Christ in all the scriptures The sound of trumpets

 Christ in all the scriptures

A memorial of blowing of trumpets   Leviticus 23v23-25

Scripture references: Leviticus 23v24, 25v1; Numbers 10v1-10, 29v1; Joshua 6v5, 6v20; 2nd Samuel 6v15; 1st Chronicles 15v28; 2nd Chronicles 13v12, 15v14; Psalm 47v5, 81v3,150v3; Jeremiah 4v19, 49v2; Joel 2v1; Amos 2v2; Zephaniah 1v16; Matthew 24v31; 1st Corinthians 15v52; 1st Thessalonians 4v16; Hebrews 12v19; Revelation 1v10,4v1, 8v2v6v13, 9v14.

"Throughout biblical history trumpets have served as powerful symbols heralding significant moments and Divine messages"-anon.   In the scope of the above scripture references, we find trumpets are used to declare  a number of significant events:

Exodus 20v18; Hebrews 12v19  The presence of God among His people.

Leviticus 23v24; Psalm 81v3 Thanksgiving to the Lord for a full harvest-a great ingathering.

Leviticus 25v9  Proclamation of the year of Jubilee.

Numbers 10v1-3,v7  Call to assembly; 10v4-6 Call to journey forward; 10v9 Call to war; 10v10 Declaration of days of gladness, and solemn days, and at the beginnings of months.

Joshua 6v5v20; 2nd Samuel 6v15  Israel's shout of victory over enemies.

2nd Chronicles 15v14  Vow of devotion to the Lord.

Psalm 47v5, 68v33  God's triumph over all enemies.

Psalm 150v3  Universal praise to God.

Joel 2v1; Amos 1v14, 2v2; Zephaniah 1v16; Revelation 8/9  Announcement of impending Divine judgment on the godless world.

Matthew 24v31  Call in the end times for the regathering of Israel.

1st Corinthians 15v52; 1st Thessalonians 4v16  The call of the Church to heaven.

Revelation 1v10  Call to the vision of the exalted Christ.

Revelation 4v1  Call to witness prophetic events.

The word used in Leviticus 23 for trumpets is teruah, literally to shout; it is used in Hebrew to denote a loud wake-up call announcing an important event.  Thus the thought here is of a distinctive sound to signal the end of harvest, and a time of rejoicing and thanksgiving.  The feast of trumpets, in a religious sense, represented the end of harvest; in a civil sense it was New Year known as Rosh Hashanah (in both senses it was a time of great rejoicing and thanksgiving to the Lord). 

Consider the simple link of biblical interpretation.  The trumpet call came at the end of harvest.  The present day is a time of harvest, the harvest of souls from the nations of the world!  Remember what Jesus said, referring to the sowing of spiritual seed, and growth, and harvest? "The field is the world..."-Matthew 13v38; "He that receiveth seed into good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty"-Matthew 13v23; "Say not ye there are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest (a direct reference to Leviticus 23).  Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already unto harvest"-John 4v33.  We are living in the time of sowing and reaping for the souls of men; the harvest is yet to come.  It will be announced by the loud, unmistakeable blast of the trump of God.  It will take place secretly to believers only, it will take place swiftly, "in a moment", and the souls of the dead and the living will rise to meet the Lord in the air.  Jesus will come when the harvest is complete, when the last soul is saved, known only to God from the beginning.  Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians 2v1 of "the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him".  The chapter is clear that this takes place before the great apostasy and the rise of the man of sin who will dominate the world, according to prophecy for at least three and a half years.  The harvest will be ended, the Church, the body of Christ complete, and taken to heaven and glorified.  What was a signal of the end of wheat harvest for Israel, prefigures this great event, with Jesus coming for His Church, (accompanied by the voice of the archangel and the trump of God), to bring them all home!

From Pentecost to the Rapture, every born again believer, the dead first, then the living, will be taken to heaven before the great tribulation that will come on the whole earth.  A short time later God will take up Israel again to serve Him through the time of greatest trial the world will ever experience.  Meanwhile, may we thrill at the prospect of billions from the earth being changed and moving to heaven and glory, in a spectacular transition to a new life, and our "forever home"!!   All this was prefigured in Old Testament scriptures:

Noah was asked to go through the flood, but Enoch was translated to heaven without dying before the flood came.  The picture is too obvious to ignore.

Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot, alive, following a lifetime of loyal service. 

Moses died, but they never found his body.  He appeared on the Mount of transfiguration centuries later with Elijah.

These delightful cameos erase to nothing all the fanciful teaching to the contrary.  As the hymnwriter said "The harvest is passing, the summer will end".  This is the day of opportunity; Jesus is coming, the dead will arise, the living will be changed.  Soon the acceptable year of the Lord will become the day of vengeance of our God-Isaiah 63v4.

"The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed..."-1st Corinthians 15v52

 

Christ in all the scriptures Pentecost

 Christ in all the scriptures

A new grain offering  Leviticus 23v15-21

Scripture references: Exodus 23v16, 34v22; Leviticus 23v15-21; Numbers 28v26-30; Deuteronomy 16v9-12; 2nd Chronicles 8v13; Acts 2v1.

Described in Exodus 34v22 as "The feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest...", this was one of three mandatory feasts to be attended by all males each year in Israel.  

"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number 50 days; and ye shall offer a new meat (grain) offering unto the Lord".

The detail of this is awesome.  From the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits to Shavuot (the feast of weeks) was exactly 50 days, counted through seven sabbaths.  We noted that firstfruits represented the resurrection of Christ; we now note that Shavuot (feast of weeks) represents the ascension and exaltation of Christ, and the consequent coming of the Spirit on believers at Pentecost.  The Greek for fifty days is Pentecost.  The ritual is pointing to the outpouring of the Spirit at the birth of the Church, and this took place exactly fifty days after the resurrection.  Note the accuracy of scripture:

Acts 1v3 "To whom also He showed Himself after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God"

Acts 1v5 "Ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Prophetically, and historically it was ten days after His ascension that this Baptism of the Spirit took place...40+10=50 days, fulfilling the O/T prophecies, spoken more than 1500 years before, precisely!

Acts 2v1 "And when the day of Pentecost (Shavuot-50 days) was fully come, they were all together in one place".

Many a year had seen the celebration of Pentecost, for it was a pivotal day in Israel's calendar.  It marked the beginning of the wheat harvest, and anticipation of a full harvest to come.  The day of Pentecost was a pivotal day for believers as it marked the spiritual birth of the Church, and the beginning of the age of grace.  It was also pivotal in world history, and should be central to our individual belief, that the God, in whom we have placed our trust, can fulfil to the very day every promise He has ever made!  Jesus appeared to the disciples by MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS, and ascended to heaven, sending the Spirit on the very day predicted centuries ago.  This means that our testimony is not based on human opinions, (of ourselves or others), but on the infallible truth of God.

The feast of firstfruits was at the beginning of spring (barley) harvest; the feast of weeks was at the beginning of the summer (wheat) harvest; the feast of tabernacles was at the autumn ingathering of the great harvest for the year.  The link between them, spanning both ends of the calendar year, is of harvest, of God's provision, of satisfaction, of celebration of the goodness of God.  God's annual calendar for His people involved full provision for their every need from His bountiful hand.  That, being true in the material sense, what shall we say of His spiritual provision for His people whom He has delivered from the slavery of sin?!  We can trace the sense of this in reading Acts chapter 2.  This was an event of something absolutely new, the likes of which had never been seen before.  This was a Divine outpouring, so vivid that in hearing and seeing it could not be ignored.  The sound of a rushing mighty wind; the vision of cloven tongues of fire resting on followers of Christ; ordinary people speaking in tongues, where everyone present heard the same message without interpreters in their own language.  There were visitors in Jerusalem from "every nation under heaven"-at least 17 nations were listed, and they heard the disciples speak in their own language!  The fruits from the preaching of Peter was a firstfruits harvest of 3000 souls who believed.  The believers then gathered in Jerusalem to form the first church, in submission to the apostles doctrine and the practice of worship and prayer.  Those from foreign countries returned to their adopted countries spreading the gospel far and wide.  The result was that within 30 years the most of the habitable world was evangelised and has resulted in the ongoing harvest until the present day.  Thus a new work of God was commenced as prefigured in Leviticus 23-the NEW MEAT (grain) OFFERING, consisting of two wave loaves.  This is interpreted by Paul in Ephesians chapter two.  In Christ God has created "out of twain ONE NEW MAN", so that Jew and Gentile are blessed together by the sin-forgiving sacrifice of Christ-refer Ephesians 2v14, "He hath made both one"; v15 "He hath made of Himself of twain, one new man"; v16 "...that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross"; v18 "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father".   This is the two wave loaves of the one new meat offering, created at Pentecost, and still producing nigh on 2000 years later!

We note one distinction between the meat offering which applies to Christ, and the new meat offering which applies to the Church.  The wave loaves  were to be baken with leaven, unlike the meat offering which had no leaven.  The absence of leaven reflects the moral and spiritual perfections of Christ, and distinguishes Him from His church in which there are the imperfections of the flesh which will be present this side of eternity.  We will be perfected one day, but the potential for corruption will remain with us in this life.

In verse 22, during the times of harvest, they were to leave the corners and edges of their fields to the poor and to the stranger in their midst.  God would have His redeemed people, who have been endowed with rich heavenly blessing, to be a GENEROUS PEOPLE.   He is a giving God, and wants His people to be witnesses His kindness to those on the fringes or externals of their existence.  A reading of the book of Acts will reveal that God's people were marked by unity, sanctity, and generosity.  We could do with more of the same!

Between v22 and v23, there is a gap of four months, during which there would be continuous growth for ingathering at the end.  Surely, this is the period in which we are now living, a pause in time of God's specific dealings with Israel, a gap called the dispensation of grace, during which God is saving both Jew and Gentile, and creating His Church, the body of Christ.  We should understand the nature of this time period in which we live; it is the day in which God is primarily dispensing grace to sinful humanity.  That is the overriding character of God's dealings with the world, in the present day, and we should recognise it.  The most important work today is evangelism of all nations and that must be our focus.  All other considerations are secondary to this, whether of politics, or business, or personal pleasure.  God is doing a work today which is superior to everything else in the world, and we are privileged to be part of that.  It should be emphasised, that of all the ages of time, the present age of grace has already exceeded in time all other ages of time.  How like God that is, He extends the greatest age in which He is dispensing mercy and grace to all; already it is almost 2000 years and counting, for our God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance!  This is God's programme today, it should also be ours.  Are we in tune with our God?

We, the members of the Church, the body of Christ, are the new meat offering to the Lord.  With all our limitations, and faults, and failures, nevertheless God is using us in this greatest of all His works.  He will complete it soon, and He will also perfect us eternally.  We can almost hear the sound of the trumpets, the subject of our next study.

Christ in all the scriptures Firstfruits

 Christ in all the scriptures

"Christ the firstfruits"  Leviticus 23v9-14; 1st Corinthians 15v20-23

Leviticus is an invitation for God's people to worship Him, and the Lord Himself sets the timing and procedure.  In this exercise of highest honour, it is important that we all observe the principles of worship.  If given the honour to stand before a human dignitary, we would observe protocol, how much more when we seek audience with the supreme Majesty of heaven?!

The feast of firstfruits is set in the time of spring harvest, when the early barley harvest commences.  This is a time of thanksgiving to a faithful Creator who provides for the health of His people.  Those who will worship Him will be careful to thank Him for creature benefits.  However the significance of the firstfruits goes far beyond material life and points to the greater benefits of spiritual life, as interpreted by the New Testament scriptures.  Understanding this we can then relate Old and New Testament together to grasp the teaching.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming"-1st Corinthians 15v20-23.

There are other references to firstfruits which we can consider later, but immediately we see that the firstfruits are linked to resurrection, (the resurrection of Christ), and that firstfruits of harvest guarantee a greater harvest to come.  Thus the firstfruits represent the resurrection of Christ, just as the Passover and Unleavened bread represents His death and burial.  This is the third important event in God's prophetic calendar.

The imagery of the barley sheaf is vivid when linked to the resurrection.  Seed has fallen into the earth, and died, and has produced long stalks of new life-bearing fruit.  Nothing depicts the resurrection better than this.  Only the power of God can bring life out of death, and this is also true in the spiritual realm.  The firstfruits of harvest are a promise of a greater harvest to come.  We can now apply this to the text of Leviticus 23v9-14 to gain precious spiritual truth.

Assurance of blessing for all His people.   The text begins, "When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest"

This is God's promise that they would enter the promised land; they were about 40 years away from that fulfilment but in God's programme it was already a fact.  He did not say IF, but WHEN they come into the land.  The New Testament abounds with the guarantee that the Christian believer is destined for a better life: Titus 1v2 "In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began"; Romans 5v2 "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God"; Hebrews 6v18-19 "...lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast...".  The wilderness world through which we journey will soon be past, and we shall enter the promised land, a better place in which we can worship Him without fear or distraction.

Acknowledgment of the goodness of God's provision

The word for firstfruits re'sit occurs 51 times in the Hebrew scriptures, and is variously translated "beginning" (18), "firstfruits" (11), "first" (9), "chief " (8), and miscellaneous (5 times).  The meaning therefore is not only the first but the very best of the harvest for God.  He gave His all for us, why would we not give the first and the best to Him?!  King David refused to accept the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite free of charge, saying, "I will not offer burnt offerings unto the Lord of that which doth cost me nothing"-2nd Samuel 24v24; Exodus 23v19, "The first of thy firstfruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the house of the Lord thy God."  Nehemiah 10v35, "And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all trees year by year, unto the house of the Lord: also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds, and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God: and that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine, and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God...".   Translate all that into N/T language if you can, but there the "God first" message continues.  Jesus said in  Matthew 6v33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness..."; Matthew 22v37 "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment".   The breaking of bread memorial was observed on "the first of every week"-Acts 20v7, 1st Corinthians 16v2.  Whether individually or collectively we are encouraged to make Him first.  We could apply this to our money, to our time, to our energies, everything for Him to be the first and the best.  We may well ask, how can I practically express this today?

Acceptability in approach to the Lord   The waving of the grain sheaf before the Lord was an acknowledgement of His provision, and, also to invite His acceptance of the first fruits of the harvest.  Before they partook of any of the harvest they were to gain His approval-Leviticus 23v11, "And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you...".   We don't approach Him in any old way, or at any time of our choosing.  This was to be done on "the morrow after the sabbath".   This corresponds to the resurrection of Christ, who rose from the dead on the first Sunday after the sabbath following the crucifixion.  It is clear from the gospels and the practises of the early churches, that Sunday became the Christian day of worship.  Matthew 28v1 "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first of the week...; Mark 16v1-2 "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome...very early in the morning the first of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun".  Luke 24v1, "Now upon the first of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them".   John 20v1 "The first of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre".  These and other scriptures confirms the symbolism of the firstfruits, for it was on the morrow after the sabbath Christ was risen-"Now is Christ risen from the dead and is become the firstfruits of them that slept"-1st Cor. 15v20.  The resurrection of Christ in itself was a declaration of God's acceptance of His work (Acts 2v22-24), and corresponds to the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits.  Our worship should be that which is acceptable to God-Romans 12v1...Present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly, acceptable unto God..."; 1st Peter 2v5, "Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ"; 2nd Timothy 2v15, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth".  In all spiritual exercises, whether in personal or public life, it should be pleasing to the Lord. 

Anticipation of a greater harvest to follow        

The firstfruits was the promise of a full harvest to come, and this is the meaning emphasised by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15v20, "But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming".  Just as the waving of the sheaf signalled the expectation of a greater harvest, so the resurrection of Christ signals the great spiritual harvest to follow.  Unnumbered millions will be raised to eternal life, each group in order, in the mighty power of God.  In this new order of things, Christ will be the monarch, with all in subjection to Him-"He must reign until He hath put all things under His feet".   Kingdoms rise and fall, but the Kingdom of Jesus Christ will endure forever.  The symbol of firstfruits in the Bible is used many times to indicate the prosperity of all those who are blessed as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ.

1)  Israel are said to be the firstfruits-Jeremiah 2v3; Romans 11v16; James 1v18.  The amazing biblical truth that through Israel, one of the smallest nations on earth, rich blessing came to all the nations of the world.

2) The Spirit of God Himself is said to be the firstfruits-Romans 8v23, "And not only they, but ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body".  This is a reference to the transformative work of the Holy Spirit within us, even in the midst of suffering.  There is greater to come when our bodies are redeemed and we are glorified.

3) People in a locality are said to be firstfruits-Romans 16v5, "Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ"; 1st Corinthians 16v19, "...ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia".  An individual and a group which became the firstfruits of the region of Achaia, many more would follow.  Reference to Romans 15v26, 2nd Cor. 1v1, 9v2,11v10, and 1 Thess. 7/8 reveal a great harvest, not only of conversions, but of exemplary Christians.  It all started with one man in one group.  One person can make a huge difference!

4) The 144.000 Israeli witnesses in the last days are said to be firstfruits-Rev. 14v4, "These were redeemed from among men, the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb".   During the period known as "the great tribulation" of the end times, countless myriads will be saved, the results of the witness of the last day missionaries.  Revelation 7v9-14, "After this I beheld, and lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;...These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb".

Every work started by God will result in perfect fulfilment and the end will be greater than the beginning.

BROTHERS, SISTERS, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Christ in all the scriptures Unleavened bread

 Christ in all the scriptures 

Seven days-Unleavened Bread  Ex. 12v14-17, Lev. 23v6-8v34

The Passover was instituted as a memorial for all generations in Israel: "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast for ever."-Ex. 12v14.  Such a day was never to be forgotten, it was the beginning of a new order, the nation of Israel.  People, today, question the very existence of  Israel, but on this day, more than 3500 years ago, the nation was born, whom God described as His "firstborn"-Ex. 4v22.

Likewise the Lord Jesus instituted the memorial of thanksgiving for the Christian church, at the Passover meal on the night before His death.  The simple command was "This do in remembrance of me"-Luke 22v19.  Paul established this, by revelation, as a memorial for all churches in 1st Cor. 11v23-26.

Closely associated with the Passover is the Feast of Unleavened bread; in fact they are never separated.  Reference to Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, and a host of other scriptures verify this.  Indeed, in 1st Cor. 5, Paul links the two together.  Seven days they were to eat unleavened bread from the 15th to the 22nd day of the month.  How are we to understand this?  It is obviously very important, as they were called to rid their houses of all leaven.

Leaven in scripture is always seen as representing evil, particularly that form of evil emanating from puffed up pride.  The action of  a small amount of fermented dough has the effect of  increasing the size of the lump in an unnatural way.   In every case, leaven is that which is introduced into the things of God, having an evil effect, and, potentially, corrupting the whole.  Jesus spoke of leaven as evil, referring to the leaven of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, of the Herodians.  We must understand leaven as the flesh corrupted by sin.

In v1-13 the Passover separated Israel from the world around; now in v13-28 the Passover separates them from the flesh within.  This reflects God's hatred of sin in all its forms, whether of the world of idolatry, or the flesh in man which is corrupt, and corrupting of all with which it comes into contact.  In 1st Cor. 5 Paul describes the sins of fornication, covetousness, extortion, idolatry, drunkenness, as "the old leaven" which has no place in the church of God.  We should not be worshipping, whilst continuing such practices.  He extends this to what we might call the new leaven of malice and wickedness-bad attitude and behaviour toward others.  In churches, the flesh can rise, the competitive spirit becomes all too evident.  Malice is holding a bad attitude to someone; wickedness is bad actions toward them.  Both come from the flesh and have a corrupting influence in what should be sacred gatherings.  This is what he means by "keeping the feast"; in fellowship with Christ our Passover, all leaven, all puffing up of pride, issuing in sinful behaviour, must be put away.  He says "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened...let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  Ye are unleavened means that God, in our conversion, has separated us from our evil inward selves.  However, the old nature remains and we have to subdue it in the power of God.

The extent of this propensity to evil is tabulated in Galatians 5, where it says "the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these...".  We need be under no illusions of the evil within, that is contrary to the Spirit, and corrupts ourselves and all associated with us.  The leaven needs to be purged out, and put away, for it tarnishes that which God has made clean.  The feast of Unleavened bread continued for seven days in association of the Passover.  The number seven is the number of completion, as in seven days a week.  We are to be purging out leaven for ever, from our lives, from our homes, from our churches.  We have, in Christ, been freed from a godless world, and also from our inward selves-Romans 6v6-14, and others.  We live in the full consciousness of God's hatred of sin in every form, and we live in the power of God to purge all evil.  Continuation in leaven, in all that it represents, may result in separation from the congregation of Israel-Exodus 12v19.  A people associated with the blood of sacrifice must, continually root out evil, when it arises.  "Ye shall eat nothing leavened: in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread"-12v20 

Leaven may take the form of false doctrine, immorality, hypocrisy, or selfish living.  None of it must be allowed to remain in the hearts of a worshipping people, who have been purified at great cost.  Next in chapter12v29-51, the Passover separates Israel from the Pharoah who had held them in bondage-typical of the tyrant, the devil, who has held humanity in bondage to sin.  Thus the Passover removes God's people from the threefold tyranny of bondage, to the world, the flesh, and the devil, to free them to worship the living God under His care.  This is the sweep of the marvellous chapter Exodus 12!

 Jesus spoke of the leaven of the Pharisees (Luke 12v1), of the Sadducees (Matthew 16v6), of Herod (Mark 8v15).  The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy, play-acting holiness, when the opposite is true.  This was rife amongst the Pharisees in Jesus' day, as it is rife in modern churches.  Talkers but not walkers, image without reality, sanctimonious (holy sounding), externally clean but inwardly corrupt.  The leaven of the Sadducees is perversion of doctrine, accepting only the Torah (part of the truth), but rejecting the historical and wisdom and prophetic books, and certainly all of the New Testament.  They refused all notion of an afterlife, including resurrection, and the existence of angels.  Their religion was prosperity materially and status in this life only.  All false doctrines are leaven, all self-opinionated doctrines are leaven which have a corrupting influence on the whole Church, and need to be rooted out.

The leaven of Herod is worldliness, political, or social, conforming to godless authority for the sake of advantage.  Herod maintained his high profile position by subjecting to Rome, an occupying power in the promised land.  It is the exaltation of civil law above the Divine law; deferring to the words of men rather than the words of God, to society rather than to the Saviour.  This leaven courts world acceptability while maintaining religious ritual.  It brings us into conflict with God, for "friendship with the world (system) is enmity with God"-James 4v4.

Leaven, in all its forms, is a puffing up, an inflated view of one's abilities and achievements, and importance-refer 1st Corinthians 4v18-19; 5v2.  Association with the Passover involves the removal of all human pride in self, as Paul declared to the Galatians, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world"-Galatians 6v14.  Can any one of us be inflated in pride as we stand before the majestic Son of God, who became the Lamb of God to remove our sins?

When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died;                                    My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord that I should boast, save in the cross of Christ my Lord;                                    All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood"

Extract from the hymn by Isaac Watts (1707).

All leaven, emanating from the works of the flesh within, (as defined in Galatians chapter 5), to be removed from our lives, our homes, our churches.  This, because of our association with the scared sacrifice of Christ for us.

  

Christ in all the scriptures Passover

 Christ in all the scriptures

The Passover  Leviticus 23v4-8

Old Testament references   Exodus 12v1-10; Leviticus 23v4-8; Numbers 9v1-14; 28v16-25; Deuteronomy 16v1-6; Joshua 5v10; 2nd Kings 23v21-23; 2nd Chronicles 30v1-5; 35v1-19; Ezra 6v19-22; Ezekiel 45v21-24.

New Testament references   Matthew 26v2v17v18v19; Mark 14v12v14v16; Luke 2v41; 22v7v8v11v13v15John 2v12v13; 6v4; 11v55; 12v1; 12v1; 18v28v29; 19v14; Acts 12v4; 1st Corinthians 5v7; Hebrews 11v28.

The Passover, one of the most fundamental topics in scripture, central to everything in connection with the people of God.  It became the first of the seven set feasts in Israel's calendar (Leviticus 23); it was also the first of three mandatory feasts to be held each year (Exodus 23v14-15 and Deuteronomy 16v16); it was the first festival to be held on entering the promised land (Exodus 12v24-27 and Joshua 5v10-11).  It is also central to the Christian faith today.  Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, said,

 "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us"-1 Cor. 5v7.  

The link is further enhanced by the fact that Christ Himself instituted the memorial feast for Christians at the Passover meal-Luke 22v7-20. Matthew 26v17-29.  The importance of the Passover to both Judaism and Christianity is thus established.  It is, therefore, necessary to observe each and every detail for such a cardinal aspect of both.  We can profit by tabulating each step in the chapter.

This is an institution by God.  It is not of man, even of good men, either by concept or design; it is entirely of God, and should not be altered in any way by man.  Exodus 12v1 "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying...".  It was the Lord, (Jehovah-the ever existing one) who designed and demanded it.  This observation is important for the fact of it is repeated in both testaments.  "It is the Lord's Passover"-v11;  "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover-v27; "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover"-Leviticus 23v5.  The same emphasis is placed on the New Testament equivalent, where the Christian memorial is stated as "the Lord's Table"-1st Cor. 10v21; and the Lord's Supper-1st Cor. 11v20.

The Passover represents a NEW BEGINNING.       "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you"-refer 13v4, 23v15, 34v18, Deuteronomy 16v1,where it is called the month Abib.   The term Abib refers to the time of year when the young shoots of corn begin to appear.  In Nehemiah and Esther it is called Nisan, the Assyrian translation which means the month of flowers, or the month of spring.  At the Passover, God changed the 7th year of the civic calendar to be the first month of the religious calendar, and so the Passover feast was instituted as an entirely new beginning.  This is of courser mirrored in the Christian faith, where entrance into Christianity is described as being "born again", and the doctrine of all things new is developed: 2nd Cor. 5v17, "a new creation"; Eph. 2v15 and 4v24 "a new man".  Jesus spoke of new wine; Hebrews refers to the new covenant, and the new and living way.  All Christians are described as newborn babes, in which their lives have taken on a new destiny and a new character in the image of God.  The importance of the Passover is enshrined in this new beginning that would radically change Israel's relationship to God, and, ultimately the believing Gentile world. 

The Passover applies to all the congregation of Israel.     "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel. saying, in the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house."  

This is the first occurrence of "the congregation of Israel"-sometimes "the congregation of the Lord".   It becomes a regular reference to the sum total of God's redeemed people.  No less than 149 times in 140 verses of Hebrew scriptures is this phrase cited.  It refers to a gathered company, and proclaims God's view of His people in totality, He sees them as a corporate group, yet consisting of many individuals and households.  This is clear from the ensuing verses.  Each household had to choose a lamb of sacrifice; this would amount to thousands of lambs, yet, when the sacrifice was made it was declared "the whole congregation shall kill it in the evening".  Multiple homes sacrificing, yet ONE LAMB slain.  This concept is repeated in the Church in 1st Corinthians 10v17, where the Christian memorial takes place locally, yet it is declared to be the function of the corporate body the Church-"We being many are ONE BREAD, and ONE BODY: for we are all partakers of that one bread.  We must not become parochial in our thinking, for when we gather for this purpose locally we are sharing communion with the corporate body, the Church.  There is a progressive teaching of the slain lamb in scripture-Genesis 22, a lamb for the individual; Exodus 12, a lamb for an house; Leviticus 16, a lamb for the nation; John 1, a lamb for the world.  The worth of the lamb is thus proclaimed in its efficacy for human sin.

Specification for the lamb  

"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats."  The offering for sin must be without sin.  A holy God requires a perfect sacrifice.  Without blemish is without defect; the N/T adds "without spot"- 1st Peter 1v19.  Blemish may be external marking, discolouration, or other defect.  Spot may be an indication of internal disease.  The substitute offering must be free from all evidence of defects, from within and without.  Of Jesus, the lamb of God, it was said He was "Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners"-Heb. 7v26; and that He offered Himself without spot to God"-Heb. 9v14.  This aspect of His offering is so crucial, for without a spotless sacrifice there is no redemption.  Not a stain upon His soul, not a defect; whether from demons or men or God, the pronouncement was the same; from demons "the holy one of God"; from the judiciary of men "I find no fault in Him"; from God "My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased".  In thought, in word, in deed, He was faultless, unblemished, sinless. 

The type that points to Christ must fit perfectly.  It must be a male of the first year, Christ was a man.  It must be of the first year, that is in the full strength and vigour of youth-this was no offering of waning power or vitality.  Interestingly enough, the major title for Christ in the book of Revelation is the Young Lamb, occurring 28 times.  It was in the full vigour of youthful dedication that He offered Himself to God.  God allowed the offering to be taken from the sheep or the goats, for not everyone would have access to lambs.

Instructions to the worshippers

Take it from the sheep or the goats on the 10th day of the month.  God is concerned with timing, and the accuracy of this is awesome!  Written more than 1500 years before the event it was fulfilled to the very day.  Scholars tell us it can be verified that Christ entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, and was slain on the 14th Nisan.  God presented Him for inspection on the day predicted.  This ought to cause us to worship for the wonder of this; only God could make this happen as He foretold in Exodus.

Keep it from the 10th to the 14th day.  Again, scholars tell us that from the time Jesus entered Jerusalem, until He was crucified, He was subjected to the most intense scrutiny, more than He had ever been in life.  The Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrim, the Sadducees, the Priests, the Herodians, the Romans, all scrutinised Him, and could make no charge against Him that would stand.  A study of the gospels reveal the level of testing during these four days.  Jesus had largely avoided Jerusalem in His public ministry for His time had not yet come, but now the Divine clock compelled Him to move among them at close quarters.   They stalked Him, and confronted Him in the streets, in the temple, in houses; they mocked Him insulted Him, but He was beyond reproach.  This was, indeed, the Lamb without blemish ready for sacrifice.  He was tested, legally, and religiously, and socially and politically, but He remained what He ever was, the perfect Lamb of God's choosing.

Kill it between the evenings.    A perfect live person, sinless and irreproachable, cannot save us, He could only condemn us.  He must die, His blood must be shed, if sinful man is to be saved.  In the history of the bible, millions of sacrifices have been made, and rivers of blood have flowed, all pointing to the Lamb of God that must die for the sin of the world.  From the beginning it has been declared that the way back to God was only on the basis of the death of a worthy substitute.  The Lamb of God is not a role model to teach us how to live; He is a substitute who must die, and only in His death are we saved.  It is to be killed "between the evenings"-R.V.- that is during the day of the fourteenth of the month, thus underlining the accuracy of the prediction.  Jesus was crucified and died on the day of the 14th.  Preparation for the Passover, and Participation of the Passover took place in the evenings, immediately before and after the day of His death.

Strike it   The blood of sacrifice had to be applied to each individual household.  The context was that the judgment of God would pass through Egypt to slay the firstborn of every household of man and beast, not covered by the blood.  The declaration of God was "When I see the blood, I will pass over you"-Exodus 12v13, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are...".  Preservation from the avenging angel was only through the blood.  This was no mere ritual, this was a matter of life and death.  There are two expressions in the New Testament, "the shedding of blood", and "the sprinkling of blood".  The former is to satisfy the demands of God; the latter is the personal application to the individual.  The precious blood of Christ has been shed, to the eternal satisfaction of God.  Have I applied it to myself, without which, the wrath of God abides over me?  This 3500 year old ritual is relevant to every living being today.  This demands the attention of all, the obedience of all, the humility of all to accept God's terms.

Eat it    Just as the food that we eat becomes part of our bodies, so the intake of the sacrifice of Christ for us becomes food for our souls.  We are not only saved by Him, we are sustained in Him.  That which symbolises Christ, for us becomes our food.  The Passover is Christ in His death; the Manna is Christ in His life; the Old Corn of the land is Christ in His resurrection.  All three become the food of the believer.  For Israel this new life began with the Passover meal, for us today it begins with our conversion.  We can now understand the instructions for eating.  "Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head and his legs with the purtenance thereof."  The death of Christ is presented as intense suffering, and it is in that way we are to think of it.  The whole lamb is to be roast with fire, the head-His mind; the legs, His walk; the purtenance (inwards), His inner motivations.  All these are to occupy as we "eat the Passover", the biblical equivalent of worship.  We feed on His mind, His walk, and His emotions, until He becomes part of us.  They ate the roast lamb with bitter herbs, and so we measure, as we eat, the extremity of His anguish in all these aspects, as we recall the cost of our redemption.  They ate it in haste, with shoes on their feet, and their loins girt.  Association with God in the death of the lamb. demanded separation from idolatrous Egypt.  They were to journey three days (complete separation) into the wilderness to worship God.  The Passover Lamb separates us from the world and reconciles us to God.  

No bone shall be broken.   Finally, a seemingly minor detail, which enhances our faith, that no bone was to be broken in the slaying of the Lamb.  This is no minor detail, since the instruction was given more than 1500 years before the event, was the subject of prophecy, and was fulfilled exactly in Christ!  Instruction, led to prophecy, and to fulfilment in Christ-Exodus 12v46; Numbers 9v12; Psalm 22v17, 34v20; John 19v33, v36.   Only God could predict and fulfil such a detail many centuries before the event.  Amid the atrocity and chaos, which was the crucifixion of Jesus, this was fulfilled to the letter!  Huge nails hammered into the hands and feet, yet no bone broken.  The practise in crucifixion was to hasten death by breaking legs, but when they came to Christ, He was dead already.  If ever anything is sure to strengthen faith in God's word, this is it.  The meticulous detail of the exact day when the Passover was slain, to the fine detail of the cruel process of crucifixion, proclaim the integrity and dependability of our God.

The meaning of Passover is just as it sounds and it was instituted in the context of Divine judgment against Egypt-"...against the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment", Exodus 12v12.  The same avenging angel who would pass through the land of Egypt, would pass over the people of Israel to deliver them from cruel bondage.  What happened nationally in Egypt, will happen globally on an idolatrous world in the future; however the people of God will be protected, as they were back then, by the blood of the Lamb, "When I see the blood I will pass over you"-Exodus 12v13.  This is a sharp reminder of the world we are living in, and God's wrath which will fall upon it.  We have been delivered from wrath to come by the blood of Christ, and we should never forget it.  It should be a constant source of thankfulness and rejoicing before Him.  The hymn by James Martin Gray (1851-1935) sums it up:

"Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption; no riches of earth could save my poor soul                The blood of Christ is my only redemption, the death of my Saviour now maketh me whole.

I am redeemed but not with silver, I am bought but not with gold                                                                Bought wit a price the blood of Jesus, precious price of love untold"

The blood of Christ is compared to the world's gold and silver, and what men value the most, by comparison are said to be "corruptible things", ultimately worthless!  This places the Passover at the very forefront of everything, and the very basis of God's blessing upon us.  

Christ in all the scriptures God's calendar

 Christ in all the scriptures

God's calendar  Leviticus 23

The word translated feasts in the KJV masks the true meaning of this important chapter.  The literal meaning is "appointed times", timely events which depict God's plan of salvation, set in precise order, and based upon the sacrifice of Christ.  These appointed times present God's programme to reconcile Israel to Himself, and through them the wider world.  When  understood like this, the chapter presents to us the core message of God to Israel, and by association, the core message to all of us today.  The message is that the worship of God is  at the very centre of our lives, and therefore of our time.  To underpin this we trace the time marks throughout the chapter:

v3 "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings".

v5 "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover".

v6 "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread".

v7-8 "In the first day...in the seventh day...".

v10-14 "...on the morrow after the sabbath...until the self-same day...it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings".

v15-16 "From the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days".

v21 "And ye shall proclaim on the self-same day that it may be an holy convocation unto you".

v24 ""In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation".

v27 "Also on the tenth day of the month there shall be a day of atonement, it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict you souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord".

v32 "...ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month, at even, from even to even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath".

v34-36 "The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.  On the first day shall be an holy convocation...seven days shall ye offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, it is a solemn assembly".

v39 "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath".

v40-41 "...and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.  And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year.  It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month".

v44 "And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts (the appointed seasons) of the Lord".

A casual reading of these time marks reveal that this is far greater than times of ritual for religious purposes.  This is God's view of time for His redeemed people, His panoramic plan of the ages; from deliverance in Egypt to secure and settled celebration in the promised land.  This plan, detailed in seven points of time, moves inexorably toward a glorious end that will mean blessing to all His people.  There is mention of days, evenings, months, years, and generations!  The reality is that God is involved in not just part of our time, but in all of it!  He is the centre and circumference of our existence.  The memorials/celebrations span the entire year, commencing with the first month and culminating in the seventh month, and so on every year.  The instructions apply to all dwellings as well as the Tabernacle of God in their midst.  He is structuring the life of His people in proper order and discipline of time.  He is not a small part of our life, He is the centre of the whole of our time.  Our quest should be, what can I do to make Him the centre of my existence?  Primarily this is God's plan for Israel, but it is also prophetic of the Church, as is made clear in the following scriptures:

Colossians 2v16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ".  Experts tell us that the appointed times of Leviticus 23 were based on lunar cycles.

Further evidence from the New Testament of application to the Christian church is clear:

"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us..."-1st Cor. 5v7

"Christ the Firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming"-1st Cor. 15v23

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the Trump of God..."-1st Thess. 4v16

"Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God"-Rev. 21v3.

There are time marks which apply to the redeemed Church today:

At the Passover meal, our Lord instituted a weekly memorial in the breaking of bread; Luke 22v15-20; Acts 20v7 (note it is not only the first day of every week, it is the first of the week, that is the first gathering); 1st Corinthians 11v23-26.

Paul indicated a daily attention to the wise use of time (Ephesians 5v16 "Redeeming the time for the days are evil"-see also Colossians 4v5).  Any reader of the Bible knows that time is fleeting and precious, and too much can be wasted in vain pursuits.  This involves understanding the will of the Lord for me, the gift He has endowed, and the diligent use of it.  This will necessitate short and long term goals for the Lord.  He wants all of my time, and we can serve Him in the most menial tasks as well as in spiritual enterprise.  C. H. Spurgeon said, "Serve God by doing common actions in a heavenly spirit, and if your daily calling only leaves you cracks and crevices of time, fill the moments of time with holy service".  Psalm 90v2 says "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom".

Peter, in his first epistle refers to time multiple times.  He speaks about the time from conversion to the end of life in chapter 4, "...that he no longer should live the rest of his time to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquettings, and abominable idolatries".   This is how we spent our time in unconverted days, living self-centred lives.  Now we live God-centred lives and the whole of our time is for Him.  The co-relation of Israel and the Church is obvious

This is the message of Leviticus chapter 23, that God is wholly committed to us, and He expects the same from us.  We are the recipients of the fruit of a finished work, and there is a work still going on-"He ever liveth to make intercession for us".  The throne of grace is open to us at any time, so that we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Hebrews 4v16. 

Paul, to the believers at Rome, "And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awaken out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light"-Romans 13v11-12. 

God spans all time, and the events of time He subjects to His will.  He is also involved in our days and months and years and generations.  "He works all things after the counsel of His own will"-Ephesians 1v11.  It is ours to seek to fit our lives into His programme, His calendar.  We all have calendars, how much of them are in tune with the Lord?

Christ in all the scriptures God's plan of salvation

 Christ in all the scriptures

From eternity to eternity  God's plan of salvation  Leviticus 23

The word for "feasts" could actually be translated "appointed times" or "seasons".  What we have here, in these annual festivals, is a panoramic view of God's plan of salvation for the ages.  This chapter is part of a trilogy of "sevens" in the Divine prophetic calendar:

 Leviticus 23 the seven feasts of Jehovah detailing the unfolding drama of redemption. 

Matthew 13 the seven kingdom parables outlining God's sovereign rule on earth between the first and second advents.

Revelation 2-3 the seven golden lampstands depicting God's administration of the churches in the dispensation of grace.

7 is the number of  completion and perfection, signalling God's benign approach to all people in mercy through the ages. 

Leviticus 23 is the panorama of the eternal plan of God for man's redemption.  Prominent in the chapter is the Sabbath, which occurs at the beginning and the end and all the way through-v3, v11, v15, v16, v24, v32, v38, v39.  The biblical principle of the Sabbath in scripture is established from the first mention in Genesis 2, along with the teaching of Hebrews 4.  In Genesis 2, the Sabbath was introduced as God's rest after a finished work which He proclaimed was "very good"(Genesis 1v31).   "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which He created and made".  Hebrews 4 confirms that this is the meaning, proclaiming it is GOD'S REST-4v1, v3, v4, v5, v8, v9, v10, v11.  God's rest is on the work of Christ and we are invited to enter into that rest.  We do so by faith in Christ, in His work of redemption.  Where God rests, we rest, and salvation is apart from any works that we have done.  God rests upon the finished work of Christ, and so must we.  This finished work, that has satisfied the demands of God, are sufficient for every human being.  We enter into it by faith and there we must remain.  Thus we should think of the Sabbath as being an every day experience, rather than just one special day in a week.  In Christ every day is special, every day is a Sabbath!  Ultimately this rest will mean freedom from all the consequences of sin; freedom from all the limitations of the flesh; transformation to a sanctified life with God in eternal bliss.  In the first six days of creation, there was evening and there was morning each day.  On the seventh day, there was was only day, an eternal day without a night!  The feasts end with the tabernacles in joyous exultation, reminding us that the tabernacle of God will be with men. There will be no more sea (no more separation); no more tears, no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain, no more defilement (Revelation 21).

The seven feasts (appointed seasons, holy convocations) are necessary steps to this glorious end of the benign Divine plan to be shared by all believers.  

The seven feasts are as follows:

Passover (Pesach-Nisan 14)   The death of Christ

Unleavened bread (Chag Hamotzi-Nisan 15-22)  The burial of Christ

Firstfruits (Yom Habikkurim-Nisan 16-17)  The resurrection of Christ

Pentecost (Shavu'ot-Sivan 6-7)  The outpouring of the Spirit at the ascension of Christ

Trumpets (Yom Teru'ah-Tishri 1)  The gathering of the Church and the regathering of Israel

Day of atonement (Yom Kippur-Tishri 10)  The repentance of Israel-acceptance of Messiah

Tabernacles (Sukkot-Tishri 15-22)  Millennial bliss prior to eternal rest

Nisan is the first month of the Hebrew religious year; Sivan the third month; Tishri the seventh month.  We note there is a four month gap between the first four feasts and the final three.  We are presently living in that gap, between the feast of Pentecost and the feast of Trumpets.  It is a time of harvest, when the fruits of the work of Christ appear.  This is the nature of the present day, a period of ingathering, making the study relevant to the present day.  The next event in the prophetic calendar will be the trumpets.  The sounding of the trumpets will announce the beginning of the final journey into eternal rest in the plan of God.  With all that is going on in the world, the perfect plan of God will go on unhindered, despite the opposition of demons and men.  Everything will proceed with perfect timing, and God will be at rest with His redeemed people.  It all begins with the feast of Passover, the sacrifice of Christ, and God and man are blessed as a result.