Why Does the Lord Give the Sabbath?
The Lord gives his people the Sabbath for different though complementary reasons. Some texts emphasize that it serves as a sign of the Israelites’ covenant relationship with the Lord, much like a wedding ring is a sign of a marriage relationship (Ex. 31:13–17). Keeping the Sabbath year and the Sabbath day are thus physical proclamations of faith, a way for Israelites to say with their bodies that they follow the Lord, the one who created all things in six days and then rested on the seventh.
But these verses emphasize other reasons for the Sabbath, namely, rest and provision, especially for those who might not be able to rest otherwise or who struggle to provide for themselves. Among people the Lord zeroes in on the poor and lowly (23:11–12), reminding Israelites that all are in God’s image and therefore to be shown compassion and care, both in allowing them to provide for their needs and in giving them needed rest and refreshment. But the Lord also makes note of the land and the animals (vv. 11–12), which are equally to be given the opportunity to rest and, in the animals’ case, to provide for themselves. This is no surprise. This is God’s creation, and he cares for it as his own. We do well to ask: What does it look like for believers today, especially those who employ others, to provide rest and refreshment for others, including the poor and lowly? And what does it look like for believers today to have the Lord’s posture toward the earth and the creatures within it? This is our Father’s world; we should care for it as such.
Why Does the Lord Institute Various Feasts?
The Sabbath and the Sabbath year are not the only special times in Israel’s calendar. Others include the offering of the firstfruits, the day of trumpet blasts, the Day of Atonement, and three festivals at the sanctuary: Passover and Unleavened Bread (celebrated together), Weeks, and Booths (cf. table 2.8). This passage focuses on these latter three (for details on each of the feasts cf. comments on 23:10–19).
By keeping these feasts the Israelites begin their year with a reminder of the Lord’s redemption (Passover and Unleavened Bread), which would be like our beginning the calendar with Easter. As the year went on, the countrywide harvest is punctuated near its beginning (Weeks) and end (Booths) with reminders of the Lord’s provision and an opportunity to pass on again the story of his redemption. The calendar is both a catechism, teaching the Israelites who the Lord is, and a worship service, providing them opportunity to respond in thanksgiving and praise. How might we structure the life of our churches in similar ways? Aside from Sunday worship, what types of regular events could remind people of God’s goodness in providing salvation through Christ and in providing material blessing? And how can we structure these events to give God’s people a chance to respond with appropriate celebration and praise?Exodus 23:10–19
Exodus 23:20–33
23:10–11 To show that they are the Lord’s people, the Israelites are to rest not only one day in seven but also one year in seven. The Sabbath year of rest applies especially to the full scope of agricultural work, from beginning to end (sowing to gathering), whether in the fields, vineyards, or olive orchards (vv. 10, 11c). The Israelites’ food will come from the previous year’s harvest and from what grows naturally in the fields (Lev. 25:6–7).
There are three reasons behind the command: so that the land may rest, the poor may eat freely from the land’s fruit, and the animals may eat whatever the poor leave. The Lord has compassion for all people and all things, including the land and the animals (cf. Gen. 6:18–20; 8:1; 9:8–10; Lev. 25:4–5; Ps. 104:10–18; Matt. 10:29). So great is his concern that he institutionalizes this care in the rituals his people are to follow, both here and in Exodus 23:12, providing them with a constant reminder to show his compassion to his world. This focus, here and in verse 12, also connects these verses naturally to the preceding. For a more detailed expression of this law see Leviticus 25:1–7, 18–22.
23:12 The command to rest every seventh day is now repeated (cf. comment on 20:8–11). Picking up on the rationale of the preceding verses, 23:12 focuses on compassion for animals, who are the objects of God’s own care, and compassion for all people, who are made in his image, whether the lowliest member of a household (“the son of your servant woman”) or those from a different people (“the alien”; for “alien” cf. note 254 within comment on 12:43–50). None of these are to be treated as lifeless tools but are to be shown compassion as living beings in need of rest and refreshment.
23:13 A more wooden rendering of this verse might begin, “In everything I have said to you, keep yourselves!”—that is, they are to stay exactly within the commands he has given them. This especially means showing exclusive loyalty to the Lord by not even mentioning the names of other gods, whether by praising them, praying to them, or taking oaths in their name (v. 13b; cf. note 432 within comment on 20:22–26). In short the rejection of other gods is to be absolute. “Idols shall not only be banished from the hearts, but also from the lips.” The Lord alone is to be the Israelites’ God.
23:14–17 In light of verse 13 one way in which the Israelites will show their exclusive devotion to the Lord is when Israelite males, as family representatives, travel to the sanctuary three times during the year to hold various feasts in honor of the Lord. The passage begins and ends with this command in order to emphasize it (vv. 14, 17). Other community rituals and offerings are also to be held (cf. table 2.8), but this passage focuses on the only three that will require Israelites to travel to the sanctuary.
TABLE 2.8: The Lord’s Holy Times
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Reference
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Event
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Month
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Day
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Season/
Modern Calendar
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Work Prohibition
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Males Required to Go to Sanctuary?
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Purpose
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Lev. 23:3
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Weekly Sabbath
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Every
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Every 7th
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—
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Total
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No
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Sign of the covenant; an opportunity for rest.
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|
First Half of Year
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|
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Lev. 23:5
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Passover
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1
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14
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Spring/March-April
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None stated
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Yes
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To celebrate how the Lord rescued them in the midst of his judgment of Egypt and led them from the land of slavery.
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|
Lev. 23:6–8
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Festival of Unleavened Bread
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1
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15–21
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Spring/
March-April
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Partial on days 1, 7
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Yes
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As immediately above.
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|
Lev. 23:9–14
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Offering of the firstfruits
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—
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Day after first Sabbath of harvest
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Spring/
April
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None stated
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No
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Honor the Lord as provider by returning to him from firstfruits of the harvest; likely pray for his continued blessing on the harvest.
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|
Lev. 23:15–22
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Festival of Weeks/ Festival of Harvest/ Pentecost
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—
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50th day after the offering of the first-fruits
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Spring-Summer/
May-June
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Partial
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Yes
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As immediately above.
|
|
Second Half of Year
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|
|
Lev. 23:23–25
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Day of trumpet blasts
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7
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1
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Fall/
September-October
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Partial
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No
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To acknowledge the Lord as their God and to ask him to show them his favor and to be faithful to his covenant promises to them.
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|
Lev. 23:26–32
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Day of Atonement
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7
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10
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Fall/
September-October
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Total
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No
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The making of atonement for their sins and impurities.
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|
Lev. 23:33–36, 39–43
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Festival of Booths/Succoth/Festival of Ingathering
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7
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15–21
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Fall/
September-October
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Partial on day 1
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Yes
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Celebrate the Lord’s provision in the harvest; teach future generations of the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt
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|
Lev. 23:36
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Festival of Booths closing assembly
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7
|
22
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Fall/
September-October
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Partial
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Yes
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As immediately above; also, closes out the festival.
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The first feast is the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Ex. 23:15), which is celebrated together with the Passover (cf. comments on 12:14–20 and 12:3–13, respectively; for “Abib” cf. comment on 12:1–2). The focus here, as in chapter 12, is the way in which this feast commemorates the Lord’s deliverance of the Israelites. Their year thus begins with a celebration of his redemption. And since they are coming before him as their redeeming King, it is appropriate for them to bring tribute to him in the form of offerings and not come empty-handed. The same will apply to the following feasts.
The next sanctuary feast is the Feast of Harvest, which goes by other names as well (cf. how today we use “Communion,” “the Lord’s Supper,” and “the Eucharist” to refer to the same meal). One of these is “Feast of Weeks” (Ex. 34:22), as it comes seven weeks after the offering of the firstfruits of the barley harvest, and another is “Pentecost,” used in NT times (Acts 2:1) and deriving from the Greek word for “fiftieth” (pentēkos) since it occurs on the fiftieth day after the offering of the firstfruits (cf. Lev. 23:16). This feast celebrates the Lord as provider of the harvest (for further details cf. table 2.8 and Lev. 23:15–22).
The final sanctuary feast is known as the “Feast of Ingathering” since it takes place “at the end of the year,” with the final harvest (Ex. 23:16b), and is a time to praise the Lord again for his provision. It is also known as the “Feast of Booths” (Lev. 23:34) since the Israelites are to construct “booths”—known in Hebrew as sukkot, the name often used for the festival in Jewish circles—to remember and teach about the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt (cf. table 2.8 and Lev. 23:33–43, and further in the Response section).
23:18–19 As do the preceding verses, these also focus on matters related to the Lord’s proper worship and, in particular, matters relevant to the feasts just mentioned. While verse 18 could be read as a general comment on sacrifices, the approach that makes best sense of all the data understands it to refer to the Passover in particular (celebrated together with the Festival of Unleavened Bread). This is certainly true of the phrase “my feast” in the verse’s second half, since the parallel verse in 34:25 substitutes “Feast of the Passover” in its place. It also makes good sense of the first half of 23:18, as it focuses on keeping anything leavened from accompanying the sacrifice, which is the main focus of Passover. In this light the terms “my sacrifice” and “my feast” are parallel, with the verse emphasizing earlier commands related to the Passover: any bread eaten with the meal must be unleavened, and none of it may be left until morning. (Cf. comment on 12:3–13 for further explanation.)
Exodus 23:19a continues the theme of worshiping the Lord properly by commanding the Israelites to bring “the best of the firstfruits” of their harvest to him (which they will do in part during the Festival of Weeks; Lev. 23:17). He is worthy of their highest honor and praise (cf. comment on 22:29–30). Exodus 23:19b also relates to the Lord’s proper worship. Boiling appears to have been a common way to prepare sacrificial meat (Lev. 6:28–29; 1 Sam. 2:13; Zech. 14:21), which would have been done during the three festivals above. Why such meat should not be boiled in its mother’s milk is not explained. Many have suggested this is prohibiting the Israelites from imitating a pagan rite, though there is no clear evidence that such a rite was practiced by other nations. Since other verses imply that a level of respect and compassion should be shown with regard to the relationship between an animal and its offspring (cf. comment on 22:29–30), it should not surprise us if the same principle is at work here, the thought being that using a mother’s life-giving milk to prepare her dead offspring for consumption is uncaring at best and grotesque at worst. At our current state of knowledge this understanding is perhaps the most plausible, though it cannot be affirmed with certainty.