If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 16 as we continue in the study of this book. Here's where the study is going to be a little different. I'm going to say it right from the beginning.
There are some things concerning biblical texts that deserve, in my opinion, some... slowing down. And so for the sake of this chapter, it's not going to be as preachy tonight.
It's going to be a slower pace and we're going to have some visual aid. So we're going to be using a PowerPoint tonight. And this is for the aid of making sure that nobody will miss a detail.
of what we're going to explore. I highly encourage you, if you know yourself as a person that is easily distracted, that is not supposed to be the case tonight. If there's another Bible study you want to be distracted at, I mean, no Bible study we should be distracted, but... if there is one not to be distracted, lest after this you feel like you're talking to people and you have no idea what they're saying because you missed out, please don't miss out on a detail.
This will require special attention in order to see the grand picture of what God is doing. what God has been teaching us and will teach us with this specific teaching here. Deuteronomy 16. Let's pray.
Ask God to help us with even our attention and that he will give us what he desires to speak. Father, in Jesus'name. We come with open hearts, open minds, and we ask that you would enable us to focus and enable us to understand the wisdom of God, the power of God.
the love of God in this chapter and throughout the verses in this book. Lord, may this teaching be at perfect pace, freedom from confusion. Lord, as our dear sister prayed, we prayed again. We're not here for any other reason other than to be changed. And so we pray even that your power would override the temptation to simply be impressed.
Change us in light of this, Lord. May we see the face of Jesus Christ through this teaching. In your name we pray. Amen. Deuteronomy chapter 16. Moses is still preaching to the Israelites coming into the promised land.
And now, as you see here from the beginning to the end of this chapter, he really is focusing on something that we've covered before, if you were with us in the Leviticus Bible series. He's focusing now on feasts. we've been talking about worship and how to worship in light of the principles found in this book. And we've been dealing with a location of worship that God would institute for the people to come together as a congregation. And now he's going to focus on these feasts or these festivals that they were to observe year-round to celebrate.
And just for the sake of knowing, does anybody know here how many feasts there were that they were to keep? The Israelites in the Old Testament. How many feasts were they to keep? Seven. But look at Deuteronomy 16. How many does he touch on here?
If you've read the chapter, you know that it wasn't all seven. Three. Does anybody know why, out of all the seven, Moses wants to focus on three out of the seven?
The answer is found in verse 16 of chapter 16. Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose. At the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Weeks. feast of booths.
They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. So, do you see?
Why these three out of all seven? Because Because it is these three in which the people had to make pilgrimage and actually go to the tabernacle. Whereas the other ones, they weren't required to do so.
Remember, Moses is focusing on the location of worship. And part of that is, out of the seven feasts, three of them, you have to pack your bags, bring your offering. If it's too much, you can purchase your offerings there and celebrate physically in the presence of God. And as we're looking at this, I thought to myself, why just touch on these three when we can touch on all seven today?
Who was here in the Leviticus series when we did that one night? I believe there was more than one person. And I thought to myself, even going over those seven feasts, it's been a long time since we were in Leviticus.
And I think it's going to help for us to just go through it as a refresher and a reminder of these feasts being way deeper than just how Israel worshipped. under the old covenant. And so this isn't going to be as smooth with the PowerPoint. I don't have a clicker in my hand, so I can't go at my pace. I'm going to, from time to time, look at Sarah and say, Sarah, next slide, please.
And we're going to just go, we're just going to just make this casual. So, do we have the PowerPoint ready? I hope so.
Here we are. We're going to talk about the seven feasts, and we're not going to stay in Deuteronomy. So I encourage you, turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 23. That is where all the feasts are mentioned in detail.
Leviticus chapter 23. If you want to know where can I find these feasts described, it's in Leviticus chapter 23. The seven feasts of the Lord. Let's just talk about where these feasts are mentioned. We already described how they are mentioned here in chapter 23, but they're mentioned in two other places, and for different reasons. For Leviticus chapter 23, it gives us how these feasts are related to one another. That is not the case for Deuteronomy 16, as we talked about, that deal with the location of where three of these feasts were to be practiced.
And there's one other place, and that's in Numbers 28. 28-29. You don't have to turn there, but it deals with the feast, but specifically with the offerings that were to be given with each of these feasts and the amount of the offerings that were to be given at these feasts. And so remember this in your mind, Numbers 28-29.
Whenever the Bible repeats a certain theme or subject, it always has a different detail, usually. And so Numbers 28-29, the offerings, that's what God has in mind. These are the things that you have to give at these feasts. Leviticus 23, how did these feasts relate to... to one another in sequence.
And Deuteronomy 16 is three of them that deal with the location of their worship concerning these feasts. And so we move on to the next slide as we talk about these feasts in their overview. Seven feasts, we mentioned that, that were celebrated year-round.
Now you look in your Bibles in Leviticus 23, look at verse 2 at the end of it. Look what the Lord says. They are my appointed feasts.
This is personal to God. This wasn't something that the people came up with to celebrate God and to worship God. No, God says, I want to give you how I want to be approached at certain times of the year for you to realize something about me and my work and my character in your lives throughout redemptive history. My appointed feast.
Very important to God, so it has to be very important for the people of God. Four of them were celebrated during the springtime. And the other three were grouped together in the fall season. You think, why is that important?
Well, when we get to the prophetic implications, we're going to see why that's important. So when we see the first four feasts, they are very close to each other in season. Then there's a gap of time where... Nothing is really celebrated at this level.
And then three of the other feasts are celebrated during the fall. By the way, I tend to talk really fast. So if at any point you feel like I'm going too fast, just put your hand up and say, could you slow down, please? I give you all right. I will not be offended.
Okay, next slide. Hear the name of the feast, and this is all in Leviticus 23, but just for the sake of overview. Passover is the first one.
The second one is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The third one is the Offering of First Fruits. Fourth, Feast of Weeks.
Those are all there in Leviticus chapter 23. And each of these have a powerful story to tell. Deeper than we think. Next slide. So what are the purpose of these feasts? Why did God give these feasts?
When he says these are my appointed feasts, and he recorded them in three different places, I mean, this must be very significant. And it is. And there are three layers of purpose given to us. Number one deals with the nation of Israel. This was God's way of bringing the people together to a certain extent, for them to unify in their faith, but not just that, to rehearse certain practices.
and sacrifices in order to be reminded of God's redemption in their lives and his faithfulness throughout their lives. So we see that theme and we're even familiar, if you're familiar with the Old Testament, with the Passover, God's deliverance and the unleavened bread, how they had to rush out of Egypt. And we talk about first fruits and weeks. This deals with how God has provided in that year for their food. And so all of this is to say, I am your redeemer and I am your provider.
These are acts of worship for the people. and it was for their good and for God's glory. But secondly, when we come into the new covenant, Paul says something significant in Colossians 2, 16 and 17. We don't have to turn there. But he deals with the subject of food and drink in the Old Testament and festivals and Sabbaths and new moons.
These dates and these celebrations. He talks about these things and he says something so profound to the Christians. He says in verse 17, he says, These are but a shadow, but Christ is the substance. What does that mean?
See, the early church, for some, viewed these things as the substance. They viewed these celebrations and they viewed these ordinations as something in which this is what it's all about. And God's saying, through Paul, no, these things point to the person of Jesus Christ, his ministry, his character, his salvific work.
And as you follow a shadow, it will lead to the actual thing. The shadow itself is not the thing. So move from the shadow and see where it's pointing to. And it is the person of Jesus Christ.
And so why do I say that? When we see these feasts, we're going to see Jesus in each and every single one of them. And so there's a prophetic implication here. There's a prophetic description in these celebrations that God intended to wove into these things. And that's what we're going to see.
We're going to see Jesus in these celebrations. Lastly, there is very practical truths in these feasts. Not just for worship, but for other aspects of our walk with Christ. Paul borrows from these feasts. to promote holiness in the church and we're going to see one example of that.
So I say this because as we explore these feasts, it's going to widen our horizon and expand our understanding of Jesus in the Old Testament. Because when we say feast, You know what we think of? We limit ourselves to seeing Jesus in the Passover. He's the Passover lamb. He's the blood that we apply to our lives so that God's judgment would pass over us.
But I want to challenge us tonight that Jesus is beyond the Passover. He's in the Feast of Weeks. He's in the Feast of Trumpets. He's in the Feast of Booths.
Jesus is everywhere. And so we move on to the next slide. And before we jump into that, I want to just show an example. Before we get into the feast, I want to show an example of how Jesus is everywhere in the Old Testament. Everywhere in the Old Testament.
He's not just the feast. He's the sacrifice in the feast. He's not just the sacrifice in the feast. He's the priest that offers the sacrifice.
He's not just the priest or the sacrifice. Jesus is the building itself where they perform these acts of worship. And here's proof of that.
We're familiar with this verse in John chapter 1. It says here, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word in the original language is literally to tabernacle. To tabernacle, to pitch a tent. And we know, we've been studying the Old Testament for years, that this physical structure called the tabernacle was a manifestation that would host the glory of God.
It would host the power of God, the majesty of God, the brilliance of God, bringing something of God's glory. glory to the earth for the people to experience and behold and John is borrowing that language of the tabernacle and he's applying it to Jesus he's saying in the old testament God erected a tent but in the new covenant he's erecting something greater his glory in the flesh and he's using that language dwelt among us and what we have seen his glory what was the tabernacle all about to behold the glory of God The tabernacle was nothing unless the glory of God filled. That place.
And what John is saying is that Jesus is the tabernacle of God and he hosts the glory of God. You want to see the glory of God? Look at the tabernacle of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
Was John being super spiritual here? What was he doing? No, Jesus admitted to that truth when he said in the next chapter, in verse 19 of chapter 2, what did he say? Jesus answered him, destroy this temple.
And I'll raise it up in three days. He spoke about his body. Saying destroy this temple.
And the Jews didn't get it. The leaders are saying. It took us just about 45 years to build this temple.
And you're saying you're going to destroy it. And rebuild it in three days. And they did not know that Jesus was speaking about.
His body. His flesh. Being the tent of God.
That would host the glory of God. And here's a little interesting thought on that. In Matthew 17, Jesus brings up a few of his disciples, and he's about to show his glory.
Remember that? The Mount of Transfiguration? They're going to see something about the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
And we look at the next slide and we see this familiar language here. What happens at one point in verse 5 of Matthew 17? It says that he was still speaking when, Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. That was Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. And a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him. Is there anything in the Old Testament of the tabernacle being covered by a cloud? In Exodus 40, 34, it tells us, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Do you see? Jesus being the tabernacle, the tent of God, being pitched to display the glory of God.
Then in Matthew 17, we see the physical cloud, the manifest glory of God, covering Jesus, as it did in the Old Testament, covering the tent of meeting. He's everywhere, brothers and sisters. He's everywhere and he's in the feasts. And so we come to Leviticus 23 and we deal with the first feast.
These are very familiar to us if you're familiar with the Old Testament. In the next slide it tells us about feast number one, the Passover. The Passover is instituted in Exodus chapter 12. God gave the instructions for this feast when the people of God were in Egypt. And it was to be celebrated, listen very carefully, this is where we need to pay attention, on the 14th day of the first month. The 14th day of the first month, that is the religious calendar.
They were to observe it. then, and this was the feast. They were to take a blemish, a free of blemish lamb.
They were to slaughter it and apply the blood on their house, specifically on the doorpost and the lintel of the doors. Notice that in the instructions in Exodus 12, the blood was never to be applied. plowed on the floor.
Why? Because they were never to step on the blood. It was too sacred. And the Bible tells us in the New Testament that we are not to trample on the blood of Christ, meaning to take it for granted and to just live in sin and say, Jesus will forgive me.
We don't do that. In the Old Testament, the blood was never applied to the ground lest they walk on it and disgrace it. It was applied above them. And they would hide in their house under the blood. Is that language familiar?
To be under the blood. And in Exodus 12, what was God going to do? Judge the nation of Egypt.
and whoever was under the blood would be spared of judgment because God would see it and pass over. That's where we get the language. Pass over those houses that had the blood of the Lamb. And so this was redemption.
This was deliverance. This was being spared from the wrath of God. And this is Jesus.
Paul says that in the next slide, does he not? In 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7, he says to the church, cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, Jesus is that lamb. God was preaching to the nation of Israel that they needed a substitute based on an innocent life being sacrificed on their behalf. Preaching the gospel to them in Exodus.
And Paul, the theologian inspired by the Holy Spirit, to that lamb and says, this is Jesus Christ. We are spared from the wrath of God because of His blood. That one day when God will judge this world and judge every person from Adam to whoever is the last person before Christ comes, whoever has applied the blood of Christ over the lives will be spared from His judgment.
We all know this if we are in the church long enough concerning the Passover. But then we come to the next feast, which is the feast of unleavened bread. Leaven is a component in bread that allows it to rise. But this bread in this celebration, we're supposed to have no leaven. And listen to when it was supposed to be celebrated.
Listen very carefully. Passover, what was it? The 14th day of the first month. Unleavened bread, Literally the next day for seven days. The 15th day of the first month.
So they were very close to each other. Very close to each other. And what the people would do is that they would remove this substance called leaven out of their homes.
They were supposed to remove it out of their rooms. And they made a whole thing out of it. Where they would vacuum the place, so to speak.
They would clean the cupboards. They would clean under the bed. Whatever they can do to make sure there was no leaven in the house.
And then later on he says, let there be no leaven with you. you personally. So not just in the home but anything on them. And when you come to Deuteronomy 16, he says make sure that there's no leaven in the territory. He didn't even want leaven in the nation.
It was a whole thing. It was spring cleaning in that feast. But it was a picture.
It was a picture and the reason why God gave this was to remind them, according to Deuteronomy 16, to remind them of the day when they came out of Egypt. It says that in the verses that you may remember the day when you were brought out of Egypt. You know why?
Remember God was going to judge the nation of Egypt. He was going to come and destroy the firstborn of every family. If you had the blood, you were safe.
And then he institutes this feast called unleavened bread. And the reason why he says let it be unleavened is because they had no time. They had to get out of Egypt.
They had to go into the promise and they had to go into the wilderness. So they didn't have time to bake. They had to do it as quick as possible.
So every time they would celebrate this feast, they would be reminded of how they were delivered quickly out of Egypt. And would you know that Paul used this as a picture of sin. And the Bible uses leaven always as a picture of sin.
Because it's hidden, it's unseen, it's internal like leaven is in bread, and it puffs up. And sin ultimately is pride. It's living the way I want to live apart from God's instruction and guidance in my life. And so look what he does in the next slide in 1 Corinthians 5-7.
The same verse where he says Jesus is our Passover lamb. Look what he says about leaven. He says here, cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump.
He's speaking to Christians. He's not speaking to the Israelites in their feasts. He's speaking to believers in the New Testament. He's saying, cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened.
He's saying, get the sin out of the church. There was sin being tolerated in the Corinthian church, and Paul now is pointing to this feast in the Old Testament. He's applying it to the New Testament, and he's saying the same way they were quick to come out of Egypt, and part of that was celebrating this feast of unleavened bread.
Get the sin out of the church. Get it out of your lives. You know what's amazing about these feasts? And we can go to the next slide.
is that Passover is celebrated, remember, on the first month, 14th day, right? Unleavened bread, first month, and in Exodus 12, it was literally the night of the 14th day. But it's technically on the 15th day. In other words, these feasts were almost inseparable.
These feasts were so intertwined that, according to the Bible, it was almost recognized as one feast. You see that language all the time from the Old and the New Testament. I want to prove this to you.
And you're saying, why is this important? Hold on tight. So we go to the next slide. Look at these verses.
We see in Ezekiel 45, 21. And excuse me, these things are very small. So if you see me squinting or taking my time, it's because it doesn't look like what it looks like up there. I want you to read it. And I'm going to go to the next one because I can't see the first one as much.
It says, Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying, Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? But I thought it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So why is he talking about Passover for the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
The next one says, concerning the Passover, before that it says, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where they were to, what? Prepare the Passover, or call the Passover in Luke 22. And then we see that in the next one as well. All this to show... that Unleavened Bread and Passover were seen as one feast almost though they were separate.
Now here's the ultimate question concerning all this. And this is in the next slide. Why is God doing that? He could have separated the Feast of Unleavened Bread many days after the Feast of the Passover.
Well if we look at it practically and prophetically we know why. If Passover symbolizes Jesus dying on the cross and shedding his blood so that we would be redeemed, and unleavened bread deals with us getting the sin out of our lives and coming out of Egypt, then I realize something. You can't separate those two things. You cannot separate Jesus Christ dying on the cross for your sins and you still wanting to live in your sin. If you're going to say yes to Jesus Christ and applying the blood on your life, then you also have to say yes to removing leaven from your life.
They could not separate these feasts. And God is declaring a very clear message of repentance and faith. See, it was faith to stay in your house. And to trust that this blood would cover me and protect me from the wrath of God.
But there was action in removing the leaven from their lives. As a response to that salvation. We cannot say yes to the blood of Christ and say at the same time yes to my sin. If I say yes to Jesus Christ, I also say no to my sin. And I live in a continual state of repentance from my sin because I have said yes to the blood of Jesus Christ.
There is a popular gospel going around today that's saying say yes to Jesus and hold on to your sin as well. That is not the gospel of the Bible. And even the Old Testament in prophetic fashion is teaching us that. For us to say yes to the gospel is also to say no to sin.
It is not a works-based thing. It is a turning around from the thing that I once loved and now hating it because I embraced the one who died because of it. So the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were interjoined to declare something of the gospel that it's not just about going to heaven when you say yes to Jesus.
It's about Him cleansing sin from your life and Him living in and through you. as a holy people. And this is where I believe most people are familiar with the feast and its application. Passover, unleavened bread.
And now this is where it gets a little bit interesting. Because the next feast is, in the next slide, the feast of first fruits. Now this is what the feast was all about.
The people, when they were to come into the promised land, they were ordered to do something in the season. They were to take the first fruits of their harvest, whatever their crops produced, whatever... was developed initially in their farming they would take the first of their grain they would take the first of their hard work and as an act of faith they would come and bring it before God and dedicated to him. And so this was a faith thing.
Why? Because they were taking the first. I mean, you're waiting for the first so you can eat and provide for your family and your business would thrive.
And God says, no, that first thing is dedicated to God. And so they had to trust that God was going to provide for the rest of the year by taking the initial and dedicating it to the Lord. But not only that, there was an anticipation.
It was a celebratory thing. Why? Because when they saw...
the things coming up they realize that this is the first of a harvest there's so much more coming this is exciting and so there was a celebration element to it yes God has proven faithful this year he's going to bring even more and we're going to see plentiful we're going to see an abundance of things and so they did it also with joy trusting that these initial signs of provision would surely prove to come in greater wealth it's a beautiful celebration And I know that Jesus is known as the Passover Lamb. But have you and I ever recognized him as the first fruits? We understand Jesus shedding his blood.
Yes, he sacrificed. Yes, he is our Passover Lamb. Yes, he is the one that makes us in right standing with God. But Paul didn't just call Jesus the Passover Lamb.
Paul called Jesus the first fruits of the resurrection. In the next slide we see in 1 Corinthians, we can skip over that slide. What does he say?
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Paul's borrowing language from this feast. And what is he trying to say?
He's trying to say that Jesus, the same way that harvest would produce initial signs of life, Jesus goes before us as the first fruits of the evidence that surely resurrection is coming. And the same way they would be so thrilled to see sign of life for their crops, In anticipation that more was coming. So we also can trust that if Jesus is the first fruits, there's going to be a harvest of souls that will also be resurrected. It's going to be a celebration, brothers and sisters.
So he's the first fruits of the resurrection. And we're the harvest to follow. And so we can trust, we can walk in faith because we know that the tomb is empty.
We know that he is raised from the dead. We know that he is in the body, glorified, yes. Ascended into heaven, yes.
But also the sign and the declaration that there is an abundant harvest that will follow in the same way that Jesus was raised. So Paul says, from this feast, the same way that it was an exciting time for them, believers be excited to know that Christ, His body not being found, but being raised, is a sign that you and I also will be raised. And now it gets really interesting. Look at your Bibles in Leviticus 23. When this feast was to be celebrated.
It's believed that it was celebrated during the same week of unleavened bread. Remember, we have the 14th day of the first month, right? I wish I had a calendar, but let's just pretend here.
We have a calendar. We're still in the same month with these first three feasts. You have the 14th day of the first month, then the 15th day of the first month. For a week, you're celebrating unleavened bread.
You're not eating leavened bread for a week. And then it says here at the end of verse 11 of chapter 23, on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. So the priest would wave the first fruits on the first day after the Sabbath of that week. Let me say it again. On the first day after the Sabbath is when they were to celebrate this feast.
Question. On what day of the week did Jesus raise from the dead? Mark 69, now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, of whom the Lord had cast out seven demons.
Listen to this, the same day that this feast was celebrated was the same day that Jesus rose from the dead. So when the people were ready to celebrate the feast of first fruits, The first fruits of the resurrection came. Do you feel the weight of this? Do you realize that these feasts have prophetic implications?
This is God's prophetic calendar. Look how wise, look how amazing God is that he allowed his son to fulfill the prophetic imagery of these feasts, not just in its... meaning but even in the timing even in the timing of these feasts we know that right we know that he came on the week of the Passover when all these Israelites made pilgrimage to come from all over to the place where they would worship as Deuteronomy 16 says and they were all trying to find their Passover lamb and who comes in the triumphal entry the Passover lamb on the same week Buried during unleavened bread. And on the first day after the Sabbath, the same day that they would celebrate this feast, is the same day that Jesus raises from the dead.
We can just stop right now and worship, but we still have all these feasts left. Now we move on to the next slide, with the fourth feast, the Feast of Weeks. I'm going to read this from Deuteronomy, excuse me, Leviticus 23, verse 15. You can join me in reading.
This is the next feast. You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath. Okay, so we're continuing from the last feast. So he's saying, count from the time that you celebrated the Feast of First Fruits.
From that time, count seven weeks from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. We talked about that. So they wave the wave offering, right? Lord, this belongs to you. That's what that slide was in Deuteronomy 26. They would say, this belongs to you, Lord.
And it's a sign of the first fruits of the harvest. This is a sign of Jesus being the first fruits of the resurrection. Listen carefully now. This is powerful.
The next feast, the Feast of Weeks, he says, from that day where they waved the first fruits, the same day that Jesus rose from the dead. What does he say? Verse 16, you shall count 50 days. Sound familiar?
You shall count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. So what were they to do in this feast? Very simple. They were to celebrate a new level of harvest.
So the Feast of First Fruits was the initial harvest that they received in their crops, in their land. Then the next feast was, after a certain amount of time, they were to celebrate the abundant of harvest that they had received from that initial time. Does that make sense? So after 50 days, imagine all the crops and all the fruit and all the things that came in.
And this feast is to recognize God for such an abundant provision and to say, God is amazing. God is amazing. Look at what he has given us.
Look at the ingathering. Look at the harvest that we have received. You know what's amazing is that when you go to Exodus 23.16, I'm actually going to turn there. You can turn there if you want, if you want to take notes. But there's another name given to this feast in Exodus 23.16.
I'm going to read it here. He says, You shall keep the feast of harvest. And he's talking about the same feast. So the Feast of Weeks, brothers and sisters, is synonymous with something called the Feast of Harvest.
And it's... It's applicable because that's what they're celebrating. After all these 50 days, look at what we've received. Look at what we've gotten as a harvest.
In New Testament, they celebrated this feast, but they called it something else. They used the Greek language for it. It's the Greek word for the word 50th, and it's what?
Pentecost. So we go to the next slide, we're going to ask some questions. We're going to do a little follow-up here on where we've come up to this point.
When did Jesus raise from the dead? The day of first fruits, right? The same day that that feast was to be celebrated was the same day that Jesus rose.
When was the Holy Spirit poured out? According to Acts 2.1, on the day of Pentecost, which is the feast of weeks. 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, He was on this earth for 40 days in His resurrected body teaching. He ascended into heaven. They were praying in the upper room.
And on the day of Pentecost, which was the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, the Greek version of the Feast of Weeks, 50 days, there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now, what happened on that day? How many souls were saved? Sounds like a harvest to me.
So in the Old Testament, they were celebrating, look at what we've gotten. Look at what we've gotten. Look at the harvest. And God in His wisdom, He chooses to pour out his Holy Spirit on the 50th day after Jesus rose from the dead, and he brought in a sheaves of souls, 3,000. Do we see this?
Do we feel this? Do we realize this? Are we not blown away by the wisdom of God?
That in the physical sense, they were celebrating a harvest. And in the New Testament, they were doing so in the spiritual. Look at what God has brought to us.
Because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus rose from the dead. We still have two more. And we come to the next feast here.
But before we go there. Look back here. And see verse 17 of Leviticus 23. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved. So during the celebration, you know what they were supposed to do?
They were supposed to take two loaves of bread and they were supposed to wave it before God as an act of worship. As saying, Lord, accept these loaves of bread. You know what's interesting with these two loaves of bread? Look at here in verse 17. I'm going to keep reading. Two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two-tenths of an ephah.
They shall be a fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven. Now what was the leaven a picture of? So how is God going to accept a wave offering of leaven?
We just celebrated the feast of unleavened bread. That's what it seems like God wants. Bread that's unleavened.
And yet in this feast, we have leavened bread being waved in the presence of God asking Him to accept it. How can it be so? And I believe that if you make the link between this and the New Testament outpouring of the Holy Spirit, this is what it means.
That though we have sin still in our lives, the Holy Spirit still chose to dwell in us. To dwell in us. And we are still acceptable before God because of the sealing work of the Holy Spirit. Am I going too fast? Okay, then we'll slow it down for the next few feasts.
Then we come to the next feast. Feast number five. Let's look at that recap.
This is where we slow down, let's take a breath, okay? We're good? We're going to take a breath and recap on everything that we heard, alright?
Jesus died during the Passover. The lamb that was slaughtered, the blood, that's a picture of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. Right after that was another feast. It's to take the leaven out of bread. It's a picture of us getting the sin out of our lives when we've come into covenant with God in Jesus Christ.
Third, Jesus raises from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits. The same exact day that they were to celebrate it thousands of years before Jesus'time is the same day that he actually raised from the grave. And the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Feast of Weeks, where they celebrated a harvest coming in. And spiritually speaking, a harvest of souls came in on that same day. So we need to understand these first four weeks, uh, feasts here.
This is Bible study, so this is not going to be as smooth as a sermon might be. Is anybody confused about anything that was just mentioned this past 20 minutes? Any clarity needed? Yeah. When, okay, I didn't pay attention, when Christ died and was raised, so was the end of the 11th bread going into the first fruits?
Yeah, it was during it. Okay, so the 11th bread time is, how long is it? Seven days.
It's for seven days. It's a whole week of not eating leavened bread. Okay, so this is where I'm confused.
So Jesus died during the Passover. So he celebrated Passover with the disciples. That was the last supper. Right.
Okay. And then during it... Right.
No, it did, remember, it was so close, right? I mean, in Exodus 12, you would see it celebrated on the night of the 14th, almost. So it was... it was almost celebrated at the same time.
So would you say he was crucified during Unleavened Bread? I think more specifically the Passover, that's the focus. But Unleavened Bread closely follows it.
So it's the timing by minute by minute, we can't determine. But the same week and the same time it was celebrated, that's a definite. So to get into the minute by minute detail of certain things, it's a little bit more difficult. But to see the general sense of the calendar of God with these feasts, he definitely walked in the light. those timings for sure.
We can discuss afterwards about it. Yeah. Any other questions about this?
So I'm assuming that it's clear for everybody because I heard a yes that I'm going too fast. I don't want to make sure that I go too fast. Any other questions concerning this?
Wow, for a Friday night, that's impressive after a long week of work. So let's look at this. The first four feasts were fulfilled.
We talked about that, right? Jesus dying, unleavened bread, first fruits, feast of weeks, that's all been fulfilled. Here's the issue.
We still have the next three left. Those have not been fulfilled. There's nothing in the New Testament that indicates that the next three feasts have been satisfied. in any way, unless they are yet to be fulfilled.
And we're still talking about Jesus here. We're still talking about the salvific work of Christ in its fullness. And so I would make this case in the next slide that the first four weeks, which happen to be in the springtime, grouped together, deal with the ministry of Jesus in his first coming. And the next set of feasts, the next three, deal with the ministry of Christ in his second coming.
Saying, what do you mean? I'm saying that the feasts that we're about to discover and unpack deal with Jesus in his return. So we see here that the first three feasts were in the first month, right?
We talked about how the first three, Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, they were all in the first month. And then 50 days after that, the Feast of Weeks. The fifth feast, which we're about to come to right now, seventh month. So you know what that means? I borrowed this.
This is a visual of what this might have looked like in grouping. The spring feasts were all together. From that time on the calendar to the next set of three feasts, you have a huge gap of time.
Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost. Then the next set of instructions deal with months later to celebrate the feasts. Now, we're still talking about Jesus, right?
This is my argument. See that gap right there between the spring and the fall? Because all those things have been fulfilled.
See that little dash? That's where you and I are right now. That little dash, that little gap, deals with the church age.
We're still gathering in souls. There's still a harvest that's coming in. There's still an ingathering. The Holy Spirit is still convicting sin.
It's still convicting hearts to turn to the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's still happening right now. So it begs the question, if this has so far been a sequence of the work of Jesus, then what's the next work?
What's the next thing to come? I mean, it's not even subtle. Look at the word. The Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets.
So now we read, look at Leviticus 23, 23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, this is the next feast after the Feast of Weeks, which is a picture of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That's already happened and he's still working. That's what the dash is all about.
You and I are in that age. So what are we waiting for next? What are we waiting for Jesus Christ to do next?
And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the people of Israel saying, In the seventh month, what we've been dealing with the first month, And a little bit over, this gap of time, now we've come to the seventh month. On the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with a blast of trumpets, a blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.
There is language for that in the New Testament. They would celebrate a feast where there was a blast of trumpets. And if this is on God's prophetic calendar, you and I are waiting for a blast of trumpet as well. It's in the next slide, in 1 Thessalonians 4. What did Paul say?
Verse 16 and 17. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. You're saying, why are those highlighted there? Green, red, and purple.
It's because one day we're going to do a teaching on the rapture and realize that those are three distinct sounds that will occur during the rapture. Those are three separate sounds that will occur during the rapture. Let me touch on the first one. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of a command.
He himself will cry with a command. Then there's a voice of an archangel. That's a whole other thing on its own. And then the sound of a trumpet of God.
But a cry of a command, that's an urgent thing. There's an excitement there. This is the Lord himself. And with a cry of a command, as the bridegroom, he's going to call for his bride to come. He's going to shout, my beloved, rise, come to me.
And this is the rapture of the church. This is when the church will be taken up into the air, into the presence of God. And so this calendar here, this work in the Old Testament, if we're following the sequence, then this is what we're anticipating next for Jesus to do. We're expecting him to cry. And what is the rapture?
Where the people of God who have put their trust and faith in Jesus will be taken up from the earth into his presence, both dead and alive, before the work of God's judgment and wrath on the earth, known as the tribulation. Now some people debate, is the rapture going to happen before that, in the middle of that, or after that? One day we'll do a teaching on it and see.
But the sequence here will give a clear indication to it. So that's what we're waiting for next. The same way that that was the next feast that they were supposed to wait after that segment of time of silence. Guys, we're in a time of silence.
It tells us that Jesus is going to come like a thief in the night. What's that meaning? It's going to be a surprise.
And he calls us to be prepared for that. And when he comes, it will be sudden. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us it will be the twinkling of an eye. Just blink right now. You've blinked hundreds of times since you came here tonight.
That's how quick the rapture will be. It's going to be a worldwide thing where people are going to freak out. Think about all the things that are going to come out, the craziness, alien abduction, all these different theories are going to go out there probably. But it's going to happen.
If this book is true, it's going to happen. Are you ready for that? Let's just pause on Bible study and teaching and let me just talk to you personally. Are you ready for that? You know, every generation says that Jesus is coming out.
Yeah, one of us is going to be right. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for it. To be in his presence forever.
To hear the cry of a command of my beloved, your beloved. What a time that's going to be. You think, why is the archangel going to be there? I said I would not talk about it.
Well, think about it. We're going to be caught up in the air. We're going to be caught up in the air. The archangel, if it's Michael, which he is known as, he is known as the one who does much warfare with the devil and demons. Now, what's the devil known as?
The prince of the power of the air. And there's a lot of warfare going on. So it makes sense for the voice of the archangel to be in that place.
To some degree, offering some kind of protection for the church to be in the presence of God in the air where Satan has his dominion and his rule. The Feast of Trumpets. Next slide. Then we come to the sixth one.
which is called the Day of Atonement. You read the description, it doesn't sound like much of a celebration. There's a purpose for that. The Day of Atonement is what? What is that?
Is that time in Israel's day where the high priest, once out of the entire year, would come into where? Where would he come into? The Holy of Holies to present a sacrifice in the most red hot zone concerning the presence of God on behalf of the nation for forgiveness on a national level. Right?
It's a day of atonement where you would go through the veil in the presence of God providing a sacrifice for the entire nation. We see that in the book of Leviticus chapter 16. It's a one day out of the year, one time out of the year where somebody can go into the Holy of Holies. Now think about that. Because we talked about the Passover, and we know that that deals with Jesus'death on the cross.
But when we come to this celebration, we also know that Jesus Christ is the one who rent the veil, and we have access to the presence of God. In other words, it's another picture of the cross, right? Right? The Day of Atonement.
Whenever we read that, we think, Jesus, His blood. We don't have to go in once a year now. We can go in forever, because when He died on the cross, what happened to the veil? Tore from top to bottom, showing that God is the one who ripped it. So are we back at the cross again?
If that's true, then this whole thing doesn't make sense. But I present a detail here that will give us some insight. Pay attention to this.
In this part here, it's talking about the Day of Atonement like Leviticus 16, but there's a different emphasis. If you're taking notes, please write this down. In Leviticus 16, the emphasis on the Day of Atonement deals with the priest and how he was to perform the sacrifice. In Leviticus 23, it doesn't deal with the priest and how they were to perform the sacrifice.
It deals with the people and how they were supposed to respond during that sacrifice. Leviticus 16, priest, hear your instructions of how you perform this celebration or this act of worship atoning for the sin of the people. Leviticus 23, where we are right now, it's not focusing on the priest. It's focusing on the people. And how are the people during this feast supposed to respond?
There's a word that appears many times and it's the word affliction. Affliction. This is not celebration like other feasts.
This was a time in which they were to realize their sin, realize their mistakes, realize their shortcomings, and come under deep grief and to almost just be broken on a nationwide level, realizing their separation from God and what they have done in their relationship with God on a yearly basis. Yes, God would provide a sacrifice, but it was a sharp reminder that they have failed. They have failed.
We think, okay, I get what the feast is about. I get the emphasis is on affliction. What does that have to do with God's prophetic calendar?
And that's the next slide. And that's the question, really. How do we make sense of this? The scripture speaks of a time where there will be a saving work accomplished for Israel on a national level.
So I'm going to take my time on this to say this. The Jewish people, on a general scale, today, do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They don't.
Are Jews being saved? Yes. Are there Jewish Christians?
Yes. But Israel as a nation has not recognized that this Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Messiah that they were anticipating. They reject it.
In fact, let me say, they hate the idea. But the Bible, our Bible, guys, foretells of a time in which the nation of Israel will one day acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. That doesn't mean that every Jewish person is going to become a Christian. It means that Israel as a nation will deem Christ as the Messiah, the anointed one sent by God. They will.
Now remember, what was the word used here for the celebration? For the people, how were they supposed to respond? Affliction.
Look what Zechariah prophesied about what I'm speaking about in chapter 12, verse 10. It's in the next slide. Look what Zechariah says. God is speaking.
God is speaking through the prophet. Look what he says. And I, God says, I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and plea for mercy. So that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they will mourn for him. That has not happened yet.
The nation of Israel has not mourned on the one who was pierced. But there's a day coming when Israel will realize that the one that they pierced is the one who in fact is the Messiah, and on a national level, they will repent and mourn and turn to Christ. Saying, when will this happen? During the tribulation period. People wonder, why are we going to be raptured?
And then God's going to deal with this world, with the judgments that we see in Revelation. What's the purpose? Here's one purpose.
To discipline Israel. And during that tribulation period, Israel will recognize, oh my goodness, they were right. It was right this whole time. You're saying, how are they going to come to that revelation? Because God is going to pour out a spirit of grace.
There's going to be a work done to them. Now, can you go to the next slide to see what Paul is saying? Look at this.
Because where are they right now? Paul says, lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery. Romans 11, 25. Brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way, all Israel will be saved. Why is Paul talking? Because he's talking to Gentiles in the book of Romans.
And he wants to warn them of getting proud. Oh, look at us. We're now the people of God.
We're saved. We're now a royal priesthood. We're now his cherished people. And the danger was now to despise. Israel.
And despise the Jewish people. And he takes Romans 9, 10, and 11 to show partially how he's not done with Israel. And he says this. Listen. Israel, there's a hardening on their hearts.
And they're rejecting Jesus Christ as a Messiah. We're seeing that today. But there's a day coming. When is that day? Until the fullness of the Gentiles.
Until God is done dealing with saving the Gentile people. which is, if you're not Jewish in here, you're a Gentile. When God is finished working with the Gentiles, He's going to close that chapter, and now He's going to begin a new one with Israel. He's going to soften their hearts, like Zechariah said, and on a national level, they're going to repent and say, He was the one!
He was the one this whole time. He was the anointed one prophesied by the prophets of Moses. Everything that we failed to see was in fact true.
Go back to the other slide if you don't mind. I want us to see something. This is a side note.
Look what God says. And I will pour out, God, Yahweh, in the Old Testament, and I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and a plea for mercy so that when they look on me, Do you catch it? God is speaking and he's saying, when they look on me, on whom they have pierced.
Can you pierce God? Can you hurt God physically? This does not make sense if you're not a Trinitarian.
But what we believe is that God who says, I will pour out my spirit and whom they have pierced me. Yeah, that's Jesus Christ. This is a Trinitarian text.
He says, I will pour out. God is speaking and he's saying, they're going to mourn over the one they have pierced. Me.
So who's me? You're talking about God. Well, God came in the flesh and he was actually pierced.
Can you imagine that that Roman guard didn't know he was fulfilling prophecy? He pierces Jesus Christ and it fulfills Zechariah 12. So you're saying, what does the Day of Atonement have to do with? It deals with how after the rapture, God is going to deal with the nation of Israel and they will afflict their souls and repent and recognize that He is the one that they were waiting for this whole time.
Last Feast. I mean, what's coming up next? What's left?
We've dealt with the rapture. We've dealt with the day in which Israel will be saved and turning to God and accepting Christ. One last feast in the Old Testament has a prophetic picture. It's called the Feast of Booths.
And what this was, this was like the crescendo of feasts. You read it, and what you'll see is that this was a joy-filled time. And this is what made it very distinct.
The people of Israel would make booths, kind of like forts. They would make tents. make it out of certain material, and for seven days, they would live in these booths as a reminder of how they lived in booths throughout the wilderness journey coming out of Egypt into the promised land.
It was a humble reminder of where they would come from and where they were from and where they are today. And so it was an exciting time. And it was bringing all the people together to some degree, celebrating God's goodness. And remember how it says that there was a feast of harvest, which was another word for the feast of weeks.
Remember that? In the same verse where it says that it was the feast of harvest, look what it describes this feast as. Exodus 23, 16. It says, you shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year. That's what we're talking about right here. So the feast of booths, it can also be known as the feast of ingathering.
where the people would come, they would dwell in booths, they would sacrifice, they would eat. It was a resounding time. And you think, and I think, what does that have to do with what we're anticipating? Well, there's a time coming where after the rapture, and after God deals with Israel, where Jesus Christ will make his reign known as he descends from heaven, sets his feet on the Mount of Olives, and will establish a throne in Jerusalem where all the nations will come and worship him. It's called the millennial reign.
I'm not making this stuff up. It's in here. Where Jesus Christ will come and physically reign on the earth for a thousand years.
In Jerusalem, he will bring peace. People will take their weapons and turn them into farming equipment. There will be no war. And people will come, Gentile and Jew, to worship him.
And to hear from him. And to love him. And to submit to him. This is not heaven. Heaven is coming after.
You're saying, why is Jesus going to do that? Why can't we just get to heaven? Why all this thousand years of ruling and reigning? Why can't we just get to the thing?
Because God doesn't break his promises. And you know what he promised? He promised David that there would be one who would reign.
He made a Davidic promise, a covenant with David, that he will have a son that will rule on the throne in Jerusalem forever and ever. And that's Jesus. And he wants to make himself very clear, I keep my promises.
So just instead of jumping to heaven, he's going to prove to the world that what I told David, despite their failures and his son's failures, I keep my word. And here's the son of David ruling and reigning in Jerusalem. subduing all nations and people to bow at his feet. You know what's amazing about the Feast of Booths? That this feast will be celebrated during the millennial reign.
If you can go, it's in Zechariah, this is mind-blowing. Zechariah 14, 16. This is, listen, after the rapture, after Israel will be saved, when Christ comes down and rules and reigns on the earth, guess what we're going to be doing at one point? Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come up against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and keep the Feast of Booths.
We're going to be celebrating this feast during the millennial reign. Nations, not just Israel, will be participating in this. And so even Zechariah saw that when Christ, listen to this, when Christ would come back physically to rule in this world, he also saw in his vision, look at all the nations, they're celebrating the Feast of Booths.
They're celebrating the Feast of Booths. So this isn't just speculation. This has everything to do with the millennial reign right here.
So much so, that look how Peter reacted. Now we're coming back to that Mount of Transfiguration. We can turn to the next slide.
There it is. Remember what happened? There is Peter, right?
And Peter, always quick on his feet and quick to say something, quick to plan something. He sees Jesus. He sees Elijah. He sees Moses.
What did he see? Jesus in his glory, right? He got a glimpse of the glory of God.
And Peter knows his Bible. He knows what Zechariah said about the millennial reign of Christ, when Jesus, this Messiah, will come and rule. and reign in power and he gets so excited he sees Elijah he sees Moses he sees the in-gathering he goes this is it this is the messianic age this is where Jesus is coming oh yeah he was right here we are this is where Christ now is going to rule over Jerusalem all the nations are going to subdue him and why does he say this we've always wondered why did he come up with this of all things to say he says to Jesus Lord it is good that we are here if you wish I will make three tents here one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah Because he believed. That what the Feast of Booths was pointing to and what Zechariah said would happen when Christ would reign on the earth. We would celebrate the Feast of Booths.
He thought that it happened in that moment. So he goes, let's celebrate the Feast of Booths. Grab some tents.
Let's make some booths and let's just hang out. Then the cloud comes in verse 5. Moses and Elijah disappear to say, you were close, Peter. But the first coming of Christ is not him ruling in power and dominion. It's him coming as a sacrifice.
That time is coming. For Moses and Elijah, and whoever you're sitting beside that's a true Christian, we're going to celebrate all together what they celebrated here. So you see why Peter got excited. Because he thought what this pointed to, the Messianic Age, was actually occurring and happening right there.
He got so thrilled. He wanted to build boots, like Zechariah said would happen when Christ would come in his power. And God says, no, no, no. That's not happening yet. It's coming though.
It's coming. The first four feasts have been dealt with. We're waiting for the next three to be fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So here's an overview.
Passover, Jesus'death. Unleavened bread, it was the time during his burial. First fruits is when Jesus rose.
That religious calendar in the Old Testament, Jesus fulfilled it to the day in his life and death and ministry. The feast of weeks, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 50 days after first fruits came. What are we waiting for?
The feast of trumpets, the rapture of the church. What's happening after that? Where Israel will be saved and come to repentance. And then lastly, when Jesus returns, establishes his kingdom. kingship, His dominion, His rule on the earth, where we will be celebrating that feast.
And after that, well, a new heaven and a new earth. My prayer for this Bible study is that you and I would realize the wisdom of God, that even a book like Leviticus 23 has something to say for us and for the future. God has it all planned out. He is so specific.
He is so specific. And all this demands from us is the time. I was reading and studying this.
I was thinking, the Bible. Who can say that the Bible is boring? How can the Bible be boring?
How can this be dull? Everything from Leviticus to Revelation to Zechariah. God is the author of this book.
And he has one theme, one message. And Jesus is everywhere. And he wants us to see that.
And so here we are, waiting in that period for the next thing to be fulfilled. You know what's amazing is that the Feast of Trumpets, if you realize in Leviticus 23, didn't have really much details. It's very short.
It's very short. There's not much there for us to chew on other than the fact that it's going to happen in the seventh month and there's going to be a trumpet blast. And I think that's fitting with the truth of the rapture, that so many people are trying to figure it out. When, how, when, is this, this, and that. And the disciples were even curious, and Jesus didn't even answer them.
He just said, go get souls. Go get souls. You don't need to know when and how. You're in that dash period.
And the Holy Spirit has been poured out. You have Him in you. Now go and do something before the next thing must be fulfilled.
And that's where you and I are. We're going to pray and worship God in light of his goodness and wisdom. I pray that your heart was burned in your bosom, like those two disciples were on the road of Emmaus when they said, were not our hearts burning within us when he spoke of the scriptures?
Realize that Jesus is the theme of this book, and may he be the theme of our lives. Let's pray. Lord, we just pray that whatever was received would be retained. And Lord, maybe we didn't understand the fullness of it, but I pray that it would be something that we're able to meditate on and reflect on until revelation comes. But Lord, from now we realize the depths of your knowledge, the depths of your wisdom.
how you have it all figured out and planned out, how your Son, Jesus Christ, is in fact, from beginning to the end, the theme of redemptive history, the theme of all things. And Father, we pray that he would be the theme of our lives. Lord, we thank you that he's our Passover lamb.
We thank you that he enables us to take leaven out of our lives. We thank you that he is the first fruits of the resurrection. We thank you that you poured out the Holy Spirit and you brought a harvest and you're still bringing in a harvest.
I pray, Lord, that we would all feel that we are a part of the Bible. We are not just studying something that happened in the past. We are studying something that is to come.
And may we sense the awesomeness of your work in the universe and in history to realize that we are part of the story. And Lord, if you choose to come back during our lifetime, may you find us ready. And Lord, we say tonight in this Friday night Bible study, with the Spirit, as your word says at the end of this book, the Spirit and the Bride say, come Lord Jesus. That's our cry. We don't want to stay here too long.
We want your glory. glory, we want your presence, we want fellowship, communion, peace, to be away from the presence of evil and sin. This is our cry and we groan, but until then Lord we worship you and receive it from our hearts God. Help us to be faithful in this period of time in your prophetic calendar and we anticipate your return to be with you forever. In Jesus'name we pray, Amen.