Exodus 23:14-16
Three Annual Feasts
Other gods will lose their attractiveness to God’s people and will not be worth their interest if their lives revolve around the feasts that the LORD would like them to celebrate to Him. Then He becomes the center of their lives. To stimulate this, He wants all their males to appear “three times a year … before the Lord GOD” (Exo 23:17). This means that they come consciously in His presence. The purpose is to celebrate a feast to Him, to express their joy in Him and for what He has given. When He sees their joy, His heart is pleased. It is a joy in which He is central. Therefore they will not come with empty hands, but with sacrifices that are pleasing to Him.The times when all men of Israel have to go to Jerusalem are related to “the Feast of Unleavened Bread”, “the Feast of the Harvest” or the feast of the first fruits and “the Feast of the Ingathering” or the Feast of Booths. For us it means to lead a life in which sin has no space (Feast of Unleavened Bread), in which the first and best as a symbol of our whole life is for the Lord (Feast of the first fruits), while we honor Him for all the blessings He has given us (Feast of the Ingathering). We may celebrate these ‘feasts’ every time we come together to Him. Then we will not come with empty hearts, but with hearts full of thanks and worship for everything He has given and above all for Who He is.
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