The Feast of Booths - Leviticus 33:33-43
33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths[a] to the Lord.35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.
37 “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 besides the Lord's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.
39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
I watched a worship video the other day where people began debating about the qualities of worship. While there were many definitions given, I was amazed at the domination of the I/me perspective in which each person considered their point of view, their experience, and their feelings as the primary driving force in what true worship was. As the debate raged on, no one seemed to consider any kind of Biblical foundation for their arguments.
In Leviticus we see how our Israelite ancestors were instructed to worship. They were to gather together in holy convocation to start and end their feast. They had to present offerings throughout the week and not do any work on days of worship (v. 35). Not doing any work meant they had to do a lot of preparation in the days leading up to these wonderful celebrations. Furthermore, the offerings and sacrifices were in addition to their normal offerings (v. 38). Then, after resting, there was celebration, rejoicing and living in booths for seven days (v. 39-40). Living in booths, or tents, was a way of re-enacting God’s story of redemption: it reminded generations to come that Israel lived in booths when they were brought out of Egypt.
From this passage we see a pattern of worship that enacts God’s story in order to remember and celebrate God’s mighty deeds in history. God instructed his people to worship through preparation, rest, Holy gatherings, offerings, feasts and camping in tents. Sounds like we need a church campout soon! True Biblical worship, then should involve preparation, rest, gathering together, presenting sacrifices and most importantly, enacting God’s story. Worship often involves emotion, but Biblically based worship involves action that points to God and God’s story.
How can we focus on God and God’s story in worship?
In what ways do we enact God’s story on Sundays?
In what ways can I enact God’s story daily?
How may I take care to not shift focus to myself in worship?
Make plans to worship together with us on Sunday where we sing, proclaim, and enact God’s great story of love, redemption and re-creation!
Pastor Ray is teaching a worship class at Stark College and Seminary this Fall. It is not a class about music, though music will be covered, but instead delves into worship from a Biblical and historical view. If you are interested in signing up, contact our church office or visit the Stark webpage. Pastor Ray is also bad at camping, so he probably won’t be leading any expeditions enacting the feast of booths any time soon.