43.y. “Wilderness” – 8.e. “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.”

 

Exodus 23:14  “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

God commanded that three times a year, all men in Israel had to come together to keep the most important feasts.

Three times thou shall keep a feast unto me in the year. The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth of the month Nisan or March; and the feast of weeks or pentecost fifty days after that; and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth day of Tisri or September. (Gill)

keeping a feast to the Lord, and appearing before Him, were both of them privileges bestowed by Jehovah upon His covenant people. Even in itself the festal rejoicing was a blessing in the midst of this life of labour, toil, and trouble; but when accompanied with the right of appearing before the Lord their God and Redeemer, to whom they were indebted for everything they had and were, it was one that no other nation enjoyed. For though they had their joyous festivals, these festivals bore the same relation to those of Israel, as the dead and worthless gods of the heathen to the living and almighty God of Israel. (Keil)

Remembrance of God’s mercy, grace, and love through specific set aside festival days or remembrance and giving are still good for our soul, though every day we should remember it equally too. Far too often God’s great grace, mercy, and love get lost in the busyness of life.  Teach yourself and learn to recognize when this busyness is pulling you away from keeping remembrance of Jesus Christ in your everyday living.

Author: Daryl Pint

Saved by Grace, living by faith