Sunday School Lesson
Introduction: Valentine’s Day celebrates love. Wedding anniversaries celebrate commitment. Probably the most noteworthy wedding anniversary is the fiftieth. When couples achieve that, it is called a milestone. A milestone festival for Israel was the Festival of Weeks—an interesting name since it was just a one-day celebration. Israel had many high holy days in their yearly calendar. Those were the weekly Sabbath, the Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles (all described in Leviticus 23). But the three most important were Passover, Pentecost (Festival of Weeks), and Tabernacles. The first two were celebrated in the spring, and the last one was celebrated in the fall. Passover celebrated Israel’s deliverance by God from Egypt. Pentecost celebrated Israel’s provision from God in the new land. Tabernacles celebrated God’s watch over Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
The People Were Thankful
Leviticus 23:15-18KJV
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
The Festival of Weeks was observed following the fiftieth day of the Passover Sabbath (the Sabbath that followed Passover). It was called the Festival of Weeks because it had been weeks since that last holiday. Counting seven sets of seven days each plus one day meant that this festival always fell on Sunday, which is important when we come to the New Testament. Since Passover was observed in the spring, 50 days after that would be the end of May or the first part of June. The early harvests (barley and wheat) would be ready. God wanted Israel to offer him some of the firstfruits to teach Israel to always honor the Lord first, as well as to remind them that if they put the Lord first he would provide more for them in the days ahead. Israel would not be allowed to merely waltz into his presence with their firstfruits. Coming before the Lord to acknowledge his provision still demanded a pure heart. So God gave specific prescriptions about how that worship was to take place. Offerings were part of Israel’s worship. From the early harvest Israel was to bring wave or grain offerings, drink and food offerings, plus burnt offerings, sin offerings, and fellowship (or peace) offerings. These grain offerings and animal sacrifices were combined as sacred offerings to the Lord in worship. Sin must be atoned for before worship is acceptable to God. Therefore for Israel, worship consisted of bringing something to God. The list for the burnt offering and grain offerings was: two loaves of bread, seven perfect male lambs, one young bull, and two rams. The list for the sin offering and the fellowship offering was: one male goat and two lambs. Some of the offerings were burned up and some would serve as food for the priests. Both grain offerings and animal sacrifices were waved before the Lord to acknowledge that God was good and that God had provided (and would provide) yet again for his people.
The Leaders Were Thankful
Leviticus 23:19-20KJV
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
Earlier, in Leviticus 23:3, God had reminded Israel about keeping the Sabbath. “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord.” That command is repeated in regard to a special Sabbath in conjunction with the Festival of Weeks. Sabbath means “to cease.” Israel was to cease its work on this special day and proclaim a sacred assembly. The purpose was twofold: to thank God for the beginning of harvest and to thank God in advance for the prospect of more harvest. This was to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. True worship always shows up in a tangible way. The celebration of the Festival of Weeks was to make a difference in the billfolds and purses of Israel. As commanded earlier in the Law (Leviticus 19:9, 10) Israel was to leave some of the harvest in the field. This was God’s means of providing for the poor and for the foreigner. They were expected to do the gleaning, but the owners of the fields were to feel their responsibility toward the poor and outsiders. In fact, God’s identity shines through (I am the Lord your God) when this kind of giving takes place. Some believe that the Festival of Weeks was the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai. For our purposes it is best to connect this festival to Pentecost, the birth of the church. In the same way that God provided for the Israelites, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was just the beginning of God’s blessings on his people in the New Testament.
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