They were to celebrate the Passover. On that night in Egypt the people ate a meal with unleavened bread. They were to do the same so that they would remember the Passover. They needed to remember how it all started, and why they were saved at all. In the same way Jesus told us to remember Him in the Lord's Supper. We take bread and wine. This is not just an intellectual remembering, but an emotional remembering as well.
They were to celebrate the harvest, seven weeks after they started to take in the harvest. They were to give a freewill offering. Now we may ask how can someone be commanded to give a freewill offering. We need to understand what the Law is. If we see it as just a set of commands that needed to be obeyed then we miss the point, just as the Pharisees missed the point. What the Law does is describe the kingdom life that people were meant to have. It told them how they would live if they were living in the Kingdom of God. Now the Law is only a shadow of the New Covenant, so it does this in part. Nonetheless, it is a foretaste of the kingdom. It is only through the cross and the Spirit that we can truly enter into the kingdom. But one of the features of kingdom living is giving freely.
They were to be joyful at the festivals. These festival included everyone, male and female, servants and free, and foreigners. This foresees Paul's words on there being neither slave nor free, Greek nor Jew in Christ. The Kingdom is for all who will come to Christ.
Justice was to be a key trait of the nation.
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