What God's People Should Be Like

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Exodus 34 with me.

We've been in this book for maybe a year and a half, a little over or so,

and we are nearing the end of the book.

It's the second book of the Bible.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy that you can have,

and you can use that while you're here.

Exodus 34.

Verses 10 to 28.

Let me pray now for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before your word.

We have gathered in your name to worship you, to honor you,

and also to be addressed by you,

to be ministered to by you,

to be transformed by you.

So as we incline our ears and our hearts to this word,

open up the eyes of our hearts that we might understand

and believe and obey to your glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are willing and able,

please stand for the reading of God's word from Exodus 34,

Exodus 34:10–28

verses 10 to 28.

And he said,

Behold,

behold,

behold,

I am making a covenant.

Before all your people,

I will do marvels,

such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation.

And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord.

For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

Observe what I command you this day.

Behold,

I will drive out before you the Amorites,

the Canaanites,

the Hittites,

the Perizzites,

the Hivites,

and the Jebusites.

Take care lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go,

lest it become a snare in your midst.

You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their ashram.

For you shall worship no other God,

for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.

Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land.

And when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods,

and you are invited,

you eat of his sacrifice.

And you take of their daughters for your sons,

and their daughters whore after their gods,

and make your sons whore after their gods.

You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread.

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread,

as I commanded you,

at the time appointed in the month Abib.

For in the month Abib,

you came out from Egypt.

All that open the womb are mine.

All your male livestock,

the firstborn of cow and sheep,

the firstborn of a donkey,

you shall redeem with a lamb.

Or if you will not redeem it,

you shall break its neck.

All the firstborn of your sons,

you shall redeem.

And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

Six days you shall work,

but on the seventh day you shall rest.

In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

You shall observe the feast of weeks,

the first fruits of wheat harvest,

and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

Three times in the year

shall all your males appear before the Lord God,

the God of Israel.

For I will cast out nations before you

and enlarge your borders.

No one shall covet your land

when you go up to appear before the Lord your God

three times in the year.

You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice

with anything leavened,

or let the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover

remain until the morning.

The best of the first fruits of your ground

you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God.

You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Write these words,

for in accordance with these words

I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.

So he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights.

He neither ate bread nor drank water.

And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant,

the Ten Commandments.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated this time.

Especially for those of you

who are kind of visiting mid-series,

you might be confused by all the details here.

I'm going to use the metaphor,

the analogy of marriage,

because marriage is a covenant

to refer to the relationship

between God and his people Israel

as God himself does in scripture.

And so that will hopefully get you

to understand what's going on here.

It's hard to be faithful

to the covenant of marriage.

According to an article in the Journal

of Couple and Relationship Therapy,

an estimated 50 to 60% of married men

and 45 to 55% of married women

commit adultery.

Nearly 50% of married couples get divorced.

And over 70% of second marriages

end in divorce.

That means marital infidelity

affects nearly half of all couples.

Some of you have been affected by it.

But imagine for a moment

that you're the party

that cheated on your spouse.

You betrayed her trust.

You gravely wronged her.

You were caught in the act.

You regret that you cheated on a loving spouse

for some fleeting moments of pleasure.

And you're deeply ashamed and sorry

and you sincerely apologize to your wife,

but you're still fully expecting to be divorced.

Your life is never going to be the same again.

But imagine that your spouse,

instead of leaving you,

even while she is grieving your infidelity,

she forgives you

and gives you a second chance.

How would you feel?

You have been shown mercy.

You have received grace.

Undeserved favor.

You'd feel relief.

You'd feel gratitude.

And assuming you were sincere in your repentance,

you'd want to make sure that it never happens again.

Your wife would probably insist

that you cut off all contact with your paramour,

and that's a no-brainer.

You would agree to that.

And there would likely be other guardrails

and guidelines for you to commit to

to ensure that the adultery never happens again.

That's the situation that the Israelites

find themselves in in this passage.

As I've said the last two weeks,

the Israelites were like a bride

who cheats on her husband

on the night of their wedding,

adulterating the marriage bed

while her husband is making preparations

for their new life together.

While the covenant agreement

between God and his people Israel,

the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant

were fresh off the press,

the Israelites abandoned Yahweh, their God,

and turned to idols by building a golden bull

and prostrating themselves before it.

But God nevertheless showed them mercy

and why?

Because we saw last week in Exodus 34, 1-9

that the Lord is a merciful and gracious God,

slow to anger and abounding

in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Look at verse 10 with me.

Look at what God says that he will do again for them.

Behold, I am making a covenant.

Before all your people I will do marvels

such as have not been created in all the earth

or in any nation.

And all the people among whom you are

shall see the work of the Lord,

for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

Just look at how gracious God is to assure them of this

and see how fully God forgives them

and blesses them and does not count their sins against them.

Even though Israel has broken their covenant with him,

he says, again, behold, I am making a covenant.

I think if I were in God's shoes,

I would tell them something like,

hey, well, fine, I'll put up with you just one more time.

But you're going to live in the doghouse from now on.

And if there's even the slightest hint of impropriety,

then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I think that would be what I would want to say to the Israelites

if I were in God's shoes.

But that's not how God responds.

He says, in effect, you have been unfaithful to me,

but I will enter into a covenant relationship with you still.

And I will dwell with you still.

And I will do for you and among you marvelous

and awesome things that have never been done

in all the earth or in any nation.

That's not the doghouse.

That's paradise.

That's the promised land.

That's nothing less than the new creation.

Notice the creation language in verse 10.

I will do marvels such as have not been created

in all the earth or in any nation.

That word create in Hebrew is never predicated

of anyone except for God.

God's the only one throughout the scriptures

who creates in this sense.

Bringing something out of nothing.

Bringing something new.

That's what God's promising to do

for his people.

And we're gonna see what that is

in more detail later on.

But before we get there,

God gives the Israelites some guardrails

and guidelines to follow.

God tells them that as recipients of mercy

and forgiveness,

they should maintain their distinct identity

as the people of God.

They need to be faithful to him,

loyal to him,

be identifiable as God's special people.

So to this end,

God gives them two things

to help them along their journey.

Two things that will help them

to obey God's commandments

and keep their covenant with him.

And that's one,

a fence.

And two,

a calendar.

I'll explain what I mean by that.

The first thing that God gives them

is a fence.

We see that in verses 11 and 12.

Behold,

I will drive out before you

the Amorites,

the Canaanites,

the Hittites,

the Perizzites,

the Hivites,

and the Jebusites.

Take care,

lest you make a covenant

with the inhabitants of the land

to which you go,

lest it become a snare

in your midst.

Notice the contrast

between verse 10 and verse 12.

In verse 10,

God says,

I am making a covenant with you.

And in verse 12,

he tells them

not to make a covenant

with the inhabitants of the land,

lest it become a snare for them.

In Korean,

the word for we,

I think I mentioned this

some years ago,

four or five,

maybe even six years ago

in a sermon.

None of you remember.

In Korean,

the word for we

is the same word

for a fence

or an animal pen

that keeps your animals in

and intruders and predators out.

Because defining and maintaining

who we are

requires putting a fence around it,

drawing boundary lines

to define what is not part of us,

to distinguish ourselves

from who they are,

what those things are.

We is defined

in contradistinction to they

because if everybody is family,

then nobody is family.

For this reason,

God will drive out

the Amorites,

the Canaanites,

the Hittites,

the Perizzites,

the Hivites,

and the Jebusites

from the land of Canaan.

And the Israelites

are not to make a covenant with them

and keep them in the land

because if they do,

they will be ensnared by them

and lose their distinct identity

as the people of God.

Marriage is once again

a good illustration

of this principle

because it's meant to be

an exclusive partnership,

exclusive relationship

between one man and one woman.

Whenever you add other people

into that equation,

whether that's through adultery

or polygamy,

you have violated the terms

of the covenant

and it leads to bad consequences,

you can see throughout scripture.

Nowadays,

many people are talking

about open relationships

involving multiple partners.

Somerville became the first city

just north of us,

first city in the country

to legally recognize

polyamorous relationships

in 2020.

But people who advocate

for such relationships

don't understand

a basic reality.

The intimacy

that you experience

in marriage

is directly proportional

to the sacred exclusivity

of your relationship.

when the relationship

is no longer exclusive,

your attention

is diverted,

your affection,

your love

is divided,

and by necessity,

your intimacy

is diluted.

It's no longer marriage

as God designed it,

but an inferior counterfeit.

And it works the same way

in our relationship

with God.

Israel cannot be in

a covenant relationship

with God

and yet at the same time

be in a covenant relationship

with another nation

and their gods.

To be faithful to another

is to be unfaithful

to the Lord

because worship

is an either-or proposition.

Making a covenant

with these nations

and intermarrying with them

will lead them

to whore after their gods

and sacrifice to their gods,

as it says in verse 15.

That sexual language

continues that theme

of covenant

and even of marriage.

Sexual intimacy

is meant to be shared

in the context

of an exclusive

marriage covenant,

but when you share it

with someone

to whom you are

not lawfully wedded,

you are acting

like a prostitute

who gives his

or her body away

to anyone

who is willing

to pay enough money

or maybe even

for no money at all.

We might not worship

a golden bull statue

like the Israelites did,

but we nonetheless

have our own idols.

An idol is anything

we count on,

anything we trust in

more than we do in God.

An idol is anything

we desire,

anything we are devoted to

more than God.

That thing or person

that we look to

to satisfy us,

to give us meaning

and purpose in life,

if it's not the true God,

then that is an idol.

Money,

success,

and fame

can be an idol.

Even good things

like sex,

family,

and health

can be an idol

if they become

more important to us

than God himself.

When we fall

into idolatry,

it says that God

is jealous for us.

It says in verse 14,

for you shall worship

no other God

for the Lord

whose name is jealous

is a jealous God.

This is the one place

in all of scripture

where it is said

that God's name

is jealous.

It's part of,

core of who he is,

his identity.

Why?

Because God is love

and jealousy

is an expression

of love.

Numbers 5.14

uses the word jealousy

to describe

what comes over a husband

when he suspects

that his wife

has defiled herself

sexually with another.

We tend to think

that jealousy

is bad.

It's a bad problematic emotion.

We tend to think that way

because in common English,

we often conflate

and use interchangeably

the word jealousy

and envy.

But if we get technical,

they're not actually

the same thing.

On the one hand,

envy is a longing

that a person feels

for something

that belongs

to someone else.

For example,

when we are envious

of someone else's wealth,

someone else's looks,

someone else's relationships,

envy is sinful

because it's a failure

to love your neighbor

as yourself.

But jealousy

is the longing

and zeal

that a person feels

when something

or someone

that rightfully belongs

to him or her

is threatened.

It's a sign of love

as opposed to a sign

of indifference.

It is right

for the husband

or the wife

to feel jealous

when his or her spouse

is flirting

with someone else

because she belongs

to him

and not to another man.

Likewise,

it is right for God

to be jealous

for us

when we worship

another God,

when we devote ourselves

to another idol

because God created us

for himself.

He has redeemed us

for himself

and he paid a steep

price for it.

We belong to him

and to no one else

and our worship

should therefore

be exclusively for God.

That's why

this God

is jealous

for us

and that's why

he gives the Israelites

offense.

He says in verse 13,

you shall tear down

their altars

and break their pillars

and cut down

their ashram.

The altars,

pillars,

and ashram

are all things

used in the worship

of pagan worship

and idols

by the Canaanites.

Ashram is a plural form

of asherah

and it says

in Deuteronomy 16, 21,

you shall not plant

any tree

as an asherah

beside the altar

of the Lord your God

that you shall make.

So asherim,

which is the plural,

are probably sacred trees

of some kind

planted by the Canaanites

for the purposes

of religious worship.

That's why God commands them

to cut it down,

smash the idols,

cut down the asherim.

To 21st century

modern pluralists,

this kind of command

might appear

downright barbaric,

but the reality is

if the Lord our God

is God

and no one else

is God,

then false religions

are idolatrous,

deceptive,

and dangerous

because they pose

eternal peril

to their adherents.

Undoubtedly,

some people object

that this is

a supremely arrogant position

for Christians to hold.

When there are millions

of faithful adherents

of other religions

in the world,

who are we to say

that Jesus

is the one way,

the truth,

and the life?

Isn't that offensive?

A pluralist argues

that God is like

an elephant

and that people

of various religions,

they touch different parts

of the elephant.

We're all like blind men

groping about

and feeling different parts

of the elephant.

They say that one blind man

touches the trunk,

the long trunk,

and says,

oh no,

the elephant is like a snake.

Another blind person

touches the tusk,

and then says,

oh no,

not like a snake at all.

The elephant is more like

a horn or the head

of a spear.

And another blind man

touches the leg

and then says,

no,

the elephant is actually

like a mighty big

tree trunk.

And the pluralist argues

that actually

everybody is right

because they're all

pointing out

an aspect of the elephant

and says,

well,

all people

who follow

various religions

in the world

are like those blind men.

They only see

a part of the picture,

so in that sense

they are all right

and they are all legitimate

and they should all

be accepted.

That's the argument

of the pluralist.

The problem,

the fallacy

of that analogy

is that in order

for that analogy

to work,

someone has to see

the whole elephant.

If the analogy

really were true,

then we should

all be blind,

including the pluralist

and no one

in the world

should know

that we're looking

at different parts

of the same elephant.

But that's not

what the pluralist claims.

The pluralist claims

to be the one person

who recognizes

and sees

the whole elephant.

He says,

no one should be

exclusive in his

religious beliefs

and recognize

that all the religions

of the world

are true and legitimate

because they all

see a part of the truth.

In other words,

the pluralist

is not affirming

the validity

of every religion.

Rather,

he is arrogantly assuming

that his perspective

alone sees

the whole picture

and therefore

is elevating

his pluralistic position

to the status

of exclusive truth.

That's the subversive

appeal of pluralism.

He feigns humility

and openness

but is as arrogant

as any religious

exclusivist.

there is either

one God

or there are

many gods.

Jesus is either

the son of God

or he is not.

Jesus either

died for our sins

and was raised

from the dead

or he was not.

We are either

saved by the gift

of God,

by God's grace

or we are saved

by our good works,

by doing good deeds.

Both of these things

cannot be true.

These religious claims

about which Christianity

is at odds

with every other religion

in the world

are either true

or false.

They cannot both be true.

As C.S. Lewis

writes in his book

Mere Christianity,

of course,

being a Christian

does mean thinking

that where Christianity

differs from other religions,

Christianity is right

and they are wrong.

As in arithmetic,

there is only one

right answer to a sum

and all the other

answers are wrong.

Some people might

still object,

well,

say that they are wrong

but still,

why can't you be

more tolerant

and why can't you

just let them be?

These are cultural

and historical artifacts.

Why can't we just share?

Why do you have

to tear them down?

Isn't it enough

that you don't

worship their idols?

Why do you have

to destroy the idols

from your midst?

Verse 12 tells us

why that kind of

drastic measure

is necessary,

lest it become

a snare in your midst.

If they let these things

remain in their homeland,

the Israelites

will be ensnared

and seduced

by them into committing

spiritual adultery again.

And that would bring

guilt and condemnation

upon God's people

and ultimately

eternal damnation

to God's people.

And if God's people

whom,

from whom

God has appointed

the messianic king

Jesus would come

goes astray,

loses the faith,

loses their way,

then all

all of mankind

is lost.

It's like

living in the city,

a lot of you guys

have mousetraps

in your house.

Where do you put

the mousetrap?

I mean,

where do the mice go?

But you put it

in a place

that's inaccessible

to humans,

in the crevices

and the corners,

behind the fridge

or other places

where people don't go

but where the mice

can go

because you would

never put a mousetrap

in the middle

of a living room

lest you step

on it

while you're

walking around.

Why would you

want a snare

in the middle

of your camp?

Why would you

want an idol

which is seductive

and ensnaring

in your life,

in your home?

The same concern

for idolatry

applies to us

as Christians.

Romans 12 says,

I appeal to you

therefore brothers

by the mercies

of God

to present your bodies

as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable

to God,

which is your

spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed

to this world

but be transformed

by the renewal

of your mind

that by testing

you may discern

what is the will

of God,

what is good

and acceptable

and perfect.

Notice the language

of living sacrifice

and spiritual worship.

This is how we

worship God today.

We don't offer

animal sacrifices

but we offer

a sacrifice,

a living sacrifice

of our lives,

our worship

and obedience

and in order

to be faithful

to God

and maintain

exclusive allegiance

to Him,

we need a fence

or a filter

of some kind

so that we are not

conformed to this world

but instead

transformed

in accordance

with the will of God.

For example,

our society

idolizes success.

If we as a church

start idolizing

ministry success

and we start

sacrificing

our principles

to do what is popular,

to please the crowd,

then we need to smash

that idol of success

to pieces.

If you start

to idolize

a romantic relationship

so that you're

starting to compromise

your convictions

and you're sliding

across physical

and emotional

boundaries

that you thought

you'd never cross

before or outside

of marriage,

then you need to

cut off that relationship

from your life.

If you start

to idolize money

and you sense

that your hopes

and dreams

are rising and falling

with the stock market,

then you sell

it all off.

Give it away

to the poor.

Tear down

those idols.

Israelites needed

to get rid

of the altars

and the pillars

and the ashram

lest they be ensnared.

Likewise,

we need to get rid

of the idols

and flee temptation

in our lives.

It's naive to think

that we can

surround ourselves

with these idols,

the altars

and the pillars

and the ashram

of this world

and still live

faithful Christian lives.

People who think

that way

are like the people

who always boast

that advertising

doesn't work on them.

Have you guys heard that?

I'm sure some of you

have said that before.

Yeah.

If you think that

you are the marketer's

favorite demographic,

they love you

because you buy

into their ads

without even knowing it.

Advertisements

are not trying

to persuade you

rationally

to go and buy

some product

or something

immediately.

They're not a call

to action.

They're planting

these little signals.

They're triggering,

they're tapping

into your natural

human desires

for love

and for acceptance,

for significance,

for pleasure,

for comfort,

for status,

for sex,

for health.

And then if they

subtly attach

those markers

to their brand

to create

a positive association,

a positive feeling

about their brand

that you're not

even aware of

subconsciously

and then later

when you go shopping

or go to a grocery store

or you go someplace,

it's just that slight nudge

that's necessary

to get you to buy

their product

as opposed to

their competitors.

There's a reason

why they spend

$70 billion

in TV ads

every year.

They're not dumb.

They've done their research.

They know that it works.

The seductive power

of idolatry

works the same way.

You're not going

to become an apostate

overnight,

but gradually

your affections

will be reoriented

and it will make

the things of the world

look normal

and right

and the things of God

look strange.

When you read articles

and books

about the rich

and the successful

all the time,

do you not think

that over time

that the seductive influence

of wealth and fame

would affect the way

you think

and feel about those things?

When you spend

less than 10 minutes

reading the Bible

each day

but hours

each day

reading the news

or playing some game,

what do you think

will control

your attitude

and affections?

What do you think

will shape

your concerns

and priorities?

Eternal things

or temporal things?

When you spend

hours of your day

on social media

comparing yourselves

to others

and looking at

how many likes

and retweets

your friends have

or other people have,

do you think

that over time

you will not

come to believe

the lie

that your life

will be significant

only if you could

have as many friends

or as followers

as they have

or when you get

as many likes

as they get?

When you get

to see skinny,

curvy,

and scantily clad

women everywhere

on billboards

and web browsers

and even while

just walking

down the street,

do you think

that over time

you will not

believe the lie

that that's

where true

pleasure lies

or that you

will need to

look like that

in order for you

to be loved?

I'm not saying

that you need

to go into

a monastery.

Monasticism

might shield us

from outside temptations

but it will not

protect us

from the sinful

flesh,

the evil within us.

We need to be

in the world

but not of the world

but as Christians

we do need to be

sober minded

and discerning.

We need fences.

We need filters.

There are some shows

that Christians

should not watch.

There are some places

that Christians

should not go

physically or spiritually

or virtually

I mean,

sorry.

There are some lines

that Christians

should not cross.

Most of us

here in Cambridge

are not at risk

of becoming Amish

but some of us

are at risk

of becoming pagan.

In order to maintain

our distinct identity

as the people of God

we do need

some protection.

Offense

but we need more

than that

because keeping

temptations at bay

is important

but we also need

to reorient our hearts.

To that end

God gives the Israelites

a calendar.

He commands them

to rest

and to not work

on the seventh day

and he gives them

three feasts

to observe

throughout the calendar year.

The feast of unleavened bread

and the feast of weeks

and the feast of gathering.

He says in verse 21

six days you shall work

but on the seventh day

you shall rest.

In plowing time

and in harvest

you shall rest.

When God was creating

the heavens and the earth

he rested on the seventh day

to set an example

and a pattern

for humans to follow

because he knew

that we needed rest.

So the Sabbath

is a reminder

the seventh day of rest

is a reminder

that we are finite creatures.

That we are not all powerful.

That we are not

as indispensable

to the running

of this world

as we like to think we are.

It's a discipline

that cultivates humility

and promotes

our dependence

on God's

ultimate provision.

Plowing time

and harvest

it says specifically

in this verse

that they should rest

during those times.

Those are the two busiest times

of the agricultural year.

You have to get the seeds

planted in time

before the rains come

and you have to get

the wheat harvested

before the winds

blow them down

or before they start

to sprout

or before they start

to develop disease

and become inedible.

So these are the most

time sensitive times

in the life

of the farmer

and the Bible

specifically says

in plowing time

and in harvest time

you shall rest

because it's a declaration

of trust.

The Lord God

is the one

who gave us rain

not Baal

whom the Canaanites

worshipped

as the God of rain.

The Lord God

is the one

who gave us

the growth

of the harvest.

So we observe

the weekly rhythm

that the Jews

observe this weekly rhythm

of the calendar

to reinforce

their faith in God.

During the busiest season

at your job

during your finals

at school

do you still

come to church?

Do you still

take time

to worship God

to rest in Him

to trust in Him?

The three feasts

serve a similar function

of orienting

the people of God.

The feast

of unleavened bread

first

is mentioned

25 to 26

and then

additional instructions

are given

a little bit

additional instructions

are given

in verse 25 to 26

after first being mentioned

18 to 20.

Let's look at

18 to 20 first

for the feast

of unleavened bread.

You shall keep

the feast

of unleavened bread

seven days

you shall eat

unleavened bread

as I commanded you

at the time

appointed in the month

of Abib

for in the month

of Abib

you came out

from Egypt

all that opened

the womb

are mine

all your male livestock

the firstborn

of cow and sheep

the firstborn

of a donkey

you shall redeem

with a lamb

or if you shall

not redeem it

you shall break

its neck

all the firstborn

of your sons

you shall redeem

and none shall appear

before me empty handed.

So the three feasts

the feast

of unleavened bread

feast of weeks

feast of ingathering

are all mentioned

in verse 18 to 24

and then in that same order

there's three addenda

additional remarks

in verse 25 to 26.

So the additional remark

related to the feast

of unleavened bread

is in verse 25.

You shall not offer

the blood of my sacrifice

with anything leavened

or let the sacrifice

of the feast

of the Passover

remain until the morning.

If you're with us

earlier in Exodus

when we were in 12 and 13

chapters 12 and 13

God offered

detailed instructions

and a rationale

for this feast

because on Passover day

God struck down

all the firstborn males

of Egypt

both animals

and humans

but he spared

the Israelites

because they had

killed a sacrifice

an unblemished lamb

in order to redeem

their firstborns.

This was the final disaster

that God brought

upon Egypt

and after this

Pharaoh finally

let the Israelites

leave Egypt

and go out

of their slavery.

The Israelites

were to remember

that miraculous

deliverance

at Passover

by offering

to the Lord

a sacrifice

of all the firstborn males

of livestock

and domestic animals.

But obviously

they're not supposed

to sacrifice

their own children

the firstborn sons

and so they are commanded

to redeem

the firstborn sons

with payment

and offering.

This is a way

of remembering

how God spared

the Israelites

firstborn sons

from the destroying angel

by redeeming them

with the Passover lamb

and that's called

the feast

of the unleavened bread

because they eat

the Passover lamb

with unleavened bread

to commemorate

how they had to leave

Egypt in haste

so they didn't have time

to let the bread rise.

This festival

of Passover

ultimately points

to the ransom

that God pays

to free his people

from their slavery

to sin and death

in Jesus.

It says in 1 Corinthians

5, 6 to 8

Do you not know

that a little leaven

leavens the whole lump?

Cleanse out the old leaven

that you may be

a new lump

as you really are unleavened.

For Christ

our Passover lamb

has been sacrificed.

Let us therefore

celebrate the festival

not with the old leaven

the leaven of malice

and evil

but with the unleavened bread

of sincerity

and truth

because Jesus

is the ultimate

unblemished Passover lamb

who was sacrificed

for our redemption

because he died

on the cross

for our sins

in our place

so we might be

cleansed of our sins

and redeemed

from our own slavery

to sin and death.

We now celebrate

this feast

not with a literal festival

with unleavened bread

and eating

and sacrificed lamb

but by remembering Jesus

by celebrating

what he has done for us

with unleavened bread

of sincerity and truth.

The second feast

mentioned is

the feast of weeks

which is the feast

of the first fruits

the first fruits

of wheat harvest

in verse 22.

And the additional instruction

comes in verse 26.

The best of the first fruits

of your ground

you shall bring

to the house

of the Lord your God.

This feast

is called

the feast of weeks

because after

waving

the first

sheaf

of wheat

that you've harvested

with the sickle

to God

you were supposed

to count

seven weeks

of commemorating

this feast

and then after

the seven weeks

on the 50th day

they were to bring

more offerings

and sacrifices

to kind of

the climactic

celebration

of the feast

so on the 50th day

they would do that

and that's why

this feast

is called

in the New Testament

Pentecost

that comes from

the word

that means 50

and the offering

of first fruits

was a pledge

of trust

similar to

the other feasts

it's Israel's way

of saying to God

you brought

these first fruits

forth

and we trust

that you will

bring the rest

of the harvest

the first fruit

offering is also

to be made

from the best

of the first fruits

not the worst

it's supposed

to be the cream

of the crop

not the crumbs

of the crop

you give God

the first fruits

the best

of the first fruits

of your time

and of your talents

and of your treasures

or do you give him

the leftovers

is it clear

to those around you

that God

is your first

priority in life

when you throw

a birthday party

for your friend

and you cut

the birthday cake

you give the first

slice to

the birthday person

right

it's a way

of honoring them

and celebrating them

and reminding them

that this is for you

we put this on

for you

imagine how sad

it would be

if you give out

the cake

to everybody

and then

the birthday boy

or girl

is sitting in the corner

eating the crumbs

the whole world

is about God

it was created

for God

your life

you are alive

and breathing today

to exist for God

to glorify him

your life

is about him

then that means

he should get

the first fruits

of your life

of your work

the best

of what you can offer

in your life

taking this

and talking about

how Jesus fulfilled

this in Romans 8 23

Paul tells us

that we

God's people

are the first fruits

of the spirit

we are God's

reward

the reward

of the harvest

that he brings forth

the first of it

but not the last

the full redemption

we still await

with the glorification

of our bodies

that is to come

in the future

the third

and final

major feast

is the feast

of in gathering

at the year's end

mentioned in verse 22

and the additional instruction

comes in verse 26

you shall not boil

a young goat

in its mother's milk

this feast

is more commonly

called the feast

of tabernacles

or the feast

of booths

because that's how

the Israelites

lived in the wilderness

and this feast

came to be

associated with

the wilderness

the tent

or the tabernacle

where they worship

God

and also the tent

in which they lived

it's kind of like

their thanksgiving

harvest

remembering the harvest

and giving thanks

to God for it

and the oddly

specific command

you shall not boil

a young goat

in its mother's milk

was also given

earlier in Exodus 23

19

I mentioned this

then that following

the 12th century AD

Jewish philosopher

Maimonides

many scholars argue

that this verse

is forbidding the Israelites

from following

the pagan practices

of their ancient

Near Eastern labors

there is a chance

that a ritual

similar to what's

mentioned here

was written about

in an ancient

Ugaritic text

involved boiling

a young goat

in its mother's milk

probably some kind

fertility ritual

to please the gods

ensure a good harvest

for the following year

since milk is a symbol

of life

and a goat kid

is a symbol

of fertility

it's also possible

that there's just

something perverse

about boiling

a young goat

in its own mother's milk

because the young goat

should be fed

and nourished

by its mother's milk

not cooked

and killed in it

and so again

God is teaching

the people of God

to orient themselves

toward him

to remember

that he's the one

who gives the harvest

he's the one

who takes care of them

not these false gods

and idols

Jesus fulfills this

as well

during the feast

of tabernacles

in fulfillment

of the tabernacle

God's people

Solomon built

the temple of God

as he says

in 1 Kings 8 65

and now

Jesus says

and Paul says

in following him

in 1 Corinthians 3 16

that we

God's people

are being built up

as the tabernacle

or the temple of God

a spiritual house

for him

so this is why

we don't literally

celebrate these feasts

as Christians

because Christ

has fulfilled them all

Colossians 2 16 17

says therefore

let no one pass

judgment on you

in questions of food

and drink

or with regard

to a festival

or a new moon

or a Sabbath

these are a shadow

of the things to come

but the substance

belongs to Christ

when you see a shadow

as you're walking

passing over you

you see the shadow

on the ground

you look up

to see the bird

flying overhead

it's the shadow

that points to the substance

that is there

the reality that is there

likewise

these feasts

and the Sabbaths

were meant to be

a shadow

that points to the reality

the substance of Jesus

who is to come

and fulfill

all of these things

so now that Christ

has come

instead of celebrating

these feasts

we gather on the Lord's Day

on Sundays

to remember Christ

and his redemptive work

and in the Lord's Supper

we remember his body

broken for us

his body which is for us

and we remember his blood

that was poured out for us

for our atonement

for our salvation

and this weekly rhythm

has the similar effect

that the festivals had

for the Jews

of shaping our attitudes

how we think

and shaping our affections

how we love

and what we love

theologian James K. Smith

writes about this

in his book

you are what you love

the spiritual power

of habit

he says

in worship

we don't just come

to show God

our devotion

and give him

our praise

we are called

to worship

because in this encounter

God remakes

and molds us

top down

worship is the arena

in which God

recalibrates our hearts

reforms our desires

and rehabituates

our loves

worship isn't just

something we do

it is where God

does something to us

worship is the heart

of discipleship

because it is the gymnasium

in which God

retrains our hearts

credit to Ed

for pointing this out

to me

this passage

earlier this week

yes we gather

to worship God

together on Sundays

that's our primary purpose

but that's not

the only purpose

of our gathering

here

as we are singing

to God

as we hear

God's word preached

as we encourage

and exhort one another

with the truths of God

we are being

transformed

by the renewal

of our mind

our hearts

are being recalibrated

our minds

are being realigned

to the things

of God

to his values

to his purposes

and priorities

that's how we maintain

our distinct identity

as the people of God

but no matter

how much you try

to retrain your heart

if you still have

an old sinful heart

a heart that has not

been made new

by the power

of the Holy Spirit

it's all in vain

no amount of training

can change you

it says in verse 28

that Moses was there

with the Lord

forty days and forty nights

he neither ate bread

nor drank water

and he wrote

on the tablets

the words of the covenant

the ten commandments

Moses wrote these words

down on tablets

of stone

to show how permanent

they are

Moses didn't write them

God wrote them

he took the tablets

to God

for him to write

but nevertheless

Moses had no power

to make the Israelites

remain faithful to him

again and again

throughout the book

of Numbers

Deuteronomy

you see how Israelites

are unfaithful to God

on their journey

to the promised land

and at the end

of Moses' life

he knows that

the Israelites

will continue

to be unfaithful

but then he tells them

of this prophecy

he prophesies

of a day

in Deuteronomy 36

when the Lord

your God

will circumcise

your heart

and the heart

of your offspring

so that you will

love the Lord

your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

that you may live

he's prophesying

of a day

when the Israelites

will have a new heart

when the old

is peeled away