EXODUS 23
10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. 12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.13 “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. – Exodus 23:10-19
EXODUS 23 ON THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND FEASTS
This account tells us how God instituted the sabbatical year. Each time the seventh year comes, they are to rest so that the animals, the slaves and the fields could have a respite. This requirement is also stated in the ten commandments that God gave Moses for his people to follow which is to honor the Sabbath day. This day is a day of rest from work so that they will be able to designate that day for pure worship and thanksgiving for the Lord. Six years they shall work on the field and get the yield from it and rest on the seventh year. The Lord also required for them to commemorate certain feasts like the Unleavened bread, Harvest and Ingathering. According to some commentaries, these were designed for God’s people to remember the bounty that God gave them and also to remember to depend on God always for fruits from their labor. By celebrating these feasts, they will be able to share their joy and thanksgiving as a whole community to a faithful God who constantly takes care of them and provides for all their needs.
REFLECTION How are modern festivals in our countries very different from God’s feasts?
