LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Today's reading mostly -except for chapter 24- focuses on the appointed feasts and seasons of God's people, each of which points forward to and is fulfilled by Jesus.
The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3). The letter to the Hebrews, which is inserted after the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) in some yearly Bible reading plans, has an extended argument in chapters 4-5 on how only Jesus provides a true Sabbath rest. Near the conclusion of that section the author says to his readers, "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God... Let us therefore strive to enter that rest... Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession" (Hebrews 4:9, 11, 14).
The Passover. If you read any account of the Last Supper, which was a Passover meal (Luke 22:13), you might notice that one very important part of the meal is missing in each of the Gospels: the Passover lamb. Now, Jesus and his disciples certainly ate that part of the meal. But why is that not recounted? Because Jesus is the true Passover lamb. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
The Feast of Firstfruits. GotQuestions.org has a great write-up on this. It says, "The Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated on the sixteenth day of the Jewish month Nisan [Sean: I have to go and look again, but I believe this falls on the day of Jesus' resurrection]... like the other Jewish feasts in the Old Testament, the Feast of Firstfruits prophetically foreshadowed the coming Messiah and His ministry. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul refers to Christ and His resurrection as 'the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.' Just as the first portion of the harvest in the Old Testament anticipated the full harvest still to come, Jesus’ resurrection anticipated the full resurrection to come for all those who are in Christ. His resurrection signals the very beginning of a brand-new creation promised in the Old Testament (Isaiah 43:18–19; 65:17). Similarly, in Romans 8:23, Paul says that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the 'firstfruits' of the redemption God will bring to His creation."
The Feast of Pentecost (or Weeks). This festival happened 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. All Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to attend (Deut. 16:16). This meant that fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, and only ten days after Jesus had been with his disciples for 40 days following the resurrection, most Jewish people were assembled in Jerusalem where they could hear the Gospel. When the Holy Spirit filled his church, Peter was able to proclaim to crowds of people from all over the Roman world all at one time about what Jesus had done. In many churches, this is the only Jewish festival that is still regularly kept and remembered, as an anniversary of the outpouring of God's Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
The Feast of Trumpets/Day of Atonement/Feast of Booths. The seventh month in Israel was the holiest of all the months, and was filled with multiple different celebrations to set it aside as a special time. The first day of the month was a mandatory day of rest from all work whether or not it fell on a Sabbath. The tenth day was the Day of Atonement, and in the post on Leviticus 16 we covered how this day points forward to the sacrifice of Jesus. Then from the fifteenth to the twenty-second day of the month there was a special Feast of Booth (or Tents, or Tabernacles). This feast points forward to Jesus, who "tabernacled" with us as the presence of God in our midst.
The Year of Jubilee. In the year of Jubilee, outlined in Leviticus 25, all debts were forgiven, all things were reset, a season of rest was announced--a once-in-a-generation event that only happened every 49 years. This season of rest, and forgiveness, and freedom points forward to the work of Jesus. When Jesus went to Nazareth and opened the scroll of Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke records, “Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Luke 4:18-21). The year of the Lord's favor is a reference to the description of the Year of Jubilee, which Leviticus 25 says would start on the day of atonement (Leviticus 25:8-9). Jesus' crucifixion kicked off a permanent Year of Jubilee for us, where all records of our debt of sin are erased, our freedom has been won, and we are granted rest.
The Feast of Trumpets/Day of Atonement/Feast of Booths. The seventh month in Israel was the holiest of all the months, and was filled with multiple different celebrations to set it aside as a special time. The first day of the month was a mandatory day of rest from all work whether or not it fell on a Sabbath. The tenth day was the Day of Atonement, and in the post on Leviticus 16 we covered how this day points forward to the sacrifice of Jesus. Then from the fifteenth to the twenty-second day of the month there was a special Feast of Booth (or Tents, or Tabernacles). This feast points forward to Jesus, who "tabernacled" with us as the presence of God in our midst.
The Year of Jubilee. In the year of Jubilee, outlined in Leviticus 25, all debts were forgiven, all things were reset, a season of rest was announced--a once-in-a-generation event that only happened every 49 years. This season of rest, and forgiveness, and freedom points forward to the work of Jesus. When Jesus went to Nazareth and opened the scroll of Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke records, “Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Luke 4:18-21). The year of the Lord's favor is a reference to the description of the Year of Jubilee, which Leviticus 25 says would start on the day of atonement (Leviticus 25:8-9). Jesus' crucifixion kicked off a permanent Year of Jubilee for us, where all records of our debt of sin are erased, our freedom has been won, and we are granted rest.
RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?
God filled the year of the Jewish calendar with events that would draw the people together and point them forward to the Messiah. Maybe we could pursue some means of having regular observances in our own lives and homes that would do the same.
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, thank you for calling us to celebrate. It is amazing what you have done. Keep us in regular remembrance of how you have shown yourself in the past--and cause us to eagerly anticipate what is to come."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Enter into the conversation! No anonymous comments.