RPG Adults
A HOLY CONVOCATION!
SATURDAY, JUNE 15
Leviticus 23
Exodus 20:8-11
“Six days shall work be done:
but the seventh day is the sabbath
of rest, an holy convocation…”
A HOLY CONVOCATION!
The Hebrew word for “convocation” (Lev 23:2) comes from the verb “to call.” The noun means “something called out.” In the context of Leviticus 23, it refers to a day of rest that the LORD had called out to His people as a holy calling. Of all the eight feasts of the LORD mentioned in Leviticus 23, only the Feast of Firstfruits and the Passover did not have the phrase “holy convocation.” It does not mean that it was not a day of rest. All of them had a Sabbath rest unto the LORD. This was the way God wanted His people to realise that spending time with Him was a holy time always. This reminded them of their holiness in life even as they were busy with working the Land. For the priests whose vocation and name was one of holiness, it would have been hard for them to forget, even though they did forget as evidenced by more than 350 years of the period of Judges.
But for the twelve tribes whose vocation was to work the Land, it was much easier. They needed to be distinct from all the Gentile nations who could never be holy without the LORD’s presence and His holy Word. Israel was to be a holy nation to the world. This was the original intent for her founding by the LORD.
All these feasts were ordained by God with a spiritual purpose. The heart of this purpose was holiness. They were to be holy as the LORD is holy. Leviticus 11:44-45: “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” The most impactful of these eight feasts was the weekly Sabbath. The reason is its frequency. God knew how easily His people could forget Him, on a weekly basis! Do not see the Sabbath in another light other than that it is a holy convocation given to God’s children by God, to remind us of our need to be holy as He is holy.
MEMORISATION: Leviticus 23:2
PRAYER: May I never stop being holy as Thou art holy, O Father, Most High. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.