3.4

The Appointed Times, on Sabbath ground

The Ten Commandments were spoken by God and written on tablets of stone that were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, covered over by God’s mercy seat and secluded in the deepest recesses of the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, the center of God’s chosen place of worship. The first commandment tells Israel that God is her God. She is to have no other gods. The second commandment further explains that all other gods are only idols, created things of space. As gods they are vain or empty, void of any life that can create life. God underscores with His third commandment that He is not vain like these other gods. His name that identifies Him is not to be confused with empty and vain gods. To perfectly clarify His unique position, God says in His forth commandment to keep His Sabbath holy. God is never to be confused with His creation of things or time in space but He is to be known in the distinct time of His rest. The Sabbath culminates God’s revelation of His relation to Israel. The remaining six commandments tell her how to relate to one another as His people.

Every week, the Sabbath returned Israel to God as Creator of all. In addition to the Sabbath, God appointed set times throughout the year for Israel to remember His specific acts in history and in creation. Israel’s history bears witness to God as her Redeemer and Provider. Her history and land are His gifts, to be remembered as proofs of His faithfulness in delivering and sustaining her. The importance of the appointed times obligates Israel not just to remember His gifts with her mind but to also keep them with her life, zahor veshamor in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for keep means to guard and watch over, to preserve these times and keep them secure and intact. She keeps these times by doing them, practicing them with growing awareness of God’s relevance to all life, at all times. The presence of these appointed times is never to grow stale and foul to Israel’s sensibilities. They are to be remembered and kept every morning as fresh nourishment for today. Even though she senses nothing new in nature or history, God creates new life and hope with every moment that returns to Him. “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-3)

These appointed times were meant to keep the order and shape of Israel’s identity throughout the year by binding her time today with an ancient one that still lives, because the God of her past is her same God today. God forged her identity in history and continues to keep that identity now. What was true of Him long ago remains true today. What He did to free and sustain Israel has living relevance today because it gives her eyes to see and hope in His saving acts now. The God of all time keeps the meaning and truths of the past in the present. Jews can return to these appointed times not because they have faithfully kept them but because God remembers and keeps them. These are the special times between God and Israel, a remembering of all they have been through together, celebrating their union that is kept by God’s faithfulness.

The differences that distinguish the various Jewish holidays dissolve at their common grounding in God’s holiness. These holy days are revelations of God’s works that are made complete in His rest. All the appointed times are observed in God’s rest. Over and over, God’s Sabbath is commanded on His feasts. Resting is especially emphasized on the holier days, such as the first and last days of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:7-8) and the first and last days of Succoth (23:39). These times are also called holy convocations to God. Israel as a people was to set herself apart as a holy convocation that is wholly for God. God’s two most important commands to keep these times holy are His rest and blood sacrifices. On the Sabbath, twice the number of blood sacrifices were offered than on other days (Numbers 28:9-10). Both rest and sacrifice are essential for His holy days. They are the way by which Israel lived before her God.

That God would establish His holy days on His rest and blood sacrifices sounds at best, confusing, and at worse, barbaric. Humanity’s concept of good cannot translate the good of these two conditions. Neither rest nor blood sacrifices fits the more obvious reasons for the Biblical festivals, and yet together, they are the fertile ground in which all the feasts are rooted. Together they establish and nourish the appointed times. God’s rest and blood sacrifices made the way for His people to approach their God.

The Bible’s list of appointed times begins with the Sabbath (Leviticus 23). The feasts and their practices are to the Sabbath as the colors of a rainbow are to white light. Each feast expresses different facets of the presence and provision of God. Each one is a unique revelation of God keeping Israel in His rest. Of all the Biblical holidays, the two that are most important to Israel’s identity are the Passover and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year. Both holidays explain the Sabbath as it could never be known by the fourth commandment alone. The feasts serve to show God’s gracious rest as His way for us to Himself.

Each holiday has special observances, such as blowing trumpets on Rosh Hashanah (Leviticus 23:24) or waving sheafs of the harvest’s first fruits on the Feast of First Fruits (23:10). All are done in the context of God’s rest. When the Temple stood, every holiday required Priests to perform blood sacrifices for the people before God. It is in the nature of these sacrifices that they not violate God’s rest. Not only do they not disturb His rest but, as we will begin to explore in this chapter, they fulfill His holy rest.