1ST DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
2ND DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
3RD DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
4TH DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
5TH DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
6TH DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
7TH DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
WHAT DO THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD PICTURE?
IS THERE A DEEPER MEANING THAN WE FIRST THOUGHT?
WHY IS THE LAST HOLY DAY A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY?
For more understanding on these important questions,
let’s look at the scriptures on the subject.
Let’s notice that
the days of Unleavened Bread are to be kept joyfully.
There are other requirements for the keeping of the days
also. They are: Gladness, praising God, singing,
learning good knowledge of the Lord, and confessing our
sins.
2Ch 30:21 So the
children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept
the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great
gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the
LORD day by day, singing to
the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
2Ch 30:22 And Hezekiah
gave encouragement to all the Levites who taught the
good knowledge of the LORD; and they ate throughout
the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and
making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.
The first and last
days of Unleavened Bread should not be the only days on
which we study and contemplate the meaning of the
days. The whole seven days should be
observed. If we cannot meet as a group for regular
church services, we should have a bible study at home on
the following topics for each day.
1ST DAY OF
UNLEAVENED BREAD: Meaning of the 1st day
REMEMBER ON THIS DAY GOD BROUGHT THE ISRAELITES
OUT WITH A STRONG HAND. ALSO THE RESURRECTION OF
CHRIST AND REMINDER FOR WAVE SHEAF.
2ND DAY:
TALK ABOUT WAVE SHEAF [WE ARE PUTTING THIS HERE, BUT
EACH YEAR IT WILL BE ON A DIFFERENT DAY DURING THE
DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD,] SO NOTE THE WAVE SHEAF DAY
WILL DIFFER FROM YEAR TO YEAR HOWEVER IT IS ALWAYS ON
A SUNDAY.
ALSO THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN AND LEAVING IT BEHIND.
3RD DAY: THE BREAD OF
AFFLICTION.
4TH DAY:
JOY GLADNESS AND SINGING AND CHRIST RAISED FROM THE
HEART OF THE EARTH.
5TH DAY:
PRAISE GOD AND CHRIST AND THANKFUL FOR CHRIST’S
SACRIFICE.
6TH
DAY: PUT SPIRITUAL BEFORE PHYSICAL AND
MAKING CONFESSIONS TO THE LORD.
THE
FIRST DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
The first day of Unleavened Bread pictures the
coming out of
Firstly we
will look at the exodus from
Exo 13:3 And
Moses said to the people: "Remember this day
in which you went out of
Exo 13:4 On
this day you are going out, in the month Abib.
Exo 13:5 And
it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the
land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and
the Amorites and the Hivites and the
Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to
give you, a land flowing with milk and honey,
that you shall keep this service in this
month.
Lev 23:5 On
the fourteenth day
of the first month at twilight is
the LORD's Passover.
Lev 23:6 And
on the fifteenth day of the same month is
the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD;
seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 On
the first day you shall have a holy
convocation; you shall do no customary work on
it.
It is
important that we eat unleavened bread during
these days, and it is important that there be no
leaven seen with us.
Exo 13:7 Unleavened
bread shall be eaten seven days. And no
leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor
shall leaven be seen among you in all your
quarters.
It is a
suggestion that we make some unleavened bread
with bitter herbs and spices.
We eat a piece of this every day to remind us
that it is the bread of affliction. The
bitter taste is a good way to bring to mind the
unpleasantness of the results of sin.
Notice that
unleavened bread is the bread of
affliction. The reason for this is
because we need to realise the consequences of
sin. To afflict means to be humble, to answer
for something, to debase... We need to be humble
and be accountable for our actions. Sin has
caused the death of Jesus Christ. We must
realise this.
We must contemplate the seriousness of our sins
and the misery they cause.
Notice in
the verse below that we are to remember the day
when the Israelites came out of the
For us
today we need to also remember our calling, when
we were called. This was something we used
to talk about frequently in the church, the
circumstances up to and just after our calling,
but today a large number in the church have
either forgotten those circumstances or deny
that there was such a thing as a calling from
God.
DO NOT
BE DECEIVED THERE IS A DEFINATE TIME WHEN
GOD CALLS US.
Joh 6:44 No
one can come to Me unless the Father who sent
Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the
last day.
Christ
Himself stated in the above verse that we simply
cannot come to Him unless the Father draws or
calls us. There is no other way.
Now with
this firmly in our minds, God wants us to
remember when we were called, and these days are
just the time to reflect on this miracle in our
lives.
During
these days we need to think about the miracle
from God that changed the way we thought about
God, about the way we looked at life, and how,
at a certain point in time, that all changed for
us. Suddenly we could understand things in the
bible, each person has their own special story
to tell and how interesting it is to listen to
each person’s experience. What a
joy this is to share this special event with
people of like mind.
The days of
Unleavened Bread is the time to think on this
and to share our own experiences with others.
One of the
greatest physical miracles was the opening of
the
Deu 16:3 You
shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven
days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is,
the bread of affliction (for you came out of
the land of Egypt in haste), that you may
remember the day in which you came out of the
land of Egypt all the days of your life.
The bread
of affliction is also a reminder that the
Israelites endured affliction while they were in
bondage in the
Exo 3:17 and
I have said I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt to the land of the
Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites
and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the
Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and
honey." '
WE MUST
REMEMBER
When Moses
wrote the book of Deuteronomy he repeated the
Ten Commandments of Exodus, it is very
interesting that the words regarding the
departure from
Deu 5:15 And
remember that you were a slave in the land of
Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out
from there by a mighty hand and by an
outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God
commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
We were in
slavery in
Deu 15:15 You
shall remember that you were a slave in the
land of
The reason
why we keep this Feast should be explained to
our children.
Exo 13:8 And
you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is
done because of what the LORD did for
me when I came up from
God did not
want
1Jn 3:4 Who
ever commits sin transgresses also the law:
for sin is the transgression of the law.
Exo 13:9 It
shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as
a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's
law may be in your mouth; for with a strong
hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.
So today we
remember how God brought the Israelites out of
Egypt, and how that pictures today, us leaving
sin behind and filling our hearts and minds with
God’s law, if we make God’s law an all consuming
passion in our lives, if we treat it as hidden
treasure, and search the scriptures daily with
our whole heart and mind, then we will be on the
road to leaving sin behind. Naturally we
will never be perfect as Christ was, but we must
try to be like He was.
Remember it is the intent of the heart that God
looks for.
Also we
need to remember the time that God called us out
of this world, and into the understanding of His
truth and the path that leads to eternal life.
Eph 4:13 till
we all come to the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ;
It is
important to God that we remember the day that
Exo 13:3 And
Moses said to the people: "Remember this day
in which you went out of
BY
STRENGTH OF HAND
God brought
the Israelites out by strength of hand, this
must also be remembered.
Exo 13:14 So
it shall be, when your son asks you in time to
come, saying, 'What is
this?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength
of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage.
Exo 13:16 It
shall be as a sign on your hand and as
frontlets between your eyes, for by strength
of hand the LORD brought us out of
Let’s look
at how God brought the Israelites out of
A group of well over a million travelling
from Rameses to Pihahiroth, to cross the
The Israelites left after midnight on the
beginning of the 1st day of Unleavened Bread{15th
of Abib.} They stopped at Succoth, Etham and
Pihahiroth and crossed the
This means the Israelites took 3 days to make
this huge journey.
HOW WAS
THIS POSSIBLE?
Remember
God brought them out with a strong hand.
Mat 19:26 But
Jesus looked at them
and said to them, "With men this is
impossible, but with God all things are
possible."
Their
departure was organised in advance, they left in
army formation and marched out.
Exo 12:51 And
it came to pass, on that very same day, that
the LORD brought the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt according to their armies.
The
following verse gives further proof of how God
made it possible for their speedy journey.
Exo 19:4 'You
have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how
I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to
Myself.
Our carnal
minds would think that the people would not be
able to travel at fast speeds for this distance
without collapsing with fatigue. The
older people and those who may not have had good
health, would have ridden in carts. Do not
leave God out of the picture. Notice this
is how it was possible.
Isa 40:31 But
those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their
strength; They shall mount up with wings like
eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They
shall walk and not faint.
The
following verse shows when the Israelites kept
the last day of Unleavened Bread. This was three
days from the crossing of the
Exo 8:27 We
will go three days' journey into the
wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God
as He will command us."
Exo 15:22 So
Moses brought
The
Israelites crossed the
Exo 8:27 We
will go three days' journey into the
wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God
as He will command us."
THE 21st
OF ABIB WAS THE LAST DAY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD,
WHICH WAS WHEN THEY REACHED MARAH.
It was
truly amazing how God brought the Israelites out
of
THE
SECOND SERVICE WE WILL LOOK AT THE
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
1ST
HOLY DAY 2ND SERVICE.
RESURRECTION
OF CHRIST
Here is
amazing new knowledge for the church.
Was the resurrection of Christ the same time as
when He was raised from the dead?
Let’s look
at the scriptures and see the amazing new
knowledge on this subject.
Let’s see
that the resurrection and the time that Christ
was raised from the dead are in fact two
different times. Astounding and yet very
true.
Firstly we
will look at the days from Christ’s death until
He was raised from the dead.
Christ died
on Wednesday, 14th Abib at
approximately 3 pm in the afternoon. On Passover
day also called The preparation day.
The sixth
hour is approximately 12:00 midday.
Joh 19:14 Now
it was the Preparation Day of the Passover,
and about the sixth hour. And he said to the
Jews, "Behold your King!"
Mat 27:46 And
about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, saying, "Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE
YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
Mat 27:47 Some
of those who stood there, when they heard that,
said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"
Mat 27:48 Immediately
one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it
with sour wine and put it
on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
Mat 27:49 The
rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if
Elijah will come to save Him."
Mat 27:50 And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and
yielded up His spirit.
Before
Christ was put in the tomb there were several
things that happened. Joseph of Arimathaea went
and asked for the body of Christ.
Mar 15:43 Joseph
of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who
was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,
coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus.
Joh 19:38 After
this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus; and Pilate gave him
permission. So he came and took the body of
Jesus.
His body
was then removed from the cross by both Joseph
and Nicodemus this in itself would have been
time consuming as the nails would have been
removed in such a way as to not harm the body of
Christ any more than it was already. I am
sure this would have been done with great sorrow
and with every care. Showing dignity and love
for Christ.
Then His
body was anointed with spices and wrapped
according to Jewish custom.
Joh 19:39 And
Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by
night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh
and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
Joh 19:40 Then
they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in
strips of linen with the spices, as the custom
of the Jews is to bury.
Christ was
put in the sepulchre before sunset, as the next
day was the Holy Day, the First Day of
Unleavened Bread.
Joh 19:31 Therefore,
because it was the Preparation Day,
that the bodies should not remain on the cross
on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high
day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that
they might be taken away.
Joh 19:32 Then
the soldiers came and broke the legs of the
first and of the other who was crucified with
Him.
Joh 19:33 But
when they came to Jesus and saw that He was
already dead, they did not break His legs.
Christ died
around 3 pm Wednesday afternoon and was put in
the sepulchre sometime between 3 pm and
sundown. Before the Sabbath. The sun
sets around 7pm in
Time was
getting on, the garden was near.
Joh 19:41 Now
in the place where He was crucified there was
a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in
which no one had yet been laid.
Joh 19:42 So
there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews'
Preparation Day,
for the tomb was nearby.
Notice that
the sepulchre belonged to Joseph of Arimathea.
Mat 27:59 When
Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth,
Mat 27:60 and
laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out
of the rock; and he rolled a large stone
against the door of the tomb, and departed.
Luk 23:54 That
day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew
near.
Most
readers have probably not been to
Today when we bury someone they are placed under
the ground probably around 6 feet deep.
But in stark contrast the sepulchre of Christ is
not under the ground but as the scriptures
state, it is hewn out of rock. Christ was
actually laid a few feet above ground level, not
under the ground at all.
Mat 27:60 and
laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out
of the rock; and he rolled a large stone
against the door of the tomb, and departed.
The
sepulchre is not under the earth. So this
sepulchre was not what Christ was talking about
when He said He would be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth. What He
was referring to was what would happen to Him
after He was resurrected on Thursday
morning.
Sometime
Thursday morning, the first Day of Unleavened
Bread, Christ was resurrected.
The
sepulchre had a large stone placed at the
opening, this was sealed some time
Thursday the First Day of Unleavened Bread,
and a watch of the guards placed there.
Mat 27:62 On
the next day, which followed the Day of
Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
gathered together to Pilate,
Mat 27:64 Therefore
command that the tomb be made secure until the
third day, lest His disciples come by night
and steal Him away,
and say to the people, 'He has risen from the
dead.' So the last deception will be worse
than the first."
Mat 27:65 Pilate
said to them, "You have a guard; go your way,
make it
as secure as you know how."
Mat 27:66 So
they went and made the tomb secure, sealing
the stone and setting the guard.
When Jesus
was resurrected He folded His clothes and
departed to Hell.
Joh 20:6 Then
Simon Peter came, following him, and went into
the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
Joh 20:7 and
the handkerchief that had been around His
head, not lying with the linen cloths, but
folded together in a place by itself.
It was some
time Thursday morning the 15th the
First Day of Unleavened bread that Christ was
resurrected. He was to then go to Hell or
Hades for three days and three nights. The
three days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
the three nights are Thursday night, Friday
night, and Saturday night. He rose from the dead
[the place called Hades or hell or the place of
the dead] early Sunday morning.
NOTICE
CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURE IT SAYS THAT
CHRIST WOULD BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN
THE HEART OF THE EARTH NOT IN
THE GRAVE.
TO ASSUME THAT HE WAS IN THE GRAVE FOR THIS
TIME IS MAN’S IDEAS AND NOT IN KEEPING WITH THE
SCRIPTURES.
Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of the
great fish, so will the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the
earth.
Act 2:27 FOR
YOU WILL NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HADES, NOR WILL
YOU ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.
Rev 1:18 I am
He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am
alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys
of Hades and of Death.
Christ
descended to Hell.
Eph 4:8 Therefore
He says: "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED
CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
Eph 4:9 (Now
this, "HE ASCENDED" what does it mean but that
He also first descended into the lower parts
of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He
who descended is also the One who ascended far
above all the heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
What did
Christ do when He descended to hell? He
spoke to the spirits in prison. These spirits
are held there until judgement day.
1Pe 3:18 For
Christ also suffered once for sins, the just
for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive
by the Spirit,
1Pe 3:19 by
whom also He went and preached to the spirits
in prison,
1Pe 3:20 who
formerly were disobedient, when once the
Divine longsuffering waited in the days of
Noah, while the
ark was being prepared, in which a few, that
is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Let’s recap
on the events so far, Christ died on Wednesday,
He poured out His soul unto death.
Isa 53:12 Therefore
I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death, And
He was numbered with the transgressors, And He
bore the sin of many, And made intercession
for the transgressors.
When He
died He asked the Father to take His spirit.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had
cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'INTO YOUR HANDS
I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.' " Having said
this, He breathed His last.
When He was
resurrected He was resurrected to flesh, but His
soul and spirit were with Him.
The
following verse shows that Christ’s soul was
with Him in hell.
Act 2:27 FOR
YOU WILL NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HADES, NOR WILL
YOU ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.
The
following verse shows that Christ’s spirit was
with Him in hell. Notice it was by the
spirit He went and preached to the spirits in
prison.
1Pe 3:18 For
Christ also suffered once for sins, the just
for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive
by the Spirit,
1Pe 3:19 by
whom also He went and preached to the spirits
in prison,
The Father
then raised up Christ on Sunday morning.
Mat 16:21 From
that time Jesus began to show to His disciples
that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many
things from the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised the
third day.
Act 2:24 whom
God raised up, having loosed the pains of
death, because it was not possible that He
should be held by it.
Act 2:32 This
Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all
witnesses.
Act 10:40 Him
God raised up on the third day, and showed Him
openly,
When
Christ was raised from hell He was not
dead. He was very much alive in this place, and
also played a part in being raised from
hell. The following scripture says in
three days, this word for in {G 1722} can
and does mean after three days.
Joh 2:19 Jesus
answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up."
The
following scriptures show clearly that Christ
was raised on Sunday morning.
The stone
was rolled away.
Mat 28:1 Now
after the Sabbath, as the first day
of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Mat 28:2 And
behold, there was a great earthquake; for an
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone from the door,
and sat on it.
Then Christ
appeared
to Mary first.
Mar 16:9 Now
when He rose early on the first day
of the week, He appeared first to Mary
Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven
demons.
The
following event also happened very early on
Sunday morning because Christ had not ascended
to the Father.
Joh 20:17 Jesus
said to her, "Do not
cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to
My Father; but go to My brethren and say to
them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your
Father, and to
My God and your God.' "
A very
short time afterward people were able to touch
Him and so He had returned from the Father.
Mat 28:9 And
as they went to tell His disciples, behold,
Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they
came and held Him by the feet and worshiped
Him.
Christ
appeared in many different forms to the brethren
during the 40 days He was with them. Mary
thought He was the gardener. He
walked to a town with two of them in another
form and they did not know Him.
He also
told them that He was flesh.
Luk 24:39 Behold My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and
see, for a spirit does not have flesh and
bones as you see I have."
Luk 24:40 When
He had said this, He showed them His hands and
His feet.
It is very
clear in this article that the time of Christ’s
resurrection occurred early Thursday morning on
the first day of Unleavened Bread.
Then Christ
spent three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth preaching to the spirits in prison.
Then early
Sunday morning He was raised from the dead [the
dead here refers to hell.]
He was resurrected on Thursday morning, He was raised on Sunday morning. Clearly in keeping with three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
2ND
DAY CONSEQUENCES OF SIN AND LEAVING IT
BEHIND.
Do we take our
actions seriously? Our sins have caused the
death of Christ.
Sin may seem pleasurable for a short moment, but the
effects of that fleeting moment may be felt for a life
time.
Heb 11:25 choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God
than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
We must not take
our sins lightly, God does not. It is a very
hard thing to find people who are trying to live a
Godly life in the end time.
Rom 3:11 THERE IS
NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS; THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS AFTER
GOD.
Rom 3:12 THEY HAVE
ALL TURNED ASIDE; THEY HAVE TOGETHER BECOME
UNPROFITABLE; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NO, NOT
ONE."
Unless we take
control of our lives and make every effort to develop
character and resist sin, then sin will win out.
Gen 4:7 If you do
well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do
well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you
should rule over it."
1Jn 3:8 He who
sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from
the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that He might destroy the works of the
devil.
Are we servants
to sin or obedience? If the answer is sin
then the death penalty hangs over us.
The following
scriptures make it plain that sin is serious and has a
price tag of death.
Let’s not take it lightly and fool around in dangerous
ground. Let’s be serious regarding sin and put
it out of our lives before it takes root and
grows.
Rom 6:16 Do you not
know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to
obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey,
whether of sin leading
to death, or of obedience leading
to righteousness?
Jas 1:15 Then, when
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and
sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Rom 6:23 For the
wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ died
because of our sins.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
Heb 9:28 so Christ
was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those
who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second
time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Make no mistake,
sin will result in death.
Jas 1:13 Let no one
say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself
tempt anyone.
Jas 1:14 But each
one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own
desires and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then, when
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and
sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
When the
Israelites left
1Co 11:31 For if we
would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
If we look at
ourselves honestly we are able to see the sins which
we need to work on and rid from our lives. If we
kid ourselves and think we aren’t too bad, we probably
won’t see too much sin, and therefore instead of
leaving it behind it becomes acceptable to us and we
reason that it probably isn’t too bad.
BE CAREFUL SATAN
IS THE MASTER OF DISGUISE
2Co 11:13 For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no
wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an
angel of light.
During the days
of Unleavened Bread it would be a good idea to
contemplate this physical life compared to our future
spiritual life. It is very easy to become very
involved with our physical lives and put the spiritual
in the back of our minds, but this physical life is
temporary. We must always remember that this is only a
temporary life here on earth. What is
important is the spiritual, we are trying to become
spiritual in our thoughts and actions and the intent
of our hearts. Let’s not allow the physical to
take over our minds, let’s put God first in our
thoughts and let’s try to make the spiritual the most
important, and the physical life of less concern
to us. These days would be a good time to think
along these lines and see how we measure up in these
areas.
Col 3:1 If then
you were raised with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right
hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your
mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For you
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When
Christ who
is our life appears, then you also will
appear with Him in glory.
Col 3:5 Therefore
put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry.
Col 3:6 Because of
these things the wrath of God is coming upon the
sons of disobedience,
Col 3:8 But now
you yourselves are to put off all these: anger,
wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of
your mouth.
Col 3:9 Do not lie
to one another, since you have put off the old man
with his deeds,
Col 3:10 and have
put on the new man who
is renewed in knowledge according to the image of
Him who created him,
Col 3:11 where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor
free, but Christ is all
and in all.
Col 3:12 Therefore,
as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness,
longsuffering;
Col 3:13 bearing
with one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as
Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Col 3:14 But above
all these things put on love, which is the bond of
perfection.
Col 3:15 And let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Col 3:16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in
your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17 And whatever
you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through Him.
Col 3:18 Wives,
submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the
Lord.
Col 3:19 Husbands,
love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
Col 3:20 Children,
obey your parents in all things, for this is well
pleasing to the Lord.
Col 3:22 Bondservants,
obey in all things your masters according to the
flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in
sincerity of heart, fearing God.
Col 3:23 And
whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and
not to men,
Let’s look at the
Wave Sheaf which always falls on a Sunday during
Unleavened Bread.
Each year it will be different what day of the 7 days
the Wave Sheaf will fall on, so this needs to be noted
by the reader. We are putting the Wave Sheaf in
on the 2nd day here, as it falls on that day in the
year of writing this article, it is always the first
Sunday after the first day of Unleavened Bread.
If the first day
of Unleavened Bread is a Monday, then the first Sunday
will in fact be the last day of Unleavened Bread, so
this would be the day of the Wave Sheaf, Sunday the
last day of Unleavened Bread.
WAVE SHEAF
Lev 23:10 "Speak to
the children of
Lev 23:11 He shall
wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on
your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest
shall wave it.
Lev 23:12 And you
shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a
male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a
burnt offering to the LORD.
Lev 23:13 Its grain
offering shall
be two-tenths of an ephah
of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by
fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink
offering shall
be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
Lev 23:14 You shall
eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain
until the same day that you have brought an offering
to your God; it shall be
a statute forever throughout your generations in all
your dwellings.
This ceremony is
to be kept forever just as the Passover is to be kept
forever.
The Wave Sheaf
pictures Jesus Christ offering Himself to the Father
on behalf of God’s people.
NOTE THE
SIMILARITIES
{A} Sheaf to be
waved the morrow after the Sabbath.
Lev 23:11 He shall
wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on
your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest
shall wave it.
{A} Christ was
first seen after He was raised on the first day of the
week.
Joh 20:1 Now the
first day
of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early,
while it was still dark, and saw that the
stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Joh 20:2 Then she
ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other
disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They
have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do
not know where they have laid Him."
Joh 20:3 Peter
therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were
going to the tomb.
Joh 20:4 So they
both ran together, and the other disciple outran
Peter and came to the tomb first.
Joh 20:5 And he,
stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths
lying there;
yet he did not go in.
Joh 20:6 Then Simon
Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb;
and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
Joh 20:7 and the
handkerchief that had been around His head, not
lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in
a place by itself.
Joh 20:8 Then the
other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in
also; and he saw and believed.
Joh 20:9 For as yet
they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise
again from the dead.
Joh 20:10 Then the
disciples went away again to their own homes.
Joh 20:11 But Mary
stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept
she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
Joh 20:12 And she
saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and
the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had
lain.
Joh 20:13 Then they
said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "Because they have taken away my
Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
Joh 20:14 Now when
she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there,
and did not know that it was Jesus.
Joh 20:15 Jesus said
to her, "Woman, why are
you weeping? Whom are you
seeking?" She, supposing
Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You
have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid
Him, and I will take Him away."
Joh 20:16 Jesus said
to her, "Mary!" She turned and
said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher).
{B} The Israelites were to bring a sheaf of the
firstfruits.
Lev 23:10 "Speak to
the children of
{B} Christ is the
firstfruit.
1Co 15:20 But now
Christ is risen from the dead, and has
become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep.
{C} The
sheaf is to be accepted by the Father for the
Israelites.
Lev 23:11 He shall
wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on
your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest
shall wave it.
{C} Christ is
accepted by the Father.
Joh 20:17 Jesus said
to her, "Do
not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My
Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I
am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My
God and your God.' "
{D} No
grain
to be eaten till an offering is made to God.
Lev 23:14 You shall
eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain
until the same day that you have brought an offering
to your God; it shall be
a statute forever throughout your generations in all
your dwellings.
{D} Christ
was
not to be touched till He ascended to the Father.
Joh 20:17 Jesus said
to her, "Do
not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My
Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I
am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My
God and your God.' "
Christ has fulfilled both the Passover and the
Wave Sheaf, but only the Passover ceremony is kept by
the church. The reason is revealed in scripture, and
is quite amazing.
Look back to Lev. 23 v 10 read these words:
When you come into the land which I give to you.
The ceremony was not to be kept till the
Promised Land was reached.
Joshua kept the Wave Sheaf offering when he
entered the Promised Land.
God’s people
will not keep the Wave Sheaf ceremony until they
have God’s Spirit, the Spirit of power. {Eternal
life inherent.} The article Eternal Life shows that
God gives His Spirit when He is satisfied that we
have the knowledge of the Father and a proper love
of the brethren. And we obey God. {At baptism we
receive the down payment of God’s Spirit, it is
called the Earnest of the Spirit or pledge of the
Spirit.} The Holy Spirit of power is given much
later.
Eph 1:13 In Him you
also trusted,
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His
glory.
Also see our other articles, God the Father
Revealed and Called Chosen and Faithful.
If we reject these requirements we will also
reject the Wave Sheaf ceremony.
As the day of Pentecost is counted from the day
the Wave Sheaf is offered it would seem an appropriate
offering would be:
1. To offer ourselves to God as one of the
firstfruits.
2. An offering of thanks to Jesus Christ for His
sacrifice.
3. An offering to God the Father for the
knowledge of eternal life.
This offering should take the form of a prayer
of thanksgiving as the following scripture indicates:
Psa 116:17 I will
offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will
call upon the name of the LORD.
3RD DAY BREAD
OF AFFLICTION
Unleavened bread is
called the bread of affliction, why? This is the
time that we are to ponder on our many sins and what
these sins have caused, and the wedge our sins have put
between us and God.
The word afflict means to humble, to answer for
something, to debase, to depress.
Deu 16:3 You shall
eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall
eat unleavened bread with it, that is,
the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that
you may remember the day in which you came out of the
land of Egypt all the days of your life.
Notice how in the
following verses if we afflict ourselves the difference
in our attitude. When we eat the bread of
affliction, we will afflict ourselves. Because we will
become humble. We
are able to have a closer relationship with God.
2Ch 33:12 Now when he
was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and
humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
2Ch 33:13 and prayed
to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his
supplication, and brought him back to
Notice the
following scripture, it is through affliction that God
chooses us.
We need to go through affliction. Again we need to
have the bread of affliction.
Isa 48:10 Behold, I
have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you
in the furnace of affliction.
So we see that to
eat the bread of affliction is to realise the
seriousness of our sins, to acknowledge our sins, to
come to understand what our sins have caused. We
must repent of our sins, be truly sorry for the way we
are.
Make a list of our sins, take this list before God in
prayer and ask God to help us to see our sins clearly,
to have the strength and courage to overcome these sins.
No sin is easy to put out of our lives and overcome, it
is the difficult ones that Satan will continue to use
against us, he knows our weaknesses and uses them as
tools. If they were not hard to get rid of, then
Satan would not use them.
It takes a lifetime
of struggle and we need to be led by God’s spirit, to go
in the right direction. If we resist the devil he
will flee from us.
Rom 8:14 For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of
God.
Jas 4:7 Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you.
Eph 6:12 For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places.
Psa 32:5 I
acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not
hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to
the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Selah
Remember that our
sins have caused the death of Christ.
Heb 7:27 who does not
need daily, as those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the
people's, for this He did once for all when He offered
up Himself.
Heb 7:28 For the law
appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but
the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints
the Son who has been perfected forever.
Heb 9:26 He then
would have had to suffer often since the foundation of
the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He
has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself.
Our sins cause us
to be separated from God.
Isa 59:2 But your
iniquities have separated you from your God; And your
sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will
not hear.
We need to be
humble, notice the reasons why God led the Israelites
for 40 years in the wilderness.
Deu 8:2 And you
shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the
way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you
and
test you, to know what was in
your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or
not.
God will hear us if
we will humble ourselves and turn from our sins.
2Ch 7:14 if My people
who are called by My name will humble themselves, and
pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin and heal their land.
Mat 18:4 Therefore whoever
humbles himself as this little child is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.
Leaven puffs up so
we need to put leaven out of our lives, we need to get
rid of things like malice and wickedness, and replace
them with sincerity and truth.
1Co 5:7 Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump,
since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our
Passover, was sacrificed for us.
1Co 5:8 Therefore
let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with
the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth.
MALICE
The following
scriptures give us some good areas to study and examine
ourselves to see if we have these things in our lives,
if we do, we need to try very hard to rid them out of
our lives. Let’s measure ourselves with the words
of God and honestly see ourselves as God does.
This is the season for this very action.
Col 3:8 But now you
yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Tit 3:3 For we
ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living
in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
1Pe 2:1 Therefore,
laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy,
and all evil speaking,
WICKEDNESS
Psa 55:15 Let death
seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For
wickedness is
in their dwellings and among
them.
Psa 55:16 As for me, I
will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me.
Jer 23:14 Also I have
seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also
strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one
turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like
DO WE HAVE
SINCERITY AND TRUTH?
Now that we try to
put out the old leaven of malice and wickedness, let’s
keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth.
Jos 24:14 "Now
therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and
in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers
served on the other side of the River and in
2Co 1:12 For our
boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that
we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and
godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the
grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.
Tit 2:7 in all
things showing yourself to be a
pattern of good works; in doctrine showing
integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,
1Ki 2:4 that the
LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning
me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to
walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with
all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on
the throne of Israel.'
Eph 6:14 Stand
therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having
put on the breastplate of righteousness,
It is very
important to remember the day that God brought the
Israelites out of
Exo 13:7 Unleavened
bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread
shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen
among you in all your quarters.
Exo 13:8 And you
shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done
because of what the LORD did for me when I came up
from
Exo 13:9 It shall be
as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial
between your eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in your
mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you
out of Egypt.
Exo 13:10 You shall
therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year
to year.
The bread of
affliction is a very important part of the days of
Unleavened Bread. Let’s study to understand the
new knowledge on this subject. To keep the season
as God intended. Remember all things will be restored,
the keeping of the Holy Days on the correct day and in
the correct manner is part of this restoration.
4TH DAY JOY
GLADNESS AND SINGING AND
CHRIST RAISED FROM THE HEART OF THE EARTH
It is important
to celebrate the Holy Days in the correct manner
as well as on the correct days. God wants us to
understand the meaning of these days, but the manner
in which they are kept is also of great importance.
To be joyful is important, it is one of the fruits of
the spirit.
Firstly let’s
look at joy.
Gal 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law.
Notice how the
days of Unleavened Bread were kept in the days of
Darius.
Ezr 6:22 And they
kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with
joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the
heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to
strengthen their hands in the work of the house of
God, the God of Israel.
God wants us to
be joyful, in His kingdom there are joys for ever
more.
Psa 16:11 You will
show me the path of life; In Your presence is
fullness of joy; At Your right hand are
pleasures forevermore.
David
showed joy on the Holy Days.
Psa 42:4 When I
remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with
the multitude; I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude
that kept a pilgrim feast.
God rejoices over
us with joy.
Zep 3:17 The LORD
your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will
quiet you
with His love, He will rejoice over you with
singing."
Php 1:25 And being
confident of this, I know that I shall remain and
continue with you all for your progress and joy of
faith,
GLADNESS.
Again we need to
learn the manner in which the days are to be
kept. We need to be glad for many reasons, we
know the meaning of the feast of Unleavened Bread, we
have seen our sins and we are trying to put them out
of our lives, the penalty for sin has been paid in
full by Jesus Christ and His unselfish
sacrifice. Knowing these things should bring joy
to our hearts.
This next
scripture is interesting, it suggests that the days of
Unleavened Bread were kept like the Feast of
Tabernacles, because the Levites and priests praised
the Lord day by day. Notice the Feast was kept
with great gladness.
2Ch 30:21 So the
children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem
kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with
great gladness; and the Levites and the priests
praised the LORD day by day, singing
to the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
The Feast of
Unleavened Bread was enjoyed so much that they decided
to keep another seven days, with gladness.
2Ch 30:23 Then the
whole assembly agreed to keep the feast
another seven days, and they kept it another
seven days with gladness.
When we are
changed into spirit beings, we are given joy and
gladness by God, therefore we can see it is a trait
that we need to have in this life. Let’s be
glad in our feast days.
Isa 51:11 So the
ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion
with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and
sighing shall flee away.
In this scripture
we see an interesting point, the Levites made
confession to the Lord God during the days of
Unleavened Bread. Now these confessions were the
sins of
2Ch 30:22 And
Hezekiah gave encouragement to all the Levites who
taught the good knowledge of the LORD; and they ate
throughout the feast seven days, offering peace
offerings and making confession to the LORD God of
their fathers.
Notice that Aaron
confessed the sins of
Lev 16:21 Aaron
shall lay both his hands on the head of the live
goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the
children of Israel, and all their transgressions,
concerning all their sins, putting them on the head
of the goat, and shall send it away
into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
Notice that also
Nehemiah prayed for the sins of
Neh 1:6 please let
Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You
may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray
before You now, day and night, for the children of
Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the
children of Israel which we have sinned against You.
Both my father's house and I have sinned.
It is interesting
to note the prayer of Nehemiah regarding the sins of
Neh 1:7 We have
acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept
the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances
which You commanded Your servant Moses.
Neh 1:8 Remember,
I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant
Moses, saying, 'If you
are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the
nations;
Neh 1:9 but if you
return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them,
though some of you were cast out to the farthest
part of the heavens, yet I
will gather them from there, and bring them to the
place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My
name.'
Neh 1:10 Now these
are
Your servants and Your people, whom You have
redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong
hand.
Neh 1:11 O Lord, I
pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer
of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants
who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant
prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man." For I was the king's cupbearer.
SINGING
God loves us to
sing to Him. It is fitting to sing hymns during the
days of Unleavened Bread, these hymns are uplifting
and praise our God.
Psa 47:7 For God is the
King of all the earth; Sing praises with
understanding.
The whole earth
will one day sing to God.
Psa 66:4 All the
earth shall worship You And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your
name." Selah
David loved to
sing praises to God, and he stated here that he would
do it till he died.
Psa 104:33 I will
sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being.
CHRIST RAISED
FROM THE HEART OF THE EARTH
As we stated
earlier in the Feast, Christ gave a sign that He would
be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:39 But He
answered and said to them, "An evil and
adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no
sign will be given to it except the sign of the
prophet Jonah.
Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was
three days and three nights in the belly of the
great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.
Christ died on
the 14th Abib which was Wednesday afternoon around 3
pm. He was buried before sunset.
When Christ was
buried He was put in a tomb. His body was
above the ground, He was not buried under the earth at
all. This
must have been common in those times, because when
Lazarus died, the sister said there would be a stench
when they took the stone away, if he was buried under
the earth, there would be no stench.
Joh 11:39 Jesus
said, "Take away the
stone." Martha, the
sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by
this time there is a stench, for he has been dead
four days."
The following
scripture also shows that Christ was not buried under
the earth, the angel showed the women where He had
lay.
Mat 28:6 He is not
here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the
place where the Lord lay.
Sometime early
Thursday morning Christ was resurrected.
He then descended
into hell.
Eph 4:9 (Now this,
"HE ASCENDED" what does it mean but that He also
first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He who
descended is also the One who ascended far above all
the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
The reason Christ
went down to the heart of the earth or hell as it is
also called in the scriptures, was to preach to the
disobedient spirits held in prison there.
1Pe 3:19 by whom
also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 who
formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine
longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark
was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight
souls, were saved through water.
Christ stayed
there Thursday Friday and Saturday which is the three
days and Thursday Friday and Saturday nights, which
were the three nights.
He was raised from this place, on Sunday morning. He
was raised from the dead [because those in hell are
spiritually dead.] In
the following verse the word within [g 1223] can and
does mean after.
So the correct translation would be ….and after
three days…..
Mar 14:58 "We heard
Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with
hands, and within three days I will build another
made without hands.' "
Act 2:27 FOR YOU
WILL NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HADES, NOR WILL YOU ALLOW
YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.
The following
verse shows that Christ’s spirit was with Him in hell,
notice it was by the spirit.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
1Pe 3:19 by whom
also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
Notice the
following scripture.
Joh 2:19 Jesus
answered and said to them, "Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up."
The word for "in"
in the above scripture can and does mean after three
days, once Christ was killed on the cross it was after
three days that His body was raised from the dead or
hell. Christ died on Wednesday afternoon. As we
have shown by scripture Christ was raised Sunday
morning. Therefore
after three days is the correct translation.
The Father raised
Christ on Sunday morning, Christ must have also played
a part in His raising from hell as He stated in the
following scripture.
Joh 2:19 Jesus
answered and said to them, "Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Mat 16:21 From that
time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He
must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from
the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and be raised the third day.
Act 2:24 whom God
raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Act 2:32 This Jesus
God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
The following
scripture shows clearly that Christ was raised on
Sunday morning.
The stone was
rolled away.
Mat 28:1 Now after
the Sabbath, as the first day of
the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary came to see the tomb.
Mat 28:2 And
behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel
of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and
rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
When Christ was
raised, it is probable that He was raised into the
garden and not the tomb in which He was buried.
Notice the
following scriptures, the stone was rolled away and
Christ was not inside He had risen and appeared to
Mary outside the tomb.
Mat 28:5 But the
angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified.
Mat 28:6 He is not
here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the
place where the Lord lay.
Then Christ
appeared to Mary first.
Mar 16:9 Now when He rose
early on the first day of
the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out
of whom He had cast seven demons.
The following
event also happened very early on Sunday morning
because Christ had not ascended to the Father.
Joh 20:17 Jesus said
to her, "Do not cling to
Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but
go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending
to My Father and your Father, and to My
God and your God.' "
A very short time
afterwards people were able to touch Him and so He had
returned from the Father.
Mat 28:9 And as
they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met
them, saying, "Rejoice!"
So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped
Him.
We need to
understand clearly that there is a difference between
the time of the resurrection of Christ and the time He
was raised from the dead.
We have shown
clearly that Christ was resurrected on the first day
of Unleavened Bread early in the morning. Which
in the time of Christ was Thursday morning.
5TH
DAY PRAISE GOD AND
CHRIST AND THANKFUL FOR CHRIST’S SACRIFICE
PRAISE GOD
Again let’s make
reference to how the Feast of Unleavened Bread should
be kept.
Let’s look at
praise to God: notice that day by day the Levites and
the priests praised God. So each day of the
Feast of Unleavened Bread we should praise God.
2Ch 30:21 So the
children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem
kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with
great gladness; and the Levites and the priests
praised the LORD day by day, singing
to the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
Here is an
interesting scripture, we must be careful of how we
speak, we must not join in with the world and use
coarse language because if we guard our speech God
says He will show us the salvation of God. The
King James uses the word conversation instead of
conduct in the following verse.
Psa 50:23 Whoever
offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his
conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God."
God is merciful
and is full of goodness, and does wonderful things for
man, we need to be mindful of these things. Without
His loving kindness we would not have a plan for
salvation. We are mere mortals, and yet God
cares what happens to us and is involved in our daily
lives.
Psa 107:8 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His
goodness, And for His
wonderful works to the children of men!
Those in the
spiritual realm praise God, they know of His loving
kindness and His great glory and the greatness of
God. If the spiritual realm praises God, we
should do this also.
Psa 148:2 Praise
Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
GRATITUDE.
Another very
interesting scripture, showing that the saints will
have the honour of executing the judgments which God
has decided for certain people. This alone is a
subject that would bring forth praise for God and His
wisdom. God entrusts this task to the
saints. God has made the judgments on nations
and then the saints carry out the verdict.
Psa 149:9 To execute
on them the written judgment This honor have all His
saints. Praise the LORD!
This scripture is
referring to the getting of the Holy Spirit of power,
which is eternal life inherent. There are two
phases of the Spirit, firstly we receive the earnest
of the Spirit, then later, the Spirit of power {or
truth.} What could warrant praise to our God,
more than His willingness to share with us eternal
life and a position of rulership with Him for ever?
We should shout
PRAISES TO GOD WITH ALL OUR BEING.
Eph 1:14 who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His
glory.
God should be on
our thoughts all the time, we should be thinking words
of praise and have a thankful attitude all the
time. We need to bring our thoughts into
captivity, and let’s not have our thoughts on the
material all the time, we need to let our thoughts
dwell on God, His greatness and the wonderful things
He does for us.
Heb 13:15 Therefore
by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of
praise to God, that is, the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name.
Heb 13:16 But do not
forget to do good and to share, for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased.
Look who is told
to praise God. Those
who fear Him. There is so many things that God
does for us, it is not hard to ponder many of these
things. The days of Unleavened Bread is a
perfect time to do this, and is in keeping with how
these days should be kept. This is not a time to
simply eat only unleavened bread, observing only the
first and last days. The whole seven days need
to be full of spiritual subjects which need to be
studied and pondered during this deeply important
time.
Rev 19:5 Then a
voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God,
all you His servants and those who fear Him, both
small and great!"
We need to be
thankful.
Psa 100:4 Enter into
His gates with thanksgiving, And into
His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and
bless His name.
These people were
not grateful.
Rom 1:21 because,
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Again we are told
to be thankful.
Col 3:15 And let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful.
God loves us to
sing to Him with praise and thanksgiving.
Psa 95:2 Let us
come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us
shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
2Co 2:14 Now thanks
be
to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and
through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge
in every place.
Notice the following beautiful scriptures showing the
love and unselfish act that was Christ, He died for
us, He was innocent of any wrong doing, and because of
His sacrifice we may live.
1Pe 2:21 For to
this you were called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that you should
follow His steps:
1Pe 2:22 "WHO
COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS
MOUTH";
1Pe 2:23 who, when
He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He
suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself
to Him who judges righteously;
1Pe 2:24 who
Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we, having died to sins, might live for
righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
1Pe 2:25 For you
were like sheep going astray, but have now returned
to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
With new
knowledge comes a greater understanding of the
sacrifice of Christ.
We know that He
was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and also His brother
Judas.
This came as a shock to Christ and He was not
expecting this.
Notice the following scriptures. Judas Iscariot
was already there when the brother of Christ {Judas}
brought in a band of officers from the chief priests
and Pharisees
Mat 26:48 Now His
betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I
kiss, He is the One; seize Him."
Mat 26:49 Immediately
he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!"
and kissed Him.
Mat 26:50 But Jesus
said to him, "Friend, why
have you come?" Then they came
and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.
Notice Christ
asked His brother why he was there, Christ knew Judas
Iscariot was going to betray Him and He expected
Iscariot to come, but when His very own brother also
came with a band of officers it shocked Christ.
This would have
been one of the reasons Christ told John to be a son
to Mary, and told Mary that John was now her son.
Previously to this Jesus was not concerned with the
welfare of Mary, because His brother Judas would have
cared for her. Now that had all changed with the
shock of His brother’s actions in betraying Christ. Also
remember that Judas, the brother of Christ hung
himself.
Now Jesus was concerned for His mother and appointed a
man He both loved and trusted to care for Mary for the
rest of His life. It is quite possible that Joseph was
dead at this time, and Mary may have been a widow at
this time. This is probably another reason why Christ
told John to care for His mother.
Christ knew when
He was going to die. He
put His house in order before His death, He would not
have waited till this late hour to arrange for the
care of Mary, if He had foreknowledge of His brother’s
actions. The betrayal by Judas His brother, was a
shock and totally unexpected by Christ.
Psa 41:9 Even my
own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my
bread, Has lifted up his
heel against me.
This knowledge
adds to the way Christ acted towards mankind, and
shows in greater detail how He suffered.
Let’s move
forward now to the crucifixion, we have more knowledge
on this subject to look at.
Christ was
crucified twice. Initially He was crucified at the
third hour {9 am} for mankind generally.
Mar 15:24 And when
they crucified Him, they divided His garments,
casting lots for them to determine what every man
should take.
Mar 15:25 Now it was
the third hour, and they crucified Him.
Then He was taken
down from the cross and brought before Pilate
again. Pilate was trying desperately to free
Christ.
It was the 6th
Hour {12.00} and Pilate said to the crowd behold your
king. It is very clear by the scriptures below
that at the 6th hour {12.00} Jesus was before Pilate
and the people. He
was not on the cross at this time.
Joh 19:13 When
Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus
out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place
that is called The
Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Joh 19:14 Now it was
the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the
sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your
King!"
Joh 19:15 But they
cried out, "Away with Him,
away with Him!
Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify
your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no
king but Caesar!"
Joh 19:16 Then he
delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they
took Jesus and led Him
away.
Sometime after
the 6th hour Christ was taken back to the cross and
crucified again, this second crucifixion was for those
who reject the Holy Spirit of power and eternal life.
Notice that there
was darkness over the earth from the 6th hour till the
9th hour {12.00-3.00.}
Luk 23:44 Now it was
about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour.
This is the time He was taken back to the cross again
and crucified the second time until the approximate
time of His death.
As stated above the second crucifixion is for those
who reject the Holy Spirit of power and therefore the
darkness pictures these people without God. This
indeed is a dark state to be in.
Heb 6:6 if they
fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since
they crucify again for themselves the Son of God,
and put Him
to an open shame.
Jesus died at
about the 9th hour {about 3.00pm.}
Mat 27:46 And about
the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying, "Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "MY
GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
Mat 27:47 Some of
those who stood there, when they heard that,
said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"
Mat 27:48 Immediately
one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with
sour wine and put it on a
reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
Mat 27:49 The rest
said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come
to save Him."
Mat 27:50 And Jesus
cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up
His spirit.
These are the
last words Jesus cried out.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out
with a loud voice, He said, "Father,
'INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.' "
Having said this, He breathed His last.
1Jn 1:5 This is
the message which we have heard from Him and declare
to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness
at all.
Combined in with
the darkness is the cross and its carriage.
In the first
crucifixion we saw that Simon the
Luk 23:26 Now as
they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man,
Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country,
and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it
after Jesus.
This is a type of
those who obey God, and take up their own cross and
follow God.
Mar 8:34 When He
had called the people to Himself,
with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires
to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow Me.
Then for the
second crucifixion we see Christ carried the cross
Himself.
This is because some people will reject the Holy
Spirit of power and eternal life, and refuse to take
up their own cross.
Joh 19:17 And He,
bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place
of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
Mat 10:38 And he who does not take his
cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
THE 6TH
DAY PUT SPIRITUAL BEFORE PHYSICAL OFFERING
PEACE OFFERINGS AND MAKING CONFESSIONS TO THE LORD
2Ch 30:22 And
Hezekiah gave encouragement to all the Levites who
taught the good knowledge of the LORD; and they ate
throughout the feast seven days, offering peace
offerings and making confession to the LORD God of
their fathers.
Today we do not
give peace offerings, however, we should strive to
live a peaceful life.
The next part of
this verse is interesting, we are required to confess
our sins to God.
This is one way
of showing God that we are serious about getting rid
of sin. If we can admit and see our sins we are
on the way to putting them out of our lives.
Psa 32:5 I
acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have
not hidden. I said, "I will confess my
transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the
iniquity of my sin. Selah
Today we live in
a very physical world, with the emphasis on rushing
everywhere and working long hours in order to have
more than our friends and neighbours, or to have the
latest objects in today’s technology. It is easy
to get caught up in the ways of this world. It
is easy to worry about our physical lives and push the
spiritual into the background. Most families
have two people working, in the rush of today’s world. There is
little time for family talks, bible studies and
fun. It is all work and no bible study.
Let’s not let this situation take hold in our lives
and become the norm. Let’s put God first in our
lives always.
Let’s look at the
example of Mary and Martha.
This is a hard
example for women, as I am sure every woman would want
to go out of her way if she knew Christ was coming for
dinner. However the reality is that Christ would
not have cared about what He ate, or how the house
looked or what the table setting looked like. The meat He
spoke was the important thing, these words are the way
to eternal life. Mary chose the most important
of the two options, physical or spiritual.
Martha’s problem
was that she had chosen the physical over the
spiritual, an easy thing to do, and also an easy thing
to make excuses for, as she did in fact do, in this
account, but we need to be aware of our spiritual
state and make sure we put it first.
Luk 10:38 Now it
happened as they went that He entered a certain
village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed
Him into her house.
Luk 10:39 And she
had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus'
feet and heard His word.
Luk 10:40 But Martha
was distracted with much serving, and she approached
Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to
help me."
Luk 10:41 And Jesus
answered and said to her, "Martha,
Martha, you are worried and troubled about many
things.
Luk 10:42 But one thing is needed, and
Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be
taken away from her."
Peter put the
physical in front of the spiritual when it would seem
he might be harmed for being a follower of Christ, he
went so far as to deny that he even knew Christ to
save his own neck.
Mat 26:69 Now Peter
sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl
came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of
Mat 26:70 But he
denied it before them
all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."
Mat 26:71 And when
he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw
him and said to those who were
there, "This fellow
also was with Jesus of
Mat 26:72 But again
he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"
Mat 26:73 And a
little later those who stood by came up and said to
Peter, "Surely you also are one of
them, for your speech betrays you."
Mat 26:74 Then he
began to curse and swear, saying,
"I do not know the Man!" Immediately a rooster
crowed.
Mat 26:75 And Peter
remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the
rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out
and wept bitterly.
Notice the
account of the Israelites, they had seen many signs
and wonders coming from
Num 11:4 Now the
mixed multitude who were among them yielded to
intense craving; so the children of
Num 11:5 We
remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the
cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and
the garlic;
Num 11:6 but now
our whole being is dried
up; there
is nothing at all except this manna before
our eyes!"
Solomon was a man
who amassed great possessions and wealth. These
things he learned were not what brought happiness. He
discovered that to fear God and do His commands was
the important thing.
Ecc 2:4 I made my
works great, I built myself houses, and planted
myself vineyards.
Ecc 2:5 I made
myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of
fruit trees in them.
Ecc 2:6 I made
myself water pools from which to water the growing
trees of the grove.
Ecc 2:7 I acquired
male and female servants, and had servants born in
my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds
and flocks than all who were in
Ecc 2:8 I also
gathered for myself silver and gold and the special
treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired
male and female singers, the delights of the sons of
men, and
musical instruments of all kinds.
Ecc 2:9 So I
became great and excelled more than all who were
before me in
Ecc 2:10 Whatever
my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not
withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart
rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward
from all my labor.
Ecc 2:11 Then I
looked on all the works that my hands had done And
on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was
vanity and grasping for the wind. There was
no profit under the sun.
This is what
Solomon found to be important.
Ecc 12:13 Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God
and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
Ecc 12:14 For God
will bring every work into judgment, Including every
secret thing, Whether good or evil.
We all need to
work in order to feed our families and have a home to
live in, but let’s not get too carried away with
physical possessions which will one day perish.
Remember to pursue the spiritual which is forever.
Mat 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal;
Mat 6:20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and
steal.
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
The possession of
physical objects give us limited enjoyment, we need
shelter and food but put them in the right
perspective.
Mat 6:28 "So why do
you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
Mat 6:29 and yet I
say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30 Now if God
so clothes the grass of the field, which today is,
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He
not much more clothe
you, O you of little faith?
Mat 6:31 "Therefore
do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
Mat 6:32 For after
all these things the Gentiles seek. For your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these
things.
Mat 6:33 But seek
first the
Mat 6:34 Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its
own trouble.
It is up to us what we chose, let’s make the right choice and put God first.
THE LAST DAY OF
UNLEAVENED BREAD
This Holy Day is a
solemn assembly; now let’s look at the scriptures and
see what this Holy Day pictures.
After the Israelites had crossed the
During Unleavened
Bread bitter herbs were eaten, this bitterness pictures
sin. It is also a reminder of the affliction which the
Israelites endured while they were in
Unleavened Bread is the bread of affliction.
The waters of
Marah were bitter, what does this picture?
This bitterness of
the waters of Marah pictures that the Israelites had
forsaken God, and they had no fear of Him.
Jer 2:19 Your own
wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings
will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an
evil and bitter thing That
you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of
Me is
not in you," Says the Lord GOD of hosts.
During Unleavened
Bread, we soon learn that we do not take very long
before we fall into the ever present snare of sin.
It was the same for the ancient Israelites, they sinned
very quickly after the Passover and continued to do so
during Unleavened Bread.
We cannot live our lives, without sinning and so we need
Christ’s sacrifice to cover that sin.
The tree, which was thrown into the water, pictures
Christ. This tree turned the bitter waters to
sweet. Just as Christ is able to intervene for us
and has paid the penalty of our sins.
Exo 15:23 Now when
they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of
Marah, for they were
bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Exo 15:24 And the
people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall
we drink?"
Exo 15:25 So he cried
out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When
he cast it
into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He
made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He
tested them,
Exo 15:26 and said,
"If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God
and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His
commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put
none of the diseases on you which I have brought on
the Egyptians. For I am the
LORD who heals you."
At Marah, God gave
the Israelites a statute and an ordinance and He proved
them.
God allowed the
Israelites to go without water, this was one of the ways
He proved them.
Notice the following.
Exo 15:22 So Moses
brought
When the Israelites
were thirsty, God offered them the fountain of living
waters, that is He offered them the ability to know Him
and receive the Spirit but they were too thirsty they
were not interested in spiritual water they wanted
physical water.
An interesting
point to notice is that Moses stated quite early to
Pharaoh that the Israelites would be going 3 days into
the wilderness. He
was referring to Marah that was where they sacrificed
and kept the Last day of Unleavened Bread.
Exo 8:27 We will go
three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice
to the LORD our God as He will command us."
Notice the
following scriptures, the Israelites rejected God, in
preference to false idols.
Jer 2:11 Has a nation
changed its
gods, Which are
not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does
not profit.
The Israelites
rejected God, the Fountain of living waters, this living
water is mentioned in John 4 v 10-15 this is a symbol of
the Holy Spirit and also a symbol of the Father.
Jer 17:13 O LORD, the
hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed.
"Those who depart from Me Shall be written in the
earth, Because they have forsaken the LORD, The
fountain of living waters."
Notice also that
God said to the Israelites at Marah, I am the God that
heals you.
This is referring to a spiritual healing as well as a
physical healing. Notice the verse in Jeremiah
regarding this.
Jer 17:14 Heal me, O
LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be
saved, For You are my
praise.
Verse 13 is
referring to the fact that the Israelites rejected God
the Father the Fountain of living waters.
The account in John
may well of happened on the last day of Unleavened
Bread. Notice the following scripture,
showing that Christ had just kept the Feast in
Joh 4:45 So when He
came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having
seen all the things He did in
God offered the
Israelites eternal life and they rejected it. They
preferred the idols and hand made cisterns to God and
the Holy Spirit.
The water that God was offering was the only one that
mattered, it was the way to eternal life, the Israelites
rejected that.
Let’s compare the
two accounts of the Israelites in the wilderness and the
Samaritan woman, who Christ meet and spoke to.
They were both offered living waters, which lead to
eternal life.
Joh 4:5 So He came
to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the
plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Joh 4:6 Now Jacob's
well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His
journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth
hour.
Joh 4:7 A woman of
Jesus told the
woman, that if she had known who He was, she would have
asked for the gift of God which was living
waters.
Joh 4:9 Then the
woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You,
being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Joh 4:10 Jesus
answered and said to her, "If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to
you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him,
and He would have given you living water."
Christ shows how
the water, which He has to give will spring up to
everlasting life, the living waters pictures the Holy
Spirit. Christ also shows the contrast between the
usual drinking water and the living water. If she
chose to reject the living water she would continue to
thirst, but she wanted the living waters Christ had to
offer her.
Joh 4:13 Jesus
answered and said to her, "Whoever
drinks of this water will thirst again,
Joh 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him will never thirst. But the
water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting
life."
The woman wanted
the living water.
Joh 4:15 The woman
said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not
thirst, nor come here to draw."
After Christ told
the woman about the living waters, which He could give
her, He then proved her to see if she told the truth.
Joh 4:16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come
here."
Christ tested her
and she answered Him truthfully. This woman was
honest and wanted the living waters, which would lead to
eternal life.
Joh 4:17 The woman
answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to
her, "You
have well said, 'I have no husband,'
Joh 4:18 for you have had five husbands,
and the one whom you now have is not your husband;
in that you spoke truly."
Joh 4:19 The woman
said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
Later in the
account, if you read on a little you notice, she brought
other Samaritans to Jesus and they listened to Him and
believed Him.
Christ then tells
her that the Father must be worshiped in spirit and
truth. She wanted the spirit {living waters} and
she was a truthful person, so she was well on her way to
what was required.
Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now
is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such
to worship Him.
The following verse
is interesting, the woman no longer has any interest in
the normal drinking water which she had originally came
to draw. Once she heard of the living waters,
which Christ was willing to offer her, she had no desire
for the physical water, only the living water.
Joh 4:28 The woman
then left her waterpot, went her way into the city,
and said to the men,
Now let’s compare
this account with the Exodus 15 account.
In John 4 v 7 the
woman came to the well to draw water, she needed
water.
In Exodus the Israelites found no water, they were
thirsty they needed water.
Exo 15:22 So Moses
brought
In John 4 v 10 if
the woman knew it was God who was speaking to her, she
would have asked for living water.
The Israelites knew
that God was with them, they had only just come through
the
Exo 15:24 And the
people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall
we drink?"
In John 4 v 13-14
Jesus explained to the woman that if she drank of the
physical water she would thirst again, but the water He
had to offer her would spring up to eternal life.
The Israelites were
only concerned in the physical water, God gave them a
statute and an ordinance and He proved them. They
were offered the choice of the living water or the
physical water, they chose the physical, they rejected
God and the living water which is a symbol of the Holy
Spirit, God was offering them eternal life and they
rejected it.
Notice the account in Jeremiah about this event.
Exo 15:25 So he cried
out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When
he cast it
into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He
made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He
tested them,
Jer 2:13 "For My
people have committed two evils: They have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn
themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
John 4 v 15 states
that the woman wanted the living waters.
Read again the account in Jeremiah, the Israelites did
not want living water, they had forsaken God the
fountain of living waters.
John 4 v 16 shows
that Christ proved the woman.
Joh 4:16 Jesus said
to her, "Go, call your
husband, and come here."
Exo 15:25..….. and there He tested them,
John 4 v 17-19
shows that the woman past the test and answered Christ
truthfully.
Even though God told the Israelites that He was the Lord
that heals them and He wanted them to diligently listen
to Him and obey Him, and He offered them living waters
which would lead to eternal life. They
rejected Him, they did not want living waters, they
failed the test.
Exo 15:26 and said,
"If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God
and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His
commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put
none of the diseases on you which I have brought on
the Egyptians. For I am the
LORD who heals you."
John 4 v 23 shows
that the Father wants people to worship Him in spirit
and truth.
The woman was capable of that, she was truthful and she
wanted the spirit the living water.
The Israelites did not want the living water and did not
believe that God was truth.
Therefore they did not qualify to worship Him.
Jer 2:19 Your own
wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings
will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an
evil and bitter thing That
you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of
Me is
not in you," Says the Lord GOD of hosts.
Notice in John 4 v
28 how when the woman learned about the gift of God, the
living water, she no longer cared about the physical
water, she only wanted the spiritual gift of God.
She left her water pot.
The spiritual was far more important to her than the
physical.
In stark contrast the Israelites cared nothing for the
living water, they only wanted the physical water.
The spiritual things did not matter to them, they could
only see the physical.
Jer 2:13 "For My
people have committed two evils: They have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn
themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
Jer 2:17 Have you not
brought this on yourself, In that you have forsaken
the LORD your God When He led you in the way?
It was evil and
bitter that the Israelites had forsaken the Lord, the
fear of the Lord was not in them.
Jer 2:19 Your own
wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings
will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an
evil and bitter thing That
you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of
Me is
not in you," Says the Lord GOD of hosts.
Let’s recap on what
we have learned, the first day of Unleavened Bread is a
reminder that God brought the Israelites out of Egypt
and that we must leave the old ways of this world behind
us, we must try to live our lives without sin, we must
try to be like Christ. It also pictures the resurrection
of Christ.
The feast of Unleavened Bread is to be kept in a joyous
mood, as we endeavour to rely on God and pull away from
Satan, and sin.
2Ch 30:21 So the
children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept
the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great
gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the
LORD day by day, singing to
the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
The last day of
Unleavened Bread is a solemn day, it pictures the fact
that Israel were offered living waters which spring up
to eternal life, God offered to heal them in return for
obedience to His laws.
SECOND SERVICE
LAST DAY OF
UNLEAVENED BREAD
We have shown that
when the Israelites reached Marah it was three days into
the wilderness.
This was the last
day of Unleavened Bread.
Let’s recap on
their journey and confirm this.
Leave Rameses on
15th Nisan {for the purpose of this article we will
assume the days were the same as when Christ died}
Leave on Thursday morning before sunrise.
Exo 12:37 Then the
children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides
children.
Camp at Succoth
Thursday night.
Num 33:5
And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and
pitched in Succoth.
Then set out for
Etham on Friday morning the 16th.
Num 33:6 They
departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the
edge of the wilderness.
Camp at Etham
Friday night.
Exo 13:20 So they took
their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the
edge of the wilderness.
Set out for
Migdol on Saturday morning 17th.
Num 33:7 They moved
from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is east of
Baal Zephon; and they camped near Migdol.
Saturday night they
cross the
God caused the sea
to be parted all that night.
Exo 14:21 Then Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD
caused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into
dry land,
and the waters were divided.
Exo 14:22 So the
children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on
the dry ground,
and the waters were a
wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Then at the morning
watch God caused the Egyptians trouble in the sea.
Exo 14:24 Now it came
to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked
down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar
of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the
Egyptians.
Exo 14:26 Then the
LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the
sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians,
on their chariots, and on their horsemen."
Notice it is the
morning now, Sunday 18th.
Exo 14:27 And Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the
morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth,
while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD
overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
They possibly
stayed at the
Monday the 19th
they travelled, the scriptures tell us they went three
days into the wilderness. This means they
travelled Monday 19th Tuesday 20th Wednesday the 21st.
Wednesday the 21st was the last day of Unleavened Bread.
Exo 15:22 So Moses
brought
When they reached
Marah it was the last day of Unleavened Bread.
Exo 15:23 Now when
they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of
Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it
was called Marah.
We have shown that
the last day of Unleavened Bread was kept at Marah.
Now let’s look at
why this day is solemn.
The following
scriptures shows the reason, the Israelites rejected
God, the Fountain of living waters, then the meaning of
the rest of the verse is they chose gods and religions
which had nothing to do with the truth or the
true God, these religions could not hold water,
remember God is the fountain of living water.
Jer 2:13 "For My
people have committed two evils: They have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn
themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no
water.
The following verse
confirms the explanation.
Jer 2:11 Has a nation
changed its
gods, Which are
not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does
not profit.
The Israelites
chose foreign gods, and foreign beliefs rather than the
one true God.
The God portrayed
in mainstream religion today, is nothing like the God of
the bible.
Jer 2:32 Can a virgin
forget her ornaments, Or a bride
her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days
without number.
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock
who
begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the
God who fathered you.
What happened back
then with ancient
There is no fear of
God amongst His people
Notice how fear of
God and knowledge go hand in hand.
Pro 2:1 My son, if
you receive my words, And treasure my commands within
you,
Pro 2:2 So that you
incline your ear to wisdom, And apply
your heart to understanding;
Pro 2:3 Yes, if you
cry out for discernment, And lift
up your voice for understanding,
Pro 2:4 If you seek
her as silver, And search for her as for hidden
treasures;
Pro 2:5 Then you
will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the
knowledge of God.
THE TRUTH IS NOT
IMPORTANT TO THEM.
THEY DO NOT KNOW
THE ONE TRUE GOD AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST.
Jer 5:4 Therefore I
said, "Surely these are poor.
They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the
LORD, The judgment of their God.
It was made very
clear to
Deu 8:19 Then it
shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your
God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship
them, I testify against you this day that you shall
surely perish.
God did not want
Deu 29:18 so that
there may not be among you man or woman or family or
tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our
God, to go and
serve the gods of these nations, and that there may
not be among you a root bearing bitterness or
wormwood;
Today, we have
whole heartedly turned our backs on the Holy One of
Israel, we turn to doctors to heal us, we ignore the
food laws, which are for our health, we keep pagan
festivals instead of God’s commanded festivals. We
work on the sabbath. The list goes on and on of
how we, as a nation, have rejected God, and the
lifestyle He has commanded us to live.
God was willing to
give the nation of
