The Light of Christ Journey

Encouraging people on their journey with Christ

The Festival of First Fruits is always connected with Passover. God connected this third festival time with Passover from the beginning. Leviticus 23: 11 On the day after the Sabbath, (following the Passover) the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf.[1] It was God’s timing that directed the celebration of this festival.

First-Fruits of the Barley Harvest

The timing of this festival would coincide with the barley harvest. The High Priest would present the wave offering so that the rest of the harvest would be accepted. It was the blood of the lamb that allowed the Israelites to be safe during the plague of the firstborn. Then the people had to be ready to leave the land of their slavery at a minute’s notice. Thus, they didn’t wait for their bread to rise, but simply baked unleavened bread. Now that they had entered the promised land, there was a new life freed from the slavery and oppression of Egypt.

The Festival of the First Fruits could not have happened without the original Passover.

The Resurrection of Christ Must be Connected to His Death

On the day after the Sabbath after the Passover, Jesus was raised bodily from the dead. Jesus died as the Passover lamb, which took away the sins of the world. He removed the “leaven” of sin on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. This festival was also a Sabbath, the year Jesus died on the cross. Just as the priests were waving the sheaf of the First Fruits in the Temple, Jesus was raised and made alive.

Years later, the Apostle Paul explained this to the Corinthian church. 1 Corinthians 15: I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said…20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.[2]

A Wilderness Journey

Just as the Israelites struggled through the wilderness to enter the promised land to celebrate the Feast of First Fruits, we experience a wilderness journey in this earthly life. It is only then that we will be able to experience the resurrection life without sin. The Passover Lamb had to be killed before it could be revived. The resurrection of Jesus must always relate to His death and suffering on the Cross.

Romans 8: 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children including the new bodies he has promised us. [3]

To hear how first fruits is always connected with Passover, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-first-fruits


[1-3] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

What is the first fruits principle? Many times, we look at a law commanded in the Old Testament and assume it is outdated today. But I have found that the way God guided His people in the Old Testament gives insight into how God works and guides us today.

The First Mention of First Fruits

The first mention of a topic is significant, and we see Cain and Abel bringing their first fruits. Genesis 4: 2b When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.[1]

We know this didn’t end well as jealous Cain murdered Abel.

First Fruits in the Promised Land

God gave Moses instructions to celebrate the Festival of First Fruits when they entered the promised land. Obviously, the people were not harvesting a crop in the wilderness. God, however, was providing for them and would continue to provide in the promised land.

When they grew crops in the promised land, they were to take small cuttings from several fields and combine them into a sheaf, which would be a wave offering. In addition, a lamb was to be sacrificed, and the new grain mixed with olive oil would be burned on the altar.

The people were not to eat any of the new crop until it had been dedicated to the Lord. For it was the Lord who provided both in the wilderness and when He gave them fertile fields in the promised land.

First-Fruits Today

We, in the 21st century, may be more removed from the agrarian calendar of Ancient Israel, but we are still dependent on God for our provision. Even in the Lord’s Prayer we request our daily needs from God. Luther makes this comment, “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. And what is our daily bread? This includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body.”[2]

I believe God still desires our first fruits, even if we donate by check or credit card. By stewarding our first ten percent, or tithe, we acknowledge God’s provision and our thankfulness.

To hear more about the first-fruits principle, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-first-fruits


[1] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

[2] Martin Luther, Luther’s Small Catechism, Concordia Publishing House, 1986, St. Louis, MO. Page18.

Do you have trouble remembering things? There is a book called 21 Memory Techniques that says, “Do this to remember.” Researchers say we forget most newly learned information within a few hours or, at most, a couple of days. While these techniques can help memorize facts and grocery lists, God put a memory technique in place centuries ago.

Remember God Brought You Out of Egypt

God had to force Pharaoh’s hand to free His people from the slavery of Egypt. He knew the plague of the death of the firstborn would finally force Pharaoh to let His people go. But God wanted to keep His people safe and so gave instructions to paint the blood of an innocent lamb on the doorposts. This would be a sign for the death angel to pass over the people inside. The Jewish nation had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, so they did not even have time to let the bread rise. Each year God’s people would re-enact this time to remember what God had done.

Exodus 12:14 “This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time… 17 “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day[1]

Remember the New Covenant

As Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, He put a new spin on an old celebration. The unleavened bread now would represent His body, and the wine would represent His blood. God had made a covenant with Abraham, and now Jesus was building on that in a new way to receive forgiveness of sins. Jesus would be the lamb that would take away the sins of the world.

1 Corinthians 11: 23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.[2]

Here again, we re-enact what happened on Maundy Thursday when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Each time we re-enact this, we remember what Christ did for us on the cross. Why do we have to do this to remember? Because we so easily forget.

To learn more, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1,2] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

We like to shop at a large warehouse retailer, but we must have a membership to do so. Their defining membership is a card that you must show to enter the store. If you don’t have a membership, you can’t purchase anything from their store. Many clubs and even churches have ways to define their membership.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread Defined the Jewish People

Exodus 12: 19 During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel.[1] If you refused to take part in the Festival of Unleavened Bread, you were no longer a member of the Jewish community. The Jewish people defined themselves as the ones whom God freed from slavery in Egypt. This festival set a boundary of who was Jewish and who was not.

This may sound cruel to our 21st-century ears. We are used to rugged individualism and like to do things our way, not necessarily how the group thinks.

Defining Membership as a Christian

We would say that a Christian isone who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. This not only holds true for our life here on earth but has eternal consequences. John 3: 15 so that everyone who believes in him (Jesus) will have eternal life.16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.[2]

There would be those who say this is too exclusive, that we should be able to trust in any god if we are sincere. That sounds like a nice line, but it isn’t Biblical. God established the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a boundary to define membership in the Jewish community. God also defines who will spend eternity with Him by faith in Jesus.

Just as the Jewish people could not free themselves from the slavery of Egypt, we could not free ourselves from the slavery to sin. God provided a way out of both types of slavery. God was willing to step into time in the form of Jesus to pay a price for our sins that we could not pay. He offers this as a free gift if we will only believe.

To hear more about defining membership, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1,2]Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 

Many people today have taken advantage of DNA testing to gain information from generation to generation. DNA databases tell you, statistically, which countries your ancestors came from. Some people are surprised by how some information has been lost over the past generations.

Unleavened Bread to be Kept from Generation to Generation

Exodus 12: 14b Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time. 15 For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast… 17 “Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.[1]

Here God gives Moses instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Whenever God repeats Himself, it underscores the importance of the message. Within three verses, God commands His people to keep this celebration from generation to generation. This means the Festival of Unleavened Bread must be passed down from grandparent to grandchildren and so on.

We Still Celebrate Unleavened Bread 1400 Years Later

Matthew 26:17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”[2] Here we can see how Passover, a one-day celebration, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a seven-day celebration, had merged into a single eight-day celebration. People call this festival either Passover or the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

We can see that it is important to Jesus that He celebrate this with His disciples. Luke 22: 14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”[3]

A New Celebration to Pass Onto the Generations

The disciples had celebrated the festival of Passover/Unleavened Bread their entire lives. But this time, Jesus put a new twist on the celebration. Matthew 26:26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”[4]

Here, Jesus intends to fulfill the meaning of this celebration with what He will do on the cross. The forgiveness of sins that His sacrifice on the cross will bring will renew the covenant between God and His people. To hear more about celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread from generation to generation, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1-4] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 

There are many kinds of bread, ranging from sour to sweet. Sourdough is considered old-fashioned today. But in the time of the Exodus, that was the only type of yeasted bread known. The baker would set aside a lump of dough for the next batch of bread. I have made a sourdough starter, and it definitely smells sour.

Hebrew Terms Reflect Sour and Sweet

The Hebrew term for leavening is chametz, which conveys the idea of sourness.[1] On the other hand, the Hebrew word for unleavened bread, matzah, means “sweet.” There would be no sourdough taste in unleavened bread.

Jesus Changes Our Life from Sour to Sweet

2 Corinthians 5: 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.[2]

The Spirit Helps Us Live the New Life

When we begin our new life in Christ, our lives move from being sour to being sweet. Just as the Feast of Unleavened Bread demonstrates the removal of sin by removing leaven from the house, our lives change as Jesus addresses our sin problem.

Romans 8: Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.[3]

Let the Holy Spirit guide and enable you to live the new life. To hear how our lives can move from sour to sweet, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1] Keven Howard & Marvin Rosenthal, The Feasts of the Lord, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN., 1997, p. 66.

[2,3] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188

Matzo or unleavened bread is pierced and stiped. For it to bake evenly, it must have holes poked into it. As it bakes, some areas will become browner than others. This gives the matzo a striped look.

Prophecy about Jesus being Pierced and Striped

Isaiah 53: 3He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.[1]

The Striping and Piercing

John 19: 1Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.[2] What kind of whip would have been used by the Roman soldiers to scourge Jesus? It most likely was a flagrum, consisting of several leather straps with bits of lead embedded at the ends. The whipping was done to weaken the person to be crucified to prevent any resistance.[3] Just as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus was beaten before being crucified. This whipping would have left “stripes” on the back of Jesus.

The scourging weakened Jesus to the point that He died before the others on each side of Him. John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.[4] 

Remembering What Jesus Has Done

So, Jesus was striped and then pierced on the cross. Even the unleavened bread eaten during the days of Unleavened bread pointed to this fact. As Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on the last evening He spent with His disciples, He compared the unleavened bread to His body. Matthew 26: 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”[5] We remember what Jesus went through for us each time we celebrate communion.

To hear more about being pierced and striped, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1,2,4,5]Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

[3] https://askinglot.com/what-did-the-romans-use-to-whip-jesus

In the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Jews were to remove the leaven from their houses. This wasn’t just to clean their homes. In Scripture, leaven often symbolizes sin. God was using an everyday object, leavened bread, to act as an object lesson for His people. He was freeing them from the slavery of Egypt and taking them to the promised land.

God’s Instruction to Remove Leaven

Exodus 12: 15 For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes…1The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month. 19 During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes.[1]

Exodus 13:So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.)[2]

God was preparing His people to focus on what He was doing, because they couldn’t free themselves from slavery.

Jesus Removed our “Leaven”

Jesus most probably celebrated an early Passover meal with His disciples on Maundy Thursday. That would make Good Friday Passover. The lambs were killed at 3 pm, the same time Jesus died on the cross. Thus, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was in the tomb. Jesus was removing our sin, or our “leaven.” 

God had freed the Hebrews from the slavery of Egypt, but now Jesus would free us from the slavery of sin. This is something we could not do on our own. Paul gives us insight into how God frees us from our sin.

Romans 6: 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.[3]

We Should Live as New Bread

Jesus came to redeem and restore us so that we can live a new life.

1 Corinthians 5: Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for usSo let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.[4]

To hear more about why to remove the leaven, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread


[1-4] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 

“ Ready to roll” is an idiom meaning “eager and prepared to take action” or “ready to leave a certain place.” Last week, we learned about Passover. At the first Passover, it was time for the 10th plague, the plague of the firstborn. God had already prepared His people to be safe by telling them to paint their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that the death angel would pass over them.

Israel had to be Ready to Roll

On the night of the 10th plague, God told people they had to be ready to leave Egypt when He told them. Exodus 12: 11 These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover…34 The Israelites took their bread dough before yeast was added. They wrapped their kneading boards in their cloaks and carried them on their shoulders…39 For bread they baked flat cakes from the dough without yeast they had brought from Egypt. It was made without yeast because the people were driven out of Egypt in such a hurry that they had no time to prepare the bread or other food.[1]

At the time of the Exodus, the people would have used sourdough to raise their bread. There was no such thing as a packet of yeast in the grocery store like today. Baking bread from sourdough takes several hours to rise, and the Israelites didn’t have time for that, so they skipped the leaven altogether.

Jesus was Ready to Follow the Father’s Instructions

Just as the people were ready to roll at a minute’s notice the night of the first Passover, Jesus was prepared to do His Father’s instructions.

John 5: 19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.[2]

John 12: 49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.[3]

John 14: 31 but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. [4]

Each of Us Needs to be Ready to Roll at God’s Instructions

1 Peter 1: 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.[5]

2 Timothy 4:Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.[6]

We see that the Hebrew people were ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Jesus also only did what His Father told Him. Now, as followers of Jesus, we also need to follow what our God says.

To learn more, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-unleavened-bread-foreshadows-jesus


[1-6] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 

Our son had cut his finger on the playground, and it was sore and red. I went out and purchased a tube of antibiotic salve. A couple of days later, his finger looked worse, and I asked whether he had applied the salve. He had forgotten to use it. The salve was only effective when applied to his finger.

The Passover Blood had to be Applied

God had given the people specific instructions. Exodus 12: 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13 But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.[1]

God’s instructions sounded unusual, and the people had a choice: they could simply ignore them or act on them. The blood would only be effective as a sign when it was applied to the doorposts. If there was no blood on the doorposts, the angel of death would kill the firstborn of the household.

The Blood of Jesus is Only Effective when it is Applied

Just as the Hebrews had to apply the blood to the doorposts for it to be effective, we must apply the blood of Jesus through faith for it to be effective in our lives.

Romans 3: 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.[2]

Have you applied the blood of Jesus to your life by faith? If not, you can do that right now.

Prayer:

Father, Thank You for sending Your Son to be the all-sufficient sacrifice for my sin. I am sorry for my sins and repent of my wrongdoing. I trust the blood of Jesus to remove my sins and plead the blood of Jesus for protection and for an increase in faith. Amen.

To hear how the blood is only effective when applied, listen here:

https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-festival-of-passover


[1-2]Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.