Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me. Exodus 23: 14
The Israelites, just like the Canaanites before them, were closely tied to the agricultural cycle of the year, and celebrated them in thanksgiving to YHWH, as the pagans to their fertility deities. Three of these feasts are mentioned here, and were to be celebrated “before the Lord (Heb. hā′ādōn) YHWH.” The “tabernacle” is not mentioned yet, because it has yet to be introduced, but certainly “before the Lord YHWH” means the tabernacle. The term hā′ādōn (lord) is specifically chosen to contrast with the Canaanite fertility god Baal, which also means lord, master, and even husband (Cassuto, p. 303). Though the feasts are celebrated in common, the whole theological context is opposite. The term “keep a feast” (Ex. 23:14) in the Hebrew is the word “hgg,” and carries with it the idea of pilgrimage (Cassuto, p. 302). Unity around sacred space is fundamental in Hebrew worship.
The first of these feasts is Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Heb. maṣṣȏt). This is celebrated in the early spring (March-April), called Aviv (Heb. ′ābîb), meaning ripe ears (of grain) planted in the wintertime. We were introduced to unleavened bread back in Chapters 12 and13, where the Israelites were only to eat unleavened bread in commemoration of their quick departure from Egypt, which happened at this very time of year. It was kept seven days (from the 14th day to the 21st), and immediately followed by the Passover. Here the Passover is not mentioned, even though it is the most important Hebrew feast of all, because it is strictly not an agricultural feast.
The second feast is the Feast of the Harvest (Heb. qāṣÎr), the Firstfruits of what was sown in the spring of the year. This is also called the “Feast of Weeks” because it happens seven weeks after the Passover, later known as Pentecost. The third is the fall feast of the ingathering (Heb. ′āsÎp), later known as the Feast of Booths or tabernacles, where all the season’s crops are gathered in for the winter, especially grapes and olives. The famous admonition not to “boil a kid in its mother’s milk” that follows right upon these three feasts most probably has to do with pagan magical practices at their agricultural feasts.
These three agricultural feasts tie that land with the tabernacle. The Hebrews, who will be settled in the land allotted to each tribe, must make a pilgrimage to the tabernacle celebrating the goodness of God and His provision for them. The land and its fruit are God’s provision for them, and as we shall see, prosperity turns on covenantal fidelity. Although the Canaanites celebrated roughly the same festivals at the same time, the contrast was very different. The pagans worshiped the mature deities and their fertility rituals were magical in nature, often involving sexual acts, and in some instances, human sacrifices. We see how Hebrew law, given by divine revelation at the mount, was fundamentally unique in its world view even though some of the laws across the Ancient Middle East were shared in common by all.
It is readily apparent how relevant these feasts were to the Church from its earliest times. Theses feasts were an integral part of Jesus’ life with His disciples. Indeed, the chronological setting of the Gospel of John is framed around the feast days presented here. It begins with the Passover in 2:13, moves to what is probably the Feast of Pentecost in 5:1, then to the Feast of Booths in 7:2. We find Jesus in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, called Hanukkah (a latter addition to the calendar) in 10:22, and finally concludes with the Feast of the Passover, that is always preceded by the Feast of Unleavened Bread (12:6).
The Catholic Church first began using unleavened bread in the 9th Century to connect more closely the Eucharist with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is abundantly clear that Easter is the fulfillment of the Passover Feast, as well as the Church’s Pentecost the fulfillment of the old Hebrew Pentecost. The fall feasts of Trumpets (Lev. 23-25, Num. 29:1-6), a day set aside for rest and worship, the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:1-34), calling the nation to repentance, and the Feast of Booths, are not paralleled in the Church calendar, but Advent is a season of repentance and preparation for Christmas at the winter solstice, again tying the life of the Church to the seasons of the year.
Moreover, the concept of pilgrimage to a specific place made holy by divine encounter always remained in the Church, such as Jerusalem, Lourdes, Walsingham, and many others. True, now the Holy Trinity dwells within each believer as sacred space/temple, but each believer in turn must congregate with others in the sacred space of the Church, specifically, on the great feasts days of Sundays, and all the other major Feast days for true worship to happen. So Chrysostom,
“You shall not appear before the Lord empty,” that is, enter not into the temple without sacrifices. Now if it is not right to go into the house of God without sacrifices, much more ought we to enter the assembly accompanied by our brethren. For this sacrifice and offering is better than that, when you bring a soul with you into the Church.
Homily to Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly.
We see, then, that the Church’s whole concept of worship and feasts is built upon sacred cyclical time tied to the seasons at the sacred space of the Tabernacle/Temple given here to the Hebrews at Sinai.
Takeaway: Authentic worship happens in the context of feasts tied to seasons of the cyclical calendar and to a specific sacred space; this is true for the Church as it was from the beginning with the ancient Hebrews.
Questions: 1) How have you understood what worship is in your spiritual life, and how does it most often happen? 2) How aware have you been of the connection between NT worship and OT worship, especially in regard to the feasts and sacred space?
Resources Used:
ACCS, vol. III, p. 118
Childs, B. The Book of Exodus, 482ff.