REMEMBER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to Me.”

“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.”

"Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.”

“Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.”

“Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."

Exodus 23:14-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In today’s scripture from Exodus, chapter 23, we find God turning His attention toward three special festivals that He expected the Israelite people to celebrate every year. Of interest, each of these festivals represented an important event in the history for God’s people and the Lord’s intent was for them to never forget how He delivered them and provided for their needs.

Let’s take a close look at each of these festivals that were to be held annually:

1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Here’s what God commands in our passage for today:

“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.”

The timing of this festival coincided with Israel’s barley harvest and was intended to commemorate the beginning of the exodus when God delivered the Israelites from their enslavement in Egypt. You may recall that this wasn’t the first time that God had told His people they were to celebrate this feast. For here’s what we find from in the twelfth chapter of this book:

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month, you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread." Exodus 12:17-20

The guidance here is as clear as God’s expectation for complete compliance. It was up to the people of Israel to be obedient to His Word and carry out the feast just as He prescribed, a feast that would last for seven days beginning with Passover. Of interest, this is still practiced in the Jewish faith today as careful preparation is made to ensure no leavened bread is present in the household in preparation for the Passover.

2. The festival of the Feast of Harvest (also referred to as the Feast of Weeks).

Again, let’s look at the word of God in our passage today:

“Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.”

This festival was to be held seven weeks after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and thus why it was often referred to as the Feast of Weeks. During this celebration, God expected the people of Israel to bring to Him the firstfruits of their wheat harvest. Additional information on this feast can be found in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus.

Regarding to the matter of firstfruits, you’ll recall that this term is prevalent in the scriptures, especially as it pertains to God’s requirement for His people to bring Him their best to show their reverence and respect.

Before we move onto the final festival in our message today, there is one other special point of interest to mention. For when we look at the New Testament, we find that the Feast of the Harvest would end up being called, "The Day of Pentecost".

3. The festival of the Feast of the Ingathering (also referred to Feast of the Tabernacles or Feast of the Booths).

Going back to our passage one last time, we find this:

“Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.”

As for this festival, also known as the Feast of the Booths because the Israelites lived in temporary shelters during their exodus from Egypt, it came at the end of the year in early autumn as the olives and grapes were being harvested or “ingathered”. The observance was intended to pay homage to the desert wilderness wandering that the people of Israel endured during their journey to the Promised Land.

So there, you have it. Three major festivals, each one having to do with harvests (celebrations of God’s goodness, providence, and provision) and recognition of Israel’s history (in honor of all that God had done for them).

Before I close, we need to keep one other important thing in mind. For attendance and participation in these festivals wasn’t optional. God made it clear that during these “three times a year”, “all men” were to “appear before the Sovereign Lord”. Further, they weren’t just required to appear but they were mandated to bring offerings to God. “No one” was to come before Him “empty-handed."

Now let’s fast forward to today and we still are to commemorate special events in the life of the Christian church in remembrance of our savior Jesus.

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus as God comes down to walk among His people in what is known as the “Incarnation”.  In the run up to this holiday, we have the period of Advent, a period of preparation for the coming Savior of the world.

On Easter, we celebrate the resurrection, the day that God raised Jesus from the dead. Like with Christmas, there is a period of daily reflection leading up to the special day called Lent. This period begins in many Christian churches with the observance of Ash Wednesday and also includes Good Friday, the day that Jesus suffered crucifixion, bearing the weight of mankind’s sin on the cross of Calvary. Finally, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, there is the observance of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven to earth so to indwell in Jesus’ disciples, equipping them for the Gospel ministry.

Finally, Christian churches observe two special sacraments: baptism and communion (also known as The Lord’s Supper).

Baptism is basically a believer’s public demonstration of their commitment to be a disciple of Jesus. This demonstration involves being submerged under water (symbolic of dying to self) only to rise up from the water as a new creation (think resurrected to a life in Christ),

These observances serve to keep our minds fixated on the One who died to save us and His Father God who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son so that those who believe in Him wouldn’t perish but gain everlasting life (John 3:16).

The key calling, whether we’re talking about the ancient feasts that are still observed every year in Judaism or the Christian holidays celebrated annually, is for believers to remember, remember all the Lord has done for them and their ancestors before. And this constant remembering should always leave us in a state of worship and thanksgiving towards the One who has given us more than we could ever hope for and definitely more than we deserve.

In response to this message and call to remembrance, I hope you’ll join me in giving praise to our Lord, extending to Him all glory, honor, and praise, now and forevermore.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.