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?