The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 279

(.'1) It ~ms to be eaten in a standing posture, as if ready to depart at o. moment's w11rn- i1,;. Even so we, ns we gather round the sacramental board, are but on pilgrimage. We l,nlt awhile to refresh us by the way, but we have, soon as our celebration-day is over, 1 o renew our march in the desert, and to resume the toil and fight. 'vVe have not yet come to lhe rest and inheritance the Lord hath promised to give us, (4) The Apostle !'au! says, "Let us keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice,'' etc., i.e. not with any ill feeling harboured in the soul, nor with ill actions practised in the life. For it is not u11ly as so much evil in the individual that Paul there regards the"""{,. and ..-0~11pla, but as so much perrnsive leaven in the Church, that, if not cast out, will he its bane, yea, even its ruin (see 1 Cor. x. 16, 17). We should therefore cultivate always,.and specially bring to the table of the Lord, a spirit of loving fellowship. So strongly did the early Christians feel this, that they were wont to ask of each ·other the mutual for- giveness of injuries before observing the sacred feast. And that same spirit of love, so specially incumbent then, should be the prevailing habit of soul with believers towards each other. For are not all redeemed by the same precious blood? Are not all mem- bers of one family? If our God loves us so much, in spite of our sins, as to own us as his, should not that shame us into a loving regard for each other in spite of our faults? Viith one Saviour, one salvation, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one home, well may we strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to uultivate, in the fellowship of believers at the table of the Lord, the same spilit which alone will pervade the higher fellowship of heaven. • Vers. 9-12.-1'1e Feast of Weeks, or of Harvest. (For the varied names given to this Feast of Weeks, see Kurtz, 'Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament,' pp. 376, et seq. For an interesting statement as to the value to Israel of these national gatherings, see Wine's 'Commentaries on the Laws of Moses,' bk. ii. eh. i.) This Feast of Weeks was not com- memorative in the same sense as that of the Passover; it wo.e connected, .not with a great national epoch, but with the seasons of the year and the times of harvest. The method in which it was to be observed is stated in Lev. xxiii. 10, et seq. We find there, and in the various Scripture references to this festival, the following principles in- dicated. 1. '.l'hat the Hebrews were to regard the produce of the soil as given to them by the bounty of God. 2. That they were to honour Jehovah by a public thanksgiving for his good.nets. 3. That they were to yield the firstfruits to him. 4. That they were to rejoice and be :,.lad before him, for what he was and for what he gave. 5. '!'hat th~y were to rtcognize the equality before God of ma,;ter and servant. National festivals were holi6Rys for the labourer, and times when good will and kindliness towards the" stranger, the fatherleBI!, and widow" were to he specially manifested. 6. Th!ly were thus to recognize their national unity by showing their joint thankfulness for a common mercy. These festivals would strengthen Israel's feeling of kinship, and these united gatherings before the Lord their God would proclaim, as often as they were held, their separation unto him. 7. Though this was a harvest festival, a.ad as such chietly expresHive of th_ankfulness for the bounty of God as seen in nature, yet it was not to he observed without the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering (cf. Lev. xxiii. 18- 20). Other offerings were to be presented along with the offering for sin, Natural err. XVI. 1-22.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 275