Remembering God’s Provisions
Father’s Day: June 16, 2002
Leviticus 23
Introduction:
A.
Father’s Day Observance: prayer
B.
Interesting lessons to be learned from the feasts of Israel about God
and His desire for His people. ‘
C.
Israel’s feasts were unique among the pagan nations of that region
of the world.
a.
They did not celebrate seasons but celebrated God.
b. They
were not times of debauchery but times of holiness.
c.
They were not seasonally celebrative followed by seasonal mourning.
d. They
were times of finding rest in God and fellowship with their families.
D. God
rebuked Israel when they lost the heart of the feasts and they became the sum
of their religious observances.
E. In
this chapter we find the Sabbath and 7 other feasts. Besides the weekly
Sabbath, they had 19 days assigned to giving thanks to God and fellowship with
each other.
F. What
do your holiday traditions say about your family values?
I. The Feasts of Israel
B. The
Sabbath
a.
Comes from the Heb. Word “to cease”. It is rooted in creation
as God ceased from His creative work on the 7th day.
b. This
is different from the pagans around. The Babylonians functioned on a five day
week and had no particular day where they ceased from their own labor.
c.
Before the fourth commandment, the Sabbath is mentioned directly in
regards to the Manna. They were to gather double on the 6th day which meant the
7th day was a day of miraculous provision by God: the only day the manna did
not root within 24 hours making the Sabbath a day of miracles.
d. It
was a day of benevolence as Dt. 5:12-14 says, “…that your
manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.”
e.
It was a day of honoring God: Is. 58:13 “If you turn away
your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call
the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him,
not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own
words.”
f.
Every 7the year was a Sabbath year and every 7th Sabbath year
was a Sabbatical year called the Year of Jubilee: Land reverted
back…, slaves were freed, debts were cleared, etc. It was for the neglect
of the Years of Jubilee that Israel was exiled for 70 years.
g.
Col. 2:16 “So let no one ujudge
you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or
sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of
Christ.”
C. The
Passover
a.
Remembrance of their miraculous deliverance from Egypt. The 14th of
Nisan to the 21st the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
b.
Imagine for a moment having the blood on the
lintels of
your home and hearing various home crying out throughout Egypt.
c.
7 days they ate unleavened bread: they were a “new lump” of
dough and no longer related to Egypt’s leaven.
d.
Unleavened bread also spoke of obeying quickly…
e.
Jesus said, “He said, "Beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" {cf, Luke 12:1}, i.e.,
pretending”
1)
The leaven of the Sadducees, which was
rationalism
2)
The leaven of the Herodians {Mark
8:14-21}, who
were materialists
D. The Feast
of First Fruits
a.
Israel could not eat of their crops until they had given to God off the
top of their harvest.
b. Pro.
3:9-10 “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your
crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim
over with new wine.”
c.
Giving God the left overs was strictly forbidden (Malachi 1:6-9)
d. What
did this feast mean? 1 Cor 15:20-23 –
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has
become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep.”
E. The
Feast of Weeks
a.
This began 50 days after Passover and is sometimes called
“Pentecost.”
b. This
is a feast celebration for a bountiful harvest.
c.
Before the next feast they were to not harvest the fields to the corners
but leave them for the stranger in the land.
F.
The Feast of Trumpets
a.
The first of ever month was announced with the blowing of a trumpet.
Each Sabbath was announced with the blowing of a trumpet. This Feast, however,
was a special one that involved the family.
b. No
work and an offering…
c.
We’re not sure about the meaning… but… The trumpet is
what we will hear just before the Rapture and Zech. Tells of a time
when…
G. The Day
of Atonement
a.
This is the day of national repentance and a national consecration to
God
b. This
is the day of fasting and sacrifices and joy for the gift of forgiveness
H. The Feast
of Tabernacles
a.
Essentially a 7 day camp out remembering the wilderness journey.
b. A
joyful celebration of provision
II. Some Lessons from the Feasts
A. God is
telling us to find our joy in Him
B. God is
telling us that He enjoys His people
C. God is
telling us to trust Him
D. God is
telling us that when He is first, we can do more with less.
E. God
is telling us that we are to be benevolent like Him
| Pastor Bob Fromm,
North Valley Calvary Chapel, 613 Bogue Rd., Yuba City, CA 95991 |