Why Are the Days of Unleavened Bread so Important to God?

Today. Well, I mentioned that here we are on the first Sabbath of April. By the end of this month, we will have participated in the Passover. We will have kept the days of Unleavened Bread.

Before that, we will have examined ourselves and made ourselves ready to observe these Holy Days. And of course, the Spring Holy Days, as all of God's Holy Days, have some tremendous meaning behind them. We should never take for granted what they mean. We should never go through these seasons and say, you know, we've done this before. We know all there is to know about God's plan, what the Passover means, what the days of Unleavened Bread picture. They picture quite a bit. And without the first step, Jesus Christ, none of us would have any hope of anything at all. So, you know, as we think about the Holy Days and we go through the scriptures that we do every year. Today, I want to talk about where did the days of Unleavened Bread, where did the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread, when did they really originate? When did God come up with the idea or the plan that we would have a Passover, that Jesus Christ would die for our sins, that we would have the days of Unleavened Bread that picture what they do, putting sin out of our lives.

Many people would tell you that that occurred when He brought Israel out of Egypt, that He created the Passover, came up with the Passover at that time, and the days of Unleavened Bread.

And that's not the answer. Some would tell you that, oh, back in Genesis, and we'll talk about that a little bit, God, before the foundation of the earth, built this moon and the sun, the lights in the sky to mark the times and seasons, and that's when it occurred. No, that's not when it occurred either. Certainly, when the earth was created, God had in mind these holy days that we would all keep. But where did the need for the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread begin?

We're going to go back to before the earth was ever created to find that answer and see what created the need for this. Let's go back to Ezekiel. Ezekiel 28.

Before the world that we live in today, before it was ever prepared for mankind, before man was ever put on earth, before Adam and Eve were ever put on earth, something happened that changed. I'm going to use the word universe, but where God is concerned, it's an expanse that's far beyond universe. Before this event, there was unity, there was harmony, there was joy in heaven. And something happened, and we read about it here in Ezekiel 28, that changed, changed all that for the worse, certainly not for the better. In Ezekiel 28, verse 12, we're told about a being that God created that was perfect. Verse 12 says, A perfect created being, God gave him everything that he needed, just like God gives you and I everything that we need, everything that he needed to create and do the job that God created him to do, God provided for him. And he was perfect in that creation. You were in Eden, he says, the Garden of God. So back there at the beginning when Adam and Eve were there, this being was there. And before that, you were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. The sardius, topaz, and diamond, barrel, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day that you were created. Made a spectacular being. You were the anointed carob who covers. I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was found in you.

A perfect created being, God gave him all the tools, all the attributes, all the traits that he needed to perfectly do what God had done. And when he was there, Lucifer's, we'll see the next scripture that we read, everything was fine. There was peace, there was joy in heaven, there was harmony when this being was created to do the things that God created him to do. God gave him all those tools. He was up there in heaven. He saw God day to day. He was working with him, doing his will. Everything was fine. Everything was perfect until sin was found in him.

And when sin entered the universe, in the very much expanded way that I use it for infinity, that God knows, which is more than the universe that you and I are familiar with, everything changed when sin entered. It was a different time of being. Something changed. No longer the unity, no longer the peace, no longer the accord, but something far, far, far different emerged at that time. Let's go back to Isaiah 14.

You see, the same account of this created being who was created perfect, who walked with God, who was there among heaven and all the hosts that were there.

But when sin came, that disrupted everything. Isaiah 14, verse 12.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.

One of the three created archangels, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground.

The ground there comes from the Hebrew word that would be translated earth. In fact, in the young literal translation, it uses the word earth. And some of the newer translations say, earth, how are you cut down to the earth? Before man was ever put on earth, Satan, when sin was found on him, in him he was cast out, cast down to the earth. No longer access in heaven, no longer with God. Sin separated him from God. Sin separated everything at that time, separated and had all the effects that we know of today. For you, how you are cut down to the earth, you who weakened at the nations. Sin never strengthens. Sin destroys. Satan's rebellion, Satan's attitude, didn't make things better. It destroyed all the fabric of what was there. It made things much, much, much worse. And we still see the effects of it today. Verse 13. You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the Mount of the Congregation on the farther sides of the North. I, I, I.

Somewhere in time, Lucifer looked around and thought, you know what? I think that I'm just as good as God. Look at everything I've done, whatever God gave me to do. Look how wonderfully I've done it. What did he forget in the process? It was God who gave him those abilities. It was God who gave him the creative abilities and the talents and everything he had came from God. He was a created being. He was nothing. God gave him life. Everything belonged to God. All the glory belonged to God. And Satan, well, who became Satan, Lucifer forgot that. I don't think one morning, one day, whatever the time frame was, then he woke up and became that way a little bit over time, a little bit over time. You can kind of see because we've seen it around us, right? We've seen it at work and in some other situations where people who are given opportunities begin to think, oh, or, you know, are they part of an, an employment situation or whatever else? I can do just as well as that boss. In fact, I think I probably know more than that boss. And they begin to think, look what I've done, man, my department is doing really, really, really well. If the whole company was run the way I run my things, just think how wonderfully things would be. And it builds up over time and pretty soon you think that you're the one who's done all these things and you forget. I was given the opportunity. I was made the head of this department or whatever it is. Ah, God called me. God put his spirit in me and everything I do is because of what he has put in me. It's none of me. It's all of him. Lucifer forgot that. And you can see how it happened and what he did that a third of the angels that were under him eventually fell away and turned away from God as well. As he let this build up in his mind and he didn't check it and say, no, I can't do this. I have to remember who I am. That's none of this was me. He would be the one who would make a comment to one of the angels. Ah, if it was just me in charge of this.

If we could just do things my way, see how we do things over here? Everyone should be listening to what I do. And pretty soon that grew. And you had a group mentality that was like, yes, we're the premier ones. We have all the answers. Too bad God isn't listening to us. And you know what, Lucifer, you should be. You should be God. You should be sitting on that throne. You should be directing everything. This didn't happen all in one morning. And I'm sure as he communicated, there was a little bit of sarcasm when they talked about God and then it became a little mocking about God. And, oh, yeah, God says that. Well, if he just kind of looked at how we did things here in our realm, he might learn a few things from us. And pretty soon it just became an absolute where that attitude and that sin of pride took Satan right out of heaven. That God said, enough, cast him back down to earth, and that's where he was. No longer with access to God, no longer able to do anything because he forgot.

He forgot. He lost the respect for God and for God who gave him everything, forgot that he was created. Decided to look to himself, think his ideas were better, that everyone should be following him rather than God. Well, we can see that that has been repeated. God put Lucifer on earth and he was still there in Eden, we read in, we read in Ezekiel 28. And you know Adam and Eve were created perfect as physical specimens. Perfect. Not perfect in character, but perfect as physical specimens. And when they were in Eden, there was harmony, right? Harmony between man, God, and creation. Everything was fine. God was walking in the midst of them, we've said many times that we read in Genesis. But God allowed Satan to be there. He was banished to earth.

And then what did Adam and Eve do? They did the same thing that Lucifer did. They chose to ignore God. They chose to reject him and take their own way. They listened to Lucifer and what did God do? The very same thing to them that he had to do to Lucifer. Cast them out of the garden of Eden. They would have to make their own way on the earth and live by what they determined and chose to do. We can take it another step further to you and me. You know, we're children of the world. We're raised in it. We see around it, we work in an environment that's different than what God's way is. And we probably have fallen prey to teaming up with people who say, I know more than that, boss. Come on. If I was doing it this way, much, much, much better.

And you've seen people over the years, maybe it's happened to you, where you've lost a job because you just got to be too big for your britches. And it wasn't going to be that it was going to be tolerated. But at some point, God calls us. He opens our minds to see the truth and to say, well, this is not the way. The way of the world is not the way to eternal life. There's a better way. There's the only way to salvation. And when God calls, and when we repent, and when we believe, and we're baptized, and we receive the Holy Spirit.

I won't turn to 2 Corinthians 5, 17. What does he see us as? A new creation. A new creation.

Someone who has chosen him. Someone who has rejected the ways of the world, rejected the ways of Lucifer, rejected the ways of themselves and their own ideas, and chosen God. The opposite of what Lucifer did. The opposite of what Adam and Eve did.

And God says, I see you as a new creation. Continue walking in that way. He wants us to live in that way. It's the way to peace and harmony and accord and everything good, love, joy, peace, long suffering.

Gentleness, goodness, self-control, faith. All the things that lead to good and lead to good things in life that produce the joy that we see in heaven that should all be working in our lives.

On the contrast, we know exactly what Satan's way is like. We know exactly what he was like before man was formed on earth. We know exactly the type of situation that was occurring there that disrupted all the peace and all the harmony and all the joy. Let's go over to Galatians, Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verse 19, tells us exactly what Satan was like. Exactly what the way when we yield to him are like. What we see around us when we live apart from God's Spirit is exactly what was occurring before mankind was ever put on this earth. The works of the flesh are evident. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. The way of Lucifer. The things that pride can lead to that was found in Lucifer, and God said, Lucifer, out. Cast him back down to earth.

For all eternity, the record of sin is sin destroys. Sin kills. Sin never leads to peace. Sin never leads to joy. It always leads to upset, division, people looking for their own way, and the joy in heaven that was there for all of eternity until sin, God says, was found in you, Lucifer. It disrupted everything that was there and everything God always wanted for all of his creation, including you and me. Now, Jesus Christ, when he talks about Satan, he calls him an enemy, right? I mean, Romans 8-7, we say, the carnal mind, our natural mind, led by Lucifer, the whole world, it says, tells us in 1 John, is under the sway of Satan. 2 Corinthians 4-4 says, Satan is the God of this world. That's the beat to which everyone marches until and unless we respond to God and have his Holy Spirit, that was the way of the world, and that defines it.

Christ called Lucifer, Satan, a murderer, a murderer from the beginning, and a liar.

That was what would happen. That's what happened back way in the prehistory of the earth that we know today. He said in John 10-10, or John 10, when he's talking about he is the way, he's the door, that there's a thief that comes in and he calls Lucifer, Satan, a thief. He doesn't looking to provide anything to him, he's looking to steal from God's way. He's looking to steal peace, he's looking to steal joy, he's looking to steal the future of those who choose God. That's what he did to the third of the angels that were in heaven, he's still doing the same thing today.

And so we see an environment. We see an environment in heaven before mankind was ever put on earth, where God saw what sin did.

And we see the effects of it today. We've just kind of lived with it and gotten used to it, but it was disruptive. It was awful. It brought misery.

Perhaps, back then, when God knew the plan that was going and how Satan had disrupted it, and a new plan was put in because we know, we hear reading in Revelation 13, verse 8, before the foundation of the world, it was determined that Christ would come to earth and pay the penalty for sin that leads to death. Before the foundation of the earth, God put a plan in place.

God put a plan in place. From the foundation of the earth, He knew sin had to be put away.

And so, in the plan for mankind, mankind who would sin, who would follow Satan, and that sin would lead to death, there had to be a Savior, someone who could pay that penalty for that sin that we would commit.

And when people accepted, there would have to be something that they would do.

They would have to put sin out of their lives. They would have to choose God, rather than mankind and what Lucifer did, choosing the other way. Let's go back to Hebrews 10. For those of us here today that have chosen God's way, after He called us, it wasn't any of our wisdom, intelligence that brought us into the church. It was God, and we should never forgive. We should never forget that. It wasn't us who created the like we have today. It's God who did it all. He has the same warning for us, new creations that He has created. If we turn from Him and go back to the way of the world, if we choose the way of Lucifer, if we choose the way of Adam and Eve, then the same thing that happened to them being cast out will happen to us. Hebrews 10, verse 26. If we sin willfully, after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law, dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? What a fearful thing to be cast out from God, to be cut off from what He has called us to when God created the earth, when He began the plan, and when He put together the plan for mankind on this physical earth, physical mortal man.

He wanted there to be peace, accord. All the fruits of the Spirit you read in Galatians 5, 22, and 23, it had to come because man chose him. That mankind, using God's call, using God's Spirit, would reject the way of Lucifer, reject the way of Adam and Eve, reject that and choose him, and then live their lives being led by his Holy Spirit. So when the ultimate end of that plan came, He could give them eternal life and be assured there would be continuing peace, accord, love, long suffering, people who would follow God, people who would recognize God, people who would give the glory to God, people who wouldn't be filled with pride, but would be filled with humility, always remembering. It's not us who did it. It's God. He gave us this gift. And so God created or recreated the earth for mankind to live on it. Let's go back to Genesis 1. Genesis 1. And from the very beginning of this creation, after seeing the result, the disharmony, the misery the sin brought, God put man on the earth. And in verse 14, in the days of creation, He put something, He created something. He created time, really, because we were physical people who would be guided by time and have a limited time on this earth so He could see, will we choose life or will we choose death? Verse 14, God said, Let there be lights in the firm movements of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years and let them be for lights in the firm movements of the heavens to give lights on the earth and it was so. We look at verse 14 and the English translators use the word seasons.

And so people think summer, fall, winter, spring. But that isn't the word, the Hebrew word.

That's the original Hebrew word and that translated to seasons isn't that at all.

The Hebrew word is moed, M-O-E-D. Moed literally means, literally means appointed sign, appointed time, appointed place, solemn assembly, solemn congregation, or solemn feast.

The Old Testament translators didn't really know what to mean at that. What do you mean appointed time, appointed sign, appointed place? What do you mean sacred assembly? What do you mean sacred congregation? What did God build into creation? He put those lights in the sky so that his people, his people would know the appointed times to be following him and to be where he wanted them to be. It was there from the beginning, planned before the foundation of the earth. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing. Oh, let's put a moon in the sky and let's have a calendar and let's have these appointed times before it was ever begun, before the earth was ever created. God had a plan and part of that plan was that his people would follow him, would follow that plan of salvation, and it was, and it included, appointed times, appointed assemblies, time for people to get together and to follow God's plan and understand what that plan meant. Now the word, Hebrew word moeid, it's not the only time that it's used. It is used throughout the Old Testament. When you read about Tabernacle of Meeting, when people came to meet with God, of meeting is moeid. But let's look at some of the places where moeid is used that would pertain to these holy days we're in right now. Let's look over at Exodus 13. Exodus 13. Here in this chapter, we read about Israel coming out of Egypt in the chapter before, and then God instructing Israel not for the first wealth to them the first time that they understood these days, but just refreshing their mind because these were put in place, and well before man was ever on earth. The need for sin to be put out of lives and the need for a Savior was established. Exodus 13 verse 10, You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. The word translated season, moeid. You keep this ordinance. You keep, as we go through here, the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, in the time that I appointed you to keep, you keep it from year to year. Exodus 23. And I'm not hitting all of them here. Exodus 23 verse 15.

You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat Unleavened Bread seven days as I commanded you at the time appointed. In the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall come before me empty. There they translated it correctly. You keep the days of Unleavened Bread at the time appointed. I put that moon in the sky, and it's going to mark for you the months, before we get the word month from, from the word moon. And God's months are different than the months that we we follow. In the world today, we have 365 days in a year and months that could be 28, 29, 30, 31 days long. But God's calendar revolves around a month to month, new moon to moon, new moon.

And it's about 29 and a half days that the earth, that we have a new moon cycle.

And so God said, you mark that time, because those things were put up there in the, uh, in the sky for you. So you'll know exactly when it is that I want you to be observing these things, when you are thinking about these things, when you are going through the holy days, that picture, and that paint for you, the plan of God.

And so he says in Exodus 12, too, I think you could write that down. As he's bringing Israel out of Egypt, he says, this is this month, ABIB, A-B-I-V, will be the beginning of months. It'll be the first month of the year to you. And we find in the first month of the year, that first cycle of the year, the Passover to be observed, the days of Unleavened bread to be observed. It was in that month that God brought Israel out of Egypt and re-educated, or educated them, didn't create it at that time, but educated them in how to follow him, and they would observe those.

And they actually saw it play out in a pretty spectacular fashion, what went on back then with the Passover and the days of Unleavened bread. And so, you know, a few have asked, well, the days of Unleavened bread are so much later this year. Why is it so much later this year? Well, part of what God's calendar is, when you have 29 and a half days, 354 days that you have in calendars, there has to come a time when you reconcile the earth's revolution around the sun to that.

And so every two or three years, the Hebrew calendar adds a month to bring everything into sync. And that happens to be one of those years. Really, it's seven times in a 19-year time cycle. Maybe you've heard of 19-year time cycles before. Seven times in a 19-year time cycle, an extra month is added, and that happens to be one of these years. When you read the history, when you read, this happens to be the 19th year of a 19-year time cycle.

And so a month was added there. And as you look at what goes on, and we look at Old Testament ways of determining when the harvest would be, the spring harvest, and we won't talk about the wave sheep today. We'll say that for another time. There was a time in ancient Israel that they looked at these things. Ah, this harvest has to be ready, and they would know they have to add another month to the year in order for the harvest to be ready so we can do this wave sheep offering.

We happen to be in that year this year. And when you read the reports, and not the little reports that come out that say, wow, we went 100 miles from Jerusalem and found a stalk that looks like it's ready to harvest, when the harvest was ready in Jerusalem, and the priests went out after the Sabbath that occurs during the days of the Lord, and just picked the stalk to be able to wave before God the next day, that crop that was determined isn't going to be ready.

And so a 13th month was added, so that by the time the days of unleavened bread come around, the crop would be ready this year. Exactly the way that God said. Exactly the way that God intended it to be. And so as we keep these days, and we have to look at a calendar, and you know, it just so happens that next Sabbath is the first day of the month of Abib.

And when we are gathered together on the night to be much observed, on the 22nd will be the 15th of the month, and you'll look up in the sky that day, and you'll see a full moon, and you'll think we're exactly where God wanted us to be, because He's the one who set the 15th of the month, the middle of the month of the first month, the middle of the month, the seventh month, to be keeping His holy day.

And we know right where He wants us to be, because He set those signs in heaven. It's all part of His plan, all part of a plan that mankind has to follow. We have to choose God. We have to put sin out. And as we read through Exodus, and I won't go through it because you know the history of Exodus. You know the plagues. You know what God had done. And on that Passover day, on the Passover evening, the evening of the 14th, when God told Israel, told Israel through Moses, you put the blood, you slaughter the lamb, you put the blood on your dole posts, and if you do that, death will pass by you.

What will befall you won't befall the people of Egypt. Well, if they didn't choose to obey God, guess what? They died, right? Because if we choose not to obey God, what results? Death.

Those that followed, they lived through that time. They saw the miracle of God. They saw the salvation of God. And the blood over the door on Passover had a symbol that we know in New Testament times. Jesus Christ's blood is what we're saved by. And you and I have to accept that sacrifice and realize it's not us, it's Him who made life possible. It's Him who made the forgiveness of sin possible. And so the Holy Days begin on Passover with us recommitting to Him, doing what He said, and partaking of what? As He instituted the new way of keeping Passover on exactly the same night that God passed over the people of Israel who obeyed Him. It was the very first thing that members of the Church do on Passover. Foot washing, right? Foot washing. Let's go back to John 13. John 13. Before the world was ever founded, before it was ever formed, God had this plan. He doesn't make it up as He goes along. He saw the results of sin and knew, this can't be part of eternity, this can't be part of my kingdom. People who practice the way of Lucifer, and He's seen all the effects of it and what it's done and how it's separated and divided and made lives miserable. They're going to have to follow me. John 13. When Jesus Christ is gathered together with His disciples there that evening, He instituted this way of keeping Passover that we do now. Let's begin it in John 13. We're in John 13, verse 13. He says and asks Him in verse 12, Do you know what I just did to you? Well, what He just did to them is He kneeled down and He washed all their feet. It's the job of a lowly servant, and yet He was the Son of God. You call Me, teacher and Lord, and then you say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. What do we learn by washing one another's feet? We learn humility. We learn that there's nothing special about us.

There's everything special about Jesus Christ and what He did, and we are all here because of what He does and did. We're here because of His Spirit in us and because we made the choice to follow Him.

But the very first thing we learn is humility.

Looking back to Lucifer, looking back to what happened in that heavenly realm way back, way back before man was created on earth, what would be the one thing that God would say we would need to learn that Lucifer didn't have? We would need to be humble. We would have to ask God to get rid of the pride, get rid of the sarcasm, get rid of the mocking, yield to Him, let His Holy Spirit lead us, guide us, instruct us, correct us.

And without humility, we can't be in God's kingdom. Without humility, we can't be who God wants us to be. Now, when we see what Satan did, wow, we can understand why did God say humility? Here in this very first service of the year, Jesus Christ died for us, so will we come before Him, baptize members of the Church, humility. And then we take of the bread that pictures His body. Then we take of the blood. We recognize our total dependence on Him and our total commitment to Him, and we realize we owe everything to Him. We are the apple of His eye.

Just like Lucifer was the apple of His eye before sin was found in Him.

And as long as we continue to follow God, implore Him, crucify self, we'll continue to be that. But if we ever go the opposite way, if we let those attitudes in, just ever so small attitudes, because it always starts with one small thing, that we can rationalize away and say, yeah, it's not that big a deal.

But you know, sin has a way of just growing and growing and growing, and pretty soon, it destroys. It kills. As Christ said, eyes close, and people no longer listen. They've given back to God the gift that He gave them, just like Lucifer did, just like Adam and Eve did.

Let's go back to Exodus 12.

Exodus 12. Speaking of the Passover here in that evening, let's look at Exodus 12 and verse 14. We talked about Moed. I did where I didn't go. I got ahead of myself here. Keep your finger there in Leviticus 12. Let me go back to Moed for a minute, and look at Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23, we have listed all of the holy days, all the feasts of God. Leviticus 23 is literally littered with the word Moed. It ties us right back to Genesis 1.14 and what God created and put in the universe. Let's look at Leviticus 23. Verse 2. God, speaking to Moses, He says, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feasts, the Hebrew word Moed, look it up, the feasts of the eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts, Moed. Verse 4. These are the feasts, that's the Hebrew word Moed, these are the Moed of the eternal holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. Moed. I created the lights in the sky, I created the times for you to do this, this is when you're going to be, I'm going to tell you when, and I expect that you will be complying.

He goes through all the holy days, the Sabbath, the seven holy days that we keep. Down to verse 40, down to verse 37. After summary, as he goes through them, he says, these are the feasts, Moed. Look it up, these are the Moed of the eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Down in verse 44, the last verse of this chapter here, so Moses declared to the children of Israel the Moed, the feasts of the eternal. No doubt what God had instituted, no doubt from the foundation of the world, before the foundation of the world, this was the plan.

And Israel found themselves in Egypt, God's people, the descendants of Abraham, Abraham, who obeyed him completely. And over in Exodus 12, first we're going to look at verse 14.

As God, clearly in verse 13, is talking about the Passover night, the blood would be on their doorposts. He says, so this day will be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a Moed to the Lord throughout your old generations. You shall keep it as an everlasting ordinance. Verse 14, another Hebrew word that we have talked about before, throughout your generations forever is the Hebrew word olam. It literally means the future. It doesn't mean future is an eternity, necessarily, but it means as long as there's heaven in earth.

As long as there's heaven in earth, you keep these feasts, and as you read through Exodus, you'll see that word forever. It's the word olam. You keep these feasts as long as there's heaven in earth. Now, what other scripture do we find Christ talking about? As long as heaven and earth exist, says in Matthew 5, 17, 18, 19, as long as heaven and earth exist, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law. The same phraseology of the Old Testament, Christ's use in the New Testament, keep it forever. And down in verse 43 of the same chapter here, we read about how the Passover is to be kept and by who it is kept. Verse 43, the Eternal said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat it. But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you've circumcised him, then he may eat it.

A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it.

Let's drop down to verse 47. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it, and when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Eternal, let his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. And he shall be as a native of the land, for no uncircumcised person shall eat it. So to keep the Passover in ancient Israel, you had to have the sign of the covenant.

You needed to be circumcised, and your household need to make that choice. We choose God. And there was that outward sign of physical circumcision that had to be. The God says, these are the people who would observe the Passover.

In the New Testament times, from time to time, we'll have someone that's in church, and they get offended if we say, well, you know, we follow the ordinance of the Bible.

You need first to be baptized. You need first to commit to God with all your heart, mind, and soul. You need to go through the process. You need to believe when God calls. You need to repent.

Turn from your way. You need to be baptized. That's the big commitment, right? That's the most important commitment we make in life. And then the Passover is something we do year to year to remind us of our commitment, remind us of who Christ is, remind us of who we are, nothing, who owe everything to Him. Because circumcision was physical back then, but we find in the New Testament circumcision is no longer based on the physical process. But in Romans, we see that what God is looking for today, Jesus Christ's sacrifice, the ability to come to Him, or the access to Him, and the receipt of the Holy Spirit when we repent and believe when we believe, repent, and are baptized. Romans 2, 28, it says, He's not a Jew who's one outwardly. We don't look at the physical appearance anymore. He's not a Jew who's one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But He is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.

So, absolutely no one should ever be offended. You should be offended if we weren't keeping the way of God, because that would indicate to you that we're not living by every word of God.

But there's a process that we go through. And we follow the Bible, and the Passover is one of them, an ordinance to be kept forever. In fact, in John 13, Jesus Christ says, you don't need to be totally bathed. Once you're bathed, you don't need to have your feet washed once a year to continue in the requirements of what God had said. But the first step is committing all of heart, mind, and soul, and turning away from Him, or turning away from our way, and turning to Him.

Exodus, let's go back. You're probably still there in Exodus. Oh, no, we went to Romans. Exodus 12. Let's look at verses 34 through 36. This is after the evening of the Passover, when the people were spared from death, if they followed God's way. In verse 34, it says, the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. And the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing. And God had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians. And then they left. Struck down to verse 40.

The sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, on that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the eternal went out from the land of Egypt. On the very same day, boy, God is exact. He knew exactly what to do.

The people of Israel went out of Egypt. They didn't have time to leaven their cakes.

And then as they left Egypt, and I'm going to give you numbers 33 verses 3 and 4, you can see, they left on the 15th of Abib. They were out from Egypt. And then God instructed them on keeping the days of unleavened bread. Was it just a coincidence? Was it just a coincidence that they left Egypt and it happened to be the appointed time of the days of unleavened bread?

And what it pictures? Putting sin out of our lives, putting the leavening out of our lives. The picture is puffing up. Pride. 1 Corinthians 5, when Paul talks about leavening and a little leavened the whole lung. Was it a coincidence? Now God knew exactly what he was doing. From the beginning of time, he knew exactly when he was going to bring Israel out of Egypt. And so the very same day he brought them out and instructed them, for the next seven days you eat unleavened bread. They left Egypt without leavening. Exactly what God said. But the same day, let's go back to Genesis 15, just to see how God works and what he had instituted.

There's a very interesting thing about Abraham when God is showing him what will happen to his descendants. In Genesis 15, verse 12, notice the sun was about to set. A new day was dawning.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And behold horror and great darkness fell upon him. What he saw was catastrophic. It was miserable. It was awful.

And God said to Abram, Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. And they will serve them, and they will afflict them, their captors or their slave masters, for four hundred years.

As the sun was going down, Abraham sees this picture. And the nation whom they serve, I'll judge after where they will come out with great possessions. Exactly the way Israel left Egypt. Exactly to that self-same day that God is showing Abram here. And the nation whom they... Oh, verse 15. Oh, and also the nation who will come out with great possessions. That self-same day.

Was that the evening of the Passover that the sun was going down?

That God showed Abram what would befall his descendants?

The plan and the Holy Days were there before the foundation of the earth.

Let's go back to Exodus 12.

Numbers 33, verses 3 and 4 will tell you it was on the fifteenth of Aibib, the day after the Passover, that they left Egypt. In Exodus 12, verse 42, we find Israel. Finally, after all the plagues and God, Moses going to Pharaoh and pleading with him, let my people go, that they may serve God in the wilderness. And finally, when there was no more choice, Pharaoh let them go. And in verse 42, it says, it is a night of solemn observance to the eternal for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the eternal, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And so on that night to be much observed, we talked about that in the announcements. Israel was brought out of Egypt. They'd seen the hand of God. He delivered them from certain death, a life of utility, a life of slavery that they would have never been able to deliver themselves by themselves. It was only by God's power. And as they departed after that Passover day, they celebrated before God, together as the whole nation, celebrating what God had done for them on the evening that begins the days of unleavened bread. Holy time, holy daytime, appointed time, mohad. And so today we continue that tradition. And the night to be much observed is when we should celebrate before God. So one time during the year, of course, we celebrate, we give glory to God every day of the year for what He's done for us. But one time of the year, we gather together and we celebrate what God has done for us because we see the deliverance He's done us. We have a future and we have a journey toward the Promised Land that God has given us that not one of us could have done ourselves. Not one of us could ever be what God has called us to be. And so we all observe that day. It is holy time. And to the extent that we can be together on that day, like the nation of Israel was, I think is very good. And it should be a time that we come together and enjoy each other's company. Now let me give you a Scripture, companion Scripture here to the New Testament, Romans 7, verses 23 and 24, that you can read later today that talks about God delivering us from a body of bondage, a body of death.

The analogy and the similarity and the unity of the Bible we see from one end to the other, when we see what God is doing and what He has given us for to do, and we are just on the verge of entering that time. And of course we put leavening out of our homes, just like because the symbol of putting sin out of our lives, eating flat bread, not being puffed up, the symbol of the humility that we all need to have, because pride is one thing we all need to put out of our lives. Pride we've seen blinds people. Pride destroys people. Proverbs 16, I think it is, says, pride comes before a fall. And when people fall before God, somehow they've let that attitude of Lucifer come upon them. Lucifer let it well up and well up and well up, and he was cast from heaven down to earth. And he would like us to do the very same things, and so he will breathe those attitudes into us. We have to be very astute, very aware, very vigilant, using God's Spirit to not let those things come in and steal from us what is stole from Lucifer, what is stole from Adam and Eve, what is stole from so many people. God has called us as something far greater, and we should never discount it, and we should never take it for granted, and we should never enter into any holy day season without the appreciation and focusing on what God has called us to. Very important times, no matter how many times you've kept the Passover, do and take it in a worthy manner and examine yourself just as if it was your first time. No matter how tiny times you kept the Days of Unleavened Bread, refresh your mind on what it means. Ask God to convict you and to keep it in a manner, remembering that what He wanted, what He wanted for us, was only good. The same thing He wanted always through eternity, until sin was found in Lucifer and the plan needed to be made that sin would be put away forever. Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29. verse 11. What God thinks of us and what God wants for us, we know, we've talked about many times, He wants us to choose Him so He can give us eternity and live in the joy and the peace and everything that His Spirit brings. Chapter 29, verse 11, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Eternal, thoughts of peace and not of evil. Thoughts to give you a future and a hope.

And so, later on this month, and we're really in the process now, the Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, the first step on our journey to eternity. Before I sit down, I forgot to mention I put some hard copies of a Passover Bible study on the back table for any of you that want that. It'll go through all the...