F E A S T L E V E L 5 5 S L E S S O N Speil Spring Festivls Lesson
Speil Spring Festivls Lesson All over the world, people in God s Churh re looking forwrd to the spring holy dy seson. These dys re out God s pln for your future! pln tkes 7,000 yers to omplete, nd it hs seven steps. Eh step is represented y festivl. By studying nd oserving these seven festivls, we lern how to eome like God. GOD FAMILY PLAN Long efore Erth or the universe existed, there were only two Beings: mgnifient, glorious, powerful supereings. The first ws God, who would lter eome the Fther. The seond ws the Word, who would lter eome Jesus Christ. Both God nd the Word were lled God, euse they were united, kind of like ll the memers of your fmily re lled y your lst nme. God nd the Word wnted to hve fmily. They wnted huge fmily of mny eings tht they ould shre their wy of life with nd who ould uild nd eutify the universe. For this purpose, they reted humn eings. If we humn eings lern to live God s wy, we will eventully e orn s spirit eings into God s Fmily! To teh humn eings how to live His wy, God devised n wesome pln. This TWO HARVEST SEASONS The Middle Est is where the events of the Bile took ple. This region hs two hrvest sesons eh yer. The first is spring grin hrvest, lled the firstfruits hrvest. The seond is fll hrvest of mny rops. God uses hrvests to piture how He plns to ring s mny people s possile into His Fmily. The firstfruits hrvest is muh smller thn the gret fll hrvest. This symolizes the ft tht those whom God hrvests into His Fmily first re smll group of people. These people re in God s Churh, whih is very smll ompred to the numer of people who re not. The fll hrvest is muh lrger. This symolizes the ft tht fter God rings smll numer of people into His Fmily, He will ring huge numer of people. Those represented y the fll hrvest inlude lmost everyone who is 2 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS
live or ever hs een live nd who hsn t yet een lled y God. The first three festivls, whih our in the spring, represent God s pln to ring the firstfruits into His Fmily! This lesson will explin these spring festivls. To understnd wht the Bile revels out these dys nd wht they men for you, you will need your Bile, penil nd n ttitude tht is redy to lern! When re the two grin hrvests in the Middle Est? Whih prt of God s pln does eh hrvest represent? istok.om/hristopher futher MEMORY TEST Why does God ommnd His people to keep the seven nnul festivls? God s people tody, the firstfruits, re trining to teh everyone in the World Tomorrow. THE FIRST PASSOVER Aout 3,500 yers go, ntion of people lled the Isrelites were slves in Egypt. Ner the end of their ptivity, God strted to teh them out His festivls. The first festivl is the Pssover. It represents the first step in God s pln. Phroh, the king of Egypt, oppressed nd used the Isrelites. The Isrelites lso suffered euse they followed the sinful prties of the pgn Egyptins. God sent Moses to tell Phroh tht the Isrelites were like God s firstorn hild, nd He ommnded him to let them go. Phroh refused, nd God devstted Egypt with 10 terrile plgues. (To review these plgues, red Exodus 7:14-11:5. On seprte sheet of pper, list desription for eh of these 10 plgues.) Before the lst plgue struk, Moses told Phroh wht it would e. He sid God would send deth ngel to kill every firstorn in Egypt: mn, womn, LEVEL 5 SPRING FESTIVALS 3
istok.om/frnny-nne hild nd est! (Exodus 11:4-5). But God offered protetion to His hildren, the Isrelites. To espe this terrile urse, they hd to follow speil instrutions from God (Exodus 12:1-37). Srifiing the unlemished lm represented Jesus Christ s future srifie. God tught the Isrelites out His sred lendr (whih ws different from the pgn lendr the Egyptins used). The first month of God s lendr is lled Ai. God ommnded the fther of eh fmily to selet young, unlemished mle lm on the 10th dy of Ai nd to tke speil re of it until the 14th dy. After sunset on the 14th, the mn hd to kill the lm, then rost it nd et it with his fmily long with unlevened red nd itter hers. God lso ommnded tht the mn smer some of the lood on the doorposts of his fmily s house. Tht night, God sent the deth ngel to kill the firstorn. Hundreds of thousnds, possily even millions, of Egyptins died. The only ones spred were those who showed tht they would oey God nd ept His protetion y stying inside house mrked with the lood of lm. When the deth ngel me to one of these houses, he pssed over it. Tht is why this night is lled Pssover. MEANING OF PASSOVER The srifie of these lms sved lives. But the Pssover lm symolized something even more importnt. This lm without lemish pitured one of the two eternl God Beings: the Word. Aout 1,400 yers fter the first Pssover, the Word me to Erth nd eme humn eing: Jesus Christ. Christ is lled the Lm of God in John 1:29. He lived sinless life, without spot or lemish (1 Peter 1:19). Then He sumitted Himself to e killed in order to sve ll humn eings from the deth penlty for sin! (1 Corinthins 5:7). Sin is the reking of God s lw of love. The penlty for sin is deth (Romns 6:23). Everyone who hs ever lived hs sinned (Romns 3:23) exept Jesus Christ. He did not deserve the deth penlty, ut He suffered our deth penlty for us. If we repent of our sins, hoose to live God s wy of life, nd ept the ft tht we 4 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS
re guilty of spilling Christ s lood, God n use the deth penlty to pss over us! We n e reoniled to God nd then sved y Jesus Christ living His life in us (Romns 5:10). JESUS CHRIST KEPT THE PASSOVER While Jesus Christ lived on Erth s humn eing out 2,000 yers go, He kept Pssover every yer. On the Pssover tht ourred just hours efore His ruifixion, He showed His disiples new wy to keep this memoril from tht time forwrd. Srifiing lms ws symoli of wht Jesus Christ would do. Now Jesus Christ the Lm ws out to mke the ultimte srifie. The first thing Christ tught His disiples to do during this new Pssover servie ws to wsh eh other s feet (John 13:4-5). He wrpped towel round His wist nd poured wter into sin. One y one, Christ wshed eh of His disiples feet nd dried them with the towel. Sine people wore opentoed sndls, their feet were dusty nd dirty. It ws the jo of lowly servnt to wsh the feet of visitors. By wshing His disiples feet, Christ showed tht He, the Cretor of mnkind, hd ome to serve mnkind. The Word, God Being, humled Himself to eome mere humn. As humn, He humled Himself to e unfirly moked, hted nd killed. Sine this gret Being ws willing to do ll this to serve others, we should lso e willing to humle ourselves nd serve others. NEW PASSOVER SYMBOLS Insted of srifiing lm on the Pssover nd eting its rosted ody, Jesus tught His disiples to et smll piee of unlevened red nd to drink smll glss of red wine. The roken piee of unlevened red represents His eten ody. He llowed people to et His ody horrily to py the penlty for our physil sins tht mke us sik. Beuse Christ pid this penlty, God n hel us when we re sik or injured (Luke 22:19; 1 Peter 2:24). The wine ws symol of Jesus s shed lood. Christ llowed His lood to e spilled to py the penlty for our spiritul sins. Beuse He reted ll humn eings, His deth ws le to py the deth penlty for ll humn eings. His deth did not need to py the penlty for His sins, euse He never sinned. So God is le to pply Christ s deth to our sins. Christ ommnds His disiples to keep Pssover this wy eh yer to remind us of the tremendous prie of sin. The Son of God voluntrily gve His life for us! Christ s postles nd the New Testment Churh did s Christ instruted. They kept this new Pssover servie every yer. The Apostle Pul even wrote letter to the Churh memers in the ity of Corinth, reminding them of the deep spiritul mening ehind the red nd wine (1 Corinthins 11:23-26). LEVEL 5 SPRING FESTIVALS 5
MEMORY TEST Wht ws the lst plgue God sent on Egypt? estlished, wht do the red nd the wine symolize? Wht is the first month of God s lendr? Wht new Pssover symols did Jesus Christ teh His disiples the night efore He ws killed? Why does wshing feet symolize humility? In the new Pssover servie Christ FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD In Egypt, the deth of the firstorn rought gret fer nd sorrow to every home. After this terrile night, Phroh sent messenger to Moses telling him nd ll the Isrelites to get out of Egypt s fst s possile. As soon s the messenger rrived, on the morning of the 14th of Ai, Moses told the Isrelites to sk the Egyptins for gold, silver nd lothing. The Egyptins were now nxious to get rid of the Isrelites, nd they gve them these things. After sunset, under the light of full moon, the Isrelites egn their exit from Egypt, known s the Exodus. Sine God s lendr ounts sunset s the strt of new dy, this Exodus hppened on the 15th of Ai. The Isrelites left Egypt with their hnds rised high in elertion: God hd resued them from slvery! God ommnded the Isrelites to 6 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS
istok.om/floortje Just little leven will mke n entire lof puff up. oserve seven-dy fest s memoril of this mirulous espe from Egypt. This fest is lled the Dys of Unlevened Bred. It represents the seond step in God s pln to ring humn eings into His Fmily. The first dy nd seventh dy of this festivl re holy dys. God ommnded the Isrelites to not work on these dys ut to ttend speil servie (Exodus 12:14-20). During the Dys of Unlevened Bred, God ommnded His people to keep ll levening out of their homes. Leven is ny king ingredient tht uses dough to eome puffed up. In nient times, yest ws the most ommon form of leven. Tody, king powder nd king sod re other ommon forms. During these seven dys, God ommnds us to et flt red, mde without ny levening. The first evening of this festivl strts t sunset on Ai 15, the sme evening tht the Exodus egn (Numers 28:16-17). This evening is lled the Night to Be Muh Oserved. God ommnded His people to rememer the Night to Be Muh Oserved every yer forever (Exodus 12:42). It reminds us how God delivers His people from slvery. In our dy, God frees us from our enslvement to sin! A SYMBOL OF SIN In the Bile, the nient lnd of Egypt is symol of sin. Phroh is type of Stn the devil. To espe from sin, the Isrelites hd to leve Egypt nd Phroh. The lesson for us tody is tht we must leve sin! Leven is nother symol of sin (1 Corinthins 5:8). This tiny, lmost invisile ingredient uses red, ke nd ookies to eome puffed up with ir. Similrly, sin uses people to eome puffed up with pride. Also, just little leven will spred through whole lof of red, just like little sin n spred through your whole life, ffeting lmost everything you do. God ommnds us to remove levening LEVEL 5 SPRING FESTIVALS 7
istok.om/wongker The wveshef offering represented the first of the firstfruits during the time of nient Isrel. from our houses efore the first dy of Unlevened Bred. During this fest, He ommnds us to et unlevened red. This ll reminds us to put sin out of our lives nd to live God s wy of life insted. The nient Isrelites kept these meningful dys. So did Jesus Christ. So did His disiples. So did His postles nd His New Testment Churh fter He died. (For exmple, the Apostle Pul nd his ompnions kept the Fest of Unlevened Bred in the ity of Philippi, reorded in Ats 20:6.) And, like them, God s Churh tody still keeps these dys. The Night to Be Muh Oserved nd the rest of the Dys of Unlevened Bred represent the seond step in God s pln for mnkind: After we repent of our pst sins nd ept Jesus Christ s our Pssover lm, we must strive to put sin out of our lives! MEMORY TEST Whih dy of the month of Ai did the Isrelites egin their Exodus from Egypt? How is sin like leven? How does the Fest of Unlevened Bred represent the seond step in God s pln? 8 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS
PENTECOST The third nd finl holy dy of the spring holy dy seson is Penteost. This festivl pitures the third step in God s pln. Penteost is lso lled the fest of firstfruits. Rememer, the spring holy dys our round the time of the smll, spring grin hrvest in the Middle Est. Penteost ours t the end of the spring hrvest. The Isrelites were not llowed to egin hrvesting their spring grin until the Fest of Unlevened Bred. Speifilly, they hd to wit until the Sundy fter the weekly Sth during this Fest. On this dy, the priest wved smll undle of newly ut grin stlks to e epted y God (Levitius 23:11). This solemn eremony ws lled the wveshef offering. The shef of grin tht the priest wved efore God ws the first of the firstfruit hrvest. Wht did this shef of grin represent? It symolized Jesus Christ! Christ ws killed to sve mnkind from our sins. He ws ded for three dys nd three nights. Then He ws resurreted. He presented Himself to God the Fther to e epted. God epted Jesus Christ, nd Christ eme the first humn eing to eome glorified, eternl memer of God s Fmily! After tht, the hrvest of other people into God s Fmily ould egin! This is how the wveshef nd the spring hrvest represent God s pln. (Why doesn t God s Churh tody hve wveshef eremony on the Sundy fter the Sth during the Dys of Unlevened Bred? It is euse Jesus Christ hs ome, nd He ws the ultimte fulfillment of tht symol.) Jesus Christ s srifie opened up God s Fmily to mnkind. But the huge mjority of mnkind hs rejeted God s wy of life, just like Adm nd Eve rejeted the tree of life in the Grden of Eden. God hs llowed people to live the wy they hoose. He hs lled only very few people to live His wy of life nd to qulify to e orn into His Fmily. The smll numer of people who re in God s Churh now nd hve God s Holy Spirit hve this opportunity. But, when the time is right, God will open up this sme opportunity to everyone on Erth nd then to everyone who hs ever lived! Penteost helps us fous on God s pln to ring His Churh into the God Fmily first. Why this smll first hrvest? So tht these people n help Jesus Christ, the first of the firstfruits, hrvest the rest of humnity into God s Fmily! GIVING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Unlike other holy dys, Penteost doesn t fll on speifi dy of God s lendr. The word Penteost is Greek word mening ount 50. To find out when Penteost flls, ount 50 dys from the dy the wveshef ws offered. Counting Sundy s dy one, Penteost lwys ends up on nother Sundy, 50 dys lter. After Christ ws resurreted, He ppered efore God the Fther, nd the LEVEL 5 SPRING FESTIVALS 9
Fther epted Him. Fifty dys lter, the disiples of Christ gthered in Jeruslem to keep Penteost. God gve His Holy Spirit to these oedient disiples in n wesome disply of power. (You n find out wht tht dzzling sign ws in Ats 2:1-11.) This estowl of the Holy Spirit on 120 disiples mrked the eginning of God s New Testment Churh! Reeiving God s Holy Spirit is wht mkes someone memer of God s Churh. God gives His Spirit s speil gift to those dults who hve repented of their sins, een ptized, nd hd hnds lid on them y one of God s ministers. The Spirit helps those who hve it overome their rnl humn nture. It helps them live God s wy of life. At Christ s Seond Coming, ll those who hve the Holy Spirit will e trnsformed into perfet spirit eings, hving the very hrter of God! The spring festivls represent the first three steps in God s pln. First, Christ hd to die on Pssover to py for the sins of mnkind. Then memers of God s Churh hve to repent of their sins nd leve the evil wys of this world ehind them. Finlly, God hs to give these memers the power of His Holy Spirit so they n overome sin nd qulify to e tehers in the World Tomorrow! In future lesson, we will lern out the four fll holy dys nd how God plns to ring the vst mjority of mnkind into His Fmily in the gret fll hrvest! MEMORY TEST Wht does the wveshef offering symolize? How do you determine when to oserve Penteost? How did God egin His New Testment Churh? 10 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS
NOTES LEVEL 5 SPRING FESTIVALS 11
Pulished y the Phildelphi Churh of God nd produed in oopertion with Imperil Ademy. editor in hief Gerld Flurry Copyright 2016, 2017 All rights reserved. PATH TO UNDERSTANDING Wht event took ple the Sundy fter the Sth during the Dys of Unlevened Bred? First, irle n nswer for eh multiple-hoie question elow. Then go to numer 1 on the puzzle nd olor in the segment of the pth tht mthes the letter you irled. (The first one is done for you.) Chek the nswer of the numer the pth tkes you to, nd fill in the next setion of the pth. The pth will led you to the nswer of the ove question. 1) Who existed efore the Erth nd universe?. God. the Word. All of the ove 2) God s mster pln for mnkind tkes how mny yers to omplete?. 7,000. 10,000 3) Where do the events of the Bile tke ple?. United Sttes. Europe. Middle Est 4) How mny hrvests does this region hve eh yer?. one. two. three 5) The spring hrvest represents who in God s pln?. the Churh. the ngels. the world 6) God ommnded eh Isrelite fmily to srifie n unlemished lm on whih dy?. the 10th of Ai.the 12th of Ai. the 14th of Ai 7) Where did God ommnd the Isrelites to smer lm s lood?. front porh. doorposts. the windows 8) Other thn smering lm s lood on their houses, wht else were the nient Isrelites ommnded to do for the Pssover?. sty inside their homes. wsh eh other s feet. sty up ll night 9) Whih of these Sriptures show tht Jesus Christ is the Lm of God?. John 1:29. Romns 3:23. John 6:44 10) Wht is the first thing Christ tught His disiples to do for the new Pssover servie?. drink smll glss of wine. et little unlevened red. wsh eh other s feet 11) Where did the Apostle Pul remind memers of the New Testment Churh of the spiritul mening of the Pssover symols?. 1 Corinthins 11:23-26. Romns 15:1-6. Ats 27:33-38 12) Any king ingredient tht uses dough to eome puffed up is lled. unlevening. levening. yest 13) Wht does the nient lnd of Egypt represent in the Bile?. sin. Stn the devil. the good life 14) Ats 20:6 shows the Apostle Pul keeping whih festivl in Philippi?. the Pssover. the Dys of Unlevened Bred. Penteost 15) Wht did the wveshef offering represent?. mn going to heven. the firstfruits. Jesus Christ 16) Whih holy dy doesn t fll on speifi dy of God s lendr?. first dy of Unlevened Bred. Penteost. Dy of Atonement 17) Whih dy of the week is Penteost lwys kept?. Sundy. Mondy 18) Wht ws given on the first Penteost fter Jesus Christ ws ruified?. Ten Commndments. freedom from lwkeeping. Holy Spirit 1 2 16). 17). 18). 13). 14). 15). 10). 11). 12). 7). 8). 9). 3 4 7 8 10 15 4). 5). 6). 1). 2). 3). Corret Answers 5 6 9 11 12 The Holy Spirit ws given The wveshef offering Night to Be Muh Oserved 14 18 13 17 16