He

would meet His people; there they would be found and nowhere else. His

presence it was that could alone impart joy, comfort, strength and blessing to all

their great national reunions. It was not the mere fact of a large number of

people gathering together, three times a year, to feast and rejoice together; this

might minister to human pride, self complacency and excitement. But to flock

together to meet Jehovah, to assemble in His blessed presence, to own the place

where He had recorded His Name, this would be the deep joy of every truly loyal

heart throughout the twelve tribes of Israel. For any one,

wilfully, to abide at home, or to go anywhere else than to the one divinely

appointed place, would not only be to neglect and insult Jehovah, but actually to

rebel against His supreme authority.

And now, having briefly spoken of the place, we may, for a moment, glance at

the mode of celebration This, too, is, as we might expect, quite characteristic of

our book. The leading feature here is "the unleavened bread." But the reader

will specially note the interesting fact that this bread is "the bread of affliction."

Now what is the meaning this? We all understand that unleavened bread is the

type of that holiness of heart and life so absolutely essential to the enjoyment of

true communion with God. We are not saved by personal holiness but, thank

God, we are saved to it. It is not the ground of our salvation; but it is an essential

element in our communion. Allowed leaven is the death-blow to communion and

worship.

We must never, for one moment, lose sight of this great cardinal principle in that

life of personal holiness and Practical godliness which, as redeemed by the blood

of the Lamb, we are called, bound and privileged to live from day to day, in the

midst of the scenes and circumstances through which we are journeying home to

our eternal rest in the heavens. To speak of communion and worship while living

in known sin is the melancholy proof that we know nothing of either the one or

the other In order to enjoy communion with God or the communion of saints,

and in order to worship God in spirit and in truth, we must be living a life of

personal holiness, a life of separation from all known evil. To take our place in

the assembly of God's people, and appear to take part in the holy fellowship and

worship pertaining thereto, while living in secret sin, or allowing evil in others, is

to defile the assembly, grieve the Holy Ghost, sin against Christ, and bring down

upon us the judgement of God, who is now judging His house and chastening His

children in order that they may not ultimately be condemned with the world.

All this is most solemn, and calls for the earnest attention of all who really desire:

to walk with God, and serve Him with reverence and godly fear It is one thing to

have the doctrine of the type in the region of our understanding, and another

21

thing altogether to have its great, moral lesson engraved on heart and worked

out in the life. May all who profess to have the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on

their conscience seek to keep the feast of unleavened bread. "Know ye not that a

little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that

ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is

sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with

the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity

and truth." (1 Corinthians 5:6-8.)

But what are we to understand by "the bread of affliction"? Should we not

rather look for joy, praise and triumph, in connection with a feast in memory of

deliverance from Egyptian bondage and misery? No doubt, there is very deep

and real joy, thankfulness and praise in realising the blessed truth of our full

deliverance from our former condition, with all its accompaniments and all its

consequences. But it is very plain that these were not the prominent features of

the paschal feast; indeed, they are not even named. We have "the bread of

affliction," but not a word about joy, praise or triumph.

Now, why is this? What great moral lesson is conveyed to our hearts by the

bread of affliction? We believe it sets before as those deep exercises of heart

which the Holy Ghost produces by bringing powerfully before us what it cost our

adorable Lord and Saviour to deliver us from our sins and from the judgement

which those sins deserved. Those exercises are also typified by the "bitter herbs"

of Exodus 12:1-51, and they are illustrated, again and again, in the history of

God's people of old who were led, under the powerful action of the word and

Spirit of God to chasten themselves and "afflict their souls" in the divine

presence.

And be it remembered that there is not a tinge of the legal element, or of unbelief

in these holy exercises; far from it. When an Israelite partook of the bread of

affliction with the roasted flesh of the Passover, did it express a doubt or a fear

as to his full deliverance? Impossible! How could it? He was in the land; he was

gathered to God's own centre, His own very presence. How could he then doubt

his full and final deliverance from the land of Egypt? The thought is simply

absurd.

But although he had no doubts or fears as to his deliverance, yet had he to eat

the bread of affliction; it was an essential element in his paschal feast, "For thou

camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayest remember the

day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

This was very deep and real work. They were never to forget their Exodus out of

Egypt; but to keep up the remembrance of it, in the promised land throughout

all generations. They were to commemorate their deliverance by a feast

emblematic of those holy exercises which ever characterise true, practical

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Christian piety.

We would, very earnestly, commend to the serious attention of the Christian

reader the whole line of truth indicated by "that bread of affliction." We believe

it is much needed by those who profess great familiarity with what are called the

doctrines of grace. There is very great danger, especially to young professors,

while seeking to avoid legality and bondage, of running into the opposite extreme

of levity — a most terrible snare. Aged and experienced Christians are not so

liable to fall into this sad evil; it is the young amongst us who so need to be most

solemnly warned against it. They hear, it may be, a great deal about salvation by

grace, justification by faith, deliverance from the law, and all the peculiar

privileges of the Christian position.

Now, we need hardly say that all these are of cardinal importance; and it would

be utterly impossible for any one to hear too much about them Would they mere

more spoken about, written about, and preached about. Thousands of the Lord's

beloved people spend all their days in darkness, doubt and legal bondage,

through ignorance of those great foundation truths.

But, while all this is perfectly true, there are, on the other hand, many — alas!

too many who have a merely intellectual familiarity with the principles of grace

but — if we are to judge from their habits and manners, their style and

deportment — the only way we have of judging — who know but little of the

sanctifying power of those great principles — their power in the heart and in the

life.

Now, to speak according to the teaching of the paschal feast, it would not have

been according to the mind of God for any one to attempt to keep that feast

without the unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction. Such a thing would

not have been tolerated in Israel of old. It was an absolutely essential ingredient.

And so, we may rest assured, it is an integral part of that feast which we, as

Christians, are exhorted to keep, to cultivate personal holiness and that condition

of soul which is so aptly expressed by the "bitter herbs" of Exodus 12:1-51 or the

Deuteronomic ingredient, "the bread of affliction," which latter would seem to

be the permanent figure for the land.

In a word, then, we believe there is a deep and urgent need amongst us of those

spiritual feelings and affections, those profound exercises of soul which the Holy

Ghost would produce by unfolding to our hearts the sufferings of Christ — what

it cost Him to put away our sins namely — what He endured for us when passing

under the billows and waves of God's righteous wrath against our sins. We are

sadly lacking — if one may be permitted to speak for others — in that deep

contrition of heart which flows from spiritual occupation with the sufferings and

death of our precious Saviour. It is one thing to have the blood of Christ

sprinkled on the conscience, and another thing to have the death of Christ

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brought home, in a spiritual way, to the heart, and the cross of Christ applied, in

a practical way, to our whole course and character.

How is it that we can so lightly commit sin, in thought, word and deed? How is it

that there is so much levity, so much unsubduedness, so much self-indulgence, so

much carnal ease, so much that is merely frothy and superficial? Is it not because

that ingredient typified by "the bread of affliction" is lacking in our feast? we

cannot doubt it. We fear there is a very deplorable lack of depth and seriousness

in our Christianity. There is too much flippant discussion of the profound

mysteries of the Christian faith, too much head knowledge without the inward

power.

All this demands the serious attention of the reader. We cannot shake off the

impression that not a little of this melancholy condition of things is but too justly

traceable to a certain style of preaching the gospel, adopted, no doubt, with The

very best intentions, but none the less pernicious in its moral effect. It is all right

to preach a simple Gospel It cannot, by any possibility, be put more simply than

God the Holy Ghost has given it to us in scripture.

All this is fully admitted; but, at the same time we are persuaded there is a very

serious defect in the preaching of which we speak. There is a want of spiritual

depth, a lack of holy seriousness. In the effort to counteract legality, there is that

which tends to levity. Now, while legality is a great evil, levity is much greater.

We must guard against both. We believe grace is the remedy for the former,

truth for the latter; but spiritual wisdom is needed to enable us rightly to adjust

and apply these two. If we find a soul, deeply exercised, under the powerful

action of truth, thoroughly ploughed up by the mighty ministry of the Holy

Ghost, we should pour in the deep consolation of the pure and precious grace of

God, as set forth in the divinely efficacious sacrifice of Christ. This is the divine

remedy for a broken heart, a contrite spirit, a convicted conscience. When the

deep furrow has been made by the spiritual ploughshare, we have only to cast in

the incorruptible seed of the gospel of God, in the assurance that it will take root,

and bring forth fruit in due season.

But, on the other hand, if we find a person going on in a light, airy, unbroken

condition, using very high-flown language about grace, talking loudly against

legality, and seeking, in a merely human way to set forth an easy way of being

saved, we consider this to be a case calling for a very solemn application of truth

to the heart and conscience.

Now, we greatly fear there is a vast amount of this last named element abroad in

the professing church. To speak according to the language of our type, there is a

tendency to separate the Passover from the feast of unleavened bread — to rest

in the fact of being delivered from judgement and forget the roasted lamb, the

bread of holiness, and the bread of affliction. In reality, they never can be

24

separated, inasmuch as God has bound them together; and, hence, we do not

believe that any soul can be really in the enjoyment of the precious truth that

"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," who is not seeking to "keep the feast."

When the Holy Spirit unfolds to our hearts something of the deep blessedness,

preciousness, and efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, He leads us to

meditate upon the soul-subduing mystery of His sufferings, to ponder in our

hearts all that He passed through for us, all that it cost Him to save us from the

eternal consequences of that which we, alas! so often lightly commit.

Now this is very deep and holy work, and leads the soul into those exercises

which correspond with "the bread of affliction" in the feast of unleavened bread.

There is a wide difference between the feelings produced by dwelling upon our

sins and those which flow from dwelling upon the sufferings of Christ to put

those sins away.

True, we can never forget our sins, never forget, the hole of the pit from whence

we were digged. But it is one thing to dwell upon the pit, and another and a

deeper thing altogether to dwell upon the grace that digged us out of it, and what

it cost our precious Saviour to do it. It is this latter we so much need to keep

continually in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts. We are so terribly

volatile, so ready to forget.

We need to look, very earnestly, to God to enable us to enter more deeply and

practically into the sufferings of Christ, and into the application of the cross to

all that in us which is contrary to Him. This will impart depth of tone, tenderness

of spirit, an intense breathing after holiness of heart and life, practical

separation from the world, in its every phase, a holy subduedness, jealous

watchfulness over ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our ways, our whole

deportment in daily life. In a word, it would lead to a totally different type of

Christianity from what we see around us, and what, alas! we exhibit in our own

personal history. May the Spirit of God graciously unfold to our hearts, by His

own direct and powerful ministry, more and more of what is meant by "the

roasted lamb," the "unleavened bread," and "the bread of affliction"!* We shall

now briefly consider the feast of Pentecost which stands next in order to the

Passover. "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; begin to number the seven

weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou

shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill

offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according

as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy

God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy

maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the

fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy

God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou

wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." (Vers.

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9-12.)

{*For further remarks on the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, the

reader is referred to Exodus 12:1-51, and Numbers 9:1-23. Specially, in the

latter, the connection between the Passover and the Lord's supper. This is a

point of deepest interest, and immense practical importance. The Passover

looked forward to the death of Christ; the Lord's supper looks back to it. What

the former was to a faithful Israelite, the latter is to the church. If this were more

fully seen it would greatly tend to meet the prevailing laxity, indifference and

error as to the table and supper of the Lord.

To any one who lives habitually in the holy atmosphere of scripture, it must seem

strange indeed to mark the confusion of thought and the diversity of practice in

reference to a subject so very important, and one so simply and clearly presented

in the word of God.

It can hardly be called in question by any one who bows to scripture, that the

apostles and the early church assembled on the first day of the week to break

bread. There is not a shadow of warrant, in the New Testament, for confining

that most precious ordinance to once a month, once a quarter, or once in six

months. This can only be viewed as a human interference with a divine

institution. We are aware that much is sought to be made of the words, "as oft as

ye do it;" but we do not see how any argument based on this clause can stand,

for a moment, in the face of apostolic precedent, in Acts 20:7. The first day of the

week is, unquestionably, the day for the church to celebrate the Lord's supper.

Does the Christian reader admit this? If so, does he act upon it? It is a perilous

thing to neglect a special ordinance of Christ, and one appointed by Him the

same night in which He was betrayed, under circumstances so deeply affecting.

Surely all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity would desire to remember

Him in this special way, according to His own word, "This do in remembrance of

me." Can we understand any true lover of Christ living in the habitual neglect of

this precious memorial? If an Israelite of old neglected the Passover, he would

have been "cut off." But this was law, and we are under grace. True; but is that

a reason for neglecting our Lord's commandment?

We would commend this subject to the reader's careful attention. There is much

more involved in it than most of us are aware. We believe the entire history of

the Lord's supper, for the last eighteen centuries, is full of interest and

instruction. We may see in the way in which the Lord's table has been treated, a

striking moral index of the church's real condition. In proportion as the church

departed from Christ and His word, did she neglect and pervert the precious

institution of the Lord's supper. And, on the other hand, just as the Spirit of God

wrought, at any time, with special power in the church, the Lord's supper has

26

found its true place in the hearts of His people.

But we cannot pursue this subject further in a footnote; we have ventured to

suggest it to the reader, and we trust he may be led to follow it up for himself.

We believe he will find it a most profitable and suggestive study.}

Here we have the well-known and beautiful type of the day of Pentecost. The

Passover sets forth the death of Christ. The sheaf of first-fruits is the striking

figure of a risen Christ. And, in the feast of weeks, we have prefigured before us

the descent of the Holy Ghost, fifty days after the resurrection.

We speak, of course, of what these feasts convey to us, according to the mind of

God, irrespective altogether of the question of Israel's apprehension of their

meaning. It is our privilege to look at all these typical institutions in the light of

the New Testament; and when we so view them we are filled with wonder and

delight at the divine perfectness, beauty and order of all those marvellous types.

And not only so, but — what is of immense value to us — we see how the

scriptures of the New Testament dovetail, as it were, into those of the Old; we see

the lovely unity of the divine Volume, and how manifestly it is one Spirit that

breathes through the whole, from beginning to end. In this way we are inwardly

strengthened in our apprehension of the precious truth of the divine inspiration

of the holy scriptures, and our hearts are fortified against all the blasphemous

attacks of infidel writers. Our souls are conducted to the top of the mountain

where the moral glories of the Volume shine upon us in all their heavenly lustre,

and from whence we can look down and see the clouds and chilling mists of

infidel thought rolling beneath us. These clouds and mists cannot affect us,

inasmuch as they are far away below the level on which, through infinite grace,

we stand. Infidel writers know absolutely nothing of the moral glories of

scripture; but one thing is awfully certain, namely, that one moment in eternity

will completely revolutionise the thoughts of all the infidels and atheists that

have ever raved or written against the Bible and its Author.

Now, in looking at the deeply interesting feast of weeks or Pentecost, we are at

once struck with the difference between it and the feast of unleavened bread. In

the first place, we read of "a freewill offering" Here we have a figure of the

church, formed by the Holy Ghost and presented to God as "a kind of first-fruits

of his creatures."

We have dwelt upon this feature of the type in the "Notes on Leviticus," chapter

23, and shall not therefore enter upon it here, but confine ourselves to what is

purely Deuteronomic. The people were to present a tribute of a freewill offering

of their hand, according as the Lord their God had blessed them. There was

nothing like this at the Passover, because that sets forth Christ offering Himself

for us, as a sacrifice, and not our offering anything. We remember our

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deliverance from sin and Satan, and what that deliverance cost. We meditate

upon the deep and varied sufferings of our precious Saviour as prefigured by the

roasted lamb. We remember that it was our sins that were laid upon Him. He

was bruised for our iniquities, judged in our stead, and this leads to deep and

hearty contrition, or, what we may call, true Christian repentance. For we must

never forget that repentance is not a mere transient emotion of a sinner when his

eyes are first opened, but an abiding moral condition of the Christian, in view of

the cross and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this were better understood,

and more fully entered into, it would impart a depth and solidity to the Christian

life and character in which the great majority of us are lamentably deficient.

But, in the feast of Pentecost, we have before us the power of the Holy Ghost, and

the varied effects of His blessed presence in us and with us. He enables us to

present our bodies and all that we have as a freewill offering unto our God,

according as He hath blessed us. This, we need hardly say, can only be done by

the power of the Holy Ghost; and hence the striking type of it is presented, not in

the Passover which prefigures the death of Christ; not in the feast of unleavened

bread, which sets forth the moral effect of that death upon us, in repentance,

self-judgment and practical holiness; but in Pentecost, which is the

acknowledged type of the precious gift of the Holy Ghost.

Now, it is the Spirit who enables us to enter into the claims of God upon us —

claims which are to be measured only by the extent of the divine blessing. He

gives us to see and understand that all we are and all we have belong to God. He

gives us to delight in consecrating ourselves, spirit, soul and body, to God. It is

truly "a freewill offering." It is not of constraint, but willingly. There is not an

atom of bondage, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

In short we have here the lovely spirit and moral character of the entire

Christian life and service. A soul under law cannot understand the force and

beauty of this. Souls under the law never received the Spirit. The two things are

wholly incompatible. Thus the apostle says to the poor misguided assemblies of

Galatia, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by works of law,

or by the hearing of faith?... He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and

worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by works of law, or by the hearing of

faith?" The precious gift of the Spirit is consequent upon the death, resurrection,

ascension, and glorification of our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and

consequently can have nothing whatever to do with "works of law" in any shape

or form. The presence of the Holy Ghost on earth, His dwelling with and in all

true believers is a grand characteristic truth of Christianity. It was not, and

could not be known in Old Testament times. It was not even known by the

disciples in our Lord's life time. He Himself said to them, on the eve of His

departure, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient [or profitable —

sumpherei] for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not

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come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him Unto you." (John 16:7.)

This proves, in the most conclusive manner, that even the very men who enjoyed

the high and precious privilege of personal companionship with the Lord

Himself, were to be put in an advanced position by His going away, and the

coming of the Comforter. Again, we read, "If ye love me, keep my

commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another

Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom

the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye

know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you."

We cannot, however, attempt to go elaborately into this immense subject here.

Our space does not admit of it, much as we should delight in it. We must just

confine ourselves to one or two points suggested by the feast of weeks, as

presented in our chapter.

We have referred to the very interesting fact that the Spirit of God is the living

spring and power of the life of personal devotedness and consecration beautifully

prefigured by "the tribute of a freewill offering." The sacrifice of Christ is the

ground, the presence of the Holy Ghost, is the power of the Christian's

dedication of himself, spirit, soul and body, to God. I beseech you therefore,

brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,

holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1.)

But there is another point of deepest interest presented in verse 11 of our

chapter, "And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God." We have no such

word in the paschal feast, or in the feast of unleavened bread. It would not be in

moral keeping with either of these solemnities. True it is, the Passover lies at the

very foundation of all the joy we can or ever shall realise here or hereafter; but,

we must ever think of the death of Christ, His sufferings, His sorrows — all that

He passed through, when the waves and billows of God's righteous wrath passed

His soul It is upon these profound mysteries that our hearts are, or ought to be

mainly fixed, when we surround the Lord's table and keep that feast by which

we show the Lord's death until He come.

Now, it is plain to the spiritual and thoughtful reader that the feelings proper to

such a holy and solemn institution are not of a jubilant character. We certainly

can and do rejoice that the sorrows and sufferings of our blessed Lord are over,

and over for ever; that those terrible hours are passed never to return. But what

we recall in the feast is not simply their being over, but their being gone

through — and that for us. "Ye do show the Lord's death," and we know that,

whatever may accrue to us from that precious death, yet when we are called to

meditate upon it, our joy is chastened by those profound exercises of soul which

the Holy Spirit produces by unfolding to us the sorrows, the sufferings, the cross

and passion of our blessed Saviour. Our Lord's words are, "This do in

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remembrance of me but what we especially remember in the Supper is Christ

suffering and dying for us; what we show is His death; and with these solemn

realities before our souls, in the power of the Holy Ghost, there will — there

must be holy subduedness and seriousness.

We speak, of course, of what becomes the immediate occasion of the celebration

of the Supper — the suited feelings and affections of such a moment. But these

must be produced by the powerful ministry of the Holy Ghost. It can be of no

possible use to seek, by any pious efforts of our own, to work ourselves up to a

suitable state of mind. This would be ascending by steps to the altar, a thing most

offensive to God. It is only by the Holy Spirit's ministry that we can worthily

celebrate the holy Supper of the Lord. He alone can enable us to put away all

levity, all formality, all mere routine, all wandering thoughts, and to discern the

body and blood of the Lord in those memorials which, by His own appointment,

are laid on His table.

But, in the feast of Pentecost, rejoicing was a prominent feature. We hear

nothing of "bitter herbs" or "bread of affliction," on this occasion, because it is

the type of the coming of the other Comforter, the descent of the Holy Ghost,

Proceeding from the Father, and sent down by the risen, ascended and glorified

Head in the heavens, to fill the hearts of His people with praise, thanksgiving and

triumphant joy, yea to lead them into full and blessed fellowship with their

glorified Head, in His triumph over sin, death, hell, Satan and all the powers of

darkness. The Spirit's presence is connected with liberty, light, power and joy.

Thus we read, "The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost."

Doubts, fears, and legal bondage flee away before the precious ministry of the

Holy Ghost.

But we must distinguish between His work and indwelling — His quickening and

His sealing. The very first dawn of conviction in the soul is the fruit of the

Spirit's work. It is His blessed operation that leads to all true repentance, and

this is not joyful work; it is very good, very needful, absolutely essential; but it is

not joy, nay, it is deep sorrow. But when, through grace, we are enabled to

believe in a risen and glorified Saviour, then the Holy Ghost comes and takes up

His abode in us, as the seal of our acceptance and the earnest of our inheritance.

Now this fills us with joy unspeakable and full of glory; and being thus filled

ourselves, we become channels of blessing to others. "He that believeth on me, as

the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this

spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the

Holy Ghost was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." The Spirit is

the spring of power and joy in the heart of the believer. He fits, fills and uses us

as His vessels in ministering to poor thirsty, needy souls around us. He links us

with the Man in the glory, maintains us in living communion with Him, and

30

enables us to be, in our feeble measure, the expression of what He is. Every

movement of the Christian should be redolent with the fragrance of Christ. For

one who professes to be a Christian to exhibit unholy tempers, selfish ways, a

grasping, covetous, worldly spirit, envy and jealousy, pride and ambition, is to

belie his profession, dishonour the holy Name of Christ, and bring reproach

upon that glorious Christianity which he professes, and of which we have the

lovely type in the feast of weeks — a feast pre-eminently characterised by a joy

which had its source in the goodness of God, and which flowed out far and wide,

and embraced in its hallowed circle every object of need: "Thou shalt rejoice

before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy

manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the

stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you."

How lovely! How perfectly beautiful! Oh! that its antitype were more faithfully

exhibited amongst us! Where are those streams of refreshing which ought to flow

from the church of God? Where those unblotted epistles of Christ known and

read of all men? Where can we see a practical exhibition of Christ in the ways of

His people — something to which we could point and say, "There is true

Christianity"? Oh! may the Spirit of God stir up our hearts to a more intense

desire after conformity to the image of Christ, in all things. May He clothe with

His own mighty power the word of God which we have in our hands and in our

homes; that it may speak to our hearts and consciences, and lead us to judge

ourselves, our ways, and our associations by its heavenly light, so that there may

be a thoroughly devoted band of witnesses gathered out to His Name, to wait for

His appearing! Will the reader join us in asking for this?

We shall now turn for a moment to the lovely institution of the feast of

tabernacles which gives such remarkable completeness to the range of truth

presented in our chapter.

"Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast

gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and

thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the

Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place

which the Lord shall choose; because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all

thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely

rejoice. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy 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 thy God which he hath given thee." (Vers. 13-17.)

Here, then we have the striking and beautiful type of Israel's future. The feast of

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tabernacles has not yet had its antitype. The Passover and Pentecost have had

their fulfilment in the precious death of Christ, and the descent of the Holy

Ghost; but the third great solemnity points forward to the times of the restitution

of all things which God has spoken of by the mouth of all His holy prophets

which have been since the world began.

And let the reader note particularly the time of the celebration of this feast. It

was to be "after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine;" in other words, it

was after the harvest and the vintage. Now there is a very marked distinction

between these two things. The one speaks of grace, the other of judgement. At

the end of the age, God will gather His wheat into His garner, and then will come

the treading of the winepress, in awful judgement.

We have in Revelation 14:1-20 a very solemn passage bearing upon the subject

now before us. "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one

sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand

a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud

voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is

come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the

cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

Here we have the harvest; and then, "Another came out of the temple which is in

heaven, he having a sharp sickle. And another angel came from the altar, which

had power over fire" — the emblem of judgement — "and cried with a loud cry

to him that had the sharp sickle, saying Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather

the clusters of the vine the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And angel thrust

in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the

great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the

city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles by the

space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Equal to the whole length of the

land of Palestine!

Now these apocalyptic figures set before us in a characteristic way, scenes which

must be enacted previous to the celebration of the feast of tabernacles. Christ

will gather His wheat into His heavenly garner, and after that He will come in

crushing judgement upon Christendom. Thus, every section of the Volume of

inspiration, Moses, the Psalms, the Prophets, the Gospels — or the acts of

Christ — the Acts of the Holy Ghost, the Epistles, and Apocalypse — all go to

establish unanswerably the fact that the world will not be converted by the

gospel, that things are not improving and will not improve, but grow worse and

worse. That glorious time prefigured by the feast of tabernacles must be

preceded by the vintage, the treading of the winepress of the wrath of Almighty

God.

Why, then, we may well ask, in the face of such an overwhelming body of divine

32

evidence, furnished by every section of the inspired canon, will men persist in

cherishing the delusive hope of a world converted by the gospel? What mean

"gathered wheat and a trodden winepress"? Assuredly, they do not and cannot

mean a converted world.

We shall perhaps be told that we cannot build anything upon Mosaic types and

Apocalyptic symbols. Perhaps not, if we had but types and symbols. But when

the accumulated rays of inspiration's heavenly lamp converge upon these types

and symbols and unfold their deep meaning to our souls, find them in perfect

harmony with the voices of prophets and apostles, and the living teachings our

Lord Himself, In a word, all speak the same language, all teach the same lesson,

all bear the unequivocal testimony to the solemn truth that, the end of this age,

instead of a converted world, prepared for a spiritual millennium, there will be a

vine covered and borne down with terrible clusters fully ripe for the winepress of

the wrath of Almighty God.

Oh! may the men and women of Christendom, and the teachers thereof apply

their hearts to these solemn realities! May these things sink down into their ears,

and into the very depths of their souls, so that they may fling to the winds their

fondly cherished delusion, and accept instead the plainly revealed and clearly

established truth of God!

But we must draw this section to a close; and ere doing so, we would remind the

Christian reader, that we are called to exhibit in our daily life the blessed

influence of all those great truths presented to us in the three interesting types on

which we have been meditating. Christianity is characterised by those three

great formative facts, redemption, the presence of the Holy Ghost, and the hope

of glory. The Christian is redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, sealed by the

Holy Ghost, and he is looking for the Saviour.

Yes, beloved reader, these are solid facts, divine realities, great formative truths.

They are not mere principles or opinions, but they are designed to be a power in

our souls, and to shine in our lives. See how thoroughly practical were these

solemnities on which we have been dwelling; mark what a tide of praise and

thanksgiving and joy and blessing and active benevolence flowed from the

assembly of Israel when gathered round Jehovah in the place which He had

chosen. Praise and thanksgiving ascended to God; and the blessed streams of a

large-hearted benevolence flowed forth to every object of need. "Three times in a

year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.... And they shall not

appear before the Lord empty; every man shall give as he is able, according to

the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath, given thee."

Lovely words! They were not to come empty into the Lord's presence; they were

to come with the heart full of praise, and the hands full of the fruits of divine

goodness to gladden the hearts of the Lord's workmen, and the Lord's poor. All

33

this was perfectly beautiful. Jehovah would gather His people round Himself, to

fill them to overflowing with joy and praise, and to make them His channels of

blessing to others. They were not to remain under their vine and under their fig

tree, and there congratulate themselves upon the rich and varied mercies which

surrounded them. This might be all right and good in its place; but it would not

have fully met the mind and heart of God. No; three times in the year they had to

arise and betake themselves to the divinely appointed meeting place, and there

raise their hallelujahs to the Lord their God, and there too, to minister liberally

of that which He had bestowed upon them to every form of human need. God

would confer upon His people the rich privilege of rejoicing the heart of the

Levite, the stranger, widow and the fatherless. This is the work in He Himself

delights, blessed for ever be His Name, and He would share His delight With His

people. He would have it to be known, seen and felt, that the place where He met

His people was a sphere of joy and praise, and a centre from whence streams of

blessing were to flow forth in all directions.

Has not all this a voice and a lesson for the church of God? Does it not speak

home to the writer and the reader of these lines? Assuredly it does. May we listen

to it! May it tell upon our hearts! May the marvellous grace of God so act upon

us that our hearts may be full of praise to Him and our hands full of good works.

If the mere types and shadows of our blessings were connected with so much

thanksgiving and active benevolence, how much more powerful should be the

effect of the blessings themselves!

But ah! the question is, Are we realising the blessings? Are we making our own

of them? Are we grasping them in the power of an artless faith? Here lies the

secret of the whole matter. Where do we find professing Christians in the full

and settled enjoyment of what the Passover prefigured, namely, full deliverance

from judgement and this present evil world? Where do we find them in the full

and settled enjoyment of their Pentecost, even the indwelling of the Holy Ghost,

the seal, the earnest, the unction and the witness? Ask the vast majority of

professors the plain question, "Have you received the Holy Ghost?" and see

what answer you will get. What answer can the render give? Can he say, "Yes,

thank God, I know I am washed in the precious blood of Christ, and sealed with

the Holy Ghost"? It is greatly to be feared that comparatively few of the vast

multitudes of professors around us know anything of those precious things,

which nevertheless are the chartered privileges of the very simplest member of

the body of Christ.

So also as to the feast of tabernacles, how few understand its meaning! True, it

has not yet been fulfilled; but the Christian is called to live in the present power

of that which it set forth. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the

evidence of things not seen." Our life is to be governed and our character formed

by the combined influence of the "grace" in which we stand, and the "glory" for

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which we wait.

But if souls are not established in grace, if they do not even know that their sins

are forgiven; if they are taught that it is presumption to be sure of salvation, and

that it is humility and piety to live in perpetual doubt and fear; and that no one

can be sure of their salvation until they stand before the judgement-sent of

Christ, how can they possibly take Christian ground, manifest the fruits of

Christian life, or cherish proper Christian hope? If an Israelite of old was in

doubt as to whether he was a, child of Abraham, a member of the congregation

of the Lord, and in the land, how could he keep the feast of unleavened bread,

Pentecost or tabernacles? There would have been no sense, meaning or value in

such a thing; indeed, we may safely affirm that no Israelite would have thought,

for a moment, of anything so utterly absurd.

How is it then that professing Christians, many of them, we cannot doubt, real

children of God, never seem to be able to enter upon proper Christian ground?

They spend their days in doubt and fear, darkness and uncertainty. Their

religious exercises and services, instead of being the outcome of life possessed

and enjoyed, are entered upon and gone through more as a matter of legal duty,

and as a moral preparation for the life to come. Many truly pious souls are kept

in this state all their days; and as to "the blessed hope" which grace has set

before us, to cheer our hearts and detach us from present things, they do not

enter into it or understand it. It is looked upon as a mere speculation indulged in

by a few visionary enthusiasts here and there. They are looking forward to the

day of judgement, instead of looking out for "the bright and morning star."

They are praying for the forgiveness of their sins and asking God to give them

His Holy Spirit, when they ought to be rejoicing in the assured possession of

eternal life, divine righteousness, and the Spirit of adoption.

All this is directly opposed to the simplest and clearest teaching of the New

Testament; it is utterly foreign to the very genius of Christianity, subversive of

the Christian's peace and liberty, and destructive of all true and intelligent

Christian worship, service and testimony. It is plainly impossible that people can

appear before the Lord with their hearts full of praise for privileges which they

do not enjoy, or their hands full of the blessing which they have never realised.

We call the earnest attention of all the Lord's people, throughout the length and

breadth of the professing church, to this weighty subject. We entreat them to

search the scriptures and see if they afford any warrant for keeping souls in

darkness, doubt and bondage all their days. That there are solemn warnings,

searching appeals, weighty admonitions, is most true, and we bless God for

them; we need them, and should diligently apply our hearts to them. But let the

reader distinctly understand that it is the sweet privilege of the very babes in

Christ to know that their sins are all forgiven, that they are accepted in a risen

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Christ, sealed by the Holy Ghost and heirs of eternal glory. Such, through

infinite and sovereign grace, are their clearly established and assured

blessings — blessings to which the love of God makes them welcome, for which

the blood of Christ makes them fit, and as to which the testimony of the Holy

Ghost makes them sure.

May the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls lead all His beloved people, the

lambs and sheep of His blood-bought flock, to know, by the teaching of His holy

Spirit, the things that are freely given to them of God! And may those who do

know them, in measure, know them more fully, and exhibit the precious fruits of

them in a life of genuine devotedness to Christ and His service!

It is greatly to be feared that many of us who profess to be acquainted with the

very highest truths of the Christian faith are not answering to our profession; we

are not acting up to the principle set forth in verse 17 of our beautiful chapter,

"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy

God which he hath given thee." We seem to forget that, although we have

nothing to do and nothing to give for salvation, we have much that we can do for

the Saviour, and much that we can give to His workmen and to His poor. There

is very great danger of pushing the do-nothing and give-nothing principle too

far. If, in the days of our ignorance and legal bondage, we worked and gave upon

a false principle, and with a false object, we surely ought not to do less and give

less now that we profess to know that we are not only saved but blessed with all

spiritual blessings, in a risen and glorified Christ. We have need to take care that

we are not resting in the mere intellectual perception and verbal profession of

these great and glorious truths, while the heart and conscience have never felt

their sacred action, nor the conduct and character been brought under their

powerful and holy influence.

We venture, in all tenderness and love, just to offer these practical suggestions to

the reader for his prayerful consideration. We would not wound, offend, or

discourage the very feeblest lamb in all the flock of Christ. And, further, we can

assure the reader, that we are not casting a stone at any one, but simply writing,

as in the immediate presence of God, and sounding in the ears of the church a

note of warning as to that which we deeply feel to be our common danger. We

believe there is an urgent call, on all sides, to consider our ways, to humble

ourselves before the Lord, on account of our manifold failures, shortcomings and

inconsistencies, and to seek grace from Him to be more real, more thoroughly

devoted, more pronounced in our testimony for Him, in this dark and evil day.

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2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God

an animal from your flock or herd at the place

the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.

BARNES, "Deu_16:2

Sacrifice the passover - “i. e.” offer the sacrifices proper to the feast of the Passover, which lasted seven days. Compare a similar use of the word in a general sense in Joh_18:28. In the latter part of Deu_16:4 and in the following verses Moses passes, as the context again shows, into the narrower sense of the word Passover.

GILL, "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God,.... In the month Abib, and in the night of that month they came out of Egypt, even on the fourteenth day of it at night, between the two evenings, as the Targum of Jonathan; which was a lamb, and typical of Christ, the passover sacrificed for us, 1Co_5:7.

of the flock and the herd; that is, you shall sacrifice also the offerings which were offered throughout the seven days of unleavened bread, and these were both sheep and oxen, Num_28:19 and are expressly called passover offerings and peace offerings, 2Ch_30:21, for what was strictly and properly the passover was only of the flock, a lamb, and not of the herd, or a bullock; though Aben Ezra says there were some that thought that in Egypt it was only a lamb or a kid, but now it might be a bullock; which he observes is not right. It may be indeed that the word "passover" here is a general term, comprehending the whole passover solemnity, and all the sacrifices of the seven days: the Jews commonly understand this clause of the Chagigah, or feast of the fifteenth day, the first day of unleavened bread, and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and the sheep and the oxen on the morrow;''some distinguish them thus, the flock for the duty of the passover, the herd for the peace offerings, so Aben Ezra; or as Jarchi interprets it, the flock of the lambs and kids, and the herd for the Chagigah or festival; in the Talmud (m); the flock, this is the passover; the herd, this is the Chagigah, so Abendana: there was a Chagigah of the fourteenth day, which was brought with the lamb and eaten first, when the company was too large for the lamb, that their might eat with satiety (n); but this was not reckoned obligatory upon them (o), but they were bound to bring their Chagigah on the fifteenth day:

in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there; that is, at Jerusalem, as the event has shown; hence we read of the parents of our Lord going up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover, Luk_2:41.

HENRY 2-3, "That they must be sure to sacrifice the passover in the place that God should choose (Deu_16:2), and in no other place, Deu_16:5-7. The passover was itself a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our passover, is said to be sacrificed for us (1Co_5:7), and many other sacrifices were offered during the seven days of the feast (Num_28:19, etc.), which are included here, for they are said to be sacrificed of the flock and the herd, whereas the passover itself was only of the flock, either a lamb or

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a kid: now no sacrifice was accepted but from the altar that sanctified it; it was therefore necessary that they should to up to the place of the altar, for, though the paschal lamb was entirely eaten by the owners, yet it must be killed in the court, the blood sprinkled, and the inwards burned upon the altar. By confining them to the appointed rule, from which they would have been apt to vary, and to introduce foolish inventions of their own, had they been permitted to offer these sacrifices within their own gates, from under the inspection of the priests. They were also hereby directed to have their eye up unto God in the solemnity, and the desire of their hearts towards the remembrance of his name, being appointed to attend where he had chosen to place his name, Deu_16:2 and Deu_16:6. But, when the solemnity was over, they might turn and go unto their tents, Deu_16:7. Some think that they might, if they pleased, return the very morning after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the priests and Levites being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week's work; but the first day of the seven is so far from being the day of their dispersion that it is expressly appointed for a holy convocation (Lev_23:7; Num_28:18); therefore we must take it as Jonathan's paraphrase expounds it, in the morning after the end of the feast thou shalt go to thy cities. And it was the practice to keep together the whole week, 2Ch_35:17. 2. That they must eat unleavened bread for seven days, and no leavened bread must be seen in all their coasts, Deu_16:3, Deu_16:4, Deu_16:8. The bread they were confined to is here called bread of affliction, because neither grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and therefore proper to signify the heaviness of their spirits in their bondage and to keep in remembrance the haste in which they came out, the case being so urgent that they could not stay for the leavening of the bread they took with them for their march. The Jewish writers tell us that the custom at the passover supper was that the master of the family broke this unleavened bread, and gave to every one a piece of it, saying, This is (that is, this signifies, represents, or commemorates, which explains that saying of our Saviour, This is my body) the bread of affliction which your fathers did eat in the land of Egypt. The gospel meaning of this feast of unleavened bread the apostle gives us, 1Co_5:7. Christ our passover being sacrificed for us, and we having participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort, let us keep the feast in a holy conversation, free from the leaven of malice towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and love. Lastly, Observe, concerning the passover, for what end it was instituted: “That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of Egypt, not only on the day of the passover, or during the seven days of the feast, but all the days of thy life (Deu_16:3), as a constant inducement to obedience.” Thus we celebrate the memorial of Christ's death at certain times, that we may remember it at all times, as a reason why we should live to him that died for us and rose again.

JAMISON, "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover — not the paschal lamb, which was strictly and properly the passover. The whole solemnity is here meant, as is evident from the mention of the additional victims that required to be offered on the subsequent days of the feast (Num_28:18, Num_28:19; 2Ch_35:8, 2Ch_35:9), and from the allusion to the continued use of unleavened bread for seven days, whereas the passover itself was to be eaten at once. The words before us are equivalent to “thou shalt observe the feast of the passover.”

K&D, "(Note: That the assembling of the people at the central sanctuary is the leading point of view under which the feasts are regarded here, has been already pointed out by Bachmann (die Feste, p. 143), who has called attention to the fact that “the place which Jehovah thy God will choose” occurs six times (Deu_16:2,

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Deu_16:6, Deu_16:7, Deu_16:11, Deu_16:15, Deu_16:16); and “before the face of Jehovah” three times (Deu_16:11 and Deu_16:16 twice); and that the celebration of the feast at any other place is expressly declared to be null and void. At the same time, he has once more thoroughly exploded the contradictions which are said to exist between this chapter and the earlier festal laws, and which Hupfeldhas revived in his comments upon the feasts, without troubling himself to notice the careful discussion of the subject by Hävernick in his Introduction, and Hengstenberg in his Dissertations.)

COKE, "Ver. 2. Thou shalt—sacrifice the passover, &c.— "Read," says Mr.

Locke, "from Dr. Cudworth, thou shalt sacrifice the passover of the flock, and

the peace-offerings (thereof) of oxen; i.e. sheep for the passover, and oxen for the

peace-offerings, or the chagigah

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:1. As a further preservative against idolatry, Moses

proceeds to inculcate upon them a strict regard to the most exact observance of

the three great annual festivals, appointed by their law to be celebrated at the

stated place of national worship, these being designed for this very end, to keep

the people steady to the profession and practice of the religion of the one true

God. The first of these feasts was the passover, with that of unleavened bread;

comprehending the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, with other sacrifices and

oblations prescribed for each day of that whole week during which it was to

continue. Of which see on Exodus 12:13. Observe the month of Abib — Or of

new fruits, which answers to part of our March and April, and was, by a special

order from God, made the beginning of their year, in remembrance of their

deliverance out of Egypt. By night — In the night Pharaoh was forced to give

them leave to depart, and accordingly they made preparation for their

departure, and in the morning they perfected the work.

3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but

for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread

of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so

that all the days of your life you may remember

the time of your departure from Egypt.

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CLARKE, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.

GILL, "Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it,.... With the passover, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; that is, with the passover lamb, nor indeed with any of the passover, or peace offerings, as follows; see Exo_12:8.

seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread therewith; with the passover; this plainly shows, that by the passover in the preceding verse is not meant strictly the passover lamb, for that was eaten at once on the night of the fourteenth of the month, and not seven days running, and therefore must be put for the whole solemnity of the feast, and all the sacrifices of it, both the lamb of the fourteenth, and the Chagigah of the fifteenth, and every of the peace offerings of the rest of the days were to be eaten with unleavened bread:

even the bread of affliction; so called either from the nature of its being heavy and lumpish, not grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and was mortifying and afflicting to be obliged to eat of it seven days together; or rather from the use of it, which was, as Jarchi observes, to bring to remembrance the affliction they were afflicted with in Egypt:

for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; and had not time to leaven their dough; so that at first they were obliged through necessity to eat unleavened bread, and afterwards by the command of God in remembrance of it; see Exo_12:33,

that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life; how it was with them then, how they were hurried out with their unleavened dough; and that this might be imprinted on their minds, the master of the family used (p), at the time of the passover, to break a cake of unleavened bread, and say, this is the bread of affliction, &c. or bread of poverty; as it is the way of poor men to have broken bread, so here is broken bread.

JAMISON, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.

CALVIN, "Deuteronomy 16:3Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Because by this

sign they were reminded of their having escaped in haste, as it were from the very

flames; therefore does Moses so often enforce the prohibition of leaven. And here this

reason for it is alleged, viz., that their recollection should be recalled to the affliction

from which they were rescued; for they must needs have been involved in the greatest

straits, when there was no time even for baking bread. Unleavened bread is therefore

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called “the bread of affliction,” that the manner of their deliverance may the more

enhance God’s grace. He repeats what we have seen before, that none of the flesh of the

Lamb should be reserved to the following day. In the former passage from the Book of

Exodus, because Moses speaks generally, the command may at first sight be referred to

the perpetual sacrifice; but the latter passage takes away all obscurity, by the express

mention of the passover. We need not wonder that in one place the word “fat” is used

for the whole carcase, or any part of the lamb, either by synecdoche, or that God might

commend the superior sanctity of the fat, of which they were not permitted to eat, and

which was burnt in all sacrifices.

COKE, "Ver. 3. Even the bread of affliction— So called because it was insipid, and not

easily digested, and therefore served to remind them of their afflicted state in Egypt.

Concerning these several feasts, we refer to the passages in the Margins of our Bibles.

The word passover, in ver. 2 signifies not only the paschal lamb, which was offered on

the fourteenth day, but all the paschal service which followed after as appears by the

next words, of the flock and the herd.

PULPIT, "Bread of affliction; bread such as is prepared in circumstances of trial and

pressure, when there is no time or opportunity for the application of all the means

required for the preparation of bread of the better sort. The Israelites had in haste and

amid anxiety to prepare the Passover meal on the evening of their flight from Egypt,

and so had to omit the leavening of their bread; and this usage they had to observe

during the seven days of the festival in subsequent times, to remind them of the

oppression the nation had suffered in Egypt, and the circumstances of difficulty and

peril amidst which their deliverance had been effected.

SIMEON, "REDEMPTION TO BE EVER BORNE IN MIND

Deuteronomy 16:3. Remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt,

all the days of thy life.

OF all the facts recorded in the Old Testament, the Resurrection of our blessed Lord

created the most general and intense interest; because, by that, the hopes of his enemies

were blasted, and the fears of his followers were dispelled. We may judge of the

emotions that were excited by it from this circumstance, that, when two of the disciples,

in their way to Emmaus, had seen their Lord, and had returned to Jerusalem to inform

their brethren, they, on entering the room where they were assembled together, found

them all saying one to another with most joyous exultation, “The Lord is risen indeed!

the Lord is risen indeed [Note: Luke 24:1-3; Luke 24:30-34.]!” Between that and the

deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, there is a strict analogy. In fact, the deliverance from

Egypt was typical of our redemption by Christ: and, as God required that the people of

Israel should remember the one to their latest hour, so does he expect that we should

remember the other “all the days of our life.”

The words which I have read to you are assigned by Moses as the end for which the

paschal feast, and the feast of unleavened bread, were instituted; namely, to keep up in

the minds of that people, to their latest posterity, the remembrance of the typical

deliverance: and with the same object in view, I would now call your attention to the

Resurrection of our blessed Lord. Beloved Brethren, it is a subject of supreme

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importance: and to every one of you I would say,

I. Treasure it up in your minds—

Good reason was there why the Jews should remember their deliverance from Egypt—

[Most grievous was their bondage there [Note: Exodus 3:7.]: and most wonderful were

God’s interpositions for them [Note: The ten plagues, and the passage of the Red Sea,

&c] — — — Never, from the beginning of the world, had God exerted himself in behalf

of any people as he did for them [Note: Dent. 4:32–34.]. There was good reason,

therefore, why so singular a mercy should be had in everlasting remembrance.]

But far greater reason is there why we should bear in mind the resurrection of our

blessed Lord—

[Far more grievous was our bondage to sin and Satan, death and hell — — — And

infinitely more wonderful were the means used for our deliverance [Note: The

incarnation and death of God’s only-begotten Son.] — — — Yea, and infinitely more

blessed the issue of it [Note: Not mere temporal benefits in Canaan, but everlasting

happiness in heaven.] — — — Shall we, then, ever forget this? Would not the “very

stones cry out against us?” — — —[

Yet, dwell not on it as a mere fact; but,

II. Improve it in your lives—

The Jews, in remembrance of their redemption, were to kill the passover, and to keep

the feast of unleavened bread [Note: ver. 1– 3[. — — — And, if we would answer God’s

end in our deliverance, we must improve it,

1. By a renewed application to that sacrifice by which the deliverance was

obtained—

[It was by sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb on the door-posts and lintels of their

houses that the Jews obtained deliverance from the sword of the destroying angel [Note:

Deuteronomy 12:21-24.] — — — And to the blood of Christ, who is “the true paschal

sacrifice,”. must we apply, “sprinkling it on our hearts and consciences [Note: Hebrews

10:22.],” and expecting from it the most perfect deliverance [Note: Psalms

51:7.] — — — To those who use these means, there is no danger [Note: 1 John

1:7.] — — — to those who neglect to use them, there is no escape [Note: Hebrews

2:3.] — — —[

2. By more diligent endeavours after universal holiness—

[What the meaning of the unleavened feast was, we are told by the Apostle Paul, who

urges us to carry into effect what that typified: “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may

be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice

and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth [Note: 1

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Corinthians 5:7-8.].” In vain we keep the passover, if we do not also keep the feast of

unleavened bread: they are absolutely inseparable. The very end for which Christ

redeemed us, was, “that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good

works [Note: Titus 2:14.]:” and, if we would reap the full benefit of his resurrection,

“we must seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of

God [Note: Colossians 3:1.].” — — — This was designed by God in the appointment of

the feast we have been speaking of [Note: Exodus 13:8-10.]; and the same is designed in

the mercy vouchsafed to us [Note: Romans 14:9.] — — —[

In conclusion, then, I say,

[Be thankful to God for the special call which is now given you to observe this day. If to

the Jews it was said, “This is a night to be much observed to the Lord, for bringing

them out of the land of Egypt; this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the

children of Israel in their generations [Note: Exodus 12:42.];” how much more may it

be said to us! Methinks, any man who kept the Passion-week, as it is appointed to be

observed amongst us, could scarcely fail of attaining the salvation of his soul; so plain

are the instructions given us throughout the whole course of our services, and so

exclusively is Christ held forth to us as “the way, the truth, and the life.” My dear

Brethren, we really are great losers by our neglect of these seasons. Doubtless they may

be observed with superstitious formality: but they may be kept with infinite profit to

the soul. And I beg of you not to let the present opportunity pass away without a

suitable improvement: but, as David said, with a direct reference to the Saviour’s

resurrection, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in

it [Note: Psalms 118:22-24.];” so do you engage with your whole souls in securing the

blessings which the Redeemer’s triumphs, as on this day, have obtained for us — — —[

4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all

your land for seven days. Do not let any of the

meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day

remain until morning.

GILL, "And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days,.... For before the passover they were to search diligently every room in the house, and every hole and crevice, that none might remain any where; see Exo_12:15,

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neither shall there be anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning; which may be understood both of the flesh of the passover lamb, as Aben Ezra, according to Exo_12:10 and of the flesh of flocks and herds, or of the Chagigah; according to Jarchi this Scripture speaks of the Chagigah of the fourteenth, which was not to remain on the first day of the feast (the fifteenth) until the morning of the second day (the sixteenth).

JAMISON, "seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread — a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.

5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any

town the Lord your God gives you

GILL, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates,.... Or cities, as the Targum of Jonathan, so called because they usually had gates to them, in which public affairs were transacted; but in none of these, only in the city of Jerusalem, the place the Lord chose, might they kill the passover and eat it, and other passover offerings:

which the Lord thy God giveth thee; in the land of Canaan, and which land was given them of God.

JAMISON 5-6, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates — The passover was to be observed nowhere but in the court of the tabernacle or temple, as it was not a religious feast or sacramental occasion merely, but an actual sacrifice (Exo_12:27; Exo_23:18; Exo_34:25). The blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and in the place where the true Passover was afterwards to be sacrificed for us “at even, at the going down of the sun” - literally, “between the evenings.”

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:5-6. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of

thy gates — That is, of thy cities, as that word often signifies: see Genesis 22:17; Genesis

24:60. But at the place which the Lord shall choose — And in no other place. The

reason of this is evident the passover itself was a sacrifice; hence Christ, as our

passover, is said to be sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians 5:3; and many other sacrifices, as

we have just seen, were to be offered during the seven days of the feast. Now no

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sacrifice was accepted but from the altar that sanctified it. It was therefore necessary

that they should go up to the place of the altar; for though the paschal lamb was

entirely eaten by the owners in their separate apartments, yet it must be killed in the

court of the tabernacle or temple, its blood sprinkled, and its inwards burned upon the

altar. Besides, by confining them to the appointed place, he kept them to the appointed

rule, from which they would have been apt to vary, and to introduce foolish inventions

of their own, had they been permitted to offer these sacrifices within their own gates,

from under the inspection of the priests. Add to this, that being appointed to attend

where God had chosen to place his name, they were hereby directed to have their eye up

to him in the solemnity, and the desire of their hearts toward the remembrance of his

name, and were pointed to the place where the Messiah, the true passover, was to be

slain. At even — at the season that thou camest out of Egypt — That is, about the time

thou wast preparing to come out.

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:5, Deuteronomy 16:6

Not in their own houses or places of abode might the Paschal lamb be slain and eaten,

but only at the place, which the Lord should choose to place his Name there. On the

first occasion, while the people were still in Egypt and had no sanctuary or specially

holy place where Jehovah s Name was set, the Passover was eaten in their own houses;

but when God should choose a place as his sanctuary, only there could the ordinance be

observed.

6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling

for his Name. There you must sacrifice the

Passover in the evening, when the sun goes

down, on the anniversary[a] of your departure

from Egypt.

GILL, "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in,.... To place the ark and the mercy seat with the cherubim over them, where he caused his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, to dwell; and this was at Jerusalem, where the temple was built by Solomon:

there thou shalt sacrifice the passover; kill and eat the paschal lamb:

45

at even, at the going down of the sun; between the two evenings it was killed, before the sun was set, and afterwards at night it was eaten; the Targum of Jonathan is,"and at evening, at the setting of the sun, ye shall eat it until the middle of the night:"

at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt; or as the same Targum,"the time of the beginning of your redemption out of Egypt;''which was when Pharaoh rose at midnight, and gave them leave to go; from thence their redemption commenced, though they did not actually set out until the morning.

HENRY, "They were also hereby directed to have their eye up unto God in the solemnity, and the desire of their hearts towards the remembrance of his name,being appointed to attend where he had chosen to place his name, Deu_16:2 and Deu_16:6. But, when the solemnity was over, they might turn and go unto their tents, Deu_16:7. Some think that they might, if they pleased, return the very morning after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the priests and Levites being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week's work; but the first day of the seven is so far from being the day of their dispersion that it is expressly appointed for a holy convocation (Lev_23:7; Num_28:18); therefore we must take it as Jonathan's paraphrase expounds it, in the morning after the end of the feast thou shalt go to thy cities. And it was the practice to keep together the whole week, 2Ch_35:17. 2. That they must eat unleavened bread for seven days, and no leavened bread must be seen in all their coasts, Deu_16:3, Deu_16:4, Deu_16:8. The bread they were confined to is here called bread of affliction, because neither grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and therefore proper to signify the heaviness of their spirits in their bondage and to keep in remembrance the haste in which they came out, the case being so urgent that they could not stay for the leavening of the bread they took with them for their march. The Jewish writers tell us that the custom at the passover supper was that the master of the family broke this unleavened bread, and gave to every one a piece of it, saying, This is (that is, this signifies, represents, or commemorates, which explains that saying of our Saviour, This is my body) the bread of affliction which your fathers did eat in the land of Egypt. The gospel meaning of this feast of unleavened bread the apostle gives us, 1Co_5:7. Christ our passover being sacrificed for us, and we having participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort, let us keep the feast in a holy conversation, free from the leaven of malice towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and love. Lastly, Observe, concerning the passover, for what end it was instituted: “That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of Egypt, not only on the day of the passover, or during the seven days of the feast, but all the days of thy life (Deu_16:3), as a constant inducement to obedience.” Thus we celebrate the memorial of Christ's death at certain times, that we may remember it at all times, as a reason why we should live to him that died for us and rose again.

7 Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your

God will choose. Then in the morning return to

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your tents.

BARNES, "After the Paschal Supper in the courts or neighborhood of the sanctuary was over, they might disperse to their several “tents” or “dwellings” 1Ki_8:66. These would of course be within a short distance of the sanctuary, because the other Paschal offerings were yet to be offered day by day for seven days and the people would remain to share them; and especially to take part in the holy convocation on the first and seventh of the days.

GILL, "And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,.... The word for "roast" signifies to "boil", and is justly so used, and so Onkelos here renders it, and the Septuagint version both roast and boil; but it is certain that the passover lamb was not to be boiled, it is expressly forbidden, Exo_12:8 wherefore some think the Chagigah is here meant, and the other offerings that were offered at this feast; and so in the times of Josiah they roasted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance of God; but the other holy offerings sod or boiled they in pots, cauldrons and pans, and divided them speedily among the people, 2Ch_35:13, but the passover lamb seems plainly to be meant here by the connection of this verse with the preceding verses; wherefore Jarchi observes, that this is to be understood of roasting with fire, though expressed by this word:

and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents; not in the morning of the fifteenth, after the passover had been killed and eaten on the fourteenth, but in the morning, after the feast of unleavened bread, which lasted seven days, was over; though some think that they might if they would depart home after the passover had been observed, and were not obliged to stay and keep the feast of unleavened bread at Jerusalem, but march to their own cities; and so Aben Ezra observes, that some say a man may go on a feast day to his house and country, but, says he, we do not agree to it; and it appears from the observation of other feasts, which lasted as long as these, that the people did not depart to their tents till the whole was over; see 1Ki_8:66 and with this agrees the Targum of Jonathan,"and thou shall turn in the morning of the going out of the feast, and go to thy cities.''Jarchi indeed interprets it afterwards of the second day.

HENRY, "But, when the solemnity was over, they might turn and go unto their tents, Deu_16:7. Some think that they might, if they pleased, return the very morning after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the priests and Levites being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week's work; but the first day of the seven is so far from being the day of their dispersion that it is expressly appointed for a holy convocation (Lev_23:7; Num_28:18); therefore we must take it as Jonathan's paraphrase expounds it, in the morning after the end of the feast thou shalt go to thy cities. And it was the practice to keep together the whole week, 2Ch_35:17. 2. That they must eat unleavened bread for seven days, and no leavened bread must be seen in all their coasts, Deu_16:3, Deu_16:4, Deu_16:8. The bread they were confined to is here called bread of affliction, because neither grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and therefore proper to signify the heaviness of their spirits in their bondage and to keep in remembrance the haste in which they came out, the case being so urgent that they could not stay for the leavening of the bread they took with them for their

47

march. The Jewish writers tell us that the custom at the passover supper was that the master of the family broke this unleavened bread, and gave to every one a piece of it, saying, This is (that is, this signifies, represents, or commemorates, which explains that saying of our Saviour, This is my body) the bread of affliction which your fathers did eat in the land of Egypt. The gospel meaning of this feast of unleavened bread the apostle gives us, 1Co_5:7. Christ our passover being sacrificed for us, and we having participated in the blessed fruits of that sacrifice to our comfort, let us keep the feast in a holy conversation, free from the leaven of malice towards our brethren and hypocrisy towards God, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and love. Lastly, Observe, concerning the passover, for what end it was instituted: “That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of Egypt, not only on the day of the passover, or during the seven days of the feast, but all the days of thy life (Deu_16:3), as a constant inducement to obedience.” Thus we celebrate the memorial of Christ's death at certain times, that we may remember it at all times, as a reason why we should live to him that died for us and rose again.

JAMISON, "thou shalt roast and eat it — (See on Exo_12:8; compare 2Ch_35:13).

thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents — The sense of this passage, on the first glance of the words, seems to point to the morning after the first day - the passover eve. Perhaps, however, the divinely appointed duration of this feast, the solemn character and important object, the journey of the people from the distant parts of the land to be present, and the recorded examples of their continuing all the time (2Ch_30:21 2Ch_35:17), (though these may be considered extraordinary, and therefore exceptional occasions), may warrant the conclusion that the leave given to the people to return home was to be on the morning after the completion of the seven days.

COKE, "Ver. 7. And thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents—

Moses speaks of tents here, because they had no other dwellings when these

precepts were delivered. It means, however, their habitations in general. These

words are to be considered barely as a permission, not a command. Thou shalt

turn, or thou mayest turn; i.e. "after you have eaten the paschal lamb at the

sanctuary, you are allowed to return home, if you please." Yet pious people, who

were able to bear so great a charge, were wont, no doubt, to stay the whole seven

days before they returned home. It is inferred likewise from ver. 8 that those who

went home after celebrating the passover, returned again to the place of public

worship against the seventh day of the feast, to keep the solemn assembly to the

Lord, unless they lived at too great a distance; in which case, their presence

might be dispensed with. See Lowth and Kidder.

REFLECTIONS.—God charges them here carefully to observe his solemnities,

as nothing would serve more effectually to secure them in their allegiance to him.

The first and chief of these is the passover; which was typical of that divine

Lamb, whose sacrifice is the price of our eternal redemption, Seven days they did

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eat unleavened bread in remembrance of their bondage, and the haste with

which they were thrust out of Egypt. And this signal mercy they must not only

once a year, but all their days, remember, as a constant motive to love and serve

God. Note: A dying Jesus, and our redemption by him, must be continually in

our eye; and his love towards us every day fresh in our memory, and warm upon

our hearts.

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:7. Thou shalt turn in the morning — The words are

only a permission, not an absolute command. After the solemnity was over, they

might return to their several places of abode. Some think they might return, if

they pleased, the very morning after the paschal lamb was killed and eaten, the

priests and Levites being sufficient to carry on the rest of the week’s work. But

this is evidently a mistake; for the first day of the seven was so far from being the

day of their dispersion, that it was expressly appointed for a holy convocation.

Nor was it their practice to disperse on that day, but to keep together the whole

week, 2 Chronicles 35:17. The meaning, therefore, is, as the paraphrase of

Jonathan expounds it, In the morning, after the end of the feasts, thou shalt go to

thy tents; that is, thy dwellings, which Moses calls here tents, referring to their

present state, and to put them in mind afterward, when they were settled in

better habitations, that there was a time when they dwelt in tents.

PULPIT, "Thou shalt roast. The verb here primarily signifies to be matured by

heat for eating; hence to be ripened as by the sun's heat (Genesis 40:10; Joel

3:13; Hebrews 4:13); and to be cooked, whether by boiling, seething, or roasting.

Here it is properly rendered by roast, as it was thus only that the Paschal lamb

could be cooked. And go unto thy tents; return to thy place of abode; not

necessarily to thy proper home (which might be far distant), but to the place

where for the time thou hast thy lodging. The phrase, "thy tents," which

originally came into use while as yet Israel had no settled abodes in Canaan,

came afterwards to be used as a general designation of a man's home or usual

place of abode (cf. 1 Samuel 13:2; 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 8:66, etc.).

K&D, "He then once more fixes the time and place for keeping the Passover (the former according to Exo_12:6 and Lev_23:5, etc.), and adds in Deu_16:7 the express regulation, that not only the slaughtering and sacrificing, but the roasting (see at Exo_12:9) and eating of the paschal lamb were to take place at the sanctuary, and that the next morning they could turn and go back home. This rule contains a new feature, which Moses prescribes with reference to the keeping of the Passover in the land of Canaan, and by which he modifies the instructions for the first Passover in Egypt, to suit the altered circumstances. In Egypt, when Israel was not yet raised into the nation of Jehovah, and had as yet no sanctuary and no common altar, the different houses necessarily served as altars. But when this necessity was at an end, the slaying and eating of the Passover in the different houses were to cease, and they were both to take place at the sanctuary before the Lord, as was the case with the feast of Passover at Sinai (Num_9:1-5). Thus the smearing of the door-posts with the blood was tacitly abolished, since the blood was to be sprinkled upon the altar as sacrificial blood, as it had already been at Sinai. - The expression “to thy tents,” for

49

going “home,” points to the time when Israel was till dwelling in tents, and had not as yet secured any fixed abodes and houses in Canaan, although this expression was retained at a still later time (e.g., 1Sa_13:2; 2Sa_19:9, etc.). The going home in the morning after the paschal meal, is not to be understood as signifying a return to their homes in the different towns of the land, but simply, as even Riehm admits, to their homes or lodgings at the place of the sanctuary. How very far Moses was from intending to release the Israelites from the duty of keeping the feast for seven days, is evident from the fact that in Deu_16:8 he once more enforces the observance of the

seven days' feast. The two clauses, “six days thou shalt eat mazzoth,” and “on the

seventh day shall be azereth (Eng. Ver. 'a solemn assembly') to the Lord thy God,” are

not placed in antithesis to each other, so as to imply (in contradiction to Deu_16:3and Deu_16:4; Exo_12:18-19; Exo_13:6-7; Lev_23:6; Num_28:17) that the feast of Mazzoth was to last only six days instead of seven; but the seventh day is brought

into especial prominence as the azereth of the feast (see at Lev_23:36), simply

because, in addition to the eating of mazzoth, there was to be an entire abstinence

from work, and this particular feature might easily have fallen into neglect at the close of the feast. But just as the eating of mazzoth for seven days is not abolished by the first clause, so the suspension of work on the first day is not abolished by the second clause, any more than in Exo_13:6 the first day is represented as a working day by the fact that the seventh day is called “a feast to Jehovah.”

Deu_16:9-12

8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the

seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your

God and do no work.

GILL, "Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread,.... In other places it is ordered to be eaten seven days, Exo_12:15 and here it is not said six only; it was to be eaten on the seventh as on the other, though that is here distinguished from the six, because of special and peculiar service assigned to it, but not because of an exemption from eating unleavened bread on it. The Jews seem to understand this of different corn of which the bread was made, and not of different sort of bread; the Targum of Jonathan is, on the first day ye shall offer the sheaf (the firstfruits of the barley harvest), and on the six days which remain ye shall begin to eat the unleavened bread of the new fruits, and so Jarchi:

K&D, "How very far Moses was from intending to release the Israelites from the duty of keeping the feast for seven days, is evident from the fact that in Deu_16:8 he once more enforces the observance of the seven days' feast. The two clauses, “six days

thou shalt eat mazzoth,” and “on the seventh day shall be azereth (Eng. Ver. 'a solemn

50

assembly') to the Lord thy God,” are not placed in antithesis to each other, so as to imply (in contradiction to Deu_16:3 and Deu_16:4; Exo_12:18-19; Exo_13:6-7; Lev_23:6; Num_28:17) that the feast of Mazzoth was to last only six days instead of

seven; but the seventh day is brought into especial prominence as the azereth of the

feast (see at Lev_23:36), simply because, in addition to the eating of mazzoth, there

was to be an entire abstinence from work, and this particular feature might easily have fallen into neglect at the close of the feast. But just as the eating of mazzoth for seven days is not abolished by the first clause, so the suspension of work on the first day is not abolished by the second clause, any more than in Exo_13:6 the first day is represented as a working day by the fact that the seventh day is called “a feast to Jehovah.”

PULPIT, "On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly. This is not placed in

antithesis to the injunction, six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as if the

Feast of Unleavened Bread (mazzoth) lasted only for six days and the seventh

was to be devoted to a service of a different kind; it simply prescribes that the

seventh day of the festival was to be celebrated by an assembling of the whole of

those who had come to the feast; the festival was to be wound up with a day of

holy convocation, in which no work was to be done (Leviticus 23:36). On all the

days unleavened bread was to be eaten, and on the seventh there was besides to

be a solemn assembly to the Lord ( עצרת ), called in Le 23:36, "a holy

convocation" ( מקרא קדש).

The Festival of Weeks

9 Count off seven weeks from the time you

begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.

BARNES 9-12, "Feast of Weeks; and Deu_16:13-17, Feast of Tabernacles. Nothing is here added to the rules given in Leviticus and Numbers except the clauses so often recurring in Deuteronomy and so characteristic of it, which restrict the public celebration of the festivals to the sanctuary, and enjoin that the enjoyments of them should be extended to the Levites, widows, orphans, etc.

GILL, "Seven weeks then shalt thou number unto thee,.... And then another feast was to take place, called from hence the feast of weeks, and sometimes Pentecost, from its being the fiftieth day:

begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put

51

the sickle to the corn; for the sheaf of the wave offering, as the first fruits of barley harvest, which was done on the morrow after the sabbath in the passover week, and from thence seven weeks or fifty days were reckoned, and the fiftieth day was the feast here ordered to be kept; so the Targum of Jonathan,"after the reaping of the sheaf ye shall begin to number seven weeks;''see Lev_23:15.

HENRY, "Seven weeks after the passover the feast of pentecost was to be observed,

concerning which they are here directed, 1. Whence to number their seven weeks,

from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn (Deu_16:9), that is, from

the morrow after the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, for on that day

(though it is probable the people did not begin their harvest till the feast was ended)

messengers were sent to reap a sheaf of barley, which was to be offered to God as the

first-fruits, Lev_23:10. Some think it implies a particular care which Providence

would take of their land with respect to the weather, that their harvest should be

always ripe and ready for the sickle just at the same time.

JAMISON 9-12, "Seven weeks shalt thou number — The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on Lev_23:10; also see Exo_34:22; Act_2:1). As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new wheat was presented as first-fruits (Exo_23:16; Num_28:26), a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law, that spiritual food by which man’s soul is nourished (Deu_8:3).

CALVIN, "9.Seven weeks shalt thou number. It must be observed that the Passover fell

in a part of the year when the harvests were beginning to ripen; and consequently the

first-fruits, of which I treated under the First Commandment, were then offered. Seven

weeks afterwards they celebrated another feast-day, which was called Pentecost, i.e.,

the fiftieth, by the Greeks. There was just this number of days between the departure of

the people and the publication of the Law. Another offering of first-fruits was then

made, in which each one, according to his ability, and in proportion to the produce of

the year, consecrated a gift to God of the harvested fruits. In order that they might be

more ready and cheerful in their liberality, God’s blessing is set before them, as if

Moses had commanded the people to testify their gratitude; since whatever springs

from the earth, is the mere bounty of God Himself.

COFFMAN, "The exact time for beginning of the calculation of the seven weeks was

already given in Leviticus 23:16, where the exact day of beginning was tied to the

Passover celebration. There have been many disputes about the exact manner of

calculating the Pentecost. (For those who would like to explore the matter thoroughly,

reference is made to Vol. 5 in our N.T. series of commentaries, pp. 31-34.) We agree

with Kline that the reason for the very indefinite indication here as to when the

counting should begin was due to there being "no necessity for specific instructions,

because the exact day had already been indicated."[10]

CALCULATING THE PENTECOST

[@Pentecost] is a Greek word, meaning "fiftieth"; and thus the counting always ended

52

on the day of the week that marked the beginning. If the counting began on Saturday it

ended on Saturday. If it began on Sunday, it ended on Sunday, etc., because the number

was counted inclusively for those first and last days.

Now the Leviticus instructions (Leviticus 23:15ff) indicated that the counting was to

begin "on the morrow after the sabbath." The next day after the sabbath is Sunday,

therefore the Pentecost was a Sunday! So far, it is simple enough, but here is what

complicates the problem. There were always TWO sabbaths in every full week of a

feast, and since the first and last days of the holy week were always counted sabbaths,

that would make THREE sabbaths, if the last day was counted. Those "extra" sabbaths

were counted to be especially holy and were called "high sabbaths." Now John tells us

that the sabbath before which Jesus was crucified was one of those "high days" (John

19:31). All such high days could come on any given day of the week, as is true with all

days numbered by the calendar (Christmas can come on any day of the week). The year

Jesus was crucified (April 6,30 A.D.), the high day (sabbath) of the Passover week came

on Friday, and because Christ was crucified on the day of the "preparation," that is,

the day before the sabbath, therefore he was most certainly crucified on THURSDAY.

There were back-to-back sabbaths on Friday and Saturday while Jesus was in the tomb

as attested by the Greek text of Matthew 28:1. It is easy to see that if the counting began

"on the morrow after" that first sabbath (which would have been a Saturday), then we

would have had Pentecost on another Saturday fifty days later, as the Sabbatarians

have always insisted. On the other hand, if the counting began on the "morrow after"

the first ordinary, weekly sabbath, then it would have given a Sunday Pentecost, which

we believe is the correct reckoning. (In addition to the reference to our Vol. 5 in the

N.T. series, above, reference is also made to Vol. 2 in the same series, under Mark

15:42, where eight pages are given on this subject.)

The freewill-offerings mentioned in this paragraph were outlined in Leviticus and

Numbers, and there was no need for Moses to add anything here. Such gifts and

sacrifices were appropriate to be brought at any time, "according as Jehovah had

blessed" the offerer. Specifically, Moses reminded the people over and over of the

necessity of including the Levite, sojourners, widows, fatherless, etc. in the festivities of

joy which were such a vital part of their religion. The reason, of course, was simply that

the Israelites themselves had once been oppressed in the land of bondage.

"Tribute ..." (Deuteronomy 16:10). This word appears nowhere else in the Bible,[11]

and it is of very doubtful meaning. The margin in our Cross-Reference Version gives an

alternate reading of, "after the measure of."[12] The Septuagint (LXX) gives

Deuteronomy 16:10 as follows: "And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks before the Lord

thy God, according as thy hand has power, in as many things as the Lord thy God shall

give thee."[13

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:9-10. Thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn — To

reap the first-fruits of the barley-harvest, the wave sheaf in particular, which was

offered to the Lord on the sixteenth day of that month. Thou shalt keep the feast of

weeks — So called, because it was seven weeks after the bringing the sheaf at the

passover, that is, fifty days, whence it was termed pentecost: see on Leviticus 23:16. It

was also called the feast of first- fruits, Numbers 28:26. With a tribute of free-will-

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offering — Over and besides the sacrifice for the day, and the two loaves and sacrifices

with them, Numbers 28:27-31; Leviticus 23:17-20. God here directs that they should

make some voluntary oblation.

ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:9-12. THE FEAST OF WEEKS, OR PENTECOST.

See also Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:18-23; Leviticus 23:15-22; Numbers 28:26-31. The

feast itself is ordained in Exodus; the time is given in Leviticus; and the sacrifices in

Numbers.

(9) From such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.—The word for sickle

only occurs here and in Deuteronomy 23:25. In Leviticus the weeks are ordered to be

reckoned from the offering of the wave sheaf on the sixteenth day of the first month,

two days after the Passover. This sheaf was of barley, the first ripe corn. A different

view is sometimes taken of the word “Sabbath “in Leviticus 23:11; but the view given

here is correct according to the Talmud.

(10) A tribute.—This word (missah) occurs nowhere else in the Bible. The marginal

rendering, “sufficiency,” is its Aramaic or Chaldזan sense. The idea seems to be “a

proportionate offering “—i.e., a free will offering, proportioned to a man’s means and

prosperity. In Exodus 34:20; Exodus 23:15, we read, “None shall appear before me

empty.” The command is made general for all the three feasts in Deuteronomy 16:16-17

further on.

(11) Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God.—This aspect of the feast of weeks is

specially insisted upon in Deuteronomy. Its relation to the poor appears also in the

command connected with this feast in Leviticus 23:22, to leave the corners of the fields

un-reaped for them.

HAWKER, "Reader! is it not a subject of heartfelt satisfaction, and demanding a most

grateful acknowledgment to our GOD, that as the observance of the Passover happened

at the very time JESUS our Passover was offered upon the cross; so the feast of weeks,

which represented the outpouring of the HOLY GHOST, happened at the very time

when the blessed SPIRIT came down at first in an open display at the day of Pentecost,

upon the minds of the Apostles and first followers of the LORD? Could anything more

decidedly point out the wisdom of GOD in this ordination? See Luke 22:1 compared

with Acts 2:1.

PULPIT, "From such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn; i.e. from the

commencement of the corn harvest. The seven weeks were to be counted from this

terminus; and as the corn harvest began by the presentation of the sheaf of the

firstfruits on the second day of the Passover, this regulation as to time coincides with

that in Le Deuteronomy 23:15.

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:9-12

The Feast of Weeks, or of Harvest.

54

This Feast of Weeks was not commemorative in the same sense as that of the Passover;

it was connected, not with a great national epoch, but with the seasons of the year and

the times of harvest. The method in which it was to be observed is stated in Leviticus

23:10, et seq. We find there, and in the various Scripture references to this festival, the

following principles indicated.

1. That the Hebrews were to regard the produce of the soil as given to them by the

bounty of God.

2. That they were to honor Jehovah by a public thanksgiving for his goodness.

3. That they were to yield the firstfruits to him.

4. That they were to rejoice and be glad before him, for what he was and for what he

gave.

5. That they were to recognize the equality before God of master and servant. National

festivals were holidays for the laborer, and times when good will and kindliness

towards the "stranger, the fatherless, and widow" were to be specially manifested.

6. They were thus to recognize their national unity by showing their joint thankfulness

for a common mercy. These festivals would strengthen Israel's feeling of kinship, and

these united gatherings before the Lord their God would proclaim, as often as they

were held, their separation unto him.

7. Though this was a harvest festival, and as such chiefly expressive of thankfulness for

the bounty of God as seen in nature, yet it was not to be observed without the sin

offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering (cf. Le Leviticus 23:18-20). Other

offerings were to be presented along with the offering for sin. Natural blessings are

given to sinful men only under a dispensation of mercy which comes through a bleeding

sacrifice.

Now all these forms have passed away. But the principles which underlay them are of

eternal obligation. We trust we can see, by means of these signs, the everlasting truths

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signified by them. In each of the particulars named above some permanent principle is

enclosed.

I. THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH ARE TO BE RECEIVED BY US AS GRANTED TO

US BY THE BOUNTY OF A GRACIOUS GOD. So commonplace, or rather so well-

known, a truth is this, that it is not easy for us to picture to ourselves a time when a

nation needed to have it engraved on its heart and conscience by such means as these

divinely appointed festivals. Still, we cannot be unconscious of forces around us being at

work which, if we succumbed to them, would lead us to think of the ordinary products

of the harvest-field as coming simply in due course of law, and to regard the Supreme

Being as so remotely concerned in earth's fruitfulness, that it would be but a slight step

to take to think of him as not concerned therein at all! But in no part of the sacred

records is any such thinking warranted. Reason itself would lead us to suppose that, if

one order of creation is higher than another, the lower was made to serve it; and

consequently, that if man be the highest of all, that the rest is ordered to serve him. The

Psalmist expressed this when he sang, "Thou hast put all things under his feet." Our

Lord Jesus Christ points us to the most common blessings, even to the sun and the rain,

in proof of the good will of a heavenly Father. And this is at once the philosophy and the

faith of a Christian. It is the conclusion of sober sense; it is the dictum of devoutness,

piety, and love. "Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall

understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."

II. THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH SHOULD THEREFORE BE RECEIVED WITH

THANKSGIVING. The doctrine that God is the benevolent Author of all our mercies is

not to be a barren and unfruitful dogma. It is meant to call forth thankfulness. It is said

of the heathen, "neither were they thankful." They did not know enough of God to

understand what true thankfulness meant. But we do. He is revealed in Scripture as

having such watchful concern for our good, that we may well feel an exuberance of

thankful delight that our daily joys come to us from a fountain of love. And it behooves

us to pay our God the homage of grateful hearts.

III. THIS THANKFULNESS SHOULD BE EXPRESSED PRACTICALLY. The truly

loyal heart will need no reminder of this. Cela va sans dire. Jacob needed no precept to

lead him to say, "Of all that thou givest me, I wilt surely give the tenth unto thee." Nor,

if our hearts are as sensitive as they should be to our own unworthiness and to God's

loving-kindness, shall we fail to "honor the Lord with our substance, and with the

firstfruits of all our increase."

IV. OUR GRATITUDE TO GOD SHOULD TAKE THE FORM OF UNITED

WORSHIP AND SONG. We may set apart special seasons for harvest festivals, or no,

as circumstances dictate; but certainly the Divine provision for the temporal wants of

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man should find gladsome acknowledgment in the social worship of a thankful people.

V. A UNITED ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD'S KINDNESS TO US ALL SHOULD

HAVE THE EFFECT OF PROMOTING KINDLINESS AMONG EACH OTHER. If

God makes us glad with his loving goodness, we should make others glad with our

radiant kindness (1 John 3:17; 1 John 4:11). The love streaming from heaven is

revealed for the purpose of creating benevolence upon earth. The blessings that come to

us, unworthy as we are, from the pure benevolence of God, should make us eager, as

much as in us is, to emulate the goodness of heaven!

VI. For, lastly, NOT EVEN IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD FOR COMMON

MERCIES MAY WE FORGET THEIR RELATION TO THAT DIVINE

REDEMPTIVE PLAN WROUGHT OUT BY THE GREAT SON OF GOD. Israel's

rejoicing was to be sanctified by a sin offering; by which we see

K&D, "Deu_16:9-12

With regard to the Feast of Weeks (see at Exo_23:16), it is stated that the time for its observance was to be reckoned from the Passover. Seven weeks shall they count “from the beginning of the sickle to the corn,” i.e., from the time when the sickle began to be applied to the corn, or from the commencement of the corn-harvest. As the corn-harvest was opened with the presentation of the sheaf of first-fruits on the second day of the Passover, this regulation as to time coincides with the rule laid down in Lev_23:15. “Thou shalt keep the feast to the Lord thy God according to the measure of the free gift of thy hand, which thou givest as Jehovah thy God blesseth

thee.” The π. λεγ. מ�ת is the standing rendering in the Chaldee for �י, sufficiency,

need; it probably signifies abundance, from מסס .to flow, to overflow, to derive ,מסה =

The idea is this: Israel was to keep this feast with sacrificial gifts, which every one was able to bring, according to the extent to which the Lord had blessed him, and (Deu_16:11) to rejoice before the Lord at the place where His name dwelt with sacrificial meals, to which the needy were to be invited (cf. Deu_14:29), in remembrance of the fact that they also were bondmen in Egypt (cf. Deu_15:15). The “free-will offering of the hand,” which the Israelites were to bring with them to this feast, and with which they were to rejoice before the Lord, belonged to the free-will gifts of burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, drink-offerings, and thank-offerings, which might be offered, according to Num_29:39 (cf. Lev_23:38), at every feast, along with the festal sacrifices enjoined upon the congregation. The latter were binding upon the priests and congregation, and are fully described in Num 28 and 29, so that there was no necessity for Moses to say anything further with reference to them.

BI 9-12, "Keep the feast of weeks.

The Feast of Pentecost

(a Harvest Thanksgiving sermon):—

I. The sacred character of the harvest. Indicated by time appointed for it—fiftieth day after Passover. As God hallowed the seventh day, so He hallowed the harvest fields of

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the world.

II. The great trouble God took to impress His people with the significance and meaning of common things. We walk along streets of gold, set with jewels, as though they were granite cubes. In the hand of Him who saw the kingdom of God everywhere and in everything, a grain of corn contained in its suggestiveness the deepest mysteries of the kingdom.

III. This feast was a providential mirror in which to see again all the way in which the Lord their God had led them. Happy, thrice happy, is the man who, in the land of plenty, has a wilderness history on which to look back. There is nothing more sublime to the mariner in the haven of rest than the conflicts with the tempests in mid-ocean through which he passed.

IV. This feast was a new bond of brotherhood forged in the fires of the ever-new and never-ceasing love of God. They were to call the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Plenty in some natures petrifies, but this is not its legitimate effect. It should enlarge the heart, and broaden and deepen the sympathies of a man.

V. This feast was to be a time of great moral and spiritual rectification on the part of the people. Repentance. Thanksgiving. (H. Simon, Ph. D.)

Harvest home a national festival

Harvest to the Jews was an event of great and general interest. It was the occasion of one of their grand national festivals. This feast was called by different names—the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of First-fruits. From commencement to close, their harvest festivities included seven weeks.

I. The harvest home was a season for national gratitude. What they offered conferred no favour on God, it was His own; but it expressed the sense of their obligation and the depth of their gratitude. Three things are necessary to the very existence of gratitude towards the giver.

1. That the gift should be felt to be valuable.

2. A belief that the favour is benevolently bestowed.

3. A consciousness that the favour is undeserved.

II. The harvest home is a season for national rejoicing. Where there is gratitude, there is joy, will be joy; gratitude is praise, and praise is heaven. The revelation of the Creator in the harvest field may well make human hearts exult. The God of the harvest there appears, mercifully considerate of the wants of His creatures; as a loving Father, with a bountiful hand, furnishing the table with abundant supplies for His children. There He appears punctual to the fulfilment of His promise. There He appears rewarding human labour.

III. The harvest home is a season for national philanthropy (see Deu_24:19-21).

1. Where God gives liberally, He demands liberality.

2. The liberality demanded is to be shown to the poor. God has planted the poor amongst all peoples, in order that the benevolence of the rich may have scope for development. (Homilist.)

Rejoice before the Lord thy God.

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Thanksgiving Day

I. We may be thankful for this day of thanksgiving, on account of its happy religious influence. It is a day which, in all its appropriate exercises and enjoyments, presents to us our life as a blessing, and our God as a Benefactor; the seasons as a circle of elemental adaptations to our comfort, and the Regulator of the seasons as the Almighty Being who takes care for our varied good; the course of our rolling days, as a series of lessons and opportunities, and the Everlasting and Uncreated One as the Friend who crowns our days with His loving kindness. Thus a great deal is done every year, by a common and hearty expression of thankfulness, to break up, or at least to modify the alliance brought about by several causes in many minds, between religion and great strictness and gloominess. We find that “it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord; yea, a joyful and a pleasant thing it is to be thankful”; for when we dwell on the causes of thankfulness, our gratitude must needs flow naturally and spontaneously out of our bosoms, and go to swell the general stream of praise and gladness which spreads over the land. And we find that it is not at all inconsistent with thankfulness to God for the bounties of His providence, that we should enjoy those bounties freely and honestly and smilingly.

II. We have reason to rejoice in our feast, on account of its happy domestic influence. The day is peculiarly a domestic day; a day for the reunion of families. The houses of the land are glad on this day.

III. Our festival is to be honoured, on account of its happy political influence. If it exerts a happy influence on our religions sentiments and on our domestic relations, it cannot but act with a benign power on those relations which hold us all together in one community. A genial nationality is fostered by that mingling together of prayers, and common interests, and pleasant hospitalities, which occurs on this day. And so far as our nationality is brought about in this manner, there is nothing repulsive or exclusive in it. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)

10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the

Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in

proportion to the blessings the Lord your God

has given you.

GILL, "And thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of Pentecost, at which time the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, Act_2:1.

with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand; there were two wave loaves which were ordered to be brought and seven lambs, one young bullock and two rams

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for a burnt offering, together with the meat and drink offerings belonging thereunto, and a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs for a peace offering, Lev_23:17, and besides all this, there was to be a voluntary contribution brought in their hands; for this was one of those feasts at which all the males were to appear before the Lord, and none of them empty:

which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God,

according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; no certain rate was fixed, it was to be a free gift, and in proportion to a man's abilities, or what the Lord had blessed him with.

HENRY, " They must bring an offering unto God, Deu_16:10. It is here called a

tribute of a free-will-offering. It was required of them as a tribute to their Sovereign

Lord and owner, under whom they held all they had; and yet because the law did not

determine the quantum, but it was left to every man's generosity to bring what he

chose, and whatever he brought he must give cheerfully, it is therefore called a free-

will offering. It was a grateful acknowledgment of the goodness of God to them in the

mercies of these corn-harvests now finished, and therefore must be according as

God had blessed them. Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly.

PULPIT, "This feast was to be kept with sacrificial gifts according to the measure of the

free-will offerings of their hand, i.e. voluntary offerings which they gave as the Lord had

blessed them; nothing was specially prescribed, each was to give of his own free-will as

the Lord had prospered him. The word translated "tribute" in the Authorized Version

מסת ) ) occurs only here, and is of doubtful signification. The LXX. render it by καθὼς,

as, according to; it is identical with the Aramaic מסת sufficiency, enough, and may be

understood here of the full measure according to which their offerings were to be

presented. The freewill offering of thine hand, here referred to, belonged to the gifts of

burnt offerings, meat offerings, drink offerings, and thank offerings which might be

offered at every feast along with the sacrifices prescribed (of. Le 23:38; Numbers

29:39). Of the latter no mention is made here, as the law regarding them was already

sufficiently proclaimed (Numbers 31-28:1 and Numbers 40-29:1 .); and in a popular

address it was rather to what depended on the will of the people than to what was

imperative by law, that attention had to be directed.

11 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the

place he will choose as a dwelling for his

Name—you, your sons and daughters, your

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male and female servants, the Levites in your

towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the

widows living among you.

CLARKE, "Thou shalt rejoice - The offerings of the Israelites were to be eaten with festivity, communicated to their friends with liberality, and bestowed on the poor with great generosity, that they might partake with them in these repasts with joy before the Lord. To answer these views it was necessary to eat the flesh while it was fresh, as in that climate putrefaction soon took place; therefore they were commanded to let nothing remain until the morning, Deu_16:4. This consideration is sufficient to account for the command here, without having recourse to those moral and evangelical reasons that are assigned by the learned and devout Mr.

Ainsworth for the command. How beneficent and cheerful is the design of this institution! - Harmer, vol. i., p. 396.

GILL, "And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,.... Make a liberal feast, and keep it cheerfully, in the presence of God, in the place where he resides, thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours:

thou, and thy son, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; that dwelt in the same city, who were all to come with him to Jerusalem at this feast, and to partake of it with him:

and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.

HENRY, "They must rejoice before God, Deu_16:11. Holy joy is the heart and soul of

thankful praises, which are as the language and expression of holy joy. They must

rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to

him; our duty must be our delight as well as our enjoyments.

CALVIN, "11.And thou shalt require. On another ground he exhorts and excites them

to willingness, because the service of God brings this rejoicing; for there is nothing

which ought more to stimulate us to obedience, that when we know that God rather

consults our good than seeks to obtain any advantage from us. Ungodly men, indeed,

rejoice also, nay, they are wanton and intemperate in their joy; but since that joy is not

only transient, but their laughter is turned into weeping and gnashing of teeth, it is not

without cause that Moses here magnifies it as a peculiar blessing, to rejoice before God;

as if a father should invite his children to delight themselves together with him. But by

this external exercise, believers were reminded that there is no real or desirable joy,

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unless in reference to God. And surely, however the wicked may exult in their

pleasures, and abandon themselves to gratifcations, still, since tranquillity of

conscience, which alone brings true rejoicing, is wanting to them, they do not enjoy the

merriment into which they plunge themselves. Finally, Moses amplifies by a

comparison the good which they enjoyed in the service of God, when he says, “And thou

shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt;” for that their present condition

might be more pleasant to them, he heightened its sweetness by the recollection of their

most miserable captivity. I have here neglected Cicero’s (360) very subtle distinction

between the words gaudium and laetitia, for unless I take both of them in a good sense,

I could not translate the Hebrew words, whereby God would express how indulgently

He deals with His children. Meanwhile, this passage contains an exhortation to render

thanks to God our deliverer.

12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,

and follow carefully these decrees.

GILL, "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,.... And now delivered from that bondage; the consideration of which should make them liberal in their freewill offering, and generous in the feast they provided, and compassionate to the stranger, widow, and fatherless:

and thou shalt observe and do these statutes; concerning the passover, the feast of unleavened bread, and of Pentecost, and the peace offerings and the freewill offerings belonging to them: and nothing could more strongly oblige them to observe them than their redemption from their bondage in Egypt; as nothing more engages to the performance of good works than the consideration of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ, 1Co_6:19.

K&D, "They must have their very servants to rejoice with them, “for remember (Deu_16:12) that thou wast a bond-man, and wouldest have been very thankful if thy taskmasters would have given thee some time and cause for rejoicing; and thy God did bring thee out to keep a feast with gladness; therefore be pleasant with thy servants, and make them easy.” And, it should seem, those general words, thou shalt observe and do these statutes, are added here for a particular reason, because this feast was kept in remembrance of the giving of the law upon Mount Sinai, fifty days after they came out of Egypt; now the best way of expressing our thankfulness to God for his favour to us in giving us his law is to observe and do according to the preceptsof it.

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The Festival of Tabernacles

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for

seven days after you have gathered the produce

of your threshing floor and your winepress.

GILL, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days,.... Which began on the fifteenth day of Tisri, or September; see Lev_23:34, &c.

after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and therefore sometimes called the feast of ingathering, Exo_23:16, barley harvest began at the passover, and wheat harvest at Pentecost; and before the feast of tabernacles began, the vintage and the gathering of the olives were over, as well as all other summer fruits were got in.

HENRY, "III. They must keep the feast of tabernacles, Deu_16:13-15. Here is no

repetition of the law concerning the sacrifices that were to be offered in great

abundance at this feast (which we had at large, Num_29:12, etc.), because the care of

these belonged to the priests and Levites, who had not so much need of a repetition

as the people had, and because the spiritual part of the service, which consisted in

holy joy, was most pleasing to God, and was to be the perpetual duty of a gospel

conversation, of which this feast was typical. Observe what stress is laid upon it here:

Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast (Deu_16:14), and, because the Lord shall bless thee,

thou shalt surely rejoice, Deu_16:15.

JAMISON 13-17, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days — (See on Exo_23:14; see on Lev_23:34; see on Num_29:12). Various conjectures have been formed to account for the appointment of this feast at the conclusion of the whole harvest. Some imagine that it was designed to remind the Israelites of the time when they had no cornfields to reap but were daily supplied with manna; others think that it suited the convenience of the people better than any other period of the year for dwelling in booths; others that it was the time of Moses’ second descent from the mount; while a fourth class are of opinion that this feast was fixed to the time of the year when the Word was made flesh and dwelt - literally, “tabernacled” - among us (Joh_1:14), Christ being actually born at that season.

CALVIN, "13.Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles. Its first day was called the

day of In-gathering, (collectionum ,) because the produce of the whole year was then

stored in their granaries (361) and provision cellars. Since, therefore, they then rested

from their rural labors, it was a convenient time of year for the celebration of the

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festivals; for in order that they might more willingly go up to Jerusalem, it was

arranged by God, that it should be done with but little expense and sacrifice of their

domestic interests. Where our translation is, “When Jehovah shall have blessed thee,” it

stands literally, “Because he shall bless thee,” (362) but the sense is nearly the same; for

Moses assures them that, provided they devote their minds diligently and faithfully to

the service of God, they shall never want grounds for rejoicing, since He will never

interrupt the flow of His blessing. The end, therefore, of the fifteenth verse, is not a

mere command, but also a promise; as if he had said, that, if they were not ungrateful,

there was no fear but that God would continually supply new cause for gladness; and

these two clauses are to be taken in connection, “God will bless thee, and, therefore,

thou shalt only rejoice;” for in this passage I willingly interpret thus (363) the particle

ak. It is indeed absurd to take it adversatively. It will not, therefore, be improper to ,אך

explain it exclusively, as if he said, that, there should be no sorrow or anxiety, which

should hinder them from the performance of their pious duty; those who render it

“surely,” approach also to this meaning.

"Only (Utique, Vatablus; veruntamen, Pagninus; profrcto,Malvenda ) joyful;

understand, and not sad, i.e., You shall indulge in nothing but rejoicing.” —Pol. Syn. in

loco,

COFFMAN, "In addition to the requirement regarding the central Sanctuary, another

thing that dominates these chapters is the commandment to "REJOICE!" It was

evidently intended by the Lord that a great portion of Hebrew wealth and prosperity

was designed to be spent in the celebration of God's rich and overflowing blessings

upon the people. This same quality of "rejoicing" is also one of the cardinal principles

of the New Covenant. When the Jewish people turned away from this central

admonition to "rejoice" and adopted instead all kinds of fasts and days of

MOURNING, they made the most fundamental departure from God's will. The most

familiar picture of Judaism today is that mournful scene at the "WAILING WALL."

(For a full discussion of this preoccupation of the Jews with fasting and mourning see in

Vol. 4 of our series of commentaries on the minor prophets, pp. 100-102,122.)

The parallel Scriptures with instructions on these three great feasts are:

Passover: Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-8; Numbers 28:16-25

Pentecost: Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31

Tabernacles: Leviticus 23:33-43; Numbers 29:12-38

"Shall not appear before Jehovah empty ..." (Deuteronomy 16:16). This has reference

to appearing before Jehovah to worship him without any kind of gift or sacrifice. How

many Christians are put to shame by this? How many are there who exercise no care

whatever to give of their substance to the support of the gospel of Christ! And, if no

Israelite was permitted to appear before God without an offering, what kind of conceit

is it that makes an "alleged Christian" suppose that he may worship continually

without giving anything at all, or at most a mere pittance which he throws in as it may

please him?

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Even in this matter of the pilgrimages three times a year to the central Sanctuary,

Cousins found a reminder of the suzerainty treaties, which "required vassals to report

periodically to renew their oath of allegiance."[14] Kline also stressed this: "These

verses bring into relief the character of the pilgrimages as tributary trips to the throne

of the God-King (Deuteronomy 16:16b)."[15

K&D 13-15, "Deu_16:13-15

In connection with the Feast of Tabernacles also, he simply enforces the observance of it at the central sanctuary, and exhorts the people to rejoice at this festival, and not only to allow their sons and daughters to participate in this joy, but also the man-servant and maid-servant, and the portionless Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans. After what had already been stated, Moses did not consider it necessary to mention expressly that this festal rejoicing was also to be manifested in joyous sacrificial meals; it was enough for him to point to the blessing which God had bestowed upon their cultivation of the corn, the olive, and the vine, and upon all the works of their hands, i.e., upon their labour generally (Deu_16:13-15), as there was nothing further to remark after the instructions which had already been given with reference to this feast also (Lev_23:34-36, Lev_23:39-43; Num 29:12-38).

ELLICOTT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-15. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

(13) Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days.—For details of the

observance see the passages already referred to in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but

more especially Leviticus 23:33-43.

(14) Thou, and thy son . . .—The rejoicing of the Feast of Tabernacles was proverbial

among the Jews. On the persons who are to share the joy, Rashi has an interesting note.

“The Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow,—My four (Jehovah’s),

over against thy four—thy son, thy daughter, thy manservant, thy maidservant. If thou

wilt make My four to rejoice, I will rejoice thy four.”

(15) Seven days.—An eighth day is mentioned both in Leviticus 23:36 and Numbers

29:35. But the seven days of this feast are also spoken of in both those passages

(Leviticus 23:36 and Numbers 29:12). There is, therefore, no contradiction between the

two passages. The eighth day is treated apart from the first seven days of the Feast of

Tabernacles, somewhat in the same way as the Passover is always distinguished in the

Pentateuch from the six days which followed it, and which are called the Feast of

Unleavened bread. The reason for the distinction in that case becomes clear in the

fulfilment of the feast by our Lord. The Passover is His sacrifice and death. We keep

the feast of unleavened bread by serving Him in “sincerity and truth.” The Feast of

Tabernacles has not yet been fulfilled by our Lord like the two other great feasts of the

Jewish calendar. Unfulfilled prophecies regarding it may be pointed out, as in

Zechariah 14. Our Lord refused to signalise that feast by any public manifestation

(John 7:2-10). There may, therefore, be some reason for separating the eighth and last

day of the Feast of Tabernacles from the former seven, which will appear in its

fulfilment in the kingdom of God. It is remarkable that the dedication of Solomon’s

temple, the commencement of the second temple and the dedication of the wall of

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Jerusalem, all occurred about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Thou shalt surely rejoice.—In the Hebrew this is a somewhat unusual form of

expression. Literally, thou wilt be only rejoicing. Rashi says it is not a command, but a

promise.

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-15

The Feast of Tabernacles, properly, Booths (cf. Leviticus 23:33-44; Numbers 29:12-38).

This feast was to be observed at the end of harvest, after the corn had been gathered

into granaries, and the produce of the vineyard had been put through the press.

Nothing is added here to the instructions already given respecting this festival; only the

observance of it at the appointed sanctuary is enforced, and stress is laid on their

making not only their sons and daughters and domestics, but also the Levite, the

fatherless, the widow, and the stranger participators in their rejoicings. Thou shalt

surely rejoice; rather, thou shalt be wholly joyous; literally, rejoicing only; Rosenm;

"adnodum laetus."

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:13-17

The Feast of Tabernacles, or of Ingathering.

"The festival of tabernacles, as originally instituted, presents but little symbolism. Its

primary design was to give expression to joy and gratitude in view of the products of

the earth, every kind of which had now been gathered; and it was therefore also called

the Festival of Ingathering." As the Passover commemorated the first deliverance, so

the Feast of Booths would recall the wilderness life. And "nothing was more natural

than to associate in thought the richness of their inheritance with the probationary

trials by means of which the nation had been prepared to possess it". It is scarcely

necessary here to do more than suggest the underlying principles which are presented

here. They must needs have some similarity with those in the preceding Homily. Israel

is taught the following truths:

1. After the corn and wine have been gathered in, and the anxieties of the year are so

far over, they are then expected to look up gratefully to God as the Author of all.

2. God's mercies are to be enjoyed, in grateful and delightful repose.

3. With the gladsome rest there is to be associated a thankful memory of past guidance

and help in the wilderness life.

4. In this rejoicing and thankfulness, master and servant are alike to share, as both

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equal in the sight of God.

5. By Israel's gladness, the sorrows of the poor, the sad, the lonely, are to be relieved,

and the solitary ones are to be made conscious of a kindly care encompassing them.

6. The recognition of a reception of mercy is to be accompanied with a loving offering to

God in return (Deuteronomy 16:16, Deuteronomy 16:17). According to the blessing, so

is to be the tribute.

7. Thus Israel's nationality is to be thrice sealed every year, as a specifically religious

one, in holy and joyful covenant with the Lord their God. Manifestly on each of these

points, Israel's temporary and local forms illustrated permanent and worldwide

principles, in the exposition of which the Christian teacher may well delight.

BI 13-15, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.

Harvest home

The Feast of Tabernacles was the harvest home of Israel. Where is the antitype of the festival of Tabernacles? The vision of the “great multitude which no man could number” is a vision throughout of a heavenly Feast of Tabernacles; the harvest home of the Church triumphant.

I. These festivals are occasions of hospitality and of reunion. A selfish life is an unchristian life. A man might possibly remember God in solitude, a monastery has ere now fostered devotion: but there is one virtue which cannot be practised in seclusion—charity; the Gospel virtue—without which we are nothing. The very exertion which it costs some men to come out is salutary. If some are made frivolous by the love of society, some are made selfish by isolation from their kind.

II. Two things were especially required of the Israelites when they assembled for their three annual feasts: first, that they should not appear before the lord empty; secondly, that children and servants, the Levite and the stranger, the fatherless and widow, should be allowed to rejoice with them. The feast only becomes a blessing when it remembers God, and remembers man.

III. The law of God was read over, once in seven years, to the assembled Israelites at their Feast of Tabernacles. If there be a time when we remember duty, surely it should be when our hands are full of gifts. A time of feasting, nay, a time of prosperity, nay, a time of unmarked, of average sufficiency, brings its own peculiar risk of practical ungodliness.

IV. Yet we recognise in this festival the comforting side of true religion. God’s voice never comes to make us miserable. If it condemns, it is that we may rise out of condemnation into a state altogether joyous. A harvest home is a glimpse of the love and of the peace and of the joy of the Gospel.

V. It is also a memento of the place of thankfulness in the Gospel. Is there any test so

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condemning as that which touches us on the point of gratitude? Who really gives God thanks for life, for health, for motion, for speech, for reason? Well may we have one day in the year set apart for the work of simple praise.

VI. Recognise in this celebration the identification of the God of nature and providence with the God of revelation and of the Gospel. The things that are seen become a very sign and sacrament of the things that are not seen. The harvest of the natural world indicates to us, by its marvellous yet now familiar phenomena, the working of the same power which alone can melt the heart of stone, and impress upon a trifling soul the realities of a life and a home in heaven. VII. Finally, let the service which gives thanks for an earthly harvest carry your thoughts to that great “reaping after sowing,” which is before every one of us, in the resurrection of the body and in the eternity which is yet beyond (Mat_13:39; Gal_6:7-8). God grant us all a place in that ingathering, the close of a world’s labour, the inauguration of a heavenly rest! (Dean Vaughan.)

14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons

and daughters, your male and female servants,

and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless

and the widows who live in your towns.

GILL, "And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast,.... At this feast of tabernacles and ingathering of the fruits of the earth, in token of gratitude and thankfulness for the goodness of God bestowed on them; the Targum of Jonathan adds, with the flute and the pipe, making use of instrumental music to increase the joy on this occasion:

thou and thy son, &c. See Gill on Deu_16:11

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:14-16. Thou shalt rejoice — In God, and in the effects of

his favour, serving and praising him with a glad heart. Shall all thy males appear before

the Lord — That is, from twenty to fifty years of age. The women were not obliged to

be present at these solemnities; 1st, Because the weakness of their sex rendered them

unable to bear so long a journey as many of them would have had to take, without more

fatigue than would have been consistent with their health. 2d, Because the care of their

children and servants demanded their presence at home. 3d, Because they were

represented in the men. No doubt the chief intention of these sacred feasts was to

promote piety toward God, and mutual love toward each other, among the Israelites.

By the various solemn services in which they were engaged at these seasons, their minds

would be awakened to a sense of the infinite importance of religion, and excited to

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reverence and stand in awe of the Divine Majesty, while many would be inspired

unfeignedly to praise and love the Author of all their mercies. By being brought so often

together from all parts of the country, their acquaintance with, and regard for each

other, would be both continued and increased, and the bond of union among them, as a

community, greatly strengthened. Thus also they would be preserved from the

idolatrous rites and superstitious practices of their heathen neighbours, and their

attachment to their own happy constitution, both civil and religious, would be

confirmed.

15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the

Lord your God at the place the Lord will

choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in

all your harvest and in all the work of your

hands, and your joy will be complete.

GILL, "Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of tabernacles still spoken of:

in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: the city of Jerusalem:

because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase, and in all the works of thine hands; both in the increase of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, and also in their several handicraft trades and occupations they were employed in; so Aben Ezra interprets all the works of their hands of merchandise and manufactories:

therefore thou shalt surely rejoice; extremely, heartily, and sincerely, and not fail to express joy on this occasion, and manifest it by a generous freewill offering to the Lord, and a bountiful entertainment for himself, his family, friends, and others.

HENRY, "It is the will of God that his people should be a cheerful people. If those that were under the law must rejoice before God, much more must we that are under the grace of the gospel, which makes it our duty, not only as here to rejoice in our feasts, but to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always. 2. When we rejoice in God ourselves we should do what we can to assist others also to rejoice in him, by

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comforting the mourners and supplying the necessitous, that even the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow may rejoice with us. See Job_29:13. 3. We must rejoice in God, not only because of what we have received and are receiving from him daily, but because of what he has promised, and we expect to receive yet further from him: because he shall bless thee, therefore thou shalt rejoice. Those that make God their joy may rejoice in hope, for he is faithful that has promised.

COKE, "Ver. 15. Therefore thou shalt surely rejoice— Cecrops ordained at

Athens a similar law to this; commanding that masters of families should make a

feast for their servants after harvest, and eat together with them who had jointly

laboured in tilling the ground; for that God delighted in the honour done to

servants in consideration of their labour. Macrob. Saturnal. lib. 1: cap. 10. It is

probable, that Cecrops derived this law from Moses. He lived about the time of

the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and, according to Eusebius, first

instructed the Greeks to give to God the name of Ξευς, that is to say, the living

God. Prep. Evan. lib. 10: p. 487. Pausanias says more than once, that Cecrops

first gave to Ξευς, or Jupiter, the appellation of most high. See Arcad. Oper. p.

237 and Horat. Ephesians 1 lib. 2.

16 Three times a year all your men must appear

before the Lord your God at the place he will

choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the

Festival of Weeks and the Festival of

Tabernacles. No one should appear before the

Lord empty-handed:

CLARKE, "Three times in a year - See Exo_23:14 (note), where all the Jewish feasts are explained. See also Lev_23:34 (note).

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GILL, "Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God,.... This has been observed before, Exo_23:17, and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place where they were to appear, which before now was not observed, and indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here recited:

in the place which he shall choose; which though not expressed is now easily understood; and the three times at which they were to appear there were, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; or passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles; and of numbers of people going up from the country to each of these feasts, we have instances in the New Testament; to the passover, Luk_2:42, to Pentecost, Act_2:5, to tabernacles, Joh_7:2,

and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; Aben Ezra observes, the meaning is, not empty of the tribute of the freewill offering of their hand, and which Jarchi more fully explains of the burnt offerings of appearance, and of the peace offerings of the Chagigah, or money answerable to them; which, according to the Misnah (q) was a meah of silver for a burnt offering, and two pieces of silver for the Chagigah, which weighed thirty two barley corns (r).

HENRY, "IV. The laws concerning the three solemn feasts are summed up (Deu_16:16, Deu_16:17), as often before, Exo_23:16, Exo_23:17; Exo_34:23. The general commands concerning them are, 1. That all the males must then make their personal appearance before God, that by their frequent meeting to worship God, at the same place, and by the same rule, they might be kept faithful and constant to that holy religion which was established among them. 2. That none must appear before God empty, but every man must bring some offering or other, in token of a dependence upon God and gratitude to him. And God was not unreasonable in his demands; let every man but give as he was able, and no more was expected. The same is still the rule of charity, 1Co_16:2. Those that give to their power shall be accepted, but those that give beyond their power are accounted worthy of double honour (2Co_8:3), as the poor widow that gave all she had, Luk_21:4.

K&D, "Deu_16:16-17

In conclusion, the law is repeated, that the men were to appear before the Lord three times a year at the three feasts just mentioned (compare Exo_23:17 with Exo_23:14, and Exo_34:23), with the additional clause, “at the place which the Lord shall choose,” and the following explanation of the words “not empty:” “every man according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of Jehovah his God, which He hath given thee,” i.e., with sacrificial gifts, as much as every one could offer, according to the blessing which he had received from God.

SBC, "I. A leading feature, the leading feature, of the Old Testament revelation, is that life and all that crowns it—its crown of blessings—is the gift of a living, intelligent Being, and comes to us bearing the seal of His love. The Jews were separated to this end, that God’s methods and purposes with all men might be laid bare, that for once the Hand might be clearly manifest which is busy about every life. All things happened unto them for our ensamples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come.

II. The motive which is pleaded for all the noblest human effort is God’s example.

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God has done thus and thus for you; "Go ye and do likewise" for your fellow-men.

III. The exhortations of Scripture are amply sustained by our own experience of life. There is no joy that fills man’s heart which is comparable with that which he shares with God. Man’s gladdest experiences, his most self-approved acts and ministries, are those which have absolutely no explanation but in his Godlikeness.

IV. Part of this Godlike duty finds expression in the text. "They shall not appear before the Lord empty." Help God, for His great mercy’s sake, to help the world.

V. Another great thought of the Old Testament is the help which it is in man’s power to render to God. These old records show us how much there is that God’s heart most deeply cares for in which our help is essential. His ends can never be reached without us in the way in which His wisdom has ordered the world.

J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 71.

CALVIN, "16.Three times in a year. We have previously said that although the other

feast-days were not to be neglected, still, because God would make some allowance

for the infirmity of His people, the necessity of going up to Jerusalem five times a year

was not imposed upon them. Again, because only half of the seventh month contained

three feast-days, i.e., from the first to the fifteenth, for the same reason it is only

required of the males that they should leave their houses and celebrate the sacred

convocations; for thus the females are spared, to whom traveling is not so convenient.

Besides, through the fecundity promised them by God, they were almost always either

pregnant or nursing. It is also certain that the boys and young men were excepted

under the age of twenty, since God includes under the term males only those who

were comprised in the census. If any object that in God’s spiritual worship there is no

difference between males and females; the reply is easy, that the fathers of families

presented themselves there in the names of their wives and children: so that the

profession was extended to the other sex, and to those of tender age. To this David

seems to allude, when he says: (364)

"Thy people shall come with voluntary offerings in the day of thy assembly, in the

beauties of holiness,” (Psalms 110:3;)

for, speaking of the free-will-offerings of the people, he seeks an example of it, after

the manner of the prophets, from the legal worship. Lest the Jews should object that

there was danger of hostile invasion, if the land should be stripped of its defenses by

the gathering together of all the men into one place, God anticipates this doubt in

Exodus 34:0, promising that He will provide that no one shall desire to assail their

forsaken homes; for to this the sentence refers: “I will cast out the nations before thee,

and enlarge thy borders, so that no man shall desire thy land, ” Exodus 34:24 Whence

also we gather, that God’s worship was not entirely established until all the

neighboring nations were subdued, and He had placed His sanctuary in Mount Zion.

Not that it was allowable for the people to omit the feast-days before that time; but

that experience itself might teach them that God was wroth with them, whilst He

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deprived them of this special blessing; for fear and alarm arose only from their own

fault. But let believers collect from hence the useful doctrine that, whenever they are

following God, they will be safe under His protection, since it is in His power to repel

the assaults of enemies, and everything that can harm them.

And they shall not appear before the Lord empty, (365) I know not how it could have

entered the minds of some to suppose that God here promised that all should be rich

who should present themselves three times (a year) before His sanctuary: whereas it is

plain from the words of Moses that He requires from every one some gift in token of

their gratitude. And perhaps (366) what historians relate respecting the Persians, that

none should dare to address the king without a gift, was a more ancient custom, and

common to other nations. God would indeed have a gift presented Him by each

individual, as a symbol or earnest of their subjection; and, although this legal rite has

ceased, yet its substance is to be retained, viz., that those only are true servants of God

who do not boastfully make a mere empty profession, but effectually testify that they

acknowledge Him as their King.

Dr. Kitto, in his little work, “The Court of Persia,” gives some remarkable particulars

from Morier respecting this custom as still existing.

COKE, "Ver. 16. All thy males— i.e. all from twenty to fifty years old. Males only

were obliged to be present on these occasions. 1. Because the weakness and infirmity

of the female sex rendered them not able to bear so long a journey without great

danger and fatigue. 2. Because their chastity would be exposed to many dangers in so

vast a concourse of people. 3. Because the care of their families and their domestic

offices must have been neglected. The chief intention of these solemnities was to keep

the Israelites from corrupting their religion by idolatrous practices, or superstitious

rites; and the providence of God is remarkable in defending their country during their

absence at these seasons; there having been scarcely any instance of its being attacked

by their enemies, though nothing could have invited them more strongly to an

incursion, than the advantages which these occasions gave them. See Joseph Mede's

Discourses.

HAWKER, "Verse 16-17

Here the whole three feasts are brought within one precept for their observance. And

who is there but must, in a gospel sense, desire to honour JEHOVAH in the

observance of ordinances and means of grace, which keep in view the sacrifice of

JESUS, the effusion of the HOLY GHOST, and that GOD hath tabernacled among us

in substance of our flesh? These things are indeed great joy to all people. Luke 2:10.

BI 16-17, "Three times in a year.

The command respecting festivals

We are informed by ancient writers that the Egyptians kept many stated festivals and religious assemblies in honour to the gods, and that they held no less than six every year at

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different places. It is probable that this custom was of great antiquity, and observed when Israel dwelt in Egypt. Therefore, when Moses went to Pharaoh, and asked leave for the Hebrews to celebrate a feast to the Lord, the Egyptians could not say that it was an unreasonable request, since they accounted it a duty to do the like. This opens to us one reason for which these festivals were appointed in the law, namely, in compliance with the inclinations of the people, who doubtless were desirous to have their feasts and assemblies, as well as the Egyptians with whom they had dwelt.

I. The work or action enjoined—to appear before the Lord. God condescended to take upon Him the government of the Jewish nation, and is here represented as their King; and they, as dutiful subjects, and required to come and salute Him, and present themselves before Him at certain times. The same respect which other nations showed to their princes, the Jews were to show to God, as He was their King. Thus far it was a civil or political duty. But as their King was also the Almighty, to appear before Him was a religious duty; it was to serve and worship Him in a public manner; and herein this law is moral, universal, and everlasting.

II. The persons who were to appear at these solemn feasts. “All thy males shall appear before

the Lord.” These words are to be understood not as excluding the females from being present at these assemblies, but as giving them leave of absence, and intimating that it might sometimes be more proper for them to stay at home. The reasons for which the females had an exemption from this solemn duty seem to have been these first, the weakness of the sex, not so fit to bear the fatigue of these frequent journeys; secondly, the care of their children and families, which could not be thus wholly abandoned; and, thirdly, the dangers to which they would be exposed in such a numerous and mixed assembly. The Egyptians, when they repaired to the feasts, sailed together upon the river Nile in large companies, men and women, and many indecencies were committed, which this law seems to have been intended to prevent. Thus were they excused from these religious journeys when it was inconvenient. But at other times, and on other occasions, they frequented the places appointed for instruction and for the worship of God; as we may conclude from such examples as are recorded in Scripture, and from that piety and gratitude which are usually more observable in them than in the other sex.

III. The place where the men were to appear—in the place which the Lord shall choose, namely, in the place where the ark and the tabernacle of God should be, which at the first was at Shiloh, in the country of Samaria and tribe of Ephraim, and afterwards at Jerusalem in the tribe of Judah, where David erected a tabernacle, and Solomon built a magnificent temple. One reason for which these festivals were appointed, and appointed at one place, was to keep up peace and friendship and unity, both in Church and State. Nothing is more likely to conduce to this end than a religious association and intercourse, and a participation of the same sacred rites.

IV. The time when the Jews were to meet together—it was thrice in the year; in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. From these religious institutions it may he observed that the hallowing unto God more days in the week than one is not, as some have fancied, against the design and meaning of the Fourth

Commandment. For by these three solemn feasts, which were each of them of a week’s

continuance at least, it is manifest that “Six days thou shalt labour” was no commandment, but expressed only an ordinary permission of working; and to think that God would contradict His own law by a contrary ordinance is inconceivable. As, therefore, when He commanded the Jews to give Him the tenth part of their increase, He forbade not free-will offerings; so, when He enjoined them to keep holy one day in seven, this hindered not but that they might hallow unto Him other days even of the six. Hence it is concluded that the Christian Church hath likewise a power to set apart days for the more solemn service of God. But this should be done sparingly, discreetly, and cautiously; it should rather be recommended than required, and never without manifest reasons.

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V. A particular duty required of all the people when they came to worship God at these feasts, namely, not to appear empty. It was a custom in those parts of the world when subjects came before their king, to make him a present; and even a little fruit, or a single flower, was favourably accepted from one who was not in circumstances to offer more. The Jews were commanded to bring a present; not a burnt offering or a sacrifice by fire; for these, though at the same time they were also required, yet were of another nature, and for another end; but a heave offering, a freewill offering, which was a tribute of thankfulness to God, and likewise an acknowledgment of His supreme lordship and dominion over all. (J. Jortin, D. D.)

They shall not appear before the Lord empty.

The law of gifts in the Pentateuch

Empty in one sense, empty of blessing, none of us can appear before the Lord, or our prayer has mocked Him, and our praise. Crowned with His goodness, you have come up hither; crown His goodness in return with praise.

I. A leading feature, the leading feature of the Old Testament revelation is, that life and all

that crowns it—its crown of blessings—is the gift of a living intelligent Being, and comes to

us bearing the seal of His love, The Jews were separated to this end, that God’s methods and purposes with all men might be laid bare; that for once the Hand might be clearly manifest which is busy about every life.

II. The motive which is pleaded for all the noblest human effort is God’s example. God has

done thus and thus for you: “Go ye and do likewise” for your fellow men. It is the plea which is constantly urged in the Old Testament, which we accuse of low and material views, both of

man and of God. It is the highest witness to man’s essential God-likeness which can be

conceived. Man’s nature only finds free, that is joyful play, when it is doing God-like things,

when it is striving to think, will, and act like God. The only complete form of man’s life is the life which is also Divine.

III. The exhortations of the Scripture are amply sustained by our own experience of life.

There is no joy that fills man’s heart which is comparable with that which he shares with God. He who does a deed purely unselfish, who yields free play to the most generous, heavenly impulses.

IV. Part of this God-like duty finds expression in the text. “none shall appear before the Lord

empty.” The Lord has filled you with good; you are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and in fearful and wonderful harmony with the world. Your organs, exquisitely fashioned, and all

the beauty and splendour of the creation, form a concord which at once expresses God’s loving kindness, and is to you a fountain of intense delight. And there is an inner harmony which He is striving to develop by uniting your heart to fear His name, which will make this

great universe a Father’s house, and the awful future all eternal home. Help God, for His

great mercy’s sake, to help the world.

V. Another great thought of the Old Testament is the help which it is in man’s power to render to God. His ends can never be reached without us, in the way in which His wisdom has ordered the world. He might have ruled as a despot; He has chosen to seek rather to

rule—as the Bishop of Argyll has happily phrased it as a constitutional king. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Is giving a help or a hindrance

I. Every individual is addressed.

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1. All have been blessed; all are under obligations to recognise this fact by giving. Everyone should help. It is the mites that make the great aggregations.

2. Giving in accordance with God’s command is husbanding—it is investing. Said a great

millionaire when asked, “Where can I safely invest my money?” “Give to God’s cause, where I have put uncounted thousands, and I find that the interest due is always promptly paid, and the investment is perfectly safe. I shall meet it beyond the river, laid up in

heaven, and shall enjoy it forever.”

II. This command requires us to give as necessity requires and according to blessings received. Give, because you have received. Bless, because you have been blessed. Love, because you have been loved. Help, because you have been helped. Be liberal, because you thus glorify your Benefactor. The great giver is a great gatherer. He gathers love, power, influence, and revels in the smile of God. (J. D. Fulton, D. D.)

An offering of gratitude

One day an Indian asked Bishop Whipple to give him two one-dollar bills for a two-dollar

note. The Bishop asked, “Why?” He said, “One dollar for me to give to Jesus, and one dollar

for my wife to give.” The Bishop asked him if it was all the money he had. He said, “Yes.”The Bishop was about to tell him, “It is too much,” when an Indian clergyman who was

standing by whispered, “It might be too much for a white man to give, but not too much for

an Indian who has this year heard for the first time of the love of Jesus.”

Giving according to conscience

A minister was about to leave his own congregation for the purpose of visiting London, on

what was by no means a pleasant errand—to beg on behalf of his place of worship. Previous to his departure he called together the principal persons connected with his charge, and said

to them, “Now, I shall be asked whether we have conscientiously done all that we can for the removal of the debt. What answer am I to give? Brother So-and-so, can you in conscience say

that you have given all you can?” “Why, sir,” he replied, “if you come to conscience, I don’t know that I can.” The same question he put to a second, and a third, and so on, and similar answers were returned, until the whole sum required was subscribed, and there was no longer any need for their pastor to wear out his soul in going to London on any such unpleasant excursion. (Christian Age.)

17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion

to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

GILL, "Every man shall give as he is able,.... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law, but the wise men appointed it, as observed on Deu_16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them; see 1Co_16:2 so Jarchi,"every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many

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burnt offerings and many peace offerings.''

Judges

18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your

tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving

you, and they shall judge the people fairly.

BARNES, "These verses are closely connected in subject with the following chapter, and introduce certain directions for the administration of justice and the carrying on of the civil government of the people in Canaan. During the lifetime of Moses, he himself, especially inspired and guided by God, was sufficient, with the aid of the subordinate judges (compare Exo_18:13 ff), for the duties in question. But now that Moses was to be withdrawn, and the people would soon be scattered up and down the land of Canaan, regular and permanent provision must be made for civil and social order and good government.

CLARKE, "Judges and officers shalt thou make - Judges, שפטים shophetim,

among the Hebrews, were probably the same as our magistrates or justices of the

peace. Officers, שטרים shoterim, seem to have been the same as our inquest sergeants,

beadles, etc., whose office it was to go into the houses, shops, etc., and examine weights, measures, and the civil conduct of the people. When they found any thing amiss, they brought the person offending before the magistrate, and he was punished by the officer on the spot. They seem also to have acted as heralds in the army, Deu_20:5. See also Rab. Maimon in Sanhedrin. In China, for all minor offenses, the person when found guilty is punished on the spot, in the presence of the magistrate or mandarin of justice.

GILL, "Judges and officers shall thou make thee,.... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges, and go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and all they do is by order of the judges; so Maimonides (s): the qualifications of judges to be chosen and constituted by the people are thus described by him. In the sanhedrim, greater or lesser, they place only men wise and understanding, expert in the wisdom of the law, and masters of great knowledge, and that know some of the other sciences, as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, and

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astrology, the ways of soothsayers, diviners, and wizards, and the vanities of idolatry, that they may know how to judge them; and they set in the sanhedrim only priests, Levites, and Israelites, who are genealogized; nor do they set an old man there, nor an eunuch, nor a king, but an high priest, if he is qualified with wisdom; and they must be free from blemishes, and of a good stature and appearance, and understand many languages, and not hear by an interpreter; and though all this was not precisely required of the sanhedrim of three judges, yet these same things ought to be in everyone of them, wisdom, and meekness, and fear, and hatred of money, and love of truth, and love of men, and to be of a good report (t) and these were to be placed in

all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes; that is, in every city, as Onkelos, and so Jarchi; and usually the courts of judicature were held in the gates of cities, and it was only in the land of Israel, not without it, that they were obliged to set up courts of judicature, as Maimonides (u) observes; who also asks, how many courts were fixed in Israel, and what the number they consisted of? to which he answers, they fixed at first the great court in the sanctuary, and it was called the great sanhedrim, and its number were seventy one; and again, they set up two courts of twenty three, one at the door of the court, and the other at the door of the mountain of the house (and so in the Misnah) (w); and they set up in every city in Israel, in which were one hundred and twenty (men or families) or more, a lesser sanhedrim, which sat in the gate, and their number were twenty three judges; in a city in which there were not one hundred and twenty, they placed three judges, for there is no court less than three (x):

and they shall judge the people with just judgment; give a right and just sentence in all cases that come before them, according to the laws of God, and the rules of justice and equity.

HENRY, "Here is, I. Care taken for the due administration of justice among them,

that controversies might be determined, matters in variance adjusted, the injured

redressed, and the injurious punished. While they were encamped in the wilderness,

they had judges and officers according to their numbers, rulers of thousands and

hundreds, Exo_18:25. When they came to Canaan, they must have them according to

their towns and cities, in all their gates; for the courts of judgment sat in the gates.

Now, 1. Here is a commission given to these inferior magistrates: “Judges to try and

pass sentence, and officers to execute their sentences, shalt thou make thee.”

However the persons were pitched upon, whether by the nomination of their

sovereign or by the election of the people, the power were ordained of God, Rom_

13:1. And it was a great mercy to the people thus to have justice brought to their

doors, that it might be more expeditious and less expensive, a blessing which we of

this nation ought to be very thankful for. Pursuant to this law, besides the great

sanhedrim that sat at the sanctuary, consisting of seventy elders and a president,

there was in the larger cities, such as had in them above 120 families, a court of

twenty-three judges, in the smaller cities a court of three judges. See this law revived

by Jehoshaphat, 2Ch_19:5, 2Ch_19:8. 2. Here is a command given to these

magistrates to do justice in the execution of the trust reposed in them. Better not

judge at all than not judge with just judgment, according to the direction of the law

and the evidence of the fact.

JAMISON, "Judges and officers shalt thou make — These last meant heralds

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or bailiffs, employed in executing the sentence of their superiors.

in all thy gates — The gate was the place of public resort among the Israelites and other Eastern people, where business was transacted and causes decided. The Ottoman Porte derived its name from the administration of justice at its gates.

CALVIN, "18.Judeges and officers shalt thou make. I have placed this passage

among the Supplements of the Fifth Commandment, for, if it pleases God that

judges should be appointed for ruling the people, it follows that their laws and

edicts should be obeyed; and thus the parental authority extends also to them.

But, in order that the people may more readily submit themselves to judges, God

reminds them that the human race could not otherwise be preserved. Public

utility, therefore, renders the authority of magistrates pleasant and agreeable,

though it would else be hateful. But, although it be not conceded to all to elect

their judges, because God honored His chosen people with this prerogative, still

he here recommends in general a regular government, since He signifies that

human society cannot hold together unless the lawful rulers have authority to

execute justice. Whether, then, magistrates are appointed by the suffrages of the

people, or imposed in any other way, let us learn that they are the necessary

ministers of God, to confine all men under the yoke of the laws. The latter

passage, which I have annexed from Deuteronomy 7:0, refers to the same thing,

viz., that even in war discipline is necessary, lest all things should be thrown into

confusion. Now, if it pleases God that certain superior officers should have the

command, it follows that they must be obeyed; for it would be ridiculous to

appoint governors, if it were lawful to despise them with impunity. When,

therefore, God sets military commanders over the people, He enforces the duty of

humble submission.

COFFMAN, "Although, acting upon the advice of Jethro, Moses had indeed

appointed assistants to help him in the administration of justice,. Moses still

remained as the final court of appeals and continued to handle many problems

up until the very hour of this speech, but all that was shortly to change, as soon

as the people entered Canaan and settled down in many places, separated by

considerable distances. The proper dispensation of justice required the

appointment of the officers here mentioned.

"Judge the people with righteous judgment ..." (Deuteronomy 16:18). What a

noble ideal for judges to follow. The restrictions here, throughout history, have

proved to be precisely in those areas where the judiciary most needs them -

partiality, bribe-taking, and the rendering of unjust decisions. This very day in

America, our judiciary needs these instructions as sorely as any of the judges of

Israel ever needed them!

"That thou mayest live and inherit the land ..." (Deuteronomy 16:20). When the

judiciary of Northern Israel was completely perverted, and precisely for that

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reason, God removed the whole kingdom from their inheritance, never to return.

Thus, this was no empty threat. The minor prophets, especially Amos, have

much material that bears on the condition of the judiciary. Zephaniah's

evaluation of Israel's judiciary was brief but clear: "Her judges are evening

wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow!" (Zephaniah 3:3).

COKE, "Ver. 18. In all thy gates— This expression is thought to refer to the

custom of keeping their courts in the gates, or in chambers over the gates of their

cities: the gate, among the Hebrews, being the same as the forum among the

Romans. See Genesis 19:1. 2 Kings 7:1. It is probable, that the Ottoman court

was called the Porte, because all their affairs, public as well as private, were

transacted under the gate of the palace. See Dr. Shaw's Travels, vol. 1: p. 409.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, The feast of the tabernacles was the last holy solemnity,

during which they dwelt in booths, in memory of their sojourning in the

wilderness; and with feasting and holy joy commemorated God's mercies

towards them. They were enjoined to invite, as before, the necessitous to partake

with them, that none might be mourning for want in these days of rejoicing.

Note; (1.) When we are happy ourselves, we should call our neighbours to rejoice

with us, and seek to communicate that gladness of heart which we enjoy. (2.) God

expects a grateful acknowledgment; and be it little or much, it is alike accepted,

according to our several abilities.

2nd, 1. Magistrates are to be appointed in every city. The charge given them is to

observe impartial justice: they must be swayed by no influence, nor take any gift;

but, alike above the love of money as the fear of man, judge righteous judgment.

Note; Uprightness, in the seat of justice, is among the greatest blessings that any

land can enjoy. 2. All groves are forbidden near God's altar; and every image, as

the object or medium of worship which God abhors, idolatry being among the

greatest of crimes, and most to be dreaded in all its appearances. Let us beware

then of the delusions of the church of Rome, where this accursed idol-worship is

established; and God not only dishonoured by images, but adoration paid to

pictures and statues of pretended saints, yea, even to dead men's bones, and such

vile relicks.

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:18. Judges — Chief magistrates, to examine and

determine causes and differences. Officers — Who were subordinate to the

other, to bring causes and persons before them, to acquaint people with the

sentence of the judges, and to execute their sentence. Thy gates — Thy cities,

which he here calls gates, because there were the seats of judgment set. Pursuant

to this law, in every town which contained above a hundred and twenty families,

there a court of twenty-three judges; in the smaller towns, a court of three

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judges.

CONSTABLE, "Verses 18-20

Probably the people chose the judges, and the leaders of the nation appointed

them (cf. Deuteronomy 1:13). "Judges" were individuals responsible for

administering justice, and "officers" were administrators charged with the

enforcement of law, perhaps similar to modern police officers. [Note: Craigie,

The Book . . ., p. 247.] The number of these in each town probably varied

according to the needs of the community.

". . . in order to give the people and the judges appointed by them a brief

practical admonition, as to the things they were more especially to observe in

their administration of justice, Moses notices by way of example a few crimes

that were deserving of punishment (Deuteronomy 16:21-22, and chap. xvii. 1),

and then proceeds in chap. xvii. 2-7 to describe more fully the judicial

proceedings in the case of idolaters." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:379-80.]

"For most of us today, the notion that it is always and everywhere wrong for a

judge to take a gift from a litigant probably seems so obvious as to be virtually

self-evident. Nevertheless, the fact remains that that idea has historically been far

from apparent to a large part of humankind. In the ancient Near East, for

instance, almost every society regarded the practice of judges taking gifts from

litigants as being perfectly moral and absolutely legitimate ...

". . . a gift-giver placed upon a recipient a binding moral obligation to respond in

kind ...

"Importantly, such reciprocity is not considered morally reprehensible. Indeed

the failure of either judge or litigant to reciprocate is what is deemed immoral

and unjust ..." [Note: Goldberg, pp. 15-17.]

In this respect then Israel was to be different from other nations.

". . . in Israel, as in much of the ancient world, the human judge was considered

proxy for the divine judge. For instance, ... in 2 Chronicles 19:6-7 ..." [Note:

Ibid., p. 22.]

"Deuteronomy is passionately concerned about justice (Hebrew tsedeq,

mishpat): 'Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (Deuteronomy 16:20,

which makes this a condition of living and prospering in the land). This follows

from the doctrine of Israel as a community of 'brothers' equal before God."

[Note: Whybray, p. 101.]

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Verses 18-22

5. Laws arising from the fifth commandment 16:18-18:22

The fifth commandment is, "Honor your father and your mother"

(Deuteronomy 5:16). What follows is legislation that advocates respecting

authority figures in the nation, which was an extended family.

"With the regency of Yahweh and the proper protocol by which He had to be

approached having been established, the covenant text then addresses the human

leaders who serve Him and exercise authority over the nation at large." [Note:

Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 80.]

"Just as in its religious worship the Israelitish nation was to show itself to be the

holy nation of Jehovah, so was it in its political relations also. This thought forms

the link between the laws already given and those which follow." [Note: Keil and

Delitzsch, 3:378.]

LANGE, "REFLECTIONS

BLESSED GOD! give me grace to observe, with holy joy and thankfulness, the

solemn seasons of thine appointment, in communication of thy mercies. I would

pray indeed for the leadings of the HOLY SPIRIT, to observe the month of Abib,

which pointed to JESUS, and his one, all-sufficient sacrifice, all the year; and

since CHRIST, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, I would, all the year, keep the

feast. And no less, thou blessed HOLY SPIRIT, would I beseech thee to pour

upon me thy precious influence, that every day may be the renewal of the day of

Pentecost to my soul. Oh! that thou wouldst come down as showers on the new-

mown grass, to revive my drooping, languishing heart, by the soul-strengthening

communications of thy love. And dearest LORD, when I appear before thee in

thy courts, and house of prayer, oh! constrain my heart that I may not appear

before thee empty. But, having so much communicated to me of thy fulness, my

poorer brother may partake of my overflowing cup; and I may by grace be able,

both in temporals and spirituals, to comfort others with the same comforts

wherewith I myself am comforted of GOD.

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:18-20

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Moses had at an earlier period appointed judges to settle disputes among the

people, and had given instructions to them for the discharge of their duty

(Exodus 18:1-27; Deuteronomy 1:12-18). Whilst the people were in the

wilderness, united as one body and under the leadership of Moses, this

arrangement was sufficient; but a more extended arrangement would be

required when they came to be settled in Canaan and dispersed in towns and

villages over the whole land. In prospect of this, Moses here enacts that judges

and officers were to be appointed by the people in all their gates, in all their

places of residence, which the Lord should give them.

Deuteronomy 16:18

Judges and officers. The "officers" (shoterim, writers) associated with the judges

both in the earlier arrangements and in that which was to succeed were

secretaries and clerks of court, and acted also as assessors and advisers of the

judges. No instruction is given as to the number of judges and officers, or as to

the mode of appointing them; nor was this necessary. The former would be

determined by the size and population of the place where they were appointed,

and the latter would, as a matter of course, follow the method instituted by

Moses in the earlier arrangement (see Deuteronomy 1:13-15; Exodus 18:21-26).

K&D, "Just as in its religious worship the Israelitish nation was to show itself to be the holy nation of Jehovah, so was it in its political relations also. This thought forms the link between the laws already given and those which follow. Civil order -that indispensable condition of the stability and prosperity of nations and states -rests upon a conscientious maintenance of right by means of a well-ordered judicial constitution and an impartial administration of justice. - For the purpose of settling the disputes of the people, Moses had already provided them with judges at Sinai, and had given the judges themselves the necessary instructions for the fulfilment of their duties (Ex 18). This arrangement might suffice as long as the people were united in one camp and had Moses for a leader, who could lay before God any difficult cases that were brought to him, and give an absolute decision with divine authority. But for future times, when Israel would no longer possess a prophet and mediator like Moses, and after the conquest of Canaan would live scattered about in the towns and villages of the whole land, certain modifications and supplementary additions were necessary to adapt this judicial constitution to the altered circumstances of the people. Moses anticipates this want in the following provisions, in which he first of all commands the appointment of judges and officials in every town, and gives certain precise injunctions as to their judicial proceedings (Deut 16:18-17:7); and secondly, appoints a higher judicial court at the place of the sanctuary for the more difficult cases (Deu_17:8-13); and thirdly, gives them a law for the future with reference to the choice of a king (Deu_16:14-20).

Deu_16:18-20

Appointment and Instruction of the Judges. - Deu_16:18. “Judges and officers thou shalt appoint thee in all thy gates (place, see at Exo_20:10), which Jehovah thy God shall give thee, according to thy tribes.” The nation is addressed as a whole, and directed to appoint for itself judges and officers, i.e., to choose them, and have them appointed by its rulers, just as was done at Sinai, where the people chose the judges, and Moses inducted into office the persons so chosen (cf. Deu_1:12-18). That the

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same course was to be adopted in future, is evident from the expression, “throughout thy tribes,” i.e., according to thy tribes, which points back to Deu_1:13. Election by

majorities was unknown to the Mosaic law. The shoterim, officers (lit., writers, see at

Exo_5:6), who were associated with the judges, according to Deu_1:15, even under the previous arrangement, were not merely messengers and servants of the courts, but secretaries and advisers of the judges, who derived their title from the fact that they had to draw up and keep the genealogical lists, and who are mentioned as already existing in Egypt as overseers of the people and of their work (see at Exo_5:6; and for the different opinions concerning their official position, see Selden, de Synedriis, i. pp. 342-3). The new features, which Moses introduces here, consist simply in the fact that every place was to have its own judges and officers, whereas hitherto they had only been appointed for the larger and smaller divisions of the nation, according to their genealogical organization. Moses lays down no rule as to

the number of judges and shoterim to be appointed in each place, because this would

depend upon the number of the inhabitants; and the existing arrangement of judges over tens, hundreds, etc. (Exo_18:21), would still furnish the necessary standard. The statements made by Josephus and the Rabbins with regard to the number of judges in each place are contradictory, or at all events are founded upon the circumstances of much later times (see my Archהologie, ii. pp. 257-8). - These judges were to judge the people with just judgment. The admonition in Deu_16:19 corresponds to the instructions in Exo_23:6 and Exo_23:8. “Respect persons:” as in Deu_1:17. To this there is added, in Deu_16:20, an emphatic admonition to strive zealously to maintain justice. The repetition of the word justice is emphatic: justice, and nothing but justice, as in Gen_14:10, etc. But in order to give the people and the judges appointed by them a brief practical admonition, as to the things they were more especially to observe in their administration of justice, Moses notices by way of example a few crimes that were deserving of punishment (Deu_16:21, Deu_16:22, and Deu_17:1), and then proceeds in Deu_17:2-7 to describe more fully the judicial proceedings in the case of idolaters.

19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do

not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of

the wise and twists the words of the innocent.

GILL, "Thou shall not wrest judgment,.... Or pervert it, pass a wrong sentence, or act contrary to justice; this is said to the judges as a direction to them, and so what follows:

thou shalt not respect persons; so as to give the cause on account of outward circumstances and relations; as in favour of a rich man against a poor man merely for

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that reason, or of a near relation or intimate friend and acquaintance against a stranger, but justice should be administered without favour or affection to any; as Jarchi puts it, he was to make no difference in his address and behaviour to contending parties before him; he was not to be tender and soft to one and hard to the other, or let one stand and another sit:

neither take a gift: as a bribe to give the cause wrong: at Thebes, in Egypt, as Diodorus Siculus (y) relates, in a court on a wall, were images of judges to the number of thirty; in the midst of them was the chief judge; having Truth hanging down from his neck (which seems to be in imitation of the Urim of the high priest of the Jews), his eyes shut, and many books by him; by which image was shown, that judges should receive nothing, and that the chief judge should look to truth only:

for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous; see Exo_23:8 the Jews have a saying, that a judge that takes a bribe, and perverts judgment, does not die of old age, or till his eyes become dim (z).

HENRY, " The judges are here cautioned not to do wrong to any (Deu_16:19), nor to take any gifts, which would tempt them to do wrong. This law had been given before, Exo_23:8. (2.) They are charged to do justice to all: “That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, Deu_16:20. Adhere to the principles of justice, act by the rules of justice, countenance the demands of justice, imitate the patterns of justice, and pursue with resolution that which appears to be just. Justice, justice, shalt thou follow.” This is that which the magistrate is to have in his eye, on this he must be intent, and to this all personal regards must be sacrificed, to do right to all and wrong to none.

BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:19-20. Thou shalt not wrest judgment — Not give a forced

and unjust sentence. Thou shalt not respect persons — Not give sentence according to

the quality of the person, his riches or poverty, friendship or enmity, but according to

the justice of the cause. A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise — Biases his mind, that he

cannot discern between right and wrong. And pervert the words of the righteous —

That is, the sentence of those judges who are inclined and used to do righteous things,

and have the reputation of being righteous men; it makes them give a wrong judgment.

That which is altogether just — Hebrew, righteousness, righteousness, doubling the

expression to give it emphasis; that is, nothing but righteousness in all causes and times,

and to all persons equally.

BI, "Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift.

Equality before the law

I. Some facts and tendencies in legal administration.

1. The sentence pronounced against a poor man is often very heavy, and that against a rich man very light. In New Jersey a poor man was sentenced to five years of hard labour in prison for stealing a ham; in the same court a rich banker, who had ruined two banks and stolen the money of hundreds of people, received the same sentence.

2. After conviction rich convicts receive favours. In the case just cited the poor man and the rich man went to the same prison. But the poor man was put at hard

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labour; the rich man was made clerk in the prison library.

3. Rich men have an unfair advantage over poor men when brought to trial. The big fee that hires the eloquent pleader “buys out the law.”

4. Even judges are sometimes corrupt.

5. Juries are accused of taking bribes.

II. The perils of these forms of injustice.

1. They threaten the property and lives of the poor.

2. They weaken the spirit of obedience (Num_22:23).

3. They develop the communistic spirit of destruction.

4. We are all unsafe when one poor wretch is unsafe only because he lacks money or friends.

III. The remedies for existing evils.

1. More and better teaching, in home, school, and church, on God’s law of equality.

2. Wiser conversation on such matters when citizens meet together. It is dangerous and unpatriotic to treat the miscarriage of justice as a jest.

3. A sound public opinion should be cultivated by press, pulpit, and platform.

4. Our social power may be used to condemn a triumph over the law.

5. Seek to associate in all minds the idea of obedience to God with that of just judgment. (Homiletic Monthly.)

An upright judge

Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, went into a hatter’s shop in order to purchase a pair of shoe brushes. The master of the shop presented him with a couple. “What is your price?” said the judge. “If they will answer your purpose,” replied the other, “you may have them and welcome.” The judge, upon hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was leaving the shop; upon which the hatter said to him, “Pray, sir, your honour has forgotten the principal object of your visit.” “By no means,” answered the judge; “if you please to set a price, I am ready to purchase; but ever since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving to the value of a single copper, lest at some future period of my life it might have some kind of influence in determining my judgment.”

The acceptance of bribes discouraged

In the Soudan, he said, he had £6000 a year, as Governor, but he brought nothing out of the country when he returned to England. He spent his income in adding to the insufficient salaries of the officials, to keep them from accepting bribes, and thus to secure justice for the people at large. (Memoir of General Gordon.)

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20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you

may live and possess the land the Lord your

God is giving you.

GILL, "That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or "justice", "justice" (a), strict justice, and nothing else:

that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is, continue in the possession of it.

CALVIN, "20.That which is altogether just (131) By an emphatic repetition God

inculcates that judges should study equity with inflexible constancy; nor is this

done without cause, for nothing is more likely to happen than that men’s minds

should be clouded by favor or hatred. Besides there are so many quibbles

whereby justice is perverted, that, unless judges are very cautious in watching

against deception, they will often find themselves ensnared.

BI, "That which is altogether Just shalt thou follow.

Justice the decorum of the character of judges

(preached at the Assizes):—The duties which are incumbent upon us may be very properly divided into two classes—such as are incumbent upon all men, and such as are incumbent upon particular ranks of men.

I. Justice is immediately connected with the end of that office which magistrates, judges, and rulers bear. The exercise of justice itself is the proximate means of answering the purposes of government and judgment. One of the principal ways in which other virtues promote these purposes is by contributing to the steady and vigorous exercise of incorruptible justice. Injustice, directly and of itself, defeats these purposes, and is in every instance absolutely inconsistent with them. Other vices obstruct them sometimes very strongly, but always more remotely and indirectly, often by preparing the way to injustice.

II. Rulers and judges have, from their office, opportunity for many exertions of justice wholly peculiar to themselves. On this account also justice may be considered as in a special manner the virtue of their character and station. The poor man, who cannot himself resist the oppression of the great; the peaceable man, who is harassed by the encroachments of the man of violence; the orphan, whose rights are invaded by him that hath no bowels, claim the protection of the judge, and can obtain redress only by brining their cause under his cognisance. Differences arising from the ignorance or the self-partiality of persons well disposed can be determined only by the superior knowledge and unbiassed justice of the judge. When individuals are injured or the public disturbed by crimes, it is to the integrity of the judge that they must look up for help. How extensive, then, is the sphere of public justice which is peculiar to the ruler and the judge! In every instance of public justice he must make conscience of doing what is right, else he forfeits the character of a just and honest man, in the very same way as another person would forfeit it by being convicted of a

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transgression of private justice.

III. Justice may be considered as in a peculiar manner belonging to rulers, judges, and magistrates because they are under peculiar obligations to it. Every act of injustice brings positive hurt on the person who is affected by it; but an unjust judgment hurts with the cutting aggravations of its being done under form of law, and of its impeaching the person whom it injures, as if he had been injurious. Private persons are connected only with a few, and therefore only a few can be hurt by their injustice; but the injustice of a judge is of more extensive consequence, it hurts all who are subject to his jurisdiction. Private injustice may be checked or redressed by the righteousness of the judge; but if the judge be unrighteous, by whom shall his injustice be restrained? (Alex. Gerard, D. D.)

Civil justice

That which the air is in the elementary world, the sun in the celestial, the soul in the intelligible, justice is the same in the civil. It is the air which all afflicted desire to breathe; the sun which dispelleth all clouds; the soul which giveth life to all things. The unhappiness is, it is more found on the paper of writers than in the manners of the living. To be just is to be all that which an honest man may be, since justice is to give everyone what appertaineth to him. (N. Caussin.)

Justice in small things

Nouschirvan, the Persian king, having been hunting, and desirous of eating some of the venison in the field, several of his attendants went to a neighbouring village, and took away a quantity of salt to season it. The king suspecting how they had acted, ordered that they should immediately go and pay for it; then turning to his attendants, he said, “This is a small matter in itself, but a great one as it regards me: for a king ought ever to be just, because he is an example to his subjects; and if he swerves in trifles, they will become dissolute. If I cannot make all my people just in the smallest things, I can, at least, show them it is possible to be so.”

Worshiping Other Gods

21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole

beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,

BARNES, "A grove ... - Render, Thou shalt not plant for thee any tree as an idol: literally as an Asherah,” “i. e.” an image of Astarte or Ashtaroth, the Phoenician goddess (compare Deu_7:5 note, Deu_7:13 note). The word is rendered “grove” by the King James Version also in Deu_7:5; Deu_12:3; Exo_34:13; Jdg_6:25, but cannot be maintained, for the word is connected with various verbs which are quite

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inapplicable to a grove. The wooden idol in question was the stem of a tree, stripped of its boughs, set upright in the ground, and rudely carved with emblems.

CLARKE, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove, etc. - We have already seen that groves were planted about idol temples for the purpose of the obscene worship performed in them. (See on Deu_12:3 (note)). On this account God would have no groves or thickets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspicion that any thing contrary to the strictest purity was transacted there. Every part of the Divine worship was publicly performed, for the purpose of general edification.

GILL, "Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees,.... Of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly

near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee; as the Heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use; which evil the Jews sometimes fell into in the times of wicked reigns, and which their good and pious kings removed and destroyed; see 2Ki_18:4 and Hecataeus (b), an Heathen historian, relates of the city of Jerusalem, that there were there no image, nor plantation, nor grove, nor any such thing.

HENRY, "II. Care taken for the preventing of all conformity to the idolatrous customs of the heathen, Deu_16:21, Deu_16:22. They must not only not join with the idolaters in their worships, not visit their groves, nor bow before the images which they had set up, but, 1. They must not plant a grove, nor so much as a tree, near God's altar lest they should make it look like the altars of the false gods. They made groves the places of their worship either to make it secret (but that which is true and good desires the light rather), or to make it solemn, but the worship of the true God has enough in itself to make it so and needs not the advantage of such a circumstance. 2. They must not set up any image, statue, or pillar, to the honour of God, for it is a thing which the Lord hates; nothing belies or reproaches him more, or tends more to corrupt and debauch the minds of men, than representing and worshipping by an image that God who is an infinite and eternal Spirit.

JAMISON, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove — A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations - a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove (Jdg_6:25; 2Ki_23:4-6). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them.

CALVIN, " 21.Thou shalt not plant thee. It is plain from the end of this verse that

it is part of the Second Commandment. We know (300) that amongst the heathen

nations groves were sacred, so that with them no religious object would receive

due reverence, except under the shade of trees. Wherefore lest conformity with

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this general custom should vitiate the pure worship of God, this distinction was

made; and this then is the intent of the prohibition, that the Jews should fly from

all strange rites, lest by too closely approaching the Gentiles, they should

introduce a sinful medley. But how necessary this prohibition was, appears from

their eager imitation (of the heathen), of which mention is constantly made in the

sacred history. For there was scarcely any period in which they abstained from

“high places.” Nor is it without reason that Isaiah and Jeremiah reprove them

for “playing the harlot under every green tree.” (Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20.)

COFFMAN, ""An Asherah ..." (Deuteronomy 16:21). "She was a false deity

whose name was often mistranslated in the KJV, following the Septuagint (LXX)

"groves." She was the goddess of Tyre, the bride of Anu (heaven), the consort of

El, and the mother of 70 gods, including Baal. She was worshipped with animal

sacrifices."[16] In this light, therefore, "plant thee" does not refer to the planting

of a tree in an ordinary sense, but means to install, set up, arrange. Many of the

old commentators thought that the Septuagint (LXX) was correct here, as did

Adam Clarke:

"The groves were planted around idol temples for the purposes of the obscene

worship performed in them. On this account, God would have no groves or

thickets about his altar, that there might be no room for suspicion that anything

contrary to the strictest purity was transacted there.[17]

We have included Clarke's view here despite the opinion so firmly stated in the

Encyclopedias. One thing that favors Clarke's view here is the use of the word

"plant," allegedly meaning, "to set up." However, the sacred author knew that

word, using it in the very next sentence, and the choice of another word (plant) in

connection with the Asherah leaves some uncertainty as to what exactly is meant.

After all, the Septuagint (LXX) could be correct here.

"A pillar ..." (Deuteronomy 16:22). A pillar was a column of wood or of stone, or

a carved object of veneration, such as a statue or a device resembling a totem

pole, installed as an object of worship. It is not usually mentioned, but it is

certain that some of these "pillars" were phallic symbols of a very repulsive

kind.

Now and then one encounters a complaint that Deuteronomy 16:18-22 "do not fit

in" to the chapter on the three great festivals! Well, so what? Some of the

commentators seem never to have heard about "a shotgun sermon," and that is

certainly the kind that Moses delivered on this occasion. Incidentally, that is a

sure mark of its authenticity. If the priests of any particular era had done these

chapters, we may be certain that they would have been organized in a far

different manner from that encountered in this Farewell Address by the Great

Lawgiver of Israel.

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BENSON, "Deuteronomy 16:21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove — To plant

groves in honour of the true God, was a part of primitive worship, as we see by

the example of Abraham, Genesis 21:33. But the Gentiles having abused this

custom, and made trees and groves, dedicated to their idols, the scenes of the

most vile and abominable superstitions, God saw fit to prohibit the Israelites

from planting any such groves near the place of divine worship, lest they should

have taken occasion from hence to blend the worship of idols, and the impure

rites of heathenism, with the service of the true God.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 21-22

An asherah (Deuteronomy 16:21) was perhaps a sacred tree or group of trees or

wooden pole that the Canaanites used in the worship of their female fertility

goddess, Asherah. Asherah was evidently both the name of a Canaanite goddess

as well as a cult object used in her worship. The pagans usually made their

sacred pillars (Deuteronomy 16:22) of stone or wood and used them in the

worship of Baal, the male Canaanite god of fertility, and Asherah.

"In Canaan the 'asherah ('trees,' 'pillars,' or 'groves') were associated with

oracular verdicts by their gods and goddesses." [Note: Schultz, p. 61. See Andre

Lemaire, "Who or What Was Yahweh's Asherah?" Biblical Archaeology Review

10:6 (November-December 1984):42-51; and especially John Day, "Asherah in

the Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Literature," Journal of Biblical

Literature 105:3 (September 1986):385-408.]

The judges were not to tolerate the planting (Deuteronomy 16:21) of these trees

or poles that were so common in Canaan that the people regarded them as a

prominent part of the native culture. Judges customarily dispensed justice in the

open space near the main gate of the towns. This area was the main congregating

place of the community (cf. Ruth 4:1-12).

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:21, Deuteronomy 16:22

In all states, the highest crime of which the judge has to take note is that of

treason against the supreme Rower; and, under the theocracy, the act most

distinctly treasonable was idolatry. In proceeding, therefore, to give some

practical admonitions as to the things to be observed in the administration of

justice, Moses begins by denouncing and forbidding this most flagrant form of

iniquity.

Deuteronomy 16:21

Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees; thou shalt not plant, i.e. place or

set up, an asherah of any wood. The asherah was an idol of wood in the form of a

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pillar, usually placed by the side of the altars of Baal. It was the symbol of

Astarte, the great Canaanitish goddess, the companion and revealer of Baal. The

two are usually associated in the Old Testament (cf. 2:13; 6:28; 1 Kings 18:19; 2

Kings 23:4). The rendering "grove" has been taken from the LXX. and the

Vulgate; but that it is an error is evident from 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; and

Jeremiah 17:2; where the asherah is said to be under a green tree; and from the

use of such words as make, set up, cause to stand, build, to denote the action of

producing an asherah (cf. 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings

17:10; 2 Chronicles 33:19; 1 Kings 14:23), none of which are appropriate to the

planting of a grove. Here, indeed, the word "plant" is used, but this is only

because, as the asherah was sunk in the earth that it might stand firm, it might

be figuratively said to be planted, just as nails driven in are said to be planted

(Ecclesiastes 12:11, where the same verb is used; comp. also Isaiah 51:16; Amos

9:15; Daniel 11:25).

PULPIT, "Deuteronomy 16:21, Deuteronomy 16:22

The pathways to temptation to be shunned.

A rash and hare-brained pilot may venture as near as he can to a sunken reef,

but a wise captain will prefer plenty of sea-room. It is no proof of wisdom to

tamper with temptation. One cannot handle pitch without being defiled.

I. GOD WISHES TO IMPART TO MEN HIS OWN FEELING TOWARDS

IDOLATRY. (Deuteronomy 16:22.) To be like God is the summit of every good

man's ambition. This is God's intention also. But the attainment can only

gradually be made. We must have God's thoughts rooted in us; we must cultivate

similar feelings; we must cherish similar purposes or we cannot be like him in

character. Idolatry corrupts the soul and generates death. To know and worship

God leads up to richest life.

II. EXTERNAL AIDS TO IDOLATRY MUST BE CAREFULLY AVOIDED. A

stone which is a stumbling-block to a child has no peril for a strong man; for the

sake of the young and the weak, the stone should be taken out of the way. It is

wise and noble to abstain from self-indulgences which will imperil the piety of

others. A shady grove would be pleasant enough for worshippers in the

scorching climate of the East; nevertheless, if it shall tend in the least measure to

lure the ignorant into idolatry, we will forego the pleasure. This is Godlike, to

deny self in order to bless others. If umbrageous groves make my weak brother

to offend, I will endure the noontide heat so long as life shall last. Our mental

tastes, our love of the beautiful, our desire for pleasure,—all must give way to

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honest endeavor for the moral elevation of the race.

III. GOD'S FATHERLY KINDNESS IS EXPRESSED IN THESE PLAIN

PRECEPTS. We might reach these wise maxims as reasonable deductions from

moral principles; yet they come to us clothed with irresistible authority, when

they appear as the revealed will of God, A twofold light blends to point out the

path of human conduct, viz. the light of conscience and the light of Scripture; yet

these twin rays emanate from the selfsame sun.—D.

K&D, "“Thou shalt not plant thee as asherah any wood beside the altar of

Jehovah.” נטע, to plant, used figuratively, to plant up or erect, as in Ecc_12:11; Dan_

11:25; cf. Isa_51:16. Asherah, the symbol of Astarte (see at Exo_34:13), cannot mean either a green tree or a grove (as Movers, Relig. der Phצnizier, p. 572, supposes), for

the simple reason that in other passages we find the words עשה, make (1Ki_14:15;

1Ki_16:33; 2Ki_17:16; 2Ki_21:3; 2Ch_33:3), or ה%יב, set up (2Ki_17:10), העמיד, stand

up (2Ch_33:19), and נה), build (1Ki_14:23), used to denote the erection of an

asherah, not one of which is at all suitable to a tree or grove. But what is quite decisive is the fact that in 1Ki_14:23; 2Ki_17:10; Jer_17:2, the asherah is spoken of as being set up under, or by the side of, the green tree. This idol generally consisted of a wooden column; and a favourite place for setting it up was by the side of the altars of Baal.

BI, 21-22, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove.

Idolatry forbidden

I. Idolatry is enticing. This on many accounts.

1. By its prevalence. In some form or other it is the most popular religion in the world. Men bow down to the idols of luxury, ambition, pleasure, and avarice. “For all people will walk everyone in the name of his god” (Mic_4:5).

2. By its use. We naturally forsake God and cling to sin. Evil inclination leads to wrong choice, and men choose darkness rather than light.

II. Idolatry is treason against God. God is the sum of all moral qualities, the proprietor of all resources, and the giver of all existences. What more rational than to worship Him? Nothing belies God nor degrades man like the worship of images and statues.

III. Idolatry must be utterly forsakes. We must neither join the worshippers nor sanction the worship. Plant no grove of trees, for truth loves light and reproves darkness. (J. Wolfendale.)

Neither shalt thou set up any image.

Images forbidden

Thus imagery is forbidden—even religious imitation and attempted reproduction of things Divine and inexpressible. We are prone to do something to show our

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handiwork in God’s sanctuary; it pleases us to try to add something to the circle; it delights us to run one rim of gilt around the refined gold which burns with the image and superscription of God. We are told not to interfere; we must keep our hands off everything. We must learn to stand still; sometimes to do everything by doing nothing; and we must learn to rebuke our inventive faculty and become learned in the utterance of simple prayer. God will have His altar untouched: He will have human attention undistracted by any human devices. The altar is to stand alone in its simple dignity—most adorned when unadorned. There must be no attempt to link true religion and false religion, inspired worship and idolatrous worship, groves humanly planted and altars Divinely built. The Lord will have a time for Himself, and place for Himself, a gift for Himself, an altar for Himself. Why for Himself? Because He is the Lord, and because He means to train the human mind and heart without distraction towards the highest sublimity of law. Who will not set up his reason against the altar, and delight because his religion is rational?—as well hold up a candle to the sun, because all fire is of the same quality; because there is but one fire in the universe, and that is God. The sun says, Thou shalt not light a candle in my presence. We do it, but the candle is literally of no service in the presence of the midday sun. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world—the Sun of the great firmament of the soul—and He alone can light the space that is to be illumined. Who will not throw the little flower of self-approval upon the altar, saying, I am not as other men: I fast, I pay tithes, I do not practise extortion: I am not as the publicans are? The Lord has forbidden all groves and all images and all distractions. Only one man is permitted near the altar; only one soul is heard in heaven. His name?—the broken-hearted sinner! (J. Parker, D. D.).

22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the

Lord your God hates.

CALVIN, "22.Neither shalt thou set thee up. Hence also it more clearly appears

what is the meaning and tendency of the Second Commandment. God elsewhere

commands, (100) (as we have seen,) that statues (101) should be erected on the

borders of the land, on which the sum of the Law should be inscribed. At first

sight this prohibition seems to be contradictory; and indeed it would be so,

unless you understand “statue” to be a false image of God, in which men set Him

before them in bodily form; and, therefore, it is added, that He hates such

statues. But I have preferred translating (102) the relative in the neuter gender,

that the sentence might be fuller; i.e., that the erecting of statues is an

abomination to the Lord; because in this way His glory is dishonored, when He is

transfigured into a body, or when anything corporeal is mixed with His spiritual

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nature.

HAWKER, "REFLECTIONS

BLESSED GOD! give me grace to observe, with holy joy and thankfulness, the

solemn seasons of thine appointment, in communication of thy mercies. I would

pray indeed for the leadings of the HOLY SPIRIT, to observe the month of Abib,

which pointed to JESUS, and his one, all-sufficient sacrifice, all the year; and

since CHRIST, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, I would, all the year, keep the

feast. And no less, thou blessed HOLY SPIRIT, would I beseech thee to pour

upon me thy precious influence, that every day may be the renewal of the day of

Pentecost to my soul. Oh! that thou wouldst come down as showers on the new-

mown grass, to revive my drooping, languishing heart, by the soul-strengthening

communications of thy love. And dearest LORD, when I appear before thee in

thy courts, and house of prayer, oh! constrain my heart that I may not appear

before thee empty. But, having so much communicated to me of thy fulness, my

poorer brother may partake of my overflowing cup; and I may by grace be able,

both in temporals and spirituals, to comfort others with the same comforts

wherewith I myself am comforted of GOD.

PULPIT, "Any image; any pillar, etc. The Hebrew word ( מצבה, mazzebah)

denotes generally any pillar or stone that is set up, whether as a memorial

(Genesis 28:18 ), or as a sign (Exodus 24:4; Isaiah 19:19), or for purposes of

utility or ornament (Jeremiah 43:13). Here, as in other passages, it is a pillar or

statue set up as an object of worship (cf. 2 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 10:26; Hosea 10:1;

Micah 5:12).

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