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Neither shalt thou gather any gleaning - See the note on Leviticus 19:9.

These verses contain a distinct command regarding the religious services immediately connected with the grain harvest, given by anticipation against the time when the people were to possess the promised land.

Leviticus 23:10

Sheaf - The original word, “omer”, means either a sheaf Deuteronomy 24:19; Rth 2:7 , or a measure Exodus 16:16. Our version is probably right in this place. The offering which was waved Leviticus 7:30 was most likely a small sheaf of barley, the grain which is first ripe. The first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered seven weeks later in the loaves of Pentecost. See Leviticus 23:15-17. The two offerings thus figure the very commencement and the completion of the grain harvest; compare Rth 1:22 ; Rth 2:23 .

Leviticus 23:11

On the morrow after the sabbath - It is most probable that these words denote the 16th of Abib, the day after the first day of holy convocation (see Leviticus 23:5-8 note), and that this was called “the Sabbath of the Passover”, or, “the Sabbath of unleavened bread”.

Leviticus 23:13

Two tenth deals - Two omers, or tenth parts of an ephah, about a gallon and three quarters. See Leviticus 19:36 note. The double quantity (contrast Exodus 29:40; Numbers 15:4; Numbers 28:19-21), implying greater liberality, was appropriate in a harvest feast.

Drink offering - This and Leviticus 23:18, Leviticus 23:37 are the only places in the book of Leviticus in which drink-offerings are mentioned. See the Exodus 29:40 note.

Leviticus 23:14

Bread … parched corn … green ears - These are the three forms in which grain was commonly eaten. The old name, Abib, signified “the month of green ears.” See Joshua 5:11.

Leviticus 23:15

The morrow after the sabbath - See Leviticus 23:11 note.

Seven sabbaths - More properly, seven weeks (compare Deuteronomy 16:9). The word Sabbath, in the language of the New Testament as well as the Old, is used for “week” (Leviticus 25:8; Matthew 28:1; Luke 18:12, etc.).

Leviticus 23:16

The morrow after the seventh week was the 50th day after the conclusion of a week of weeks. The day is called in the Old Testament, “the feast of harvest” Exodus 23:16, “the feast of weeks,” “the feast of the first fruits of wheat harvest” Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10, and “the day of the first fruits” Numbers 28:26. The word “Pentecost” used in the heading of this chapter in English Bibles is found only in the Apocrypha and the New Testament, Acts 2:1; Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8.

Leviticus 23:17

Habitations - Not strictly houses, but places of abode in a general sense. It seems here to denote the land in which the Israelites were to dwell so as to express that the flour was to be of home growth. The two loaves were to be merely waved before Yahweh and then to become the property of the priests. No bread containing leaven could be offered on the altar (see the Leviticus 2:11 note). The object of this offering seems to have been to present to the Lord the best produce of the earth in the actual condition in which it is most useful for the support of human life. It thus represented in the fittest manner the thanksgiving which was proper for the season. The loaves appear to be distinctively called “the first fruits for Yahweh,” and references to them are found in Romans 11:16; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 1 Corinthians 15:23; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4, etc. As these loaves offered before Yahweh sanctified the harvest of the year, so has “Christ the firstfruits” sanctified the Church, which, in its union with Him as the firstfruits, becomes also the Sanctifier of the world. See the services for Whitsuntide.

Leviticus 23:18

More properly, seven sheep of a year old (to be distinguished from the lamb in Leviticus 23:12), and a young bull which might be from one to three years old. Compare Numbers 28:26-27.

Leviticus 23:19

Properly, a shaggy he-goat Leviticus 4:23 and two sheep of a year old.

Leviticus 23:20

When living creatures were “waved” Leviticus 7:30 before Yahweh, it is said that they were led to and fro before the tabernacle according to an established form.

Leviticus 23:21

The self-same day - The Feast of Weeks was distinguished from the two other great annual feasts by its consisting, according to the Law, of only a single day. But in later times it is said that during the following six days the Israelites used to bring their offerings to the temple, and to give the week something of a festal character in the suspension of mourning for the dead.

Leviticus 23:22

The repetition of the Law (see the margin reference) is appropriately connected with the thanksgiving for the completed grain harvest.

In all the affairs of their daily life, the Israelites were taught the lesson set forth by the Holy Spirit: MH 281.1

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. MH 281.2

The law of God gave the poor a right to a certain portion of the produce of the soil. When hungry, a man was at liberty to go to his neighbor's field or orchard or vineyard, and eat of the grain or fruit to satisfy his hunger. It was in accordance with this permission that the disciples of Jesus plucked and ate of the standing grain as they passed through a field upon the Sabbath day. PP 531.1

All the gleanings of harvest field, orchard, and vineyard, belonged to the poor. “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field,” said Moses, “and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it.... When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again.... When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 24:19-22; Leviticus 19:9, 10. PP 531.2

Every seventh year special provision was made for the poor. The sabbatical year, as it was called, began at the end of the harvest. At the seedtime, which followed the ingathering, the people were not to sow; they should not dress the vineyard in the spring; and they must expect neither harvest nor vintage. Of that which the land produced spontaneously they might eat while fresh, but they were not to lay up any portion of it in their storehouses. The yield of this year was to be free for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and even for the creatures of the field. Exodus 23:10, 11; Leviticus 25:5. PP 531.3

But if the land ordinarily produced only enough to supply the wants of the people, how were they to subsist during the year when no crops were gathered? For this the promise of God made ample provision. “I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year,” He said, “and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.” Leviticus 25:21, 22. PP 531.4

Some, when in poverty, are generous with their little; but as they acquire property, they become penurious. The reason they have so little faith is that they do not keep moving forward as they prosper, and give to the cause of God even at a sacrifice. 4T 77.1

In the Jewish system it was required that beneficence should first be shown to the Lord. At the harvest and the vintage the first fruits of the field—the corn, the wine, and the oil—were to be consecrated as an offering to the Lord. The gleanings and the corners of the fields were reserved for the poor. Our gracious heavenly Father did not neglect the wants of the poor. The first fruits of the wool when the sheep were shorn, of the grain when the wheat was threshed, were to be offered to the Lord; and it was commanded that the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the strangers, be invited to their feasts. At the close of every year all were required to make solemn oath whether or not they had done according to the command of God. 4T 77.2

This arrangement was made by the Lord to impress upon the people that in every matter He must be first. By this system of benevolence they were to bear in mind that their gracious Master was the true proprietor of their fields, their flocks, and their herds; that the God of heaven sent them sunshine and rain for their seedtime and harvest, and that everything they possessed was of His creation. All was the Lord's, and He had made them stewards of His goods. 4T 77.3

The liberality of the Jews in the construction of the tabernacle and the erection of the temple illustrates a spirit of benevolence which has not been equaled by Christians of any later date. They had just been freed from their long bondage in Egypt and were wanderers in the wilderness; yet scarcely were they delivered from the armies of the Egyptians who pursued them in their hasty journey, when the word of the Lord came to Moses, saying: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering.” 4T 77.4

So today God desires His children, both in spiritual and in temporal things, to impart blessings to the world. For every disciple of Christ in every age were spoken those precious words of the Saviour: Out of him “shall flow rivers of living water.” 6T 274.1

But instead of imparting the gifts of God, many who profess to be Christians are wrapped up in their own narrow interests, and they selfishly withhold God's blessings from their fellow men. 6T 274.2

While God in His providence has laden the earth with His bounties and filled its storehouses with the comforts of life, want and misery are on every hand. A liberal Providence has placed in the hands of His human agents an abundance to supply the necessities of all, but the stewards of God are unfaithful. In the professed Christian world there is enough expended in extravagant display to supply the wants of all the hungry and to clothe the naked. Many who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ are spending His money for selfish pleasure, for the gratification of appetite, for strong drink and rich dainties, for extravagant houses and furniture and dress, while to suffering human beings they give scarcely a look of pity or a word of sympathy. 6T 274.3