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Banquets and Feasts

Outer Darkness

WHY EXCLUSION FROM A FEAST WAS CONSIDERED TO BE SO TERRIBLE Ancient banquets were usually held at night in rooms which were brilliantly lighted, and anybody who was excluded from the feast was said to be cast out of the lighted room into the "outer darkness" of the night. In the teachings of JESUS, such exclusion is likened unto the day of judgmen...

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Eating Posture at Feasts

POSTURE WHILE EATING AT FEASTS It has already been observed that on ordinary occasions the people of the Bible age mostly sat or squatted on the floor around a low table at mealtime. In the king's circle, or at other times of special ceremony, seats were sometimes provided. The prophet Amos is the first sacred writer to refer to the custom of "[st...

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Places of Honor

PLACES OF HONOR AT THE TABLE When the Pharisees were invited to a banquet, they were very covetous of having the highest places of distinction at the table. JESUS condemned them for this proud spirit. He said concerning them: They " . . . love the uttermost rooms at feasts" (Matthew 23:6). When JESUS was guest at a meal in a Pharisee's house, He g...

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Dining and Entertainment

FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT AT BANQUETS The prophet Amos, although he denounced extravagant luxuries and sinful excesses, nevertheless has given us a description of the eating, drinking, and other customs at an Oriental banquet. This is the way he describes it: "And stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the cal...

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