Feasts of the Lord

[Johni]

This may have been addressed in the past (I'm sure it has) but I have not been here long. I am studying a bit about the Biblical Feasts and couple of questions have come up. I actually heard this one addressed but did not fully understand the answer so I'm turning to the folk here to ask. There were three times a year when the men of Israel were to go up to Jerusalem for feast days (from what I understand). However, the Biblical Feasts were given in Numbers and it was quite some time after that before Jerusalem was actually a city under the control of Israel. It was a Jebusite city until David conquored it. Where did the Hebrew men of the days of Judges through Saul's kingdom celebrate the feasts? I'm wondering if they simply celebrated in their home villages or was there some other city where they all gathered. Is there a scripture that mentions this or would it be oral tradition?

[EricH]

This may have been addressed in the past (I'm sure it has) but I have not been here long. I am studying a bit about the Biblical Feasts and couple of questions have come up. I actually heard this one addressed but did not fully understand the answer so I'm turning to the folk here to ask. There were three times a year when the men of Israel were to go up to Jerusalem for feast days (from what I understand). However, the Biblical Feasts were given in Numbers and it was quite some time after that before Jerusalem was actually a city under the control of Israel. It was a Jebusite city until David conquored it. Where did the Hebrew men of the days of Judges through Saul's kingdom celebrate the feasts? I'm wondering if they simply celebrated in their home villages or was there some other city where they all gathered. Is there a scripture that mentions this or would it be oral tradition?

The thing that took them to Jerusalem was the Temple. In the time of numbers the tabernacle which travelled with the people satisfied that function.

[Beta]

Johni , see Lev.23, for more explanation.

[Johni]

Thank you for your responses!

EricH, if I am understanding what you said, then the Israeli people did not go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feasts until after Solomon built the temple? I know David did not author all the psalms but the Psalms to include the Psalms of Ascent which (I believe) were sung by the people as they ascended to Jerusalem for the feasts. So it seems like going to Jerusalem 3 times a year to celebrate certain Feasts was already going on before the Temple was built.

Beta, Leviticus 23 is a great passage on describing the Feasts but does not give any command about doing the celebrating in any certain place as far as I can tell.

I think there is a promise in the scripture that when the men went up to celebrate these feasts in Jerusalem that the Lord would protect the land and families they left behind. I guess I just need to study this with a concordance or Strongs a bit more.

When the prophet Samuel's mother went with her husband to Shiloh to the House of the Lord where Eli and his sons were presiding over the ark (I assume) the scripture says that Samuel's father went up to Shiloh once a year. It also says he took all his house with him and the scripture does note that his wives went with him. I'm just trying to understand when it was that a yearly visit to the House of the Lord (where the Ark of the Covenant was) became a three times a year visit to Jerusalem for mostly the men.

I admit to just enjoying the history of the early days of Israel and just learning about how various customs etc came about. Another reason is that I am considering going on a trip to Israel the coincides with the Fall Feasts and I think the gathering is going to be somewhere other than Jerusalem, so I was wondering about that. I think its going to be at Engedi.

[nebula]

When the Lord gave the Law, the Tabernacle was in the center of the entire camp. So, they didn't have to journey far to get there.

After the conquest of Canaan, the Tabernacle was set-up in Shiloh. So, whenever they had to sacrifice on the altar as a part of the Feast (Yom Kippur for instance) they would have to travel to the place of the Tabernacle, which was in Shiloh.

It was King David who brought the Ark to Jerusalem and set up a new Tabernacle there, so that would be when going to Jerusalem for the feasts would have begun.

[Johni]

thankyou nebula, in fact the Ark was in Shiloh for over 300 years but during that time period it seems that the custom was to go there yearly (for the people who did not live there). David did move the Ark to Jerusalem and apparently the people, or at least the men, began coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feasts/Holy Days. They came at Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. I am wondering if there was anything anyone knows of in the scripture or oral tradition that changed them from going once a year to Shiloh to 3 times a year to Jerusalem. I guess thats really the point. One reason I'm wondering is to do with the Fall Feasts being celebrated at Engedi by a fairly large group this fall. It may be since the Ark of the presence is no longer in Jerusalem...it does not matter.