Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Deuteronomy 16 has a lot to say about feasts. these ancient celebrations instituted by God all those years ago.
Are infused with symbolism. of the one Messiah who would come, and what would be accomplished through him. Pastor Rich unpacks for us how these shadows pause. Point to our Lord Jesus. Let's listen in.
If you could turn in your copy of the scriptures to Deuteronomy chapter 16. That'll be the text for exposition this morning. As I was listening to that song, I was just thinking about the The beautiful thing that it is to be a beneficiary of the new covenant. That the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. to show us Christ.
And I was thinking about the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Um When they were walking with Jesus after he risen from the dead, but They were kind of blind to who he was. And he began with Moses to show Christ to them to show himself. to them. And so here we're beginning with Moses.
And we ask that the Holy Spirit open our eyes to the text. sixteen, one through twelve. Observe the month of Abib. and keep the Passover to the Lord your God. For in the month of Abe, the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
And ye shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God. From the flock or the herd. at the place that the Lord will choose to make his name dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction.
For you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. That all the days of your life you may remember the day. when you came out of the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days. nor shall any of the flesh that ye sacrifice on the evening of the first day, remain all night until morning.
You may not offer The Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you. But at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it. There you shall offer the Passover sacrifice. In the evening at sunset, At the time you came out of Egypt. and you shall cook it and eat it in the place that the Lord your God will choose.
And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. For six days you shall eat unleavened bread. And on the seventh day. There shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.
You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks. from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then ye shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God. with the tribute of a free will offering from your hand.
which ye shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter. your male servant and your female servant. the Levite who is within your towns. The Sojourner.
the fatherless. and the widow who are among you. At the place that the Lord your God will choose. to make his name dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, And you shall be careful.
to observe these statutes. Let's pray. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to see Christ. And This text that we just read. teach us to See him in.
our lives as we Walk this week. in our workplaces and our interactions with our friends. with our relatives, with our associates, and our neighbors. Help us to be a fragrance of Christ. to those around us.
It is in Christ's name I pray. Amen. Thank you, Adam, introducing us to the text this morning. Deuteronomy chapter 16 as we continue our study through this book. which is the second law.
The second rendering of the same law. And in it, in chapter 16, he's going to be covering three feasts. They are a people who worship. And a people who worship God are a people who remember what God said. Has done.
Let me say that again. a people who worship are a people who remember what God has done.
So we must live as people who remember. This is something that God specifically commands his people. How are we doing at that? What do we do we realize what we have established to intentionally remember what God has done? We are called to give thanks.
God appoints holy Holy days. In the calendar of his people, holy days. In the book of Leviticus, Throughout the whole book, as he's leading his people and establishing them, they're going through the wilderness, they're at Mount Sinai, and he gives them five sacrifices and seven feasts. Seven feasts. We're going to be looking at three of them today.
Those holy days is the Hebrew word moedim, and it's often translated in the scriptures as appointed time. times. appointed times. You might be surprised in some of the places where you find this word. And all of these feasts are more specifically delineated in Leviticus chapter 23 as God was giving the ceremonial law to his people.
But look here, for example, in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 14, and God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons. That word seasons. is appointed times. Moedim. And for days and for years.
Remember, as I began last Sunday, we talked about the Sabbath principle. One of the principles of the Sabbath is to remember that God is our Creator. He made us, and He made us for Himself. That defines my very being. And we're called to remember that.
And so the lights that he put in the sky for us in the daytime and the nighttime. Are for signs and for seasons, for days and for years. Appointed times that God has set for us. Psalm 104, verse 19. He made the moon to mark the seasons.
Moedim. Pointed times. The sun knows the time for setting.
So, as Holcroft points out, the special annual days that God appoints for his people, they are occasions not to mark great men. but rather to mark great events with God. We are called to remember what God has done. and to do it intentionally. With appointed times and seasons.
And this is why God instructs His people this way. If you were to look in Numbers chapter 10 and verse 10. He writes, On the day of your gladness also, on the day of your gladness, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets. Over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. Here it is.
They shall be a reminder of you before your God, a reminder of what? I am the Lord your God. He is our benevolent.
Sovereign. Benevolent means what? He is good. And sovereign means what? He cried.
created this universe. He purposed it. He brought us into this universe. for his glory and our good.
Okay to remember the Lord. Our God. God specifically commands his people to intentionally and regularly remember. who he is and what he has done. I mean, what happens if we Don't do that.
I'll tell you what happens. We drift. and you never drift in a positive direction. Mm.
Okay. What is the command that he gives here in all of this? If we're looking at. Deuteronomy chapter 16. And what does he repeat numerous times in this chapter?
Here it is: you shall rejoice. You shall rejoice. When we acknowledge God for who He is and for what He has done, we have cause to rejoice. Christian, listen to me. There is never a time that you don't have...
cause to rejoice. Because of what God has done. That doesn't mean we don't go through pain and suffering. But it also means that God is good, and based on what He has done, we have. Hope.
And we can have joy. And so he calls us to remember these things.
So the feasts that God established for his people. They are ways of God's people saying, Thank you. of being a grateful people. Saying thank you to the benevolent sovereign who is God and he made us, he made us for himself. And look at all the things that he has done so that we can know him.
and walk with him and enjoy him. Thank you. Seven appointed feasts, and we're going to be looking at three of them in. This text this morning, Deuteronomy chapter 16. Look with me down at verse 16, if you will.
Three times a year. All your males shall appear before the Lord. There are seven feasts in the Jewish calendar. These three are specifically pointed out, and God says, all your males shall appear. Before the Lord your God at the place that He will choose.
Here they are at the feast of unleavened bread. Passover and at the feast of weeks. And it's also known as Pentecost. And at the Feast of Booths, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot. They shall not, here it is, the males that appear before the Lord, they shall not appear before the Lord.
empty-handed. In other words, you come to give back to God. What is the point of giving back? Old hymn We give the But thine own. What did we study last time?
Sabbath. Reminds us of this. The Sabbath day reminds us that He is our Creator. The Sabbath year reminds us that all that we have belongs to Him. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace.
You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission Is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in Him. the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
