Deuteronomy 16:1-17

THE THREE GREAT RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS: PASSOVER, FEAST OF WEEKS OR PENTECOST, AND FEAST OF TABERNACLES, Deuteronomy 16:1-17.

The directions for the observance of these feasts have already been given in the preceding books, Exodus xii; Leviticus xxiii; Numbers xxviii, 29. What is here said is on the supposition that the hearers were familiar with the nature of these sacred festivals and with the general regulations for their observance. The assembling of the people at one central place of worship, to be appointed by Jehovah their God, is enjoined, and the requirement emphasized by the repetition of the expression “in the place which the Lord shall choose.” Deuteronomy 16:2; Deuteronomy 16:6-7; Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:15-16. The feast of trumpets and the great day of atonement are as positively required as these festivals, (see Leviticus 23:23, seq.,) but need not be referred to here, as the assembling of the people at the central sanctuary is the thing Moses wished to impress upon the people.