The Fifty Day Journey From Unleavened Bread to Pentecost

The title of the sermon this morning, The 50-Day Journey from Feast of Unleavened Bread to Pentecost. The 50-Day Journey from Feast of Unleavened Bread to Pentecost. The 50-day period between the offering of the Wave Sheaf Offering, and remember the Wave Sheaf Offering is offered on the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And that Sunday you begin to count 50 to Pentecost. So this 50-day period between the Wave Sheaf Offering and the Day of Pentecost is one of the most interesting times recorded in the Bible. The Feast of Unleavened Bread should prepare us for total victory in the days that lie ahead and should prepare us for the receipt of God's Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. I know that those who have repented, exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ, have been baptized, received the laying on of hands. You have God's Spirit within you, but there's like a renewing of that on the Day of Pentecost. And the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a time that ancient Israel was to be made ceremonially clean in every sense of the Word in preparation for building and habitation for God so that God would dwell among them. So historically, it's also a period of contrast in which some gained the victory and some stumbled and failed. Now, what should the Feast of Unleavened Bread prepare you to do? It should prepare us to gain the total victory over sin and death and for us to be ready to receive God's Spirit and to really walk humbly before our Lord, as you heard in the special music. The historical perspective, if you turn now to Exodus 14. In Exodus 14, Israel has left Egypt with a high hand. After they had sprinkled the blood on the doorpost, the death angel actually wasn't a death angel. I said I was never going to say that again. After God passed through the land and smoked the firstborn in Egypt everywhere, everywhere, that the blood was not sprinkled on the doorpost, the firstborn of both man and beast died. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night and told them to get out of Egypt. And they left on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as we noted, on the first holy day, and started making their journey toward the Promised Land. God did not lead them toward the Promised Land in the way that was nearest or easiest. He led them in a more difficult way, in a way that you might not suspect down through the wilderness and to the Red Sea.

In Exodus 14, we find Israel at the Red Sea, and Pharaoh now has hardened his heart. He and his troops have pursued the Israelites, and they have them hemmed in. They have hemmed in with the Red Sea in front of them and with the mountains on either side.

And so, as the Israel faces this situation, they are in great distress, wondering what on earth they are going to do. And God, of course, intervenes. They set unto Moses, verse 11, and this is sort of the sets the tone for what Israel did. From the time they left Egypt to the time they came to the Promised Land. And they set unto Moses, this is Exodus 14, 11, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness, whereof you have dwelt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt?

Is it not this that the word that we did tell you in Egypt is saying, Let us alone! Of course, they were crying out for deliverance, but now they were saying, Oh, we were telling you, let us alone. We don't really want to go, we don't want to leave here. This is where we've got it really good.

We love being slaves. Of course, that was not the case at all. For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, see the salvation of the Eternal, which he will show you today for the Egyptians whom you have seen today.

You shall see them again no more forever. The Eternal shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. The Eternal said unto Moses, Wherefore cry you unto me, speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

And Moses spoke unto them, and they went forward. Verse 27, God gave Moses instructions as to what he should do. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength. When the morning appeared and the Egyptians fled against it, and the Eternal overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea, and the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh. They came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them. The children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right and left hand.

Thus the Eternal saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw the great work which the Eternal did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Eternal and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. But their belief and their faith was so shallow and so short-lived, it was like they would have to have a miracle just about every day or every week to be able to continue. And God, of course, did perform miracle after miracle on their way to the promised land.

Then verse 1 of chapter 15, after they came up out of the Red Sea and they saw the marvelous miracle that God had done, one of the greatest miracles of all times, parting the Red Sea and walking across on dry land, then saying, Moses and the children of Israel, this song under the Eternal, and spoke, saying, I will say unto the Eternal, for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and the rider, hath he thrown into the sea.

The Eternal is my strength, and he is my song, he has become my salvation, he is my God, and I will prepare him inhabitation. Underline Mark. I will prepare him inhabitation. There were three great reasons why God told Moses to go to Pharaoh to let them go. One was that they may sacrifice unto me in the wilderness. Another one was that they may worship me. Another one was that they may serve me. And in conjunction with this, there was the part about God living with them and preparing an habitation. As we'll see in just a moment, that was one of the great things that they did.

They built a tabernacle. It says, I will prepare him a habitation. Today we know that the habitation of God's Spirit is in each one of us. That we are now the habitation of God's Spirit. We are the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 3, 16. Verse 17 says, if any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.

I will prepare him a habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. The Eternal is a man of war. The Eternal is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host as he cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. It goes on describing all the various facets of what had happened. We come down to verse 13. You and your mercy have led forth your people, which you have redeemed. You have brought them back. You have brought them out of slavery. You have guided them in your strength unto your holy habitation. And of course, anything that is holy has God's active presence in it.

So that was one of the main things that they were to do was to build an habitation. In 2 Corinthians, we'll turn there to chapter 10. This crossing of the Red Sea was, on this very day, according to Jewish tradition, was on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So they had journeyed a few days on their 50-day journey to Pentecost. And they had this great miracle performed for them. Of course, they had already murmured about, why did you bring this out here to die? And 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. So this is Israel crossing the Red Sea on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So what, circa 1420 BC, something like that, and we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And Jesus Christ, the one who was the Word before he became Jesus Christ, the one who is so often referred to in the Old Testament as Yahweh, was the one who led them into the Promised Land. But with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were for our examples. These things that happened to Israel on their 50-day journey to Pentecost, are our examples, not only the 50-day journey to Pentecost, but on the journey to the Promised Land. These things were for our examples to the intent, we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be you idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play, and then goes on to recount some of the sins that they committed.

Now we go back to Exodus 19, after they crossed the Red Sea. Now they're on this 50-day journey to Pentecost. In Exodus 19, we see them coming to Mount Sinai in the third month, Pentecost Falls, the third month of the sacred year. Exodus 19, verse 1, In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day, it's interesting, it says, the same day, came they into the wilderness of Sinai.

For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel camped before the mount. Of course, once again Pentecost is in the third month, and according to Jewish tradition, Israel received the Ten Commandments on the day of Pentecost. Moses went up unto God, and the Eternal called him out of the mountain, saying, Thou shalt you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagle's wings, eagles' wings, symbolic of love, care, and protection, and brought you unto myself.

Therefore, if you will obey my voice and be, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure, unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. For you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel. I'm coming right back here, but I want us to turn quickly to 1 Peter 2 and show that after Israel was put away and given a bill of divorcement, and they become low-ruhami, not having obtained mercy, and low-ami, not my people, that this commission of what Israel was to do, ancient Israel, was to be the model nation upon the face of the earth and serve to bring all nations into relationship with God.

God didn't choose Israel because they were better or anything like that. He had to start somewhere, and for some reason he started with Israel, and they, of course, failed in their mission. Now you look at 1 Peter chapter 2, and this is practically a quote from what I've just read here from Exodus 19, verse 6.

In 1 Peter 2.9, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. They had that promise made to them. You can become a holy nation. They purchased people that you should show forth the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Ancient Israel called out of Egypt, symbolic of sin and death. We called out of this present evil age, this world, which has nothing to offer but death, which in times past were not a people.

You were Loamih. But now are the people of God, Ami, that's Hebrew for you are the people, which had not obtained mercy. You were Ruhama, not having obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy, Ruhama. So that promise to ancient Israel now passed to the church. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers in pilgrims abstained from fleshly lust, which wore against the soul, having your conduct honest among the nations, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

So as we know, this is not the only day of salvation, and God is calling everyone at a time, apparently that is best for them, and He is the one who determines when they will be called. Now back to Exodus 19. Israel camped at Sinai. God calls Moses up, and He tells Moses that he is going to speak to the children of Israel, and He tells Moses how he should prepare for that.

That's basically what chapter 19 is taken up with, and He tells them that they must not touch the mountain during this time. Now the reason you could not touch the mountain was because God's presence was upon the mountain, and it made the mountain holy during the time that God's presence was upon it. So they had to go through a certain ritual and not touch the mountain while God was there, and He was going to speak to them, which He did. Now we go to chapter 20. God spoke all these words, saying, I am the eternal your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

And He begins to give them His immutable spiritual law. This is not the Old Covenant, per se. This is the immutable spiritual law, though the Old Covenant was based upon the immutable spiritual law. Someone to argue that because Israel broke their part of the Covenant, it did away with the spiritual law, which is ridiculous. The Covenant has not done away with it just because people don't keep it. Now there were many different aspects of the Old Covenant, in addition to that, that had to do with how you approach God with sacrifices and various offerings.

You shall have no other gods before Me. And He goes on to give them the Ten Commandments. And you look at verse 18. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off, and they said unto Moses, Speak you with us, we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you or test you, and that his fear may be for your faces, that you sin not. So Moses comes down with the Ten Commandments, and then he's asked to go up and get the statues and the judgments. Then in chapter 24 of Exodus, they enter into the terms of the Old Covenant, which is also the marriage covenant between God and ancient Israel.

In Exodus 24.8, Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Eternal has made with you concerning all these words. Then Moses is called up again to the mountain. Verse 12, And the Eternal said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mountain, and be there, and I will give you tables of stone, and a law, and a commandment, which I have written, that you may teach them. And so Moses rose up in his minister Joshua, and Moses went up into the Mount of God, and he said unto the elders, You wait here for us, until we come again unto you.

And behold, Aaron and her are with you. If any men have any matters to do, let him come unto them. And Moses went up into the Mount, and a cloud covered the Mount. And the glory of the Eternal abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Eternal was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got him up into the Mount, and Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights.

And God gave Moses much instruction during that period of time. Now we come to Exodus 25, and Moses and the Eternal spoke unto Moses, saying, Speaking to the children of Israel, that they may bring me an offering of every man that gives it willingly with a heart, you shall take my offering.

Now, what was the purpose of the offering? Verse 8. Remember the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, verse 3, We will build him an... an habitation. We will build him an habitation. Now, they're told to take up an offering, for what purpose? Verse 8. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it. That earthly tabernacle, the pattern of the earthly tabernacle, was that of the heavenly, as you read in other places. So, most of the rest of the book of Exodus is taken up with the building of the tabernacle, and of course the Ark of the Covenant, to place the tablets of stone in, and all the great work that was taken up with that. Let me go to the last chapter of Exodus, chapter 40. In Exodus, chapter 40, we come to the time that it is to be dedicated, that is, the tabernacle, verse 17.

It came to pass in the first month, in the second year, the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up. So the tabernacle was raised up, and the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the tabernacle. Verse 21, He brought the Ark into the tabernacle, set up the veil of the covering, covered the Ark of the testimony as the eternal command in Moses. Then, verse 31, Moses and Aaron, his sons, washed their hands, and the feet they were at, when they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near the altar, they washed as the eternal command in Moses.

And he reared up the court, round about the tabernacle, the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gates, so Moses finished the work.

Then a cloud covered the tent of the tabernacle, and the glory, the presence, that glory means the presence of the eternal, filled the tabernacle. So God said, build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereupon, and the glory of the eternal filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. So God's presence led them, a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. And when that was taken up, they would journey, and if it was not taken up, they did not journey. Verse 38, For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was upon it by night in the sight of all the houses of Israel throughout all their journeyings. So Israel was given the spiritual law, given the statues and judgments, and God's Spirit was now dwelling with them, leading them, and he had placed his presence in the tabernacle, and the Holy of Holies above the mercy seat. So after Israel kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread some 40 years later, they came to a place. Well, let's... I got ahead of the story a little bit. Let's go to Joshua chapter 5. Moses had died. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. So we're back talking about this 50-day period between Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost. We saw that this first Pentecost, the first journey there, that first 50-day journey, God had to practically drag Israel to the Promised Land, because if you read Exodus 15, 16, 17, 18, coming up to 19, which we read, they murmured against God because they had no water. And even though they were given the Ten Commandments, statues and judgments, entered into the marriage covenant, built him a sanctuary, a tabernacle. When they set out the spies to spy out the land, they brought back an evil report. So they were sentenced to 40 years in the wilderness. Moses died because he disobeyed God and struck the rock instead of giving God the glory and credit. And Joshua took Moses' place and sat in the seat of Moses. And so Israel, after 40 years, finally come to Jordan, Jordan on the east side of Jordan, across the Red Sea, came up through what we call Petra, sort of parallel the Dead Sea, and then come up to the River Jordan. Jordan flows between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. So they're coming in from the east, and they come to Jordan. And it was the flood season. So how are they going to cross Jordan? In Joshua 4, the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. Of course, this story of them crossing Jordan was also one of the great miracles of all time. We look at verse 1 of chapter 4. It came to pass when all the people were clean, passed over Jordan, that the eternal spoke unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe of men, and command you them, saying, Take you here out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm, twelve stones, you should carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge that night. And they set up a sign that they made out of those stones a memorial in verse 6.

So notice verse 19. A great miracle, of course, described in chapter 3 of how Jordan was stopped and the people crossed over. The people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the month. The sacrificial lamb was set aside on the tenth day of the month. So Israel was set aside as God's people on the tenth day of the month. Now chapter 5. When it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan, westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the eternal had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until we were passed over, that their heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel. They knew, I mean, you stop the river Jordan in the flood season and people walk over on dry land. At that time, the eternal set of Joshua made sharp knives and circumcised again the children of Israel the second time. So they made sharp knives and they circumcised all the children of Israel. For circumcision pictures, the circumcision of the heart, and that there is all of the old man is cut away, leaving the new man. And before they could take the passover in the Promised Land, they were circumcised. Verse 8, Joshua 5-8, And it came to pass when they had done circumcised all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp till they were whole, till they got well, that they didn't have very long ago. And the eternal set into Joshua, This day, see, I have circumcised, you've been circumcised, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you, wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. Now we hold our place there. We go to Romans 2.

Before we take the passover, we examine ourselves, and we repent of what we see. We get rid of the leaven, continue, as you heard, in the sermonette during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And for that matter, we're supposed to continue all of our lives. In Romans 2, verse 28, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter whose praise is not of men, but of God. But from the days of Abraham to the time of the New Covenant Church, circumcision was like everything to Israel and to the Jew, because that was the great sign that they were a part of the congregation of Israel. And of course, the Judaizers tried to impose physical circumcision upon the New Covenant Church. But this was a great symbolic act, and what it symbolized was, Egypt is put away, you've been made clean, you've been made whole, now you can keep the Passover in the Promised Land. Verse 10, Children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month that even in the plains of Jericho, and they did eat of old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover. On leavened cakes and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. And what is before them now, there's another great obstacle. They have journeyed to Sinai and they took them about three months to get there. They received the law, entered into the Old Covenant, they built a sanctuary, they have traveled, wandered through the wilderness for forty years, many a trial, difficulty, a lot of murmuring against God. Those over twenty were sentenced to death and died in the wilderness. And now they have come to this point of great victory. They have crossed Jordan, they have been circumcised, they have kept the Passover, but there's a big obstacle lying in front of them, and that is the city of Jericho.

Verse 13, it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, No, but as the captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face on the earth and did worship and said unto him, What sayeth my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot, for the place whereon you stand is holy, and Joshua did so. Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel, non went out and none came in. Back in 1988, my wife and I went to visit the various projects, Jordan and also in Israel, and we crossed Jordan from the east side, the Allenby Bridge, and after a little while, we came to Jericho.

And it was during one of the uprisings, I think they call it Fatah, and Jordan was shut up. I mean, there was not anyone on the streets, no one was moving. I said, Jordan, I meant Jericho. And Jericho was shut up. But in that period of time, Jericho was a mighty city and a great obstacle. Of course, the reason they were shut up, they had heard about Israel and crossing the Jordan, and all of that as we read from verse 1 of chapter 5. Verse 2, And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given unto your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of Valor. And so he gave them instructions as to what they were due. You shall compass the city, all you men of war, go round about the city once, thus shall you do six days. And so they did that for six days. Then once again, apparently on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they were to go around the city seven times.

Verse 4, And the seven priests shall bear before the ark, the seven trumpets of the eternal, and the seventh day, you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And shall come to pass, and when they make a long blast with the round's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall down flat. And the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. Joshua, the son of none, called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of the eternal. And so they did as God had commanded them, and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

This was one of the great victories. As I said, the Feast of Unleavened Bread should prepare us for victory. Here, Israel had come to the Promised Land. They'd been set aside on the tenth day of the month. They kept the Passover after having been circumcised on the fourteenth day of the month. And now, Jericho, the last great obstacle, as it were, between them and the Promised Land, that city had fallen. Of course, there were still battles and cities to be taken. And one of the things that God had told them was, Do not partake of any of the forbidden things. Don't take of anything within the city. Chapter 7, they go up against A.I. And a man named Achan takes the forbidden thing, and he and his family are stoned and then burned with fire. So, what we see here, from Israel to the Promised Land, and keeping that first Passover in the Promised Land, and the first days of Unleavened Bread, there's a great contrast between that first one back in Egypt and that first one in the Land of Promise. During the days of Hezekiah, the book of the law was found, and Hezekiah understood from the book of the law that they should keep the Passover. They hadn't kept it in many years. So, we go now to 2 Chronicles 33. This is another example of great victory after keeping the Passover. I'll not go into the details of all the preparation that they did, but the Passover had not been kept in such a way in so many years. It was such a great time. They didn't get everything ready in time to keep it on the 14th day of the month, so they delayed it, and then they kept it seven days. It's so wonderful that they said, let's keep it seven more days, which they did, and what it did prepare them to do. In 2 Chronicles 33, I want chapter 32, I think it is.

Let's try 31.

In chapter 31, verse 21, In every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did with his whole heart and prospered. That is, Hezekiah.

After they kept that Passover, God delivered Judah out of the hands of the Assyrian leader in Lotus, verse 12. Have not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, You shall worship before one altar and burn incense upon you? Know ye not that I and my fathers have done unto all the people of their lands, or the gods of the nations of those lands, any ways to deliver their lands out of mine hand? The Assyrian thought that he had the power to take that, and the gods of the other nations had not been able to deliver them from Sennacherib.

But God showed that he could, and he did. So after they had kept the Passover as they were supposed to, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, God gave Israel and Hezekiah great victory. So in this period of time, as I said, after keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it should prepare us for great victory. Another example is Josiah. After Hezekiah died, Judah eventually went back into idolatry. Then God raised up Josiah. Josiah, look at chapter 34, 2 Chronicles 34. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, when he was 16 years old, he began to seek God. He began to seek after the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves and the carved images, the molten images.

They broke down the altars of Balaam in his presence, and the images that were high above them. He did so in all the various cities. And when he had broken down the altars, verse 7, and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the recorder to repair the house of the Eternal.

And when they came to Hilkiah, the high priest, they delivered the money that was in the house of God, which the Levites kept the doors that gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, all the Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem. And so they, once again, they repaired the temple with that money, and they restored true worship in the land. Verse 35, chapter 35. Moreover, Josiah kept a pass over the house of the Eternal in Jerusalem, and they killed a pass over on the 14th day of the first month.

And he set the priests and their charges, encouraged them to the service of the house of the Eternal, and said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Eternal, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, did build, and it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders.

Serve now the Lord your God and his people, and prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers after your course, according to the writing of David, king of Israel, according to the writing of Solomon and his son, and stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families. Verse 6, So kill the pass over, sanctify yourselves, prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the Eternal by the hand of Moses. And so they kept that pass over. Verse 11, They killed the pass over, the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

And verse 17, And the children of Israel that were present kept the pass over at that time, and the feasts of unleavened bread seven days. And there was no pass over like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet. Neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a pass over as Josiah kept, and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel that were present in the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this pass over kept.

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Naco, king of Egypt, came up to fight against Karchemesh by Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. Now, unfortunately, at this time, after Josiah had done all of these great works, see it's in the eighteenth year of his reign, he was eight when he began to reign, so he was twenty-six years old.

And Josiah went out against Naco, and he came up to fight in the valley of Megiddo, verse twenty-two. Verse twenty-three, and the archers shot at King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded. And Josiah died. He didn't gain a great victory in the physical sense, and he probably should have been much wiser and not gone out in such a way to fight this king, but he did.

So this period of time, after keeping the Passover, as we see, we get some of the flavor of this, of what happened historically. Now we come to the time of the New Testament. Jesus, of course, was crucified on Passover and resurrected during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. During a forty-day period, he appeared to them on at least three occasions, that is, to the disciples.

Yet, just as he had to drag Israel to Sinai during the period of time from the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Pentecost back then, he had to do basically the same thing with the apostles. When we come to John 21, the Gospel of John, chapter 21, he had appeared to them already at least two times, and to show how carnal, in a way, the apostles really were until their conversion, even though having been taught by Jesus Christ for three and a half years, he had to practically drag them to Pentecost. And one of the things that he had said to them when he had appeared to them was, he asked them, are you ready to receive my Spirit?

Now, I know it is in the King James, you can read it, and it says, receive you my Spirit. Look in chapter 20. Jesus suddenly appeared to them, verse 19, then the same day at even being the first day of the week. He had been resurrected on the day before. He had had that ascension back to heaven, the waving of the wave sheath on Sunday morning, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace be unto you.

When he had so said, He showed unto them his hands, his side, then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, and even so I send you.

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, Receive you the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was not sent unto the day of Pentecost.

And as we don't have time to go into all the...

In essence, this is an interrogative statement in which Jesus Christ is saying, Are you ready to receive you, my Spirit? Do you really understand what this is all about?

That you are to be prepared to receive my Spirit?

So, whosoever sins you remit or remitted unto them and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained. Of course, Thomas wasn't there and later on he appeared to him.

Now, you know that you come to chapter 21. If these disciples or apostles had been filled with the Holy Spirit, do you think that they would have the attitude that they have here? They still didn't really get it.

As I said, Jesus Christ had to practically drag the apostles to Pentecost.

After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

And on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, Zebedee, two of the other disciples. Peter said unto them, I go fishing. They said unto him, We'll go with you. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately.

It was night, they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples knew him not. Then Jesus said unto them, Children, have you caught any meat? They answered, No. He said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore now they were not able to draw in the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loves, unto Peter, it is the Lord.

Now when Simon Peter heard this, that it was the Lord, he gird his fishers coat unto him, for he just had on his underwear, and did cast himself into the sea. The other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as they were two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fishes. And so this is the account in which Jesus Christ asked Peter three times, Do you love me, and feed my sheep? Now we go back to Luke 24 and verse 44. Luke 24 and verse 44. And it was about the sixth hour, I'm reading, chapter 23, Luke 24 verse 44. Luke 24 verse 44. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, and what I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.

And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer to rise from the dead, the third day, that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. That promise was that of the Holy Spirit. But wait you in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.

Now quickly to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. Verse 4, Verse 4, Being assembled together with them commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me, for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from here.

When they therefore will come together, they ask him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said, It is not for you to know the times of the seasons which the Father has put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem in Aultediah and in Samaria and in the uttermost parts of the earth.

And while he was speaking these things, he was taken up into the heavens, and after he went out of sight, verse 12, they returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, the Mount of Olives, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And so now he had appeared to them forty days, says in verse 3, being seen of them forty days.

So they had ten days here, yet left on this journey from the time of the wave-sheaf offering to the day of Pentecost. And during that ten days, they continued together, and they became very united at one accord. And in chapter 2, verse 1, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. So finally they got it. And the Holy Spirit was sent to them, and the New Covenant Church began.

And God then began to dwell in man. So from that day in which Israel came up out of the Red Sea on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 1420 B.C., and now here we are at 31 A.D. They waited about 1500 years for the Holy Spirit to come. We're waiting now some 2000 years for the second return of Jesus Christ. We now are last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 2012. Who knows how much longer we have? But this period of time, as we have seen in the Bible, this 50 days from the time of the offering of the Wave Sheaf offering during Unleavened Bread, and the time of Pentecost, has been a time of great contrast.

Great victories have been won, and great losses have been sustained. The Feast of Unleavened Bread should prepare us, our hearts and minds, to really gain the total victory over sin and death. Now oftentimes, after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, you will have trials, trials and difficulties in which you thought, I thought that was behind me.

But as long as we're in the flesh, the war continues. And metaphorically speaking, Satan and his minions will continue to pursue us. But God has promised us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us.

God has said, above all things, put on the shield of faith, whereby you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of Satan. And the reason why you can quench all the fiery darts of Satan through the shield of faith is that you will know and know that you know, regardless of what happens to you on the journey to the Promised Land. God is faithful, who has promised, and he will deliver us. So finally, let's look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 must be encouraged, must be motivated, must really determine what we're going to do.

Hebrews 10.36, for we have need of patience. After that you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. Who knows how long we have before we reach the Promised Land? There will be red seas before us. There will be River Jordans in the flood stage. There will be pharaohs who rise up against us. There will be Satan the devil. Jesus Christ said on that night at the Passover, which he was betrayed and that mock trial was held, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

For yet a little while in he that shall come will come and will not wait. Now the just shall live by faith.

But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But you are not of them who draw back under perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.