Lesson 23 Part 1

Bible Correspondence Course Lesson 23Part 1 Why Christians Should Keep God’s Holy Days

Why did God institute the WEEKLY Sabbath and, later, seven ANNUAL Sabbaths? What do they picture? Were GOD’S Holy Days for ancient Israel only, or are they also for the New Testament Church of God? GOD created mankind for a stupendous, awe-inspiring purpose! That incredible purpose was first revealed when man was created. God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Your Bible here reveals that God is reproducing Himself through man. God made us for the purpose of fashioning and molding us into His character "image"—ultimately to be born as spirit-composed members of His universe-ruling Family! But this creative work takes time. To accomplish this wonderful purpose in mankind, God has allotted 7,000 years—seven millennial "days" (2 Peter 3:8).

During the first 6,000 years since Adam’s sin, God has allowed humanity to go its own way, do its own thing, govern itself by its own laws, as influenced by Satan. During the last 1,000 years, man will be ruled directly by Jesus Christ and the saints. Satan will then be completely restrained from broadcasting his evil attitudes to people. The Bible reveals that God instituted for His Church certain days that picture His purpose for human life, and the plan by which He is accomplishing that purpose.

Weekly Sabbath Pictures God’s Purpose When God set apart and made holy the seventh-day Sabbath for man (Genesis 2:2-3;Mark 2:27), He gave mankind a day of rest that has great significance. To His "Church in the wilderness"—the congregation of ancient Israel (Acts 7:38)--God revealed that Sabbath keeping would be a "sign" between Him and His people (Exodus 31:16-17). This sign is a proof of identity. Keeping the weekly Sabbath reminds us that God is the Creator of all things, including man. It is also a major sign identifying the true people of God! The Sabbath also pictures to God’s people the soon-coming Millennium, when mankind will experience "rest" from war, poverty, fear and suffering. This 1,000-year period will be the seventh millennial "day"—the "Sabbath"--of God’s 7,000-year "week." It is then that the knowledge of God’s wonderful purpose will fill the earth (Isaiah 11:9). But the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath has even further significance and meaning. It also looks forward to the completion of God’s spiritual creation in man. The Sabbath is a type of the Christian’s future spiritual "rest"—of being born into the divine Kingdom or Family of God! When born of God’s Spirit, we will no longer be working against the weaknesses of our present mortal flesh. With spirit-composed bodies, we will never become tired or weary. We’ll always be alert and active! The Bible also reveals that God set apart and made holy certain other days of the year in addition to the weekly Sabbath.

Annual Holy Days Picture God’s Master Plan

God has a Master Plan by which He is fulfilling His awesome purpose for mankind. And His Son, Jesus Christ, plays the central role in God’s little-known plan for man.

God’s plan is revealed by seven annual festivals. These annual observances give a step-by-step outline of how God is working out His Master Plan for man. Each vividly pictures a great event in God’s plan. It was not until after the Israelites were delivered from Egypt that God revealed the rest of His annual festivals. As God made the weekly Sabbath for man when man was made, so He gave His people seven annual festivals, with their annual Holy Days (Sabbaths), when He established the Church (or congregation of Israel) in the wilderness. But Israel, under the covenant made at Sinai, had no promise of receiving the Holy Spirit, and therefore could not understand the spiritual meaning of these annual observances.

Regardless of carnal Israel’s lack of understanding, God’s annual Holy Days were ordained to be kept FOREVER! Christ kept them. The New Testament Church, founded by Jesus in A.D. 31, kept them. And God’s Church keeps them today!

Just as the weekly Sabbath is a "sign" between God and His people, so are the annual Holy Days (Exodus 31:13). They are the "feasts of the LORD"— "my feasts," said God (Leviticus 23:2,Leviticus 23:4).

These feasts are, as the God of the Old Testament said in Leviticus 23:37-38,to be kept as holy convocations "beside the [weekly] sabbaths of the LORD"! And as we learned in Lesson 17, God’s festivals, which are a part of God’s Law, were not done away with when the Sinaitic Covenant ceased to be in force at Christ’s death. The whole story of God’s marvelous plan is to be reenacted year after year by God’s Spirit-begotten children—spiritual Israel today—through the keeping of God’s Holy Days. The observance of these days reminds them of His great Master Plan and their part in it.

God’s Spiritual Harvests In the land settled by ancient Israel (later known as Palestine and now occupied by the modern state of Israel), there is a small spring grain harvest followed by a much larger late summer and autumn harvest. These yearly agricultural harvests are symbolic of God’s spiritual "harvests" of mankind!

Today, we can understand from the teachings of Christ and the apostles that God intends the spring festivals to illustrate that all those He has called to become His Spirit-begotten children before Christ’s Second Coming are only the "firstfruits" harvest (James 1:18)--only the relatively small beginning of His spiritual harvest of individuals into His divine Family. The festivals of the much larger autumn harvest season picture God’s calling of thousands of millions of humanity to salvation and Sonship in His glorious Family after Christ’s return. In Leviticus 23:1-44, we find a summary of these annual festivals. The first three, beginning with the Passover, are memorials of the first part of God’s Master Plan. They picture the firstfruits of Christ’s labors. The last four festivals look forward to the future and show how and when God will reap the great autumn harvest of people into His Family!

Holy Days Preserved for God’s Church The ancient Israelites, in general, did not understand God’s great purpose for mankind. Nor did they understand the spiritual significance of the steps within God’s Master Plan as pictured by His annual Holy Days. God did not reveal this spiritual understanding to them (Ephesians 3:4-5)because it was not yet His time to give them His Holy Spirit. Then why did Christ give God’s Law and Holy Days to ancient Israel? The Bible tells us that the "oracles"—the Old Testament Scriptures, which include the knowledge of God’s weekly Sabbath, annual Sabbaths and festivals, and God’s true calendar—were given to Israel to be passed on from generation to generation. The Israelites, as we read in Acts 7:38,"received the lively oracles to give unto us [New Testament Christians]." But more than seven centuries later, the house of Israel went into Assyrian captivity, losing their identity and their knowledge of God. They did not preserve the Hebrew or Old Testament Scriptures nor God’s calendar for Christians today. Then who did? The Jews! The house of Judah—the Jews—which became separated from the nation Israel after the death of Solomon, went into Babylonian captivity during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar about 120 years later. But Judah retained the knowledge of her identity and her God.

Recognizing the fact that they had gone into Babylonian captivity for breaking the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:17-18), the Jews became overly strict in its observance. Even though they lacked spiritual understanding, they faithfully retained the knowledge of the true Sabbath, and preserved the Old Testament Scriptures and the true calendar.

Notice what Paul, under inspiration of God, asks: "What advantage then hath the Jew?" Then he answers in part: "Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1-2).

God used the Jews to preserve the Hebrew or Old Testament Scriptures, the weekly Sabbath and the calendar by which we may know exactly when to keep God’s Holy Days each year. Of all the tribes of Israel, God entrusted the Jews to be the carriers of this revealed knowledge for the New Testament Spirit-begotten Church!

All of God’s festivals are listed together in Leviticus 23:1-44, starting with the seventh-day Sabbath, a weekly festival. Lessons 24 through 31 will cover these important festivals thoroughly, beginning with the weekly Sabbath. An entire lesson will be devoted to each. The vital details of God’s Master Plan for fulfilling His great purpose in man will unfold for you in the coming months. This lesson will present a brief OVERVIEW of each of God’s Holy Days, focusing on their symbolic meaning and specific relevance to Christians today. Let’s begin to understand the tremendous meaning of these "feasts of the LORD"!

LESSON 23 God’s Seventh-day Sabbath As we have learned in previous lessons, God’s plan calls for the restoration of His government on earth through His divine ruling Kingdom, composed of future Spirit-born members of His Family. God’s government is based on His spiritual Law of love. It is love toward God and love toward fellowman. God’s love is further magnified by the Ten Commandments, the first four of which show us how to love God—how we are to worship Him. The fourth commandment, like the other nine, is an absolutely essential part of God’s Law. Keeping God’s seventh-day Sabbath holy is a sign that identifies those who worship the Creator God, and Him only. This is because the Sabbath is a memorial of God’s creation. But the Sabbath also looks forward to the Millennium and the completion of God’s spiritual creation in man.

Let’s begin to understand the great meaning involved in keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.

1. On which day of creation week did God rest? Genesis 2:2-3;Exodus 20:11.Did God rest because He was tired from all the work He had done during the previous six days? Isaiah 40:28.

COMMENT: God is composed of spirit and never becomes tired, as physical human beings do. Therefore He had no reason to rest except that by resting, God "made" the Sabbath and set an example for humans to follow.

2. Who in the God Family made that very first Sabbath? Colossians 1:13-16;Mark 2:27-28.

COMMENT: Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath because He made it! As we have proved in our previous studies, He was the Lord of the Old Testament and the actual Creator of all things. By ceasing to work on the seventh day of creation week, Christ set apart that 24-hour period and every seventh day afterward for a special and holy use. (The Sabbath begins at sunset, in the evening, at the close of the sixth day, and ends at sunset, in the evening, at the close of the seventh day. See Leviticus 23:32 for an example of when God begins and ends days.)

3. For whom did Jesus say the Sabbath was made? Mark 2:27.Who would that include? Exodus 20:8-10,especially Exodus 20:10.

COMMENT: "The Sabbath was made for man," declared Jesus. Every seventh day from creation was set apart by God as time to be specially observed by mankind. The Sabbath was to benefit all who would ever live, if they kept it as God intended.

4. How did Christ intend the Sabbath to benefit mankind? Deuteronomy 5:14.(Notice the word rest.)

COMMENT: The word Sabbath means "rest" in Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament was written. Physical rest and mental relaxation after a busy week are obvious reasons for keeping the Sabbath. God knew humans would need periodic rest and change from work. But the purpose for keeping God’s Sabbath goes far beyond merely resting on it. The seventh-day Sabbath has to do with God’s great purpose for creating mankind!

Man desperately needs this time each week in which to have close spiritual contact with God. The Sabbath gives us time to think more about God, to pray to Him, to worship Him (both in private and in fellowship with others) and to study the Bible to understand more about God’s awesome purpose for our lives and how to achieve it.

5. Was the observance of the Sabbath day to be a special sign of identification between God and His people? Exodus 31:13,Exodus 31:16-17. Did God also make Sabbath observance a separate covenant with His people? Exodus 31:16. Was it to be a perpetual covenant, binding forever? Exodus 31:16-17.

COMMENT: SO that the ancient Israelites would especially remember that the eternal God is Creator, Sustainer and Supreme Ruler over all His creation, God singled out Sabbath observance as the one great sign by which they would always be reminded that He is the Creator, and that they were His chosen people. It was the one commandment that would make Israel especially stand out from all other nations. So God doubly commanded Sabbath observance by making it a separate covenant, or agreement, with His people Israel. (The Sabbath was already one of the Ten Commandments God had given them earlier.) It was to be an everlasting covenant—a sign that would identify the people of God of all generations, including "spiritual Israel" today—Spirit-begotten members of God’s New Testament Church. Notice further:

6. Does the Bible plainly reveal that a real Christian is one who has become a spiritual Israelite—one of Abraham’s "seed" through Jesus Christ? Galatians 3:28-29;Romans 4:16.

COMMENT: God made the special Sabbath covenant with Abraham’s physical descendants. It was to be obeyed throughout their generations. Today, all Spirit-begotten Christians have become Abraham’s spiritual descendants and therefore keep the Sabbath! The Sabbath is a reminder of our Creator, who not only created the universe, but who is also creating His holy, righteous character in Spirit-begotten Christians—character that will endure forever when they are born into His divine Family! Thus the Sabbath reminds us every week of the Creator God and His wonderful purpose for mankind.

7. Did Jesus Christ keep the Sabbath? Luke 4:16,Luke 4:31.

COMMENT: Jesus regularly attended religious services on the Sabbath day. He obeyed His own command to meet for worship services every Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3). This is the day He would naturally observe, because He is the One who made the Sabbath and ordained that it be kept holy!

8. Was it also the Apostle Paul’s custom to keep the Sabbath? Acts 17:1-2.Is there other evidence that the early New Testament Church observed the Sabbath? Acts 13:13-16,Acts 13:42, Acts 13:44;Acts 18:1,Acts 18:4.

COMMENT: There is no question that the early New Testament Church of God observed the seventh-day Sabbath. Those who are striving to obey God today will also be keeping the same day Jesus, Paul and the entire early Church kept.

9. What is God’s warning to us in Hebrews 3:8-12,Hebrews 3:17-19? (Notice the word rest in Hebrews 3:11 and Hebrews 3:18) Was rebellion, especially Sabbath breaking, the reason God did not allow an entire generation of Israelites to enter His "rest"? Ezekiel 20:12-13,Ezekiel 20:15-16.

COMMENT: The land of Canaan—the promised "rest" Israel finally entered (Joshua 1:13)--is referred to in the Bible as a type of the Christian’s spiritual "rest"—of being born into the Kingdom or Family of God and living forever.

10. If we believe and obey God, will we enter God’s "rest"—eternal life in His Kingdom? Hebrews 4:3,first nine words, and Hebrews 4:11.

COMMENT: The equation is clear: Belief in God equals active obedience. Those who really believe God will be keeping His Sabbath!

God’s Sabbath should not be treated lightly or forgotten. We are commanded to "Remember the Sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8)because it is a memorial of God’s restoration of the earth and the creation of man. And the Sabbath pictures the coming eternal "rest" that true Christians will enter when born into the Family of God as spirit-composed children of God. They will then be free of all the physical weaknesses and limitations of this mortal life.

11. Did God command the entire nation of Israel to meet together (a "convocation") on the weekly Sabbath? Leviticus 23:3.What are New Testament Christians admonished regarding the assembling of themselves? Hebrews 10:25.

COMMENT: God’s people today attend weekly Sabbath services of the Worldwide Church of God in more than 50 nations around the world. Every Sabbath, they meet together to receive spiritual instruction from the Bible, taught by the ministry of God’s Church (Ephesians 4:11-13).

God’s people rejoice in His Sabbath and enjoy fellowshipping with each other on this day. They are learning what a great blessing it is to keep God’s Sabbath holy—the day that reminds us of the Creator God and His stupendous purpose for mankind! The Passover

Most Bible commentators and scholars agree that the many passing references to God’s annual festivals in the New Testament indicate that their observance in the early Church was known, accepted—even taken for granted. More importantly, Christ and the Church of God customarily kept the annual festivals: "In the early Christian church the propriety of celebrating the festivals together with the whole of the Jewish people was never questioned, so that it needed no special mention" (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 1, p. 628).

However, it is obvious from a study of the New Testament that God’s annual festivals took on a new significance in the apostolic Church of God. Jesus’ teaching and example gave new understanding about the meaning of these days and how they are to be observed.

Notice what The Encyclopaedia Britannica says about the early New Testament Church of God keeping the biblical festivals in a new and different way: "The sanctity of special times [such as Easter and Christmas] was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians... [who] continued to observe the Jewish festivals [of Leviticus 23:1-44], though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed" (vol. 8, p. 828, 11^th edition, emphasis ours).

1. Who does the Bible say originated these annual festivals, besides the weekly festival of the Sabbath? Leviticus 23:1-4.Did God specifically state that His annual feasts were to be observed in addition to the weekly Sabbath? Leviticus 23:37-38.

COMMENT: Notice that these are not the "feasts of the Jews" or "feasts of Moses," as some have thought. They are God’s own feasts, which God instituted and gave to His people to keep annually.

2. What is the first festival to be observed each year? Leviticus 23:5.When did God institute the first Passover? Read and summarize Exodus 12:1-14,Exodus 12:21-27.

COMMENT: The Passover, the first of God’s commanded annual festivals, pictures the beginning—the very first step—in God’s great Master Plan of salvation for mankind. The Passover was to be a yearly reminder of God’s intervention in delivering the Israelites’ firstborn from death. It also pictured, in advance, the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, "our Passover" lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7;1 Peter 1:18-19), for the sins of mankind. The sparing of the Israelites’ firstborn from the death angel through the shed blood of lambs on that first Passover is a symbolic type of our being spared today from the eternal penalty of sin (Romans 6:23)through Christ’s sacrifice.

After Jesus’ death, the Passover, celebrated with the new symbols of unleavened bread and wine, became a yearly memorial of His sacrifice, for Jesus became the reality that the Passover lamb had foreshadowed.

3. Did God command, before Sinai, that the Passover be kept forever? Exodus 12:14,Exodus 12:24. Did Jesus Christ observe the Passover? John 2:13,John 2:23.

COMMENT: Jesus kept the annual festivals. He, as the God of the Old Testament, was the One who originally gave them to Israel!

4. Did Jesus institute the New Testament Passover, with His 12 disciples present, on the night before He was crucified? Matthew 26:17-20.What was one new command He gave them regarding the observance of the Passover? John 13:1-5,John 13:14-15.

5. Did Peter, at first, refuse to allow Jesus to wash his feet? John 13:6-8. Could Peter have any relationship with Jesus unless he allowed Him to wash his feet? John 13:8. Why did Jesus institute this new observance of foot washing during His last Passover meal? John 13:12-16.

COMMENT: Open-toed sandals were the customary footwear of Jesus’ time, and so the feet would become dusty. Foot washing, upon entering a home, was a menial task that only servants performed. By washing their feet, Jesus was illustrating to His disciples that He had come to earth to serve mankind. Shortly afterward, He proved the extent of His extreme service to this world when He gave His very life for the sins of all mankind. Foot washing depicts the attitude of humility and service to others that Christ desires every Christian to have.

6. Did Jesus plainly command His disciples to wash one another’s feet? John 13:14-15.Were they to teach the world to do likewise? Matthew 28:19-20.Are those who obey Christ’s words by participating in this meaningful ceremony promised a special blessing? John 13:17; ???John 14:23.

7. What completely new way of observing the Passover did Jesus institute shortly before His death? Matthew 26:26-29.What command did He give the disciples regarding this new manner of keeping the Passover? Luke 22:19-20.Were they to teach this to the world? Matthew 28:19-20.

COMMENT: Jesus did not abolish the Passover—He merely changed the symbols used. Instead of annually shedding the blood of a lamb and eating its roasted body, we are now to use unleavened bread and wine. The New Testament Passover is to be kept as an annual memorial of Christ’s death. It reaffirms year by year "till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26)the true Christian’s faith in the blood of "Christ our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7)for the remission of sins, as symbolized by the drinking of wine.

Eating the broken bread symbolizes our faith in the body of Christ, broken open for our physical healing. Jesus Christ allowed His body to be ripped open in dozens of places by scourging until He could not even be recognized! He suffered this torture so we, through faith in His broken body for us, may have the forgiveness of our physical sins—the healing of our bodies when we are sick (Isaiah 53:5;1 Peter 2:24;Psalms 103:2-3;James 5:14-15)--in addition to the forgiveness of our spiritual sins through His shed blood. And so the broken unleavened bread is a reminder to us that it is by "his stripes we are healed." As Christ Himself commanded, true Christians today observe the Passover on the eve of the day of His suffering and death—on the 14^th day of the first month of God’s calendar, in the evening, after the beginning of the day.

(The exact date for the Passover, and all of God’s annual festivals, varies from year to year according to the Roman calendar. The correct dates for all the festivals over the next several years are listed in God’s Sacred Calendar, which you may request by sending in the literature request coupon included with this lesson.)

8. Did the Apostle Paul teach New Testament Christians to keep the Passover by partaking of the new symbols of unleavened bread and wine, as Jesus had done and commanded? 1 Corinthians 5:7-8;1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

COMMENT: The Church Jesus built kept the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread—not Easter. ("Easter" in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version is a flagrant mistranslation of the Greek word pascha. It should be rendered "Passover," as it is in all modern translations.)

9. Will the Passover be kept by Christ and others after He establishes the Kingdom of God on earth? Matthew 26:29;Luke 22:15-16.In the meantime, was the Passover to be kept as a memorial of Christ’s death? Review 1 Corinthians 11:25-26.

COMMENT: Jesus commanded His disciples to keep the Passover in remembrance of Him until He returns. The apostles did keep it, and today, God’s true Church still keeps the Passover!

Feast of Unleavened Bread The Passover, the first of God’s commanded annual festivals, pictures the beginning, the very first step, in God’s great Master Plan of salvation for mankind. It was Jesus Christ, "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7), who suffered and died for our sins. But accepting Christ’s sacrifice to pay for our sins is not enough.

Once we have repented of our sins and been forgiven by God, we must strive to forsake sin completely. We must come out of this world’s ways of sin (Revelation 18:4)--just as Israel left Egypt, a type of sin (Hebrews 11:25-26). We must be striving to put all sin away from us. That is our part in God’s Master Plan. To help keep us in the knowledge of the second step in God’s plan, Christ gave His Church the second annual feast. The observance of this feast impresses upon us that we must strive not to return to the sins Jesus paid for with His shed blood. Let’s understand.

1. What feast did God command the Israelites to keep immediately after the Passover? Exodus 12:17;Leviticus 23:6.Were they to keep it just this one time? Exodus 12:17;Exodus 13:10.

COMMENT: Notice that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was given by God before the people reached Mt. Sinai—before they even left the land of Egypt. It is also to be kept by all their succeeding generations—forever!

2. For how many days is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to continue? Exodus 12:15;Exodus 34:18;Numbers 28:16-17;Deuteronomy 16:3-4.Were the first and seventh days set apart as Holy Days—days on which the people were to assemble themselves, much the same as they would on a weekly Sabbath day? Exodus 12:16;Leviticus 23:3,Leviticus 23:7-8.

COMMENT: The first month of the Hebrew calendar, which God inspired the Jews to preserve for New Testament Christians, was called Abib or, later, Nisan. It falls sometime during the months of March and April of the Roman calendar today. The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15^th of Abib, the day after the Passover. It continues for seven days until the 21^st of Abib. Both the 15^th and the 21^st are special Sabbaths—annual "holy convocations"—days of rest and worship of God. At this point it would be well to distinguish between God’s annual festivals or feasts, and His annual Holy Days or Sabbaths. God’s Master Plan includes seven annual festivals. Two of these, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles, are seven days long. There are also seven annual Holy Days, which are Sabbaths of rest from regular work. Each of these Holy Days occurs on, or during, a festival (the Feast of Unleavened Bread has two). But the Passover, the first of the festivals, is not a Holy Day or Sabbath. (See chart below.) God’s Annual Festivals (See.Leviticus 23:1-44)

3. Were the Israelites to put all leaven and leavened food out of their homes and property, and keep it out during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Exodus 12:15-19;Exodus 13:7.

COMMENT: A leavening agent is any substance used to cause dough to rise by fermentation. Yeast, baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents.

4. Is leaven clearly a symbol for sin? Matthew 16:6,Matthew 16:11-12; Luke 12:1;1 Corinthians 5:8.

COMMENT: Leaven is often referred to in the Bible as a type of sin. Leaven puffs up—and so does sin. Unleavened bread is a flat bread that contains no leavening agent, and therefore typifies the absence of sin. And since seven is God’s special number signifying completion and perfection, the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread remind us that God wants His people to strive to put sin completely out of their lives.

5. Does God specifically command His people to eat unleavened bread during this festival? Exodus 12:15,Exodus 12:19-20; Leviticus 23:6.

COMMENT: The Israelites were not merely to remove all leavening and leavened foods from their property. That would have only symbolized putting away sin. They were commanded to eat unleavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This act of eating unleavened bread symbolizes the opposite of sin—active obedience to God!

6. Upon repentance and baptism, Christ’s sacrifice blots out all of one’s past sins. When Paul asked if we should continue in sin, what did he answer? Romans 6:15-16.What was his apostolic command? Romans 6:11-13.

COMMENT: Christ died so that we would not have to pay the penalty of eternal death (Romans 6:23). After repentance and baptism, God expects us to strive to obey His Law—to "unleaven" our lives. God does not want us to continue in sin, for Christ is not the minister of sin (Galatians 2:17).

7. Did Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, say New Testament Christians should keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread? 1 Corinthians 5:8.

8. What did Paul say that clearly shows the Church of God at Corinth was, at the time he wrote, keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread? 1 Corinthians 5:7. Notice the words "as ye are unleavened."

COMMENT: The Apostle Paul was telling the Corinthian church members to put out spiritual leaven, just as they had already put out all physical leaven in preparation for this festival. They were to keep the Feast not only with unleavened bread, but also with the spiritually "unleavened" attitude of sincerity and truth.

9. Does God want Christians to forsake this world’s way of sin? Revelation 18:4.Are we to continually strive—to expend effort and energy—to put sin out of our lives as it crops up? Hebrews 12:1,Hebrews 12:4.

COMMENT: If we are to become Spirit-born members of God’s Family, we must prove that we will obey God here and now by striving to get the spiritual leaven of sin out of our lives and keep it out! This is our part in God’s great Master Plan.

Hence, every spring the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread specially reminds Spirit-begotten Christians of their continual need to keep God’s commandments. It is a time when they symbolically renew their resolve to live in harmony with God’s Law—to rededicate their lives to continual spiritual growth and overcoming.

Pentecost—Feast of Firstfruits

God knows that to successfully put sin out of our lives and keep it out, our own human willpower and abilities are not enough. We need the spiritual power of God’s Holy Spirit to help us keep God’s spiritual Law. This is the third step in God’s Master Plan, pictured by the third annual festival, the day of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits.

1. What were God’s instructions regarding this festival? Leviticus 23:15-17,Leviticus 23:20. Was this feast a Holy Day, or Sabbath of rest, on which the people were to assemble? Leviticus 23:21. Was it to be kept by God’s people every year forever? Same verse.

COMMENT: At this point we need to understand the symbolism of a ceremony associated with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and how it ties in with the third annual festival. The meaning of this ceremony is important, although it no longer occurs since the Romans destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.

2. What kind of offering had to be presented to God before the spring harvest could begin? Leviticus 23:9-11, Leviticus 23:14.

COMMENT: As explained in the introduction of this lesson, God established His festivals in conjunction with the two annual agricultural harvests in the land of Palestine. God uses these harvests as a pattern for the two spiritual "harvests" of His great Master Plan. The physical harvests help us understand that God is not dealing with the vast majority of the world today. God is calling only a very few into His Church before Christ’s Second Coming. God intends the spring festivals to illustrate to His Church yearly that His Spirit-begotten children are the "firstfruits" of salvation (James 1:18)--the relatively small beginning of His spiritual harvest of mankind into His divine Family. The spring harvest began in the following manner: On the morning of the first day of the week (Sunday) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a sheaf of newly cut barley, cut the night before, was prepared and brought to the priest, who waved it in the air to be accepted by God. This was called the "wavesheaf offering" and represented the first of the firstfruits harvest.

Once the wavesheaf was offered, the harvest could begin. The spring harvest ended by the time of the Feast of Firstfruits, 50 days later. (The New Testament name for this festival, Pentecost, literally means "fiftieth [day].") The people gathered on this annual Sabbath to give God thanks for the firstfruits of the year’s crops He had given them. Now let’s see the interesting connection between the wavesheaf offering and, Jesus Christ.

3. Who was the first to be resurrected from the dead into God’s Family? Acts 26:23.Was He therefore the first of the firstfruits of God’s spiritual harvest? 1 Corinthians 15:20,1 Corinthians 15:23; Colossians 1:18.Therefore, are Spirit-begotten Christians clearly the firstfruits of God’s great Master Plan? James 1:18;Romans 8:23.

4. After Christ was resurrected from the dead, did He have to ascend to His Father in heaven? John 20:17.On that same day after returning from heaven, could His disciples then touch Him? Compare Matthew 28:9 with John 20:19-20,John 20:27-28.

COMMENT: This was the first day of the week (Sunday) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was on the very same morning that the wavesheaf was offered that Jesus Christ was accepted by His Father as the spiritual "wavesheaf" offering in heaven!

Christ therefore fulfilled the symbolism of the Old Testament wavesheaf offering. He was the first resurrected Son of God—the first harvested product of God’s Master Plan. He became the firstborn Son of God—the first human to complete the process of salvation and be "born again." But Jesus could not have become the captain of our salvation and our elder brother without possessing an all-important ingredient from God— something we all must have if we are to be born again as He was.

5. Could Jesus do any spiritual works, including obedience to God, with just His human strength? John 5:30;John 8:28.Where did He get the necessary power? John 14:10,last part.

COMMENT: The Father "dwelt" in Jesus through the Holy Spirit!

6. Did Christ promise the same spiritual help to His disciples? John 14:16.What is the "Comforter"? John 14:26.

7. On what day did the disciples actually receive God’s Holy Spirit? Acts 2:1-4.Did they thus become members of God’s spiritual Church? 1 Corinthians 12:12-14.

COMMENT: Fifty days after Christ was accepted in heaven, the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples just as Jesus had promised. It was on the day of Pentecost that God sent His Spirit to begin His Church—to beget and strengthen the firstfruits He was beginning to call into His Church, symbolically represented by the two "wave loaves" mentioned in Leviticus 23:17,Leviticus 23:20. The New Testament festival of Pentecost is now a memorial that commemorates the founding of the New Testament Church of God through the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It was on the day of Pentecost in A.D. 31 that the initial firstiruits of God’s spiritual harvest began to be prepared by His Spirit for "reaping" into God’s divine Family.