Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FEASTS, FESTIVALS

Feasts and festivals provided occasions for the Israelites to come before God and express their gratitude for successful harvests, to remember and celebrate Yahweh’s saving actions on behalf of the nation, and to reflect on their status as the holy people of Yahweh. Five “festal calendars” are found in the Pentateuch: Exod. 23:14-17; 34:18-26; Lev. 23; Num. 28–29; Deut. 16:1-17 (cf. Ezek. 45:18-25). These texts and the ritual practices that they envision reflect both historical and theological development. It is important to recognize that such development does not necessarily entail the complete abandonment of earlier dynamics and concerns. Rather, it adds complexity so as to create new contexts and possibilities for reflection and enactment. Thus, e.g., the later concern to relate the festivals to specific moments in Israel’s history need not mean that earlier agricultural concerns were entirely lost. The ritual remembrance and celebration of God’s activity and blessing receive theological complexity precisely in the context of ritual enactment and reflection. In this way, one can understand Israel’s cultic life to have been, at least in part, generative of its theological reflections.

Exod. 23:14-17; 34:18-26, the earliest festal prescriptions, call for three annual festivals: the Pilgrimage of Unleavened Bread (ḥag hammaṣṣôṯ), the Pilgrimage of Harvest (ḥag haqqāṣîr), the firstfruits of the farmer’s labor (in 34:22, the Pilgrimage of Weeks [ḥag šāḇuʿôṯ], the firstfruits of the wheat harvest), and the Pilgrimage of Ingathering (ḥag hāʾāsip). The festivals of Harvest and Ingathering were clearly tied to the agricultural life of the land. Originally, the Festival of Harvest celebrated the firstfruits of the barley harvest in the spring; the Festival of Ingathering was related to the autumnal gathering of the fruits at the end of the year (Exod. 34:22). These observances were, in all probability, adapted from already existing Canaanite agricultural practices. The farmers would bring their offerings to a sacred site near their home and present their offerings to Yahweh in celebration of the fertility of the land. Such agricultural observances emphasized Israel’s intimate relationship to the land and Yahweh’s blessing of the people with successful crops. Harvest celebration and ritual presentation merge.

The Pilgrimage of Unleavened Bread has generally been associated with the spring harvest, although its early status as an agricultural observance is not certain. It is a seven-day observance in which no leaven is to be eaten and is, in the early texts, related to Israel’s exodus from Egypt. It is not associated with Passover in either of these early texts. Thus, Unleavened Bread may reflect an early Israelite observance specifically designed to celebrate Yahweh’s act of redemption. It must be noted, however, that at a later time the observance of this festival was related to the presentation of the sheaf of firstfruits (cf. Lev. 23:9-14). In this way, it came to have both agricultural and historical connotations.

It is generally recognized that a major change in the observance of the festivals took place in the 7th century. Local agricultural celebrations were transformed into national celebrations that required a pilgrimage to the central sanctuary. This requirement reflects the mandated centralization of worship in the capital city of Jerusalem which is generally associated with the reforms of King Josiah (2 Kgs. 22–23). Such a transformation is reflected in the instructions found in Deut. 16:1-17. This text emphasizes that the pilgrimages must be observed “at the place which Yahweh will choose,” which in Deuteronomy refers to the temple in Jerusalem. Of particular importance, Passover (pesaḥ) and Unleavened Bread are now joined as two parts of one pilgrimage festival. Although it is not certain, Passover appears to have been originally a family observance that took place in the context of the individual homes (Exod. 12:21-23). Deuteronomy turns it into a national pilgrimage that requires the Passover “sacrifice” to be slaughtered at the central sanctuary. The Passover sacrifice overlaps with the first day of the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread. The people were not required to remain in Jerusalem for the duration of the seven days. They were required, however, to observe a solemn assembly on the seventh day.

The festal prescriptions in Deut. 16 also seek to locate the time of the Feast of Weeks more precisely (vv. 9-12). It is to be observed seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. The observance of Weeks requires a freewill offering that functions as a ritual response of gratitude to the blessings of Yahweh. Further, the people are to rejoice before Yahweh and, at the same time, to remember that they were slaves in Egypt. Although it is not indicated in biblical texts, the festival would in postexilic time come to be associated with the making of the Sinai covenant (cf., e.g., the book of Jubilees).

The Pilgrimage of Ingathering is now termed the Pilgrimage of Booths (ḥag hassukkôṯ; Deut. 16:13-15). It is a seven-day autumn festival associated with the gathering of produce used in the making of oil and wine (generally, Sept.-Oct.). It is a time of celebration that functions both as response to and anticipation of Yahweh’s blessings. Although it is not certain, it is probable that the “booths” were temporary field shelters constructed by the people during the time of harvest. When the festival was centralized, the booths were built in the capital city to provide living quarters for the pilgrims.

In Deuteronomy one detects a movement toward the historical and theological rendering of the festivals. The festivals are associated with specific moments in Israel’s national story. Although the agricultural context of the festivals is not entirely lost, an effort is made to construct a ritual context that provides the occasion and opportunity for theological reflection on Yahweh’s acts in history on behalf of the whole community. It is doubtful, however, that the Israelite farmer who made the pilgrimage to the central sanctuary in order to make an offering to Yahweh would fail to experience it, to some degree, in terms of agricultural blessing. Too much has been made of the supposed dichotomy between nature and history in Israelite life and thought. Both may be experienced in terms of Yahweh’s blessings. Ritual offering provides the occasion for enacting one’s response to the experience of divine blessings in “nature” and in “history.” Thus, the festivals provided contexts not only for thinking about God and God’s actions, but also for responding to the divine being in acts of thanksgiving, celebration, and offering.

The move toward a theological rendering of the sacred year is evidenced in Lev. 23 (cf. Num. 28-29). The effort to impose a ritual order on the year may reflect the loss of monarchy and the experience of exile in Babylon (6th century b.c.e.). Lev. 23 (cf. Num. 28–29) provides the details of this ritual order. Festival and ritual observance become means for establishing an orderly rhythm for the life of the community.

Lev. 23:15 locates the date of the Festival of Weeks 50 days after the presentation of the sheaf of firstfruits at the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The text requires a presentation of two loaves of bread from the Israelite settlements. A complete list of the sacrifices and offerings to be presented at this time is found in Lev. 23:15-21; Num. 28:26-31. In terms of the Festival of Booths, Lev. 23:33-36, 39-43 specifies that it is to last for seven days with a holy convocation of complete rest on the first and an additional observance on the eighth day. In addition, the booths are now associated with the booths in which the Israelites lived during their wilderness sojourn (Lev. 23:42-43). In this way, the Festival of Booths comes to be associated with the Exodus story.

Lev. 23 includes a discussion of sabbath as a significant feature of the ritual observances of the sacred year (cf. Exod. 23:12). Although the observance of sabbath appears to have been known in Israel from an early period, it began to receive more emphasis in the later years of the Monarchy and during the Babylonian Exile. The sabbath is related to a variety of issues in the biblical materials, e.g., creation (Gen. 2:1-3), the gathering of manna during the wilderness journey (Exod. 16:1-36; cf. Num. 15:32-36), the Israelites’ status as slaves in Egypt and the Exodus story (Deut. 5:12-15). The sabbath was observed as a day of complete rest in which no work was done. It was also a day of joy and celebration.

Lev. 23 prescribes two additional ritual occasions. The first calls for the blowing of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:23-25). This is a day of complete rest. The sacrifices and offerings required on this day are specified in Num. 29:1-6. Although it is not the case in this text, in later Judaism the blowing of the horns was associated with the New Year.

The second additional ritual observance takes place on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:26-32); it is the annual day of purification (the details for the enactment of this community ritual are found in Lev. 16). In this ritual, the high priest enters into the holy of holies, the only day of the year in which a person enters this most sacred of places, and sprinkles sacrificial blood on and before the ark of the covenant. He also sprinkles sacrificial blood on the outer altar of burnt offerings. After the completion of the blood rites, the priest places the sins of the community on the head of a goat which is sent out into the wilderness. The ritual functions to cleanse the camp of impurities and to remove the sins of the people from the camp.

The annual day of purification reflects the Priestly ritual system, which is primarily concerned to guard and protect the purity and holiness of the tabernacle and camp. The dynamics of ritual are no longer related primarily to harvests or history. Rather, the concern is to protect the camp and the divine presence that dwells in the midst of the camp from ritual impurities. The annual ritual of purification focuses on maintaining the holy and clean status of the holy people of Yahweh.

The “meanings” associated with the various festivals and the ways in which they were enacted continue to develop on into the 1st century. The Mishnah provides important information on the ways in which the festivals were observed and transformed. It is important to recognize that the festivals were subject to ongoing development in Judaism and its experiences of the world, God, and community. Far from being static forms of empty and mechanical activity, the festival celebrations and ritual observances provided occasions for theological reflection and adaptation to the ever-changing conditions of life.

Bibliography. R. Albertz, A History of Israelite Religion in the Old Testament Period, 2 vols. (Louisville, 1994); G. Fohrer, History of Israelite Religion (Nashville, 1972); H. L. Ginsberg, The Israelian Heritage of Judaism (New York, 1982); H. Ringgren, Israelite Religion (Philadelphia, 1966); H. H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel (London, 1976); R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961, repr. Grand Rapids, 1997), 269-517.

Frank H. Gorman, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FEASTS, FESTIVALS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)