Annual Feasts of Rejoicing

This chapter is based on Leviticus 23. 

The people of Israel were surrounded by fierce, warlike tribes, eager to seize their lands, yet three times every year all the people who could make the journey were directed to leave their homes and travel to the place of assembly near the center of the land. What was to keep their enemies from sweeping down on those unprotected homes to destroy them with fire and sword? What was to prevent an invasion that would bring Israel into captivity? 1TC 368.2

God had promised to be the protector of His people. “I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.” (Exodus 34:24). 1TC 368.3

The first of these festivals, the Passover, occurred in Abib, the first month of the Jewish year, corresponding to the last of March and the beginning of April. The cold of winter was past, the later rains had ended, and all nature rejoiced in the freshness and beauty of springtime. The grass was green on the hills and valleys, and wild flowers brightened the fields everywhere. The moon, almost full, made the evening delightful. 1TC 369.1

Throughout the land, groups of pilgrims were making their way toward Jerusalem. The shepherds, the herdsmen, fishers from the Sea of Galilee, farmers from their fields, and sons of the prophets from the sacred schools—all turned their steps toward the place where God’s presence was revealed. Many went on foot. The caravans often became very large before reaching the Holy City. 1TC 369.2

Nature’s gladness awakened joy in the hearts of Israel. The people chanted the grand Hebrew psalms, exalting the glory and majesty of Jehovah. At the sound of the signal trumpet, with the music of cymbals, the chorus of thanksgiving arose, swelled by hundreds of voices: 1TC 369.3

I was glad when they said unto me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.” 1TC 369.4

Psalm 122:1 

As they saw around them hills where the heathen had long kindled heir altar fires, the children of Israel sang: 1TC 369.5

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth. 1TC 369.6

Psalm 121:1, 2 

Cresting the hills and coming in view of the Holy City, they looked with reverent awe on the throngs of worshipers making their way to the temple. As they heard the trumpets of the Levites announcing the sacred service, they caught the inspiration of the hour, and sang: 1TC 369.7

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
Psalm 48:1, 2
Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord. 1TC 370.1

Psalm 118:19 

All the homes in Jerusalem were thrown open to the pilgrims, and rooms were provided free. But this was not enough, and tents were pitched in every available space in the city and on the surrounding hills. 1TC 370.2

On the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, the Passover was celebrated. Its solemn, impressive ceremonies commemorated deliverance from slavery in Egypt and pointed forward to the sacrifice that would deliver from the slavery of sin. When the Savior gave His life on Calvary, the significance of the Passover ended, and the service of the Lord’s Supper was begun as a memorial of the same event that the Passover had symbolized in advance. 1TC 370.3

Meaning of the Festivals

The Passover was followed by the seven days’ Feast of Unleavened Bread. On the second day of the feast, the firstfruits of the year’s harvest were presented before God. The priest waved a sheaf of grain before the altar of God to acknowledge that everything was His. The harvest was not to be gathered until this ceremony had been performed. 1TC 370.4

Pentecost, the feast of harvest, came fifty days after the offering of firstfruits. As an expression of gratitude for grain, two loaves baked with yeast were presented before God. Pentecost was just one day, which was devoted to religious service. 1TC 371.1

The Feast of Tabernacles, or ingathering, came in the seventh month. This feast acknowledged God’s rich blessings in the produce from the orchard, olive grove, and vineyard. It was the crowning festival-gathering of the year. The harvest had been gathered into the granaries, the fruits, oil, and wine had been stored, and now the people came with their tributes of thanksgiving to God. 1TC 371.2

This feast was a time of rejoicing. It took place just after the great Day of Atonement, when the people had received assurance that their sins would no longer be remembered. At peace with God, with the work of the harvest ended and the work of the new year not yet begun, the people could give themselves fully to the sacred, joyous experiences of the hour. As far as possible, all the household were to attend the feasts, and the servants, the Levites, the stranger, and the poor were made welcome to their hospitality. 1TC 371.3

Like the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated past events. In memory of their pilgrim life in the wilderness, the people were to leave their homes and dwell in booths, or arbors, formed from the green branches “of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook.” (Leviticus 23:40). 1TC 371.4

At these yearly gatherings the hearts of old and young would be encouraged in God’s service. As the people from different parts of the land mingled together, the ties that bound them to God and to one another would strengthen. Just as Israel celebrated the deliverance God had performed for their ancestors and how He miraculously preserved them during their journeys from Egypt, so we should gratefully remember the ways He has designed for bringing us out from darkness into the precious light of His grace and truth. 1TC 371.5

Those who lived long distances from the tabernacle must have spent more than a month of every year in attending the an nual feasts. This example of devotion should help us grasp the importance of religious worship, the need for making our selfish, worldly interests less important than things that are spiritual and eternal. We experience a loss when we neglect coming together to encourage one another in the service of God. All of us are children of one Father, dependent on one another for happiness. Properly cultivating the social parts of our nature brings us into sympathy with others and gives us happiness. 1TC 371.6

The Feast of Tabernacles not only pointed back to the time spent in the wilderness, but forward to the great day of final ingathering. The Lord will send His reapers to gather the weeds in bundles for the fire and to gather the wheat into His storehouse. At that time the wicked will be destroyed—they will become “as though they had never been.” (Obadiah 1:16). And every voice in the whole universe will unite in joyful praise to God. 1TC 372.1

When the ransomed of the Lord are safely gathered into the heavenly Canaan, delivered from slavery to sin forever, they will “rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8). Then Christ’s great work of atonement will have been completed and their sins forever blotted out. 1TC 372.2

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads. ...
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 1TC 372.3

Isaiah 35:10