The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 385

HOMILETICS. Vers. 9-21; 39-43.-The harvei;tfei;tivals among ourselves receive a sanction from the divinely appointed harvest festivals of the Jews, which were three in number. I. 'l'HE P ABSOVER HARVEST FEBTIV AL. 1. On Nisan 14, the selection of the field and the ears of barley which were to be cut. 2. On Nisan 15, the progress of three appointed delegates to the spot, as the sun went down, with sickles and baskets ; the reaping of the barley that had been marked to be cut, and its conveyance to the court of the temple. 3. On Nisan 16, the waving of one sheaf of the barley before the Lord, in token that the whole crop, of which it was the firstfruits, was offered to the Lord in gratitude for his having given it to man for his food. Not until the firstfruits had been presented to God might the new year's barley be used. The firstfruits having been made holy, the whole lump was holy. II. THE PENTECOST HARVEST FESTIVAL. 1. At the beginning of the wheat harvest, the reservation of the field from which the ears of wheat were to be cut. 2. On the forty-ninth day from Nisan 15, the progress, as before, of three appointed delegates to the spot, with sickles and baskets; the reaping of the wheat that had been marked; its conveyance to the court of the temple; its threshing, winnowing, and grinding, and the formation out of it of two loaves made with leaven. 3. On the fiftieth day from Nisan 15, the waving of the two loaves before the Lord, in token that the whole wheat crop, like the barley crop before, was sanctified for the use of man by a sample portion of it having been given to God. Not till after this might the meat offering be me.do of the new flour. 4. On the same day and subsequent days, the private offering of first- fruits, which might not be brought until the national offering of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest had been made, but kept up the harvest joyousness from that time to tho end of the year. From each of the twenty-four districts into which Palestine was divided came a company. Each morning, while they were on the road to Jerusalem, their leader summoned them with the words, " Come ye, and let us go up to Zion, and unto Jehovah our God" (Jer. xxxi. 6), and they answered," I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (Ps. cxxii. 1). "First went ono who played the pipe; then followed a sacrificial bullock, destined for a peace offering, his horns gilt and garlanded with olive branches; next came the multitudo, some carry- ing the baskets with firstfruits, others singing the psalms which many writers supposo to have been specially destined for that service, and hence to have been called 'The Songs of Ascent,' in our Authorized Version 'The Psalms of Degrees.' Tho poorer brought their gifts in wicker baskets, which afterwards belonged to the officiating priests; the richer theirs in baskets of silver or of gold, which were given to the temple treasury. . . . And so they passed through the length and breadth of the land, every- where waking the echoes of praise. As they entered the city, they sang Ps. cxxii. 2, 'Our feet shall stand in thy gates, 0 Jerusalem.' . . . As they reached the templo mount, each one, whatever his rauk or condition, took one of the baskets on his shoulder, and they ascended singing that appropriate hymn, 'Praise ye the Lord. Praise Go<l in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power' (Ps. cl.). As thoy entered the temple itself, the Levites intoned Ps. xxx., ' I will extol thee, 0 Lord• for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me'" (Edersheim'. • +emple Servi9e '). 'fhe ceremonies of the actual pfesentation ,-re 4etai!e<l in De11t,. 350 THE BOOK OF LEVITIOUS. [ oH. :nm. 6-44,