The three feasts are appointed for the people to celebrate each year;
Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of weeks (Harvest or
Firstfruits - later called Pentecost) and Feast of Tabernacles. Prior to
Feast of Tabernacles is Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur). These feast days are times of celebration,
remembrance, and thanksgiving.
All of these feast
days were celebrated in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. As
Believers in Jesus, we should look back on these days and remember with
thanksgiving Jesus' fulfillment of all these feast days. Hebrews 10
gives clarification concerning the parallels with Jesus.
In giving the specifications for the offerings for the feast days, God says, “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you”
Wow! If we really contemplated the ways that the Lord has blessed us, what would our offerings back to Him look like?
There
are several types of offerings listed. Gifts are variable and can be
whatever the giver feels in his heart to give. The tithe is not. It
is the Old Testament way, a tax so to speak, of ten percent for the
support and upkeep of the Levites.
In the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, leaven is prohibited. Even today, many Jews remove
all leaven from their homes. My Jewish friend, Miriam, has often
spoken about what procedures she must go through each year during
Passover.
Passover Remembrance this year will be March 27 at our home (Phil and Patti's). Pitch-in fellowship meal will begin at 6:00. Worship and teaching will begin at 7:00. Please let us know if you will be able to attend.
It’s
intriguing about the scapegoat, being used for the atonement for sin.
Is that what we do when we blame someone else for mistakes, problems,
sin in our lives? Do we transfer blame to a “scapegoat”? Jesus is
not only our sacrificial lamb, he is our scapegoat as well.
The Lord gives this promise to the Israelites if they will keep His commandments. “God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”Complete joy…have we claimed this promise today?
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