Here is a breakdown of the feasts and the elements – symbolic of the cross, the Holy Spirit, new life, baptism and communion.
Leviticus 23: Feasts of the LORD
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.
The Sabbath
3 "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.
The Passover
4 "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them.
5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD's Passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.
8 But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work."
The Feast of Firstfruits
9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest,
11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD.
13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.
14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
15 "You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.
16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD.
17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD.
18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21 And you shall make proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
22 "And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God."
The Feast of Trumpets
23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
24 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD."
The Day of Atonement
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
27 "Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD.
28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29 For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people.
30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath."
The Feast of Booths
33 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
34 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD.
35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.
36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.
37 "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day,
38 besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.
39 "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.
40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."
44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.
Leviticus 24: The Lamps
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.
3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the LORD regularly.
Bread for the Tabernacle
5 "You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.
6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the LORD.
7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD.
8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever.
9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD's food offerings, a perpetual due."
Punishment for Blasphemy
10 Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp,
11 and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.
13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
14 "Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
An Eye for an Eye
17 "Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.
18 Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life.
19 If anyone injures his neighbour, as he has done it shall be done to him,
20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.
22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God."
23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Things to think about…
The Sabbath, Lev 23:3 was a required rest, God rested and we rest in Christ. Sunday isn’t our Sabbath, but it is still a great opportunity to worship our Lord together to remember He is the fulfilment of the Sabbath rest. Christ – Lord of the Sabbath!
The Passover represented deliverance from Egypt, Lev 23:4-8. Jesus is our Passover delivers us from sin. The Feast of Firstfruits, Lev 23:9-14 was to be celebrated when they entered Canaan – the land of promise. We have entered our new land in Christ and via the resurrection, Christ was the firstfruits and we have life in the new land in Him, 1Cor15:20, 23. The Feast of Weeks, Lev 23:15-22, celebrated after counting one day after 7 Sabbaths represents Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the gathered church. This feast involved a wave offering that was a sweet smelling aroma, we are called to that in Christ. Note that after this feast the gleanings were to be for the poor and the sojourner. This represents the Holy Spirit being poured out on all, not just the Jew - but also the Gentile. The feast of Trumpets, Lev 23:23-25 involves a calling and a gathering. A calling of the church – rapture of Christians with the return of Christ, and a declaration of Israel’s kingdom in Christ upon the earth for 1000 years. The Day of Atonement, Lev 23:26-32 is after affliction, some say this is a period of intense tribulation of Israel, this may be true. Atonement is only possible through Christ and not through an outdated order of religious sacrifices. Christ atones and Christ alone! The feasts of Booths, Lev 23:33-43 represents that we are here temporarily – this is not our eternal home. Canaan was temporal, the 1000 year reign is temporal, The feast of Booths or Tabernacles is specifically said to be celebrated during the millennium (Zechariah 14:16-19), the New heavens and new earth are eternal. This feast is symbolic of temporary things that will one day give way to the eternal in Christ.
We are to burn brightly for Christ, we are His lights/lamps in this world, never to go out, Lev 24:1-4. Christ is our bread of the tabernacle, vss 5-9. We eat of His body, he keeps us eternally as a result.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is represented in the stoning of this young man in Lev 24:10-16. Don’t do it – it is the one sin that will not be atoned for. But when we use the Lord’s name in vain, this is also blaspheming. Jesus says even this can be forgiven, Mt 12:31, 32, but not against the Holy Spirit.
Jesus spoke about this ‘eye for an eye’ passage, Lev 24:17-23 in Matt 5:38-42. Christ is the ultimate Judge says “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…” Christ has taken the punishment of the law on Himself. As such we are now to be instruments of grace, mercy and peace.
Vision Point for Cell groups
CBC's Vision "To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission".
Cell groups on break.
Prayer Points
1. CBC Carols this Sunday night and Christmas Day service next week. Pray for advertising and that these events bring many visitors to celebrate the Saviour. Rod and the worship team as they practice.
2. New folk coming to church, pray they are loved and looked after.
3. America likely to endorse Joe Biden as President elect this week. Pray for truth, grace and peace.
4. Keep praying for those with health and family concerns at this time.
5. Sunday’s message. This week – “How to love yourself” Lev 19, Jay.
6. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
7. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. The worship team and streaming on Sunday. Great job folks.
2. All those who served on Sunday with Music, audio, words and streaming.
3. Angelo, Helen, Doug, Maddison, Yuki thankyou for your efforts every week.
