The point of connection of this section with what precedes is the sacrificial meals. Moses repeated here the instructions regarding those important feasts that included sacrificial meals that the people would eat at the tabernacle (cf. Exod. 12; Lev. 23; Num. 28-29).
1. Passover and Unleavened Bread vv. 1-8
2. Pentecost (also called Harvest and Weeks and Firstfruits) vv. 9-12
3. Tabernacles (also called Ingathering and Booths) vv. 13-17
God commanded all the male Israelites to assemble at the sanctuary for all these feasts each year (v. 16). These feast amounted to a pledge of allegiance to Yahweh each time the Israelites celebrated them. They came to His presence to do so, as their Near Eastern neighbors returned to their king's presence to similarly honor him periodically.
"The ancient requirement that the men of Israel should report to the central sanctuary three times a year has an interesting parallel in the Near Eastern treaty requirements. It was common practice for suzerains to require their vassals to report to them periodically, in some cases three times a year, in order to renew their allegiance and to bring tribute."183
The Passover and Unleavened Bread feast were a more solemn occasion (v. 8), but the other two were joyous celebrations (vv. 11, 15). Evidently the Israelites roasted the Passover lamb (Exod. 12:9), but they boiled the additional offerings for that day (v. 7; cf. 2 Chron. 35:13).184
God's people should celebrate God's redemption, remember our previous enslaved condition, and rejoice in God's provisions corporately and regularly (cf. Eph. 5:4; Phil. 4:6; Col. 2:7; 4:2; 1 Tim. 4:3-4). These are the things God encourages Christians to remember at the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-28).
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