SABBATH AND FEASTS. The Hebrews were [38] required to keep:

      (1). The Sabbath Day (Ex., 20:8-11). They were not permitted, (a) to leave their dwellings (Ex., 16:29), (b) nor kindle a fire throughout their habitations on the Sabbath day (Ex., 35:1-3). The death penalty was attached to the violation of this law (Num., 15:32-36).

      (2). The Sabbatical Year. They were to sow their fields, prune their vineyards and enjoy the fruits of their labors for six years, but in the seventh year the land and the people were to rest (Lev., 25:1-7). During the seventh year they subsisted upon the spontaneous products of the land and the accumulation of the excessive crops of the sixth year (Lev., 25:6, 7, 20-22).

      (3). The Jubilee. They were to number seven sabbaths of years, forty-nine years, and on the tenth day of the seventh month they were to sound the trumpet throughout all the land; slaves were released and every man returned to his possession (Lev., 25:8-13). The price of everything in Israel was regulated by the distance from the jubilee (Lev., 25:14-17).

      (4). The Passover. This feast originated in Egypt and was so named on the account of the passing over of the houses of the Hebrews by the angel of death. In connection with it, and following it, they kept the feast of unleavened bread (Ex., 12:1-29). The law of Moses, however, regulated the keeping of the feast. It was really eaten on the night of the fifteenth of Abib; the Hebrew day closed at sunset (Lev., 23:32). They killed the paschal lamb at the going down of the sun on the fourteenth of the month (Ex., 12:1-6; Deut., 16:1-8). The feast of unleavened bread began with the passover and [39] closed on the twenty-first day of the month at sundown (Ex., 12:14-19 Lev., 23:1-8). No uncircumcised person was permitted to partake of the paschal feast (Ex., 12:43-51). Special offerings were made at the feast consisting of, (a) two young bullocks, (b) one ram, (c) seven lambs, (d) and one goat, for each day during the seven days, aggregating seventy-seven animals (Num., 28:16-25).

      (5). First of each month. On the beginning of each month during the year they were required to offer, (a) two young bullocks, (b) one ram, (c) seven lambs, (d) and one kid of the goats (Num., 28:11-15).

      (6). Feast of Weeks. This feast was known as, (a) feast of harvest (Ex., 23:16), (b) feast of weeks (Ex., 34:22), (c) day of first fruits (Num., 28:26), (d) and Pentecost (Acts, 2:1). This feast occurred fifty days after the passover (Lev., 23:15, 16; Deut., 16:9-12). They began to number the fifty days on the morrow after the first sabbath of the feast of unleavened bread, or on the sixteenth day of Abib or Nisan (Ex., 12:11-20; Lev., 23:4-16). During this feast they offered, (a) first, two wave loaves made of the first fruits of the land, (b) seven lambs, (c) one young bullock, (d) two rams, (e) one kid of the goats, (f) and two lambs of the first year, making in all thirteen animals (Lev., 23:15-21; Num., 28:26-31).

      (7). Feast of Trumpets. This feast was held on the first day of the seventh month of each year, and was characterized by the refraining of the people from work, and the blowing of trumpets (Num., 29:1). During this feast they offered (a) one young bullock, (b) one ram, (c) seven lambs of the first year, (d) and one kid of the [40] goats (Num., 29:1-6).

      (8). Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was the feast of ingathering, and was third in order of the annual feasts (Ex., 23:16). It was inaugurated on the fifteenth of Tishri, and lasted seven days (Lev., 23:34). It was kept as follows: (a) The people dwelt in booths formed of the branches of trees in commemoration of their temporary habitations during the journey through the wilderness (Lev., 23:34-44); (b) it was inaugurated by a holy convocation (Lev., 23:36); (c) and when it occurred in the Sabbatical year, portions of the law were read publicly each day to men, women, children and strangers (Deut., 31:10-13). During the feast they offered, (a) seventy bullocks, (b) fourteen rams, (c) ninety-eight lambs (d) and seven kids, or (70 + 14 + 98 + 7 = 189) one hundred and eighty-nine animals altogether (Num., 29:12-33). Special offerings were made on the eighth day consisting of one bullock, one ram, seven lambs, and one goat (Num., 29:35, 38).

[CBC 38-41]