Wise Laws for a Fallen World: Holiday Laws

Good morning, everyone.

I say this every week, but I mean it every week.

It really is a joy and a privilege to worship with you

and to be able to preach God's word to you.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 23.

Exodus 23 · chapter mention

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

and we'll bring a Bible to you

that you can use while you're here.

We are at the end of the book of the covenant

in Exodus 23 verses 10 to 19 today.

Exodus 23:10–19

I think we've been in Exodus for almost a year now

because we had some breaks in between.

And believe it or not, we're actually coming near to an end

because the latter half of Exodus goes by pretty quickly.

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

Heavenly Father,

we have gathered in the name of your son Jesus Christ once again

to remember your faithfulness,

to remember your promises

so that we might live our lives trusting you,

leaning on you.

For we know that you are the one sure foundation

who will never let us down.

So inspire fresh faith among us this morning

as we look at your word.

Speak to us.

Remind us of your goodness,

your grace,

so that we marvel again

and worship you with our whole heart.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you're able,

please stand for the reading of God's word

from Exodus 23 verses 10 to 19.

Exodus 23:10–19

And we'll read for us.

For six years,

you shall sow your land and gather in its yield.

But the seventh year,

you shall let it rest and lie fallow

that the poor of your people may eat

and what they leave,

the beasts of the field may eat.

You shall do likewise with your vineyard

and with your olive orchard.

Six days,

you shall do your work,

but on the seventh day,

you shall rest

that your ox and your donkey may have rest

and the son of your servant woman

and the alien may be refreshed.

Pay attention

to all that I have said to you

and make no mention

of the names of other gods,

nor let it be heard on your lips.

Three times in a year,

you shall keep a feast to me.

You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread.

As I commanded you,

you shall eat unleavened bread

for seven days at the appointed time

in the month of Abib.

For in it,

you came out of Egypt.

None shall appear before me empty-handed.

You shall keep the feast of harvest

of the first fruits of your labor,

of what you sow in the field.

You shall keep the feast of ingathering

at the end of the year,

when you gather in from the field

of fruit of your labor.

Three times in the year,

shall all your males appear

before the Lord God.

You shall not offer the blood

of my sacrifice with anything leavened,

or let the fat of my feast

remain until the morning.

The best of the first fruits

of your ground,

you shall bring into the house

of the Lord your God.

You shall not boil a young goat

in its mother's milk.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Yeah.

In the United States,

the Congress has the right

to declare a federal holiday,

and that's when all the non-essential

federal government offices are closed,

and the federal government employees

get a paid day off.

So for example,

we have President's Day coming up,

which is officially Washington's birthday,

when we celebrate the founding father

and the first president

of the United States.

And then Independence Day

similarly celebrates

the U.S. Declaration of Independence

from British rule.

And Juneteenth

and Martin Luther King Jr. Day

celebrate the emancipation

of African American slaves

and the triumphs

of the civil rights leader,

respectively.

Memorial Day honors

U.S. military personnel

who fought and died

while protecting this country.

That's just a sampling of,

it's not all the holidays,

but these are not,

you know,

arbitrary days

that some politicians

just chose

to give some people

a paid day off.

These are reminders.

They serve as reminders

of significant

historical milestones

and foster intentionally

a sense of national identity

and solidarity.

The same was true

for the nation of Israel,

where the people observed

holy days

and feasts

that were designated

not by men

but by God.

Holy days are,

in fact,

where we get the word

holiday.

And this passage

tells us about

the seventh year

and the seventh day

and then about

the three feasts,

the major feasts,

the pilgrimage feasts

that the Israelites

were supposed to celebrate.

And then we're going to talk

finally about

the one God

we are to worship

and pay attention to.

So let's first look

at the seventh year

and day.

The first two paragraphs

of this passage,

verses 10 to 11

and verse 12,

each begin with the number six.

So if you look at it,

it says first six years

in the verse 10

and six days

in verse 12.

It says in verse 10

to 11,

for six years

you shall sow your land

and gather in its yield,

but the seventh year

you shall let it rest

and lie fallow

that the poor

of your people may eat

and what they leave

the beasts

of the field may eat.

You shall do likewise

with your vineyard

and with your olive orchard.

This is an extension

of the fourth commandment

of the 10 commandments,

the Sabbath principle

of working for six days

but resting

on the seventh day.

For six years

the Israelites

are supposed to work

the land,

but on the seventh year

they are to let

the land rest

and leave it fallow,

meaning uncultivated.

They're not supposed

to work the ground.

It's not only the people

who need rest,

this verse tells us,

even the land

needs rest.

It's supposed to rest

and observe the Sabbath.

Leviticus 25,

2-7,

which provides more details

regarding this command,

specifically says

that the land

shall keep

a Sabbath

to the Lord.

The farming benefits

of leaving a land

fallow for a time

is widely known.

When you leave the land

unworked

and unfarmed,

it restores

the nutrients,

restores organic matter

to the soil.

That's why periodically

if you have potted soil,

you have to replace it

so that your plants

can keep thriving

because it has

fresh nutrients.

It also disrupts

the pest cycle,

the pest's life cycle

because they don't have

anything to feed on

and grow on,

so they die off

and you have

pest-free ground

in which to plant.

And it also gets rid

of soil-borne pathogens

like bacteria

and fungi

and roundworms

that infect plant roots.

The land also

needs rest.

But this is not

the reason

that is given

explicitly here

in this context

for letting the land

lie fallow.

The reason God gives here

is in verse 11,

that the poor

of your people

may eat

and what they leave,

the beasts

of the field

may eat.

You might be wondering,

well,

if they're not farming

on the seventh year,

what is there to eat?

And the answer is that

in the way

the Israelites

in the ancient world

farmed,

inevitably there would

be seeds spilled

during the harvest

and there would be

some natural growth

without any intervention

from human beings.

And so there would be

crops that they could

eat of.

And the Israelites

were allowed to forage

and eat,

but they were never

to harvest that

on the seventh year

so that there's enough

left for the poor

among them to eat

and after them

even the beasts

of the field

to eat.

So the same principle

applied for

the olive orchards

with the olives

and also the vineyards

with the grapes.

And it's not only

on the seventh year

that the poor

get to eat

because God

in Deuteronomy 24,

19 commands this,

when you reap

your harvest

in your field

and forget a sheaf

in the field,

you shall not go back

to get it.

It shall be for

the sojourner,

the fatherless,

and the widow

that the Lord

your God

may bless you

in all the work

of your hands.

So even during

the normal harvest times,

the Israelites

were forbidden

from returning

to collect

dropped sheaves

in the field.

They were to leave it

so that the poor

among them

can collect it

and eat.

So then in the six years

of work,

as well as on the seventh year

when they are resting,

God makes specific

provisions for the poor

among the Israelites.

It would have been tempting

for the Israelites

to harvest the crops

that are growing

unsupervised on their land

during the year of rest.

You know,

they could have

thought to themselves,

well, it is my land

after all,

and it is growing

on my land,

so let me just go there

and pick the field clean

and I could have

the produce

for my family.

But that exactly,

that attitude

is exactly the problem.

In that same chapter

in Leviticus 25,

when God commands

the Sabbath year

for the land

and the year of Jubilee,

God says in verse 23,

the land shall not be sold

in perpetuity

for the land is mine.

For you are strangers

and sojourners with me.

That's an amazing concept.

God does not want

the Israelites to forget

that the land

that they're living on

is actually God's land.

God gave it to them.

God owns it.

And they are living

on it as sojourners.

They're mooching off of God.

They are aliens

and sojourners in the land.

So the Sabbath year

for the land

is a reminder

to the Israelites

of this theological reality.

We need to remember this

about,

not only about the ground,

but all the gifts,

in fact,

that God has given us as well.

It's easy for us to think,

well,

I worked hard

to earn this money,

so I'm going to keep

every dollar for myself,

but not so fast.

Walden Wall,

who wrote a book

called Money and the Gospel,

says this,

one of the great

presumptuous sins

of humanity

is the thinking

that we create success

and influence

and wealth.

This is completely false.

The blessings we have,

even if we work

to acquire them,

are all from God's hand.

Have you ever wondered

why you were born

where you were born

or how you came

to have the talent you have

or the intellect

or the opportunities

or the health

or the money?

Everything comes

from the hand of God,

even if we work hard.

So your land

is not yours.

Your job

is not yours.

Your house

is not yours.

Your car

is not yours.

Your intellect

is not yours.

Your talents

are not yours.

Your health,

even,

is not ultimately yours.

Ultimately,

they are all gifts

from God.

So,

we are right

to ask ourselves,

what do you have

that you did not receive?

And if then

you received it,

why do you boast

as if you did not receive it?

If we feel entitled

to what we own,

we will not be generous

toward the poor.

But if we are grateful

for what we own

because we recognize them

properly as the gifts

that they are,

then we can be free

to be generous.

But it's not only

the poor

that God is looking after.

Verse 11 adds,

and what they leave,

what the poor leave,

the beasts

of the field

may eat.

There is a clear

priority here,

lest we forget.

The poor people

get to eat

from the field

first,

and only afterward,

the beasts

of the field

are to be allowed

to eat

the leftover.

People created

in the image of God

are more valuable

than animals

who are not created

in the image of God.

So,

we should be

more concerned

about human welfare

than animal welfare.

But with that said,

it is remarkable

that in the law of God,

God himself

here is speaking,

and God himself

deigns to address

the welfare

of the wild beasts

of the field.

God cares even

for the jackals

of the field.

The God who governs

the hundreds

of billions

of galaxies

in the universe

and probably more

ensures that even

the wild beasts

have something to eat.

This highlights

God's providential care

and encourages

a generous spirit

of creation stewardship

among us.

I have three daughters,

which means

I watch

many princess movies,

which I enjoy

more than I care

to admit.

And one of our

household favorites

is a live action

version of Cinderella

from 2015

with Lily James.

You guys might not

have seen it

because it's not

actually on Disney Plus

due to some

copyright issues.

And in the movie,

Cinderella's stepmother

and stepsisters

are too miserly

to share

even their

meager portions

that are left over

with Cinderella.

But Cinderella,

in contrast,

is so open-handed

and generous

that she even

shares her portion,

which is

the crumbs

and the leftover

from her stepmother

and sisters,

she shares that

openly with even

the mice

in her own house.

And Cinderella

names and feeds

those pests

of the house,

jack and goose,

so that one of them

gets fat.

And Cinderella

sharing food

with the mice

shows her,

it's supposed to

reveal her

generous and

selfless spirit

in stark contrast

to the stingy,

shriveled heart

of the stepmother.

We are drawn

to generous characters

like that.

Why?

Because she

resembles God

who cares

even

for the jackals.

And if God

so cares

for the wild beasts,

will such an

attentive,

loving,

generous God

neglect us

who are made

in his own image?

And that's why

Jesus says

in Matthew 6,

25 to 26,

therefore I tell you,

do not be anxious

about your life,

what you will eat

or what you will drink

or about your body,

what you will put on.

Is not life

more than food

and the body

more than clothing?

Look at the birds

of the air.

They do not sow

or reap

or stow away

in barns

and yet

your heavenly

Father

feeds them.

The God

the Father

is not the bird's

father,

but he is

your father.

Will he

neglect

you?

God is no

Scrooge.

So see here

in these verses,

God's generous

heart

toward you

and don't

ever think

of him

as a begrudging

or stingy

God.

This leads us

to the principle

of the Sabbath

day in verse 12.

Again,

it begins

with the number

six,

six days.

You shall

do your work,

but on the seventh

day you shall

rest,

that your ox

and your donkey

may have rest,

and the son

of your servant

woman and the alien

may be refreshed.

This is again

an elaboration

of the fourth

commandment.

Remember the

Sabbath day,

keep it holy,

working for six

days and ceasing

from work on

the seventh

day.

There when God

gave the fourth

commandment in

Exodus 20,

he gave this

specific rationale

which is in the

background here.

For in six

days the Lord

made heaven and

earth,

the sea and all

that is in them,

and rested on

the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord

blessed the

Sabbath day and

made it holy.

So God

himself,

we need to

remember,

needs no rest.

God didn't rest

because he was

tired.

We know this

because Isaiah

40, 28 tells us

that God neither

faints nor is

weary.

He never gets

weary.

He never faints.

He never tires.

And Jesus

confirms this in

John 5, 17 when

he tells the

Pharisees who are

criticizing him for

healing on the

Sabbath that my

father is working

even this day.

God the Father

works on the

Sabbath.

He doesn't take

days off.

However,

for our benefit,

because we as

human beings,

finite creatures,

need rest,

God the Father

rested on the

seventh day of

his creation.

The Sabbath is a

reminder that we

are not all

powerful, that we

are not indefatigable

or indispensable

like we think we

are.

When even God

rested on the

seventh day from

his work of

creation, do we

really have the

audacity to say

that our work is

so important, that

I am so important

that I can't afford

to take a day of

rest?

The world will not

stop spinning because

we stopped working.

This rationale for

the fourth

commandment is in

the background here,

but a different

reason is in the

foreground in this

verse.

Why must Israelites

rest and not

work on the

seventh day, that

your ox and your

donkey may have

rest, and the

son of your

servant woman and

the alien may be

refreshed.

So here the

concern that is

emphasized is love

of neighbor.

Not only do we

need rest, the

people who work

for us need rest.

The son of your

servant woman, the

alien, they need

refreshment.

This is necessary

because if we're

working, then other

people who are under

our charge and care

have to work as

well, imagine

having a manager, I

think some of you

guys have this,

imagine having a

manager who never

stops working.

You're on vacation,

ping, hey, have you

done this?

Weekends, evenings,

early mornings, all

hours of the night, you

get emails, pings on

your Slack, work Slack,

have you done this?

You would never be

able to rest because

your boss hasn't

stopped working.

You'll be constantly

stressed that you're

not doing enough work,

that you need to be

doing more and more

work.

It's for this reason

that we need to think

of people who are

under our care and

under our charge and

rest for their sake

also so that they may

be refreshed.

And once again, God

demonstrates his care

even for the animals.

He says that we should

rest so that your ox and

your donkey may have

rest.

Even farm animals, just

beasts, they need

rest.

And if God is concerned

about making sure that

the livestock get

necessary rest, how

much more do you think

God cares about your

rest, about your

well-being, about your

refreshment?

The Sabbath was so

important for the

Israelites that later in

Exodus 34, they're

specifically commanded not

to work even in the

busiest months of the

agricultural calendar,

during the plowing time,

in the harvest time.

The most time-sensitive

periods in an

agricultural society,

that's when the ox and

donkeys are the busiest

working.

But even then, you must

cease working on the

seventh day and rest.

Even then, you must let

your animals rest on the

seventh day.

That's the seventh year

and the seventh day.

After addressing those

two things, verses 14 to

19 turn their attention

to the three feasts that

they are to celebrate

throughout the year.

And verses 14 to 16 are

paralleled by verses 17 to

19.

This is important, and I'm

going to bring it up again

later.

Both paragraphs begin with

the word three.

Three times in the year you

shall keep a feast to me.

Three times in the year

shall all your males appear

before the Lord God.

Women and children can

come, but the males were

required to be there.

Presumably, their wives

are holding down the fort

home while they represent

their households in the

temple or before the

presence of God.

And so this parallel

structure between the two

sections, verses 14 to 16

and 17 to 19, suggests

that the three sentences

in verses 18 to 19

actually correspond to

the three feasts mentioned

in verses 15 to 17.

So first is the feast of

unleavened bread.

It says in verse 15,

As I commanded you, you

shall eat unleavened bread

for seven days at the

appointed time in the month

of Abib.

For in it you came out of

Egypt.

None shall appear before me

empty-handed.

In Exodus 12, God already

gave detailed instructions and

rationale for this feast.

The seven day of the feast

of unleavened bread immediately

followed the celebration of

the Passover.

The Passover day when God

struck down the firstborn

sons of Egypt as retribution

for not letting the firstborn

son of God, Israel, go.

And so because of that,

Egyptians let the Israelites

go in a hurry, fearing for

their lives.

And so the Passover was when

the Israelites sacrificed an

unblemished lamb as kind of an

atoning sacrifice.

And they daubed the blood of

the lamb on their doors and

the angel of death when he

came through to destroy the

firstborns, firstborn males of

Egypt, spared the Israelites

because they saw the blood of

the lamb.

That was the Passover day and

the Israelites celebrated that

annually by slaughtering a lamb

and eating it.

And the seventh day, seventh day

unleavened bread, the feast of

unleavened bread immediately

followed the Passover and

sometimes they're combined and

they're called together called

the feast of the Passover or the

feast of the unleavened bread.

And this was the rationale for

the feast of unleavened bread in

Exodus 12, 33 to 34.

It says because the Egyptians

ushered the Israelites out of

Egypt in haste and they left in

such a hurry that they had no

time to leaven their bread.

They had no time to leaven the

bread and let the dough rise.

And so that's why they had to eat

unleavened bread when they were

exiting Egypt.

And so to commemorate that, they

are now to for seven days eat

only unleavened bread.

They came out of Egypt in the

month of Abiv, which is now the

has reset the Jewish calendar.

That's when the Jewish calendar

begins after the Exodus.

And that's when they are to

celebrate the Passover.

It's the Jewish equivalent of

Independence Day where they were

freed from the yoke of the

Egyptian tyranny.

And the command none shall appear

before me empty handed is a

reference to the sacrifice that

participants in the feast were to

offer to God.

In fact, this command applies to

all three of the feasts because

according to more detailed

instructions found elsewhere in

Leviticus 23, Numbers 20, 29,

Deuteronomy 16, each of these

three feasts require the offering up

of sacrifice.

And each of these three feasts

specifically require the sacrifice

of a year old male lamb without

blemish.

Just like the Passover.

As I mentioned earlier, verses 14

to 16 are paralleled by verses 17

to 19 and both paragraphs begin

with the word three.

And the three specific instructions

given in 18 to 19 correspond to the

three feasts outlined in verses 15

to 17.

So verse 18 then corresponds directly

to the feast of unleavened bread.

And you can see that it's

confirmed by what it says because

it says offering anything unleavened

with the sacrifice is prohibited.

It says you shall not offer the

blood of my sacrifice with anything

leavened or let the fat of my feast

remain until the morning.

Not letting the leftovers of the

lamb remain until the morning is

also parallel to the instruction that

God gave to the Israelites about

the feast of unleavened bread in

Exodus 12.

They were supposed to burn up any

leftover instead of letting it

remain to maybe rot until the next

day to spoil and it has to be thrown

out or maybe they eat leftovers

the following day.

If they did that, it would cheapen

the sacrificial meal.

It would make it seem common and

ordinary.

And so burning the leftovers kind of

blazoned in their mind the reality

that this is a holy meal.

This is a sacrificial meal and is

offered to God and shared in his

presence.

So no leaven is allowed and no

leftovers are allowed.

The second of the three major

pilgrimage feasts that the

Israelites are to celebrate is the

feast of harvest or the feast of

first fruits of your labor of what

you sow in the field as it says in

verse 16.

This feast came at the beginning of

the harvest season and according to

more detailed instructions in the

chapters I mentioned earlier, this

feast was inaugurated.

It started when the sickle is first

put to the standing grain.

So the very first crop of the

harvest that you get is the first

fruits.

That's when you begin the feast.

And you are supposed to bring those

first fruits to God as an offering

and you are supposed to wave it

before him.

And you brought the first, I mean

that would have been tempting for

them as well because if you are like

me and you like to plan for the

future, you like to have emergency

supplies and savings, well you don't

know what's going to happen to the

rest of your field.

What if there's hail, locusts, and the

rest of your produce get destroyed?

Well here you have the first fruits,

maybe if I store this up at least I'll

have some in case some disaster

happens for the rest of the year.

It would have been tempting to have

that mindset but not according to this

first.

It says God commands us to offer the

first fruits, the feast of first fruits,

the first fruits of our ground we are to

bring to God as an offering.

So after the first fruits are waved,

you're supposed to count down seven

weeks.

And after the seven weeks, so 49 days,

on the 50th day, they were to offer

more sacrifices.

That's why sometimes this feast is

instead called the feast of weeks.

Or it's also called Pentecost, which is

the way it's referred to in the New

Testament because it comes from the

Greek word for 50.

On the 50th day, they celebrate.

So the feast of first fruits, the feast

of weeks, feast of harvest, Pentecost is

all referring to the same feast.

Now by bringing the first fruits offerings,

they're giving it as a pledge of trust

to God.

And the first fruits offering is also to

be from the best of the first fruits,

it says.

Not the worst of your first fruits.

It's supposed to be the cream of your

crop, not the crumbs of your crop.

As I've been saying throughout our series

in the book of Exodus, these laws are not

legally binding on Christian as laws because

they are stipulations of the old covenant.

And we are under the new covenant, under

the law of Christ.

For this reason, everything in the Old

Testament, including these verses, have

to be interpreted through and applied

through the lens of Jesus who has fulfilled

the whole law, fulfilled all of the

scriptures and have brought it to its

intended purpose and goal.

With that said, this is still the inspired

word of God.

And it teaches us about God's character.

And it gives us ideas about how we might

honor God.

So do you have a desire to honor God in this

way?

To bring him the first fruits and not the

leftovers?

My mom instilled this in me and my sister when

we were growing up from an early age.

Whenever we started a new job, she encouraged us

to give the entire first paycheck as an offering

to God in the church as a first fruits offering.

And she encouraged us to give the first 10% of

your income at the beginning of the year.

Not beginning of the month, the first 10% to

God instead of giving the leftovers.

And before taxes, before the government takes its

portion.

And this is what Hannah and I have done throughout

our entire marriage.

And I say this not to boast but to set an example

and to show you what this in some limited way looks

like.

And we do this not because we have to, but because

we get to.

Because we want some way to express to God that you

are first in my life.

Because we want some way to be able to acknowledge

and say to God that everything I have comes from you.

You're the giver of every good gift.

It brings me so much joy and pleasure to be able to give

it to God.

And God has blessed us abundantly and we have never

known any lack.

Do you want to give the first place in your life to God?

Do you want to give the best of your life to God?

I've heard some people say after, you know, after I've had

a career, have made some money and maybe raised a family.

Well, then after that, I will serve the Lord in ministry.

Or after that, I will consider going into the mission field.

But why wait until you're old?

You might not even live that long.

Why not give the prime of your life, the best of your youth

to God?

And then trust God to take care of the rest.

The third and final major feast the Israelites were to

celebrate was a feast of ingathering at the end of the year,

most likely the end of the agricultural year because it

comes at the end of the harvest around September, October.

This feast is more commonly called the feast of tabernacles

or the feast of booths because during the harvest,

Israelites set up booths, tabernacles, tents in the field

for the farmers, the harvesters to take shelter in.

So this would be the modern equivalent of our Thanksgiving

or other similar harvest festivals throughout the world.

And following the pattern we have observed so far,

verse 18 gives specific instructions for the feast of unleavened bread.

And verse 19a, giving specific instructions for the feast of weeks,

that leads us to conclude following the pattern that verse 19b

is most likely specifically connected to the feast of booths.

That's the third feast and that's the third specific instruction

given in the parallel section.

But the connection is not immediately apparent

because the instruction is quite curious.

It says,

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

Right?

I'm pretty sure some of you guys, when I read that,

are just like, what in the world is that?

And, well, unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you

that is sure, you know, that is perfectly,

I mean, I'm not sure that this is right.

I think it's plausible.

In the 12th century AD, Jewish philosopher Maimonides,

many scholars follow his line of reasoning that

Maimonides argued that forbidding the Israelites

from boiling a young goat, a goat kid, in its mother's milk

had to do with ancient Near Eastern pagan rituals,

fertility rituals, which involved boiling a goat in its mother's milk.

And there's a chance that a ritual similar to that

is described in an ancient Ugaritic text.

The text is fragmented, so it's not perfectly clear

that that's what it's referring to, but it's possible

that some pagan rituals involved boiling a young goat in its mother's milk.

And it's plausible that that's some kind of fertility ritual

because life, you know, milk represents life

and a young goat also represents fertility.

This is possible but impossible to prove.

Another possible reason is that there's just something perverse

about boiling a young goat in its own mother's milk.

The young goat is supposed to be fed and nourished by the mother's milk,

not cooked in it.

Plus, it seems so greedy to consume both the mother's goat

and the kid and the mother's milk in one dish.

So this may be yet another command in this passage

where God is enjoining the responsible stewardship of creation,

being merciful even to the animals.

The way this section of the book of the covenant

is structured in parallel format, as I've been mentioning,

six years, six days, three feasts, three feasts,

they bring the focus intentionally to verse 13,

which is the centerpiece, the crux of this passage.

And this is the main takeaway really of the passage.

And it says in verse 13,

pay attention to all that I have said to you

and make no mention of the names of other gods,

nor let it be heard on your lips.

Not only are the Israelites to not worship other gods,

they are not even to mention their name on their lips.

Their name should not even be heard on the lips of the Israelites.

And that's really the purpose of the Sabbath year

and the Sabbath day and the feasts of unleavened bread

and weeks and booths.

They are designed to remind them of God's faithful provision for them

and reaffirm their exclusive allegiance to him.

Remember that.

This is what God says.

Remember that at this point of the Exodus,

the Israelites are not yet in the promised land.

And yet, almost all of the instructions here in this passage

pertain to when the Israelites come into possession of the promised land.

Right now, they don't own any land that they can leave fallow on the seventh year.

Right now, they don't have any harvest to give thanks to God for.

But God gives these instructions in anticipation of the fact

that he will fulfill his promises

as if they have already been fulfilled.

Because when God promises something,

it is as good as done.

God is saying to the Israelites,

remember how I provided manna for you daily in the wilderness

and a double portion for you on the sixth day

so that you can rest and still have food to eat on the seventh day.

Remember that.

Remember that.

And when you come to possess Canaan,

let the land lie fallow.

Give it rest and trust in my provision for you.

Remember how I struck down Egypt with a mighty arm at the Passover day

and how you were ushered out so quickly from Egypt

that you had to eat unleavened bread.

Well, remember that.

And when you come into possession of the land of Canaan,

celebrate these feasts.

Eat unleavened bread for seven days

so you will not forget that it was Yahweh

who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

And it is Yahweh who provided this land for you.

And it is Yahweh who provided the harvest for you.

Not Baal, not Asherah,

or any of the other idols of the surrounding nations.

That's the point of these feasts.

Pay attention to all that I have said to you.

Note the contrast here.

Pay attention to all that I have said to you

and make no mention at all of the other gods.

God demands absolute exclusive allegiance

because he deserves nothing less

and will not countenance anything less than that.

Who or what are the idols in your life

that you look to as your redeemer and provider?

In theory, you might say that God is your deliverer.

God is your savior and redeemer.

But functionally, do you relate to God that way?

Or are you finding your identity in something else

or someone else?

Do you live in fear like you need to save

and deliver yourself from your slavery, sin, and death?

In theory, you might say that God is your provider.

But functionally, do you relate to God that way?

Do you really rest in his provision?

Or are you always wrecked with anxiety

because you feel that you are your own provider?

Or maybe you're in a codependent relationship

and look to your partner as your ultimate provider

rather than God.

Jesus has fulfilled all of these holy days

and years and feasts for us.

And that's why Paul writes in Colossians 2.16,

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.

We no longer need to observe these feasts and Sabbaths

because these feasts were intended to point forward

to the coming of Jesus.

And Jesus has already come

and he has already fulfilled these feasts.

He has already fulfilled the whole law.

That's why in 1 Corinthians 5.68,

Paul references the feast of unleavened bread

and the Passover

when he tells the Corinthians

to purge their church of sexual immorality.

He says this,

Do you not know that a little leaven

leavens a 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, the unblemished Passover lamb of God,

has been sacrificed on the cross

for our sins, for our forgiveness.

And because of that,

we have been redeemed from our slavery to sin and death.

We ought to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread,

not with the literal feast,

but by removing the leaven of malice and evil from our lives

and replacing them with the unleavened bread

of sincerity and truth.

Because Jesus rose from the dead

and ascended to the right hand of the Father

far above the heavenly places,

and because Jesus, after ascending,

sent down the Holy Spirit

that he had promised to us

at, do you guys remember what feast?

The feast of weeks, feast of first fruits.

That's why Romans 8.23 describes those who believe in Jesus Christ

as those who have the first fruits of the Spirit.

We have the first fruits of the Spirit.

The Spirit of God indwelling us

is the guarantee of the full harvest that is coming,

of the full inheritance that God has promised us

that we will inherit and receive.

That's why it says in that same verse,

in Romans 8.23,

we who have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit

groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons,

the redemption of our bodies.

Are you groaning right now?

Are you grieving right now

because of your suffering and affliction?

Do you have unanswered questions in your life

because you're living in this time

between Jesus' two comings?

You can have hope

because you have the first fruits of the Spirit.

All the answers are coming.

The full harvest is coming

because you already have the first fruits.

And Jesus also fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles.

It is no coincidence

that Solomon built his temple

and dedicated it during the Feast of Boots

or the Feast of Tabernacles

in 1 Kings 8.65.

The Feast of Boots came to be connected

to Israel's wilderness wanderings

because while they were wandering the wilderness,

they built boots and tents for themselves

and they built the tabernacle,

the tent of God.

And so Solomon,

when he is dedicating the newly built temple,

he is very intentionally superseding

the tabernacle of old.

This is the dwelling place of God.

And in the new covenant

that Jesus brought about,

it says in 1 Corinthians 3.16

that we, God's people,

are God's temple

and the Spirit dwells in us.

And according to 1 Peter 2,

God is currently building us up

as a spiritual house,

as the house of the Spirit

with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone.

Jesus is the one who fulfilled

all of these feasts,

all of these laws.

And he is the rightful object

of our exclusive allegiance

and attention

as told here in verse 13,

pay attention to all that I have said to you

and make no mention of the names of other gods

nor let it be heard on your lips.

So let's remember

God's faithful provision in the past

so that we can live with faith

and hope in the fulfillment

of his promises for the future.

Let's pray together.

Father,

yes, Father,

thank you for sending your son,

your only son, Jesus.

It's because of him

that we know

the cleansing,

the atoning blood

of the Passover lamb

and we have been washed clean.

It's because of him

that we have

the first fruits of the Spirit.

And we know

that that day is coming

when our faith

will be turned to sight,

when our prayers

will be turned to praise,

when what is not yet

will be reality.

Thank you for gathering us

and building us up

as a house for your Spirit.

Oh God,

all of these privileges

we enjoy because of Jesus

and we love him.

We want to honor him.

We want to give him our very best.

We want to show him

that he is our first,

our only Lord and Savior.

So help us to do that, Father.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.