F 3 3 pecial pring Festivals esson
pecial pring Festivals esson od created the arth and everything on it. e created the weather to have four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. e did this to teach us about is plan to bring every human being who has ever lived into is Family! s winter gives way to spring, days become longer and nights become shorter. More sunlight means warmer temperatures and warmer soil. eeds begin to sprout. ew life appears everywhere! he first month of od s calendar begins during the spring. uring this season, od commands us to observe is first three holy days. od designed things this way so we are completely surrounded by new life during is spring holy days. he three spring festivals show three steps to bring new life into od s Family. od does this by transforming the people in is Church into the ride of Jesus Christ. he four fall festivals show us od s four-step plan to expand is Family further by bringing everyone else into is Family as children of od! ut the three spring festivals and the four fall holy days together, and these seven festivals show you od s complete plan for having a family! n this lesson of the mperial cademy ible essons, you will learn about the meaning of the first observance, assover, and the three spring holy days: the first day of Unleavened read, the last day of Unleavened read and the feast of entecost! F he first step in od s plan is symbolized by assover. his is a memorial that occurs just before the first spring holy day. housands of years ago, the cruel haraoh of gypt made the sraelite people his slaves. For about a century, the gyptians oppressed the sraelites and made their lives terrible. arsh taskmasters beat the sraelites and didn t allow them to rest on the abbath. od knew many years before that this would happen to the sraelites. e knew they were suffering. od 2 M CMY
he welve ribes J o you know the names of the 12 tribes of srael? rite each name on the correct flag, then color in the flag. he first letters are provided for you. Z J chose a baby boy named Moses to begin preparing for a special mission. hen Moses was 80 years old, od sent him and his older brother, aron, to deliver a message from od to haraoh: Free the sraelites. ut haraoh was hard-hearted. e refused to listen. nstead of letting the sraelites go, he made their lives even worse! od sent Moses and aron to warn haraoh that e would send terrible plagues if haraoh didn t free the sraelites. haraoh wouldn t listen, so od sent plague after plague against gypt a total of 10 plagues. fter nine plagues, haraoh still refused to obey od. od told Moses that there was one more plague to come. his plague would be so terrible, haraoh would let the sraelites go. od protected the sraelites from most of the first nine plagues. o be protected from the 10th plague, the sraelites had to follow some special instructions from od. he first month of od s calendar is bib. n the 10th day of bib, the father of each family had to select a male lamb less than one year old. he lamb couldn t have any markings or bruises. he man had to separate the lamb from the others and take care of it until the 14th day of bib. hen, after sunset, he had to kill this lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts of his family s house. ach family had to roast the lamb and eat it that night, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. f the family couldn t eat the whole lamb that night, they could share it with their neighbors. ny leftover meat had to be burned before morning. very family member had to eat quickly, with shoes on their feet and walking sticks in their 3 F 3
illustrations melissa barreiro he final plague brought on gypt was the death of all firstborn. hands. hey had to be ready to leave gypt the next day, but they could not leave their house all through the night! hat night, od sent the death angel to kill all the firstborn, both man and beast. nly those inside a house marked with the blood of a lamb were saved! hen the death angel saw the blood, it passed over the house and did not kill any firstborn inside. hat is why this night is called assover. od commanded that is people keep the assover every year forever from that time on (xodus 12:1-14). he gyptians did not obey od s commands, so the death angel killed all their firstborn. ven haraoh s firstborn son was killed. fter this terrible plague, haraoh finally let the sraelites go. Moses told the sraelites to ask the gyptians to give them gold, silver and extra clothing for their journey. he gyptians gave them these things, which was right because the gyptians had forced the sraelites to work for them for years and years and never gave them anything in return. s they left gypt, the sraelites celebrated and raised up their hands: hey were finally free! very year, od s people remember the night od led the sraelites out of slavery by sharing a special meal called the ight to e Much bserved. here did you and your family keep the ight to e Much bserved last year? 4 M CMY
Y od commanded that is people must keep the assover every year forever. undreds of years after the sraelites left gypt, Jesus Christ kept the assover when e came to arth as a human being. od s Church still keeps the assover today! he ancient sraelites knew the assover lamb saved them, their children and their animals. ut they did not know everything about what the lamb represented. t actually pictured Jesus Christ. n the ew estament, John the aptist called Jesus the amb of od (John 1:29). he postle aul called im our passover (1 Corinthians 5:7). Christ came to arth and let imself be brutally beaten and then killed. hy did e do this? ike the assover lamb, is sacrifice saves lives. ecause of Jesus Christ s sacrifice, e can save human beings from dying for their sins, and e can bring them into od s Family. Jesus lived a perfect life. e never sinned. e kept the assover every year, just like od commanded. e kept is last assover the night before e was crucified, when e was 33 years old. uring this assover, Christ showed is 12 disciples a new way to keep the assover from that time forward. here was no need for a lamb, because Jesus Christ imself was the amb. YM he first thing Christ taught is disciples to do during this new assover service was to wash one another s feet. e wrapped a towel around is waist and poured some water into a basin. ven though e was the ord over the disciples, e washed each of their feet just like a lowly servant would do. e explained that the disciples should do the same thing to help them learn to have a humble, serving attitude. fter this footwashing service, Christ took a piece of unleavened bread and broke it into small pieces. e gave this bread to is disciples to eat. fter they had eaten it, e gave them a small amount of wine to drink. he assover is the most solemn and serious day of the year. Christ was brutally beaten and crucified on the assover of a.d. 31. First e was whipped so hard and so many times that is skin was torn so badly that people could see is ribs. e was beaten until e didn t even look human anymore. hen e was nailed to a wooden stake. Just before sunset, e was stabbed in the side with a spear, and e bled to death! Jesus Christ was the on of od, but e willingly let imself be beaten and killed so that e could pay the penalty for our sins! 3 F 5
cell membrane vacuole cytoplasm nucleus food granule Yeast is a single-cell microorganism that is a natural form of leaven. t causes bread dough to become puffed up with air, just like sin causes people to become puffed up with vanity. od tells us that every human being has sinned and disobeyed is en Commandments (omans 3:23), except Jesus Christ. in brings misery. od doesn t want anyone to live forever in misery, so the penalty for sin is eternal death (omans 6:23). efore Christ came to arth as a human being, e was a od eing called the ord of od. e helped od create humans. ecause e created humanity, is life is more valuable than all human lives put together. ecause e never sinned, Jesus Christ did not have to die to pay the penalty for is sins. ut e willingly died anyway! hy did e do that? o is death could pay our penalty for sin. he broken piece of unleavened bread that is eaten during the new assover service represents Jesus s beaten body. is body was tortured to pay the penalty for our physical sins. hysical sins are the breaking of health laws that lead to injury and sickness. ecause Christ paid this penalty, od can heal us when we are sick! (1 eter 2:22, 24). he small glass of wine that is drunk during the assover service represents Jesus Christ s spilled blood is death. Christ s blood was spilled to make possible the forgiveness of our spiritual sins. he new assover symbols that Christ instituted remind us of the tremendous price of sin. he on of od voluntarily gave is life for us. ecause Christ paid the penalty for our sins, it is possible for us to become part of the od Family! Y F U he Feast of Unleavened read begins the day after assover. his is a seven-day festival that represents the second step in od s plan. t begins with the first holy day of the year: the first day of Unleavened read. he second holy day of the year is the last day of Unleavened read. uring the ays of Unleavened read, od commands that we put all leaven out of our homes. e must eat flat bread that is made without leaven. eaven causes bread, cake and 6 M CMY
cookies to rise and become puffed up with air, just like sin causes people to be puffed up with pride and vanity. lso, a little leaven spreads through a whole loaf of bread, just like a little sin spreads through your whole life. ven a small lie leads to other lies, until your whole life is full of them. his is why od commands that we remove all leaven from our houses before the first day of Unleavened read. utting leaven out of our houses represents putting sin out of our lives! ist places in your home where you might find leaven: he ancient sraelites had to get leaven out of their tents and their camp. oday, we have to work hard to get leaven out of our houses, our workplaces, our vehicles and our belongings before the Feast raw a picture of puffed up leavened bread above. ext to it, draw flat unleavened bread. 3 F 7
of Unleavened read starts. his work shows us that we also must work hard to get sin out of our lives. uring these days, perhaps your parents would like you to make a list of sins you know you need to get out of your life so you can better obey od s commandments. he special dinner at the very beginning of the Feast of Unleavened read is called the ight to e Much bserved. his night reminds us that the ancient sraelites began their journey out of gypt on the 15th of bib under a full moon. hey began this journey out of slavery with celebration and joy! his great event happened the night after the assover and is called the xodus. od commanded is people to celebrate the ight to e Much bserved every year forever so we will remember the miracles e performed to save the sraelites from slavery (xodus 12:42). oday, we celebrate the ight to e Much bserved to remember the miracles od is performing to rescue us from sin! ow will you and your family keep the ight to be Much bserved this year? he first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened read are holy days. od commands us not to work on these days. nstead, we attend a special Church service to learn more about od s master plan. Just like assover and the ight to e Much bserved, od commands we keep the ays of Unleavened read every year forever! (xodus 12:17). C he third holy day in od s plan is entecost. entecost does not fall on a specific date on od s calendar. ow do we know what day entecost is on? uring the ays of Unleavened read, there is always a weekly abbath. e count 50 days from the day after this weekly abbath to get to entecost. he word entecost means count 50. bout 50 days after the sraelites left gypt, od gave is en Commandments to Moses on Mount inai on the day of entecost. undreds of years later, od gave is oly pirit to Jesus Christ s disciples on the day of entecost in a.d. 31. his day marked the beginning of od s Church! he oly pirit is the power of od, kind of like how electricity is the power of a lightbulb. od gives is pirit as a special gift to adults who have repented of their sins, have accepted Jesus Christ s sacrifice, have been baptized and have been prayed over and had hands laid on them by one of od s ministers. he oly pirit is what makes someone a member of od s Church. hose 8 M CMY
who have the oly pirit use its power to overcome their sins. he oly pirit also gives us the power to understand od s spiritual truths! he Middle ast is where the ible was written. his region has two harvest seasons each year. he first is a small spring grain harvest. he second is a large fall harvest. entecost comes during the spring harvest. t pictures when od will bring members of is Church into is Family as part of the firstfruit harvest. Members of od s Church are called firstfruits, because they will be the first to be born into od s Family! entecost pictures the harvest of od s firstfruits. fter Jesus Christ returns to arth, these firstfruits will become is ride. hey will help im and the Father teach everyone on arth about od s way of life. f the people they teach decide to obey od, they will have the opportunity to become the children of Christ and is ride! FMY he spring festivals picture od s plan to bring is Church into is Family as firstfruits. First, Christ died on assover to pay for the sins of mankind. hen, members of is Church get rid of their sins and leave behind the evil ways of this world. his is represented by the ays of Unleavened read. Finally, od gives the members of is Church the power of is oly pirit so they can overcome sin and become Christ s ride. he four fall holy days picture od s plan to bring the billions of people who were never a part of od s Church into is Family as children of od. even is od s number of completion. ll four fall holy days come in the seventh month of od s calendar. hen you add them with the three spring festivals, you get seven total festivals, which picture the complete plan of od for having a family. You will learn more about the fall holy days in a future lesson of the mperial cademy ible essons. 3 F 9
elp pring rrive Complete the statements below. s you fill in each word, use a green crayon or colored pencil to color in the leaf that has the same number as the statement. Continue answering and coloring (you can use different shades of green) until all the answers are complete and the tree looks like it would in the springtime. 11 1 10 3 2 4 5 7 6 1. he seven festivals teach us od s plan to have a. 2. od s year begins in the. 3. he first month of od s calendar is called. 4. od commanded the sraelites to select a perfect, unblemished on the 10th day of the first month. 5. he first festival in the spring is, and it occurs on the th day of the first month. 6. n the first assover, the sraelites smeared lamb s blood on the of their homes. 7. hose families who followed od s instructions did not lose their. 8. oday, od s people eat a piece of bread and drink a small glass of during the assover service. 9. he sraelites left gypt on the to e Much bserved. 10. he Feast of Unleavened read is days long with holy days. 11. od gave the en Commandments on the day of. 12. entecost means 50. 8 9 12 13 13. entecost is also known as the feast of. 10 M CMY
aste photos from the ight to e Much bserved here to make a scrapbook page. 3 F 11
C C Y Y JU M M C U Y X U Y Z J J Y F Q X C U C U M C M Q M Q M C C Y Z Y F M Q Q J U F F U M Q U Z F Y Y X C pring Festivals ord earch ublished by the hiladelphia Church of od and produced in cooperation with mperial cademy. editor in chief erald Flurry Copyright 2016, 2017 ll rights reserved.