Title: We should have fun together
Even so, the time of farming and harvesting was a precious time to feel affluence in poverty, and it must have been the most precious time that our people who know the good things could enjoy together. Even if it is not a bountiful annual event, in enjoying the luscious sunshine, it is not considered to be a joy only for the living, but through the turn, as the ancestors enjoyed this time before their lives, they wanted to enjoy it together. , used to have the joy of sharing with relatives. The appearance of Chuseok Day in the old days is so exciting. After the house-to-house rites and prayers are made, the village festival begins. Regardless of you, the whole village is filled with folk games until late at night when the full moon rises. There is no one who cannot participate in the feast of joy.
However, this festival of harvest, a festival of joy and sharing, was not unique to us. Wherever there is a harvest experience, you will know that these holidays have taken place. The 16th chapter of Deuteronomy we read today contains the rules for the three feasts that ancient Israel kept. Leviticus and Exodus have regulations for these festivals, but the emphasis on sacrifices is so great that the original meaning of these festivals is not revealed as well as in Deuteronomy.
The biggest holiday in Israel is by far the Passover. It is celebrated in the month of Abib or Nisan, considered by the Jews as the New Year, but today it is between mid-March and mid-April. As you well know, the Passover is based on the historical event of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. On the last day of the ten plagues upon Egypt, when the angel of death swept over Egypt, the shadow of death passed over only the house of the Israelites who slaughtered the lamb and covered it with blood (Passover), and that day comes from the saying. It has become a great festival to commemorate the salvation and liberation of the nation of Israel, which was greeted by the grace of YHWH. On the other hand, this day is also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it also has the meaning of the tradition of eating hard, non-puffy bread while escaping, remembering the urgent moment when the ancestors of the people could not bake bread with leaven in it.
Christians keep Easter in time for this Passover. It comes from the confession that Jesus is the Lamb of the Passover. The four Gospels in common tell us that Jesus was arrested at the time of the Passover, and that He was crucified and died in front of many Jews who had come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage for the Passover. If the lamb that was slain in the middle of Egypt was a symbol of Israel's salvation, Jesus was hung on the cross during the Passover and shed blood to become the savior of all mankind.
If the Passover comes entirely from the experience and history of the nation of Israel, the other two feasts are slightly different. Although the name of the second festival, the Feast of Weeks, means seven weeks after the Passover, it is actually a festival that took place around the time of the Passover, when the rainy season ended and the harvest of barley and wheat began about 50 days after the end of the intense sunlight.
If the Feast of Weeks is celebrated at the beginning of the harvest of barley and wheat, the Feast of Tabernacles in today's reading is a feast observed at the end of the harvest of barley, wheat, and the famous Mediterranean grape. The Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Ingathering. All of this has to do with the act of storing crops now as food for the year.
These three seasons have something in common. It was to bring an offering before the God who gave such blessings. It is only natural to confess that the One who grants Israel liberation, produces fruit, and gives the blessing to enjoy it is God. Therefore, it is natural to thank God. In particular, in a time when mythological thinking was dominant, expressing gratitude to God for the source of all its produce would have been the most important thing to do first.
It is said that the Feast of Tabernacles was the biggest holiday for Jewish men from the Diaspora to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem after the exile. It is also speculated that it may have been because there was enough money to provide sacrifices to Lao-ja after the harvest was over. Also, although it is not mentioned in the text here, as is implied in the Leviticus regulations, in Jewish custom, the Feast of Tabernacles was a festival to remember the time when the Israelites left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness. Now, the theory is strong that it is related to the 'tabernacle' that protected ancestors wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus through the 'tabernacle' that stores the harvest that guarantees a year's life. Some argue that it was celebrated as a festival to remember and renew the covenant with God made in the wilderness from Israel, and it was later combined with the harvest festival after they settled in Canaan.
However, through today's text, it is natural that the Passover is mainly based on historical content because it originated from the exodus of the ancestors of Israel, but in the last verse of the rule of the Feast of Weeks, 'Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and keep all these ordinances without fail. Please.' is attached, but the connection is awkward. Moreover, the fact that there is no mention of the Feast of Tabernacles makes it possible to guess from the fact that the connection between the feast and historical events is the result of a special theological interpretation that goes beyond the original meaning of the feast.
There is another difference between the rules of the Feast of Weeks in verses 9-11 and the rules of the Feast of Tabernacles in verses 13-15. In common they talk about rejoicing and rejoicing in front of the harvest, but the emphasis is different. The Feast of Weeks commands us to give thanks before God before we should rejoice and rejoice together. However, looking at the regulations for the Feast of Tabernacles, if we look at all three feasts in verse 16 and below, except that we must offer gifts and sacrifices before God, the only thing to emphasize is that we should rejoice and rejoice.
Rejoicing and rejoicing with everyone is the most important meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles. After we get rid of the special terms such as the Feast of Tabernacles and Chuseok, I think we can converge to the general meaning of harvest, acquisition, and income. Even if we are not farming, as verse 15 says, ?쁢verything you touched??and through it, I think we can think again about everything that we thought was mine.
In a word, we could say ?쁢veryone?? but the biblical writer kindly lists out who should be rejoicing together. ?쏽ou, sons, daughters, male and female servants, Levites, wanderers, orphans, widows, and so on.??These can be broadly divided into two categories. Those who belong to my house, those who do not. Those who belong to my house are, in fact, those who have the right to share that joy. They are the people who work hard together. However, belonging to a ?쁥ouse??does not mean that everyone has the same rights. ?쁓laves??are clearly those who belong to a house, but they are only possessions, not the owners. Doesn't it fall within the scope of "family"?
On the other hand, Levites, wanderers, orphans, widows, etc. are the representatives referred to as weak in the Old Testament. They are the homeless, marginalized and estranged from the social safety net. Although the Levites belong to the 12 tribes, they do not receive land, and they continue their lives by helping with the temple work (tithes). In the ancient society, not owning land meant that life was at stake, not knowing when the food line would be cut off and life could be threatened. On the other hand, 'wanderers' here do not mean just wanderers, but as strangers, and orphans and widows are fathers and widows, and in a society based on a patriarchal family system and exclusive nationalism, they will receive no guarantee of protection and security. They can be said to represent the underprivileged. What you own and where you belong can still be seen as an important value in human life at that time and now. But today's mandate advises that we must go beyond these ordinary human values.
When we meet someone with a stranger, we often try to find something in common. Wherever you are from, what school you go to, what kind of work you do, and whether it's your brother-in-law's cousin or whatever, once you find a connection to something, the unfamiliarity will disappear and you will be happy to meet with intimacy. The most important thing in trying to find something to connect with is blood ties. Because they are a family, despite the hardships on their way home, when the holidays come, they still go out to meet their families. Longing for a family member who separated decades ago, the effort to reunite may in fact continue until death. Of course, I'm not saying this is bad. But the problem is that it is not easy to get over the string we have made countless times, and we don't even try to cross it.
In addition, today's text emphasizes that things that I considered to be mine and things that I considered to have been obtained through hard work are also things that I have received as a blessing. ?쁚ou rejoice because the Lord your God has blessed you in all your produce and in all that you have touched??(verse 15). But the reality is, the society we live in is not like that. The boundaries between possession and belonging are clear. Those who have it have the exclusive right to enjoy what they have. If you cross it, it becomes theft. And we try very hard to keep it. Not only in a material sense, but my honor, status, and social system are no exceptions.
But today's text tells us that those boundaries and fences should never be exclusive. The reason God gave us is so that we can have fun together. Those who profess that God is the One who brought forth a bountiful harvest and fruit cannot absolutize my possessions and my fences.
The rules of the Feast of Tabernacles in Deuteronomy we read today clearly tell us what joy we should enjoy for those who have received God's grace. If we had to share it, it is said that those who have a lot enjoy a lot of worldly value, and that is the difference in their abilities, but the Bible tells us differently. Giving more than others is not to rejoice in what you have, but to enjoy the joy of sharing it with those who do not have it and those who are marginalized.
It's a holiday. Happy to see your family after a long time. And in that joy, I hope you have time to think about the universal love of the God of life who gives you food. I want you to take some time to ponder and find the true answer to God's command to rejoice together, not just for a little bit of mercy.