The Festivals of First Fruits and Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16: 9-17)

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Welcome back to another episode of our podcast series on biblical festivals. Today, we’re exploring the next two major festivals as outlined in Deuteronomy 16: The Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.

 Starting with Deuteronomy 16:9-10, we read about the Feast of Weeks:

From Passover, we count seven weeks to the beginning of the harvest, known as the Feast of Weeks. Seven times seven is forty-nine, but this is generally rounded to fifty days, hence the name Pentecost, derived from the Greek word for fifty.

The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, is a celebration of God’s abundant provision. Verse 10 emphasizes the importance of giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings received from God. This principle of proportional giving is echoed in the New Testament, specifically in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, where Paul instructs believers to set aside a sum of money in keeping with their income.

This verse underscores the inclusive nature of this celebration. Everyone, regardless of their social status, is invited to join in the rejoicing. This is a time of joy, generosity, and remembrance of God's faithfulness.

This festival serves as a memorial of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, a reminder of their humble beginnings and God’s mighty hand in their liberation.

So, how does this Old Testament festival connect with the New Testament? Pentecost in the New Testament marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the Church. Jesus instructed His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until Pentecost, signifying the harvest of souls for the new kingdom. On that day, the Holy Spirit fell, and 3,000 people were baptized into the body of Christ.

The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot, takes place after the autumn harvest. During this week-long festival, the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters, or tabernacles, to remember their journey through the wilderness when they lived in tents.

This festival is characterized by joy and thanksgiving, reflecting on God’s provision and protection during their journey out of Egypt. It also looks forward to the future gathering of God’s people under the Messiah’s reign.

These verses encapsulate the essence of these festivals: they are times of joy, thanksgiving, and proportional giving. All men, along with their families, were to observe these feasts in Jerusalem.

While we are not bound to observe these feasts, they offer rich spiritual lessons. The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, symbolizes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. The Feast of Tabernacles reminds us of our pilgrimage on this earth and our future gathering with God’s people.

As Christians, we commemorate through baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These observances remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice and our new life in Him. Celebrating God’s blessings and living with an eternal perspective are central to our faith.

As we reflect on Deuteronomy 16:9-17, let’s celebrate God’s provision with joy and generosity. May our lives be marked by gratitude, generosity, and ho

Transcript

The Festivals of First Fruits and Tabernacles.  (Deuteronomy 16: 9-17)

Alright, I said there were three main festivals, and we’ve looked at one yesterday, Passover

The second begins in verse 9, and it is called, “The Feast of Weeks”.

Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.

(Deuteronomy 16: 9-10)

Alright, we get some really useful interesting insights here. 

We started with Passover in March or April. Then you go seven weeks to the beginning of the harvest, and that’s called the Feast of Weeks. 

Seven times seven is forty-nine. This is generally considered to be fifty days. So, from whenever the Passover starts, which is March or April, to late May or early June, we’re going to have this feast, around 7 weeks later which is called the Feast of Harvest or the Day of First Fruits. 

It later became known as Pentecost. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, meaning fifty days. So, this was fifty days after Passover.

So, verse 10 says this Feast of Weeks was to celebrate God’s rich provision for His people. But look at the latter part of verse 10:

“Giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.”

Maybe you thought the Old Testament was all about tithing. It does talk about tithing, but this is different. This is what’s often referred to as proportional giving. Give according to the proportion of what God has given you.

1 Corinthians, chapter 16 also speaks about this. 

Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

(I Corinthians 16: 1-2)

This is called proportional giving. 

Many expositors have suggested that Paul was influenced by this Old Testament passage and principle when he talked about the collection for the saints in Jerusalem.

Look at verse 11:

And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you.

(Deuteronomy 16: 11)

Very clearly, he is saying everyone should participate. This is a time of joy and sharing. As the Lord has been generous to you, be generous to everyone else. Bring everybody, and let’s have a blast together. We’re going to have a time of joy and rejoicing.

And then he gives the purpose:

That you may remember that you were slaves in Egypt and follow carefully these decrees.

(Deuteronomy 16: 11)

Very clearly, he is saying this is to remember what happened to you in Egypt as a memorial. It’s a tradition, a ritual that I want you to do all the time to remember where you came from. (Expand NT)

Alright, how do you apply that one? What does that have to do with the New Testament? 

And the answer is—it’s Pentecost.

So, what happened at Pentecost? 

Pentecost involved the Holy Spirit baptizing people into the body of Christ, which is the church. This means the church started on the day of Pentecost. 

Remember Jesus said to the disciples, "Don’t leave Jerusalem; tarry here until the day of Pentecost is fully come." 

When is Pentecost? It’s fifty days after Passover, right? So why was He telling them to tarry? 

He was telling them to tarry because He wanted to pour out the Holy Spirit on the day of the Old Testament celebration so the Pentecost, the harvest of souls for the new kingdom came at the harvest celebration.

That’s when the Holy Spirit fell, 3,000 people became Christians.

One more thing follows on from that: Verse 13 says:

Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

(Deuteronomy 16: 13-15)

What is this about the Feast of Tabernacles? It was for seven days. Now, this is after the Autumn/Fall harvest.

They were to live for seven days—that is, a week—in tabernacles, in little tents or booths constructed of tree branches and foliage. 

It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, which is September or October.

So, these are the three main feasts that all the men in Israel were to go to the place where the Lord said they should go, which is later known as Jerusalem, to observe these three feasts. 

In this case, they were recalling the journey out of Egypt.

They were all to rejoice, and joy was the characteristic of this festival. 

Now, he says in verse 15, this Feast of Tabernacles is at the end of the harvest season, and some say it looks forward to the time when Israel will be regathered in the land under the rule of Christ. 

Interesting, right? So, we're going to spend seven days in a booth. I think, for one thing, it’s to remind us that they lived in tents and were pilgrims as they came out of Egypt. So, we're going to commemorate that. 

Many expositors relate this to the fact that the Lord is going to regather Israel under the rule of the Messiah, and they connect it to that.

Alright, there’s a little more. Look at verse 16:

Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

(Deuteronomy 16: 16-17)

Deuteronomy not only talks about proportional giving once; it talks about it twice. Again, this is to be a time of joy and thanksgiving and praise, and you are to give as an indication of your expression of faith to the Lord.

These verses sum up this chapter about the three feasts: three times a year, all the men, and if they wished, their families, had to go to Jerusalem to observe the three major feasts of the Old Testament.

Alright, what do you do with this? 

Well, at one point, you have to say that among other feasts, and this is not the complete list, the children of Israel were to observe these three main feasts every year. 

Bible expositors have all kinds of fun applying this. One said this indicates the spiritual meaning of the three feasts: the Passover, Pentecost, and the future Tabernacles typify a complete redemption. 

One, the passion of the cross—that’s suffering.

Two, by the coming of the Holy Spirit—that’s grace.

Three, by the final triumph of becoming King of Glory—that is the third, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Now, I don’t doubt that these were intended by the Lord to give us a picture of these kinds of spiritual truths. At the same time, we’re not under any of these. We don’t have to do them. 

I think if some Jewish believer wants to observe the Passover, based on some passages in Romans, that’s permissible. But you don’t have to do it to qualify for salvation or to be right with God. If you want to commemorate that, that’s fine. 

But what we as Christians commemorate now has been reduced to one, actually two: one is baptism, and the other is the Lord’s Supper.

It fine to remember things like the advent, Christmas and Easter, but eve those are not a commandment, there is no obligation too.

Now these guys were required to go three times a year to Jerusalem. 

How many times a year do we observe the Lord’s Supper? Well, it depends on the church. 

There are churches that do it once a year—they’re rare.

There are some that do it once a quarter—also rare.

Many, many churches do it once a month, a few do it every week.

And what are we commemorating in the Lord’s Supper? Mainly that Jesus died for us, and we give thanks. It should be a great time of gratitude and praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

As a matter of fact, it’s called the Eucharist in some traditions, which means the giving of thanks.

One other thought: Warren Wiersbe was a pastor of a church in the 1980’s and was also an excellent expositor of the Scripture. I had the privilege of listen through all his teaching on audio cassette as I drove around in my car in the 1980’s and 90’s

I had a great time with him. He’s with the Lord now. But he said this:

“Two of the churches I pastored celebrated significant anniversaries while I was serving them. During those special years, we took time in our worship service to remember the goodness of the Lord and thank Him for all He had done. It was helpful for the young members to learn about the sacrifices people had made in the past, and it was good for the older members to receive a new challenge for the future. After all, the church is not a parking lot.”

And I thought, what a great way to say it. We do it on the first day of the week, and we do it, if we did it right, as a launching pad into the week.

So as we ponder Deuteronomy 16:9-17, we are reminded of the incredible provision and faithfulness of our God. 

These verses outline the Feasts of Weeks (Pentecost) and Tabernacles, both of which call God’s people to celebrate His abundant blessings and to remember His mighty works. 

The Feast of Weeks commemorates the firstfruits of the harvest, symbolizing God's provision and the joy of giving back to Him. 

The Feast of Tabernacles recalls the journey through the wilderness, where the Israelites lived in booths, reminding them of God's guidance and protection.

Today, we too are called to celebrate God’s blessings in our lives. Pentecost, in the New Testament, marked the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, empowering the church to be His witnesses. This outpouring is a promise that God is with us, guiding and strengthening us every step of the way.

Just as the Israelites were instructed here to rejoice and bring offerings according to how the Lord had blessed them, we are called to give generously, to live joyfully, and to recognize God’s hand in every aspect of our lives.

The Feast of Tabernacles also points us to the future, to the ultimate gathering of God’s people. It symbolizes our journey on this earth, living as pilgrims, yet always under the care and provision of our Heavenly Father.

This third feast encourages us to remember that our ultimate home is with God, and He is leading us to that glorious future.

As we conclude, I hope it encourages you to remember to celebrate God’s goodness with heartfelt joy, acknowledging that every good and perfect gift comes from Him.

Let your life be marked by generosity, sharing the blessings we have received with those around us. Because in doing so, we not only honour God but also build up the community of faith.

Let us also remember that we are pilgrims on a journey. This world is not our eternal home. Just as the Israelites lived in booths to remember their journey through the wilderness, let us live with the awareness that our time on earth is short and our true citizenship is in heaven. 

We are on a path leading to an eternal home, where we will dwell with our Lord forever.

In the spirit of these feasts, let us rejoice in God’s provision and faithfulness. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered to be His witnesses in the world. And let us look forward with hope to the day when we will be gathered together with all of God’s people in His eternal kingdom.

As we celebrate His blessings and live in anticipation of His return, let us do so with grateful hearts, always remembering His faithfulness and grace.

Go in peace, live in joy, and serve with love, knowing that our God is with us every step of the way.