“This is love for God; to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3

The Law of Moses can seem complicated and heavy, but that’s because we are on the outside looking in. Following the Law would be very disruptive to the lives we live today, but it you had been born into an ancient Israelite family, these laws would be natural to you.

You would be used to Dad raising lambs or baby goats for offerings, tending them carefully and giving them a good life. Mom would keep a store of the finest flour and purest olive oil to use in making unleavened bread. She would keep a clean home and prepare delicious, healthy food. You’d probably welcome baby brothers and sisters into the home on a regular basis.

Your grandparents would come around often to talk about the Law and recount the history of your people. Other relatives would almost always be nearby to lend a hand and care for needy members of the family.

Best of all, you would always be looking forward to the next religious festival with its big family reunions, feasting and worship. Life would be organized around Sabbath days each week, each new moon, and the seasons of the year. Apart from the Day of Atonement, these holy days were celebrated with joy and abundance.

First Festival: Sabbath 

Every seventh day was the Sabbath. No work was allowed; everyone had to take the day off and rest. God said, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Exodus 34:21

Part of the work people did during the first six days of the week was preparing for the Sabbath. On the seventh day there would be no cooking or cleaning, catching up on chores, or doing odd jobs. The Sabbath was a day to reflect, appreciate God and reset the heart and mind for the week ahead.

Resting every seventh day during plowing or harvesting season was a real test of faith, but those busy seasons were also when people were most likely to overwork themselves. The thought of reaping profits could make a farmer greedy and compulsive. Taking a rest once a week calmed those impulses.

Second Festival: Passover

We read about how Israel celebrated Passover in Exodus 12:1-30 (February 4 in the One Year Chronological Bible). This festival began at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month and continued for one week. The first and last days were observed just like the Sabbath, with no work allowed. During each of the other days the people offered food offerings to the Lord.

Third Festival: The Festival of Firstfruits

Israel didn’t plant crops while they sojourned in the desert, but when they got to Canaan, they would plant their grain crops in the rainy season between (our months) of October and March. By spring the first grain, usually Barley, was ready for harvest.

Before they ate any of the grain of this harvest, they brought a sheaf of it to the priests to wave before the Lord. They made a burnt offering of a yearling lamb, together with fine flour and olive oil and some wine. This offering expressed their gratitude that God had blessed their first crops of the year.

Fourth Festival: The Festival of Weeks

Fifty days, after the Festival of Firstfruits the rest of the grain harvest began and people brought offerings to thank God. This was the only festival that required bread baked with leaven as an offering. It also had the greatest number of burnt sacrifices associated with it: Seven male yearling lambs, one young bull, two rams, grain, oil and drink offerings were all offered.

Besides that two male yearling lambs and two loaves of bread made with leaven were waved before the altar and given to the priests. This one-day festival was observed like a Sabbath day with a sacred assembly and no work allowed.

At the time of harvest the Israelites were reminded not to reap all the way to the edges of their fields so poor people could glean what was left behind.

Fifth Festival: The Festival of Trumpets

On the first day of the seventh month trumpets were sounded and the people were called to a Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly and a food offering to the Lord. This was the opening day of the very important seventh-month observances that lay ahead.

Sixth Festival: The Day of Atonement

From the evening of the 9th day to the evening of the 10th day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement was observed. This was the only festival observed with fasting by the Israelites. We read the details for this holy day in Leviticus 16:1-34 (February 21 in the One Year Chronological Bible). People who failed to participate fully in this day were to be cut off from their people. It was a solemn day that required Israel’s full attetion.

Seventh Festival: The Festival of Tabernacles

The festival of tabernacles came after the hard work of harvest was complete. It was a weeklong celebration that was probably quite a party. The first day was a day of sabbath rest, as was the eighth day. In between, people lived in temporary shelters made from lush tree branches and hung out together. They gave daily food offerings to the Lord and visited with each other, remembering how God had brought them out of Egypt. It was a nice respite before winter plowing and planting began.

Inside the Holy Place

Leviticus 24:1-9 gives us a glimpse inside the tabernacle’s holy place. There a golden lamp was kept burning day and night. Next to it was the table where twelve loaves of fresh bread were placed every Sabbath. The loaves were arranged in two stacks of six each, and beside each stack was incense that was burned instead of burning the loaves as an offering. The priests ate the bread at the end of each week in the sanctuary area.

An Example of Just Punishment

 In Leviticus 24:10-23 we read about a man who got into a fight and blasphemed God’s name with a curse. This is one of the few cases where God directly decided the outcome. He ordered that the man be stoned to death. Before he was killed, the witnesses who had been defiled by hearing the curse laid their hands on the man’s head and transferred their guilt back to him.

God took this opportunity to reiterate that punishment of criminals was to be limited to fit the crime. In Leviticus 24:17-23 he names the penalties for certain offenses, and this contrasted with other nations that had extreme penalties for the same crimes.

Sabbath and Jubilee Years

The land that God was going to give to Israel was always going to be his property. He gave the land to his people so they could live and prosper, but he always wanted its use to be just and fair.

He gave Moses a plan for returning the land to its original owners every fifty years. It could be bought and sold for forty-nine years, but in the fiftieth year, it reverted to the clans and families it had first been assigned to.

God also loved the earth itself and wanted it to flourish so he planned a Sabbath rest for the land every seven years. He promised that the harvest leading up to the Sabbath Year would be so abundant that it would sustain the Israelites for three years in a row.

As far as anyone knows, Israel never observed the Sabbath and Jubilee years, so we don’t know what wonderful things might have come from those practices.

Something to Look Forward To

Our daughter told me once that she tries have something for her three children to look forward to everyday, even if it’s just their after school snack. She and her husband also always have something on the calendar for them to anticipate. It might be as simple a an outing to the park, a yogurt run, or time playing with another family, but this cheerful practice keeps the kids optimistic and makes day-to-day routines less boring.

I wonder if God had that same joyful sense of anticipation in mind when he planned the religious calendar for Israel?

Once they got into the rhythm of living by the Law, they had so much to look forward to, festivals, sacred gatherings and worship every few months, not to mention a day off every week. Keeping the Law wasn’t so hard when patterns of celebration were woven into it.