In verse 23, God says the reason we save our tithe and eat before Him is to learn to fear Him always. When we keep this feast as He intends, it instills a reverential awe of Him because we experience Him acting and providing and working things out. As we see His work, it builds our respect for Him so that He is always part of our priorities and decisions.
And so, God wants us to rejoice in the abundance He gives, which is why He calls it a feast. But God also places some hedges. As it says, the reason for enjoying the abundance is learning to fear God. But not all rejoicing or feasting instills the fear of God.
Verses 23 and 26 say we are to eat before the LORD. Similarly, we read back in Leviticus 23 that we are rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days, again showing that He is the object of the Feast. It could be said that all rejoicing is before Him in the sense that He is aware of everything, and that part is true. But in another sense, rejoicing is not truly before Him if He is not at the forefront of our minds and the reason for the rejoicing.
The Israelites ate and they rejoiced, but it was not truly before the Lord. God, though Isaiah and Amos, took Judah and Israel to task because of their festival observances. God was not at the forefront of their minds. Their keeping of the feasts did not increase their respect or awe of Him, because they didn't really seek Him at the feast.
They didn't approach the feast like a nation that had been weak and unable to provide for itself, and in need of God's providence at every turn. They forgot the reasons for the temporary dwellings, forgot the lessons of the wilderness journey, and forgot that being God's people means that one's life is no longer one's own. In short, they forgot God. So, while He was certainly aware of their eating and rejoicing, they weren't really aware of Him.
Remember, it is the Feast of Tabernacles. What does God say we are going to do? We have tons of tithe. Right? We can go to the best restaurants. We can be with our friends and fellow spiritual Israelites, and God says you can have whatever your heart desires during this time, and I want you to rejoice even though you are living in a temporary dwelling.
So we are supposed, at this time, to have the experiences and the creature comforts, if you will, of whatever, within the bounds of proper godly conduct. I mean you can look at that in Deuteronomy 14:22-27. God tells us you can have strong drink if you want. Just, you know, do not get drunk. Enjoy it, do not just slug it down. Smell it, taste it, swirl it around your mouth a little bit.
Understand how the rich live, if you will, for this week. But do not overdo it. That is what He wants us to do.
