Happy Sabbath Brethren,

We are now amid our counting to the Festival of Pentecost. This Sabbath marks the fourth week in the seven weeks leading to that special Day. In fact, all the Festivals of God are special and have tremendous meaning. When God began working with the nation of Israel after their deliverance from Egypt, He gave them commands about days in which to worship Him. These Days are called "the Feasts of the Lord" in Leviticus 23, where the days are laid out for us.  

Most in the world are either ignorant of these days, or content to continue observing pagan substitutes like Christmas, New Year's Day, and Easter. How well do we understand the meaning of these days and can we in a few succinct sentences explain their meaning to those who may ask? We observe these days each year, and each year we should strive to gain deeper understanding of them. Can we explain the meaning in a brief 30 seconds? Here are a few examples.

The first of the Festivals that takes place each year is Passover. In Israel each year, the people were commanded to bring an unblemished lamb as a sacrifice to God. This served as a reminder of how God delivered them from the Egyptians, but ultimately pointed towards an even greater deliverance. Eventually God would send His Son to become the sacrificial lamb of God. This was Jesus Christ who suffered and died to forgive mankind their sins and remove the penalty of that sin. (1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Peter 1:18-20, Romans 3:23-25). Modern day followers of God obey the instructions Christ left in taking of the symbols of His body (unleavened bread) and blood (wine) as well as engaging in a foot washing ceremony.

Following quickly after the Festival of Passover, is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Lasting seven days, the instructions for this period is to remove leaven, both from dwellings and from our diet. Leaven during these days is symbolic of sin. Coming from the Festival of Passover, where Christ made the way of forgiveness of sin, the Feast of Unleavened Bread shows the need for God to work in our lives to not only remove sin, but to walk in newness of life according to Christ's example (1 Corinthians 5:7-8, Matthew 4:4).

God commands a counting to begin during the Feast of Unleavened Bread consisting of seven weeks leading to the Feast of Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks, Harvest, or First fruits). In a miraculous event that occurred on this day, God poured out His Spirit on those who would be part of the spiritual harvest into His family (Acts 2:1-4, 37-39). Being led by His Spirit is an identifier of those who have fellowship with God in His Church (Romans 8:5-17). Through the power of His Spirit, God creates a new heart and mind reflecting the very character of God. Not only that, but God's Spirit serves as a promise of salvation. Those whom God calls to be a part of this "crop" will see fulfillment of this in the next Festival.

A good exercise for each of us is to write out an explanation of these Days in our own words. Next week we will cover the remaining four Festivals.

I pray this is an edifying Sabbath for you all!

Devin Schulz