deuteronomy 15-16

Read Deuteronomy 15-16 at Bible Gateway.

In our chapters today there is a prevalence of sevens, which follow the LORD’s paragraph divisions:

Deu 15:1-6 {s} Seventh year release of debts;
Deu 15:7-11 {s} You shall not withhold from the poor because of the seventh year;
Deu 15:12-18 {p} Seventh year release from service;
Deu 15:19-23 {p} The firstborn males shall not be worked;
Deu 16:1-8 {s} Observe Unleavened Bread seven days;
Deu 16:9-12 {p} Count seven weeks to observe the Feast of Weeks;
Deu 16:13-17 {s} Observe Tabernacles seven days.

In the seventh year, the poor are released from debt, or poverty. In the seventh year, the servant is released from service.  It is not a coincidence that in the instruction to observe Unleavened Bread and Weeks, the reminder that Israel was released from service in Egypt is mentioned. It is not a coincidence that in the instruction to observe Weeks and Tabernacles, Israel is to rejoice with the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow (typically those classes who struggle with poverty).

1A: Deu 15:1-11, Release from poverty;
1B: Deu 15:12-18, Release from service;
CENTRAL AXIS: Deu 15:19-23, No work shall be done (with the firstborn);
2B: Deu 16:1-12, Release from service (reminder at Unleavened Bread + Weeks);
2A: Deu 16:9-17, Release from poverty (rejoice with the Levite at Weeks + Tabernacles).

This passage is expounding the 4th Commandment, Honor the Sabbath day, the seventh day, to keep it holy – no work shall be done on this day. Work in order to provide bread to eat, is a result of the fall of man (Gen 3:16-19). On God’s hallowed day, the day in which He rested from His work, we are to rest from our work. We are to observe a reprieve from the result of sin! We spend His day trusting in Him and not our own labor or the strength of our flesh! Sabbath, in other words, is a free gift of grace that we enter in to by faith! This is a prophetic picture of the gospel!

By linking this section in Deu 15-16 with the Sabbath day (by the prevalence of the sevens and doing no work as the central axis), Scripture is teaching us that the gospel of grace not only grants us rest from our own work(s in order to save us), but also, freedom from debt and bondage (to sin and the flesh)! And that, if we were to release debts in the seventh year, or servants in the seventh year, or observe the LORD’s feast days, we would be likewise observing the 4th Commandment to Honor the Sabbath – Honor rest from work, Honor freedom from debt and bondage, Honor the gospel of grace by faith!

For further study: Chiastic structures abound in Deu 15:1-16:17. There are smaller within larger structures, and also some that overlap, and there may be others that I have not yet found. I would also guess that another appearance of the command to not eat the blood, and more appearances of the phrase “the place of the LORD’s name” links these chapters with Deu 12-14, possibly as repeating elements of one or more chiastic structures. Can you find any of them?

Finding Messiah:

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.” Deu 16:16

Three, a sign of the Messiah, lets us know that this passage is prophesying of Messiah. In fact, Messiah fulfilled Passover when He was crucified on Passover; He fulfilled the Feast of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest (which is celebrated during Unleavened Bread) when He was raised from the dead with new life on that day. He is the Unleavened Bread, by the way – the Bread from Heaven which is without leaven (sin).

Messiah fulfilled Weeks when He baptized His ekklesia (congregation of believers, or church) with the Holy Spirit and with fire on the day of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost is its Greek name). Tabernacles also likewise prophesies of Him, and He will fulfill it in His second coming.

The command that none are to appear empty handed, refers to the fact that these three are harvest feasts. The Feast of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread (all of the LORD’s feast days are explained in Lev 23. There are seven of them, by the way. Hmmm … there is our seven again! Notice on how many of them we are to do no work! Not a coincidence). Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, since they all occur in the same week of Unleavened Bread, are often referred to simply as Unleavened Bread.

So, during Unleavened Bread, a firstfruits offering of the barley harvest is brought to the LORD. At Weeks, a firstfruits offering of the wheat harvest is brought to the LORD. And at Tabernacles, a firstfruits offering of the fruits harvest is brought to the LORD. This is also prophetic: harvest is a metaphor for salvation in the New Testament, and Messiah is the firstfruits of the resurrection from the dead!