Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 16: God gives joy in worship

Begin in prayer

Before reading about Israel’s feasts, let us thank the Lord for His provision and rescue. Ask Him to teach our family the joy of worship that remembers His goodness and welcomes others.

Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, his name! Rejoice before him!

Psalm 68:4

Father in heaven, Your gifts give Your people reasons to rejoice. Help us understand these appointed feasts and see the redemption fulfilled in Jesus. Teach us gratitude that reaches our giving and our treatment of others. Please open our eyes as we read Your Word, make us more like Christ, and bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Moses appoints three yearly feasts at the place the LORD chooses. Passover and unleavened bread keep Israel’s hurried departure from slavery before them. The feast of weeks follows seven weeks from the beginning of harvest. The feast of tents comes after the gathered harvest and calls the whole community to rejoice. Each man must give according to God’s blessing. Just judges must serve their towns without favoritism or bribes, and false worship must never stand beside the LORD’s altar.

As you read Deuteronomy 16, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God blesses His people and calls them to joyful, generous worship.

The LORD gives Israel a calendar shaped by redemption and provision. Unleavened bread recalls both their affliction and the haste of leaving Egypt. The harvest feasts turn abundance into an occasion for thanks and generous giving. Servants, Levites, foreigners, fatherless children, and widows must share the celebration. Men must come before God three times yearly and give according to what He has supplied. The command for righteous judges follows these shared celebrations, because worship and justice belong together under God’s rule. Bribes distort judgment, while sacred trees and stones would corrupt the worship God commands.

How does Deuteronomy 16 show us that God blesses His people and calls them to joyful, generous worship?

God’s rescue must be remembered.

Passover recalls the night when the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt. Unleavened bread keeps their affliction and hurried departure before them. For seven days no yeast may remain, and none of the first evening’s meat may be kept until morning. The seventh day brings a solemn assembly with no work. The yearly feast teaches gratitude for His deliverance.

God’s blessings call for shared joy.

The feasts gather households before the LORD with willing gifts. Those without land or protection must share the celebration. Giving according to God’s blessing makes gratitude practical.

God requires justice alongside worship.

Judges must decide rightly without favoritism or bribes. A bribe can blind a wise person and corrupt a righteous verdict. The LORD who gives the land commands justice within it.

Memorise

Every man shall give as he is able, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you.

Deuteronomy 16:17

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do I need Jesus, the Passover Lamb, to rescue me from?

During Passover, Israel must “remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” Passover keeps the LORD’s deliverance before them. The apostle Paul calls Christ the Passover lamb sacrificed for His people.

Jesus gave His life as the Lamb for His people and brought them out from under condemnation. God raised Him up, and death has no hold on Him. His offering is complete, and nothing more is needed for those who trust Him.

Turn from sin and come to Him. Whoever believes in Him is forgiven and brought out of sin’s slavery, as Israel was brought out of Egypt. The Lamb who rescued them is the joy of their worship.

Parent's note

Tell your children why God’s people remember His rescue when they worship. Invite them to include someone who lacks support in your household’s gratitude and generosity. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His provision and Christ’s redemption, and bring the heart question about shared joy to Him. Every child can pray, so welcome each child’s thanks.

By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.

Hebrews 11:28

Father in heaven, thank You for the gifts that fill our lives. Bring us to trust Christ’s finished sacrifice, and show His people the joy of remembered redemption. Make our gratitude generous toward those who need support, and help us love justice in ordinary life. In Jesus' name, Amen.