Father, we thank you. Thank you for what we have. Thank you for your living Word. Thank you for the ability to be able to spend time together with brothers and sisters. We know, Father God, that you said that we have all things that we need for life of godliness in the knowledge of your Son, Jesus.

So we pray that you would help us, Lord God, to know him more. Not only what he has done on the cross, but all the preparation, all the symbolisms, all the foreshadowing that you placed in the Old Testament and how ultimately, Lord God, that it was to prepare us for him.

I pray that you would help us to understand the depth of your heart, depth of your will and plans, Lord God, that more and more that our hearts and our lives, our minds may be gripped by these things. Lord, the power, Lord God, to distract us in this world is so strong and so heavy.

You know, Father God, how easily we can straddle both the things that are eternal and things that are temporal and just click on back and forth, Lord God, and how frustrating that is. We are desperate, Father God, for your power to grip us, that we would move beyond just routine, just going through the motion, but our very passions, our desire, our worship may be you and you alone.

So we pray for your grace this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, today we're going to be looking at chapter 23. It's going to be mainly dealing with the seven festivals that God commanded to the nation of Israel. We could have probably just spent just a whole day just on one of these festivals because there's so much involved, not only the details of the meaning behind it, but how it's fulfilled in Christ.

And in every one of these festivals, there's a clear fulfillment in Christ, and there's so many passages in the New Testament that we could have covered. Like Jesus mentions it in the book of Revelation and the Gospels, and Paul brings it up. So as I was preparing, the study was just getting longer and longer and longer, and there's just no way that I would have been able to sit there and talk about each one of these things in that detail, and so nor did I want to just kind of skim over it.

So the way I organized it today is the seven festivals, and kind of give you an overarching reasons behind what He did and how it points to certain specific things. So we are going to go into some of the details, but again, if you study thoroughly through chapter 23, there's a lot of little things that are mentioned there that I'm just not going to mention in today's Bible study just because there's a lot of things to cover, and I'm just going to give you a large overview.

So I'm going to mention the significant things, but again, I'm not going to be able to go into too much detail. So to jump right in, the chapter begins with the command to observe the Sabbath on a weekly basis. So in verses 1, 2, and 3, before He gets into the seventh feast, starting from chapter 4, He begins with the practice of Sabbath.

So Sabbath, obviously, is not one of the seventh feasts, but the reason why He gave the Sabbath to the nation of Israel is the same reason why He gave the seventh feast, and this is the only one that He does on a weekly basis, where every single week on Saturday, on the Sabbath, they were to take time off and not engage in work, all for the purpose of renewing their covenant, renewing their relationship with God.

So restoring the Sabbath, if you, again, you probably may have heard a sermon at our church at some point, is ultimately the purpose of redemption. So if you look at the creation account, God creates in six days, and seventh day, He enters the Sabbath. So we know that God didn't enter Sabbath because He needed a break and recuperate and start over the next day, right?

And a lot of times we think of Sabbath that way. The Sabbath, the way it's described in the scripture, is God enters the rest, and He is there permanently. And so He brings us into that rest. So when sin comes in, that Sabbath that we had in the presence of God is broken, right?

So when somebody is in sin, another way to describe it is unrest. And that's why, again, when we study the book of Hebrews, He describes salvation as entering the Sabbath, and He says to make every effort to enter into that Sabbath. So the practice of Sabbath, ultimately, the restoration of Sabbath, the true Sabbath found in Christ, is another way to describe salvation itself.

So you can say the whole redemptive history is to bring us back to that seventh day Sabbath that God entered, that was broken when sin came into the world. The Sabbath served as a sign between God and His covenant people. And details of this are not mentioned all of it in Exodus 23, or Leviticus 23.

It's all over the book of Exodus. It's in the book of Deuteronomy and other parts. So I'm going to reference that, but a lot of these things may not be specifically mentioned in chapter 23. Then He says, "It is the Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings." So this is commanded by God, that this is something that they were...it was not a suggestion.

In fact, the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was capital punishment. To break the Sabbath and to disrespect the Sabbath basically meant to basically shake your fist at God and saying, "I don't need you." And so it was a very serious thing. So even though He lays out these seven feasts and this particular Sabbath, this is not like holiday today.

It was, "Oh, well, Thanksgiving, we'll celebrate it on Thursday or Wednesday, or I might take a break, not take a break." For the Jews, this was not an option. Not working on the Sabbath was mandatory. Mandatory meaning like you don't get a slap on the hand. It was capital punishment.

And the seven feasts were to be approached in the same manner. That's why He puts His name on it and said, "I am the Lord," meaning that this is not a suggestion. This is not coming from the priests. This is not a think tank, a group of them had a discussion.

He said, "God Himself is saying that this is something you need to take seriously." There are seven feasts of the Lord that is mentioned in chapter 23, and these were to be celebrated each year in Leviticus. So some of them lasted maybe a week, some of them it was one day.

But collectively, just the seven feasts, if you put it all together, it could have easily gone into several months. Today, when we think about Christmas, it's usually one day. You might get a whole week off, or a lot of you will get a whole week off, or you have Thanksgiving, you might get Thanksgiving and a couple of days off after that.

And then you have a few days just scattered, and you put it all together, it might be a total of maybe about three weeks. But the Jewish calendar, if you put all of that together, and the seven feasts were only the major things, but there's a lot of other things that they celebrate.

So if you look at the Jewish calendar, we're talking about a huge chunk of time in their calendar where they took time to remember specific things of God, and this was commanded. He said that these feasts are literally called appointed times. In the ESV and the NASV, it says it's holy convocation.

In the NIV, it's called the sacred assembly. Basically it means that this was an appointed, sacred convocation that was supposed to be set apart each year during this time. These times were celebrations, these times of celebration are important not only to Israel, but also to overall message of the biblical narrative.

So the reason why these seven feasts are so important for us to study is because ultimately it finds fulfillment in Christ. So there's something about these feasts that helps us better understand what Christ did on the cross. So it's not only relevant for Israel's history, but also for us in the new covenant.

So there's seven specific feasts. The Passover is the beginning in the Jewish calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruit, Feast of Weeks, oftentimes called the Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacle. And so we're going to be looking at the three significances of these seven feasts.

So as I mentioned to you, I can go into detail on each one of these feasts and spend the whole day just talking about what the Feast of Tabernacle did and why God commanded that and what they practiced and what did these practices point to. And if we had more time, I think it would be beneficial to do that, but to do that we would have to take seven weeks because each one of them has that much material.

Not necessarily in Leviticus, but if you collect all the other passages, there's quite a bit of material. But the way that we're going to be approaching it tonight is to give you an overview of why this is here. So there's three significances. One is it pointed to a current blessing.

So every one of these things, these feasts, are attached to some kind of agricultural harvest. So it wasn't random, right? So if you had a Feast of Tabernacle, they celebrated because of something physical that was happening at that time of the year. The second significance was to celebrate historical blessings.

So every one of these festivals reminded them of some activity of God, something that God did for them. And so they took time off to remember. And then the ultimate fulfillment, the third, they all had a prophetic message that pointed to the fulfillment in Christ. So remember those three, right?

So it's connected to some kind of harvest that was going on, and during that harvest, they remembered something in Israel's history, right, that triggered that. But then the ultimate fulfillment ultimately pointed to what Christ was going to do, right? So every one of these feasts had three specific elements.

So let's look at the first one, the current blessing. The feasts all had certain harvests attached to it to be celebrated when to give thanks for fruitfulness and to acknowledge the worship of God for a particular harvest. Again, the reason behind this is to make sure that whatever physical blessings that they had, that they were to constantly acknowledge their dependence on God.

So even in the Lord's Prayer, you know how we pray to give us this day our daily bread, and we talked about that last week, how that wasn't just triggered because of the manna, that was embedded into the Levitical system that people understood that their daily sustenance was dependent upon God.

And so part of the reason for these feasts was whenever they had the harvest of any kind, it would remind them and point them to recognize that they had the rain because of God, that the harvest was fruitful because of God, that they're able to eat and to live and have their being ultimately because of God.

So it's to acknowledge God, right? So these harvests that triggered these feasts, first three of them are spring feasts. And the beginning of their calendar usually started somewhere in March and April, right? So the spring feasts, they were Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of First Fruit. They were all triggered because of the beginning of the harvest.

Now so you had the harvest of the wheat, harvest of the barley, and so each one of them are attached to a different festival, but overall, the spring feasts were celebrated at the beginning of the harvest. So if you know, again, if you study 23, you'll know that Passover is mentioned in verse 4 just in passing.

Nothing is mentioned about it other than you need to celebrate Passover, and then he goes right into the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the reason why that is is there's so much teaching on the Passover in other passages, it's kind of already embedded into the Jewish culture, right? And so he goes in and gives more detailed instructions about the unleavened bread.

And oftentimes, the Passover and unleavened bread is mentioned together, right? They'll say a Feast of Unleavened Bread, and they include the Passover because the Passover was celebrated on one day, and then that triggered the Feast of Booths. I mean, sorry, Feast of Unleavened Bread. So it was celebrated back to back, right?

So it happened simultaneously. And that's the reason why oftentimes when they say Passover, they're already assuming the unleavened bread. But again, all of this was at the Spring Festival. The Summer Feast was the Feast or the Weeks, Feast of Pentecost, which happened 50 days after the last Spring Feast, okay?

And it pointed to a wheat harvest, and then the Fall Feast, the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Booths, and all of that pointed to the end of the harvest, okay? So they had the harvesting of grapes or sheep shearing or whatever it may be. All of these feasts were specifically related to some kind of harvest that was taking place at that particular time.

Now why was this so significant? So in James 117, it says, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above. Coming down from the Father lies with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." And so the moment that we forget that whatever good that we have is from God, we become self-dependent, self-reliant, right?

And we think somehow, "I woke up this morning because I willed myself to do that," right? Now we may think so. I mean, there's always theologians that are debating between does man have free will or not, but just logically speaking, there's like a hundred thousand things that needs to be taking place all at the same time just for us to wake up every day, right?

Whether it's the sun, whether it's the rotation, whether it's the heat, whether it's the cold, whether it's the oxygen, speed of the rotation. I mean, there's a hundred thousand things that needs to happen in order for us to live. So for a man to say, "I willed myself to live," is just supreme arrogance, right?

That's why when the Bible says, when God just describes himself as I am, he is truly the only being that is completely independent of anything else. He is self-existent. Everything else depends on him, right? Not only did he create all things, he sustains all things. So if God chose not to sustain it, all of creation would just deteriorate and die, right?

And so this was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel of their dependence upon God. I think part of the reason why it's harder for us to remember God, you know, people who live in the city, is because we're not dependent upon rain for our sustenance. You know, if you happen to live on a farm and raise sheep or grow corn or whatever, you know, you're dependent upon things that you can't control.

So you're constantly like praying before God and then when rain comes, "Thank God you sent rain." But if we have problems, we just find another job. You know what I mean? We invest better or we find stocks. And so everything around us is man-made for the most part, right?

I mean, obviously even the material here ultimately is made by God, but a man put this together. So you know, our tendency is every once in a while we might travel and go up to the mountains and then we say, "Oh, God is so good." But we don't think like that when we're here, right?

And so the harvest, the festivals was to get them to slow down and to remind them that these ultimately without God, we can't exist. And so remember the sin that is mentioned in Romans chapter one, "For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened.

Then to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." So everything about the harvest, ultimately it applies to all mankind, whether they acknowledge him or not, right? Because God is the one who created.

So even if they don't acknowledge God as creator, harvest ultimately affects everybody, right? So the first part of it is a reminder to mankind, which Israel is a part of, is a reminder to mankind how dependent they are. But the second part of it is specific to the nation of Israel.

The feast reminded them of some significant historical event of how God delivered Israel, sustained them, established them as a nation. So all of it reminds Israel, right, of God's deliverance. So let's look at the Passover. Now, Passover, a lot of us already know what that is because every time we have communion, we're reminded of that, right?

If you study the New Testament, you know, one of the most important event that takes place in the New Testament is Jesus at the Passover meal says, "Do this in remembrance of me." So we know that it celebrated how God spared the nation of Israel by passing over the homes that were covered by the blood of the lamb.

And clearly Jesus' blood represented that blood, right? But to the nation of Israel before Jesus came, it was to remind them of how God delivered the nation of Israel, right? And so every time they had the Passover, it was to remind the nation that the only reason why they even existed, why they were independent, and why they became a nation was because God had mercy on them, right?

So their thankfulness goes beyond just the harvest. They're very sustenant. Their nation, their sacrifices, all of it is because God delivered them. And that's what the Passover reminded them of. Feast of Unleavened Bread, right, which happened right after the Passover, it celebrated how God delivered them, right? So during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they would search the home and make sure that there's no yeast in the house, each representing sin.

And they were to clean that all out and they had to eat their meal in haste, right? And there was no yeast. And so every time they did that, again, it was they acted out how God delivered the nation of Israel, how they didn't have time. So they didn't have time for the yeast.

And so they hurried and ate in haste. And so every time they celebrated that, it reminded them not only the Passover, but how God physically led them out of Israel. Feast of Firstfruits. Feast of Firstfruits was to remind the nation of Israel that despite them out in the desert, when they came into the promised land, God caused them to be fruitful.

And the first harvest that they dedicated to the Lord was what this thing pointed to, right? That not only did God deliver them by covering over them by the blood of the lamb, not only did he deliver them in haste out of Egypt, but even after they left, God provided for them miraculously.

And so the Feast of Firstfruits reminded them of God's caring sustenance for them. So when they gave their offering, it was to say, "All of this is because you gave this to us," right? And that was the Feast of Firstfruits. Okay, we're going to come back to that later.

The Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. This celebrated the inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant. The word Pentecost literally means 50. And the reason why they celebrated this, again, the historical aspect of it, was that 50 days after they left Egypt was when Moses goes up to Mount Sinai and he receives the law.

So the Pentecost was the celebration of receiving the Mosaic Law, the first covenant that Israel enters into. Now this is really significant because this later on, something very significant happens in the New Testament at Pentecost. Some of you guys probably already know, right? The Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets celebrated the gathering of the nation of Israel.

So not only did God give them, but remember the whole book of Leviticus is about gathering the people around the tabernacle and he begins to call them his people. And then they start to get organized. And so the Feast of Trumpets, either they blew trumpets to give some sort of a command, or it was a declaration of something, or a calling.

So when they blew the trumpets, everybody heard it, it meant that everybody was to gather. So Feast of Trumpets was to remind them that they were God's people. When God blows a trumpet, the people of God hear his voice in the New Testament and we follow him. So the trumpet was meant to signify God's voice that people hear and then they gather.

And so that's what that pointed to. And then you guys know about the Day of Atonement. We studied this earlier, I think it was chapter 16. It celebrated his forgiveness. The establishment of the tabernacle, it was basically cleansing of sin of the nation of Israel, which made it possible for them to have a relationship with this holy God.

That was the Feast of Day of Atonement. The Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacle. This feast celebrated how God sustained them through the wandering through the desert before entering into the promised land. So the Feast of Booths, during that time, they would basically live in their shack, a little, you know, made tent and they would sleep in there for a period of time to remember that during the period of wandering the wilderness, how they were nomads, right?

And during that period of 40 years, how God was faithful to them. And so the Feast of Booths was to remind them. So all of these events pointed back to something that God did in Israel's history so that they wouldn't forget that the only reason why they're there is because God permitted it and God was gracious to them.

Now, did I put that up there? Okay. Let me go back to the verses. Why was this so, so important? Because Hosea, Hosea is written, you know, a lot of times people read the book of Hosea and then they say, you know, like, oh, it's a description of the love of God and how despite how Israel continues to sin against God and God continues to follow and God continues to love us and isn't God wonderful, right?

All true, but if you read the book of Hosea, Hosea is an indictment against the nation of Israel. It doesn't end with God will be forever merciful to all your sins. It's a description of his patience and grace over and over again. And then he says, despite that, you kept on prostituting yourself with other idols.

And because of that, you're going into captivity, right? That's how Hosea ends, right? That God is gracious, God is gracious, and God is gracious. But at some point, if you don't pay attention, this is what's going to happen, right? So one of the indictments against the nation of Israel is this, I carefully in the wilderness in the land of the drought, as they had their pasture, they became satisfied.

And being satisfied, their hearts became proud. Therefore they forgot me. The problem with the nation of Israel, before they went into idolatry, before they started having sexual immorality and chasing after other idols, he said their hearts became proud. And the reason why they became proud is because they ate and they were satisfied, their needs were met, right?

He said that was the danger. Like when the enemies were on their tail, I mean, revival would break out. When a famine would happen, they would cry out to the Lord, right? And when judgment would come and armies would chase them, then that's when they needed God. But as soon as they ate and peace came, they ate, they became proud, they forgot God.

And then the moment they forgot God was when they began to pursue after idols. Why is this so significant and important? Because this is what we struggle with. We don't live in a country where there's persecution. We're just primarily satisfied. We know mentally that God is important or else we wouldn't be here.

We know theologically that He ought to be first, but He's not. We know from studying, from fellowship, that Christ is all in all, that this world is under judgment that He's coming. We know all of that. We acknowledge all of that. But it just isn't important. It's just not priority in our lives.

And the reason why is because we are full, right? And sometimes God allows us to be hungry just so that we can be desperate before God. And again, obviously, I'm not just talking about being hungry physically, right? Being hungry financially, socially, in all kinds of ways where we sense desperation.

Because until we sense desperation, we don't cry out to God. And that was a constant problem with the nation of Israel. It wasn't that they were like, they were, you know, it just didn't make sense. Like God would do some great miracle and the next chapter we see them worshiping idols, right?

Like, why would they do that? Why would they just cross the Red Sea, right? Miraculous sea, and then they're on the other side and they make the golden calf. That didn't just happen. As soon as the desperation disappeared, as soon as the army stopped chasing them, they were satisfied and when they felt safe, they became proud.

When they became proud, they forgot God. When they forgot God, they'd start chasing after idols, right? And that's a pattern that is, we're constantly in danger because when we are lukewarm, right? When we are lukewarm, it opens the door to all kinds of idolatry in our hearts. Whether it's sexual immorality, whether it's lust for the world, or just materialism, bitterness, anger, all of that creeps in, right?

All of that creeps in when we become idol in our hearts toward God. This is why this is so important. God was trying to protect the nation of Israel from idleness, right? To constantly remind them, you're here because of God had mercy on you and don't forget that. And the reason why is like every Sunday, not Sunday, Saturday, every Sabbath, they were to remember this.

And then if that wasn't enough, he put chunks of time, seven days, 14 days, right? They gave sacrifices and they weren't allowed to work at all. It wasn't just a part-time thing. When they celebrated these things, he said, "God forbid them to do any heavy lifting." Because he wanted to make sure that they focused all their attention on this.

That it wasn't just a side project, right? It wasn't just Thanksgiving. We had breakfast and the rest of the day we do whatever we want. He wanted to make sure all of those days, all of that time was dedicated to this because it was that important because this was their constant problem, right?

Deuteronomy 2, "You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years that he might humble you," right? So again, whole reason is because they become proud. Remember how you got here, to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not, right?

So this was not just a holiday for them to take a break so they can, "Oh, holiday's coming up so let's take a trip." This was a sacred, it was kind of an extended time of worship. But ultimately, the feast pointed to the future hope in Christ. So all of these things were significant.

Remember the first one was significant to all mankind, right? All mankind are dependent upon him for the harvest, right? We call that common grace. Rain falls upon the Christian and a non-Christian. The harvest comes for the Christian and a non-Christian. And all of it depends on God, right? The second meaning of it, specific to the nation of Israel, that they exist because of what God has done.

And the moment that they forget that, they become satisfied, they become proud, and then they forget God and then they turn to idolatry. But the ultimate and the most important part of it is to all mankind, specifically in the new covenant, right? So the first three pointed to Christ's death and resurrection.

So if you know, the Passover was replaced by the communion table. That because the blood of Christ covered us, that the wrath of God passed over us. And that was the significance of the Passover. And it is crystal clear that that's what it was for. And that's why Jesus says before he goes to the cross, "From this day on, do this in remembrance of me." So think of it as a Jew.

One of the most sacred days out of the year was the Passover. And Jesus is sitting there saying, "This was about me." So if you didn't believe that Jesus was God, that would have been blasphemous. That's just like if somebody came in and said, "You know what? You've been worshiping for a thousand years.

Let this Sunday be about me. Worship me. Do this. Sing about me now." Right? Like memorizing scripture, Bible study, like do it all. It's about me. Imagine if Jesus wasn't God, how arrogant that would have been. But that's exactly what Jesus said. "Do this Passover now in remembrance of me." Because all of that pointed to what Christ was going to do on the cross.

So the Passover ultimately pointed to his fulfillment. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, it pointed to how God redeemed us from the bondage of sin and death. And if you remember, most of what Christ does on the last week of his existence happens during this festival, Passover and Unleavened Bread.

And if you remember, during the Unleavened Bread, as I mentioned, one of the things that God told him to do is to make sure that there is no yeast in the house. So it pointed to the fact that they had to leave in haste. And God, because of the blood of the lamb, death passes them over, and God delivers them from bondage to freedom.

That's what the Unleavened Bread festival is about. And in this festival, they are to eat in haste, to hurry up and leave, and then to clean out the yeast, the sin. And that's exactly what Christ does. He comes and he delivers us from the bondage of sin, sin and death, and delivers us to new life.

And that's what this festival ultimately pointed to. Not only does he cover us so that the wrath of God does not kill us, but then he delivers us that we were once slaves to sin, now we've become slaves to righteousness because of what he's done. So this Unleavened Bread festival pointed to that.

The Feast of First Fruit points to Christ's resurrection and how he is the first among the dead. Because of what Christ has done, he dies for our sins, he delivers us, and then he's resurrected on the third day, and then he says he's the first fruit of many. So that's why when you get baptized, we always say, "Do you understand you're going with Christ in his death, right?

United with Christ in his death and united with Christ in his resurrected life." And that's what this first fruit symbolizes. It points to a new life that we have in Christ. So in 1 Corinthians 15, 20, is this it? So ultimately in Colossians 2, 16, 17, it says, "Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink in respect to festivals or new moon, Sabbath, day, things which are mere shadows of what was to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." I should have read this in the beginning, but I couldn't fit it in my outline.

But you know what I'm saying, that this is ultimately, all the festivals point to the fulfillment in Christ. And then this is the passage, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead." So as Christ was the first fruit, we will along with him be resurrected.

And that's what the first fruits, feast of first fruits ultimately pointed to and fulfilled in Christ. The summer festival is the Pentecost, was the inauguration of Christ's church. Remember what we talked about, the Pentecost means 50, because it commemorated not only the harvest festival for the summer, but it pointed to receiving of the Mosaic law.

Fifty days after they leave Egypt, Moses goes up to the mountain and he receives the law and the new covenant is established with the nation of Israel, the Mosaic covenant. What happens at Pentecost in the New Testament? Acts chapter 2. The disciples are gathered together and the Holy Spirit comes upon them and people think that they're drunk, but it's the Holy Spirit and as they are speaking, everybody understands it in their language and the new covenant is established on what?

At the Pentecost. So the first Pentecost in Exodus was the receiving of the first covenant, right? The second Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 is the receiving of the new covenant in Christ. So the Pentecost ultimately pointed to the new covenant fulfilled in Christ, right? How many of you knew that?

A few of you. Some of you guys are just tired. I mean, it's hugely significant. So this, let me just spend just a little bit more time here, because if you read Leviticus chapter 23, you will find that at the Pentecost, every offering was given except for the guilt offering, right?

The burnt offering, peace offering, there's a sin offering, grain offering, they were all offered. The only one not offered is the guilt offering, because the guilt offering was when you violated something, you became unclean, right? But every other offering was given for this, because it was fulfilled in Christ, right?

And then this offering, they were to waive, right? A waive offering were a separate class of offerings given to God as a show of servitude or peace and commitment, which is what that new covenant symbolized, right? Because the old covenant was of the law of blessings and curses, the new covenant was of peace, right?

And it is at this covenant, at the end of this covenant, it says, "God ordered not to reap the corners of the field, nor gather the gleaning of their harvest. They were to be left for the needy and the aliens." Now you knew about this teaching, because he mentions it before, but did you know that this was part of the feast of Pentecost?

He embedded into their feast. So God wasn't just being generous. Yes, he was gracious and he was merciful, he cared for the aliens, all that is true, but he embeds this into the Pentecost because the new covenant was going to be symbolized by his mercy, right? It was part of the Pentecost celebration, right?

You get the significance of all of this? Yes? Just nod your head, let me know that you're following. Okay, three of you, thank you. Okay. Do you really? Because this is huge, right? This is not random. God placed this into the Pentecost celebration and ultimately points to the new covenant in Christ that's established in Acts chapter 2, and what characterizes this new covenant is peace and mercy, where the old covenant was of the law, right?

Of blessing and curses. Let it sink in, it's huge. For the sake of time, I'm not going to read it, but basically it talks about the new covenant versus the old covenant. The verses on your sheet. The fall festival ultimately pointed to the future fulfillment of our Savior when he comes.

So we looked at the first three, the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of Fruits. These are things that Christ established in his death, right? And his end resurrection. The summer feast, it represented the inauguration of the church and the new covenant. And then these last three feasts ultimately pointed to fulfillment in Christ.

Because the Feast of Trumpets points to the future gathering of his people at the resurrection. So let me get to the verse. So 1 Corinthians 15, 52, it says, "In a moment, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be chained.

For the perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality." So this is talking about the resurrection from the dead, right? This is talking about that our own resurrection that's going to be fulfilled in Christ. And then he says, "When that trumpet sounds, we will be raised from the dead." It's talking about future, right?

So the Trumpet Festival, okay, the Trumpet Festival pointed to our own resurrection, ultimately. The Day of Atonement celebrates when sin and its effect will one day be completely wiped out. So we know that the Day of Atonement in Israel's history, they were to basically clean house and it symbolized all of the sins of Israel being cast out, remember, with the two goats.

One is slaughtered, the other one representing the sin of Israel is let out, right? Meaning that it's being cast out into like a way outside the camp, right? Ultimately, in Revelation 21, 4-5, it says, "And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain.

The first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And he said, 'Write, for those words are faithful and true.'" So the Day of Atonement, even though obviously it points to our sins being atoned for by the blood of Christ, but sin being completely cast out.

Has that happened? It started, but not completely, right? That's why we are saved, but we're also being saved, because we're being sanctified. We're learning how to remove sin from our lives, and it is at the glorification when the sins will be ultimately and finally removed. And so when sin is finally removed, he says, "There is no more pain, no more crying, no more mourning." In other words, mourning, crying, and pain is a direct result of presence of sin.

So the Day of Atonement ultimately points to the fulfillment that we will have when Christ returns, and we are glorified with him. And then finally, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacle points to the establishment of a new heaven and new eternal dwelling for God's people. You know what's really interesting here is that Feast of Booths, during that time, they've put up all kinds of lights, and they believe that when the Messiah comes, that the Messiah was going to lead them into new heaven and new earth, or what they thought, which meant that they thought that the Messiah was going to come and lead them to conquer Rome.

So they would look at these lights, so they had lights lit up all over the temple. And it was at this festival where Jesus says, "I am the light." He's telling the people who are waiting for the Messiah to come, "Be the light and overcome." He says, "No, I am the light." But they didn't understand what Jesus meant was that he was going to conquer sin, and he was going to deliver them from their own sins.

And when they couldn't accept that, they ended up crucifying him. So during this period, people would live in booths, and then they would expect the Messiah to come. So now they're living in houses, but they wanted to live in mansions. The scripture says the fulfillment is ultimately, again, in Christ.

Revelation 21, 10-11, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone crystal clear jasper." So ultimately, the Feast of Booths pointed to the new heaven and new earth that was going to come, that our holy dwelling is going to be much better, much more glorious than you and I can possibly imagine.

So think about how much hope that we place on saving money, buying a house, getting a better car, retirement, and all of these things, so trivial in light of the eternal dwelling that he's going to bring in the new heaven and new earth. Even if your most wildest imagination was fulfilled on this earth, when the new heaven and new earth comes, it's going to look like rubbish.

And so that's what the Feast of Booths was to point to, ultimately it was going to point to when sin is wiped out, right? If you live in a mansion and you are surrounded by criminals and sin inside the house, right? What makes a home home? Because you feel comfortable.

But if your home is in turmoil, people are fighting, there's jealousy, division, like you want to live in that mansion? Right? I mean, just because it's big and it's comfortable, it's like, no. You're never going to feel home until sin is wiped out. And that's what Christ said he was going to do, right?

When the effects of sin are wiped out, the new home and the new dwelling he's going to bring is going to be a place without sin. So it's not about the building, right? It's not about the comfort. It's about the absence of sin that only Christ can establish, right?

You see why these seven festivals are so, so, so, so significant? And so think about it. Think about, like, God knew their tendency to wander and forget. That's why the Old Testament's over and over again said, "Remember, remember, remember, remember," right? Like, if you look at our Christian lives, how much of our Christian life becomes mundane because it's become old, right?

The same things don't affect us. And it's not because it's not glorious, like, "Ah, we've seen it all. We've done it all." It's because we're distracted with entertainment, right? Our stomachs are filled with the things of this world, so by the time we come to God, there isn't much room to observe his glory, right?

And so even when we do hear it, we get glimpses of it, but you're not filled with it because you're already filled with other things. And so imagine, like, this wasn't just a few days. It's like months and months he embedded this into the culture so that even if their hearts were not engaged, at least physically God made them.

Physically God made them to sit down, don't touch anything, and make sure that you never forget this, right? So when we come to the New Testament, why do we have Sunday worship? Why does it say, you know, not to forsake gathering together as it is the habit of some, right?

But consider how to stimulate one another, right? Provoke one another on toward loving good deeds. All the more as you see the day drawing near. Why does he tell us to do that? Because that's our tendency to drift and forget, become mundane, right? So all the things that God has given us, the church, the leadership, small groups, right?

The community, Bible study, Sunday school, missions, fellowship, all of that for the same reason God gave all these festivals, so that we would not drift. So three questions for discussion today. Despite all the safeguards God placed in Israel's yearly calendar to keep them sober, their history is filled with them constantly drifting from God.

Why do you think that was the case, right? And I already mentioned, right, one of the main ones. Are there anything else you can think of in Israel's history that caused them to keep going down that path? Is there anything specific that God has done in your life that causes you to be sober and thankful whenever you remember it?

So my question at number two, is it your salvation, right? I'm assuming if you're a Christian that that's the number one thing. I'm talking about, was there any time, like just like the nation of Israel, when you think of something specific where God answered your prayer and clearly God was there when he comforted you and, you know, and I could think about five or six things that, again, not that there's only five or six things, but five or six things that I, like, is so distinct and felt so close to God that every time I think of it, it causes me to be sober.

And even when I pray now, I always pray, "Lord, I want to know you that way," right? So that's my question. That question is not about just general your salvation. It could be, but I'm asking, like, are there specific things that you remember when you were broken and God answered your prayer or you needed, you know, his help and God was there with you?

Is that something that you remember and does that, how does that trigger and how does that cause you to be sober? So that's number two. Number three, what specific aspect of Christ's second coming do you look forward to and why? Right? Does that thought enter your mind on a daily basis that this is temporary, right?

That this is, eternity is coming? That everything that you invest on this earth is that eventually it's going to just rot and die? And do you look forward to a second coming? What aspect of his second coming causes you to be sober? Right? So that's my third question. Okay?

All right, so let me pray for us and then I'll have you guys get into your small groups. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord God, for lessons that you teach us through the nation of Israel. Lord when we consider just how much time and effort and energy that you put into preparation of coming of Christ and even now, Father God, there's so many things that we know of and maybe things Lord God that we may not know of that you are working behind the scenes.

Maybe not even behind the scenes, things that should be obvious to us, but because of our distractions Lord God, we do not see it. But we thank you Father that in the midst of all of this that you are patient with us. We pray Father God that your word and that your plan and your will would ultimately grip our hearts to the point Lord God, where we would be able to confess along with Christ that all that we have known, all that we have hoped for in this world truly became rubbish in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord.

I pray that that would not be just a verse that we memorize, but it would be the true confession, our testimony. So help us Lord God in our discussion to be open, to be honest, that in our weakness that we do not pretend to be something that we're not.

Help us Lord God to confess our sins as you promised that you are faithful and just to forgive us of all our unrighteousness. That true answer to sin is not our determination but you and you alone. So for that reason Lord God, I pray that you would help us in our small groups.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.