The first and second annual events on God's calendar.
Leviticus 23:1-4 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Give the following
instructions to the people of Israel. These are the LORD's appointed
festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.
3 "You have six days each week for
your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an
official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD's Sabbath day, and it must be
observed wherever you live.
4 "In addition to the Sabbath, these
are the LORD's appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that
are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.
One of the best ways to know what is important to someone is to check out his
calendar. In the previous post we saw the first of God's appointed times, the weekly Sabbath day, the only one of God's appointed times that the Bible tells us that he actually did.
Today we will start the annual events that God has appointed for his people to observe. Some of these are related to past events that need to be remembered but there are also future events that we need to be prepared for. When we look at God's calendar we can learn from what he has done in the past and what his plans are for the future.
God wants us to learn from our experiences so that we will be sure of who he is and how much he cares for us. Observing these annual events was also a great tool to help them pass down their knowledge of God to the next generation.
For one week each spring the Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated beginning on the Sabbath with the Passover meal on the first day and the Feast of First Fruits on the third day of this important week.
God's Spring Calendar Begins With:
Passover – Redeemed From Egypt
Leviticus 23:4-5, Exodus 12:1-4
Exodus 12:13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Passover shows us the first thing we all need to know about God is that we need a Savior to forgive us and save us from our bondage to sin. This was the final plague in Egypt and it was the only one that required God's people to do something, a perfect lamb had to be sacrificed and his blood applied to the doorpost of their homes so that the death angel would pass over.
This annual observance helped God's people remember that their sons were saved by the blood of the lamb while the sons of Egypt died. It is ironic that the first Passover happened in Egypt where Pharaoh thought
that he was in control when he killed the sons of Israel but years later God made it
clear that he is in charge when he turned things around and took the first
born sons of Egypt.
After the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the blood applied to the doorpost the lamb was prepared for the people to
eat, it would be the last hearty meal that they would
have for a very long time. They would eat this meal fully dressed and ready to go first
thing in the morning as soon as the Egyptians found their dead sons.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The annual Passover sacrifices for sin reminded God's people of their need for the true Passover lamb so imagine their thoughts and their reaction when somebody suddenly
announces that the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world is here. They turn around and look and it isn't a lamb.
At this point in history God's people had been abused and oppressed, by
their government and the governments of the nations that had invaded them, even their religious leaders were abusing them, so much so that they lost their focus on their greatest need. They were
still doing Passover every year but Satan was using their physical needs to
distract them from their spiritual need.
Feast of Unleavened Bread – Food For The Journey
Leviticus 23:6-8, Exodus 12:15-20
Exodus 12:18 The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month.
Passover day was just the beginning of a weeklong ceremony, the rest of that week would commemorate their hasty exit from Egypt and the food that God told them to take with them. When they exited Egypt they ate unleavened bread for a month until their supply of dough ran out. (Exodus 16:1-2)
The annual ceremony would help the people remember that God provided for their physical needs when he took them out of Egypt. God knew his people would forget the miraculous signs that his people experienced, they would have to be reminded of God's love and protection for them. (Exodus 16:1-15, Deuteronomy 8:14-17)
I have to wonder why God
wanted them to leave Egypt in a hurry and why he waited to tell them so they couldn't be better prepared to leave? Why were they not allowed to prepare their dough ahead of time?
Maybe God didn't want them to stock up on supplies and take credit for
sustaining themselves? Or maybe he wanted them to take unleavened dough
because it wouldn't spoil so soon?
Today we think of the symbolism of unleavened bread from a New Testament perspective but to the people that were leaving Egypt, they didn't have this point of view. It was probably a practical matter for them, dough without yeast would stay fresh longer.
From our perspective it is a wonderful illustration but The Old Testament doesn't make the connection between the effects of leaven in dough and associate it with the effect of sin in our life. Also, there are times in the Old Testament when yeast is supposed to be in their bread recipe. (Yeast is allowed in Leviticus 23:17, leaven represents the effects of sin in our life: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Matthew 16:5-12, Mark 8:15, Galatians 5:9)
John 6:26 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs." 27 But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval."
When the true Bread of Life came to be God with us, the miraculous signs were still being ignored or misunderstood by the hungry crowds. Jesus allowed an impossible situation to occur so that the people would learn about him but the people that Jesus fed from a young boys lunch didn't figure it out.
The customary blessing over the bread in the Passover meal was “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” The Bread of Life probably said this same blessing in the upper room at the Last Supper. (Matthew 26:26)
The physically hungry people that followed Jesus around in the remote areas of Galilee were very much like the physically hungry crowd that left Egypt. We all have a tendency to want a Jesus that makes our life easier and meets our physical needs but Jesus wanted to change their perspective.
John 6:32-33 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
John 6:47-50 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.
When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the event that we call the triumphant entry, it is three days before Passover, the lambs that will be slaughtered are being set aside and inspected. For the next three days the Lamb of God will be tested and found to be lacking by the religious leaders.
Do you know the true bread that came down from Heaven? The only source of everlasting life? Jesus is the only one that could be a substitute for the punishment that each of us deserve.
Jesus became the pierced and stripped matzah for us. Jesus took the abuse and the death penalty that was intended for me, despised, rejected, crushed and whipped. Jesus sinless obedience made him the only Passover lamb that could intercede for us rebels so that we can have eternal life in Heaven. (Isaiah 53:1-12)
The symbolism of God's calendar should be a clear revelation or a reminder of what God has done to provide for us. The first two festivals show us that we need a Passover lamb to redeem us from our sins and we need the sinless true bread from Heaven to sanctify us as our knowledge of him and our application of his word in our lives helps us grow in godliness.
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What are the Lord’s appointed times?
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What Jesus Meant When He Said, “You Must Eat My Flesh”
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