Scripture: “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
“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. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.
“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.
“The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Exodus 23:10-19 ESV [Click here to read the entire chapter.]
Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, Yahweh speaks through Moses to address eight prohibitions and two proactive commands describing how Israel must righteously conduct themselves in community with one another and sojourners. These additions to the Ten Commandments primarily concern the ninth commandment (not to bear false witness against your neighbor) with a brief reiteration of the sixth commandment (You shall not murder) and new elements of caring for enemies and sojourners.
Today’s reading expands on the laws regarding the Sabbath and Festivals. Addressing the fourth commandment, the Lord clarifies that the Sabbath is not just for the people but for the land. They must not overwork the land but give it rest (lie fallow) in the seventh year. And they must permit the poor and the wild animals to glean what remains after harvest. As his chosen people, God reminds them to rest on the seventh day of each week (family, servants, and beasts of burden). Also, adding a new element to the second and third commandments (idolatry and using the Lord’s name in vain), Israel must not even speak the name of pagan gods.
Next, reviewing the festivals, Yahweh commands Israel to keep three annual feasts:
- Feast of Unleavened Bread (see 12:17-20; 13:3-16) is a seven-day celebration commemorating the Exodus; all participants must not come before Yahweh empty-handed.
- Feast of Harvest marks the first fruits of Israel’s labor from the field.
- Feast of Ingathering coincides with the end of the Jewish lunar calendar year and celebrates the blessings of the harvest with the communal collection of the crops.
All Hebrew males must attend these celebrations in communion before the Lord.
Lastly, Israel must not offer a blood sacrifice with leaven in the house, nor let the animal fat of the feast remain until morning or boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. They must, however, bring the best of the first fruits from their crops to the Lord.
Takeaway: The stated reason for the land’s Sabbath rest is to benefit the poor and wild animals who may struggle to find food (v.11) and thereby refresh man and beast alike (v.12). Later, Moses will present a spiritual reality to this practice: to observe a sabbath to the Lord (Leviticus 25:4). Indeed, this spiritual element segues nicely to the subsequent prohibition of uttering the names of pagan gods (v.13). For if one is to observe the Sabbath by drawing near to God rightly, then, as James (the half-brother of Jesus), contends, we cannot speak out of both sides of our mouth, blessing and then cursing (James 3:9-10).
As for these three annual pilgrimage feasts, the Feast of Unleavened Bread would occur at the beginning of the barley harvest (spring) to celebrate the first fruits and Yahweh delivering Israel from bondage. It inaugurates the Passover yearly, with holy convocations on its first and seventh days. As with the other two feasts, Israel must present the best of their first fruits to the Lord (v.19).
The Feast of Harvest (a/k/a the Feast of Weeks; see 34:22) was a one-day thanksgiving festival that occurred at the end of the spring harvest and commemorated the giving of the law. It would later become known as Pentecost since it was observed fifty days after the spring offering (coinciding with Passover).
The Feast of Ingathering (a/k/a the Feast of Tabernacles; see Leviticus 23:33-36) was another thanksgiving celebration observed in the autumn to commemorate the wilderness wanderings and the Promised Land’s bountiful blessings (represented by collecting the summer crops of olives and grapes).
Regarding the dietary restriction, the prohibition of leaven pertains only to the observance of the Passover. It serves as a remembrance of this rushed deliverance in Israel’s history. Similarly, the prohibition of leaving the fat of the feast until morning commemorates the first Passover.
Lastly, prohibiting boiling a kid in its mother’s milk likely intends to set Israel apart from a neighboring pagan practice. Indeed, the discovery of a thirteenth-century BCE Ugaritic writing called “The Birth of the Gods Pleasant and Beautiful” reveals such a practice. As such, as scholar Jacob Migrom concludes, “The crux of the matter is simply, that the young dead kid is being cooked in the very milk that was its life-giving sustenance” [“You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” Bible Review 1, no. 3 (1985): 48–55].
Our takeaway? Sadly, Israel would fail to observe these festivals—mainly the latter two. Consequently, memories of the Exodus, wilderness wandering, and Promised Land conquest would fade along with Israel’s fearful reverence and love for Yahweh. Thus, their Lord would have no other recourse but to impose severe mercy on them via an excruciating defeat and exile.
Our part? It is a cautionary story that reminds us of the importance of regularly gathering together in worship (Hebrews 10:23) to gratefully remember and celebrate the most extraordinary deliverance in history: our Father sacrificed his only and beloved Son to rescue us from bondage to sin that would otherwise wreck our souls.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, our Passover Lamb, who endured his cross, scorning its shame, and is now with you in supreme power and glory (Hebrews 12:2). Still, we confess we are prone to drift and forget. So please help us to regularly gather in worship to gratefully remember and celebrate your goodness so that we might grow in our love for you and expand your Son’s Promised Land for your glory. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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