This feast of Pentecost serves as a reflection on the entry into the Promised Land, symbolizing the time when they started to cultivate and harvest crops, contrasting their prior experience in the wilderness where they subsisted on manna from heaven.
Thus, following the instructions for the observance of Passover and Pentecost, the law also outlines the practices for the seventh month and prescribes the feast of trumpets in the new month (Leviticus 23:24), serving as a commemoration of the trumpets at Mount Sinai when the Almighty entrusted His law to humanity. It is recorded, ‘The voice of the trumpet sounded greatly’ (Ex. 19:16). However, on the tenth day of the seventh month, God mandates a fast, designating this day as one of purification. He instructs, ‘Humble your souls, from the ninth day of the month from evening, even unto the tenth day of the month, even unto evening, sabbath your sabbaths’ (Lev. 23:32). Furthermore, ‘And every soul that shall not obey in that day, that soul shall be destroyed from among his people’ (Lev. 23:29). Contrary to this divine instruction, the Jewish community often behaves contrary to the law on this day, engaging in laughter, jesting, and revelry, partaking in activities deemed inappropriate.
On the fifteenth day, God commands the observance of the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34), which is not celebrated after the seventh day as in other feasts, but rather an additional eighth day is included. He declares, ‘And the day which is called holy shall be called holy unto you, and ye shall offer burnt offerings unto the Lord: the first day is, ye shall not do any work’ (Lev. 23:36). The term 'initial' here refers to the conclusion of the feasts. This Feast of Tabernacles serves as a reminder of the time spent in the wilderness, as the lawgiver stated: ‘As in the tabernacles I have gathered the children of Israel, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt’ (Lev. 23:43). Thus, God commanded that homes be adorned with branches of trees, and included ‘agnovae’ (Lev. 23:40) among these, symbolizing purity and the diminishment of carnal desires. This plant is believed to quell the fire of lust, whether consumed or utilized as decoration. Nevertheless, God has not prescribed the branches of agnos for medicinal uses, but through their very name, He urges the faithful to remember the virtue of chastity.
THEOSIS