GOD’S APPOINTMENT CALENDAR – THE FEASTS OF JEHOVAH

BRIAN JOHNSTON

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, the New King James Version® (NKJV®). Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved." Scriptures marked NIV are from New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scriptures marked NASBB are from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: TIMES WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE COME TOGETHER

CHAPTER 2: APPEARING BEFORE GOD

CHAPTER 3: THEY ARE GOD'S APPOINTMENTS

CHAPTER 4: AT A SET PLACE

CHAPTER 5: INVOLVING THE WORK OF PRIESTS

CHAPTER 6: ENTERING INTO GOD'S REST

CHAPTER 7: GLADNESS AND SADNESS BEFORE GOD

CHAPTER 8: A TIME TO REMEMBER

FURTHER TITLES IN THE SERIES

SEARCH FOR TRUTH RADIO PROGRAMMES

CONTACTING SEARCH FOR TRUTH

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1: TIMES WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE COME TOGETHER

I was looking at the year planner in my diary just to check on my commitments and to browse through my appointments, when it struck me that God also once had a 'year planner'. In the Old Testament, God had a timetable that, in many respects, amounted to a year planner for those who were his people at that time: the people of Israel.

Usually, spring and autumn are the busiest periods in my appointments calendar. God's special appointments with his people seemed to cluster around those same periods. Spring and autumn were the busiest periods in God's calendar because his appointments with his people were tied into their times of harvest. The Israelite people were a farming community. Having successful harvests was a survival issue for them year on year. So these were very natural occasions to celebrate God's providential care for them in providing a good harvest which would sustain their community.

In the Bible book of Exodus, in chapter 23:14, God marked out three times in his people's diary. He said: "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me." (NIV) Those three times that were mentioned corresponded to the annual barley, wheat and grape harvests. But on those three separate occasions in their calendar year different celebrations took place. We usually count as many as seven quite distinct celebrations taking place while the people were gathered together at these three harvest times.

There was much more to the celebratory feasts than first meets the eye. One of the words the Bible uses in connection with these celebrations basically means 'an appointment'. They were appointments which God set up; times when his people would gather together to worship him. I really want us to do little more than focus on the most basic feature of these celebratory feasts: they were times when the people, who were the people of God, came together. I hope in this book we'll be able to enjoy exploring these annual Old Testament feasts. We want to look out for features of the celebrations which are still relevant to us as we serve God. In our introduction, I really want us to do little more than focus on the most basic feature of these celebratory feasts: they were times when the people, who were the people of God, came together as God's people. The report of God's command recorded in the Bible Book of Leviticus makes this very clear in its wording at the beginning of chapter 23:

“The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying; "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'The LORD'S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations - My appointed times are these...” (Leviticus 23:1-2 New American Standard Bible)

In another version, the New International Version, the translation is: “The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.” From this, it's clear that the words used in our different English Bible versions to describe these gatherings might be 'sacred assemblies' or 'holy convocations'. We really can't help noticing that these feasts were not designed to be celebrated by individuals - but they were something God's people did when they were all together. Forget any idea of individuals holding private celebrations in the isolation of their own homes and families. The whole point of God setting up these annual appointments was that they involved his people coming together before him as a worshipping, celebrating people.

Some things don't change - especially when we find them as principles in the Word of God. This is one of them. God also intended that those whom he recognized as his people in the New Testament should come together. Through his apostles God made appointments for them to do just that - as he had done in the Old Testament through Moses. For example, Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:2 NIV)

This matter of regular church collections coincided, of course, with the time each week when they came together by the Lord's command to remember him in the breaking of the bread - as the Bible simply and beautifully called the worship meeting of the churches.

When the people in the church in Corinth came together at these set times, Paul was critical of some of their behaviour and practice. Much of what he wrote to them was about putting things right. Paul anticipated a measure of resistance as he wrote to them. But he was writing with authority by the Spirit of God, and so he wrote:

“But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church ('en ekklesia), I hear that there are divisions among you…What!...do you despise the church of God...? For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread” (1 Corinthians 11).

Notice Paul's expression, 'you come together' - and he adds 'when you come together as a church'. This seems to be a direct parallel with those times each year in the spring and autumn when God used to call his people to come together. By the time we come to the New Testament, it's a weekly, not an annual, gathering that the Lord has laid down in his Word. This wasn't only the case at Corinth. The apostle Paul clearly spoke about the same customs being the practice of all the churches of God at that time.

So Paul repeated the Lord's own direct command that his followers should meet together to remember him in bread and wine. This they did in the New Testament on every first day of the week, as we trace from the record of Paul's church-planting journeys (Acts 20:7).

Perhaps, I should say that the church which Paul addressed, the Church of God at Corinth, was, of course, simply made up of people: believers on the Lord Jesus Christ who had been called by God through the Gospel, and called together to be a witness for God in that locality known as Corinth. Nowadays, it's usual to associate the word 'church' with actual buildings which serve as places of worship; but that's never the Bible idea. What the physical venue for church meetings at Corinth was like is of no relevance to us. Paul addressed himself to the church, that is, to the disciples there.

At any time, Monday through to Saturday, wherever they were throughout the city, each of those disciples belonged to the Church of God at Corinth. But on each first day of the week, the church all came together as a church. That's the force of the expression ('en ekklesia) - one which Paul uses no less than four times in the space of as many chapters in his first letter to them (chapters 11-14).

At any time, Monday through to Saturday, wherever they were throughout the city, each of those disciples belonged to the Church of God at Corinth. But on each first day of the week, the church all came together as a church to worship; to engage in church prayers; and to witness to the Lord's teaching among themselves and to others. This they did through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

So, from our introduction to those special appointments God made in the Old Testament - those occasions when the people came together in the spring and autumn celebratory feasts each year - we want to underline the relevance of us coming together as a church before God. God's year planner has now become a weekly planner, and there's something really special to God in us doing exactly as he asks.

CHAPTER 2: APPEARING BEFORE GOD

The idea of God having an appointments' calendar back in the Old Testament comes from the Bible, for example, the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 16. There, God marked out three times in the diary of his people. He said:

"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed." (Deuteronomy 16:16)

In our introduction to those special spring and autumn celebratory feasts God made in the Old Testament, we made one important application for ourselves as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That was about the Bible commands for Christians to meet together, noticing that God's year planner has now become a weekly planner! God's attention to detail long ago shows us there's something really special to God in our doing exactly as he asks us to do in terms of our coming together on a weekly basis as a church before him. We're now going to investigate that extra point: that our coming together is to be before God. We've already heard God say it in our reading from Deuteronomy 16:

"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed."

This was what made these times of meeting really special. God's people met together, but it wasn't so much about them meeting with each other, as it was about them coming together so that together they might meet with God. It's the same in principle for us today, but more of that later. Let's find out about the first of the Old Testament celebrations when God's people came together. Perhaps, it's the one most familiar to us - because it's the Passover. It wasn’t so much about them meeting with each other, as it was about them coming together so that together they might meet with God.

"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God...You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning.... you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it...and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents." (Deuteronomy 16:1-7)

This was what Israelites had to do each year. They were God's people who had been supernaturally rescued out of slavery in Egypt. God himself had set them free by means of that tenth, last and terrible plague when every firstborn (or eldest) son in all the land of Egypt had been struck down at midnight. Believing Israelites had to shelter in their homes, having painted their doorways with the blood of a sacrificial lamb. This lamb was known as the Passover Lamb because of God's promise that when he saw the blood on the door he would 'pass over' that house and spare the eldest son in that household. Behind their blood-stained doors, the families fed on roast lamb that night. And the next day they left Egypt without even the time to leaven their bread.

Every year afterwards, at the time of the original Passover, the Israelites were to keep this Passover ritual to remind them of their wonderful salvation. That you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life, was God's intention. Then one year, the voice of John the Baptist rang out in the Jordan valley: "Look, the Lamb of God"(John 1:29). He was drawing everyone's attention to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Three years later, at Passover-time, that Lamb - the Lamb of God - was sacrificed at the cross.

Saul of Tarsus was a Jewish rabbi steeped in the Passover tradition. He regarded the death of Jesus as the execution of an impostor, a blasphemer; but then came his Damascus-road experience when he received a vision of Christ in glory. His world was turned upside down; his whole life turned around. Saul, the persecutor of Christians, became Paul, the preacher of the crucified Christ. Paul now realized Jesus' death had been the fulfillment of the long Passover tradition. As he wrote to his friends at Corinth:

“For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

Jesus had died precisely on time according to God's ancient timetable. It was impossible that he could have died at any other time than at the time of the first annual spring feast - the Passover festival. It was a festival which had always pointed forward to the cross of Christ. Paul now taught his friends in the Church of God at Corinth that God wanted them to remember Jesus' death in a different way: in the simplicity of the symbols of bread and wine - exactly as Jesus himself had done on that last occasion when he'd kept the Passover with his disciples before he suffered.  So the Old Testament festivals were special times when the people appeared before God. The command found in Exodus 23:15 said:

"You shall keep the Feast...at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty."

Those wonderful festive occasions long ago were times of rejoicing in God's presence. That principle hasn't changed for the service of God's people today. As the New Testament churches of God gathered Sunday by Sunday - as they came together as churches to remember their Lord in bread and wine and to proclaim his death in that way - the Bible makes an amazing revelation to us: those disciples were appearing before God in heaven! In the New Testament letter to the Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19-25, it says:

“We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” (NASB)

'We have confidence to enter the holy place', the writer said. But where was that holy place? We can be absolutely sure that they weren't entering into any holy place on earth. They had nothing more to do with the God-forsaken temple at Jerusalem. Its veil had been torn from the time of the cross - showing that God was finished with it. No! It could only be that they were entering, in a spiritual sense, into the true holy place in heaven - of which the holy places on earth were mere copies - and they were appearing before God. That's the wonder of worship after the biblical pattern! When we realize that, we definitely won't want to forsake assembling together, but we'll want to come with hearts full of our fresh appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ so we can offer it to God. Our hearts should be full as we draw near before God in worship in the holy place, for even long ago it was commanded: "none shall appear before Me empty". It could only be that they were entering, in a spiritual sense, into the true holy place in heaven - of which the holy places on earth were mere copies - and they were appearing before God.

Doesn't the same thing apply to the church prayer meeting as well? Surely the letter to the Hebrews includes that, too, when encouraging us to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 NASB). What a privilege to appear before God in the church prayers, and leave our anxieties there in his presence!

CHAPTER 3: THEY ARE GOD'S APPOINTMENTS

The idea of God having an appointments' calendar comes mainly from the Bible books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Let's have a closer look now at the wording in Leviticus - just where it mentions God's appointments with his Old Testament people:

"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies...'These are the LORD'S appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. '" (Leviticus 23:2-4 NIV).

We've already familiarized ourselves with the outline of these spring and autumn festivals, although, so far, we've only looked into the first of them: the Passover. Already, we have been discovering features that are still relevant as we serve God today. The lessons we're learning have mainly been to realize that, just as it was then, it's still God's purpose that his people come together; and that this coming together involves our appearing before him. Appearing before God! It's no wonder that New Testament disciples were strongly encouraged not to forsake the assembling of themselves together!

But our verse from Leviticus has also emphasized that these celebrations were God's appointed festivals at his appointed times. His people didn't have the choice of when to celebrate. It wasn't the people themselves who decided when they should come together and when they should have a collective audience with the Almighty. Put like that, perhaps we say: "Well, no, of course not." Those times were specified, and they were laid down by God himself. And part of the reason for that was that God's annual timetable for these celebrations also served as a timetable for prophesying major events that were to follow in the course of God's dealings with his people - and indeed with the world. For example, the timing of the God's annual timetable for these celebrations also served as a timetable for prophesying major events.

Passover celebration served notice as to the exact time of the year in which God's Son, Jesus, would die on the cross. God, and God alone, knew the time of the future events that were foreshadowed in these spring festivals - and so he, and he alone, made the appointments for his people to keep. So, let's remind ourselves of the second annual appointment God made with his Old Testament people. It follows on from the Passover celebration. We'll continue from our earlier quote from Leviticus chapter 23:

"The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD'S Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. '" (Leviticus 23:5-8 NIV)

As we said, this was to follow on from the celebration of the Passover - when they remembered the time in Egypt when a lamb in each household had to be killed so that the tenth and final plague didn't claim the life of the eldest son in the house. The lamb's blood was to be applied to their doorways, and as they sheltered behind the blood they were keeping the instruction that:

“That same night they [were] to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. [For Moses had told them] Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire - head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD'S Passover.” (Exodus 12:8-11 NIV)

That's what had happened on that first Passover occasion. It had been God's way of bringing their slavery in Egypt to an end, and bringing them out in freedom for a new start in the land God had promised to them. This mighty deliverance was a defining moment for them, they were never meant to forget it. God's way of reminding them was to have them re-enact it each year in the celebratory feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. As to that second festival, the feast of Unleavened Bread, God quite specifically told them:

"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 NIV)

The Israelites had left Egypt in a hurry. That was a factor in the bread having to be unleavened or baked without yeast (see Deuteronomy 16:3). We're told as much in Deuteronomy, where unleavened bread is called 'the bread of affliction'. But it wasn't the whole story. Throughout the whole Bible 'leaven' is used as a symbol of something that spreads – something which pervades something else - in the way that sin pervades our fallen human nature and lives.

As the apostle Paul wrote to the Church of God at Corinth, he taught them that Jesus was the answer to the Passover. He has redeemed all believers on himself not from an earthly power, but from a spiritual power. So the Passover lambs in picturing Christ for us, picture our redemption. And if the Passover lamb pictures our redemption, then the unleavened bread pictures our sanctification - which is all about the fact that God has set us apart for himself as holy in Jesus. And, of course, as a result, he requires that we make every effort, by his help, to live lives that are free from sin. Here are Paul's actual words to the believers in the Church of God at Corinth. In his first letter, chapter 5, he says:

“Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world” (1 Corinthians 5:7-10 NASB).

The apostle Paul was writing to his Christian friends living in a bustling seaport; one that was notorious in the ancient world for its loose morals. The situation confronting us today is comparable. The apostle Paul was writing to his Christian friends living in a bustling seaport; one that was notorious in the ancient world for its loose morals. The situation confronting us today is comparable. We certainly do live in a defiling world. Although we'll never be free from contamination until we're taken from it, our lives are to be as free from sin as the bread long ago was free from leaven. To use again this graphic Bible picture language, our lives are to be lived out with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

It's in this condition that we're to keep our Lord's appointment each first day of the week. And, remember, that's what we're underlining in this section: it's the fact that it's his appointment - as were all those Old Testament festivals. For the Lord Jesus has appointed that we should remember him on the first day of the week in bread and wine. Paul clearly says, again to his friends in the Church of God at Corinth:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NASB)

What could be clearer than the Lord's words: "do this"? And so we encourage each other to keep his appointment to remember him in his own appointed way - in bread and wine.

CHAPTER 4: AT A SET PLACE

God's appointments calendar from long ago was one which God gave to his people. In it were appointments he had made: times when his Old Testament people were to come together before him. These were to be times of celebration, and they were linked in with the spring and autumn times of harvest.

Our interest in this is in trying to see the relevance of these celebrations for us today. If God chose to have a record of them preserved for our information in the Bible, it would be foolish of us just to dismiss them as being all for a bygone day with no meaning at all for us.

Having said that, of course, we don't mean Christians should be trying to carry out these rituals today! But what we can do, and surely what God expects us to do, is to read and understand what these celebrations were all about. Once we've understood them in their historical context and purpose, we begin to see that there are some features of the festivals which are broad principles with a real relevance for all disciples of Jesus Christ today. The more we explore these ancient feasts, the clearer it is that they also served as a kind of prophetic timetable for major events in God's plans for this world. But more on that later...

Let's take a look together at the third in the sequence of yearly celebrations which God's Old Testament people were to keep. After the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread followed on straight away. These feasts were designed to ensure that the Israelite people never forgot how God had rescued them from being slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. But the third feast was a bit different. It had to wait the time when God had actually brought them into the land he'd promised to them, because it was a harvest thanksgiving. It was a celebration of God's goodness to them in providing them with a harvest in the Promised Land. Here's what we can read about the third feast, the feast or celebration of Firstfruits, as it was called:

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you enter the land which lam going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest 'And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.'" (Leviticus 23:9-11 NASB)

This was done each year in the early spring-time, and it was the barley that was ripening at that time of year. The first of the grain was a promise of the harvest to come, and so with great thankfulness it was to be presented to God in celebration of his goodness and faithfulness to them for another year. We talked earlier about discovering principles in these things. Well, here's one we shouldn't miss. The people long ago were being asked to give the first and best sample of the grain to God before they set about enjoying the fruits of the new harvest for themselves. Moses emphasized that point later by saying:

“Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.” (Leviticus 23:14 NASB)

We would also recognize that it’s absolutely right that we should always aim to put God first in our lives. We've hinted at the fact that this annual series of feasts gave an outline of future events that God had prophesied were going to take place. Let's explain what we mean by that. The annual celebration of the feast of Passover, with the death of the lamb for each family group, was, of course, an advance picture of the death of Jesus who would die as the Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Following that, on the third day after it, the Feast of Firstfruits was designed to draw attention to the fact that the Lord Jesus was not only going to die, but was going to be raised again from the dead.

I can just imagine the barley standing in the fields almost ready for harvesting. As the breeze sweeps across the field the heads of the grain might appear to be 'waving'. Certainly, it would be moving around, swaying about, under the action of the wind. And then, someone comes along and cuts a sheaf of the first-ripe grain to take it to the priest for this ritual celebration. And what does the priest do? He takes the barley sheaf of first- fruits and waves it before the Lord, the Bible says. It was to be lifted up and ceremonially waved at their national place of worship. Do you get the picture? I suggest to you that something which had been living (in the sense of having been growing in the harvest-field where the wind had appeared to make it sway or wave around) even though it had been cut down, was now raised on high and was in fact waving again - just as though it was living again - giving a picture of resurrection.

Following God's timetable, 'leaked' in advance, Jesus Christ died on one Passover day, on the 14th day of the month. Then he rose from the dead on the 3rd day (the 16th of the month), the very day the wave sheaf was due to be presented to God. I find it very moving to think of how, in the year of Jesus' death and resurrection, as the Jews were going about their annual ritual of waving the barley sheaf of first fruits, on that very morning the tomb of Jesus Christ was already found to be opened, and his body gone. The true, real Wave Sheaf, Jesus himself, had been raised on high. He was living again in heaven, never more to die.

Knowing a little of the background of these things from the Old Testament is necessary to make sense of the language that the New Testament uses when, for example, it describes the Lord Jesus as ’the Firstfruits’. Let’s check out a reference in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where the apostle Paul says:

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” (1 Corinthians 15 NASB)

Here, the Bible is viewing resurrection as being like a harvest. The harvest hasn't taken place yet, but the first fruits have been gathered in. In other words, Jesus has been raised and gone above. But when he returns all dead believers in himself will be raised, and we who are alive at that time, will together with them go to meet our Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Sometime afterwards, there will be another resurrection of Old Testament characters who believed and served God (e.g. Daniel 12:13). And finally, the closing chapters of the Book of the Revelation describe the final resurrection when all unbelievers will stand before God's White Judgement Throne. Then the resurrection 'harvest' will be complete.

I hope you agree with me that there are so many vital things to learn from these Old Testament harvest celebrations: the times of God's set appointments with his people. One important last point is to come back to notice (and it's something true of all the feasts - but we'll mention it in connection with the Firstfruits) that the Wave Sheaf had to be brought and presented before God at the place of his choice: the one, national place of worship, God's house on earth. Nowhere else would do, they couldn't keep this celebration where they chose. You might think that so long as their attitude was right, they might be able to celebrate God's goodness wherever it was convenient for them; but no, quite emphatically not. His command was:

"You shall sacrifice the Passover...in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name...at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover...at the time that you came out of Egypt...Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed." (Deuteronomy 16:2,6,16 NASB)

We can hardly fail to notice the principle that it's God who appoints for us the place where we are to come together with others - just like the first New Testament disciples did - and worship God according to his Word. It's no longer a physical place we've to come to, of course, that would be impossible given the worldwide nature of Christianity; but previously, in the Old Testament, when physical centres were chosen by God, he had always supplied the pattern for them. And when we come to the New Testament, once again we see how Christian disciples served God according to the pattern of apostolic teaching - God's own pattern. Wherever they were geographically, they were 'together' in this spiritual association that had been established by God.

So, as well as that great principle which we've picked up from this Firstfruits celebration, let's not forget, too, the other matter of 'putting God first and acknowledging his goodness' in our lives. We can hardly fail to notice the principle that it’s God who appoints for us the place where we are to come together with others.

CHAPTER 5: INVOLVING THE WORK OF PRIESTS

God gave a calendar to his people. It was a year planner for them, which set out times of celebration - linked in with the spring and autumn times of harvest in the land of Israel. At these times God's people came together, before him, at the time of his appointing and at the place of his choice. We've been learning from all these things, because, in principle, these features remain the same for us.

We've now arrived at Israel's fourth annual celebration. After the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits came the Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Weeks was also a celebration of firstfruits, but this time celebrating those of the wheat harvest. Seven weeks came between these two celebrations of firstfruits. We'll let Leviticus chapter 23 explain that:

“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring in from your dwelling places two {loaves} of bread for a wave offering...baked with leaven as firstfruits to the LORD. Along with the bread, you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd, and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD...You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD for the priest. On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.” (NASB)

On this occasion, in the late spring, the Israelites were to bring their firstfruits; not as a sheaf of grain this time, but the grain was first to be baked as loaves of bread. And the unusual thing was these bread loaves, baked with fine flour, were to be leavened. God had already given permission for grain offerings of firstfruits to be leavened (Leviticus 2:11-12), but no part of them was ever to be burnt on God's altar to ascend as a soothing aroma to him. This is perhaps understandable to us as we see the Bible elsewhere using leaven or yeast as a picture of the harmful spreading effect of sin. That raises the question of why it was used here at all.

First, though, it's worth reminding ourselves of the fact that the sequence and timing of these annual celebrations pointed forward as indicators of future events in God's forward planning. The Passover and barley Firstfruits link in respectively with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And so, at 50 days after that, this fourth celebration, the Feast of Weeks, takes us to Pentecost in the year Jesus died. At that Pentecost we have the descent of the Holy Spirit described in the second chapter of the New Testament Book of Acts. An immediate result of the coming of the Holy Spirit at that time was the establishment of the Church of God at Jerusalem, where a good number of disciples had been waiting for this other Comforter whom the Lord had promised before he left.

We've referred to the Book of the Acts, chapter 2. Let's read from that account of this historic event:

“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance...Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give heed to my words..."

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:1-4,14, 41-42 NASB).

In a spiritual (but also very real) sense, this was the firstfruits of a harvest of all those who would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Church Age that was even then beginning, and in which we still find ourselves today. The two loaves of firstfruits, the two wheaten breads, it might be suggested, pictured the reality that Jew and Gentile were now to be together, side by side, throughout this Age without any distinction. But the distinctive feature of the bread was that it was leavened. That would tend to support the view that the loaves aren't giving us a direct picture of Christ, but an indirect picture of him as seen in the lives of very fallible Christian disciples. Plenty New Testament verses show us just how fallible they were, too, as we all are; but, equally, there are also many lovely Christ-like examples.

The description of the celebrations, including this one, which we get in the Book of Numbers, tends to emphasize the amount of work the priests would have to get involved with during these feasts. Here's an extract from Numbers chapter 28:26-30:

“Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. And you shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD, two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old, and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs, one male goat to make atonement for you.” (NASB)

We get the impression of many offerings! These celebrations which were for collective service, definitely involved a lot of priestly activity. As we look back over what we've seen so far in this series, we've discovered that these times of celebration were times when God's people came together, came together before him, at times he appointed and at the place of his choice. In principle, these things remain the same for us. Here's one further feature: just as the celebrations long ago involved priestly activity, so does our Christian service today. The apostle John, in his introduction to the end-time visions of Revelation, wrote:

“...Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth... Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, [who]... made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” (Revelation 1:5-6 NASB)

John, there, views believers in this present age as priests. As God's New Testament people came together before God in worship at the times the Lord had appointed, following his chosen pattern, in practices corresponding to Israel's celebrations long ago - their spiritual practices, too, demanded the work of a kingdom of priests. Their offerings were no longer firstfruits of grain, of course, but the fruit of lips (Hebrews 13:15). What a delightful expression that is! The words of our mouth are spiritual sacrifices of praise, and all making confession, and giving thanks, to the Lord's name. God desires a praising priesthood to give him his due today.

I hope we can catch the apostle John's vision that sees believers as those called to be spiritual priests; for then we really will be glorifying the one who loves us, and who has released us from our sins by His blood. It will help us to enter perhaps more fully into the spiritual counterpart of these Old Testament festivals which God has planned for us today.

CHAPTER 6: ENTERING INTO GOD'S REST

We're getting familiar with the fact that God had a year planner for his people in the Old Testament, which set out special times of celebration. We've now arrived at Israel's fifth annual celebration as we move into the autumn festivals. These autumn festivals were grouped together, and known collectively as the Feast of Ingathering. The reason for that name was because the Israelites were to: “...celebrate the Feast...after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat...” (Deuteronomy 16:13 NASB)

We also notice that the Feast of Ingathering was to be celebrated at the end of the year. Originally, the Jewish New Year was in the autumn. But so momentous was their new start in the springtime of the year, when they were brought out of Egypt, that God had said: "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." (Exodus 12:2 NIV)

That was the month of their release from slavery; the month in which Passover would always be celebrated. In practice, it seems to have become the start of their sacred or religious year; whereas the seventh month at autumn was kept as the ordinary New Year for civil purposes. It's still shown in diaries to this day as being the Jewish New Year. So, as we come into the Jewish autumn, we find the people were to celebrate the Feast of Ingathering which really included three separate festivals: the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month; the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the month; and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles from the 15th to the 22nd of the month.

Let's now focus on what the Bible describes as the Feast of Trumpets. This was God's command to them, as found in the Book of Leviticus chapter 23:24-25: “In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work.” (NASB)

That last point is interesting - about them doing no work. 'You shall have a rest, 'God commanded. We really must come back to this feature, because it's a feature of virtually all these celebrations that they were to be times God had set for his people to have time out with himself! But first, let's come to the idea of trumpets. Why blow trumpets? Trumpets certainly get our attention. It's impossible to ignore the fact that my son is practising his trumpet - no matter where he is in the house! Trumpets were certainly used in the Bible as instruments to get everyone's attention - for the purpose of sounding warnings or rallying the troops. This is what God said in Numbers chapter 10:2-3:

"Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the assembly and for directing the movement of the camps. When they blow both of them, all the assembly shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting..."

That shows that trumpets were used generally for gathering God's people, and there's specific mention of their use in the appointed feasts. We've now come to a particular celebration known as the Feast of Trumpets. By the time the seventh month came round, the summer work of labouring in the fields and preparing for the final ingathering was ended. That's the setting for this Feast of Trumpets as we can see if we check out the verses that go before:

"'When you reap the harvest of your land... you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien ...In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets a holy con vocation. You shall not do any laborious work.'" (Leviticus 23:22-25 NASB)

So after the summer time activity of reaping in the harvest fields, there was opportunity for the gleaners to help themselves to what the reapers had left behind. The Bible story of Ruth is a good illustration of this type of activity. It was God's provision for the poor - for the Israelite 'stranger' - someone not resident in these parts, as well as the 'alien' or 'foreigner'. Then, when the main harvest and the gleaning was done, the trumpets blew to gather all the people together again on the first day of the seventh month. This Feast of Trumpets was about gathering the people for the end of year's ingathering of the vintage.

So much for the original setting. What about any prophetic significance this might have? Remember, that with the Spring celebrations, like Passover, there was always a clear foreshadowing of major events in God's calendar, such as the crucifixion of his Son, Jesus Christ. They were events which occurred historically on the precise date of the relevant Old Testament festival. The question is: 'Can it be the same with these autumn celebrations in terms of events that are still waiting to happen?'

Without any doubt, the Bible tells us that there will be two major gatherings, well known to all who have an interest in Bible prophecy. We're already witnessing the beginning of one of them, in fact. That's the re-gathering of Jews to the land of Israel as the outworking of prophecies found in the prophet Isaiah, like:

“And it will come about in that day, that the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 27:12-13)

Did you notice that this gathering of Israel in its final stages mentions the blowing of a great trumpet? But there's another gathering the apostle Paul wrote about. It, too, is associated with a trumpet. It much more directly concerns believers on the Lord Jesus Christ as we await his return. On the subject of that return, Paul writes about: “...the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him...” (2 Thessalonians 2:1 NASB)

When the Lord Jesus comes back, as he has promised he would (to his disciples in John 14), all who have put their trust in him as their personal Saviour will be gathered upwards to meet him in the air. In the first of his letters to the Church of God at Thessalonica, the apostle Paul describes this upwards gathering in more detail. In the fourth chapter, he wrote:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB)

So there it is again: the sounding of trumpets having to do with a wonderful 'ingathering'! If we’re right in connecting the Feast of Trumpets with this event, then I wonder if you’d agree that it adds a special significance to the Jewish New Year in the autumn season? Elsewhere, (see 1 Corinthians 15:51), Paul talks of the last trump as though the trumpet of God will sound more than once. The change in our bodies will occur in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, but the whole event would seem to take longer, with possibly even the hint of a short interval between the Lord's descent into the air and our ascent to meet him there. If we're right in connecting the Feast of Trumpets with this event, then I wonder if you'd agree that it adds a special significance to the Jewish New Year in the autumn season?

Earlier we mentioned the matter of rest. It's appropriate to do return to it now in closing, having just enjoyed the thought of the eternal rest that will be ours as believers once the Lord comes and takes us to himself. The Bible usually links in the promise of a present rest to be enjoyed right now while we serve the Lord on the earth. Rest is a consistent feature of virtually all these celebrations we're studying (refer to Leviticus 23:7,8,21,25,28,35; Numbers 28:18,26;29:1,7,12) and it draws our attention to this promise of a present rest.

For the Bible makes clear that there's a present as well as eternal rest, saying in Hebrews 4: “It remains for some to enter [God's rest]... "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts...Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:6-11 NASB). God can only rest among men and women where his will is being done; that's why we need diligence. Ever since Eden itself, human disobedience has interrupted God's rest as shared by us. But when we keep our Lord's commands, holding to the biblical pattern laid out in the New Testament for our service, and fulfilling the principles featured in these Old Testament celebrations, then we find rest in serving God today. So here's something beyond salvation, but to be enjoyed before the Lord comes - something answering in our service to this striking feature of the Old Testament festivals.

CHAPTER 7: GLADNESS AND SADNESS BEFORE GOD

In the Old Testament, Israel's sixth annual celebration was one of a group of autumn festivals known altogether as the Feast of Ingathering. In the centre of the group of three autumn festivals was perhaps the most special day of all in Israel's calendar year: the Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur). It hardly seems fitting we should call it a celebration, for it was really a very solemn occasion. The various festivals we've been considering - and this is number six out of a total of seven - were all times when real emotion was expressed. For at these other feasts in Old Testament times, God's people were commanded to rejoice (Leviticus 23:27; Deuteronomy 16:10-14).

The same command comes to us: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). New Testament disciples were characterized as “singing with thankfulness in their hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16) as they made “melody in their hearts” (Ephesians 5:19). The joy of God's people in coming together before God should be evident. But, as we remember the Lord, one hymn writer reminds us that we trace our joy 'to his sore grief - which in a way brings us back to this solemn Day of Atonement. For on this one day in the year there was a change in tone. On this day, God commanded his Old Testament people to humble themselves to the point of afflicting their souls. This was how God put it:

"The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls...And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement...For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work...It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls." (Leviticus 23:26- 32)

It would be hard to miss the point: there was to be no work done, and they were to humble, or afflict, themselves. Perhaps, we could say that was how God saw the day; that was his view of it. For there's not even so much as a mention of any sacrifice for sins here. But we get quite a different view of this same day in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. That's the chapter where we read of a goat becoming a scapegoat for all the people's sins for the past year. Then, in the ritual of the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat is led away into the desert, carrying away the people's sins, never to return but to wander and die in that far away place - a picture of forgiveness. That particular account of the day's happenings is full of instructions for Aaron, the high priest. In a sense, it was his view of the day. But there's a third view of the day shared in the book of Numbers, chapter 29 (v.7-11). This is addressed to the people directly - so it's their view, and it's full of the mention of various sacrifices. But even though we may be getting three different views of the same festival (God's, the priest's and the people's) there's a common denominator to all three. It's the command found in all the accounts:

“On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work” (Numbers 29:7).

"For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls." (Leviticus 16:29-31)

Since the earlier festivals have been shown to have a prophetic significance, we're entitled to ask if this one has, too. The answer must be 'yes', because there's a day to come, when Israel's Messiah, who came with his glory veiled as Jesus of Nazareth, will return in an unmistakable way: “He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.” (Revelation 1:7 NASB)

"And it will come about in that day that [God] will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it...In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem...I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me [Jesus] whom they have pierced; and they will mourn ...as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly..." (Zechariah 12:3-10 NASB)

We may ask ourselves: 'What will bring about this change of heart?' There can be no doubt - it happens when they look on the Christ they pierced. Remember, how it had been with Saul of Tarsus? So it will be with Israel in the future. Saul was as opposed to Jesus of Nazareth then as the majority of Jews are now, but the vision of Jesus as the pierced Messiah changed Saul, and will change them. We even know in advance what the testimony of their afflicted souls will be in their ultimate Day of Atonement. For this is the true setting of Isaiah chapter 53. Deeply mourning, they'll express their grief in the following familiar words:

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities...

(Isaiah 53:3-5 NASB)

How meaningful and poignant these words become as we consider them in this future setting! How deep their sense of affliction will be - the terrible affliction of the nation of Israel in the dawning realization that they had crucified the Lord of glory after all. This is the language of Israel's conversion. Perhaps, this is why the absence of works, even of good works, is stressed as much as it is on the Day of Atonement. It will be the same then for Israel as a nation, as it is for anyone now as an individual. By that I mean, salvation is not by human works, but is the work of God in us which humbles us in affliction for our sins, and for what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ when he atoned for them at the cross.

So much for Israel, but with each of these celebrations so far, we've always tried to make a future connection with believers of this present age. Is there any sense in which we will experience anything like affliction before we enter into the joy of our heavenly inheritance? What about the apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians?

“Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

Paul was talking about the time, known as the judgement-seat of Christ when, as believers, we'll stand before Christ, not to be judged for our sins, of course - that judgement has passed away from us - but to be judged as servants; to receive an assessment from him on how we served him as disciples while waiting his return for us. Can you imagine the emotions of Peter and Thomas when they stood before the Lord Jesus in John chapter 20 on that first resurrection Sunday? How could any there fail to have been greatly influenced by the marks of the nails? For us, too, it will be a humbling sight. As we look at that thorn- shadowed face, like the hymn writer, we'll say, 'I'll wish I had given him more!' Surely our thoughts will afflict us as the hidden things of darkness are brought to light, and the counsels of our hearts are revealed. Who will fail to be afflicted by feelings of shame as memories come flooding back of our doubts and denials; our absence of a forgiving spirit, and of things we left undone? I'm sure we can apply to ourselves a principle from Israel's future Day of Atonement. It's further on from where we were reading earlier in the prophet Zechariah about Israel's future meeting with her Messiah:

"The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself...the family of the house of Nathan by itself...the family of the house of Levi by itself...the family of the Shimeites by itself." (Zechariah 12:12-13)

Once Nathan had been called on by God to confront David of sinful behaviour (2 Samuel 12); and once Levi and Simeon had conspired together in an act of violent retribution (Genesis 34). But in that coming day they'll stand accountable as individuals. And however different our circumstances will have been - whatever has taken place between brother and sister - that brother and sister will stand before the Lord to give a personal account of it. That's the principle spelt out for our future assessment too: it will be a case of everyone apart, a personal review - no parading of faults before others. But then the great sweetener: the joy of reward - when each believer will receive his or her praise from the Lord!

CHAPTER 8: A TIME TO REMEMBER

In the Old Testament, Israel's seventh and last annual celebration was an autumn festival once again belonging to the group known as the Feast of Ingathering. From this autumn grouping we've already looked at the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. These were held on the first and tenth days, respectively, of the seventh month. And so now for the last event in the sacred calendar belonging to Old Testament Israel we come to the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and to a celebration known as the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. That name is explained by what happened:

"'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD'S Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the dosing assembly; do no regular work...So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest.

On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so that your descendants will know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. '" (Leviticus 23:33- 43 NIV)

So this celebration was called the Feast of Booths because God required his people to actually live in booths for a week each year. The point of the exercise was to serve as an annual reminder to them that they had lived in temporary structures like that at the time God had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. For as long as the people faithfully practised this, what an effective aide-memoir it must have been! Imagine us having to go and live in a tent for a week each year as a way of reminding ourselves that there had been a time in our past when we’d been homeless. A big part of these celebrations was about remembering. Let’s just quickly revisit a few of them again, and the instructions the people were given, starting with Passover: "Celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night...”

Then later it was said of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste - so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt…" and of the Feast of Weeks, “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you. And rejoice before the LORD your God...Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees." (Deuteronomy 16:1,3,10-12 NIV)

And now we're looking at the celebration in which they lived in temporary shelters to recall the way they had lived after God had rescued them. So much of it was all designed to help them remember what God had done for them. No less does God want us to remember what he's done for us. Let's notice again how that comes out of what the apostle Paul says to the Church of God in Ephesus:

“You were dead in your trespasses and sins...we...formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind... But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)...in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast...

Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles...remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:1-13 NASB)

We're to remember what we once were apart from God's grace in our experience. The thing God asks us to do - and to do regularly on the first day of the week - is to remember our Lord Jesus. Paul repeated the Lord's own instructions to his disciples when he was writing to the Church of God at Corinth:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. "In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NASB)

As with the Old Testament festivals, God has still appointed times for his people to come together to offer worship to him as they remember what he's done for them. However, for the Israelites long ago, the Feast of Tabernacles was not only a case of looking back, but it also, in a sense, gave them a foretaste of the future. It was at the Feast of Tabernacles one year that Jesus himself made a statement which pointed forward to a time when he would be glorified. John's Gospel records in chapter 7:

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39 NASB)

Near the end of his life, the same apostle John, who was moved to record that for us, was given a vision of that glorious time to come. And he wrote an account of what he saw in Revelation chapter 21:3,6:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them…And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost." (NASB)

Consistent with the pattern we've seen emerging in these Old Testament celebrations, single day celebrations were a prophetic signpost to future events; while those celebrations that extended to a week point forward to extended periods in the future. They don't get any more extended than John's vision! It was a vision of the new heaven and the new earth with God's tabernacle being among men and women, as well as rivers of living water to complete the picture of eternal satisfaction.

It's then that we, God's servants, will see his face and serve him - serve him in an uninterrupted celebration - a festival that will last forever. What can we who know the Saviour do better, than to start preparing for it now? How better to prepare than by living and worshipping God today by upholding the same principles we've drawn from those Old Testament celebrations - celebrations or appointed feasts which were sacred assemblies for bringing offerings ...to the LORD?

FURTHER TITLES IN THIS SERIES

The following titles, and many others in the series, can be found by searching for the specific title, or “Search For Truth Series” on Amazon.  Alternatively, you can visit the e-store here:  http://astore.amazon.com/hayespress-20

Esther: A Date With Destiny

The story of Esther is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. It has all the intrigue and as many twists as a modern thriller. Dark forces of evil, in opposition to the good, swirl around the lead character – who’s a girl some Jewish sources have claimed as being one of the four most beautiful women in the Bible. The drama has been styled as a rags-to-riches or even a peasant-to-princess type of adventure. One thing’s for sure: the Jewish girl Hadassah (Esther) has more than a date with the king: it’s a date with destiny - the stakes are high - the future of an entire nation hangs in the balance!

But it gets even more exciting than that...this booklet guides you to sense the hand of God in your own life - for Esther inspires us to discover the purpose God is working towards in our own lives – right now!

A Legacy of Kings…Israel’s Chequered History

Apart from the most famous kings, such as David and Solomon, many of the rest of the kings of the Old Testament have faded into obscurity - the life-lessons that can be applied to the lives of Christians are often over-looked as a result.

This e-book rectifies this by bringing twelve of these kings back into the spotlight. You'll encounter good kings, bad kings, good kings that went bad and bad kings that came good! All of them, though, have something important to teach and challenge us as we look to serve the great and faultless King Himself - Jesus Christ.

If Jotham, Rehoboam, Hezekiah, Manasseh and the rest have become strangers to you - why not get reacquainted?

Tomorrow’s Headlines – Bible Prophecy

This e-booklet provides some key principles for unlocking the meaning of Bible prophecy and surveys what the Bible says about the future, primarily from the books of Daniel and Revelation. Topics and questions include:

- Will there ever be a United States of Europe?

- Will there be a single world currency?

- What is the critical position of Israel in God's purposes?

- Will the temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem?

- What can we know about the Antichrist?

- Will Jesus Christ return once, or twice?

- What is the role of Babylon in the end times?

- What is the significance of the spread of Islam?

Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith

This e-booklet provides a concise introduction to answering 10 key objections to the Christian faith by giving  number of insightful illustrations and Biblical references which all Christians can use to help them give "a reason for the hope that is within us" and whet the appetite for further research on each question in greater depth:

• Why do the innocent suffer?

• Don’t all religions lead to God?

• What about the heathen?

• Isn’t the Christian experience only psychological?

• Are the miracles possible?

• Isn’t the Bible full of errors?

• Won’t a good life get me to heaven?

• How can you believe in hell and a God of love?

• Hasn’t science done away with the need for faith?

• What about all the bloodshed in the name of religion?

Life, the Universe…and Ultimate Answers

This booklet grapples with some of the big questions of life from a Christian perspective, with the following chapter headings:

1. Can We Really Experience God?

2. Is Life Accidental Or Purposeful?

3. Does Life Have Real Value?

4. What’s The Meaning of Life?

5. A Personal Hope

6. Is There Any Evidence for God?

7. Is There Evidence For Jesus And The Resurrection?

8. Reasons To Believe: Creation

9. Reasons To Believe: Conscience

10. Reasons To Believe: Communication

11. Reasons To Believe: Christ

Brian's trademark down to earth and conversational style makes this booklet ideal for those who are searching, and for those who want to help those that are.

Power Outage: Christianity Unplugged

This book pinpoints 11 key ways in which a Christian can experience a lack of God's power in their discipleship experience. The first six chapters deal with actions and character traits that quench the Holy Spirit, and the final five chapters focuses on different ways that we can misuse God's Word, with the same effect - loss of power. As usual, Brian brings a number of Bible illustrations to make his point as well as reflecting on the experience of a number of well-known Christians, including the Wesley brothers.

1. Don’t Pray

2. Compromise Your Separation to God

3. Let Sin Enter Your Life

4. Be Proud

5. Be Self-indulgent

6. Be Greedy

7. Invalidate God’s Word

8. Neglect God’s Word

9. Peddle God’s Word

10. Adulterate God’s Word

11. Wrongly Divide God’s Word

Who is Jesus?  The Bible’s Answer…

Who is Jesus? This is life’s most important question! Everything God could wish for us will depend on us getting to know Jesus.  The whole of the Bible - every part of it - has many things to say about Jesus. The Jews divided the Old Testament into three sections. Jesus referred to them (in Luke 24) as the Law, the Prophets and the Writings (the Psalms). The New Testament can also be divided up in a similar way. This concise e-book takes us through the Bible to answer this question: ‘Who is Jesus?

- Jesus: Predicted in the Law

- Jesus: Predicted in the Prophets

- Jesus: Predicted in the Writings

- Matthew's Gospel: Teacher

- Mark's Gospel: Suffering Servant

- Luke's Gospel: Saviour

- John's Gospel: God's Son

- The Acts - Jesus Preached

- The Epistles - Jesus Explained

- Revelation - Jesus Expected

Once Saved, Always Saved…

The issue of whether a Christian can lose their salvation is an absolutely critical one and has been a controversial topic amongst Christians for centuries.

This e-booklet provides a number of insightful illustrations and Biblical references which all Christians can use to reassure themselves that there is no basis in the Bible for the so-called "Falling Away Doctrine" and that, once saved, a believer can never be lost under any circumstances. The titles of the first 7 chapters of this book indicate the basis on which its conclusion is reached:

1 Whose is the Primary Salvation Decision?

2 The Outcome is Already Finalized

3 With God, There is No Going Back on His Word

4 God’s Grace is Emphasised Without Qualification

5 The Biblical Imagery is of Irreversible Processes

6 We May Lose Our Reward, But Not the Gift

7 Christ’s Body Can Never Be Dismembered

Double Vision – The Insights of Isaiah

The Old Testament book of Isaiah can be difficult to understand. This book provides the key to open up Isaiah's message by explaining the "double vision" model that God used in speaking through the prophet.

While what much of what Isaiah said had a current application to the people he was speaking to, there was usually a double meaning which either spoke of the coming of Jesus Christ hundreds of years later, or of events which are still yet in our future.

This short e-booklet is bound to leave you more aware of, and appreciating more fully, the sovereignty of God and his gracious dealings with both Israel and followers of Jesus Christ.

An Unchanging God?

Many would object to the idea of the existence of the God of the Bible on the grounds that he appears to have a very different character when presented in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament. Can this really be the same God? How can we reconcile what appear to be so different characteristics?

This booklet seeks to address these very important questions, which have also troubled many believers as well as being a barrier to faith for some unbelievers. The objective of this book is that the reader will go away with a fuller understanding and appreciation of the character and nature of God and be confident that the Bible record of Him can be fully relied upon.

In addition, www.hayespress.org carries a large selection of recommended titles as well as over 100 attractive gospel tracts and posters, a range of daily Bible reading calendars, Eagles Wings children’s magazines and more!

Other Titles

The Kingdom of God – Past, Present or Future?

Unlocking Hebrews

Seeds – A Potted Bible History

AWOL!  Bible Deserters and Defectors

The Way – New Testament Discipleship

5 Sacred Solos – The Truths That The Reformation Recovered

Salt & The Sacrifice of Christ

Turning The World Upside Down – Seven Revolutionary Ideas That Changed The World

Windows To Faith

SEARCH FOR TRUTH RADIO BROADCASTS

INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE

Search for Truth Radio has been a ministry of the Churches of God (see www.churchesofgod.info) since 1978. Free Search for Truth podcasts can be listened to online or downloaded  at www.searchfortruth.podbean.com, with related pdf study documents, at www.searchfortruth.org.uk   Alternatively, see below for details of digital and analogue radio timings.

Europe

Sunday, 08.00 British Time on TWR

41m band SW (7400 kHz.); 49m band SW (6105 kHz.)

Listen online at www.twr.org.uk/live.htm

SKY Digital Channel 0138 (11.390 GHz, ID 53555) and Freesat channel 790 in the UK Saturday at 15.45 and Sunday at 08.15. Also on DAB radio in NW England

Malawi

Sunday on TWR Malawi FM Network at 06.45 UTC+2 (89.1 - 106.5 FM)

Ontario, Canada

Tuesday at 14.15 EST, on JOY1250

Listen live online at www.joy1250.ca

South Pacific & South East Asia on HCJB Western Australia

Friday to South Pacific at 8.00 UTC, 19m band SW (11750 kHz.)

Monday to South East Asia at 13.15 UTC, 25m band SW (15540 kHz.)

Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon

Sunday on TWR Benin, at 17.50 UTC+1 (1566kHz.)

India

Tuesday and Friday on TWR Guam at 14.07, 31m band SW (15200 kHz.)

CONTACTING SEARCH FOR TRUTH

If you have enjoyed reading one of our books or listening to a radio broadcast, we would love to know about that, or answer any questions that you might have.

Church of God, Leicester, LE5 6LN, England

P.O.Box 748, Ringwood, Victoria 3134, Australia

P.O.Box 70115, Chilomoni, Blantyre, Malawi

RR1 Box 18, Dundas, Ontario, L9H 5E1 Canada

Web site: www.searchfortruth.org.uk

Email: sft@churchesofgod.info

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Responding to God's call in his life Brian Johnston left his post as a UK government scientist in 1987 to become a fulltime Bible teacher and evangelist on behalf of the Churches of God (www.churchesofgod.info)

For many years, he has been spending much of his time in missionary church-planting activity in Belgium and the Philippines. He also anchors Search for Truth Radio and is an editor of Needed Truth magazine (see www.neededtruth.info).

He has authored the book Exploring Issues of Life. He is married to Rosemary, and they have two children, Michael and Anna.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: TIMES WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE COME TOGETHER

CHAPTER 2: APPEARING BEFORE GOD

CHAPTER 3: THEY ARE GOD'S APPOINTMENTS

CHAPTER 4: AT A SET PLACE

CHAPTER 5: INVOLVING THE WORK OF PRIESTS

CHAPTER 6: ENTERING INTO GOD'S REST

CHAPTER 7: GLADNESS AND SADNESS BEFORE GOD

CHAPTER 8: A TIME TO REMEMBER

FURTHER TITLES IN THIS SERIES

SEARCH FOR TRUTH RADIO BROADCASTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR