Again, I will not write anything about of the life of this wonderful soldier of faith, St. Ignatius of Loyola. His loyalty as a soldier of Christ is worth respecting and imitating. I pray that we can follow his example and be a good soldier of Christ as well.
These two days, we will spend some time to read the book of Leviticus. Today, we will cover chapter 23 to know more about some well-known Jewish feasts which have been mentioned in the gospels. It also covers different types of offerings which I will not touch upon here.
First of all, we have Sabbath.
Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings (Leviticus 23:3).
Unlike the commandments recorded in Exodus 20, the Leviticus verse does not bother to explain why the Israelites should observe Sabbath. Just do it. It seems that the explanation given in Exodus had been taken for granted. God spent 6 days to create the universe and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, you should follow God's example because God had blessed that day.
for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it (Exodus 20:11).
Deuteronomy begs to be different. Deuteronomy 5 is similar to Exodus 20. There we find a nearly identical version of the 10 Commandments. The place was Mount Horeb, not Mount Sinai and it gave a different explanation why the Israelites should observe Sabbath.
You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day (Deuteronomy 5:15).
Therefore, the Israelites should keep the Sabbath, not because of creation but because of redemption. On Sabbath, they did not work but to remember how God had delivered them from the bondage in Egypt.
I think the Deuteronomistic spirit is worth praising. It is not enough just to celebrate our birthday, how our parents brought us into existence. We should celebrate our baptism, how Jesus brought about our redemption. We Christians no longer observe Sabbath, but Sunday, the first day of the week when our Lord defeated death. Every Sunday, we celebrate our redemption, not our creation. In a way, we Christians agree with the Deuteronomistic spirit. Why not? Jesus quoted Deuteronomy to answer Satan's temptations in the wilderness!
Secondly, we have Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days on which the bread the Israelites ate should be unleavened. However, we have a little problem in the gospels. In New Testament time, it seemed that Passover overlapped with the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For example,
And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" (Mark 14:12)
However, Leviticus gives us a different story. The Feast of Unleavened Bread took place immediately after Passover.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's passover.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:5-6).
Somehow, either a misunderstanding on the part of Christians or a change of custom had happened.
On Passover, Israelites ate the Paschal Lamb with unleavened bread. They still kept a separate Feast of Unleavened Bread for 7 more days. But Christians misunderstood it as the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread so that Passover became, in the Christians' mind, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Or, had the Jews in New Testament time, like their modern counterparts, "married" the two feasts for convenience?
I hope somebody would enlighten me on this.
The last one barely survives had John not mentioned it. It is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is mentioned in John 7.
The seventh month of a year was very important for the Israelites.
Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.
You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD." (Leviticus 23:24-25)
So, the first day of the seventh month was an extra Sabbath!
Then comes the important Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement.
On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the LORD.
And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God (Leviticus 23:27-28).
Lastly comes the Feast of Tabernacles or Festival of Sukkot.
Say to the people of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD (Leviticus 23:34).
During this Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus taught in Jerusalem.
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink.
He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)
Jesus was referring to the following prophecies in the book of Isaiah.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring (Isaiah 44:3).
Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1) and,
And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not (Isaiah 58:11).
God will quench our thirst with His Spirit. The Son of God is our TAP.
Dear Lord, You created the seasons for the growth of life on earth. You gave us festivals to celebrate and refresh our souls. Glory be Yours forever and ever. May we continue to drink from Your spring of life. Amen.
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