Feasts to The Lord
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Today is Tuesday February 09, 2010 and we are
reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the
reading of the Book of Leviticus, chapters 22-23. If you would like
to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click
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http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-february-9
Title:
Bible
Study: Feasts To The Lord
There
is nothing like a feast to bring people together, whether it is for
fellowship, celebration, or mourning, food is a big part of any
gathering. The Feasts of the Lord were observed as reminders of the
freedom, gifts, and miracles that God had given to the Israelite's as
He protected, provided, and fulfilled His promises to them. These
were not ordinary feasts, they were sabbath days used to reflect on
the freedom, provisions, and hope that only God could give. Before
these feast days, the Israelite's did not know how to give offerings
to God, so God instructed Moses on what the priests and Israelite's
were to do. First, God spoke about the priests, “And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons,
that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of
Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which
they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of
all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy
things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his
uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I
am the LORD.”
- Leviticus 22:1-3. The priests were considered the closest thing to
God, therefore, they and all their family members had to even
separate themselves from what the people thought was holy. Think
about it. How many different religions are out there claiming that
they are Christian's? The majority of them are not and this is what
God is referring to here. A true Christian believes in the birth,
death, and resurrection of the one and only begotten Son of God,
Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary. A true Christian, admits that
he is a sinner and calls on Jesus to save him, trusting in the shed
of His blood when He died on the cross to give them eternal life. A
true Christian knows that once they accept Jesus as their Savior that
it is forever and they can not lose or work for their Salvation. We
as Christian's are to separate ourselves from Christian's who have
different views on this very matter as well as deny the truth that
heaven and hell are real. God requires us to reverence His name, His
truths, His ordinances, and commandments. Let us beware of hypocrisy,
and examine ourselves concerning our sinful ways, seeking to be
purified from them in the blood of Christ, and by His sanctifying
Spirit.
Every Feast of the Lord observance became a sabbath
day, “And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall
proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days
shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an
holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of
the LORD in all your dwellings.”
- Leviticus 23:1-4. The sabbath was a day of rest, usually it was the
seventh or last day of the week, God created everything in 6 days and
rested on the 7th
therefore, He declared rest on the seventh day of the week. However,
during any of these Feasts of the Lord there could be several sabbath
days, “And
ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the
day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths
shall be complete:”
- Leviticus 23:15. On a sabbath one was to separate himself from the
world and all business that had nothing to do with God, this included
working or doing any kind of labor outside of serving God. A holy
convocation means that all the people were to assemble together in
one place, including servants, and worship God. Today, God's
sabbath's should still be a part of every Christian, it is a day of
spiritual rest from all sin and a time of resting with God. The
sabbath should be observed in every Christian home, by every part of
the family as well as assemble together with other Christian
families. That is what Sunday church is all about, a time for
fellowship with other Christian's who have the same belief's as a
holy convocation to God.
The great Feasts of the Lord are
symbolic of Christ's entire work of salvation, the first feast was
the Passover and and it symbolizes our redemption from sin by Christ,
the
Lamb of God
who died for our sins. The Feast
of Firstfruits
was the Sunday after Passover
and is symbolic of the resurrection of Christ for this was the day
that Jesus arose from the dead. During this feast, one
handful of grain from the first harvest was waved before God as an
act of faith that He would give a great harvest. Fifty days after
Firstfruits,
a new Meat (Meal) Offering was brought, known as the Feast
of Weeks
and later as Pentecost, this summer harvest foreshadowed the Church.
A long interval elapsed before the Feast
of Trumpets, which represents
the day this present age will close with the coming of Jesus. On the
Day
of Atonement,
the high priest made confession of all the sins of the people and
offered sacrifices. It proclaimed that approaching day when our Great
High Priest, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ returns. The 7-day Feast
of Tabernacles
celebrated the fall harvest. It points to the coming glory of
Christ's reign and the Christian's glorious inheritance in His
kingdom. Today, we no longer have to observe these feasts, in fact we
have feasts of the Lord of our own to observe, but we should not wait
until these holy days come around before we go to God with all of our
sins, and remember that Jesus Christ saved us from all of them. We
should observe this every day of our lives. That is truly the only
way to have redemption and fellowship with Christ.
Enjoy
the rest of your day/night and God
Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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