The Bible

 

Exodus 23:14-19 : The Three Annual Festivals

Study

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Commentary

 

Harvest

  

The 'Harvest,' as mentioned in Mark 4:29, signifies the increase of the church in general and particular.

In Joel 3:13, it signifies the last state of the church before it has been devastated from all good and truth.

'A harvest' symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make bread, and grain and bread symbolize the church's goodness, which is achieved through truths.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 645; Joel 3; Mark 4)


Commentary

 

Keep

  
Feast of Sukkot prayers, by Shalom Koboshvili

Keeping" in the Bible generally concerns the actions of life, though in some cases it can mean holding something away from the activities of life to safeguard it. By far the most common use of "keep" is connected with keeping the Lord's commandments or keeping feast days or rituals. These all mean putting true ideas from the Lord into action in life; simply knowing them or remembering them is not enough. In a deeper sense, it means worshiping the Lord, since living life according to His leading is the ultimate act of worship. When its not possible to act from the Lord's commandments, "keeping" represents remembering and safeguarding those true ideas so that they can be put into practice eventually.