December 15
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD / PART 2
PASSOVER
According to Dr. Stephen Jones:
-"On the personal level, the story of Israel in the wilderness gives us the three steps toward full salvation.
Step one is revealed by the Feast of Passover. When a man’s faith is placed in God through Christ, the “Lamb of
God,” he is said to become a Christian. He is “justified” by faith in the blood of the Lamb (Christ). This
is why Jesus had to die on the cross at the Feast of Passover. He was the true Passover Lamb." ( The Barley Overcomers,
Dr. Stephen Jones )
According to Easton's Bible Dictionary:
-"Passover The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It
was kept in remembrance of the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites (Exo 12:13) when the first born of all the Egyptians were destroyed. It is called also the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" (Exo 23:15; Mar 14:1; Act 12:3), because during its celebration no leavened bread was to be eaten or even kept in the household (Exo 12:15). The word afterwards came to denote the lamb that was slain at the feast (Mar 14:12; Co1 5:7). A detailed account of the institution of this feast is given in Ex. 12 and 13. It was afterwards incorporated in the ceremonial
law (Lev 23:4) as one of the great festivals of the nation. In after times many changes seem to have taken place as to the mode of its
celebration as compared with its first celebration (Compare Deu 16:2, Deu 16:5, Deu 16:6; 2nd Chr 30:16; Lev 23:10; Num 9:10, Num 9:11; Num 28:16). Again, the use of wine (Luk 22:17, Luk 22:20), of sauce with the bitter herbs (Joh 13:26), and the service of praise were introduced. There is recorded only one celebration of this feast between the Exodus and
the entrance into Canaan, namely, that mentioned in Num 9:5. (See JOSIAH.) It was primarily a commemorative ordinance, reminding the children of Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt;
but it was, no doubt, also a type of the great deliverance wrought by the Messiah for all his people from the doom of death
on account of sin, and from the bondage of sin itself, a worse than Egyptian bondage (Co1 5:7; Joh 1:29; Joh 19:32; 1st Pet 1:19; Gal 4:4, Gal 4:5)." ( Easton’s Bible Dictionary )
-As was stated, this great Feast of Passover has a spiritual meaning for us today. It represents the first step
in our salvation process. This feast is applied to our lives when we place our faith in God through Christ, “the LAMB
of God”. It speaks of our CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, BECOMING A CHRISTIAN, THE SALVATION OF OUR SPIRIT, AND OF
OUR JUSTIFICATION.
According to Dr. Stephen Jones:
-"Most Christians are aware that there is more to the Christian life than justification. Just as Israel had
a long way to go before entering the Promised Land, so also the justified Christian has a long way to go before attaining
to the full promise of God. And yet, the Christian life is too often explained purely as a New Testament teaching, without
tying it to the foundation of the Old Testament which God carefully established in His dealings with Israel. For this reason,
some teach that once they are justified by faith, there is very little more to do except to try to get others saved. This
is comparable to an Israelite coming out of Egypt, and then remaining on the shores of the Red Sea trying to coax more people
to come out of Egypt. While one should indeed witness to people, Christians must see that their justification does not mean
that they are already in the Promised Land." ( The Barley Overcomers, Dr. Stephen Jones )
-With this in mind, let us be thankful for the Feast of Passover, but let us not stop there. Let us go on to
the …
-FEAST OF PENTECOST!-
