All time belongs to God. He ordered the time of the Israelites to revolve around three major annual festivals.
Deuteronomy 16 (English Standard Version)
Passover
“Christ on the Cross” by Bartomole Esteban Murillo (Prado, Madrid, Spain)
1 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
1“Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there. 3You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning.
5 “You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, 6but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it.
“Bread and Wine” by Norwegian painter Kjersti Timenes
For Israel, the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread looks simultaneously to the past (the great historical event of their redemption, the exodus) and to the future (the promised land — where they could grow their own crops). For current day Christians, the Passover feast is remembered as the eucharist or holy communion. That sacred meal invites us to look back to the great historical event of our redemption, the cross, and also to look forward to that heavenly banquet of the Kingdom of God.
Blessings past and blessings future!
The Feast of Weeks
9 “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. 12 You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
“Pentecost” quilt by Linda Schmidt
This feast is also known as Pentecost, for 50 days (= seven weeks), and the feast of harvest. The joy of this celebration was to include everyone! For current day Christians, Pentecost means the coming of the Holy Spirit and the boldness, power, and joy the Spirit brings.
The Feast of Booths
Also known as the Feast of Booths, this happy celebration takes place at the end of harvest, a time of great rejoicing. Small shelters are built as a remembrance of the dwellings used by the Jews during their years in the wilderness.
13 “You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
John 16:24 (ESV)
Jesus continued, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.
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Music:
Scripture invites us, even commands us, to worship God the Father our Creator, God the Son our Redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit our Helper. HERE is a worship song that I really like: it is trinitarian, it is singable, it is lovely. Selah sings “Wonderful Merciful Savior.”
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Justice
18“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
21“You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the LORD your God that you shall make. 22And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.”
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English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
DWELLING in the Word 
