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Israel’s Three Great Festivals and Faith

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[ Deuteronomy 16:16-17]

Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.

No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed:

Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

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The Israelites who escaped from Egypt in the guidance of God lived 40 years in the wilderness. The first generations that came out of Egypt for 40 years were all dead, and the next generation, born in the wilderness, grew up to be adults.

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Moses told them that God was with them in the last wilderness life.

And Moses spoke three times about how they should enter Canaan,

the promised land of the future, and how to live.

Deuteronomy is the Bible written about this Moses' three sermons.

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In this Deuteronomy Bible, every one of the Israelites records

the festival they must observe three times a year.

Today, let's think about what these three festivals are and what they mean.

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The first says that we must keep the festival of Passover.

The Israelites suffered for a long time in the land of Egypt and slaughtered.

God liberated the people of Israel to the land of Canaan.

He made a plan to lead and called Moses the leader of the people.

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But Pharaoh, king of Egypt, did not want to hear Moses.

God brought down many disasters on the land of Egypt to allow the king of Egypt to release the Israelites. But the stubborn Pharaoh did not listen to the word of God when he was subjected to nine disasters.

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So God prepared the terrible tenth disaster. God told Moses to give the Israelites

the blood of the sheep to the doorpost of the house. The angel sent by God has killed all the firstborn of all households and the firstborn among the beasts, besides the house which the blood was painted on the doorposts.

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After he lost his eldest son, he surrendered to God and freed the people of Israel.

Thus the people of Israel became the body of liberty. The name Passover is the name given to the angel that crossed the house of the blood of the sheep.

The Passover is the festival in which God remembers and frees the Israelites from Egypt.

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In the Passover, the Israelites gave thanks to God for their salvation.

Today we keep the Easter Sunday in the same sense. Jesus burdened with our sins and died, but He was resurrected and freed us from the power of death.

Easter Sunday is also a day to thank and rejoice in the grace of God's salvation.

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The second festival that the Israelites should observe is the Festival of Weeks.

 The Festival of Weeks grants thanks to the grace of God after barley harvest.

On this day we prepare our gifts carefully and give them to God.

God has told people to give gifts that come from their heart following their blessing.

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The Festival of Weeks is also known as Pentecost.

This means that it will be '50 days' after Passover. Pentecost has another special meaning. Jesus resurrected and stayed in this land for 40 days.

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Before He ascended, Jesus gave His disciples a promise. It was a promise to send the Holy Spirit to be with the disciples on behalf of Jesus.

The disciples believed in Jesus' promise and gathered together to pray for the Holy Spirit.

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The promised Holy Spirit came on the tenth day after Jesus ascended.

That day was the Festival of Weeks, the day of Pentecost. So today we are keeping this Pentecost as a Holy Spirit week to commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit on this earth.

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The third time, God said to keep the Festival of Tabernacles.

This feast was kept after the end of the year's farming.

They were grateful to God, who gave them grain and wine after they had harvested all the crops and wine that year, and kept them for seven days.

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Through the Festival of Tabernacles, God made the Israelites remember the tents in the wilderness. The people built tents on the roofs, in the house courts,

and on the streets or in the plaza, using real branches.

During the festival, they were grateful for two things in the tent.

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First, they gave thanks to God who led the ancestors who lived in the wilderness to the land of Canaan. Second, they thanked God for harvesting the grain and for making wine.

Through this three Festivals, the Israelites do not forget that they are God who saves, keeps and protects them.

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We, in the New Testament era, believe that these three Festivals of the Old Testament people were completed in Jesus. That is why today we no longer keep the festival lawfully like the Old Testament Israelites. Today, we can boldly go to God, who is merciful to Him by Jesus.

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Therefore, let us always be thankful for the salvation that Jesus gave to us

all the days of our lives. Let us humbly walk with the Holy Spirit everyday.

Pray that the day of Jesus' return will be a day of great joy.

I want all my friends to live in faith all the time.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)