Back to the Beginning

“Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deut 31:9-13)

 

There were three major festivals that the Hebrews celebrated each year: Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths – or as I like to think of it, Family Camp. Once each year, they were to build themselves a little temporary shelter and live in it for a week to remind them of their nation's formative years as wilderness nomads. But every seven years, there was an added piece to it: the law was to be read. Good writing materials were expensive, and literacy rates, while probably better than we sometimes imagine, were quite low. People didn't have their own “bible.” I'm sure parts of it were memorized, and certainly it was taught through the ministry of the Levites, but there were probably very few people who ever had opportunity to hear the entirety of the Law. So once every seven years, the people were to gather not only for Family Camp but also to hear the whole Law read: not only God's commands, but the entire record of his covenant relationship with his people.

 

The interesting part is with which feast they experienced this Sabbath year event. The reading of the law first happened in the wilderness, while the people were landless nomads. The Feast of Booths recreated the wilderness experience; the reading of the law adds another layer to that return to their roots. They would get, as much as possible, a sense of what their ancestors experienced in that time that they were on the verge of claiming the promises of God.

 

It is good for us to go back to the beginning now and again: to recall and re-experience God's good work in our lives. Often we do this when we commemorate anniversaries of various sorts. It happens more sporadically when we witness a baptism. And hopefully, it happens each week as we hear the gospel preached. We never lose our need to hear the good news of God's work: the work that has saved us, that is saving us, and that will save us in the end.