The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Rejoice” it comes from the Hebrew Word “samach” which means “to rejoice.”
Moses reviews the three major feasts that will require every Israelite man to travel and gather together each year. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Deuteronomy 16.
Moses instructs Israel to observe Passover in the month of Abib, remembering how the Lord brought them out of Egypt by night, and to eat unleavened bread with it for seven days, “the bread of affliction,” so that they remember all the days of their life the day they came out of Egypt. This offering must be made specifically at the place God chooses, not just anywhere within their own towns. Seven weeks later, Israel is to observe the Feast of Weeks, bringing a freewill offering according to how God has blessed them, and to rejoice, “samach” in Hebrew, before the Lord together with their sons, daughters, servants, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, remembering again that they were once bondmen in Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles follows later in the year, another joyful week-long celebration after gathering in the harvest from the threshingfloor and winepress, again including the whole household and community in genuine rejoicing. Moses summarizes that three times each year, every Israelite man must appear before the Lord at the place He chooses for these three feasts, “and they shall not appear before the LORD empty,” each bringing according to the blessing God has given them. The chapter closes with instructions to appoint judges and officers throughout their towns to judge the people with righteous judgment, refusing bribes and showing no partiality, “that which is altogether just shalt thou follow,” and forbidding the planting of any grove or setting up of any image near God’s altar, since the Lord hates such things.
Every one of these major feasts explicitly includes servants, strangers, the fatherless, and widows in the celebration, not as an afterthought, but as a deliberate, repeated instruction. Israel’s most joyful national gatherings were never meant to be exclusive celebrations. They were built to include everyone in the community, regardless of status.
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