The Wilderness Journey

Transcription

1 The Wilderness Journey Family Feasts Leviticus 16:1-34; 23:1-22 Saved by Substitution. Substitution! Oh, let me ring it out! For me! was bound to ring in his ears with every gurgling of that lapping blood. That, again, is the heart of the heart of salvation, for you and for me. There is a Savior as innocent as that white, gentle, bleating, spotless lamb. See the father as he takes the lamb in his hand. Listen to its helpless bleating, and just think of all the ideas of meekness and yielding innocence that flashed upon the mind; and again, I say, if you think of the Israelitish father killing it, not simply with his knife and with his hand, but with mind and heart and imagination working behind those outward instruments, surely there flashed upon his soul: Life for life. If I am to go free, this innocent thing has to part with its very life s blood. I know that, in the pride and wisdom of the world, this is bitterly denounced. I am told in this very day this way of salvation by atonement, by substitution of a sinless one for sinful you and me, is a gory thing that it is a ghastly thing that it is a religion of the shambles. God help men who talk in such a way of Heaven s best device for saving sinful men Heaven s only device, Heaven s best, Heaven s last, Heaven s utmost of mind and heart to save sinful, guilty, damned you and me from the impending doom. Ah, it flashed on Him surely: For me! For me! And that is the Gospel. He loved me, and gave Himself for me for me! He gave Himself a ransom for men for me, I trust, among the rest. Not with the blood of bulls, goats, heifers, lambs and rams, but by the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot by that we are saved. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. By His stripes we are healed. Bless God for this substitutionary salvation! ~ MCNEILL 1 We have gone over chapters 11 through 22. We touched on the Day of Atonement in chapter 16, but this morning I want to spend a bit more time on the subject. The second subject I want to examine this morning is a review of the Festivals. I suspect that to cover these two subjects adequately will actually take both this morning and next Sunday, so let s give it a shot. I Introduction II The Day of Atonement Leviticus 16, 23:26-32 III The Feast of Firstfruits Leviticus 23: 9-14 IV The Feast of Weeks Leviticus 23:15-22 I Introduction: As we look at the Day of Atonement and the other Feasts of Israel, I will be quoting a bit from Martha Zimmerman s book Celebrate the Feasts. Here she gives fami- 1 McClure, editor, J. B., Pearls from Many Seas, The Master Christian Library, AGES Software, Albany, OR, Version

2 lies ways in which they, as believers, can help their children understand and celebrate the feasts of the Old Testament in light of their fulfillment in Christ. II The Day of Atonement: Let me repeat some comments made last session, and expand on them. This was the one time of year when the High Priest made sacrifice for the sins of the nation. But first he had to make sacrifice for his own sin. If he entered the Holy of Holies without making personal sacrifice, he would die before the altar of God. The sacrifice for the High Priest was a Bull by the way. Once he did make his own sacrifice, then he could offer up two goats for the sins of the people. The Two goats were taken to bear the people s sins. One was killed as a sin offering; the other was sent off into the desert to bear away the sins of the people into an uninhabited place. The two goats thus symbolized both propitiation for sins by death and complete removal of the sins for which atonement was made. Many a person today who suffers from what is called a guilt complex could profit by a study of this ritual for the atonement and removal of sin. The theological expression of this glad release is in David s psalm of praise (Ps 103:12): As far as the east is from the west,/ so far has he removed our transgressions from us (cf. Mic 7:19). The goat sent into the desert is called in the RV and RSV the goat of Azazel. In the KJV it is the scape (i.e., escape) goat. Clearly the Day of Atonement was to symbolize for Israel every year the substitutionary atonement God provided for their sins and the total removal of their guilt. The sins of Israel defiled the courts of the Lord, and these sacred precincts were sprinkled with blood to cleanse them from such uncleanness (v.17). The basic problem, however, was sin; and this was atoned for by substitutionary sacrifice, a beautiful type of Christ s atoning death as Hebrews 9:7 makes clear. 2 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance (Hebrew 9:7). The typology of this day are clearly seen fulfilled by Christ. Lewis Sperry Chafer spells it out this way: the larger extent and accomplishment of Christ s death is set forth typically in magnificent detail by the events and specific requirements of the Day of Atonement. Of the typical meaning of the offerings prescribed for the Day of Atonement the bullock for the high priest and the two goats Dr. C. I. Scofield states: The offering of the high priest for himself has no anti-type in Christ (Heb 7:26,27). The typical interest centres upon the two goats and the high priest. Typically (1) all is done by the high priest (Heb 1:3, by Himself ), the people only bring the sacrifice (Matt 26:47; 27:24,25 {Matt 27}). (2) The goat slain (Jehovah s lot) is that aspect of Christ s death which vindicates the holiness and righteousness of God as expressed in the law (Rom 3:24 26), and is expiatory. (3) The living goat typifies that aspect of Christ s work which puts away our sins from before God (Heb 9:26; Rom 8:33,34). (4) The high priest entering the holiest, typifies Christ entering heaven itself with His own blood for us (Heb 9:11,12). His blood makes that to be a throne of grace, and mercy seat, which else must have been a throne of judgment. (5) For us, the priests of the New Covenant, there is what Israel never had, a rent veil (Matt 27:51; Heb 10:19,20). So that, for worship and blessing, we enter, in virtue of His blood, where He is, into the holiest (Heb 4:14 16; 10:19 22 {Heb 10}). The atonement of Christ, as interpreted by the O.T. sacrificial types, has these necessary elements: (1) It is substitutionary the offering takes the offerer s place in death. (2) The law is not evaded but honored every sacrificial death was an execution of the sentence of the law. (3) The sinlessness of Him who bore our sins is expressed in every animal sacrifice it must be without blemish. (4) The effect of the atoning 2 Harris, R. Laird, The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Leviticus, Zondervan I nteractive Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1990, Electronic text hypertexted and prepared by OakTree Software, Inc. 26

3 work of Christ is typified (a) in the promises, it shall be forgiven him ; and (b) in the peace-offering, the expression of fellowship the highest privilege of the saint. 3 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:23-26). It some ways I guess it could be argued that after Easter, the best commemoration of Christ s gift of salvation isn t Christmas, but the Day of Atonement. Zimmerman says: I believe the principle of this day hasn t changed. What has changed is the way that has been provided for me to observe it. Thee will be a day of final judgment, and if there is any person who will not humble himself on this dame day, he shall be cut off (Lev. 23:29). And if anyone s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). According to Hebrew tradition, God is keeping good records. He offers to forgive us. The book is symbolically sealed on Yom Kippur, remaining us that one day it will be sealed forever. After the incident of the Golden Calf, when Moses came down from the mountain with the second set of tablets, he found the people fasting and repenting of their sin; and God forgave them. It was the 10 th day of Tishri. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth (Ps 145:18). This is a single day in the year that has been set apart by God as special. It celebrates our atoneness with Him. It was ordained in the Old Testament. How much greater is our reason to remember it now! Those whose names are written in the Lamb s book of life shall come in (Rev. 21:27). 4 III The Feast of Firstfruits: This feast was tied to Passover and Unleavened Bread. But, since we ve discussed Passover in great detail, I m moving directly on to Leviticus 23:9 and looking at firstfruits. Harris describes the feast this way: Critical students in general believe that the spring festival was originally agricultural, a firstfruits feast. Later, when the tradition (or legend!) of the deliverance from Egypt became prominent, that event was attached to the spring festival as the Exodus event was historicized, i.e., as the legend of the Exodus became treated as real. There is no evidence for this reconstruction. It was natural for God to arrange for the Exodus to be in the spring the best season to travel with sheep in Sinai! That the two festivals should be combined from the beginning is just as possible. The presentation of the sheaf on the day after the Sabbath (v.11) symbolized the dedication of the whole year s crop; and until this was done, none of the new grain was to be eaten (v.14). There is some question about the date of waving the sheaf. If the Sabbath refers to the regular Saturday Sabbath, then the sheaf was always waved on a Sunday regardless of the date of the Passover (which could be any day of the week). If the Sabbath refers to the Passover Day, then the sheaf was waved on Nisan fifteenth. The former usage seems more likely because the Feast of Weeks comes fifty days later, also on the day after a Sabbath (v.16). 5 The parallel is or type with Christ is, He is the firstfruit of those who are to be resurrected from the dead. Without the resurrection are faith is empty. 3 Chafer, Lewis Sperry, Soteriology, Bibliotheca Sacra, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX, , Vol. 104, #413, Jan-Mar Zimmerman, Martha, Celebrate the Feasts, Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, MN 1981, p Harris 27

4 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:12-14). As Woychuk notes: The resurrection of Christ is a positive and written guarantee of our own resurrection from the dead. The body may disintegrate and become part of the earth from whence it came, yet shall it be raised back to life. 6 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power (1 Corinthians 15:42-43). IV The Feast of Weeks: This is the last of the feasts we will consider this morning. (We will have another two to look at next week.) This feast is known by a number of names. The Hebrew is Shavuoth, meaning weeks. Pentecost is the Greek which means fiftieth day. In Exodus 23:16, 19 it is called the Feast of Harvest. Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother s milk. The last name from this same passage is the Day of Firstfruits. Harris describes the Feast of Weeks this way: The Feast of Weeks is called the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16 and the firstfruits of the wheat harvest in Exodus 34:22 (cf. Num 28:26-31; Deut 16:9-12). As mentioned in v.10, it always occurred on the first day of the week and would fall seven weeks and one day after the Sabbath after the full moon of the Passover (14 Nisan). From the day after the Passover Sabbath to the day after the Pentecost Sabbath is fifty days (v.16) by inclusive reckoning, counting both the first and last days. It would therefore be around the end of May to mid-june. The wheat harvest in Palestine runs from the end of April to well into June depending on the location, soil and season (Moldenke, Plants p. 232). All the males were to appear at the tabernacle; but, in this time when the harvest was beginning, they would not stay long. The NT antitype is Pentecost, which was, as a consequence, on Sunday, and was the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a new phase of God s saving work extending the harvest to the Gentiles also (cf. v.2, lines 5-6, of the hymn O Day of Rest and Gladness, where Sunday is said to commemorate the creation of light, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit). 7 Of course the Feast of Weeks is better know to us as Pentecost. Charles Ryrie describes the parallel found in the New Testament : As the antitype of one of the annual feasts of the Jews Pentecost has significance. This feast (Lev 23:15-21) was characterized by an offering of two loaves marking the close of harvest. The corre- 6 Woychuk, N. A., Will We Have Bodies in Heaven? Part 2, Bibliotheca Sacra, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX, , Vol. 108, #429, Jan-Mar Harris 28

5 sponding reality of this ceremony was the joining on the day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit Jew and Gentile as one loaf in the one body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13). Pentecost is sometimes called the feast of weeks because it fell seven (a week of) weeks after Firstfruits. No date could be set for the observance of Firstfruits, for that depended on the ripening of the grain for harvest. However, when the time did arrive a small amount of grain was gathered, threshed, ground into flour, and presented to the Lord as a token of the harvest yet to be gathered. The corresponding reality is, of course, Christ the firstfruits (1 Cor 15:23). The fifty days interval between the two feasts was divinely purposed in the Old Testament type and finds exact correspondence in the New Testament antitype. 8 Here s how Zimmerman speaks of Pentecost, from her Hebrew Christian perspective: Pentecost remembers God s message of law. All that the Lord has spoken we will do! (Exodus 19:8). Rabbis have said there is no liberty without divine law and self-discipline. A train needs rails. A river must have banks. Jesus didn t say, Go and do what feels good. He said, Go and make disciples teaching them to observe all that I commanded you (Matt. 28:19, 20). Christ set us free from the law in granting us salvation. We could not achieve it. It is a gift to be accepted. Freedom always has two aspects. We are free from in order that we may be free to. Christ sets us free from our own habits and actions in order that we may be free to obey. We become free to do not as we please but as God pleases. In a sense, we are set free from the traditions of men so that we may hear the authentic and complete Word of God. This freedom comes from the knowledge that it is no longer our own efforts, but it is God s power that is at work within us. This was then demonstrated and brought to completion in His season. 9 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:1-4). this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:16-21). We have seen in the Feasts the picture of the work of the Messiah, His gift of salvation, eternal life and the power, through the Holy Spirit, to carry out His work. May we live in the reality of these feasts in this new year. Come as a wisdom to children Come as new sight to the blind Come, Lord, as strength to my weakness, Take me: soul, body and mind. 8 Ryrie, Charles C., The Significance of Pentecost, Bibliotheca Sacra, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX, , Vol. 112, #448, Oct-Dec Zimmerman 29

6 Come as a rest to the weary, Come as a balm for the sore, Come as a dew to my dryness: Fill me with joy ever more. Come like a spring in the desert, Come to the withered of soul; O let Your sweet healing power Touch me and make me whole. Come, Holy Spirit I need You, Come, sweet Spirit I pray; Come in Your strength and Your Power Come in Your own gentle way Gaither, Gloria and William J. Gaither, Come, Holy Spirit, The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, Word Music, Waco, TX, #

7 The Wilderness Family Feasts Leviticus 16:1-34; 23:1-22 I Introduction: II The Day of Atonement: (Hebrews 9:7; Romans 3:23-26)

8 III The Feast of Firstfruits: (1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 42-43) IV The Feast of Weeks: (Exodus 23:16, 19; Acts 2:1-4, 16-21) Personal Application: In this section, we have seen the call to service is a call to dependency on the Holy Spirit. So much has been made over the start of the new Millennium that while it doesn t mean anything in an of itself, it still can be an opportunity for us to focus on a new year as a new opportunity to live in the power of the Holy Spirit with the desire to advance the Kingdom instead of being absorbed by the insanity of the world around us. Prayer for the Week: God, Help me chose to let this year be dedicated to You and not lost to busyness and the unimportant. Let me look forward with excitement to the adventure You have in store for me this year. In Jesus name, amen.