Reflections on Deuteronomy 16

Deuteronomy 16 (Contemporary English Version)

1. People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib, because one night in that month years ago, the LORD your God rescued you from Egypt.
   
2. The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped.
   
3. Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt. For seven days following Passover, don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.
   
4. (SEE 16:3)
   
5. Don't offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live.
   
6. It must be offered at the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. Kill the sacrifice at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.
   
7. Then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship, returning to your tents the next morning.
   
8. Eat thin bread for the next six days. Then on the seventh day, don't do any work. Instead, come together and worship the LORD.
   
9. Seven weeks after you start your grain harvest,
   
10. go to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped and celebrate the Harvest Festival in honor of the LORD your God. Bring him an offering as large as you can afford, depending on how big a harvest he has given you. Be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.
    
11. (SEE 16:10)
    
12. Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.
    
13. After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest, take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. The LORD will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the LORD your God.
    
14. (SEE 16:13)
    
15. (SEE 16:13)
    
16. Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. These are the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters. And don't forget to take along a gift for the LORD.
    
17. The bigger the harvest the LORD gives you, the bigger your gift should be.
    
18. After you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the LORD your God, the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers. Those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions, even if someone important is involved. Don't take bribes to give unfair decisions. Bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars.
    
19. (SEE 16:18)
    
20. People of Israel, if you want to enjoy a long and successful life, make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land the LORD is giving you.
    
21. When you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the LORD your God, don't set up a sacred pole for the worship of the goddess Asherah.
    
22. And don't set up a sacred stone! The LORD hates these things.
    

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    Moses reviewed three major festivals for the Israelites they were to continue observing when they were established in their new territory, though with some modifications. To this point they were all in one camp with the tabernacle in the center of the camp. In the new territory they would be living at various distances from the location God chose for the tabernacle and later the temple. However, they were required to observe these festivals only at this centralized location of the tabernacle. Thus Moses' emphases to the men that "to appear three times a year before the LORD your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths." (16:16) This didn't mean that only the men were to observe these festivals, but they were given the responsibility to see that their families observed the festivals.
    
    The Festival of Unleavened Bread included Passover and was observed in the spring (March-April) and reminded the Israelites of the Lord's redemption for them in their deliverance from Egypt. The Festival of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, came 50 days later (May-June) and was connected with the wheat harvest. The third festival, The Festival of Booths or Tabernacles, came in the fall at the conclusion of the main harvest season.
    
    The chapter concludes with instructions to establish judges in all the towns "the Lord your God is giving you." (16:18) These judges were to see that justice prevailed and also to see that syncretism did not creep into their worship of God. That is, that pagans practices did not become mixed with their worship of God.