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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 8 May 2025:
Deuteronomy 16:1 – “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”
God commands His people to remember their redemption to maintain perspective on Him, and their relationship with Him. Perspective is everything. What we think of God, and what we think God thinks of us will determine how we see and interpret everything else, how we respond to our circumstances. What a difference it makes knowing the Sovereign Almighty loves us perfectly, gave His Son for our eternal salvation, promises to be with us always, and promises to work all things out together for good for those who love Him. If He love us totally, what could be possibly worry about?
The Passover was not merely a ritual but a vivid reorientation of the heart—back to confidence, trust, and submission to God’s saving power. Christians likewise are called to remember our deliverance through Christ, our true Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) and live accordingly. We do this not just through communion but through a lifestyle of gratitude, humility, and worship. To forget what God has done is to drift into pride, self-sufficiency, and sin. Remembering leads to worship and faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 16:10 – “Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.”
God ties celebration to generosity. The feast was a joyful expression of thankfulness and community, not isolation an individualism. This teaches that rejoicing in God’s blessings should overflow into sacrificial giving. For Christians, this reflects a heart that sees everything—time, resources, harvests—as a gift from God. Giving is not payment, but praise and trust. Christlikeness grows when our joy in God spills over into generosity toward others.
Deuteronomy 16:11 – “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God… you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant… the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow…”
Again, worship and joy in God were not meant to be exclusive or individualistic. God’s design was—and still is—for shared rejoicing across lines of class, status, and background. The inclusion of the marginalized in these feasts shows God’s heart for mercy, grace, hospitality, generosity, and unity. Christians are to build communities of joy which welcome the overlooked and lift up the broken. Joy in God must extend into tangible acts of inclusion.
Deuteronomy 16:16-17 — Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.
These verses show us the centrality of worship, gratitude, and generosity in the covenant life of God’s people. Pentecost—called the Feast of Weeks here—was not a minor observance, but one of the three pilgrimage feasts that required every Israelite male to gather in Jerusalem before the Lord. Alongside Passover and the Feast of Booths, Pentecost was a corporate and joyful celebration of God’s provision and presence. It reminded the people that all they had—grain, law, land, life—was a gift from a faithful God. God calls us to community in Christ; you cannot fully experience Him alone.
Over time, Pentecost became associated with the giving of the law at Sinai. This was fitting, for just as the harvest sustained physical life, the Torah nourished spiritual life. Yet the law by itself could not bring the life it pointed to—it could reveal sin, but not remove it (Rom. 7:10–12). So in perfect fulfillment, God chose Pentecost as the moment to pour out His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–4). During the feast where the people celebrated the giving of grain and the law, God gave the indwelling Spirit of life, enabling believers to walk in true obedience (Gal. 5:16–25). What the law required, the Spirit now empowers.
These appointed festivals were not empty rituals. They involved whole families, joyful reunions, national worship, and concrete expressions of gratitude. “They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Worship was always meant to be accompanied by sacrificial, heartfelt giving—each person giving in proportion to God’s blessing. This principle still applies today. We are to bring our offerings to God—financial, spiritual, practical—not as a way to earn His favor, but to honor His goodness. As Matthew Henry observed, no one was to appear before God without a gift—an outward sign of inward dependence and thanksgiving.
Pentecost also had a strong element of social justice. In Leviticus 23:22, God commanded His people to leave the edges of their fields unharvested during this feast, so that the poor and the sojourner could eat. God’s provision was not to terminate on the self. Celebration and generosity always extended to the vulnerable. So it should be with us. Just as the Spirit was poured out on all people, regardless of class or background, we too must open our hands wide, both to God in worship and to our neighbors in compassion.
The danger for modern Christians is to forget what God has provided and assume our blessings are earned or deserved. But Pentecost calls us to remember: every gift—whether grain, guidance, or grace—comes from Him. When we give generously to God and serve those in need, especially our fellow believers, we honor the Giver and reflect His image.
Deuteronomy 16:18-22 — “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the LORD your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.”
God is a God of justice who cares about justice and demands justice. In fact, the Bible says God “loves justice” and established His throne for eternal justice. (Psalm 9:7; 37:28; 89:14) God has commanded us to seek justice for others and the “cause of the righteous” as a supreme act of worship – “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3) Today, many people pride themselves on being “social justice warriors,” passionately challenging social norms for sake of one cause or another. However, note how our verses today, exhorting us to follow justice and only justice, conclude with this warning – “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the LORD your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.” In other words, to follow “justice and only justice” you must follow God and only God; you must only serve God, and He must be the foundation of your justice system. He is the Author (not institutions or people) of truth, justice, and ethics.
Those who do not follow the Lord do not know justice – “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.” (Proverbs 28:5) Christians are called to proclaim the truth, which is that there is no truth, justice, or peace apart from Jesus Christ, and we are called to work for justice in an unjust world while we await Christ’s return when He will restore all justice once and for all. As we work for justice within our respective circles of influence, we must be very careful to keep God at the center of our perception and system of justice and not the world’s shifty morals, values, and norms. When people ask you what you think about a certain matter, make sure you tell them that it isn’t what you think that matters, it is what God says, and God says….
- Isaiah 30:18 — Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
- Isaiah 32:1 — Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.
- Isaiah 42:1 — Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 8 May 2025: One Specific Action Step to Grow in Christlike Character: Intentionally give to someone in spiritual or material need today as an act of worship and gratitude to God—do not come before Him empty-handed.
Whether it’s financial generosity, an encouraging word, an act of service, or your time, bring an offering to the Lord that reflects both your dependence on Him and your desire to bless others. In doing so, you live out the Spirit-filled generosity of Pentecost and deepen your Christlike character through joyful, sacrificial giving.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 