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Come Out From Among Them
 

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord seven days you must eat unleavened bread – that is the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste). On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel…for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance…that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life, this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. (Leviticus 23: 6; Ex odus 12:15-20; 13:3-10, Numbers 28:17-15; Deuteronomy 16:3)

 

THE FEASTS OF PASSOVER
 

One aspect of God’s purpose to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory, was establishing a testimony in Israel. This testimony has been recorded in Scripture and perpetuated through holidays still celebrated by the Jewish people. The testimony was to remind them and reveal to the Gentiles God and His love. 

Although we commonly think of Passover as commemorating a single event, God commanded the Jewish people to remember their exodus from Egypt through four separate holidays: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Feast of Tabernacles. 

Since the writers of Scripture were Jewish or well-versed in Jewish traditions, and because of the first three holidays are within 3 days, the New Testament is actually referring to the season of Passover. Tabernacles (Sukkot) is in the fall, exactly six months after Passover.

Obviously the event was so important to God that He wanted us to reflect on as many details as possible

 

PASSOVER
 

Passover begins on the evening of the 14th of Nissan and commemorates the “passing over the houses” of the Jewish people to spare them from the wrath of God as He went through Egypt slaying the first born of man and beast.” God says, “This is the Lord’s sacrifice”, referring to the lamb whose blood was the sign for the Angel of Death (to pass over those homes), and to the greater sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. As in Egypt, God’s judgment will pass over anyone found “under” the sign of Jesus; blood. 

The theme of Passover is redemption from bondage whether in the natural realm (slavery) or in the spiritual (sin).

 

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
 

Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day of our actual leaving Egypt, begins the next day.. God wanted to so impress His people of the reality of both their slavery (by eating the bread of affliction) and the might of His strength that brought them out.

It always amazes me to think of the logistics that must have been involved. Thousands of men, women, children, animals and their property were amassed and moved in a matter of hours. All without a committee or strategy. Without cell phones, faxes, or emails. Simply a word from the Lord and a bunch of shofars sounding the alarm and the procession began. Amazing!

 

FIRST FRUITS
 

When you come into the land that I give to you, and reap its harvest then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. You shall eat neither bread…. until the same day that you have brought an offering to God. (Lev 23:17).

First Fruits reflects not only God’s requirement of the first fruit of our labors, but also all that opens the womb – man and beast. (Ex 13:11ff). We were never to forget that “when it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…”

The fact that First Fruits was to be observed IN the land, we are to remember that everything we have has come from the Lord’s gracious and generous hand.

 

FEAST OF TABERNACLES (SUKKOT)
 

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered n the fruit of the land, shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. You shall dwell in booths …that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

So Tabernacles is the holiday of the journey from the land of bondage to the land of promise.

It's no coincidence that God scheduled Tabernacles exactly six months after Passover. Perhaps He wants us never to forget that He is the God of redemption and deliverance.

 

JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF PASSOVER
HE IS OUR PASSOVER

His sacrifice saves us from the condemnation of God. (John 3:16-18)

Through faith in Jesus, God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the son of His love. (Col 1:13)

Jesus is the First Fruits of the dead and He is the free gift of God unto salvation. (1 Cor 15:20; Ro 6:23)

Jesus was probably sacrificed on the Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread and raised on First Fruits!

Jesus, our Good Shepherd leads guides and preserves us from life, through death and into everlasting life…the end of our journey

 

BE SEPARATED FROM THEM
 

God told Pharaoh, “Let My people go that they might worship Me.” Some translations use the word “serve” which tells us that in God’s view, worship is the job description of His servants. That they might serve Him was God’s purpose for their deliverance.

Then He gave Israel what Jesus called the first commandment: to love God.

God’s redemption was an outflow of His grace and mercy and the Passover sacrifice from His righteousness and justice. Our choice to serve Him – wholeheartedly -is our response of love.

We learn much about servanthood from the second Passover feast.


1)    The call to service is immediate
2)    It is the purpose of our salvation
3)    It’s complete, without compromise

When God brought us out of Egypt it required a full and total commitment. Although much from Egypt still influenced their thinking, Israel had to be completely separated in order to worship God in the beauty of holiness

How can our holy God, who cannot tolerate any trace of sin accept worship – or any other kind of service- from an unclean vessel?

At His last supper (a celebration of Passover) Jesus reminded us that we were separated from the world. While we were to remain in the world, we were not to be of it.

 

God’s command to eat matzo for seven days reminds us of the affliction/bondage of sin, but it also reminds us of the need to be cleansed of all leaven. For seven days Israel (even to this day) will allow no leaven in their stores, homes or lives. Everything is purged except their hearts that remain unclean through unbelief.

In fact, any area of our lives wherein lays: doubt, unbelief, or rebellion is unclean. I fear that we say that we are “in process” but are really “in compromise”.

 

NO COMPROMISE
 

When we com-promise we are siding with (COM) the promises of the world. Make no mistake; any compromise with the world prefers the world’s to God’s promises. 

We are just unwilling to give up something (or someone) – unwilling to separate ourselves from our “Egypt”.

Compromise often occurs when, in a difficult or challenging situation even our bondage looks good. Often we still “hold with affection that which God considers an abomination”. (Muriel Cook)

But our memories deceive us. We long for leeks but forget the whip.  

There are thousands of ways we can and do compromise and with as many reasons. Maybe it seems to be a way of “making or keeping peace”. But compromise is the broad way that leads to destruction. We cannot compromise with the world in order to reach it.

There could be no compromise that last night in Egypt. The people – both Jew and Gentile-, who wanted to leave, had to follow God’s instructions and come under the sign of the shed blood of the Lamb. They left the next morning.

Peter reminds us that we have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and purged from all sin.  His love did not compromise but bound Him to the cross. How can we love any less?

I am finding that the more real (and beautiful) Jesus becomes to me, the less I am tempted to compromise. How can I cause pain to my Beloved? “All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.”

Holiness does not come from what we do, but from whose we are. Most rabbinical prayers thank God for “sanctifying the Jewish people by His commandments.” Perhaps that was once true. But today, sanctification can only come through the blood of Christ Jesus for the Jew and for the Gentile.

Holiness is not a list of regulations but a life of responsiveness to God’s love, led and empowered by His Holy Spirit who leads us into all [His] righteousness.

Let us choose to be holy, is separated unto God, blameless, without spot, without compromise. Then as holy vessels we will worship Him in the beauty of His holiness.

 

STILL FIGHTING...THE RESULT OF COMPROMISE
 

God had chosen the land which was to become Israel as His dwelling, and Jerusalem would His city. It was for the purpose of preparing the land for His coming, God chose Israel to be its stewards. To cleanse and keep the Land for His use was part of the destiny of the Jewish people. 

The sin of the existing inhabitants had so polluted the land that they were to be destroyed. Completely. Without compromise! But for a variety of reasons (all documented in Scripture) Israel compromised. They ignored God’s warning that any trace of the Canaanites would become a snare to Israel. They were. And still are.

The struggle over, in and for this land continues. The battle in flesh and blood is a reflection of the war in the heavenlies.

One cannot read the Bible without recognizing that this Land belongs to God. He has chosen Jerusalem to be His dwelling place. It is to be the site of worship by Jews and Gentiles alike.

Therefore God’s enemies will be our enemies. The issue is not simply about Israel or the Jews, but about God and His word. We are merely the players of His choice.

As I am bombarded with reports of escalating violence and share the agony of friends whose loved ones have been killed or hurt, I wonder what Israel would have been like if my forefathers had not compromised.

Today our leaders are caught in a vise and God is squeezing it tighter, so that they will know that He alone is God and turn to Him.

Woe unto Israel and the nations when (not if) we further compromise God’s promised blessings to this land and its chosen people. We will then reap for ourselves His promised curses.

As a believer I am faced with a dilemma. I know what must happen to this land and to my people before there is peace. I know that 2/3 of the Jewish people will die, eternally separated from God and their Messiah. I know that EVERY nation will turn against God and thus Israel. 

So how do I pray? How do I live my life? How do I stay neutral but defend God’s promises to Israel? How do I reach both the “chosen people”, and “the enemy”? All of them must be reached with the truth of Jesus Christ. All of them must be extended an invitation to the Passover Feast.

The tension here is so high that we can no longer live life “as usual”.

Copyright 2002, Novea Ministries, all rights reserved