If you will recall, the Feast of Passover is a picture of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, dying as our substitute for sin. Jesus went to the cross on Passover. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is picture of Jesus’ sinless body not undergoing decay while in the grave. And, last Sunday, I introduced the Feast of Firstfruits and illustrated how this feast is a picture of Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus rose again on the exact day of the Feast of Firstfruits.
The Apostle Paul wrote of the Feast of Firstfruits in 1 Corinthians 15:20-24:
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
First things are an important and oft-repeated theme of Scripture. God declared that, in general, the firstfruits of all agricultural produce belonged to Him—grain, wine, oil, and even fleece. In fact, all seven of the major crops grown in ancient Israel were included: barley, wheat, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.
According to Mosaic Law, each firstborn son was to be presented to the priest at one month of age (Num. 18:16). In His mercy, the Lord made provision so that the firstborn could be redeemed from a lifetime of service in the Temple. At this dedication ceremony, called a Pidyon Haben (Heb. “Redemption of the Son”), it was possible to redeem the son out of full-time service through the payment of five shekels (pieces of silver) to the priest (Num. 18:16). The Pidyon Haben held true for all except the firstborn of the priests and the Levites. They were obligated to serve in the Temple and, therefore, could not be exempted.
At one month of age, Jesus was taken to the Temple for His Pidyon Haben. Mary and Joseph presented Him to the Lord: “As it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’” (Luke 2:23).
It was on this occasion that Jesus was first publicly declared to be the Messiah. The godly Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:30). As a second witness, the godly Anna, declared His messiahship “to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
The meaning of the Pidyon Haben ceremony was given by the Lord in Numbers 3:13, “For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord.”
When God redeemed Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He did so through the blood of the Passover lamb. All firstborn were under the curse of death and judgment. Escape was possible only by exhibiting faith in God through the blood of the innocent Passover lamb (Ex. 12:12-13).
So, too, in the spiritual sense, all of mankind is firstborn. All are sinners just as Adam and, therefore, are under the curse of death and in need of redemption (Rom. 5:17, 19; 1 Cor. 15:22). Escape is possible only by exhibiting faith in God through the redemptive blood of the Messiah, the true Passover Lamb, sacrificed as our substitute. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “…For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”
Seven Examples of Firstfruits in the New Testament
Although Firstfruits is not as strongly emphasized in the Hebrew Scriptures as the other Levitical feasts, the Feast of Firstfruits forms an important backdrop to New Testament teaching. It is directly mentioned on seven occasions in the New Testament.
First, Paul spoke of Epaenetus as “the firstfruits of Achaia” (Rom. 16:5).
Second, Paul later spoke of the household of Stephanas as the “the firstfruits of Achaia” (1 Cor. 16:15). These were some of the first believers in the large harvest that followed in that part of ancient Greece.
Third, Paul used the concept of the firstfruits pinched from the dough to teach: “For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy” (Rom. 11:16). By this he meant, if God chose and accepted the patriarchs, then the whole lump of dough (Israel) belonged to Him. Therefore, “God has not cast away His people” (Rom. 11:2).
Fourth, speaking of believers as set apart to the Lord, James taught in James 1:18: “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
Fifth, Paul again used this imagery when he spoke of salvation as the “firstfruits of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:23). By this he meant that the indwelling of the Spirit of God is the guarantee, or pledge, that there will be a final redemption. Our bodies will be glorified and the creation redeemed from the curse. The present reality of the indwelling of believers by the Holy Spirit assures, or guarantees (is the firstfruits of), the future promise of Heaven!
Sixth, in the Book of Revelation, John described a special group of 144,000 Jewish men who will be sealed just prior to the opening of the seventh seal (Rev. 7:1-8). There will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, sealed and protected from God’s wrath at the commencement of the Day of the Lord. Later, John describes these 144,000 as “the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb” (Rev. 14:4).
But how are these 144,000 considered firstfruits? Immediately after the Rapture of the Church, the 144,000 will be God’s first working with the nation of Israel. They will be the proof, guarantee, or pledge (the firstfruits) of a future harvest within the nation of Israel. God will burn away the chaff and impurities in the fiery blast furnace of His wrath to bring the remnant of Israel to repentance at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. Paul summarizes the result in Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel will be saved.”
Paul longed for Israel’s final harvest and spoke of himself as “one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8). The imagery was that of a fig tree which would occasionally yield prematurely ripened figs out of season. These early figs were few and rare. Paul viewed himself as one of these whom God had graciously saved before the final harvest.
The seventh reference to Firstfruits in the New Testament is the most significant because it tells us of its fulfillment. Like Israel’s other spring feasts, the Feast of Firstfruits found its fulfillment in the first coming of Jesus Christ. Paul gloriously declared in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” Revelation 1:5 refers to Jesus as “first born” from the dead.
How was Jesus our firstfruits? Jesus rose again on the third day (literally, the third day of the Passover season, Nisan 16), on the day of Firstfruits. But His resurrection had far greater implications beyond himself. Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee and the beginning (firstfruits) of the final harvest, or resurrection, of mankind! Jesus fulfilled the prophetic meaning of this holy day by rising from the dead to become the firstfruits of the resurrection, and He did it on the exact day of Firstfruits!
The Bible clearly teaches that there is life after death. The human soul does not cease to exist, nor does it float aimlessly as part of some “cosmic consciousness,” nor is it reincarnated. All will be resurrected. Only the quality of that eternal existence remains in question. The Hebrew prophet, Daniel, prophesied in Daniel 12:2, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”
Jesus further explained in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Just as there are two parts to the harvest, the wheat and the chaff, there will be two parts to the final harvest. Some will inherit eternal life and dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Those who do not give their hearts to Christ will inherit separation from God and be confined to the Lake of Fire—forever.
If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you will be resurrected to life at His coming. Jesus provided the ironclad guarantee when He rose from the dead. It will happen, of that we are sure, because “…Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Feasts of the Lord #6: The Feast of Firstfruits (Part 1) -- Leviticus 23:9-14
Many Christians are blessed in their studies of what is known as Eschatology, or literally, the study of last things. This vital area of biblical doctrine delves into future prophetic events in Scripture such as the Rapture of the Church, the Day of the Lord, the return of the Messiah, the restoration of Israel, and the messianic Kingdom. Many people spend countless hours studying the last things.
Although not a major discipline, nor often examined for very long by very many, the subject of first things is one about which the Bible has much to say. Somewhat obscure and essentially unobserved for almost two thousand years, Israel’s Feast of Firstfruits was an ancient holy day solely devoted to first things. Its powerful message and timeless truths provide a rich lesson for God’s people.
Firstfruits marked the beginning of the cereal grain harvests in Israel. Barley was the first grain to ripen of those sown in the winter months. For Firstfruits, a sheaf of barley was harvested and brought into the Temple as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord for the harvest. It was representative of the barley harvest as a whole and served as a pledge or guarantee that the remainder of the harvest would be realized in the days that followed.
1. The Regulations for Firstfruits
There were specific regulations for this feast outlined by the Lord in Leviticus 23:9-14.
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am 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.
11 ‘He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 ‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord.
13 ‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
14 ‘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.
A sheaf (Hebrew omer, meaning “measure”) was to be brought to the priest at the Temple. The priest would wave it before the Lord for acceptance. There were also to be sacrifices: an unblemished male lamb of the first year, a drink offering of wine, and a meal offering of the barley flour mixed with olive oil.
The people were forbidden to use any part of the harvest in any way until after the firstfruits were offered to the Lord (Lev. 23:14). The neglect of these firstfruit offerings (or any others) were considered robbery of God according to Scripture (Mal. 3:8).
2. The Ritual for Firstfruits
The ceremony was detailed in Deuteronomy 26:1-10:
1 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,
2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.
3 “You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
4 “Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 “You shall answer and say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
6 ‘And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.
7 ‘Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;
8 and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;
9 and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 ‘Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God…”
3. The Reason for Firstfruits
Firstfruits was an early spring feast, the third in the Jewish festive cycle. On the Hebrew calendar, it occurred on the 16th day of Nisan, the first biblical month (March or April), only two days after the beginning of the Passover season.
Firstfruits was preeminently seen as a time marker. It marked the beginning of the grain harvest in Israel, but even more importantly, it marked the countdown to the Feast of Weeks, the fourth of Israel’s annual feasts. Beginning with Firstfruits, 49 days (or seven sevens) were counted, and on the 50th day, the Feast of Weeks was celebrated. The Lord commanded in Leviticus 23:15-16:
“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.”
As a result, this period of time was, and still is, known as the Sefirat Ha-Omer (Heb. “the Counting of the Omer”) because of the ritual of counting the days from the omer (sheaf, measure) to the Feast of Weeks.
Scripture does not specify the actual calendar date of Firstfruits, but merely prescribed its time of observance to be “on the day after the Sabbath” (Lev. 23:11). This led to various interpretations and considerable debate as to which Sabbath was in view.
The Sadducees, and later Karaite Jews, understood it to refer to the first weekly Sabbath (Saturday) which occurred during the week of Passover season. However, the word Sabbath also designated any holy day on which work was prohibited, no matter on which day of the week it occurred (Lev. 23:24, 32, 39). The majority opinion, held by the Pharisees, was that the Sabbath in question was Nisan 15, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That day was to be a “holy convocation” (Lev. 23:7) on which no work was performed. This same description was given to the weekly Sabbath (Lev. 23:3) and to holy-day Sabbaths held on other days of the week (Lev. 23:24-25, 28, 32, 36, 39).
Ancient Jewish observance agreed with the Pharisees. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote: “But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them” (Antiquities of the Jews 3.10.5).
Thus, the chronology of the Passover season consisted of: Passover (Nisan 14), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (7 days, Nisan 15-21), and the Feast of Firstfruits (Nisan 16). The second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16) was also Firstfruits, a day simultaneously shared by both holidays.
Why is the date of Firstfruits so important? Remember, the 7 feasts of the Lord picture the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Passover Lamb and died on Passover (Nisan 14). Unleavened Bread pictured the sinless body of Jesus that did not decay while it was in the tomb on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of Nisan. Jesus rose from the grave on Nisan 16—the day of the Feast of Firstfruits. We shall see why this is so important.
4. The Record of Firstfruits
Firstfruits sacrifices and offerings are not offered today since there is no Temple. The only Firstfruits ritual which has survived to modern times has been the counting of the omer, the days from Firstfruits to the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
In ancient times the feast was observed on two levels.
-First, the priests would observe the feast for the entire nation.
-Second, each farmer was to observe the feast for his family farm.
I will describe to you the ceremony observed by the priests. But remember, each farmer was required to do the same for his individual crop.
A. The Preparation for Firstfruits
In Temple days, Nisan 14 brought the painstaking preparations for the Passover season to completion: lambs had been chosen for Passover sacrifices, houses had been purged of all leaven in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and barley sheaves had been marked in the fields for the Feast of Firstfruits.
With each passing week, the weather in Israel turned warmer. Winter rains had ceased, and cloudy days had quickly become few and far between. Looking eastward from the Temple, one could see the breathtaking panorama of the Mount of Olives and the intervening Kidron Valley basking in the bright golden rays of the springtime sun. Across the Kidron Valley in an area known as the Ashes Valley, a small, open field of amber barley nestled itself against a background of grassy, green slopes and misty gray olive trees. The ripe grain, swaying gently in the soft breeze, created a relaxing, mesmerizing pattern of warm gold. At one end of the field, several bundles of barley were conspicuously marked and tied together, still uncut, in anticipation of the coming Feast of Firstfruits.
This barley field was a special field, cultivated solely for the national Firstfruits offering and kept strictly in accordance with all rabbinic traditions. It had been plowed in the autumn and sown with barley some seventy days earlier during the winter months. Constant oversight assured that the crop had grown naturally, with no artificial watering or fertilization. In the days leading up to Passover, several sheaves were selectively marked and bundled by representatives from the Sanhedrin, Israel’s ruling religious body. With that, the preparation for Firstfruits was complete.
B. The Procession of Firstfruits
Several days later at sundown on Nisan 15 (the beginning of the new Jewish day, Nisan 16), a three-man delegation from the Sanhedrin emerged from the Temple area, accompanied by a multitude of excited observers. The procession made its way down to the barley field to perform the Firstfruits reaping ceremony. With sickles in hand and baskets under arm, the three chosen reapers positioned themselves in readiness before the predetermined bundles of barley. As they did so, a hush fell over the crowd in recognition of the solemnity of the moment. Only the soft whisper of the swaying grain could be heard.
Suddenly, the unison voices of the reapers broke the stillness of the evening with a series of questions to the onlookers: “Has the sun set?” “With this sickle?” “Into this basket?” “On this Sabbath?” “Shall I reap now?” To each question the crowd would respond “Yes!”
The series of questions was repeated two more times as a safeguard to make sure the sun had indeed set. The marked sheaves were then reaped until one ephah of barley (approximately 2/3 bushel) was obtained.
C. The Presentation of Firstfruits
In the Temple court, the grain was threshed with rods rather than oxen-drawn sledges so that the barley corns would not be broken. It was then parched over an open flame and winnowed in the wind to remove the chaff. Finally, the barley was milled and put through an intensive sifting process until sifted very fine. This sifting ceremony continued until one of the Temple inspectors could plunge his hand into the flour and remove it without any flour adhering to his hands (Talmud, Menahot 8:2).
On the morning of Nisan 16, the firstfruits were presented to the Lord. One omer (about 5 pints) of the barley flour was mixed with ¾ pint olive oil, and a small amount of frankincense was sprinkled upon it. This became the Firstfruits offering. The priest waved it before the Lord in accordance with Leviticus 23:11-13 and burned a small amount upon the altar. The remainder was given to the Levites.
D. The Picture of Firstfruits
The Feast of Firstfruits is a picture of the resurrection of Jesus. The feast is a celebration of the rest of the harvest. I will go into greater detail of this next Sunday.
Did you see the picture of Jesus in the Firstfruits offering?
The barley is set apart for the harvest…Jesus was pure and sinless, set apart from the world’s sinfulness.
The barley is harvested by being “cut off” by sickle…Jesus was “cut off” by being crucified.
The barley is threshed with rods to separate the grain from the chaff, without breaking the kernels…Jesus was beaten, but none of His bones were broken.
The grain is then parched over fire…Jesus took our judgment upon Himself.
The grain is ground to a fine flour…Jesus did not take any shortcuts to end or relieve His suffering on the cross. He refused the narcotics that would have dulled the pain.
The flour sits overnight….Jesus was buried in the tomb.
At daybreak on Nisan 16 the flour is offered to the Lord after being mixed with olive oil and sprinkled with frankincense…Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb after being anointed with frankincense. Next, at daybreak on Nisan 16 Jesus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God (pictured by the olive oil).
The Firstfruits offering was a celebration that the remainder of the harvest still in the fields would be brought in to the storehouse…The resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee that all who trust in Him will one day be resurrected in the likeness of Jesus and brought to the Father’s house!
Do you know if have a part in the resurrection of Christ and will be brought to the Father’s house?
Although not a major discipline, nor often examined for very long by very many, the subject of first things is one about which the Bible has much to say. Somewhat obscure and essentially unobserved for almost two thousand years, Israel’s Feast of Firstfruits was an ancient holy day solely devoted to first things. Its powerful message and timeless truths provide a rich lesson for God’s people.
Firstfruits marked the beginning of the cereal grain harvests in Israel. Barley was the first grain to ripen of those sown in the winter months. For Firstfruits, a sheaf of barley was harvested and brought into the Temple as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord for the harvest. It was representative of the barley harvest as a whole and served as a pledge or guarantee that the remainder of the harvest would be realized in the days that followed.
1. The Regulations for Firstfruits
There were specific regulations for this feast outlined by the Lord in Leviticus 23:9-14.
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am 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.
11 ‘He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 ‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord.
13 ‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
14 ‘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.
A sheaf (Hebrew omer, meaning “measure”) was to be brought to the priest at the Temple. The priest would wave it before the Lord for acceptance. There were also to be sacrifices: an unblemished male lamb of the first year, a drink offering of wine, and a meal offering of the barley flour mixed with olive oil.
The people were forbidden to use any part of the harvest in any way until after the firstfruits were offered to the Lord (Lev. 23:14). The neglect of these firstfruit offerings (or any others) were considered robbery of God according to Scripture (Mal. 3:8).
2. The Ritual for Firstfruits
The ceremony was detailed in Deuteronomy 26:1-10:
1 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,
2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.
3 “You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
4 “Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 “You shall answer and say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
6 ‘And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.
7 ‘Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;
8 and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;
9 and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 ‘Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God…”
3. The Reason for Firstfruits
Firstfruits was an early spring feast, the third in the Jewish festive cycle. On the Hebrew calendar, it occurred on the 16th day of Nisan, the first biblical month (March or April), only two days after the beginning of the Passover season.
Firstfruits was preeminently seen as a time marker. It marked the beginning of the grain harvest in Israel, but even more importantly, it marked the countdown to the Feast of Weeks, the fourth of Israel’s annual feasts. Beginning with Firstfruits, 49 days (or seven sevens) were counted, and on the 50th day, the Feast of Weeks was celebrated. The Lord commanded in Leviticus 23:15-16:
“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.”
As a result, this period of time was, and still is, known as the Sefirat Ha-Omer (Heb. “the Counting of the Omer”) because of the ritual of counting the days from the omer (sheaf, measure) to the Feast of Weeks.
Scripture does not specify the actual calendar date of Firstfruits, but merely prescribed its time of observance to be “on the day after the Sabbath” (Lev. 23:11). This led to various interpretations and considerable debate as to which Sabbath was in view.
The Sadducees, and later Karaite Jews, understood it to refer to the first weekly Sabbath (Saturday) which occurred during the week of Passover season. However, the word Sabbath also designated any holy day on which work was prohibited, no matter on which day of the week it occurred (Lev. 23:24, 32, 39). The majority opinion, held by the Pharisees, was that the Sabbath in question was Nisan 15, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That day was to be a “holy convocation” (Lev. 23:7) on which no work was performed. This same description was given to the weekly Sabbath (Lev. 23:3) and to holy-day Sabbaths held on other days of the week (Lev. 23:24-25, 28, 32, 36, 39).
Ancient Jewish observance agreed with the Pharisees. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote: “But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them” (Antiquities of the Jews 3.10.5).
Thus, the chronology of the Passover season consisted of: Passover (Nisan 14), the Feast of Unleavened Bread (7 days, Nisan 15-21), and the Feast of Firstfruits (Nisan 16). The second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16) was also Firstfruits, a day simultaneously shared by both holidays.
Why is the date of Firstfruits so important? Remember, the 7 feasts of the Lord picture the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Passover Lamb and died on Passover (Nisan 14). Unleavened Bread pictured the sinless body of Jesus that did not decay while it was in the tomb on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of Nisan. Jesus rose from the grave on Nisan 16—the day of the Feast of Firstfruits. We shall see why this is so important.
4. The Record of Firstfruits
Firstfruits sacrifices and offerings are not offered today since there is no Temple. The only Firstfruits ritual which has survived to modern times has been the counting of the omer, the days from Firstfruits to the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
In ancient times the feast was observed on two levels.
-First, the priests would observe the feast for the entire nation.
-Second, each farmer was to observe the feast for his family farm.
I will describe to you the ceremony observed by the priests. But remember, each farmer was required to do the same for his individual crop.
A. The Preparation for Firstfruits
In Temple days, Nisan 14 brought the painstaking preparations for the Passover season to completion: lambs had been chosen for Passover sacrifices, houses had been purged of all leaven in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and barley sheaves had been marked in the fields for the Feast of Firstfruits.
With each passing week, the weather in Israel turned warmer. Winter rains had ceased, and cloudy days had quickly become few and far between. Looking eastward from the Temple, one could see the breathtaking panorama of the Mount of Olives and the intervening Kidron Valley basking in the bright golden rays of the springtime sun. Across the Kidron Valley in an area known as the Ashes Valley, a small, open field of amber barley nestled itself against a background of grassy, green slopes and misty gray olive trees. The ripe grain, swaying gently in the soft breeze, created a relaxing, mesmerizing pattern of warm gold. At one end of the field, several bundles of barley were conspicuously marked and tied together, still uncut, in anticipation of the coming Feast of Firstfruits.
This barley field was a special field, cultivated solely for the national Firstfruits offering and kept strictly in accordance with all rabbinic traditions. It had been plowed in the autumn and sown with barley some seventy days earlier during the winter months. Constant oversight assured that the crop had grown naturally, with no artificial watering or fertilization. In the days leading up to Passover, several sheaves were selectively marked and bundled by representatives from the Sanhedrin, Israel’s ruling religious body. With that, the preparation for Firstfruits was complete.
B. The Procession of Firstfruits
Several days later at sundown on Nisan 15 (the beginning of the new Jewish day, Nisan 16), a three-man delegation from the Sanhedrin emerged from the Temple area, accompanied by a multitude of excited observers. The procession made its way down to the barley field to perform the Firstfruits reaping ceremony. With sickles in hand and baskets under arm, the three chosen reapers positioned themselves in readiness before the predetermined bundles of barley. As they did so, a hush fell over the crowd in recognition of the solemnity of the moment. Only the soft whisper of the swaying grain could be heard.
Suddenly, the unison voices of the reapers broke the stillness of the evening with a series of questions to the onlookers: “Has the sun set?” “With this sickle?” “Into this basket?” “On this Sabbath?” “Shall I reap now?” To each question the crowd would respond “Yes!”
The series of questions was repeated two more times as a safeguard to make sure the sun had indeed set. The marked sheaves were then reaped until one ephah of barley (approximately 2/3 bushel) was obtained.
C. The Presentation of Firstfruits
In the Temple court, the grain was threshed with rods rather than oxen-drawn sledges so that the barley corns would not be broken. It was then parched over an open flame and winnowed in the wind to remove the chaff. Finally, the barley was milled and put through an intensive sifting process until sifted very fine. This sifting ceremony continued until one of the Temple inspectors could plunge his hand into the flour and remove it without any flour adhering to his hands (Talmud, Menahot 8:2).
On the morning of Nisan 16, the firstfruits were presented to the Lord. One omer (about 5 pints) of the barley flour was mixed with ¾ pint olive oil, and a small amount of frankincense was sprinkled upon it. This became the Firstfruits offering. The priest waved it before the Lord in accordance with Leviticus 23:11-13 and burned a small amount upon the altar. The remainder was given to the Levites.
D. The Picture of Firstfruits
The Feast of Firstfruits is a picture of the resurrection of Jesus. The feast is a celebration of the rest of the harvest. I will go into greater detail of this next Sunday.
Did you see the picture of Jesus in the Firstfruits offering?
The barley is set apart for the harvest…Jesus was pure and sinless, set apart from the world’s sinfulness.
The barley is harvested by being “cut off” by sickle…Jesus was “cut off” by being crucified.
The barley is threshed with rods to separate the grain from the chaff, without breaking the kernels…Jesus was beaten, but none of His bones were broken.
The grain is then parched over fire…Jesus took our judgment upon Himself.
The grain is ground to a fine flour…Jesus did not take any shortcuts to end or relieve His suffering on the cross. He refused the narcotics that would have dulled the pain.
The flour sits overnight….Jesus was buried in the tomb.
At daybreak on Nisan 16 the flour is offered to the Lord after being mixed with olive oil and sprinkled with frankincense…Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb after being anointed with frankincense. Next, at daybreak on Nisan 16 Jesus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God (pictured by the olive oil).
The Firstfruits offering was a celebration that the remainder of the harvest still in the fields would be brought in to the storehouse…The resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee that all who trust in Him will one day be resurrected in the likeness of Jesus and brought to the Father’s house!
Do you know if have a part in the resurrection of Christ and will be brought to the Father’s house?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The Feasts of the Lord #5: The Feast of Unleavened Bread--Exodus 12:14-20
Remember, the first four feasts in the spring are a picture of what Jesus has already accomplished for us. The last three feasts in the fall are a promise of what Jesus will do for us in the future.
As we continue our examination of the “Seven Feasts of the Lord,” Israel’s second feast is named after the bread which is required to be eaten during the holiday.
The Hebrew Scriptures call this feast Hag Hamatzot. Matzah and the plural Matzot are the Hebrew words for “unleavened bread.” Therefore, this holiday is known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
14 ‘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.
15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
17 ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
1. The “What?” of the Feast
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a reminder of God’s miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage, for when Israel fled from Egypt in the middle of the night, there was no time for bread dough to rise. So the Lord commanded, “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” (Deuteronomy 16:3).
The biblical record gives only three instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
--Special sacrifices were to be offered in the Temple each day of the feast (Lev. 23:8; Num. 28:19-24).
--The first and seventh days of the feast were Sabbaths with prohibitions on all work (Ex. 12:16).
--Leaven was strictly forbidden.
The Hebrew word for leaven is hametz, which literally means “sour.” Leaven (usually yeast or baking powder) is used to produce fermentation in bread dough. As leaven sours the dough, tiny gas bubbles are produced which cause the dough to rise.
Not only is the eating of leavened foods forbidden during the feast, but even the presence of leaven within one’s house is unlawful. The Lord commanded Moses in Exodus 12:15, “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”
Disobedience to the divine command carried severe consequences! Did you notice the consequences of disobedience in Exodus 12:15 & 19? To be “cut off” meant to be put to death. An ancient Jew who did not keep this feast was guilty of a capital crime! Leaven was even forbidden in all the territory of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 16:4).
God’s command allows no room for debate. Any leaven, no matter how small the amount or how discreet its presence, is not permitted during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is not enough to simply refrain from eating leaven, or from touching leaven, or even from looking at leaven by storing it in a hidden place. All leaven must be purged out. Failure to do so is a serious breach of Mosaic law.
2. The “When?” of the Feast
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is observed in the early spring (March-April). It begins on the 15th day (evening of the 14th day) of the Hebrew month of Nisan and lasts for seven days.
Because the Feast of Unleavened Bread (a seven-day holiday) begins the day after Passover (a one-day holiday), often the two holidays are blurred together and collectively referred to as “the eight days of Passover.” In the days of the Second Temple (Jesus’ time), it was also common to call all eight days the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Luke 22:1, 7).
Like Passover, this feast was instituted before the other feasts in Leviticus 23.
The Feasts of Unleavened Bread/Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles were the three annual pilgrim feasts and all Jewish men were expected to present themselves before the Lord at the Temple if at all possible.
3. The “How?” of the Feast
Observant Jewish households begin their painstaking preparations weeks before the arrival of Passover. Walls are washed and sometimes even painted. Cooking utensils are scalded. Clothing is washed with pockets turned inside out. Carpets are cleaned and vacuum bags are discarded. Everything in the house is cleaned and aired in preparation.
On the night before Passover eve, after evening prayers in the synagogue, the father of each household will perform the Bedikat Hametz, or “Search for Leaven,” ceremony. This ancient ceremony purges the last vestiges of leaven from the house. Earlier that evening, a few bits of leavened bread are placed in several corners or on window sills of the house.
After reciting the benediction for the occasion, the father begins the search. He uses an old wooden spoon in one hand and a goose feather in the other. By candlelight, he searches from room to room to discover the distributed bread scraps. The children follow behind with great excitement as he carefully uses the feather to sweep the bread he finds onto the wooden spoon. Finally, the bits of bread, the wooden spoon, and the feather are placed inside a bag or wrapped in a cloth. This is tied with a thread and set aside to be burned the next morning.
4. The “Why?” of the Feast
Sin is often pictured as leaven in Scripture (Mt. 16:6,11; Mk. 8:15; Lk. 12:1; Gal. 5:9). The ancient rabbis believed that “leaven represents the evil impulse of the heart” (Talmud, Berachot 17a).
Leaven is well-suited as a picture of sin since it rapidly permeates the dough, contaminating it, souring it, fermenting it, and swelling it to many times its original size without changing its weight. In fact, this souring process (the first stage of decay) of sin is part of the curse of death decreed by God when Adam sinned (Genesis 3:19).
Since leaven pictures sin, only unleavened bread was used in the Temple. Offerings had to be pure, and anything leavened was deemed impure and unfit.
As with the other feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23, the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is found in the work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Passover pictures the substitutionary death of the Messiah as the Passover Lamb.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the burial of the Messiah.
The Hebrew prophets foretold a day when the Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin. He would be the Lamb offered up by God as the once-for-all sacrifice. The prophet Isaiah declared of the Messiah: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…When You make His soul an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:4, 6, 10).
Isaiah also predicted Messiah’s amazing burial in Isaiah 53:9…
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
Normally, one who dies a criminal’s death receives a criminal’s burial. But this was not the case with the Messiah. Jesus was executed as if He were a criminal, but God did not allow His body to be cast outside the city onto the garbage heap. The Messiah was honored in His burial because He was a pure, sinless (without leaven) sacrifice.
Jesus did not die for His own transgressions (He was innocent), but for ours (we are guilty). Therefore, God honored the Messiah with burial in a rich man’s tomb. Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Mt. 27:57-60). He was a rich man. God was making a statement about the innocence of the Messiah.
But there is further significance surrounding the burial of the Messiah in that His body did not return to dust. King David prophesied of the Messiah in Psalm 16:10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol [the grave]; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Obviously, King David did not prophesy this of himself. His grave has been a revered site in Jerusalem for almost 3,000 years. David’s body did decay, just like the body of everyone else who has died. But the Messiah’s body did not decay. The sons of Adam are sinners under the divine curse: “To dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
As a pure, sinless sacrifice, Jesus was not under the curse to return to dust. Therefore, Jesus came forth from the grave on the third day after He had carried our sins far away. Psalm 103:12 tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Hebrews 9:24-28 reads, For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread in that He was a pure, sinless sacrifice (unleavened bread). Seven is the number of perfection. The unleavened bread (Jesus) was eaten for seven days while sacrifices were offered (Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins).
God validated this by the Messiah’s burial in a rich man’s tomb. Furthermore, the body of Jesus was not permitted to decay in the grave (like dough soured by leaven), but was brought forth because He was not a sinner under the curse of death and decay.
5. The “So What Now?” of the Feast
It is interesting that Paul used the purging ceremony, the Bedikat Hametz, or “Search for Leaven,” to convey spiritual truth to the believers in the city of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.
“Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Paul’s message is simple and direct. For believers who have, by faith, accepted the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb upon Calvary, Passover is past history. The deliverance by Messiah, the true Passover Lamb, has already been experienced in their lives. They are now living in the Feast of Unleavened Bread where purity and separation from leaven are required.
It does no good to simply get rid of the large conspicuous loaves on the table and leave the little pieces of leaven scattered on the floor. A little leaven will contaminate everything else. “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). He commands them to purge it out—all of it. In other words he pleads: “How can you enter into the Feast of Unleavened Bread still eating your leavened bread? It is not kosher. It does not belong. The two do not go together. It is an outrage! Get rid of it!”
Paul is simply stating what he later taught in Romans 6:1-18. The believer is no longer under the power (dominion) of sin—those chains have been broken. The believer is no longer a helpless slave to sin. A Christian chooses to sin when he is drawn away by his own lust (James 1:14-15).
The tragedy is that far too few believers realize this truth. They continue to be duped by the flesh into thinking and acting as if sin is still the evil taskmaster that they are obligated to obey.
In God’s sight we are now unleavened (justified and pure) and are called to lives of holiness. So Paul questions, “Why keep living as if we are not?
The presence of any leaven during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an absolute outrage. Even the mere sight of it is a very serious matter.
Just as is done in the purging ceremony, we need to thoroughly sweep out our lives. It is not sufficient to simply throw out the conspicuous loaves on the table and hide the favorite sourdough loaf in the cupboard or allow the unnoticed crumbs to remain under the table.
We need to take the candle of God’s Word and search our lives. Every corner, every crack, and every window sill must be scrutinized in its light. The task is not complete until every speck of leaven is purged. Why? Paul gives us the motivation: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).
As we continue our examination of the “Seven Feasts of the Lord,” Israel’s second feast is named after the bread which is required to be eaten during the holiday.
The Hebrew Scriptures call this feast Hag Hamatzot. Matzah and the plural Matzot are the Hebrew words for “unleavened bread.” Therefore, this holiday is known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
14 ‘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.
15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
17 ‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
1. The “What?” of the Feast
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a reminder of God’s miraculous deliverance from Egyptian bondage, for when Israel fled from Egypt in the middle of the night, there was no time for bread dough to rise. So the Lord commanded, “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” (Deuteronomy 16:3).
The biblical record gives only three instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
--Special sacrifices were to be offered in the Temple each day of the feast (Lev. 23:8; Num. 28:19-24).
--The first and seventh days of the feast were Sabbaths with prohibitions on all work (Ex. 12:16).
--Leaven was strictly forbidden.
The Hebrew word for leaven is hametz, which literally means “sour.” Leaven (usually yeast or baking powder) is used to produce fermentation in bread dough. As leaven sours the dough, tiny gas bubbles are produced which cause the dough to rise.
Not only is the eating of leavened foods forbidden during the feast, but even the presence of leaven within one’s house is unlawful. The Lord commanded Moses in Exodus 12:15, “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”
Disobedience to the divine command carried severe consequences! Did you notice the consequences of disobedience in Exodus 12:15 & 19? To be “cut off” meant to be put to death. An ancient Jew who did not keep this feast was guilty of a capital crime! Leaven was even forbidden in all the territory of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 16:4).
God’s command allows no room for debate. Any leaven, no matter how small the amount or how discreet its presence, is not permitted during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is not enough to simply refrain from eating leaven, or from touching leaven, or even from looking at leaven by storing it in a hidden place. All leaven must be purged out. Failure to do so is a serious breach of Mosaic law.
2. The “When?” of the Feast
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is observed in the early spring (March-April). It begins on the 15th day (evening of the 14th day) of the Hebrew month of Nisan and lasts for seven days.
Because the Feast of Unleavened Bread (a seven-day holiday) begins the day after Passover (a one-day holiday), often the two holidays are blurred together and collectively referred to as “the eight days of Passover.” In the days of the Second Temple (Jesus’ time), it was also common to call all eight days the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Luke 22:1, 7).
Like Passover, this feast was instituted before the other feasts in Leviticus 23.
The Feasts of Unleavened Bread/Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles were the three annual pilgrim feasts and all Jewish men were expected to present themselves before the Lord at the Temple if at all possible.
3. The “How?” of the Feast
Observant Jewish households begin their painstaking preparations weeks before the arrival of Passover. Walls are washed and sometimes even painted. Cooking utensils are scalded. Clothing is washed with pockets turned inside out. Carpets are cleaned and vacuum bags are discarded. Everything in the house is cleaned and aired in preparation.
On the night before Passover eve, after evening prayers in the synagogue, the father of each household will perform the Bedikat Hametz, or “Search for Leaven,” ceremony. This ancient ceremony purges the last vestiges of leaven from the house. Earlier that evening, a few bits of leavened bread are placed in several corners or on window sills of the house.
After reciting the benediction for the occasion, the father begins the search. He uses an old wooden spoon in one hand and a goose feather in the other. By candlelight, he searches from room to room to discover the distributed bread scraps. The children follow behind with great excitement as he carefully uses the feather to sweep the bread he finds onto the wooden spoon. Finally, the bits of bread, the wooden spoon, and the feather are placed inside a bag or wrapped in a cloth. This is tied with a thread and set aside to be burned the next morning.
4. The “Why?” of the Feast
Sin is often pictured as leaven in Scripture (Mt. 16:6,11; Mk. 8:15; Lk. 12:1; Gal. 5:9). The ancient rabbis believed that “leaven represents the evil impulse of the heart” (Talmud, Berachot 17a).
Leaven is well-suited as a picture of sin since it rapidly permeates the dough, contaminating it, souring it, fermenting it, and swelling it to many times its original size without changing its weight. In fact, this souring process (the first stage of decay) of sin is part of the curse of death decreed by God when Adam sinned (Genesis 3:19).
Since leaven pictures sin, only unleavened bread was used in the Temple. Offerings had to be pure, and anything leavened was deemed impure and unfit.
As with the other feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23, the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is found in the work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Passover pictures the substitutionary death of the Messiah as the Passover Lamb.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the burial of the Messiah.
The Hebrew prophets foretold a day when the Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin. He would be the Lamb offered up by God as the once-for-all sacrifice. The prophet Isaiah declared of the Messiah: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…When You make His soul an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:4, 6, 10).
Isaiah also predicted Messiah’s amazing burial in Isaiah 53:9…
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
Normally, one who dies a criminal’s death receives a criminal’s burial. But this was not the case with the Messiah. Jesus was executed as if He were a criminal, but God did not allow His body to be cast outside the city onto the garbage heap. The Messiah was honored in His burial because He was a pure, sinless (without leaven) sacrifice.
Jesus did not die for His own transgressions (He was innocent), but for ours (we are guilty). Therefore, God honored the Messiah with burial in a rich man’s tomb. Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Mt. 27:57-60). He was a rich man. God was making a statement about the innocence of the Messiah.
But there is further significance surrounding the burial of the Messiah in that His body did not return to dust. King David prophesied of the Messiah in Psalm 16:10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol [the grave]; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Obviously, King David did not prophesy this of himself. His grave has been a revered site in Jerusalem for almost 3,000 years. David’s body did decay, just like the body of everyone else who has died. But the Messiah’s body did not decay. The sons of Adam are sinners under the divine curse: “To dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
As a pure, sinless sacrifice, Jesus was not under the curse to return to dust. Therefore, Jesus came forth from the grave on the third day after He had carried our sins far away. Psalm 103:12 tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Hebrews 9:24-28 reads, For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread in that He was a pure, sinless sacrifice (unleavened bread). Seven is the number of perfection. The unleavened bread (Jesus) was eaten for seven days while sacrifices were offered (Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins).
God validated this by the Messiah’s burial in a rich man’s tomb. Furthermore, the body of Jesus was not permitted to decay in the grave (like dough soured by leaven), but was brought forth because He was not a sinner under the curse of death and decay.
5. The “So What Now?” of the Feast
It is interesting that Paul used the purging ceremony, the Bedikat Hametz, or “Search for Leaven,” to convey spiritual truth to the believers in the city of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.
“Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Paul’s message is simple and direct. For believers who have, by faith, accepted the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb upon Calvary, Passover is past history. The deliverance by Messiah, the true Passover Lamb, has already been experienced in their lives. They are now living in the Feast of Unleavened Bread where purity and separation from leaven are required.
It does no good to simply get rid of the large conspicuous loaves on the table and leave the little pieces of leaven scattered on the floor. A little leaven will contaminate everything else. “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). He commands them to purge it out—all of it. In other words he pleads: “How can you enter into the Feast of Unleavened Bread still eating your leavened bread? It is not kosher. It does not belong. The two do not go together. It is an outrage! Get rid of it!”
Paul is simply stating what he later taught in Romans 6:1-18. The believer is no longer under the power (dominion) of sin—those chains have been broken. The believer is no longer a helpless slave to sin. A Christian chooses to sin when he is drawn away by his own lust (James 1:14-15).
The tragedy is that far too few believers realize this truth. They continue to be duped by the flesh into thinking and acting as if sin is still the evil taskmaster that they are obligated to obey.
In God’s sight we are now unleavened (justified and pure) and are called to lives of holiness. So Paul questions, “Why keep living as if we are not?
The presence of any leaven during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an absolute outrage. Even the mere sight of it is a very serious matter.
Just as is done in the purging ceremony, we need to thoroughly sweep out our lives. It is not sufficient to simply throw out the conspicuous loaves on the table and hide the favorite sourdough loaf in the cupboard or allow the unnoticed crumbs to remain under the table.
We need to take the candle of God’s Word and search our lives. Every corner, every crack, and every window sill must be scrutinized in its light. The task is not complete until every speck of leaven is purged. Why? Paul gives us the motivation: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Who will roll away the stone?--Mark 15:42-16:8
On this Resurrection Sunday morning, I want to us to think about the stone which sealed the tomb of Jesus. The Bible tells us that the ladies who came to Jesus’ grave on that first Easter morning were concerned about the stone which blocked their access to the body of Christ.
They knew that this stone was blocking their destination, and yet, they would not let the stone stop them!
42 When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.
45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
These ladies began to walk to the tomb, knowing the stone was there. How would they be able to remove the stone and anoint the body of Jesus? Remember, this was a big stone. The three of them together would not be able to remove it. It was a burdensome stone. If they were to give it their all, they would still be unable to roll the stone away. Yet, it was a blessed stone. In spite of the difficulty facing them, they began their journey toward the stone.
It would have been easy for these women to not even begin their journey. They knew this huge stone was standing in their way, and yet they pressed on. Oh can’t you hear them talking as they walked along the way, “Who is going to move the stone out of our way?”
Just like the stone over the grave of Jesus was an obstacle to these ladies, we all have stones which prevent us from reaching out in faith to Jesus Christ.
When you find yourselves climbing up the rough side of the mountain - bills are many, but dollars are few – are you going to let the stone stop you?
When your name is scandalized and dragged through the miry clay, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When you come across someone who doesn’t know the LORD, and their heart is cold, stony, and impenetrable, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When your health is failing you and you’re lying on your bed of affliction, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When you don’t know how you’re going to finish your education because you don’t have the necessary funds, are you going to let the stone stop you?
You see, the enemy wants the stone to stop you today. The devil wants the stone to stop your marriage from working. The devil wants your family to fail. The devil wants the stone to stop you from knowing God’s plan for your life. The devil wants your job to be a burden to you. The devil wants to stop you from getting your education. The devil wants to stop you from sharing Jesus with someone else. The devil wants to stop you from worshipping and praising GOD.
Let’s take a closer look at the stone sealing Jesus in the tomb. Then we will make an application to the stones which block our way today.
1. The Stone Was Big!
It is estimated the stone which sealed the tomb of Christ weighed about 2,000 pounds! It would take a number of people to move it. Ancient grave-sealing stones were disk-shaped. They were balanced in a stone track and held in place by a wedge. When the wedge was removed, gravity caused them to roll into place and seal the tomb.
A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb in such a manner that it sealed its entrance, that no one could enter or exit. They used a huge stone, an enormous boulder, a great big rock to seal the tomb of Jesus, the Christ.
Matthew 27:66 tells that the Romans not only sealed the tomb with a big rock, they placed a quaternion of soldiers there to guard the tomb. The Roman sentries were small units of sixteen soldiers. Each guard shift lasted six hours. Each shift, four soldiers formed a square formation with their backs to one another. It was not possible to sneak up on them from any direction. They were to guard their post with their lives and would lose their lives if they failed in their duty.
The stone was big and no one would be able to get to the body of Christ because of it! The guards would make sure that a group didn’t come and remove it.
2. The Stone Was Burdensome!
The stone is a burden that can’t be easily moved. Remember, the average grave stones weighed about 2,000 pounds. It was impossible to move it in the presence of the guards without causing a lot of commotion and being noticed.
This stone is just one of many stones that appear in the Bible. The stone represents a burden. Yes, Jesus had died and his death was a burden upon all of those that loved Him. But to add fuel to the fire, they added the burden of a boulder. IF there was any hope in Jesus overcoming the burden of the grave, then it was diminished with the thought of there being no escape from the burden of the granite.
The stone was intended to serve as barrier. It would keep Jesus in and people out. The stone was an added burden to the hearts of the followers of Christ. Those seeking Christ were too helpless to overcome this burden.
There are some of you who are weighed down by the burdensome stone that has been cast upon you. Some of you are bearing the stone of financial difficulty. Some of you are bearing the stone of depression. Some of you are bearing the stone of guilt. Some of you are bearing the stone of a broken heart. Some of you are bearing the stone of ill health. Some of you are bearing the stone of a broken marriage, a broken family, or just being spiritually, morally, mentally, and physically BROKEN. Being broken is a heavy stone.
These stone are not meant to be easy. They are not meant to accommodate your lifestyle. They are not meant to fit into YOUR scheme of things. They are not meant to bring efficiency to your life. But they are meant to alter the way you do things. They are meant to alter the way you see things. They are meant to get in your way, to hinder you, and even stop you from accomplishing anything that GOD wants you to do. They are burdensome.
3. The Stone Was a Blessing!
Isn’t it wonderful how God makes a way out of no way?!
I can hear the Psalmist say in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
If you know that GOD can and will sustain you, you ought to cast your burdens upon the LORD and DON’T LET THE STONE STOP YOU.
The ladies weren’t able to move the stone themselves that morning—but God did what they couldn’t do for themselves. That is why the stone was such a blessing.
God will remove the stone in your life. But He does it on His terms, not ours. We must come to Him in faith and surrender to His will.
I don’t know about you, but I know of another Stone. This Stone is on my side. My Stone is bigger than any stone that the devil can throw my way. My Stone is bigger than any stumbling block that the devil can lay down before me. My Stone is just like a mountain; and I can hide behind my mountain of a Stone when the going gets a little rough.
Jesus said in Mark 12:10 that He is the Stone which the builders have rejected and is now the Chief Corner Stone.
The stone that sealed the sepulcher that morning was no match for the Stone inside--the Stone the Builders Rejected, the Chief Cornestone!
The stone has been rolled away! He is risen from the dead!
There is one more stone I want you to know think about this morning.
In Revelation 2:17 Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
In New Testament times, a white stone with a name written on it had two purposes.
First, during a trial with multiple judges, the judge who voted for a guilty verdict placed a black stone in a vessel with the defendant’s name written on it. A judge who voted for acquittal would place a white stone with the defendant’s name written on it in the jar. The stones would be counted and the verdict announced by whether there was a majority of black or white stones.
The second use of a white stone with a name written on it was to serve as an invitation to a wedding feast. The groom would write the invited guest’s name on a white stone. The door keeper would recognize the groom’s handwriting to make sure the invitation stone was genuine. Special guests would have a “nick-name” given by the groom written on the stone as a term of endearment.
I’m glad this morning, that when I enter into His presence, He’s got a new name for me waiting on a white stone. I don’t know about you, but I want my white stone with my new name on it. When heaven and earth pass away, and I’m standing on the Word of God, I’ll have my new name on a white stone—declared not guilty by the only Judge!
And don’t get jealous because God has given me a stone with my new nick-name on it that invites me to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb-- GOD has enough white stones to go around for everyone!
The Bible tells me early, one Sunday morning, as the women went to the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. An angel sitting on top of that big stone told them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”
They knew that this stone was blocking their destination, and yet, they would not let the stone stop them!
42 When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.
45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
These ladies began to walk to the tomb, knowing the stone was there. How would they be able to remove the stone and anoint the body of Jesus? Remember, this was a big stone. The three of them together would not be able to remove it. It was a burdensome stone. If they were to give it their all, they would still be unable to roll the stone away. Yet, it was a blessed stone. In spite of the difficulty facing them, they began their journey toward the stone.
It would have been easy for these women to not even begin their journey. They knew this huge stone was standing in their way, and yet they pressed on. Oh can’t you hear them talking as they walked along the way, “Who is going to move the stone out of our way?”
Just like the stone over the grave of Jesus was an obstacle to these ladies, we all have stones which prevent us from reaching out in faith to Jesus Christ.
When you find yourselves climbing up the rough side of the mountain - bills are many, but dollars are few – are you going to let the stone stop you?
When your name is scandalized and dragged through the miry clay, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When you come across someone who doesn’t know the LORD, and their heart is cold, stony, and impenetrable, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When your health is failing you and you’re lying on your bed of affliction, are you going to let the stone stop you?
When you don’t know how you’re going to finish your education because you don’t have the necessary funds, are you going to let the stone stop you?
You see, the enemy wants the stone to stop you today. The devil wants the stone to stop your marriage from working. The devil wants your family to fail. The devil wants the stone to stop you from knowing God’s plan for your life. The devil wants your job to be a burden to you. The devil wants to stop you from getting your education. The devil wants to stop you from sharing Jesus with someone else. The devil wants to stop you from worshipping and praising GOD.
Let’s take a closer look at the stone sealing Jesus in the tomb. Then we will make an application to the stones which block our way today.
1. The Stone Was Big!
It is estimated the stone which sealed the tomb of Christ weighed about 2,000 pounds! It would take a number of people to move it. Ancient grave-sealing stones were disk-shaped. They were balanced in a stone track and held in place by a wedge. When the wedge was removed, gravity caused them to roll into place and seal the tomb.
A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb in such a manner that it sealed its entrance, that no one could enter or exit. They used a huge stone, an enormous boulder, a great big rock to seal the tomb of Jesus, the Christ.
Matthew 27:66 tells that the Romans not only sealed the tomb with a big rock, they placed a quaternion of soldiers there to guard the tomb. The Roman sentries were small units of sixteen soldiers. Each guard shift lasted six hours. Each shift, four soldiers formed a square formation with their backs to one another. It was not possible to sneak up on them from any direction. They were to guard their post with their lives and would lose their lives if they failed in their duty.
The stone was big and no one would be able to get to the body of Christ because of it! The guards would make sure that a group didn’t come and remove it.
2. The Stone Was Burdensome!
The stone is a burden that can’t be easily moved. Remember, the average grave stones weighed about 2,000 pounds. It was impossible to move it in the presence of the guards without causing a lot of commotion and being noticed.
This stone is just one of many stones that appear in the Bible. The stone represents a burden. Yes, Jesus had died and his death was a burden upon all of those that loved Him. But to add fuel to the fire, they added the burden of a boulder. IF there was any hope in Jesus overcoming the burden of the grave, then it was diminished with the thought of there being no escape from the burden of the granite.
The stone was intended to serve as barrier. It would keep Jesus in and people out. The stone was an added burden to the hearts of the followers of Christ. Those seeking Christ were too helpless to overcome this burden.
There are some of you who are weighed down by the burdensome stone that has been cast upon you. Some of you are bearing the stone of financial difficulty. Some of you are bearing the stone of depression. Some of you are bearing the stone of guilt. Some of you are bearing the stone of a broken heart. Some of you are bearing the stone of ill health. Some of you are bearing the stone of a broken marriage, a broken family, or just being spiritually, morally, mentally, and physically BROKEN. Being broken is a heavy stone.
These stone are not meant to be easy. They are not meant to accommodate your lifestyle. They are not meant to fit into YOUR scheme of things. They are not meant to bring efficiency to your life. But they are meant to alter the way you do things. They are meant to alter the way you see things. They are meant to get in your way, to hinder you, and even stop you from accomplishing anything that GOD wants you to do. They are burdensome.
3. The Stone Was a Blessing!
Isn’t it wonderful how God makes a way out of no way?!
I can hear the Psalmist say in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
If you know that GOD can and will sustain you, you ought to cast your burdens upon the LORD and DON’T LET THE STONE STOP YOU.
The ladies weren’t able to move the stone themselves that morning—but God did what they couldn’t do for themselves. That is why the stone was such a blessing.
God will remove the stone in your life. But He does it on His terms, not ours. We must come to Him in faith and surrender to His will.
I don’t know about you, but I know of another Stone. This Stone is on my side. My Stone is bigger than any stone that the devil can throw my way. My Stone is bigger than any stumbling block that the devil can lay down before me. My Stone is just like a mountain; and I can hide behind my mountain of a Stone when the going gets a little rough.
Jesus said in Mark 12:10 that He is the Stone which the builders have rejected and is now the Chief Corner Stone.
The stone that sealed the sepulcher that morning was no match for the Stone inside--the Stone the Builders Rejected, the Chief Cornestone!
The stone has been rolled away! He is risen from the dead!
There is one more stone I want you to know think about this morning.
In Revelation 2:17 Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
In New Testament times, a white stone with a name written on it had two purposes.
First, during a trial with multiple judges, the judge who voted for a guilty verdict placed a black stone in a vessel with the defendant’s name written on it. A judge who voted for acquittal would place a white stone with the defendant’s name written on it in the jar. The stones would be counted and the verdict announced by whether there was a majority of black or white stones.
The second use of a white stone with a name written on it was to serve as an invitation to a wedding feast. The groom would write the invited guest’s name on a white stone. The door keeper would recognize the groom’s handwriting to make sure the invitation stone was genuine. Special guests would have a “nick-name” given by the groom written on the stone as a term of endearment.
I’m glad this morning, that when I enter into His presence, He’s got a new name for me waiting on a white stone. I don’t know about you, but I want my white stone with my new name on it. When heaven and earth pass away, and I’m standing on the Word of God, I’ll have my new name on a white stone—declared not guilty by the only Judge!
And don’t get jealous because God has given me a stone with my new nick-name on it that invites me to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb-- GOD has enough white stones to go around for everyone!
The Bible tells me early, one Sunday morning, as the women went to the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. An angel sitting on top of that big stone told them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Encourage One Another
Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB95
You can tell by one quick look at me that I’m a man who enjoys eating. My recent annual physical brought me some unpleasant news—for the first time in my life, my cholesterol levels are not healthy. It isn’t that my cholesterol level is extremely high, but the good to bad cholesterol ratio is upside down. As the doctor told me this I was anticipating her next statement. …she is about to tell me to alter my diet and exercise. Can you say, “Broiled mocking birds and grazing in the yard?” Well, at least I won’t have to mow as often this summer... However, before the doctor began the usual lecture, she said, "Your blood work also showed that you are becoming pre-diabetic.
At this point, my ears perked up and I was really listening to what the doctor was saying. She said if I would eat a healthy diet, exercise, and lose about 40-50 pounds; those negative health trends would reverse. So, three weeks ago I began to eat healthier foods, smaller portions, and walk about two and a half miles each day. So far, I’ve lost 21 pounds. (I’m sure most of the weight loss came from between my ears!)
The past week has been a struggle to keep on the diet. Empower was great, but the change of routine and schedule made staying on course much more difficult. I found this reasoning creeping into my mind, “Larry, you’ve made good progress. Lose another twenty pounds and you can get off this diet kick.” I was literally at a fork in the road. If I pick up the fork again after losing another twenty pounds, it won’t be long before my weight bounces back up like a yo-yo when it finds the end of the string. Yesterday (March 22), I received my reminder of why I need a lifestyle change and not just a diet.
My father called with news that my brother, Lynn, had a heart attack. He is three years older than I am. Our family does not have a history of heart disease. Yet, without warning, he almost died. As I write this, he is in the coronary care unit of a hospital. He has three arterial blockages, which are being corrected with stents. The doctors were amazed that he is still alive—the main blockage was the “widow maker” artery which almost always leads to sudden death when blocked. God chose to be merciful by giving him a new lease on life. I thank you for praying for him.
As your pastor, it is important that I encourage you to be all God intends for you to be. I confess to you that I need your encouragement as I engage in this spiritual battle with my flesh. Spiritual battle? Yes, one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is self-control. Our fallen nature hasn’t got the stomach for self-control, so God has to give us temperance through the Holy Spirit. Self-control (temperance) is not just about alcohol. It includes all the appetites of the body—even our eating. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” We must encourage each other in our spiritual battles to crucify our flesh (Galatians 2:20) and live in Christ’s resurrection life!
Love,
Pastor Larry
You can tell by one quick look at me that I’m a man who enjoys eating. My recent annual physical brought me some unpleasant news—for the first time in my life, my cholesterol levels are not healthy. It isn’t that my cholesterol level is extremely high, but the good to bad cholesterol ratio is upside down. As the doctor told me this I was anticipating her next statement. …she is about to tell me to alter my diet and exercise. Can you say, “Broiled mocking birds and grazing in the yard?” Well, at least I won’t have to mow as often this summer... However, before the doctor began the usual lecture, she said, "Your blood work also showed that you are becoming pre-diabetic.
At this point, my ears perked up and I was really listening to what the doctor was saying. She said if I would eat a healthy diet, exercise, and lose about 40-50 pounds; those negative health trends would reverse. So, three weeks ago I began to eat healthier foods, smaller portions, and walk about two and a half miles each day. So far, I’ve lost 21 pounds. (I’m sure most of the weight loss came from between my ears!)
The past week has been a struggle to keep on the diet. Empower was great, but the change of routine and schedule made staying on course much more difficult. I found this reasoning creeping into my mind, “Larry, you’ve made good progress. Lose another twenty pounds and you can get off this diet kick.” I was literally at a fork in the road. If I pick up the fork again after losing another twenty pounds, it won’t be long before my weight bounces back up like a yo-yo when it finds the end of the string. Yesterday (March 22), I received my reminder of why I need a lifestyle change and not just a diet.
My father called with news that my brother, Lynn, had a heart attack. He is three years older than I am. Our family does not have a history of heart disease. Yet, without warning, he almost died. As I write this, he is in the coronary care unit of a hospital. He has three arterial blockages, which are being corrected with stents. The doctors were amazed that he is still alive—the main blockage was the “widow maker” artery which almost always leads to sudden death when blocked. God chose to be merciful by giving him a new lease on life. I thank you for praying for him.
As your pastor, it is important that I encourage you to be all God intends for you to be. I confess to you that I need your encouragement as I engage in this spiritual battle with my flesh. Spiritual battle? Yes, one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is self-control. Our fallen nature hasn’t got the stomach for self-control, so God has to give us temperance through the Holy Spirit. Self-control (temperance) is not just about alcohol. It includes all the appetites of the body—even our eating. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” We must encourage each other in our spiritual battles to crucify our flesh (Galatians 2:20) and live in Christ’s resurrection life!
Love,
Pastor Larry
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