Feasts, Offerings and Jubilee

The book of Leviticus can also be called as the Book of Laws. This book insists on keeping the body holy as well as the soul. It teaches that the redeemed ones must be holy because their redeemer is holy. It shows lessons in hygiene, and sanitation for the care of the body. It also talks about the five offerings and the eight feasts to be observed by the Jewish people.

From the beginning of this book we see how Israel needs to approach God through sacrifice and walk with God by separation. Pagans bring their sacrifice to the altar of their gods, for they realize that they cannot do anything about their sin themselves. But all the sacrifices in this book point to “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). There can no fellowship between God and the sinner until sin has been dealt with’ the only way is sacrifice. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrew 9:22). Five offerings are described in Leviticus. Gods wants us to understand the awful reality of sin, so he asks for a sacrifice each day.

1.       Burnt Offering: “Surrender” of Christ for the world (Leviticus 1).

2.       Grain Offering: “Service” of Christ in life (Leviticus 2).

3.       Fellowship Offering: “Serenity” of Christ in life (Leviticus 3).

4.       Sin Offering: “Substitute” of Christ for sin (Leviticus 4 – 5:13).

5.       Guilt Offering: “Satisfaction” by Christ for demands of God (Leviticus 5:14 – 6:7).

As New Testament believers, what we bring is our sin; what Christ brings is the offering and the atonement for sin.

From Leviticus 8 to 10, we see the duties of the Priests. No one could bring his or her own sacrifice to God. Each one had to bring it to the priest and he in turn would offer it to God. God chose one tribe out of the twelve to care for the Tabernacle. This was the tribe of Levi. One family of Levites, Aaron’s, should be the priests. The priests had the charge of the sacrifices and were supported by the tithes of the people. The priest offered the prayers and praises and sacrifices of the people to God in their behalf. He stood for them and pleaded their cause. In Leviticus 10, we see the failure of priesthood by Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, who in turn were consumed by fire from the Lord.

Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary because all sacrifices were fulfilled in Christ. Therefore priests are no longer necessary. Christ himself is the great high priest for humanity (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). He is the only mediator between God and humanity. No one else can come between God and humanity. We approach God through Christ Jesus and him alone (Hebrews 10:12; 7:25; John 14:6).

The sacrifices spoke of the blood that saved and the feasts spoke of the food that sustains. Five great festivals are mentioned in Leviticus 23

The feast of the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:1-3): Day of worship and rest, celebrating the finished work of God in creation (Genesis 2:2-3). Christians celebrate the first day of the week, the day our Lord arose from the grave (Luke 24:1; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). Thus we celebrate the finished work of redemption.

The Feasts of the Passover (Leviticus 23:4-5) and Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6): Passover spoke of redemption and was celebrated every spring time. It lasted for 1 day, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread that immediately followed lasted 7 days. Christians celebrate Easter these days.

The feasts of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:1-14) and Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22): Israel observer first fruits during the feast of unleavened bread. In the current calendar it comes on April – May months. This fruits typified Christ’s resurrection and ours (1 Corinthians 15:20). 50 days later Passover was observed. 50 days after Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and the Church was born. Pentecost was the birthday of the Church. Since April 1, 2018 is Easter, Christians celebrate Pentecost on May 20, 2018.

The feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23: 23-25): this is the New Year’s Day (Rosh Hashanah) of Jewish people. They celebrate it in the fall, in September 2018. This feast points forward to the future gathering of the dispersed people of Israel (Zechariah 14:16).

Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32): This followed the feast of trumpets by 10 days. This was the most solemn day of the year of God’s chosen people. On this day the sins of the nation were confessed. Jehovah’s relationship to his people was established. This was the only day in the year when the high priest was permitted to enter the holy of holies. Jewish people it this year on September 19-20. For Christians, we can run into God’s presence at any time for Christ has made the way possible for us (Ephesians 3:12).

Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-36): This was the last required feast of the year. It is also called feast of Booths or ingathering. Celebrated in the fall and lasts for a week, it commemorated the time when children of Israel lived in tents during their wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Israel. This feast recalled them that in spite of their unbelief God was faithful in caring for them and brought them to their inheritance. It comes on September 24 to October 1, 2018.

The Sabbatical Year (Leviticus 25:1-7): this was the year of meditation and devotion. It was a year of Sabbath. Every day was like the Sabbath, and the minds of the people were kept on the things of the Lord. Last Sabbatical year was on 2014 and the next one is on 2021.

The year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-55): This was celebrated every 50^th year. It was inaugurated on the day of Atonement with the blowing of trumpets. As in the Sabbatical year, the land was not cultivated and all slaves were freed. 2017 was an year of Jubilee.

Seven is a significant number in Leviticus.

·         Every 7^th day was the Sabbath

·         Every 7^th year was a sabbatical year

·         Every 7 times 7 years was followed by a year of Jubilee

·         Pentecost was 7 weeks after Passover

·         In the 7^th month were the feasts of trumpet, tabernacles and atonement

·         Pentecost lasted 7 days

·         Passover also lasted for 7 days

All these feasts and years are very important to the chosen people. The years which come along the Jubilee and sabbatical years mark a special importance not only to Israel but to the entire world. In BC 538 the Jews were allowed to return to the land of Israel from Babylonia to build their Temple. In BC 333 another Jubilee year, Persian rule ended and the land was conquered by Alexander the Great. In AD 70, a year followed the Jubilee, the destruction of Jerusalem and temple happened. In 1517, a catholic priest called Martin Luther was born who challenged the hypocrisy done by the church and protestant reformation was given birth. In 1867 when the Jews were facing much persecution from the world, they were freed from Austria and Hungary. In 1917, Great Britain gave support to Jews for getting back their native land. In 1967, the famous 6 days war were the Arab nations attacked Israel and Israel’s win happened in a Jubilee year, in which Jerusalem was recaptured by Israel. 2017 was the 120^th jubilee year for Israel and guess what, in 2018 the top countries are accepting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

If God can keep his promise for a chosen nation who did not obey him, how much more he cares for the New Testament Israel, the people who follow Jesus Christ. We don’t need to follow any feast of offering as everything had been done and finished by Christ Jesus. Our only duty is to believe and live for Christ to inherit the blessings God gave to the chosen nation.

May God enable you to follow Christ, confess your sins and accept him as your saviour so that you, as a new Israel will inherit the promises and blessing of Jehovah.

The Rescue

The book of Exodus is the thrilling epic of God’s rescue act. It tells of the redeeming work of a sovereign God. The book gives us the story of Moses, the great hero of God. 

If the book of Genesis is a family history, the book of Exodus is a national history. After Joseph’s death a new dynasty came to the throne in Egypt and the wealth and great numbers of children of Israel made them objects of suspicion in the eyes of the Egyptians. The pharaohs reduced them to a slavery of the worst sort. The people remembered the promises God had given to Abraham and his descendants, and it made this bondage doubly hard to understand (Genesis 12:1-3). 

The story of Exodus is repeated in every soul that seeks deliverance from the enmeshing and enervating influence of the world. The plagues and the negotiations Moses had to make with Pharaoh must have lasted for nearly a year. This gave the children of Israel more time to gather their things. We study Exodus in order to see God’s way of delivering sinful people, and his gracious purposes in rescuing them.

Exodus 12 gives us the thrilling story of Passover, the clearest Old Testament picture of our individual salvation through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God had sent nine plagues on Egypt in order to make pharaoh willing to let his people go. Finally God said that the firstborn in all Egypt should die. This tenth plague would have fallen on the Israelites too, had they not killed the paschal lamb and been protected by its blood of redemption (Exodus 12: 12, 13). They left Egypt under the blood as marked people. They passed through the Red Sea as a directed determined people. God led them out and shut the door behind them. 

In Exodus 20 to 24, we see the laws given, broken and restored. The law did not make us sin, but it showed us that we are sinners. The physician comes and looks at a child and the symptoms reveal that it is sick. He gives the child some medicine for cure. The doctor did not make the child sick, but he proved that the sickness was there (Galatians 4:4, 5; Romans 8:1-4; 3:19-28).The law is God’s mirror to show us our exceeding sinfulness (Romans 7:12). Before Israel even received the law or started to keep it, they were dancing around the golden calf, and worshipping a god they had made (Exodus 32:1-10,18). 

God told Moses he wished a sanctuary or holy dwelling place that should point to Christ and tell of his person and work. Exodus 25 to 40 gives us the account of building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, having the cloud of glory over it, taught the people that God was dwelling in their midst (Exodus 25:8). Tabernacle was the common center and rallying point that could be moved from time to time. 

Even though God gave his law, the mirror to analyse about them, Israel sinned and can be seen in the history how they got the punishment. But God did not give up on them. As he promised he called them back and now they are a powerful nation. The people who follow Jesus Christ are called New Israelites. Same is applied for New Israel. Whatever blessings God pronounced on Israel will come upon them as well. Of course Law is there. But since Christ obeyed the law faithfully and died for our sins, believing in Christ is the qualification for us to become the New Israel.

May God help you and bless you to be the chosen New Israel through Christ Jesus.

Book of Beginnings

Genesis tells us the beginning of everything except God. Another thing to notice is that it tells only of beginnings. There is no finality here. It gives us at least 2000 years of record. It is not entirely history; it is a spiritual interpretation of history.

In chapter 1 we have the account of creation in outline and in chapter 2 part of the same in detail. The detail concerns the creation of humanity, for the Bible is the history of the redemption of humanity. God created people in his own image to have fellowship with himself. 

Adam and Eve were created in a state of innocence but with the power of choice. They were tested under the most favourable circumstances. They were endowed with clear minds and pure hearts, with the ability to do right. God gave them his own presence and fellowship (Genesis 3:8). But they yielded to the temptation and failed the test. Sin entered the world. Satan still influences people to disobey God. Adam and Eve were separated from God, the ground was cursed and sorrow filled their hearts. 

In mercy, God promised one who would redeem us from sin (Genesis 3:15). The offspring of the woman (Jesus) would come to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

Immediately after the fall, people began to offer sacrifices which were ordered by God unto him. These were for the purpose of keeping before people the fact of their fall and of the coming sacrifice of Jesus. 

Two of Adam’s sons. Cain and Abel, brought their sacrifices unto the Lord (Genesis 4:3, 4). Abel’s offering was accepted while Cain’s was rejected. Any sacrifice brought to the Lord must be done so with proper motivation and through faith and obedience. Cain became angry with his brother Abel and in his wrath killed him. 

Long before God gave the law to Moses (Exodus 20), we find several very definite ordinances given in the book of Genesis. At the very beginning God instituted the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3) and marriage (Genesis 2:24). The law of the tithe was also observed (Genesis 14:20). 

The account of the flood (Genesis 5-9) in Bible is very plain and straightforward. Evil had grown rampant. It threatened to destroy everything that was good. Only one righteous man remained, Noah. God sent the flood to restore good upon the earth. God was going to separate the righteous from the wicked. He was taking the first step toward a chosen nation. Noah had warned them for 120 years while he was building the ark. Noah was saved from the flood by the Ark (example of Christ, our Ark of safety). When he came out, the first thing he did was to erect an alter and worship God (Genesis 8:20).

After the flood the world was given a new start. But instead of spreading out and reopening the earth as God had commanded, they built the great tower of Babel in defiance of God (Genesis 10-11). They thought they could reach heaven by their own effort. God sent a confusion of tongues and scattered them. 

In spite of the wickedness of the human heart, God wanted to show his grace. He wanted a chosen people to whom he might entrust the Holy Scriptures, to be his witness to the other nations and through whom the promised Messiah could come. He called a man named Abram (Genesis 12-38) to leave his home in idolatrous Ur of the Chaldees to go to an unknown land where God would make him the father of a mighty nation (Genesis 12:1-3; Hebrews 11:8-19). This begins the history of God’s chosen people, Israel. Abraham was called “God’s friend” (James 2:23). God made a covenant with him that he should be the father of a great nation and that through him the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). 

 

Through Isaac, Abraham’s son, the promises of God were passed down to Jacob, who, despite his many faults, valued God’s covenant blessing. His name was changed to Israel, a prince with God (Genesis 32:28). This is the name by which God’s chosen people were called – Israelites. His twelve sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 49). 

Joseph is one of the outstanding noble characters of the Old Testament (Genesis 39-50). It was through Joseph that Jacob’s (Israel) family was transplanted into Egypt. He was sold as a slave at seventeen. At thirty he became prime minister in Egypt and ten years later his father, Jacob (Israel), entered Egypt. 

God knew it was necessary that the Israelites leave Canaan until they had developed national strength so they would take possession of the land of Canaan. God wanted to safeguard them against mingling and intermarrying with the idolatrous peoples then in the land. The book of Genesis ends with the dying words of Jacob (Israel). We see the promise to Judah of a descendant who is to be the coming ruler. Christ is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

In the first book of Bible itself God called his chosen people whom he blessed and prospered. The chosen people were called Israel. Even the only tribe (Israel) in the history who survived were attacked 52 times, captures and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times and destroyed twice; God restored it to be one of the most powerful nations in the world today. This blessings and prosperity is given to us through Christ Jesus, when we accept him as our personal saviour and leave the evil world and follow him. I pray that the spirit of God will help you to understand the mystery about the new Israel who are the followers of Christ Jesus, and help you also to be a genuine follower of Jesus.