Digging Deeply into the Levitical Festivals
(Leviticus 23)
1. Ginny and I were talking about something she heard on Moody Radio this week.
2. The speaker related that he was sitting on a plain leaving from China, and to his surprise the woman next to him spoke perfect English.
3. The began conversing, and eventually the woman asked, “How do you know your God is the right one?”
4. How would you answer that question on an objective basis?
5. Subjectively, you could share your testimony, and that is always appropriate. But people in other religions may have their own testimonies.
6. To my way of thinking, the simplest apologetic, without getting complicated, is the existence of the nation of Israel.
7. Since the Bible says God will exalt the nation of Israel in the end times, the nation of Israel must be on the scene and therefore existent for the end to come. Israel remained a people without a homeland for 1900 years, surviving numerous attempts to exterminate them. No other nation has such a track record. This is something objective and undeniable. True, remote chance could account for it, but it at bare minimum demands investigation.
8. But then we have to go a step further, because both Orthodox Judaism and Biblical Christianity lay claim to these beliefs. At that point, we move to Bible prophecy.
9 I heard Howard Hendricks share an illustration about a pastor who was preaching before his seminary professor. The professor was out to see if he embraced a “big God” or a “little God.” The professor was happy that he believed in a big God.
10. A big God has no problem inspiring the Bible, working miracles, resurrecting the dead, becoming incarnate in the womb of a virgin, or saving people by His sovereign grace. A little God needs our help, makes mistakes, and is incapable of working miracles or communicating a clear word to us. A little God cannot multiply fishes and loaves but depeneds upon the help and generosity of others. A big God is capable to do as He pleases.
MAIN IDEA: God has a plan, a long-range plan. He is a Big God. He does not improvise as things move along, for every detail is taken into account beforehand.
TS---------------‡ The 7 Feasts of Leviticus evidence this Big God. But before we begin diving into them, we need to get our bearings by noting several related issues.
I. TYPES of Bible Prophecy
1. DIRECT prophecy
(1) clearly stated in plain language (Luke 9:22)
(2) poetic (Isaiah 9:6, for example)
(3) symbolic (example: Revelation, John 2:18-23)
*note: much Bible prophecy has a double-fulfillment – a near less literal fulfillment and a distant more literal fulfillment (e.g., Isaiah 7:14)
2. SHADOWS (our current study about the Feasts)
• particularly the case with the Law (Torah, first 5 books)
• Hebrews 10:1 reads, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves.”
• Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
• Hebrews 8:3-5 “Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”
3. Providential PATTERNS
• The numbers 3 (God’s number), 7 and multiples of 7 (the number of God’s perfect work), and 40 (the number of testing and stressing)
• Twelve, the number of God’s people: twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, 144,000 end-time Jewish evangelists, etc.
• Repeated patterns: Temple Destroyed on same day of year in 586 B.C. and 70 A.D., etc.
The Jews fast every year of the 9th of the month of Av (a summer month) , calling it Tisha b’av because:
On the 9th of Av, Moses broke the first tablets of Law when he came down from Sinai to find the people worshipping the golden calf.
Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple) was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586, under the rulership of Nebuchadnezzar.
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, under the leadership of Titus.
In 135 CE, the final destruction of Bar Kochba’s army after his last fortress, Betar, fell. Jerusalem was ploughed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and thus became a Roman city.
In 1290 CE, King Edward 1st of England signed an edict expelling all Jews from England.
In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain.
World War 1 began on the 9th of Av.
Hitler presented his plan to the Nazi Party on the "Final Solution" to the Jewish problem, July 31, 1940 - Tisha B’Av
(Source: internet)
God has a plan, a long-range plan. He is a big God. He does not improvise as things move along, for every detail is taken into account beforehand
II. What A Study of The Levitical Festivals Can Do For YOU
• One complaint of sister Sally, “Oh, I don’t want to study the Feasts; I want Scripture that is relevant and will help me in daily life.”
• Well Sally, don’t worry. There is nothing more relevant than the Word of God. Some portions seem relevant when you read them; others only become relevant when you dig deeply, which we hope to do. Here’s the benefits of studying the feasts:
1. It defends the accuracy of the Bible: We are moving beyond COINCIDENCE. You can marvel as the Bible once again wows us! (renewed confidence)
2. It reaffirms the fact that, though history seems chaotic and random, God has an ORGANIZED and SYSTEMATIC plan for the ages; you will also see that the God of the universe is into details, including YOU.
• Ever get scared when you watch the news? It’s scary.
3. It reaffirms that Jesus Christ as at the center of Bible, whether clearly revealed or CONCEALED in imagery
• Do you ever wonder, “Have I been taken in with an intricate hoax?
2 Peter 1:16, “ We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
• When you study OT, you will realize that if there was a hoax, it had to be planned over 1500 years!
4. It will provide you a basis for witnessing to Jewish FRIENDS
5. It makes the case that Christianity has JEWISH roots and that God has a future plan for the literal nation of ISRAEL. It will give you inside information as to what that plan is.
God has a plan, a long-range plan. He is a big God. He does not improvise as things move along, for every detail is taken into account beforehand
III. An Overview of the Seven Levitical FEASTS (Leviticus 23)
(see handout)
1. PASSOVER (4-5) “Christ died for our sins”
2. Unleavened BREAD (6-8) “…to make us holy”
3. FIRSTFRUITS (9-14) “…and He rose again”
4. PENTECOST (weeks) (15-22) “…He sent His Spirit to empower us for the harvest”
5. TRUMPETS (23-25) “….We await His return at the last trumpet”
6. ATONEMENT (26-32) “…And we look forward to the time when all Israel will be saved”
7. TABERNACLES (Booths) (33-43) “And the people will celebrate God dwelling on the earth during the Millennial Kingdom Age which melds into the Age of the New Heavens and New Earth”
God has a plan, a long-range plan. He is a big God. He does not improvise as things move along, for every detail is taken into account beforehand
Conclusion
1. Number of books in the Bible: 66
Chapters: 1,189
Verses: 31,101
Words: 783,137
Letters: 3,566,480
Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260
Commands: 6,468
Predictions: over 8,000
Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
Unfulfilled prophecy: 3,140
(source: sermoncentral)
2. We we add Shadows and Providential Patterns to the list, who knows how many prophecies there are, but the bottom line is clear:
God has spoken
God has a plan
3. And if you know Christ, YOU are part of that plan. Let that sink in. That means you can trust God because He is truly competent.
