THEOSISWlastow G.K.
The initial reference to the significant annual celebrations of the people is noted. For further specifics, refer to the additional information provided. Each year, there were three festivals during which all adult men of Israel were to gather in the Promised Land. These gatherings were intended to foster community among the people, establishing them as a holy nation and protecting them from the influences of surrounding nations, while also empowering them as a formidable collective, unparalleled in the ancient world. Their strength would stem from a unified spirit among the citizens, prepared to engage in moral and physical battles against oppressive rulers.
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The potential of Israel under such a system is evidenced later, even after significant declines, by the resistance to Antiochus Epiphanes during the Maccabean revolt and the ultimate conflict with Rome under Titus. However, by then, eternal justice had already been decreed for this nation. The festivals at which the gathered men were to convene included:
I. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, coinciding with the Passover of the Lord at the full moon of Abib, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. For the rites associated with this feast, see Exodus chapters 12 and 13. The Feast of Unleavened Bread extended until the evening of the 21st of Abib and was observed alongside the offering of the first fruits of the earth to the Lord. Abib was recognized, both in name and practice, as the month of the New Beginning. Those attending the feast were required, as stated in Leviticus 23:15, to present to the Lord a sheaf of the first harvest, which, along with the lamb, grain offering, and wine, formed the offering of the first fruits, after which consumption of new harvest was permitted, as noted in Leviticus 23:5-15. Thus, the seven days of unleavened bread concluded the agricultural year, with eating from the new harvest permitted only after the initial fruits had been sacrificed.
II. Following the offering known as the “wave offering,” seven full weeks were counted, culminating in the fiftieth day, which was designated for the presentation of leavened loaves made from the flour of the new harvest. The harvest period likely extended from Passover to Pentecost, concluding just before this feast, at which the men of Israel were also to gather for a sacrifice, as outlined in Leviticus 23:17-18. After the sacrifice, the sacred assembly called Adzeret was appointed. The precise meaning of this term is not definitively established, but it is thought to refer to a communal gathering to address vital matters concerning the people. The name Pentecost emerged later in texts such as Tobit 2:1, 2 Maccabees 12:32, Acts 2:1, 20:16, and 1 Corinthians 16:8. In the Pentateuch, this occasion is referred to as the Feast of Harvest (see present chapter v. 16) or the Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10; also Numbers 28:26).
III. In the month of Tisri, on the first day of the month (the seventh from Abib, roughly corresponding to the October new moon), the people gathered for a series of three sacred days, concluding with a holy assembly on the 22nd day. With the harvest completed, this time in autumn allowed the men of Israel to commit three weeks to God and the community's needs. On the first day of Tisri, a sacred assembly was held accompanied by the sound of trumpets (Leviticus 23:24, 32). On the tenth day, the significant Day of Atonement for purification of the tabernacle and the people was observed, during which sacred rituals were performed, including the scapegoat and the high priest's entrance into the Holy of Holies, encompassing the incense and the blood of the bull and goat, along with the sending of the goat into the wilderness. Refer to Leviticus chapter 16 for details.
The Feast of Tabernacles commenced on the fifteenth day of Tisri and lasted for seven days. During this time, the people of Israel were to live in temporary shelters made from the branches of various trees and rejoice before the Lord (Leviticus 23:39-40). At the conclusion of the feast, another holy assembly was called, known as Adzeret, after which the people returned to their homes.