back to index2018-09-26 Wed Bible Study: Lesson 23
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Thank you for the ability to be able to spend time together with brothers and sisters. 00:00:21.280 |
We know, Father God, that you said that we have all things that we need for life of godliness 00:00:29.320 |
So we pray that you would help us, Lord God, to know him more. 00:00:34.680 |
Not only what he has done on the cross, but all the preparation, all the symbolisms, all 00:00:41.560 |
the foreshadowing that you placed in the Old Testament and how ultimately, Lord God, that 00:00:49.960 |
I pray that you would help us to understand the depth of your heart, depth of your will 00:00:55.280 |
and plans, Lord God, that more and more that our hearts and our lives, our minds may be 00:01:02.160 |
Lord, the power, Lord God, to distract us in this world is so strong and so heavy. 00:01:08.920 |
You know, Father God, how easily we can straddle both the things that are eternal and things 00:01:14.480 |
that are temporal and just click on back and forth, Lord God, and how frustrating that 00:01:21.160 |
We are desperate, Father God, for your power to grip us, that we would move beyond just 00:01:27.280 |
routine, just going through the motion, but our very passions, our desire, our worship 00:01:39.480 |
All right, today we're going to be looking at chapter 23. 00:01:42.600 |
It's going to be mainly dealing with the seven festivals that God commanded to the nation 00:01:50.480 |
We could have probably just spent just a whole day just on one of these festivals because 00:01:54.760 |
there's so much involved, not only the details of the meaning behind it, but how it's fulfilled 00:02:01.000 |
And in every one of these festivals, there's a clear fulfillment in Christ, and there's 00:02:05.360 |
so many passages in the New Testament that we could have covered. 00:02:08.320 |
Like Jesus mentions it in the book of Revelation and the Gospels, and Paul brings it up. 00:02:12.520 |
So as I was preparing, the study was just getting longer and longer and longer, and 00:02:16.120 |
there's just no way that I would have been able to sit there and talk about each one 00:02:20.600 |
of these things in that detail, and so nor did I want to just kind of skim over it. 00:02:25.560 |
So the way I organized it today is the seven festivals, and kind of give you an overarching 00:02:31.400 |
reasons behind what He did and how it points to certain specific things. 00:02:35.440 |
So we are going to go into some of the details, but again, if you study thoroughly through 00:02:40.360 |
chapter 23, there's a lot of little things that are mentioned there that I'm just not 00:02:46.320 |
going to mention in today's Bible study just because there's a lot of things to cover, 00:02:50.120 |
and I'm just going to give you a large overview. 00:02:52.240 |
So I'm going to mention the significant things, but again, I'm not going to be able to go 00:02:57.280 |
So to jump right in, the chapter begins with the command to observe the Sabbath on a weekly 00:03:05.120 |
So in verses 1, 2, and 3, before He gets into the seventh feast, starting from chapter 00:03:14.320 |
So Sabbath, obviously, is not one of the seventh feasts, but the reason why He gave the Sabbath 00:03:19.840 |
to the nation of Israel is the same reason why He gave the seventh feast, and this is 00:03:24.320 |
the only one that He does on a weekly basis, where every single week on Saturday, on the 00:03:29.760 |
Sabbath, they were to take time off and not engage in work, all for the purpose of renewing 00:03:34.960 |
their covenant, renewing their relationship with God. 00:03:38.760 |
So restoring the Sabbath, if you, again, you probably may have heard a sermon at our church 00:03:45.720 |
at some point, is ultimately the purpose of redemption. 00:03:50.640 |
So if you look at the creation account, God creates in six days, and seventh day, He enters 00:03:56.520 |
So we know that God didn't enter Sabbath because He needed a break and recuperate and start 00:04:03.040 |
And a lot of times we think of Sabbath that way. 00:04:04.760 |
The Sabbath, the way it's described in the scripture, is God enters the rest, and He 00:04:13.360 |
So when sin comes in, that Sabbath that we had in the presence of God is broken, right? 00:04:20.720 |
So when somebody is in sin, another way to describe it is unrest. 00:04:26.600 |
And that's why, again, when we study the book of Hebrews, He describes salvation as entering 00:04:31.480 |
the Sabbath, and He says to make every effort to enter into that Sabbath. 00:04:36.160 |
So the practice of Sabbath, ultimately, the restoration of Sabbath, the true Sabbath found 00:04:41.200 |
in Christ, is another way to describe salvation itself. 00:04:45.620 |
So you can say the whole redemptive history is to bring us back to that seventh day Sabbath 00:04:50.220 |
that God entered, that was broken when sin came into the world. 00:04:56.920 |
The Sabbath served as a sign between God and His covenant people. 00:05:00.040 |
And details of this are not mentioned all of it in Exodus 23, or Leviticus 23. 00:05:07.320 |
It's in the book of Deuteronomy and other parts. 00:05:10.440 |
So I'm going to reference that, but a lot of these things may not be specifically mentioned 00:05:18.000 |
Then He says, "It is the Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings." 00:05:21.760 |
So this is commanded by God, that this is something that they were...it was not a suggestion. 00:05:28.880 |
In fact, the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was capital punishment. 00:05:34.440 |
To break the Sabbath and to disrespect the Sabbath basically meant to basically shake 00:05:39.520 |
your fist at God and saying, "I don't need you." 00:05:44.180 |
So even though He lays out these seven feasts and this particular Sabbath, this is not like 00:05:50.840 |
It was, "Oh, well, Thanksgiving, we'll celebrate it on Thursday or Wednesday, or I might take 00:06:04.120 |
Mandatory meaning like you don't get a slap on the hand. 00:06:08.360 |
And the seven feasts were to be approached in the same manner. 00:06:11.880 |
That's why He puts His name on it and said, "I am the Lord," meaning that this is not 00:06:20.520 |
This is not a think tank, a group of them had a discussion. 00:06:24.440 |
He said, "God Himself is saying that this is something you need to take seriously." 00:06:31.120 |
There are seven feasts of the Lord that is mentioned in chapter 23, and these were to 00:06:38.400 |
So some of them lasted maybe a week, some of them it was one day. 00:06:42.920 |
But collectively, just the seven feasts, if you put it all together, it could have easily 00:06:51.880 |
Today, when we think about Christmas, it's usually one day. 00:06:55.960 |
You might get a whole week off, or a lot of you will get a whole week off, or you have 00:06:59.880 |
Thanksgiving, you might get Thanksgiving and a couple of days off after that. 00:07:03.160 |
And then you have a few days just scattered, and you put it all together, it might be a 00:07:09.520 |
But the Jewish calendar, if you put all of that together, and the seven feasts were only 00:07:16.080 |
the major things, but there's a lot of other things that they celebrate. 00:07:19.240 |
So if you look at the Jewish calendar, we're talking about a huge chunk of time in their 00:07:23.480 |
calendar where they took time to remember specific things of God, and this was commanded. 00:07:29.720 |
He said that these feasts are literally called appointed times. 00:07:34.920 |
In the ESV and the NASV, it says it's holy convocation. 00:07:45.120 |
Basically it means that this was an appointed, sacred convocation that was supposed to be 00:07:57.480 |
These times were celebrations, these times of celebration are important not only to Israel, 00:08:02.200 |
but also to overall message of the biblical narrative. 00:08:06.200 |
So the reason why these seven feasts are so important for us to study is because ultimately 00:08:12.520 |
So there's something about these feasts that helps us better understand what Christ did 00:08:22.240 |
So it's not only relevant for Israel's history, but also for us in the new covenant. 00:08:30.320 |
The Passover is the beginning in the Jewish calendar. 00:08:35.520 |
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruit, Feast of Weeks, oftentimes called 00:08:40.000 |
the Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacle. 00:08:45.320 |
And so we're going to be looking at the three significances of these seven feasts. 00:08:56.760 |
So as I mentioned to you, I can go into detail on each one of these feasts and spend the 00:09:01.280 |
whole day just talking about what the Feast of Tabernacle did and why God commanded that 00:09:05.520 |
and what they practiced and what did these practices point to. 00:09:09.720 |
And if we had more time, I think it would be beneficial to do that, but to do that we 00:09:14.880 |
would have to take seven weeks because each one of them has that much material. 00:09:19.440 |
Not necessarily in Leviticus, but if you collect all the other passages, there's quite a bit 00:09:26.240 |
But the way that we're going to be approaching it tonight is to give you an overview of why 00:09:37.760 |
So every one of these things, these feasts, are attached to some kind of agricultural 00:09:48.040 |
So if you had a Feast of Tabernacle, they celebrated because of something physical that 00:09:58.840 |
The second significance was to celebrate historical blessings. 00:10:03.600 |
So every one of these festivals reminded them of some activity of God, something that God 00:10:17.220 |
And then the ultimate fulfillment, the third, they all had a prophetic message that pointed 00:10:28.720 |
So it's connected to some kind of harvest that was going on, and during that harvest, 00:10:35.540 |
they remembered something in Israel's history, right, that triggered that. 00:10:42.700 |
But then the ultimate fulfillment ultimately pointed to what Christ was going to do, right? 00:10:48.300 |
So every one of these feasts had three specific elements. 00:10:55.720 |
So let's look at the first one, the current blessing. 00:10:58.720 |
The feasts all had certain harvests attached to it to be celebrated when to give thanks 00:11:05.020 |
for fruitfulness and to acknowledge the worship of God for a particular harvest. 00:11:09.960 |
Again, the reason behind this is to make sure that whatever physical blessings that they 00:11:19.280 |
had, that they were to constantly acknowledge their dependence on God. 00:11:24.860 |
So even in the Lord's Prayer, you know how we pray to give us this day our daily bread, 00:11:28.440 |
and we talked about that last week, how that wasn't just triggered because of the manna, 00:11:33.920 |
that was embedded into the Levitical system that people understood that their daily sustenance 00:11:41.920 |
And so part of the reason for these feasts was whenever they had the harvest of any kind, 00:11:48.080 |
it would remind them and point them to recognize that they had the rain because of God, that 00:11:54.240 |
the harvest was fruitful because of God, that they're able to eat and to live and have 00:12:05.960 |
So these harvests that triggered these feasts, first three of them are spring feasts. 00:12:16.480 |
And the beginning of their calendar usually started somewhere in March and April, right? 00:12:21.240 |
So the spring feasts, they were Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of First 00:12:27.680 |
They were all triggered because of the beginning of the harvest. 00:12:34.480 |
Now so you had the harvest of the wheat, harvest of the barley, and so each one of them are 00:12:38.480 |
attached to a different festival, but overall, the spring feasts were celebrated at the beginning 00:12:47.440 |
So if you know, again, if you study 23, you'll know that Passover is mentioned in verse 4 00:12:54.120 |
Nothing is mentioned about it other than you need to celebrate Passover, and then he goes 00:13:00.360 |
And the reason why that is is there's so much teaching on the Passover in other passages, 00:13:05.080 |
it's kind of already embedded into the Jewish culture, right? 00:13:09.300 |
And so he goes in and gives more detailed instructions about the unleavened bread. 00:13:13.440 |
And oftentimes, the Passover and unleavened bread is mentioned together, right? 00:13:18.040 |
They'll say a Feast of Unleavened Bread, and they include the Passover because the Passover 00:13:24.840 |
was celebrated on one day, and then that triggered the Feast of Booths. 00:13:37.480 |
And that's the reason why oftentimes when they say Passover, they're already assuming 00:13:43.640 |
But again, all of this was at the Spring Festival. 00:13:47.400 |
The Summer Feast was the Feast or the Weeks, Feast of Pentecost, which happened 50 days 00:14:00.900 |
And it pointed to a wheat harvest, and then the Fall Feast, the Feast of Trumpets, Day 00:14:10.440 |
of Atonement, Feast of Booths, and all of that pointed to the end of the harvest, okay? 00:14:16.440 |
So they had the harvesting of grapes or sheep shearing or whatever it may be. 00:14:22.760 |
All of these feasts were specifically related to some kind of harvest that was taking place 00:14:37.360 |
So in James 117, it says, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above. 00:14:44.880 |
Coming down from the Father lies with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." 00:14:50.080 |
And so the moment that we forget that whatever good that we have is from God, we become self-dependent, 00:15:00.560 |
And we think somehow, "I woke up this morning because I willed myself to do that," right? 00:15:07.820 |
I mean, there's always theologians that are debating between does man have free will or 00:15:11.760 |
not, but just logically speaking, there's like a hundred thousand things that needs 00:15:16.960 |
to be taking place all at the same time just for us to wake up every day, right? 00:15:22.440 |
Whether it's the sun, whether it's the rotation, whether it's the heat, whether it's the cold, 00:15:27.120 |
whether it's the oxygen, speed of the rotation. 00:15:29.560 |
I mean, there's a hundred thousand things that needs to happen in order for us to live. 00:15:34.320 |
So for a man to say, "I willed myself to live," is just supreme arrogance, right? 00:15:41.140 |
That's why when the Bible says, when God just describes himself as I am, he is truly the 00:15:45.880 |
only being that is completely independent of anything else. 00:15:53.960 |
Not only did he create all things, he sustains all things. 00:15:57.160 |
So if God chose not to sustain it, all of creation would just deteriorate and die, right? 00:16:03.280 |
And so this was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel of their dependence upon 00:16:08.440 |
I think part of the reason why it's harder for us to remember God, you know, people who 00:16:15.000 |
live in the city, is because we're not dependent upon rain for our sustenance. 00:16:19.520 |
You know, if you happen to live on a farm and raise sheep or grow corn or whatever, 00:16:25.480 |
you know, you're dependent upon things that you can't control. 00:16:29.600 |
So you're constantly like praying before God and then when rain comes, "Thank God you sent 00:16:35.640 |
But if we have problems, we just find another job. 00:16:41.960 |
And so everything around us is man-made for the most part, right? 00:16:47.880 |
I mean, obviously even the material here ultimately is made by God, but a man put this together. 00:16:54.280 |
So you know, our tendency is every once in a while we might travel and go up to the mountains 00:17:00.480 |
But we don't think like that when we're here, right? 00:17:04.340 |
And so the harvest, the festivals was to get them to slow down and to remind them that 00:17:11.040 |
these ultimately without God, we can't exist. 00:17:14.240 |
And so remember the sin that is mentioned in Romans chapter one, "For even though they 00:17:19.400 |
knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their 00:17:23.160 |
speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. 00:17:26.360 |
Then to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an 00:17:29.680 |
image in the form of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." 00:17:34.200 |
So everything about the harvest, ultimately it applies to all mankind, whether they acknowledge 00:17:44.360 |
So even if they don't acknowledge God as creator, harvest ultimately affects everybody, right? 00:17:54.100 |
So the first part of it is a reminder to mankind, which Israel is a part of, is a reminder to 00:18:01.660 |
But the second part of it is specific to the nation of Israel. 00:18:09.580 |
The feast reminded them of some significant historical event of how God delivered Israel, 00:18:15.780 |
sustained them, established them as a nation. 00:18:19.340 |
So all of it reminds Israel, right, of God's deliverance. 00:18:28.200 |
Now, Passover, a lot of us already know what that is because every time we have communion, 00:18:35.040 |
If you study the New Testament, you know, one of the most important event that takes 00:18:38.760 |
place in the New Testament is Jesus at the Passover meal says, "Do this in remembrance 00:18:44.280 |
So we know that it celebrated how God spared the nation of Israel by passing over the homes 00:18:53.460 |
And clearly Jesus' blood represented that blood, right? 00:18:59.080 |
But to the nation of Israel before Jesus came, it was to remind them of how God delivered 00:19:08.260 |
And so every time they had the Passover, it was to remind the nation that the only reason 00:19:12.220 |
why they even existed, why they were independent, and why they became a nation was because God 00:19:20.240 |
So their thankfulness goes beyond just the harvest. 00:19:25.340 |
Their nation, their sacrifices, all of it is because God delivered them. 00:19:29.040 |
And that's what the Passover reminded them of. 00:19:32.120 |
Feast of Unleavened Bread, right, which happened right after the Passover, it celebrated how 00:19:41.380 |
So during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they would search the home and make sure that there's 00:19:45.280 |
no yeast in the house, each representing sin. 00:19:48.240 |
And they were to clean that all out and they had to eat their meal in haste, right? 00:19:55.520 |
And so every time they did that, again, it was they acted out how God delivered the nation 00:20:07.080 |
And so every time they celebrated that, it reminded them not only the Passover, but how 00:20:21.320 |
Feast of Firstfruits was to remind the nation of Israel that despite them out in the desert, 00:20:27.400 |
when they came into the promised land, God caused them to be fruitful. 00:20:30.720 |
And the first harvest that they dedicated to the Lord was what this thing pointed to, 00:20:37.600 |
That not only did God deliver them by covering over them by the blood of the lamb, not only 00:20:46.360 |
did he deliver them in haste out of Egypt, but even after they left, God provided for 00:20:52.560 |
And so the Feast of Firstfruits reminded them of God's caring sustenance for them. 00:20:57.560 |
So when they gave their offering, it was to say, "All of this is because you gave this 00:21:05.880 |
Okay, we're going to come back to that later. 00:21:34.880 |
This celebrated the inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant. 00:21:40.840 |
And the reason why they celebrated this, again, the historical aspect of it, was that 50 days 00:21:47.480 |
after they left Egypt was when Moses goes up to Mount Sinai and he receives the law. 00:21:53.040 |
So the Pentecost was the celebration of receiving the Mosaic Law, the first covenant that Israel 00:22:01.680 |
Now this is really significant because this later on, something very significant happens 00:22:08.960 |
Some of you guys probably already know, right? 00:22:17.920 |
The Feast of Trumpets celebrated the gathering of the nation of Israel. 00:22:21.800 |
So not only did God give them, but remember the whole book of Leviticus is about gathering 00:22:28.720 |
the people around the tabernacle and he begins to call them his people. 00:22:35.000 |
And so the Feast of Trumpets, either they blew trumpets to give some sort of a command, 00:22:42.360 |
or it was a declaration of something, or a calling. 00:22:47.620 |
So when they blew the trumpets, everybody heard it, it meant that everybody was to gather. 00:22:51.720 |
So Feast of Trumpets was to remind them that they were God's people. 00:22:56.240 |
When God blows a trumpet, the people of God hear his voice in the New Testament and we 00:23:01.920 |
So the trumpet was meant to signify God's voice that people hear and then they gather. 00:23:09.120 |
And then you guys know about the Day of Atonement. 00:23:10.840 |
We studied this earlier, I think it was chapter 16. 00:23:18.720 |
The establishment of the tabernacle, it was basically cleansing of sin of the nation 00:23:24.120 |
of Israel, which made it possible for them to have a relationship with this holy God. 00:23:42.760 |
This feast celebrated how God sustained them through the wandering through the desert before 00:23:49.040 |
So the Feast of Booths, during that time, they would basically live in their shack, 00:23:54.040 |
a little, you know, made tent and they would sleep in there for a period of time to remember 00:24:02.120 |
that during the period of wandering the wilderness, how they were nomads, right? 00:24:07.000 |
And during that period of 40 years, how God was faithful to them. 00:24:10.560 |
And so the Feast of Booths was to remind them. 00:24:13.840 |
So all of these events pointed back to something that God did in Israel's history so that they 00:24:19.160 |
wouldn't forget that the only reason why they're there is because God permitted it and God 00:24:50.820 |
Because Hosea, Hosea is written, you know, a lot of times people read the book of Hosea 00:24:55.580 |
and then they say, you know, like, oh, it's a description of the love of God and how despite 00:25:00.880 |
how Israel continues to sin against God and God continues to follow and God continues 00:25:09.360 |
All true, but if you read the book of Hosea, Hosea is an indictment against the nation 00:25:15.480 |
It doesn't end with God will be forever merciful to all your sins. 00:25:20.600 |
It's a description of his patience and grace over and over again. 00:25:24.320 |
And then he says, despite that, you kept on prostituting yourself with other idols. 00:25:29.420 |
And because of that, you're going into captivity, right? 00:25:35.960 |
That God is gracious, God is gracious, and God is gracious. 00:25:39.280 |
But at some point, if you don't pay attention, this is what's going to happen, right? 00:25:43.240 |
So one of the indictments against the nation of Israel is this, I carefully in the wilderness 00:25:48.080 |
in the land of the drought, as they had their pasture, they became satisfied. 00:25:53.480 |
And being satisfied, their hearts became proud. 00:26:00.600 |
The problem with the nation of Israel, before they went into idolatry, before they started 00:26:06.400 |
having sexual immorality and chasing after other idols, he said their hearts became proud. 00:26:13.240 |
And the reason why they became proud is because they ate and they were satisfied, their needs 00:26:21.760 |
Like when the enemies were on their tail, I mean, revival would break out. 00:26:27.080 |
When a famine would happen, they would cry out to the Lord, right? 00:26:32.080 |
And when judgment would come and armies would chase them, then that's when they needed God. 00:26:36.680 |
But as soon as they ate and peace came, they ate, they became proud, they forgot God. 00:26:43.800 |
And then the moment they forgot God was when they began to pursue after idols. 00:26:59.880 |
We don't live in a country where there's persecution. 00:27:08.320 |
We know mentally that God is important or else we wouldn't be here. 00:27:14.260 |
We know theologically that He ought to be first, but He's not. 00:27:21.020 |
We know from studying, from fellowship, that Christ is all in all, that this world is under 00:27:39.080 |
And the reason why is because we are full, right? 00:27:43.920 |
And sometimes God allows us to be hungry just so that we can be desperate before God. 00:27:50.960 |
And again, obviously, I'm not just talking about being hungry physically, right? 00:27:57.200 |
Being hungry financially, socially, in all kinds of ways where we sense desperation. 00:28:07.860 |
Because until we sense desperation, we don't cry out to God. 00:28:10.080 |
And that was a constant problem with the nation of Israel. 00:28:13.160 |
It wasn't that they were like, they were, you know, it just didn't make sense. 00:28:16.960 |
Like God would do some great miracle and the next chapter we see them worshiping idols, 00:28:23.880 |
Why would they just cross the Red Sea, right? 00:28:27.480 |
Miraculous sea, and then they're on the other side and they make the golden calf. 00:28:35.660 |
As soon as the desperation disappeared, as soon as the army stopped chasing them, they 00:28:40.840 |
were satisfied and when they felt safe, they became proud. 00:28:45.960 |
When they forgot God, they'd start chasing after idols, right? 00:28:50.000 |
And that's a pattern that is, we're constantly in danger because when we are lukewarm, right? 00:28:58.440 |
When we are lukewarm, it opens the door to all kinds of idolatry in our hearts. 00:29:06.820 |
Whether it's sexual immorality, whether it's lust for the world, or just materialism, bitterness, 00:29:18.680 |
All of that creeps in when we become idol in our hearts toward God. 00:29:24.400 |
God was trying to protect the nation of Israel from idleness, right? 00:29:28.720 |
To constantly remind them, you're here because of God had mercy on you and don't forget that. 00:29:35.560 |
And the reason why is like every Sunday, not Sunday, Saturday, every Sabbath, they were 00:29:42.360 |
And then if that wasn't enough, he put chunks of time, seven days, 14 days, right? 00:29:47.520 |
They gave sacrifices and they weren't allowed to work at all. 00:29:53.080 |
When they celebrated these things, he said, "God forbid them to do any heavy lifting." 00:29:58.180 |
Because he wanted to make sure that they focused all their attention on this. 00:30:05.760 |
We had breakfast and the rest of the day we do whatever we want. 00:30:08.320 |
He wanted to make sure all of those days, all of that time was dedicated to this because 00:30:12.120 |
it was that important because this was their constant problem, right? 00:30:17.000 |
Deuteronomy 2, "You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in 00:30:21.120 |
the wilderness these 40 years that he might humble you," right? 00:30:25.920 |
So again, whole reason is because they become proud. 00:30:29.840 |
Remember how you got here, to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, 00:30:35.360 |
whether you would keep his commandments or not, right? 00:30:40.280 |
So this was not just a holiday for them to take a break so they can, "Oh, holiday's coming 00:30:45.480 |
This was a sacred, it was kind of an extended time of worship. 00:31:01.880 |
But ultimately, the feast pointed to the future hope in Christ. 00:31:10.760 |
Remember the first one was significant to all mankind, right? 00:31:14.160 |
All mankind are dependent upon him for the harvest, right? 00:31:19.360 |
Rain falls upon the Christian and a non-Christian. 00:31:21.440 |
The harvest comes for the Christian and a non-Christian. 00:31:26.040 |
The second meaning of it, specific to the nation of Israel, that they exist because 00:31:32.720 |
And the moment that they forget that, they become satisfied, they become proud, and then 00:31:36.920 |
they forget God and then they turn to idolatry. 00:31:40.600 |
But the ultimate and the most important part of it is to all mankind, specifically in the 00:31:48.200 |
So the first three pointed to Christ's death and resurrection. 00:31:53.160 |
So if you know, the Passover was replaced by the communion table. 00:31:58.800 |
That because the blood of Christ covered us, that the wrath of God passed over us. 00:32:05.320 |
And that was the significance of the Passover. 00:32:07.920 |
And it is crystal clear that that's what it was for. 00:32:11.600 |
And that's why Jesus says before he goes to the cross, "From this day on, do this in 00:32:17.440 |
One of the most sacred days out of the year was the Passover. 00:32:21.440 |
And Jesus is sitting there saying, "This was about me." 00:32:26.680 |
So if you didn't believe that Jesus was God, that would have been blasphemous. 00:32:32.080 |
That's just like if somebody came in and said, "You know what? 00:32:46.160 |
Like memorizing scripture, Bible study, like do it all. 00:32:50.360 |
Imagine if Jesus wasn't God, how arrogant that would have been. 00:32:59.880 |
Because all of that pointed to what Christ was going to do on the cross. 00:33:03.720 |
So the Passover ultimately pointed to his fulfillment. 00:33:10.720 |
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, it pointed to how God redeemed us from the bondage of 00:33:18.960 |
And if you remember, most of what Christ does on the last week of his existence happens 00:33:26.720 |
during this festival, Passover and Unleavened Bread. 00:33:31.040 |
And if you remember, during the Unleavened Bread, as I mentioned, one of the things that 00:33:34.080 |
God told him to do is to make sure that there is no yeast in the house. 00:33:38.840 |
So it pointed to the fact that they had to leave in haste. 00:33:42.160 |
And God, because of the blood of the lamb, death passes them over, and God delivers them 00:33:53.640 |
That's what the Unleavened Bread festival is about. 00:33:56.640 |
And in this festival, they are to eat in haste, to hurry up and leave, and then to clean out 00:34:07.340 |
He comes and he delivers us from the bondage of sin, sin and death, and delivers us to 00:34:14.840 |
And that's what this festival ultimately pointed to. 00:34:19.360 |
Not only does he cover us so that the wrath of God does not kill us, but then he delivers 00:34:25.600 |
us that we were once slaves to sin, now we've become slaves to righteousness because of 00:34:31.440 |
So this Unleavened Bread festival pointed to that. 00:34:35.880 |
The Feast of First Fruit points to Christ's resurrection and how he is the first among 00:34:45.240 |
Because of what Christ has done, he dies for our sins, he delivers us, and then he's resurrected 00:34:50.100 |
on the third day, and then he says he's the first fruit of many. 00:34:56.600 |
So that's why when you get baptized, we always say, "Do you understand you're going with 00:35:02.600 |
United with Christ in his death and united with Christ in his resurrected life." 00:35:10.280 |
It points to a new life that we have in Christ. 00:35:20.440 |
So ultimately in Colossians 2, 16, 17, it says, "Therefore, no one is to act as your 00:35:24.520 |
judge in regard to food or drink in respect to festivals or new moon, Sabbath, day, things 00:35:29.280 |
which are mere shadows of what was to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." 00:35:34.560 |
I should have read this in the beginning, but I couldn't fit it in my outline. 00:35:38.920 |
But you know what I'm saying, that this is ultimately, all the festivals point to the 00:35:45.160 |
And then this is the passage, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits 00:35:49.680 |
For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead." 00:35:54.360 |
So as Christ was the first fruit, we will along with him be resurrected. 00:35:59.720 |
And that's what the first fruits, feast of first fruits ultimately pointed to and fulfilled 00:36:10.280 |
The summer festival is the Pentecost, was the inauguration of Christ's church. 00:36:16.880 |
Remember what we talked about, the Pentecost means 50, because it commemorated not only 00:36:22.840 |
the harvest festival for the summer, but it pointed to receiving of the Mosaic law. 00:36:30.200 |
Fifty days after they leave Egypt, Moses goes up to the mountain and he receives the law 00:36:35.840 |
and the new covenant is established with the nation of Israel, the Mosaic covenant. 00:36:41.360 |
What happens at Pentecost in the New Testament? 00:36:51.800 |
The disciples are gathered together and the Holy Spirit comes upon them and people think 00:36:56.440 |
that they're drunk, but it's the Holy Spirit and as they are speaking, everybody understands 00:37:01.280 |
it in their language and the new covenant is established on what? 00:37:08.560 |
So the first Pentecost in Exodus was the receiving of the first covenant, right? 00:37:15.560 |
The second Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 is the receiving of the new covenant in Christ. 00:37:21.000 |
So the Pentecost ultimately pointed to the new covenant fulfilled in Christ, right? 00:37:42.640 |
So this, let me just spend just a little bit more time here, because if you read Leviticus 00:37:48.560 |
chapter 23, you will find that at the Pentecost, every offering was given except for the guilt 00:37:58.400 |
The burnt offering, peace offering, there's a sin offering, grain offering, they were 00:38:04.440 |
The only one not offered is the guilt offering, because the guilt offering was when you violated 00:38:13.600 |
But every other offering was given for this, because it was fulfilled in Christ, right? 00:38:25.820 |
And then this offering, they were to waive, right? 00:38:28.720 |
A waive offering were a separate class of offerings given to God as a show of servitude 00:38:33.820 |
or peace and commitment, which is what that new covenant symbolized, right? 00:38:41.080 |
Because the old covenant was of the law of blessings and curses, the new covenant was 00:38:48.720 |
And it is at this covenant, at the end of this covenant, it says, "God ordered not to 00:38:53.640 |
reap the corners of the field, nor gather the gleaning of their harvest. 00:38:57.660 |
They were to be left for the needy and the aliens." 00:39:01.640 |
Now you knew about this teaching, because he mentions it before, but did you know that 00:39:17.000 |
Yes, he was gracious and he was merciful, he cared for the aliens, all that is true, 00:39:21.800 |
but he embeds this into the Pentecost because the new covenant was going to be symbolized 00:39:30.080 |
It was part of the Pentecost celebration, right? 00:39:38.160 |
Just nod your head, let me know that you're following. 00:39:51.280 |
God placed this into the Pentecost celebration and ultimately points to the new covenant 00:39:58.120 |
in Christ that's established in Acts chapter 2, and what characterizes this new covenant 00:40:03.880 |
is peace and mercy, where the old covenant was of the law, right? 00:40:16.400 |
For the sake of time, I'm not going to read it, but basically it talks about the new covenant 00:40:37.000 |
The fall festival ultimately pointed to the future fulfillment of our Savior when he comes. 00:40:43.440 |
So we looked at the first three, the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of 00:40:48.400 |
These are things that Christ established in his death, right? 00:40:53.520 |
The summer feast, it represented the inauguration of the church and the new covenant. 00:40:59.180 |
And then these last three feasts ultimately pointed to fulfillment in Christ. 00:41:03.880 |
Because the Feast of Trumpets points to the future gathering of his people at the resurrection. 00:41:13.680 |
So 1 Corinthians 15, 52, it says, "In a moment, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trumpet, 00:41:21.440 |
for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be chained. 00:41:26.160 |
For the perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality." 00:41:30.520 |
So this is talking about the resurrection from the dead, right? 00:41:35.180 |
This is talking about that our own resurrection that's going to be fulfilled in Christ. 00:41:39.800 |
And then he says, "When that trumpet sounds, we will be raised from the dead." 00:41:45.260 |
So the Trumpet Festival, okay, the Trumpet Festival pointed to our own resurrection, 00:42:00.580 |
The Day of Atonement celebrates when sin and its effect will one day be completely wiped 00:42:08.760 |
So we know that the Day of Atonement in Israel's history, they were to basically clean house 00:42:13.580 |
and it symbolized all of the sins of Israel being cast out, remember, with the two goats. 00:42:19.620 |
One is slaughtered, the other one representing the sin of Israel is let out, right? 00:42:25.140 |
Meaning that it's being cast out into like a way outside the camp, right? 00:42:32.780 |
Ultimately, in Revelation 21, 4-5, it says, "And he will wipe away every tear from their 00:42:42.100 |
eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying 00:42:49.900 |
And he who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' 00:42:53.740 |
And he said, 'Write, for those words are faithful and true.'" 00:42:59.700 |
So the Day of Atonement, even though obviously it points to our sins being atoned for by 00:43:05.940 |
the blood of Christ, but sin being completely cast out. 00:43:16.980 |
That's why we are saved, but we're also being saved, because we're being sanctified. 00:43:21.700 |
We're learning how to remove sin from our lives, and it is at the glorification when 00:43:27.260 |
the sins will be ultimately and finally removed. 00:43:29.880 |
And so when sin is finally removed, he says, "There is no more pain, no more crying, 00:43:35.820 |
In other words, mourning, crying, and pain is a direct result of presence of sin. 00:43:42.900 |
So the Day of Atonement ultimately points to the fulfillment that we will have when 00:43:46.300 |
Christ returns, and we are glorified with him. 00:43:54.500 |
And then finally, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacle points to the establishment of a new heaven 00:44:01.620 |
You know what's really interesting here is that Feast of Booths, during that time, 00:44:05.700 |
they've put up all kinds of lights, and they believe that when the Messiah comes, that 00:44:12.020 |
the Messiah was going to lead them into new heaven and new earth, or what they thought, 00:44:19.300 |
which meant that they thought that the Messiah was going to come and lead them to conquer 00:44:25.660 |
So they would look at these lights, so they had lights lit up all over the temple. 00:44:30.720 |
And it was at this festival where Jesus says, "I am the light." 00:44:36.900 |
He's telling the people who are waiting for the Messiah to come, "Be the light and overcome." 00:44:41.820 |
But they didn't understand what Jesus meant was that he was going to conquer sin, and 00:44:46.900 |
he was going to deliver them from their own sins. 00:44:50.000 |
And when they couldn't accept that, they ended up crucifying him. 00:44:53.780 |
So during this period, people would live in booths, and then they would expect the Messiah 00:45:00.920 |
So now they're living in houses, but they wanted to live in mansions. 00:45:07.060 |
The scripture says the fulfillment is ultimately, again, in Christ. 00:45:11.540 |
Revelation 21, 10-11, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, 00:45:19.640 |
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the 00:45:24.340 |
Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone crystal clear jasper." 00:45:30.380 |
So ultimately, the Feast of Booths pointed to the new heaven and new earth that was going 00:45:35.900 |
to come, that our holy dwelling is going to be much better, much more glorious than you 00:45:43.840 |
So think about how much hope that we place on saving money, buying a house, getting a 00:45:49.580 |
better car, retirement, and all of these things, so trivial in light of the eternal dwelling 00:45:56.620 |
that he's going to bring in the new heaven and new earth. 00:46:02.420 |
Even if your most wildest imagination was fulfilled on this earth, when the new heaven 00:46:08.100 |
and new earth comes, it's going to look like rubbish. 00:46:12.380 |
And so that's what the Feast of Booths was to point to, ultimately it was going to point 00:46:19.780 |
If you live in a mansion and you are surrounded by criminals and sin inside the house, right? 00:46:30.460 |
But if your home is in turmoil, people are fighting, there's jealousy, division, like 00:46:42.140 |
I mean, just because it's big and it's comfortable, it's like, no. 00:46:47.020 |
You're never going to feel home until sin is wiped out. 00:46:50.240 |
And that's what Christ said he was going to do, right? 00:46:53.420 |
When the effects of sin are wiped out, the new home and the new dwelling he's going to 00:47:05.620 |
It's about the absence of sin that only Christ can establish, right? 00:47:10.800 |
You see why these seven festivals are so, so, so, so significant? 00:47:16.140 |
Think about, like, God knew their tendency to wander and forget. 00:47:21.340 |
That's why the Old Testament's over and over again said, "Remember, remember, remember, 00:47:26.260 |
Like, if you look at our Christian lives, how much of our Christian life becomes mundane 00:47:37.640 |
And it's not because it's not glorious, like, "Ah, we've seen it all. 00:47:41.860 |
It's because we're distracted with entertainment, right? 00:47:46.500 |
Our stomachs are filled with the things of this world, so by the time we come to God, 00:47:50.360 |
there isn't much room to observe his glory, right? 00:47:56.980 |
And so even when we do hear it, we get glimpses of it, but you're not filled with it because 00:48:03.460 |
And so imagine, like, this wasn't just a few days. 00:48:05.940 |
It's like months and months he embedded this into the culture so that even if their hearts 00:48:11.800 |
were not engaged, at least physically God made them. 00:48:16.600 |
Physically God made them to sit down, don't touch anything, and make sure that you never 00:48:25.560 |
So when we come to the New Testament, why do we have Sunday worship? 00:48:30.020 |
Why does it say, you know, not to forsake gathering together as it is the habit of some, 00:48:37.220 |
But consider how to stimulate one another, right? 00:48:40.780 |
Provoke one another on toward loving good deeds. 00:48:43.180 |
All the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:48:46.660 |
Because that's our tendency to drift and forget, become mundane, right? 00:48:52.020 |
So all the things that God has given us, the church, the leadership, small groups, right? 00:48:57.180 |
The community, Bible study, Sunday school, missions, fellowship, all of that for the 00:49:02.900 |
same reason God gave all these festivals, so that we would not drift. 00:49:09.820 |
Despite all the safeguards God placed in Israel's yearly calendar to keep them sober, their 00:49:13.980 |
history is filled with them constantly drifting from God. 00:49:18.700 |
And I already mentioned, right, one of the main ones. 00:49:22.300 |
Are there anything else you can think of in Israel's history that caused them to keep 00:49:27.700 |
Is there anything specific that God has done in your life that causes you to be sober and 00:49:33.340 |
So my question at number two, is it your salvation, right? 00:49:37.580 |
I'm assuming if you're a Christian that that's the number one thing. 00:49:40.940 |
I'm talking about, was there any time, like just like the nation of Israel, when you think 00:49:44.940 |
of something specific where God answered your prayer and clearly God was there when he comforted 00:49:51.140 |
you and, you know, and I could think about five or six things that, again, not that there's 00:49:55.860 |
only five or six things, but five or six things that I, like, is so distinct and felt so close 00:50:04.180 |
to God that every time I think of it, it causes me to be sober. 00:50:09.260 |
And even when I pray now, I always pray, "Lord, I want to know you that way," right? 00:50:15.340 |
That question is not about just general your salvation. 00:50:17.740 |
It could be, but I'm asking, like, are there specific things that you remember when you 00:50:21.700 |
were broken and God answered your prayer or you needed, you know, his help and God was 00:50:26.980 |
Is that something that you remember and does that, how does that trigger and how does that 00:50:32.820 |
Number three, what specific aspect of Christ's second coming do you look forward to and why? 00:50:38.700 |
Does that thought enter your mind on a daily basis that this is temporary, right? 00:50:47.360 |
That everything that you invest on this earth is that eventually it's going to just rot 00:50:55.300 |
What aspect of his second coming causes you to be sober? 00:51:01.380 |
All right, so let me pray for us and then I'll have you guys get into your small groups. 00:51:06.420 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord God, for lessons that you teach us through 00:51:17.700 |
Lord when we consider just how much time and effort and energy that you put into preparation 00:51:23.900 |
of coming of Christ and even now, Father God, there's so many things that we know of and 00:51:29.780 |
maybe things Lord God that we may not know of that you are working behind the scenes. 00:51:35.420 |
Maybe not even behind the scenes, things that should be obvious to us, but because of our 00:51:43.060 |
But we thank you Father that in the midst of all of this that you are patient with us. 00:51:47.820 |
We pray Father God that your word and that your plan and your will would ultimately grip 00:51:54.740 |
our hearts to the point Lord God, where we would be able to confess along with Christ 00:51:59.560 |
that all that we have known, all that we have hoped for in this world truly became rubbish 00:52:05.380 |
in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:52:10.380 |
I pray that that would not be just a verse that we memorize, but it would be the true 00:52:18.060 |
So help us Lord God in our discussion to be open, to be honest, that in our weakness that 00:52:23.100 |
we do not pretend to be something that we're not. 00:52:26.700 |
Help us Lord God to confess our sins as you promised that you are faithful and just to 00:52:35.180 |
That true answer to sin is not our determination but you and you alone. 00:52:40.100 |
So for that reason Lord God, I pray that you would help us in our small groups.