Leviticus 23:36
Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
The verse closes the instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles, kept in the seventh month from the fifteenth through the twenty-second day as seven days followed by an eighth day added afterward and observed in the same manner as the first day. That eighth day is a holy convocation and solemn assembly, when a further offering made by fire is presented to the Lord and no servile or ordinary work is done. For the feast the people gathered at Jerusalem after the harvest and left their houses to live for a week in booths made of branches, recalling their pilgrim life in the wilderness and God's protection of Israel there. It was a harvest thanksgiving for the abundance of field and orchard, meant to turn the people's thoughts to God's goodness, mercy and care and to foster gratitude and rejoicing. Its rejoicing followed the Day of Atonement, when confession of sin was followed by peace with Heaven, and was deepened by hospitality to Levites, strangers and the poor and by sacred assembly for meeting with God to receive His blessing.
Feast Setting and Eighth Day
Leviticus 23:36 belongs to the instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles, which is set out as a seven-day celebration with an eighth-day holy assembly and offerings to the Lord. The feast was kept in the seventh month from the fifteenth through the twenty-second day, as seven days followed by an eighth day added afterward. That added eighth day was observed in the same manner as the first day, as a holy convocation.
The eighth day stands at the close of the seven days as a holy convocation and solemn assembly. On it a further offering made by fire is presented to the Lord, after seven days of offerings made by fire. In it no servile or ordinary work is done, with time freed from ordinary labor.
For the feast the people gathered together in Jerusalem after the harvest for a sacred and joyful time. They left their houses to live for a week in booths or arbors formed from branches and green boughs. In that dwelling they recalled their tent and pilgrim life in the wilderness and God's protection of Israel there. The feast was one of Israel's annual religious gatherings and the closing and final religious gathering of the year, resumed after the return from captivity.
Purpose Celebration and Application
The feast to which the eighth day belongs was a harvest thanksgiving for the year's abundance from orchard and field, bringing the people to Jerusalem to rejoice and give thanks for God's goodness. It was meant to turn their thoughts to His goodness and mercy and to their gratitude for His care, fostering gratitude and rejoicing. It was both a thanksgiving and a memorial of His protection of Israel in the wilderness. It was also a sacred memorial appointed to call God to the people's minds, one of Israel's annual religious gatherings resumed after the return from captivity. Its time freed from ordinary labor was devoted to worship and to learning about Him, as part of a month each year devoted largely to education.
The celebration was joyful, marked by thanksgiving and by sacred songs and music in worship. Its week in booths and the journey to Jerusalem provided fellowship and social life with opportunities for outdoor recreation, and its gatherings were occasions of rejoicing. That rejoicing followed the Day of Atonement, when confession of sin was followed by being declared at peace with Heaven. Its hospitality to Levites, strangers, and the poor made the rejoicing more tender.
The holy convocation is a sacred assembly for meeting with God to receive His blessing. It is invoked as a pattern for a gathering of God's people and for camp meetings. Camp meetings should therefore be treated as sacred gatherings, not as occasions for amusement, with parents keeping their children orderly and quiet there.