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1A) Introduction
1B) As I thought of what to speak about in this message I remembered
that today is memorial day.
1C) This is the day we particular remember those of our armed
forced who have died, It may be cliché but I thought that it is important for
us to remember that our freedom which we enjoy is not free.
2C) The first and most obvious application of that is to remind
ourselves that our freedom in Christ is not free, but we were bought with a
price, the precious blood of Christ..
3C) Yet the Lord reminded me of something else as well. He has
placed holidays in the Word of God that serve as reminders of what He has
done. These holidays point to that first and most obvious application that
Christ died for my sin.
1D) While the majority of these apply to Israel, we in the
church can look at the Word and apply the lessons to ourselves as well.
2D) One awesome thing is that when God had a reminder, it is
not really a reminder, but a prophetic teaching as well.
2B) Before we start I do have to mention that the Bible presents two
calendars A civil calendar and a religious calendar
1C) This is not such a confusing situation, after all Americans
have a calendar year and a fiscal year and a school year….
2C) The civil year starts in the fall on the day commonly referred
to as Rosh Hashanah.
3C) The Religious year starts exactly 6 months after Rosh
Hashanah; in the month called Nisan (our March-April) In Exodus 12:1 God tells
Moses that this particular date would be the beginning of the year to the
Jews.
1D) Any dates in Genesis are reckoned according to the civil
calendar, starting in the fall
2D) The civil dates in the Bible are reckoned from the
religious beginning
2A) Rosh Hashanah (Leviticus 23:23&24)
1B) “In the seventh
month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing
of trumpets ….”
1C) In ancient Israel the first day of every month was always
observed by looking for the first sliver of moon after the completely dark new
moon. This was the first such observed day after the autumnal equinox.
2C) When she was growing up my daughter Joanna had a book in which
the characters lamented the fact that the earth had no birthday, so they threw
the earth a birthday party. (Of course they said the earth was millions of
years old with no birthday.)
1C) The Biblical term for this day is “Yom Ha-zikkaron” the
day of remembrance. While the Bible does not expressly say what was to be
remembered, according to ancient Jewish and Christian understanding this was a
remembrance of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
2C) So if that is true, and I believe that it is, the
premise of that book is wrong. Every year since the beginning people have
remembered the creation of the earth.
3C) In Jewish tradition this is not a day for parties and
celebration, but rather serious introspection, considering the sins and
failures of the past year and seeking to make changes in the new year.
2B) As we approach the new year (whether it’s January 1 or September 22
(Tishri 1)) don’t dull your thoughts with party and football.
1C) Rather focus on a review of your service to the Lord the
previous year, how He has blessed you and how you can serve Him better.
2C) Know this as well, you and I have a Creator. He makes the
rules and enforces the rules, and we are accountable to Him alone for our
actions
3A) Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) (Leviticus 23:27-32;
Leviticus 16:29-32)
1B) “On exactly the
tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement….”
1C) This is the most holy, solemn and serious holiday on the
Hebrew calendar. This is the day when the High priest, after making sacrifice
for his own sins alone enters the holy of holies with a sacrifice for the
entire nation of Israel. As the Scripture states this is for an atonement
(covering) for their sins.
2C) The question remains why does the Lord choose the 10th
of the month for this occasion? The Bible never says. Let me make this
suggestion.
1D) If Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the actual day of
Creation (Genesis 1:1) and Yom Kippur is a reminder of the seriousness of sin
and the need for atonement. Then it is very possible that Yom Kippur is the
anniversary of the fall of Adam and Eve and of the first atonement sacrifice
ever made.
2D) All we know for sure of the timing of that event is that
it was after the creation week, but before the perfect man and woman could
conceive a child.
2B) On October 1 this year once we have understood that we each have a
Creator to Whom we must give account, know that there is a terrible problem
that each and every one of us has we are sinners.
1C) Our first parents sinned, and we sinned right along with them.
We show our sinful natures continually by choosing to sin. That sin blocks our
fellowship with God and ultimately leads to our damnation in a real literal
hell.
2C) That fall into a sinful condition is why we live in a world
filled with both great sorrow and catastrophe, as well as beauty and goodness
3C) God at first provided a way to cover those sins. By providing
coats of skins He killed an animal (a lamb) Adam and Eve were warned about
death, but did not know what it was. Once they saw the sacrifice of that cute
little innocent lamb in their behalf they knew what death was and had a taste
of just how heinous sin is.
4C) But atonement (a covering) is insufficient. It is not
forgiveness. It is not reconciliation with God. It was merely a temporary
provision until God would provide the final and perfect sacrifice for sin.
4A) Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles) (Leviticus 23:34-36)
1B)
“On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month … you shall
celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days”
1C) In Israel This was a festival for 8 days. It was to be as
joyous as Yom Kippur was solemn.
1D) It was tied together with the fall harvest and was to be
a reminder and celebration of the provision of the Lord for our daily needs.
2D) The first day of the celebration, the people were to
make small temporary structures to live in (Why it is called the feast of
tabernacles or booths.)
2C) This was to remind the people of Israel that their ancestors
had to live in booths after their departure from Egypt, yet the Lord met their
every need. Nehemiah 9:21
"Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not
in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.”
2B) For us as Christians we need to remember that,
“this world is not our home, we’re
just a passin’ through.”
Yet no matter
what our circumstances, the Lord has taken it upon Himself to ensure that our
every need is met.
5A) Pesach (Passover) (Exodus 12:14-17)
1B)
“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall
celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to
celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.”
1C) As we can see this was a one day feast attached to a week long
feast of unleavened bread.
2C) Of course for Israel this was a picture of what the Lord did
in freeing them from slavery in Egypt. [Exodus 12:1-10] On Nisan 10th
the Israelites were to take a lamb and bring it into their house. On Nisan 14th
the night of the death of the firstborn the Israelites were to take a lamb and
kill it and eat it then take the blood and put it on the door posts. That way
the Lord would pass over that household as He judged the country.
2B) As we know Christ was our Passover lamb. [1 Corinthians 5:7] He died
to provide the propitiation for all sins and the reconciliation to God that
the blood of sheep and bulls and goats could not provide.
1C) Now, as we personally partake of Christ (by faith trust that
our forgiveness and eternal salvation rests solely in His finished work, not
in any religious merit or supposed goodness I have.) God will pass over us in
His judgment of sin in this world.
2C) Now, just as the Israelites were no longer in bondage to
Egypt, so we are no longer in bondage to sin. God has given to us not only
forgiveness but also newness of life.
3C) One interesting detail of Scripture that just points out the
perfection of God’s sovereign plan and purpose for this world.
1D) Genesis 8:4 States that Noah’s ark finally came aground
on the 17th day of the 7th month (reckoned from Rosh
Hashanah.) On the Hebrew calendar this would be Nisan the 17th the
very day Jesus raised from the dead.
2D) Noah knew that he had escaped the judgment of God when
his ark of safety finally landed on solid ground. So we can know that we have
escaped the eternal judgment of God when our ark of safety, the Lord Jesus
Christ, rose from the dead.
6A) Shavuot (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-16 & 21)
1B) “You shall count
fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new
grain offering to the LORD.”
1C) From the Sabbath after Passover the Jews were to count 7
Sabbaths then on the next day they had the feast of weeks commonly referred to
as Pentecost
2C) For Israel it was tied to the harvest and offering the first
fruits of the crops (Always the best) to the Lord.
3C) Israel also tied it to the giving of the Law from Sinai. Thus
they state that while Passover freed them from slavery, the giving of the Law
saved them spiritually. (How wrong they are.)
2B) For the Christian of course this was 10 days after Jesus’ ascension
to heaven. And it marked the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell His church.
1C) At that time the first of the fruits of Christ’s labors were
gathered in and presented to the Lord. Not only were the 11 remaining
disciples empowered to serve the Lord by the coming of the Holy Spirit. The
first 3000 church saints were saved on that day [Acts 2:41]
2C) What the Jews miss in applying this to the giving of the Law
is that the Law saves no one, it only makes their sin sinnier. In contrast to
the 3000 people who were saved on the day of Pentecost, when Moses first gave
the Law 3000 people died [Exodus 32:15-28]
Lessons for our lives
1.
When we review the holidays that God placed in
Israel’s calendar and see the great prophetic and historical significance of
each one. We can know for sure that, “Our God is an awesome God, He reigns
from heaven above.” There is not a single detail that the Lord God of heaven
does not absolutely have under His providential control.
2.
While other extra-biblical holidays like Memorial
Day are important and certainly they are not wrong to observe, never let them
overshadow the Biblical holidays that the Lord has given to us to remind us of
His great work of salvation.
3.
I think it would be of benefit to all of us if we
would start to observe the Biblical holidays. Those of our brethren in Christ
that are Jews by birth have a greater blessing every year as their entire
calendar reminds them of the work of salvation.
4.
Maybe you have never realized you need of
personal salvation in Christ ….
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