So we have had this conversation with ourselves throughout the book of Leviticus. What on earth does it have to do with us? Slaughtering of animals and holy days and priestly rites and cleanness and uncleanness and holy and profane. What does that have to do with us? And we have endeavored as we've gone through Leviticus to see the truth of God's character behind the commands. We've also endeavored to see that the truth of God's character behind the commands, the commands are given to the nation of Israel so that they can physically have a representation of their spiritual commitment to their God. Because the point is how does a holy God dwell with an unholy people? And how does that unholy people approach this holy God? Because God desires to be approached. So the book of Leviticus is Israel's answer to that. We've reminded ourselves that within the history of the Israelites, that the first book that the Jewish children would learn would be the book of Leviticus. And we wonder at times, really, the book of Leviticus, with all those teachings on bodily discharge and all of that stuff, is that the first thing that they learn? But yet the book of Leviticus tells them how to approach their God and the God of their fathers and the God of their fathers. And that God never changes. So for us, we understand the book of Leviticus as directed toward and affecting the nation of Israel, both those with circumcised hearts and uncircumcised hearts, because they were all part of the same nation. And we understand that since God never changes, his principles carry forward. So then we get to the New Testament, we see God working out of the same character as he commands his church. But there's a difference. Everything that the Old Testament pointed forward toward has been fulfilled in Christ. Everything that the Old Testament talked about has been ultimately fulfilled in Christ. It pointed toward Christ. It had a root of its meaning in Christ and Christ alone. So when we look at the New Testament and we see that Christ has come, then we look back at the Old Testament and we see it in its fullness. We know that the Old Testament saints were saved by faith and saved by faith in Christ the same as we are. They looked forward to what they did not fully see. We look back to what has been revealed. All of it is in Christ bringing glory to him. And yet still, when we come to a chapter like Leviticus 23, and we see feast after feast after feast, and we know that the last time you checked, we had not had a feast in that way in the Bible Church of Cabot, although we do feast at times, they don't match these. We're not bringing in animals and grain offerings, and we're not having Sabbath rest before and after those feasts, so how can they fit us? Well they fit us the same way as every other verse and every other chapter in Leviticus does. How are they fulfilled in Christ and what did they teach us about our walk with Christ who has saved us? Who is our salvation? So in Leviticus 23 we have this command from the Lord to talk to his people through Moses. He says, Moses, tell the people about these appointed feasts, these holy convocations. And you'll see these phrases throughout telling us, reminding us that they're holy convocation. So first thing we need to do is say, what is that? If we don't understand what a holy convocation is, we don't understand what they're called to do. We can see the jots and tittles, the particulars, but not the purpose. And so a convocation is a gathering of the people. And it's the gathering of the people primarily in Leviticus 23 in their homes as a nation to accomplish what God has set out because these convocations are holy. They reflect God's character. They are the way that God's people worship Him in these seasons throughout the year, but they are also times being set apart from the daily work, set apart even from just the constant daily offerings that are given. The daily offerings continue through there, but they're setting these times apart to be able to see the fullness of how God wants them to come and be in front of Him. And we see themes in each of these feasts that affect us today. So our role today is to move through chapter 23. I know it's 44 verses, but we're going to get through chapter 23 in Israel's context fairly quickly. Then we're going to move to how Christ has fulfilled these festivals. And then we're going to move to points of application for us. And we'll do that before we're due to come back next Sunday. So don't worry, we'll make it by the time the next service should... We'll finish, don't worry. We'll take this in chunks for us today because what we will see, my outline is very simple. It flows with the outline of the text. The Leviticus 23, 1 through 44, the Lord instructs his people concerning seven appointed feasts and the weekly Sabbath. He instructs his people concerning seven appointed feasts that happen annual and the weekly Sabbath. So the first thing that we see is the introduction in 23, look at verses one and two. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, now we may not be reminded of this, but we should remind ourselves always, the Lord is speaking. So it's not, this is the Lord commanding his people, it's received as that. It's the same way we receive the word every time we open up the word. This is the Lord speaking to us. They're his God-breathed words and we listen accordingly with the authority that his character demands. So the Lord speaks to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts of the Lord, of Yahweh. that you shall proclaim the holy convocations, they are my appointed feasts. So if you are reading those two verses, what would you make sure that God wanted you to know? These are his appointed feasts, right? Two times in one verse. God says, I've appointed them, I've set them in time, they have purpose, and you will set them in the same time, and they come from me. These have their roots and grounding in me, the covenant ward. I have made a covenant with you, and you have made a covenant with me, and this is one of the ways you will work it out, are these feasts. Look at verse three. Six days you shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places." So the first feast is the Sabbath rest that's given. This is a weekly rest. There's not much information given to us here, but Here we see that we have it described, six days shall work be done, but on the seventh is a Sabbath of solemn rest. So a Sabbath means seven, and every seven days you are taking this rest. And he calls it a holy convocation as well. You shall do no work, It is a Sabbath to the Lord in your dwelling places. So when we see the giving of the Ten Commandments and the nod back to creation, we understand that the Sabbath is given because the Lord worked for six days, His work of creation, and then He rested. And so that's why God's people are given this. So in ancient Israel, and this is given to them as a point of reference, tying themselves to what God has done, setting themselves in a rhythm that God sets up. And one of the things I want you to see throughout this passage is this constant rhythm of life that's being given. Now, we're going to look at how Christ fulfilled these feasts, but we need to remind ourselves that these feasts are not commands for us today. We are not having a weekly Sabbath that starts on Friday night at sunset and ends on Saturday night at sunset. They are not commands for us to fulfill. And especially in the role of the Sabbath, we see in the New Testament, and there's great disagreement on this, this idea of the law drove our Sunday school class this morning, drove us to discuss in great detail how we interpret this. But the Sabbath law, even though this is disagreed upon, when you look in the book of Romans, and you look in the book of Colossians, and you look in the book of Hebrews, you are seeing that these days all were a shadow of Christ. And so even in the book of Hebrews, or in the book of Colossians, it's a command not to worry about getting caught up in the days and these calendar events, because they were a substance, they were a shadow of what was to come, and what was to come is Christ. And we'll see how he fulfilled that. But to the Israelites, this was commanded, this was death if you did not obey the Sabbath. Remember the man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath, and he was stoned, per the commands of the Old Testament. So this was a weekly time of rest. They set aside their labors and they set aside their labors in order to focus on and worship God and to focus on their role in God's creation. Now the Sabbath begins here because it permeates these feasts. These feasts are packed full of extra Sabbaths. And there are times we see extra Sabbaths at the beginning, at the end of the feast that mark out these calendar days. So the Sabbath is dealt with very briefly in one verse, but it is a weekly celebration. It's a weekly celebration to be celebrated in those homes where work ceased and worship of God was foremost and central in their life. Nothing got in the way of that. command that he gives is you shall celebrate the Passover, beginning in verse four. These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. So they're gonna come at a certain time, and he tells them when. Verse five, in the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord's Passover. And that's all that it says. This is the Lord's Passover. This leads back to our... It causes the people to go back and remember how God preserved their forefathers. How God preserved the time when he took Pharaohs and all of the Egyptians firstborn, but he spared the Israelites because they had done what he said and put the blood on the doorpost And the angel of death passed over them. So this is that reminder of that. This is the remembrance of that day. It's a remembrance of God's deliverance of his people. And he says that this feast is on the 14th day of the month, of the first month, at twilight. Literally, it's between the evenings or between the two evenings. And that's all he says about it. He says, this is what you're going to do on this month and this day. And so this month, we're looking at the month of Abib. And let me back up and say, when we're looking at Leviticus 23, we have a group of feasts that are on the first month, a feast that's 50 days later, a week of Sabbaths later and a day. And then we have four of the feasts that come later in the seventh month. The seventh month is loaded even more, and it comes around the harvest, and you'll see that theme throughout. So the people of God come before God, thanking him for his provision, showing their dependence upon his provision, and God has said that they will do these in certain ways. So we move from celebrating the Passover in verses four and five, setting us up again, reminding us, holy convocations, appointed feast of the Lord, and we move on then to the feast of unleavened bread. Verse six, and on the 15th day of the same month, so the very next day, starts the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord. And for seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. And that's to remind them of the same event, to remind them of the Passover when they didn't have time to do anything. They didn't have time to let their bread rise. They didn't have time to do anything. They had to be ready and to be moved after that Passover as they started on the Exodus journey. Verse seven, on the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, but you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. So you can see that this happens the day after the Passover, and on both ends of it are Sabbath days. So these are special Sabbaths, they're high Sabbaths that the New Testament speaks of at times, and they'll become important for us as we see how Christ fulfilled it. So this is a week long, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where they're remembering this idea with the Passover and the preparation for the Exodus. But also, he says, you shall celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits. Look at verse nine. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheath of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheath before the Lord that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. Now let's just stop there on the day after the Sabbath. So when does this feast happen? I think what it's talking about is the Sabbath or the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the first one. So we have on the When you look at the Passover and it says on the first month the 14th day, then the Unleavened Bread starts on the 15th day, and then the Feast of Firstfruits starts on the 16th day of that month. They're back-to-back, they overlap each other. They come as this time of celebration. The harvest that's being celebrated here is the harvest of barley, and it's the barley sheaf that is waved before. Verse 12. And on the day when you wave the sheath, and remember what we said with the wave offering, that was a way to lift up the praises of the people before the Lord. It was a motion that was given to accentuate the gift and the heart of the giver. And on that day when you wave the sheath, you shall offer a male lamb, a year old without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah, a fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be a wine, a fourth of a hen. And you shall eat neither bread nor grain, parched or fresh, until this day, until you have brought the offerings of your God. It is a statute forever throughout your generations, again, in all your dwellings. So this is that time that they bring the prescribed sacrifices and they are giving of the first fruits, the first gifts that God has given them. They're giving it back to God, especially in the barley harvest. They're coming back and they're saying, God, we recognize this comes from you, that you are the giver of the gift. You are the one who controls the rains. You're the ones that controls the soil. You've controlled the growth and our crops. And we come to you with the first, the best of this. And that's been the theme throughout All of Leviticus has it. Everything that's offered should be the best of the Lord. Even when we've gone to different income levels, the best of those lower income levels, God says, you're not excluded. If you need to bring something less expensive, here's what I offer you to bring. And so this is the Feast of Firstfruits. This turns into Easter by the New Testament times. And we'll see why that is so as Christ fulfilling. So not only the Feast of Firstfruits, but being in verse 15, we have the Feast of Weeks. You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks. You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf to the way of offering. So seven full weeks. You shall count 50 days, so seven full weeks, and it's the next day. So we've moved into the time of May or June. Remember, they're on a lunar calendar, so this kind of shifts for our calendar. So sometime in May or June, we've moved to this Feast of Weeks, or in Exodus, it's called the Feast of Harvest. In verse 16, Says, you shall count 50 days to the day of the seventh Sabbath. After the seventh Sabbath, then you shall present a grain offering of the new grain to the Lord. And this is probably the wheat harvest that's come through. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made to two tenths of an ephod. They shall be a fine flour and they shall be baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. And you shall present with that bread seven lambs a year old without blemish and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with the grain offerings and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the hand of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall make proclamation on that same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. Now, most of that language and most of those offerings have been dealt with earlier in Leviticus, and we're not going to have time to go through all of them today, but C, the Lord is concerned about how he's worshipped. He has prescribed certain ways for them to come before him, certain offerings, and they all have the meaning that we looked at in those first seven chapters of Leviticus that I wish we had time to go through, but it would be two weeks later before we finished, and I can't do that. So this is a time when they come together, another harvest, it's 50 days later, and it becomes that time where they're, again, giving back to the Lord the first fruits of what they have, and it's specified in a certain way, and this is to be, again, reminding, holy convocation, there should be a Sabbath, you should do no ordinary work. So all of these special feasts are mixed in with different days of Sabbath, more days of rest and preparation for them. Look at verse 22. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord your God." We have already seen that in chapter 19, right? We've seen the commands to do that. So this is, again, that thanksgiving to God that he gives them everything, and he expects them to be generous to other people as he is generous to them. He expects them not to hoard everything, not to see that everything that he gives them is a need for them, but sometimes it's given to them for a need for someone else. So it's a day of remembrance, a day of thanksgiving, and a day of praise to their God for his provision. But then we move into the seventh month, that September, October timeframe in verse 23, and we see the feast of trumpets. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel saying, in the seventh month, On the first day of the month you shall observe a day of solemn rest. So another Sabbath. A memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets. A holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work and you shall present a food offering to the Lord. So not much information about this feast of trumpets, but we do know that every month started off with trumpet blast, probably the ram's horn. And this one is specified to kick off the most holy month in the Israel year, in that seventh month. And so it starts out with a day of fast, and it's a day of remembrance, and it's a day of preparation. Because we have the feasts that are coming after this that make up the important feast in the life of Israel. So this Feast of Trumpets is a time for them to remember what God has done in the past and prepare for what's going to happen in the rest of the seventh month. The Day of Atonement. beginning in verse 26, you shall celebrate the Day of Atonement. Notice we're not in a feast here, are we? We're in a fast. So there are days of doing no work, but the Day of Atonement is a fast day as well. Now we've studied the Day of Atonement back in chapter 16 in depth. If you wanna go back for a refresher course on that, go back and find that green sheet, find that sermon, but look at what it says here. There's an emphasis here for us. Verse 27, now on the tenth day of this seventh month, so the first day is trumpets, the tenth day is the day of atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourself on the ninth day of the month, beginning in the evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath. So this idea of affliction is what's brought out for the feast. We've learned about the Day of Atonement, that day when if there are any sins, if there are any transgressions, if there are any approaches to the holy in unauthorized way throughout the nation of Israel, on the Day of Atonement, that's the day it's taken care of. That's the day where the high priest goes into the most holy place and makes his offering. That's the day when the scapegoat is sent out into the wilderness with the imagery of carrying out all the sins of the people. That's the day, the highest day of worship, and it's a day of of rest, and according to what chapter 23 tells us, it is a day of affliction. Now, that I think is clearly telling us that the affliction is no eating. This is a fast day. That's what most scholars believe it is. It's an affliction. It's a day that they don't eat as normal. Why? Because all the effort they would have taken in eating is now placed on the effort of recognizing their sin. Remember, the Day of Atonement was a great day that showed them their sins are taken care of by God, but it was also a day that kept their sins right in their face. The need for that sin, the need for that sin to be taken care of, even through the regular sacrifices throughout days and weeks as the year went on. So the Day of Atonement is a fast and not a feast and it's marked by affliction and a day of rest. It's marked by fasting from food and a day of rest. But then it moves on in that seventh month. to the Feast of Booths. And the Lord spoke to Moses, verse 33, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, so we move from the first to the tenth to the fifteenth, and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the Lord. On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. So the first day is a Sabbath rest. For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly. You shall not do any work. So the first day and the eighth day. These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, sacrifice and drink offerings, each on its proper day." So there is a summary statement of what we have in this chapter, kind of seeming out of place, but then God speaks in such a way to say, but I have more to say on the Feast of Booths. On the 15th day, of the seventh month when you have gathered, so that marks the Feast of Booths, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Lord seven days. On that first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. and you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees branches and palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the lord your god seven days you shall celebrate it as a feast to the lord for seven days in seven days in the year it is a statute forever throughout your generations You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths that your generation may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So this again is remembering their paths, seven days to be spent in these dwelling places that are made out and covered of these leaves, the leafy branches that they find. But notice how often in this feast, it's a celebration day. This was the feast that marked the greatest celebration in the nation of Israel. It was a time to come together and remember what the Lord had done and vicariously walk in the steps of their forefathers that lived in the desert, that lived waiting for the promised land. And they're waiting for the promised land as well. And even as they go into it, they're to remember this deliverance that the Lord has given. And it is a time of celebration, and they will do this for seven days. Now, there are other chapters in numbers 28 and 29 that go for the priests and talk about these feast days. And one of the things I found interesting was when we get to the Feast of Booths, this is a week of sacrifice. When I tallied everything up, if I can read my writing here in the margin of my Bible, during the eight days, there were 71 bulls, 15 rams, 105 lambs, one goat for a total of 192 animals sacrificed. That's a lot of animals to be sacrificed. That is a lot of celebration of God's people returning to him the favor that he has given to them by worshiping him as God has said to worship. And the final verse tells us, thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord. 44 verses as quick as I can give it. And here's what we need to remember. This is the way that created the rhythms of life for the Israelites. They looked forward to these times of celebration. They were times of, especially as they develop into pilgrimages, where three of these feasts, the men would go up to Jerusalem. It was a time of celebration. It was a time for Israel to say, we are being obedient to our God. There are special days of rest. They're summarizing all of the daily offerings that we learned about in the first seven chapters. and doing it in a celebratory manner. Even the Day of Atonement was a time that people looked forward to, to remember what God was doing through the practices that he set out before them. But for us, do they mean anything? Do they have anything to do with us? If we're not supposed to practice them, if we're not supposed to be involved in this, and listen, there's a side of me that I long for that rhythm in life. There is something sweet about this for the nation of Israel, that the Sabbath cake came around every seventh day, that these feasts were there to remind them in the offerings that they had from the fields that God had blessed them. There was a rhythm to life there that is important for Israel. You saw that even in Psalm 42 and 43. It was the remembrance of that rhythm that drew him back to the fact that God would not leave him even though he felt abandoned. So what does it say to us? Well, here's where the rubber meets the road for us because when Christ comes along, these feasts are not just ignored, they are fulfilled. So when we think about the Sabbath, The seventh day of creation was when God rested and he blessed it and called it holy because he rested from all his work that he had done. Deuteronomy 5.5 says this, you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. So in the old covenant, the Sabbath was temporary, right? Every day they did the Sabbath, day one started all over again, right? They had six more days of work. But do you remember in Genesis when the creation account is given, at the end of every day, it was evening, it was morning, day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six. And it doesn't say that in day seven. Do you think there was a day eight? There was a day eight, right? Or you and I would not be here. So there was a day eight, but the purpose was to say this was the day of rest and there's no end to it. It foreshadows what the Sabbath day is supposed to do. So in Hebrews chapter 3, 3 and 4 tell the story of the Israelites who were disobedient and did not enter into the land. They didn't enter the land and the writer of Hebrews is saying don't be like them, enter into your rest now because there still remains a Sabbath rest. But it doesn't mean that you have to wait for the future, it's entering into it in Christ. Because the scripture says, so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works as God did from His. So God created, we rest from the works that we try to do to get back to Him. We don't have to work anymore. Christ has done the work and we are in Christ. And so that Sabbath rest that we enter into is because Christ has been perfectly obedient to his father. Let us therefore strive, the writer of Hebrews says, to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me and learn from me, for I am gentle and lonely in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That's why the disciples worshiped on the first day of the week. You notice how many of these festivals ended with a Sabbath on the eighth day? Pointing us away. Now, seven is important in Leviticus. It's important in Scripture, right? It's important in Leviticus. We see these seven feasts. We see the Sabbath rotation. Sevens are constant as importance because it's that number that reflects the perfection of God's character. But seven also led to the day of resurrection because it was on the first day of the week. Well, that leads us right into the Passover, John chapter one, verse 29. John the Baptist says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So right at the beginning of the Gospel of John, we're being pointed back to the prescribed feasts that required spotless lambs, required lambs that were perfect. Christ celebrates the Passover in his own life, he inaugurates the Lord's Supper, and he dies on Good Friday. And the Passover becomes, what we look at is Good Friday. The soldiers broke the bones of the other two men crucified with Christ in order to hasten their death. Because if their bones were not broken, they could still push up and it would preserve their life. But rather than let it go on, they would routinely break the bones of those being crucified so that they died. Christ was already dead. The other two soldiers were not, but Christ was dead. And the scriptures are clear. It tells us why that happened. In John 19, 36, these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled. Not one of his bones will be broken. And what scripture is that? It's from Exodus 12, 46. The Passover lamb shall be eaten in one house and you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house and you shall not break any of its bones. Jesus is the fulfillment of that Passover feast. But he's not only just a feast, he's fulfillment of the whole Exodus journey. As they are saved, their salvation comes out of Egypt and led into the promised land. Their whole Exodus journey, Jesus rights the wrongs that were there. Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Jesus passes through the waters of baptism. Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus is tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. The Israelites complained about their food in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted with food in the wilderness. They put God to the test. Jesus did not put God to the test. They crafted and worshiped a golden calf. Jesus does not bow to Satan in his temptation. Moses receives the law from a mountain. Jesus sits on a mountain and gives the Sermon on the Mount so that he is the ultimate fulfillment of all of their Exodus journey. And we, now as believers, we rest from trying to go back, fight our way back to God. Our sin is dealt with. We are freed from the tyranny of sin through what Christ has accomplished as our Passover lamb. Jesus is better than Moses, a new Israel, a perfect Passover lamb. As 2 Corinthians 5 tells us, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Do you see what that points to? It points to us being unleavened bread in Christ. And because of that, because we are in Christ, we have the ability to love God and love our neighbors in such a way that we continue on with that obedience because of Christ being the perfect Passover lamb, but it's not finished. The festival of unleavened bread, John chapter six, verse four, Jesus feeds the 5,000 on Passover, the second of the Passovers in John's gospel. In chapter six, verse 22, it says, on the next day, the first day of the feast and unleavened bread, remember how they fit together, on the next day, Jesus delivers his bread of life discourse. So he talks about himself being the bread of life. And he says, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. He's speaking of himself. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He's also the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits, which is now Easter. What we celebrate is Resurrection Sunday. It begins the day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so those three festivals that start one day after another, with the Feast of Unleavened Bread being a week long. And listen to this, in John 19.31, it says, since it was the day of preparation, Day of Preparation is the day of preparation for that beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus is crucified. He's crucified on... As He is crucified, they want to break His... They want to have Him taken down from the cross in order that He is not still hanging there on the next day, which is the Day of Preparation. So the scripture says, on the next day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I skipped my notes, excuse me. John 19.31, since it was the day of preparation so that the bodies would not remain on the cross, that passage we've already looked at with regard to the bones being broken. For the next day, the Sabbath it says is a high day. It's that one of those extra Sabbaths, the beginning of that next feast, the unleavened bread. This special Sabbath or high day Sabbath was to be a feast of the unleavened bread, which in Holy Week would be Saturday. So in John 20 when it says on the first day of the week, that's the day he was resurrected. So he is crucified on one day, the next day is a day of preparation, and the next day is a day of resurrection. So his death and time in the tomb and his resurrection mirror the ultimate fulfillment of the feast of Passover and unleavened bread and first fruits. because of the days that they happen. So even in the timing of his death and his resurrection, we are reminded of the ultimate fulfillment of the feast, not the priest. Can I take a breath? I'm getting through this, but I feel like I'm starting to get a little ragged, so I'm just gonna stop. You can just pray for me right now. I just am getting a little bit ragged, and I don't wanna do that. I wanna be clear, because every one of these feasts have their clear New Testament fulfillment in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? And this was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, right? But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ, the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who believe in God, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. So Christ is the firstfruits of the spiritual harvest of those who believe in him for eternal life. He is the sheaf of the firstfruits waved before the Lord. So Christ fulfills the festival, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Thanksgiving of the Harvest, called the Feast of Harvest, as we've already said. This becomes Pentecost. So just think of that Acts 2 story where the Holy Spirit descends upon the fledgling church, the new church. It's the Holy Spirit falling on the church, and it's the beginning of a harvest of righteousness. Jew and Gentile coming to faith in Christ because of the work of Christ, The Holy Spirit being given, Jesus said, if I go away to prepare a place for you, I will send the Spirit and the Comforter. He will be with you. He will guide you. Luke chapter 10 verse 2, the harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. The Israelites celebrated and remembered God's graciously giving them the land. We celebrate and remember God's Jesus graciously giving the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that is the beginning of the first fruits of this new spiritual harvest in Christ. That both Jew and Gentile would come to Christ. The Feast of Trumpets. Remember, it was a day of remembrance and a day of preparation. I'm going to tell you, there's a day coming. There's a day coming when Jesus, who has come to fulfill all of this, will return again. And on that day, you know that he is going to come. And one of the things that will mark his coming is what? A trumpet blast. 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us that on that day, he will come and he gives encouragement to the people. You're going to see him come and he's going to come and he's going to get the people that are his. He'll take those people who are alive, or dead in Christ first, and then take the rest of them, and that will be a shout of an archangel, and it will include a trumpet blast. Now, there are trumpets all throughout Scripture, but there are marking pronouncements where God is moving, and God is commanding His people, and warning His people, and warning His enemies, and encouraging His people. So even in the Feast of Trumpets, which is the scantest of information, We see that we are people that look forward to that day. We've covered the Day of Atonement in great detail. I'm not going to do it again here. And finally, the Feast of Booths. In New Testament times, the priest would gather water from the pool of Siloam and pour it at the base of the altar as a symbol of life at the end of this feast. That's what's going on in Mark chapter 7, the call to worship that we use today. So Jesus, his disciples come and say, we need to go to the feast. He says, no, I'm not going to go. But then he does go. Do you remember that? He wants to go privately. He wants to not be seen. He's going to make a proclamation, which is what it says to do in the Feast of Booths. He's going to make that proclamation. And John chapter 7. records that, that when he shows up, he's showing up on the final day, that day when they're pouring the water from the pool of Siloam to symbolize life, to symbolize life eternal, and he says this, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive. For as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. So Jesus himself presents himself at the feast as the fulfillment of that feast. It's not about the feast. The feast is about Jesus. and it's about his finished work. So every one of these festivals gives us the opportunity to take Jesus and exalt him as the proper end and the proper fulfillment of the Old Testament. That's why we can say that Old Testament saints are saved by faith in Christ, because as they did this obediently, they believed God for their salvation. As we follow in Jesus' steps obediently, we are believing Him for our salvation, both at its inauguration and as we are being saved throughout our life, and on that day when He returns again and our salvation will be consummated. And you say, well, it's about Christ. I can see that, but it's not about me. Well, are you in Christ? If you're in Christ, then you see the glory of the feast as we look at the New Testament. You see the glory that God was displaying through those feasts. So in general, we can say a couple of things about these feasts. God cares about worship. He cares about His people worshiping and He cares about the way He is worshiped. This is why our worship services are guided by the Scriptures. give attention to the public reading of scripture. We sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We preach the word. We pray the word. We celebrate baptism as God grants converts. We celebrate the Lord's Supper that we go back and we remember what he has done and we point our minds and our hearts forward to what he will do. We are guided by the scriptures in what we do. We don't just sing anything. We sing songs that we endeavor to find, to have words that bring the scriptures to life for us. So he cares about the way he's worshipped. He also cares that people worship him. Come on these days. These are holy days, he says. He cares that they are there. If they're disobedient, there are prices to pay. Now we're freed from the law in that way, but what does God tell us? Don't forsake the gathering of yourselves together. Don't do it. Some do, but you should not. You should encourage one another unto love and good deeds. Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? Because Jesus said, if we love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor is ourself, then that is fulfilling of the law. So he cares that he is worshiped, and he cares that you worship him at the appointed times. And in our world, because of what the disciples did, the first day of the week on Sunday is when we gather together. This is your place. If you're not here, I don't benefit from your presence. If I'm not here, you don't benefit from my presence. The person next to you, the person sitting two people down, the person in the other side of the room. This is the benefit of the people to bring glory to God. And our worship services are, we need to fight to keep the Bible as the center. I just read something just yesterday by Keith Getty, who's a hymn writer that we sing many of his songs that he and his wife are involved in. And he gave an interview and he said, an authentic generation doesn't begin with catharsis. It has to begin with an authentic picture of the God of the Bible. Over 75% of what are called the great hymns of the faith talk about eternity, heaven, hell, and the fact that we have peace with God. Yet less than 5% of modern worship songs talk about eternity. Many worship songs are focused on this earth. I believe that the modern worship movement is a movement, listen, for cultural relevance. It is a de-Christianizing of God's people. It's utterly dangerous and I have no quibbles in saying enough is enough. This can't happen to build an authentic generation. Beautiful art lasts. At the end of the day, a song you sing for 50 years is more valuable than one you sing for 50 months. We live in the most exciting generation to be a Christian, but it's also the most challenging generation. This idea that Christianity is cool or easy is not biblical. It's a misnomer for our generations. Through music, we want to build deep believers who know and love Christ. Now, realize that he's talking about the words we sing and the attitude of some worship leaders, not what style of music we use. This is why we are so passionate about singing words that point us toward Christ, that let us confess before God our weaknesses and confess the greatness of our God. Well, quickly, what do we say about the Sabbath? We've already talked about the fact that it's not something we're bound to today according to Romans 14 and Colossians 2 and Hebrews chapter 4. And we're not required to obey it as the Old Testament says. But because Christ has fulfilled it on our behalf, we have already entered into our rest, our salvation in him. However, those principles are still beneficial to us, not as law, but as grace. Rest, rhythm, and renewal. Think of that. Rest, rhythm, and renewal. The rest that's given, the rhythm of it happening regularly, and the opportunity to renew. You and I need that. You and I need the rhythm that says, I'm going to unplug from the clutter, and I'm going to unplug in such a way that I can focus on God, loving God, and loving my neighbor. I can focus on what he says, fulfill the law. We've forgotten how to rest. We know how to play, but we've forgotten how to rest. We play so hard that we don't rest. We quit working, and then we play hard, and then we need rest from our play, and we don't have time for it. So guess what happens on the Lord's Day on Sunday morning? We rest on Sunday morning alone instead of with God's people. We need to unplug. We're always busy with stuff and things. We need to unplug and focus on the Lord. Well, what about the Feast of Unliving Bread? I've already read to you 2 Corinthians chapter 5 where we are considered in the metaphor of leavened or unleavened, we are already considered unleavened because Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. This gives us the fuel we need for obedience. We're told what obedience is in the New Testament. We're told what God demands of us. We're told that we are to love our God and love our neighbor. And this is the fuel of it because our Passover lamb has already been crucified. He was perfect. He was without blemish. And he's already been crucified. So we are because he has been. It's the fuel for our obedience. Listen, if you are a believer who doesn't care about your obedience, we need to wonder if you are truly a believer. Do you hear me? Are we people of grace? Yes. Does grace say we don't have to obey God? No. Does grace say we don't have to obey God for our salvation? Yes. But if we are truly saved, guess what we're going to do? We're going to love Him. And what does John say we do when we love Him? We obey Him. We obey His commandments. So this is the fuel. What's pictured in the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the fuel for our obedience. What about the Feast of Firstfruits? That's the encouragement. We have hope for the future. We've talked so many times lately about how Paul and the other New Testament writers point us to the future, point us to the return of Christ, point us to the new heavens and new earth, point us to the day that he will return as motivation for us to continue enduring in this world. It's a forward-looking glimpse of our inheritance in Christ. And it reminds us that life in this world is only a preparation, just like the firstfruits, thanking God for what has happened. Paul says, for this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory, because all comparison, or beyond all comparison, as we look to the things that are seen, not to the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. So the Feast of Firstfruits reminds us that Christ rose, so we will rise. It gives us the hope to endure. It gives us the hope to endure everything that God throws at us. All the things that God allows to happen to us. His billows, right? His storms. They all come from Him. And He gives them to a people that He will glorify through the midst of them. And we are looking forward because we know that Christ has been raised, so we will be raised. And it's about the next life and not this. The Feast of Weeks, all about thanksgiving. Colossians 3, 15 and 16 says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and to be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. We're depending on God for the harvest. Yes, we depend on God for the food that we eat and the blessings that we need in order to live, but we're depending upon him for that spiritual harvest as well that he has called us to be a part of. And we do all of this with thankfulness. We do all of this with thankfulness that he is the one who is doing that. Remember that the Feast of Weeks becomes Pentecost, and it was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon God's people. So we are to pray to the Lord of the harvest because the fields are white. So this reminds us of our roles as an evangelist, as those who take the gospel to a lost and dying world. The Feast of Trumpets, another day of remembrance and preparation. It's a reminder to New Testament saints that one day Christ will return. And are you ready? If this Jesus we're talking about is truly going to return and he has come as God said, then he's going to come again as God said. And when he does, he comes to set everything right, to demolish his enemies and to overcome evil and wickedness. Are you ready for that day? Because that trumpet will sound. And on that day, he will gather his people to himself and he comes in judgment on everyone else. So the way forward is to be unified with this Christ that we've been preaching. To be unified with Him, that by faith, by grace through faith, that you repent of your sins and trust in Him. And I know that if you are not saved here, that may be like, I don't even know what all that means, and that's okay. We don't yet either. We're still learning what it means to walk by faith and obey all of his words. But the commitment is that your heart has been changed and now your affections are drawn to him and your desires. Whatever you learn that he says is good for you and that will be something that you obey because there will come a day when the trumpet will sound. Everyone will see it and he comes to judge the wicked and finally and fully say those who are his. The Day of Atonement, like I said, we've covered that before, but remember this idea of affliction. We are a people who need to learn about self-denial at times. We can go out and buy anything we want to buy, most of us, within reason. But what we're going out and trying to get money for is not our basic necessities. We have that covered by and large. But where do we deny ourselves? That's a picture of what it means to be a Christ follower, right? That is the picture. That's what Jesus said when he said to deny yourselves and pick up your cross daily and follow him. It doesn't say never deny yourselves, just come to Jesus and everything will be cool. It says deny yourself, your own will, your own practices. This is what the idea of fasting is about, is to be able to come before the Lord and say, you give me what I need, but I'm going to sacrifice what I need for this meal or this season because I want to take that energy and focus on you because that is beneficial because I do not live by bread alone, but I live on every word. that comes from the mouth of God. It also covers the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement covers the idea of repentance. I think that's involved in the idea of affliction. And this is something that we have to be careful of. And if you're in this position, I just give you a warning. Do not forsake the grace of repentance. Because if you forsake the grace of repentance, you're forsaking the grace of recognizing when the Holy Spirit shows you your sin. Covered by the work of Christ? Yes. Will it separate you from God? Not eternally. Will it separate you in your relationship with God? Yes. And the more you walk without recognizing and repenting of sin, the more you die a slow death. And it might lead to the reality that you do not know Christ. Remember the statement we've used so many times in Leviticus from John Owen, be killing sin or it will be killing you. So even as believers, we fight sin. And if we're not fighting sin, then we're not repenting. If we're not repenting, we're not walking according to the sanctification that God has given us. And finally, the Feast of Booths. Just as the Israelites lived in booths to remember God's deliverance in Egypt, we must daily remember and apply our deliverance from sin in God's provision for our spiritual needs. It's a time of celebration. This is what should mark us. It's celebration in our life, even in the light. And I struggle with this now, right? So I'm preaching to myself first and it's rebounding to you. We are a people who should be full of celebration because this life, we are strangers and aliens. We're just passing through its momentary light affliction. We have an eternal weight of glory coming for us. And our goal, love God, love people, preach the gospel. And one day this life will end. We spend eternity worshiping our Lord with no sin, death, or dying. That should cause a celebration in our lives here every single day, even in the midst of suffering. It doesn't mean we just laugh all the time. It doesn't mean that we don't realize that we're sorrowful over death and sickness and dying. We are. God has created us as compassionate people, but we do that with our eyes on the future. We lead other people when they're suffering to the future. It's full of celebration, just like the Feast of Booths. All the feasts remind us that our lives should be in a comfortable rhythm of remembering and celebrating what God has done in Christ on our behalf. And this rhythm keeps us thinking about past provision for present sustenance and future rewards. And that's what the Feast of Leviticus 23 have to do with us. The same as the Old Testament saints were in that rhythm of remembering and looking forward, we are in the same rhythm. And Christ has fulfilled them to allow us to do this with true and abiding hope. Let's pray together.