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Patriarchs and Prophets
been given that their iniquity should be remembered no more. At peace
with God, they now came before Him to acknowledge His goodness
and to praise Him for His mercy. The labors of the harvest being ended,
and the toils of the new year not yet begun, the people were free from
care, and could give themselves up to the sacred, joyous influences of
the hour. Though only the fathers and sons were commanded to appear
at the feasts, yet, so far as possible, all the household were to attend
them, and to their hospitality the servants, the Levites, the stranger,
and the poor were made welcome.
Like the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles was commemorative.
In memory of their pilgrim life in the wilderness the people were
now to leave their houses and dwell in booths, or arbors, formed from
the green branches “of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the
boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook.”
Leviticus 23:40, 42,
43
.
The first day was a holy convocation, and to the seven days of the
feast an eighth day was added, which was observed in like manner.
At these yearly assemblies the hearts of old and young would be
encouraged in the service of God, while the association of the people
from the different quarters of the land would strengthen the ties that
bound them to God and to one another. Well would it be for the people
of God at the present time to have a Feast of Tabernacles—a joyous
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commemoration of the blessings of God to them. As the children of
Israel celebrated the deliverance that God had wrought for their fathers,
and His miraculous preservation of them during their journeyings from
Egypt, so should we gratefully call to mind the various ways He has
devised for bringing us out from the world, and from the darkness of
error, into the precious light of His grace and truth.
With those who lived at a distance from the tabernacle, more than
a month of every year must have been occupied in attendance upon
the annual feasts. This example of devotion to God should emphasize
the importance of religious worship and the necessity of subordinating
our selfish, worldly interests to those that are spiritual and eternal. We
sustain a loss when we neglect the privilege of associating together to
strengthen and encourage one another in the service of God. The truths
of His word lose their vividness and importance in our minds. Our
hearts cease to be enlightened and aroused by the sanctifying influence,
and we decline in spirituality. In our intercourse as Christians we lose