Faithbase

Hey y'all, we are still in our series of the chosen. We are in season 2 episode 4 and that episode is called the perfect opportunity. Now this episode covers the Jewish celebrations and what are called the pilgrimage festivals where people would come like physically travel to Jerusalem for Passover specifically right here in the spring and the way that this one there's other celebrations I really y'all I really want to go into it. I am studying Deuteronomy right now because I really we're going to do a Deuteronomy series next. I know if you know what Deuteronomy is it is okay. It is not scary. It is not bad. It actually is all so so so good and points to a loving gracious merciful God. If you don't know what Deuteronomy is just keep on rocking. I will tell you so as I was sitting there doing my study for Deuteronomy. I went down a four page rabbit hole trying to understand the festivals and the feasts. I am going to go into detail on that in another day and time. However, I do not want us to miss this. If you have not watched I can't remember if I just said this. If you have not watched The Chosen or you're choosing not to no big deal but if you would like to episode 4 of season 2 does a beautiful job of explaining with the physical you know the people are there they're acting it out and kind of talking through the Feast of Tabernacles and so it kind of helps you put a frame of reference or a slight understanding around something that is completely foreign to us 2,000 years after it used to happen. So anyway, basically the the month of what they for them was Nassan. Nassan was like the March April timeframe for what for us and basically it was when they would harvest the wheat and so listen to this on the 14th of Nassan they would have Passover. I'm so tempted to go down that rabbit hole just not just Passover. Okay, I'm gonna stop the 15th of Nassan. They would take a Sabbath rest to prepare themselves for what was going to happen next. The 16th was the start of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. And so the Festival of Unleavened Bread would last for seven days. They were to eat bread without leaven for seven days and then conclude with a Sabbath. But at the same time, so you have the 14th Passover, the 15th Sabbath, the 16th is the Festival of Unleavened Bread and the 17th was the Feast of First Fruits. This was where they would get the very first I forget the words and I'd butcher it anyway, but basically the first bit of wheat from their wheat harvest and they would wave that in front of God as an offering to say you get the best you have provided for this wheat. We thank you by giving you the best the first and remembering God doesn't mean the wheat. It was to remember how wonderful and how loving and how I don't remember what word I was about to say, but how amazing God is. That was the point. God loves a party. I'm just going to say I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole. I have so many I want to go down, but God loves a party. Jesus's first miracle was at a wedding celebration that lasted for a week. Okay, God loves a good party. He loves when we get together with our community with our family and our friends and we just celebrate this beautiful life that he has given us. Get yourself a backyard barbecue on the calendar friends because or chili cook off maybe at this time of year. God loves it when we have a good party and just laugh and enjoy life. Now, I did go digging and this is what I wanted to say. So the 17th of Nisan was the festive the feast of first fruits where the on that day they would wave a sheaf. That's the word in front of God as an offering. The 17th of Nisan was also the day that Noah's Ark came to rest on earth after the flood. It was the first fruit of new life. After the Exodus, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on the 17th of Nisan leaving death, slavery, brokenness behind and walking into the first fruits. They were the first of a brand new life with God as his people. While they're in the desert, the manna stopped on the 16th of Nisan because on the 17th, they got to feast on the grain of the promised land. And then Haman in the book of Esther, Haman sent out the decree to kill all Israelites. It went out on the 13th of Nisan. Esther then proclaims a fast for three days in preparation for going to the king to keep her people from being exiled like slaughtered completely. So the fast would have been the 14, 15, 16th. The 17th was when the tables turned and Esther saved her people, the first fruits of new life. Y'all, how amazing is that? That little tiny detail, the fact that that's the 17th all the way back from Noah to the Israelites to Esther and throughout history, they would celebrate this year after year after year. And then Jesus, because Jesus was, would have been killed on, let's see, I wrote it somewhere. Okay. He celebrated Passover with his disciples on the 14th. He would have been killed on the 15th. There would have been a Sabbath on the 16th and Jesus's resurrection. The first fruit was on the 17th new life. Is that not amazing y'all? The intimate teeny tiny details that God uses to show over and over and over. Give me the old, all the old baggage that you carry. Give it to me. Step into new life. Y'all that is definitely worth celebrating.