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“God Bless America”

Irving Berlin wrote a popular song that has become a national treasure, “God Bless America.” Berlin, a Jewish immigrant to the United States, was said to be “consumed by patriotism.” He loved America and said, “I owe all my success to my adopted country.” His song was first sung publicly by Kate Smith who introduced it on her radio show in 1938.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the song became a prayer sung by congressmen on the steps of the Capitol building, by baseball fans at Yankee Stadium, and even by worshippers in churches across America. In that time of national mourning, the thoughts of the people turned to God, as they sang “God Bless America” as a  prayer for protection and healing.

While we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we might well sing the song again. It goes without saying that America needs God. Americans need God. But God is not an American, and America is not God. America’s purposes are not necessarily God’s purposes. If patriotism (love of country) devolves into nationalism (“my country right or wrong”), then it becomes idolatry.

Every state constitution in the U.S. recognizes God in some way. But the God they mention is not defined. Religious freedom and diversity are assumed. Christianity is the majority religion in the United States, but it has never been the only religion, or the national religion.

James Madison wrote in 1776 that “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion,” but he didn’t specify which religion. In fact, long before 1776, there were Jewish communities in several of the cities of the American colonies.

President John Tyler wrote, “The Mohammedan, if he were to come among us, would have the same privilege guaranteed to him by the Constitution to worship according to the Koran and the East Indian  might erect a shrine to Brahma if it so pleased him. Such is the spirit of toleration inculcated by our political institutions.”

President George Washington said, “The bosom of America is open to receive . . . the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a full participation of all our rights and privileges. . . . They may be Mohametans, or Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists.”

So what do we mean when we sing “God Bless America?” As a Christian man I sing about God with the understanding that he is the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator of the universe.

I also must recognize that others may be singing that same song with a different understanding. The free exercise of religion guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution means that I must respect their right to believe, or not to believe, as I do. In the words of Richard Lamb, “Christians don’t have a monopoly on religious expression just because Christianity has consistently been the majority religion in this country.”

Historian Jon Meacham wrote, “The Founders linked the cause of liberty to the idea of God while avoiding sectarian religious imagery or associations.” This means, of course, that neither the Christian nor the atheist has the right to use government power to impose their beliefs upon the other. This is why we do not have a religious test for candidates for public office in this country.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of our nation’s founding, 250 years ago. When I sing “God Bless America” with full-throated enthusiasm, it is with the belief that God has blessed America. We have enjoyed abundant natural resources, a high standard of living, free enterprise, innovation and invention in industry, protection by two oceans, friendly relations with our closest neighbors, effective distribution of goods, a government of laws derived from God’s moral law, freedom of assembly, speech, the press, and freedom to express our faith.

In a pluralistic society we who are Christians should use our freedom of religion and freedom of speech to try to influence those who do not see things the way we do. We ought to rely on the power of loving persuasion, not on political power or legislation to advance the cause of Christ, This is how to promote Christian moral values, to work for a just society, to participate in political life, and to evangelize.

Tomorrow is a day to say “thank you” to God for the freedom to do these things and to sing and pray for his continued blessing and protection for our nation.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

 

 

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America, America!

An English teacher named Katherine Lee Bates was travelling in the American west in 1893. She was impressed by the beauty and grandeur of the mountains of Colorado. She was moved to write the patriotic hymn “America the Beautiful,” as a statement of belief in God and a prayer for our nation. The refrain, “America, America, God shed his grace on thee,” has become  a familiar example of “civil religion.”

There are many such examples. Presidents, throughout our nation’s history, have invoked the blessing of God on America. When Ronald Reagan was nominated at the Republican convention in 1980, he closed his acceptance speech by asking the convention center crowd to begin the presidential election campaign right then, with a moment of silent prayer. Then he solemnly intoned, “God bless America.” Many were deeply moved. Some in the national media mocked him for this simple expression of faith.

Later, when as president, he survived an assassination attempt, he declared, “Whatever happens now I owe my life to God and I will try to serve him every way I can.” In a speech to a gathering of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1983, he said, “Freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.”

Reagan’s words are examples of the kinds of statements many American leaders have made in political campaigns, in times of national crisis, and in expressing their personal beliefs in interviews.  Words like these acknowledge that the majority of Americans are comfortable with public expressions of belief in God. This “civil religion” recognizes the freedom of all Americans to express their beliefs according to the dictates of their own consciences.

Baptist theologian Richard Land wrote, “Civil religion cannot replace personal faith, but it can be society’s way of acknowledging the central role religion has played in American life and protecting a place for faith in the public square. It should in no way be considered a substitute for deep faith convictions. . . . It is merely society’s way of accommodating religion in general without favoring a particular faith over other faiths. Civil religion can also provide a shared space in which people of varying religious traditions can bring their faith convictions to public debate in a pluralistic society.”

In 1798 John Adams said we need a citizenry with strong religious and moral character in order to sustain America. Our government, he said, is “insufficient” for any other. This is not the same thing as saying that America is, or ever was, “a Christian nation.” But it is a powerful admission that America needs a citizenry whose values are shaped by religious convictions. Our founding fathers were brilliant men of deep conviction, courage, and commitment. But they were not all “born again” Christians. They did, however, admit the nation’s need for the protection and guidance of divine Providence.

Throughout its history our nation has believed that God has a special purpose in mind for America. The Declaration of Independence refers to God as our Creator and He holds nations and individuals accountable to his judgments. The freedoms, rights, and responsibilities we have as Americans are gifts from our Creator. Because of this, it has been rightly said that the founding of America was “a faith-based initiative.”

These thoughts are on my mind as our nation’s 250th birthday approaches. I am praying for this nation, as I am sure my readers are praying, that God will guide us and that he will heal our land.

When Katherine Lee Bates wrote, “America, America, God shed his grace on thee,” she was framing a prayer. When we sing it, we are praying for our nation.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Come to the Feast!

This was God’s invitation to the people of Israel. When he gave them instructions as to how they were to live in fellowship with him in the Promised Land, he established festivals for them to observe throughout the year. These were important dates on their calendars for remembering, worshiping, and thanking God.

Leviticus 23 tells us there were seven feasts. These were holy events involving pilgrimages, sacrificial offerings, special sabbaths, and sacred assemblies. There were specific instructions as to how they were to be observed.

I have been writing about these Feasts of the Lord in this space for the last seven weeks. Why would these matters of ancient Hebrew history be of interest to us today? I believe it is because  these Feasts of the Lord are keys to our understanding of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. They symbolize Jesus and apply to God’s program for the church. We who believe in him are also invited to come to the feast.

Romans 15:4 says that “Everything that was written in the past (the Old Testament) was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” I suspect that when our Lord Jesus explained to his disciples “what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27), he may have alluded to Leviticus 23.

The first of the feasts is Passover. It commemorated the Israelites’ national deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They were redeemed by the blood of sacrificial lambs. Passover testifies to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate Lamb of God, who shed his blood to redeem us (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). We must believe in him as savior to be able to enjoy redemption from sin and fellowship with God.

Beginning the next day after Passover, and continuing for a week, the Jews celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They ceremoniously removed all leaven (yeast) from their dwellings and feasted together as families. In the Bible, yeast is a picture of sin. Once a person has received Jesus Christ as savior, he or she should endeavor to resist sin and remove it from their lives (2 Corinthians 7:1).

After the week of unleavened bread, came the Feast of Firstfruits. It was always on the first day of the week, following the sabbath. The people were to bring to the priest a first sample of the spring harvest as a sacrifice to God. In the New Testament, Firstfruits pictures the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of all who believe in him (1 Corinthians 15:23). It is worth noting that the first day of the week, for Christians, is resurrection day.

Fifty days later came the Feast of Weeks (seven weeks), also called Pentecost, meaning “fifty.” The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, in accordance with the promise of Jesus (Acts 2:1-21). The church was born when the Holy Spirit came.

The Feast of Trumpets speaks of the Lord’s gathering his people together. Trumpets were blown to announce the moving of the camp of Israel, to declare war, or to assemble the people for a special occasion. This may illustrate the gathering together of God’s church when the trumpet sounds to raise the dead and living believers are “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, came next. It was a solemn day of fasting, stillness, sacrifice, mourning, and confession of sins. Devout Jews consider this day to be the holiest day of the year. Kippur means “covering.” It signified that the sins of the people were covered and forgiven by a merciful God. There will come a day when national Israel will repent. The features of the Day of Atonement are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 2:2).

The seventh feast is the Feast of Tabernacles, It was observed in the fall of the year in connection with the preceding two feasts. It followed the Day of Atonement with a week-long remembrance of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the forty years in the wilderness. During the week of this festival, Hebrew families camped in temporary shelters called sukkot. It was to be a joyful celebration of God’s past faithful provision, and anticipation of the future earthly kingdom of Messiah (Ezekiel 37:26-28).

These feasts tell us that God is interested in how we live our lives. The people of Israel were to keep the Lord first in all aspects of their days, months, and years. He had given them their seasonal rains and harvests, and they remembered to thank him. Our lives, likewise, should be regulated by his word.

These seven feasts are pointers to our Savior, Jesus Christ. They are pictures of the blessings of his great salvation. They tell us that fellowship with God is possible through him.

The first four feasts, in the spring of the year, picture Jesus’ first coming, his death and resurrection and the descent of the Spirit. The last three feasts, in the fall of the year, picture our Lord’s second coming. So we live in grateful remembrance of what God has done for us in the past. We also live in joyful anticipation of the fulfillment of his promises of a glorious future with him.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

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Tabernacles: Christ’s Coming KIngdom

The seventh of the Feasts of the Lord was observed in the fall of the year, right after the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:33-44). It was a joyful celebration which lasted seven days. It was, like the spring festivals, a pilgrim feast which brought Jewish families back to Jerusalem. There they gave thanks for the forgiveness of sins, for abundant blessings of good harvests and for God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises. It is said to be the most popular of the annual festivals.

The feast was called “tabernacles” because for that week the people erected and camped in temporary shelters, or booths. These shelters were made of leafy limbs and branches woven together. These temporary dwellings were to remind the Hebrews of their history as a pilgrim people. They remembered how the Lord had guided their ancestors through the forty year pilgrimage in the wilderness of Sinai. The Hebrews had lived on the move in temporary quarters all that time until they occupied the promised land.

“Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so that your descendants will know that I had them live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:42-43). Some observant Jews in Israel still make a practice of constructing booths for seven days in the middle of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.

Jesus observed this festival by making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem (John 7:2, 14). He would have participated in the sacred assembly at the temple. He would have seen the grand procession of the priests who, accompanied by music and dancing and the sounding of the shofar, brought water from the Pool of Siloam to pour out as a libation to the Lord. He would have seen the lighting of four golden lamps in the court of the temple amid great rejoicing. He would have joined the crowds in singing “Hosanna” (Psalm 118:25).

The ceremonial pouring out of water was a symbol of how the Lord provided water for the Hebrew pilgrims in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6). The lighting of the lamps evoked memories of the pillar of cloud and fire by which God led his people in their journey (Exodus 13:21-22). Jesus knew this when he stood in the courts of the temple, raised his voice so the crowds could hear him, and cried, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water shall flow from within him” (John 7:37-38). He drew the crowd’s attention away from the literal water to himself, the spiritual water of life.

Then, with the inherent authority he had as the Son of God, he interrupted the lighting of the lamps in the temple to declare, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). This young itinerant rabbi from Galilee was inviting the congregation of Israel to come to him! He was saying that the Feast of Tabernacles pointed to him! He is the Messiah. He is the Savior.

When he comes again, the whole earth will rejoice under his kingly rule. At the climax of the Book of Zechariah we read about Israel’s national restoration (Zechariah 13:9). The Jews will cry out to God in repentance (Zechariah 12:10-11, 13:1). Messiah Jesus will reign as king in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:9, 8:3). The Lord will live among his people (Zechariah 2:10). Representatives of all nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16).

The  pilgrim feasts of the Lord are important witnesses to us. The Feast of Passover signifies Jesus’ past sacrificial death. Pentecost reminds us of the coming of the Holy Spirit who remains with us now. Tabernacles is a testimony to the future second coming and glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus. Just as the Hebrew people rejoiced when they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in the past, so God’s people will rejoice when Jesus comes and his people reign with him in his kingdom in the future.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Atonement: Forgiveness of Sins

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, was one of the seven feasts of the Lord prescribed in the Book of Leviticus. It was to be a day of solemn reverence. No travelers rushed in and out of Jerusalem; marketplaces were closed; craftsmen and tradesmen shuttered their shops; the whole nation was quiet and still. “The Great Fast,” or “The Day of all Days” had arrived. Observant Jews around the world still observe Yom Kippur as a day to worship the Holy One and to confess their sins.

The first five books of the Bible form the foundation for the rest of scripture. In the heart of these five books of Moses is Leviticus. It describes the priesthood, sacrifices, and forms of worship which were to be carried on in the tabernacle, located in the center of the wilderness camp of Israel. In the center of the book of Leviticus is the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34; 23:26-32).

This was the great day when the High Priest declared to the people that their sins were forgiven. God is a forgiving God. Mitch Glaser wrote, “He creates a shelter of sacrifice to protect worshippers from his wrath.”

Past importance

The tenth day of the seventh month was for the people a time of intense self-examination, confession, and repentance. In preparation for the Day, the High Priest was to review the scriptural commands, offer sacrifices to cover his own sins, bathe his entire body and change from his priestly robes into white linen.

On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest sacrificed a young bull and a ram, and selected two goats, one to be sacrificed, and one to be the “scapegoat.” He would enter the Holy of Holies three times, once with incense, once to sprinkle the blood of the bull seven times on the golden cover of the ark of the covenant, and once with the blood of the goat. The blood of the sacrifices covered the sins of the High Priest and of the people.

The scapegoat was not sacrificed. Instead the priest laid his hands on the head of the goat and confessed the sins of the people. He read the law (Torah) to the people, washed himself and changed into his priestly garments. The High Priest then declared to the people, “You shall be clean,” indicating that their sins were forgiven. The scapegoat was released alive into the wilderness, symbolizing the fact that the sins and guilt of the people were removed. (The Hebrew word translated scapegoat means “removed.”)

Present significance

The Book of Hebrews gives us the deeper significance of the Day of Atonement. It pictures Christ. He is superior to the Old Testament priesthood (Hebrews 7:26-28). The High Priest In Leviticus had to confess his sins. Jesus Christ was sinless. He was the perfect Son of God.

The priests in the Old Testament were mortal and they received their appointments through heredity as descendants of Aaron. Jesus is immortal and he was appointed to his eternal priesthood by God the Father (Hebrews 5::4-5). He ascended to God’s right hand where he continually intercedes for his people (Hebrews 8:1). The earthly priests served in the tabernacle and temple. Jesus serves in heaven, “the true tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:2).

The New Covenant is vastly superior to the Old Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31,33). Jesus is the High Priest of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6, 12-13). The Old Testament sacrifices had to be repeated. They offered only a temporary covering for sins. They pointed forward to the ultimate and perfect sacrifice, Jesus’ death on the cross (Hebrews 7:27).

When the scapegoat was released into the wilderness, symbolically bearing the sins of Israel, it pictured how Christ’s sacrifice completely removes our sins. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).

Future application

The Day of Atonement pictures a time in the future when ethnic Israel will be cleansed finally and completely. The prophets describe a future time when Israel will repent and offer a great prayer of confession. Jesus Christ will return. Israel’s eyes will be opened to recognize him as their Savior and Messiah (Zechariah 12:10, 13:1).

“In those days, at that time, declares the Lord, search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none. And for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare” (Jeremiah 50:20).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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Trumpets: Jesus is Coming!

The Feast of Trumpets was the fifth of seven yearly festivals on Israel’s national calendar (Leviticus 23:23-25). As I have been observing in this blog, the first four feasts recall events in Israel’s past: the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, and the promise of a homeland in Canaan.

The Feast of Trumpets was to be observed three months after Pentecost. The sounding of the trumpet was to bring the people together for the three fall festivals: Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. These feasts are forward-looking, anticipating Israel’s national restoration.

The feast of Trumpets was observed on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana. Pilgrims came to the temple in Jerusalem from all over the land. Trumpets (ram’s horns) were blown from morning to evening. The people rested from their normal labors. They brought sin offerings and sacrifices of thanksgiving. They enjoyed feasting. One new year’s custom was to eat apples dipped in honey with the wish that the coming year would be as sweet as the fruit they had eaten.

If there was a body of water they threw stones into the water with their sins written on them. This was a symbolic act recalling God’s promise that he would cast their sins into the depths of the sea. One of the scriptures the people recited was Micah 7:18-20. “Who is a God like you who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

The feast of Trumpets looks forward to a time when ethnic Israel will repent of their sins and will recognize Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion and he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins'” (Romans 11:25-27).

Israel as a nation has been uniquely privileged as God’s chosen people. “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen” (Romans 9:4-5).

Unfortunately when their Messiah and Savior came, “his own did not receive him” (John 1:11). Jesus lamented, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks and you were not willing. Your house is left desolate. You will not see me again until you say, ‘blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'” (Matthew 23:37-39).

Because they rejected their Messiah, Israel has been scattered and their temple destroyed by the Romans. There are now no sacrifices offered there, and the Jews cannot make the three annual pilgrimages as prescribed in their scriptures. But the feast of Trumpets indicates that there will come a time when Israel as a nation will repent, and will be cleansed and restored to God’s favor. God will give his people the kingdom promised in the Old Testament prophesies.

“You, O Israelites will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who are perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:12-13). Jesus spoke of this national regathering of Israel when he prophesied, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31).

The feast of Trumpets also symbolizes the blessed hope of the Christian faith, the resurrection of the dead and the return of Jesus Christ for his church. “Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Believers in Jesus are listening for the sound of the trumpet which will signal the return of the Savior.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

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Welcome, Holy Spirit!

Currently, the themes of this blog are the seven feasts of the Lord from the Book of Leviticus, chapter 23. They were key points of reference in Israel’s national calendar, the dates around which God’s people regulated their lives.

These seven festivals are symbols of the panoramic sweep of God’s prophetic calendar. These Jewish feasts were celebrations of both history and prophecy. They represent important features of the Christian understanding of redemption.

The Jewish festival of Pentecost was originally known as the feast of weeks, because the people were commanded to count seven weeks from the feast of Passover to the observance of this fourth feast. It was observed in the late spring, around the time of the wheat harvest. The seven weeks totaled 49 days. The next day was the fiftieth. That is the meaning of the word Pentecost.

Passover pointed to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Unleavened Bread symbolized the removal of sin. The Feast of Firstfuits pictured the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and the great “harvest” of the resurrection of believers. The Feast of Pentecost reminds us of the coming of the Holy Spirit because this was the very day when the Spirit descended upon Jesus’ disciples and the church was born (Acts 2).

History

The Jews celebrated this feast as one of three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles). It was accompanied by sacrifices and offerings and the giving of gifts to the poor. It was a glad harvest celebration, lasting an entire week. On the seventh day there was to be a solemn assembly for worship (Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Leviticus 23:15-25).

Remembrance

The seven feasts of the Lord have historic significance. Passover was a reminder to the Jews of their redemption by the blood of the first Passover lambs in Egypt. Unleavened Bread reminded them of their hasty exodus from Egypt. Firstfruits taught them about the abundance of the promised land.

Was Pentecost a reminder of something in their history? According to Jewish tradition, the Feast of Weeks was the anniversary of the Lord’s appearance on Mt. Sinai, and the giving of the law to Moses (Exodus 20:18). There they heard the thunderous sound of the voice of God, saw lightning and the mountain enveloped in smoke, and God revealed his identity to Moses: “I am the Lord (Yahweh) your God” (Exodus 19:18; 20:2).

Fulfillment

This may have been on the minds of Jesus’ disciples on the day of Pentecost after Christ arose. They were gathered for prayer in Jerusalem. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, is precise about the timing (Acts 2:1-3). Something happened to them which was accompanied by three supernatural signs: a loud noise like wind filled the upper room, tongues of fire appeared over their heads, and they began to praise the Lord in languages unknown to them. The Holy Spirit was coming upon them as Jesus had promised he would (John 7:37-38; Acts 1:4-5). All this happened at the exact time that the Jews were celebrating the annual Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost.

According to 1 Corinthians 12:13, the Holy Spirit formed the spiritual Body of Christ on earth when he came. Every person who believes in Jesus is baptized by the Holy Spirit into his Body (Ephesians 3:2-6). As a result, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the privilege of every Christian. “If anyone does not have the  Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9). “God . . . gives you his Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:8). “This is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:24). “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to help you and he will be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. . . . He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

The New Testament teaches us that it is the Holy Spirit in us who produces the Christlike character we desire. It is the Holy Spirit who guides and comforts us when we are in need. He promotes harmony among believers. The Holy Spirit helps us understand and properly interpret scripture. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to be witnesses for Christ.

In many churches around the world, Christians will observe Pentecost Sunday this weekend. This will be a good time for us to give thanks for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and to pray that we might be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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Resurrection: A Harvest Celebration

Thomas Jefferson, our nation’s third president, was a brilliant man. He was an inventor, a legal scholar, a diplomat, the primary author of The Declaration of Independence, and the founder of a university.

He also edited and published what is known as “The Jefferson Bible.” This was his attempt to draw attention to the ethics and morals of Jesus, while dismissing the elements of Jesus’s life that he didn’t accept as true. He literally took a pen knife and cut out the parts of the gospels that he rejected, including, and especially, references to the resurrection.

Despite the rationalism of Jefferson and other skeptics, the Bible is clear: Jesus rose from the dead, and his resurrection is the “firstfruits” of a great harvest to come in the future resurrection of believers (1 Corinthians 15:20).

This is symbolized in the Old Testament Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14). It was the annual harvest celebration for the people of Israel. It accompanied the festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread. It was observed on the day after the sabbath day that followed the Passover. This would have been on the first day of the week, the day Christians recognize as resurrection day!

The worshipping family would bring a sample of the spring barley harvest to be given as a sacrifice to the Lord. It was an act of thanksgiving, in recognition of the Lord’s gracious provision. In contrast to the ancient Egyptians and Canaanites, the Hebrew people were not trying to manipulate their God into giving them abundant harvests with fertility rituals. They were acknowledging that he was the source of all good things. They were thanking him after the fact.

The New Testament makes use of this ancient practice to show how it represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He became the firstfruits. Speaking of his own death and resurrection, he said, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). The apostle Paul wrote, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

The Feast of Firstfruits also pictures the resurrection of believers. “But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits,; then when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:23). Death will not have the last word for those whose faith is in Jesus. A great harvest is coming when Jesus comes again.

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits of eternal life in the life of the believer. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23). The Holy Spirit is heaven’s investment in us now. The Spirit is God’s downpayment on our future inheritance, the firstfruits of what we may expect to come.

Believers in Jesus, then, are doubly secure. We have the Holy Spirit now, and the promise of resurrection when Christ returns. Believers are said to be “a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:18). 

Thomas Jefferson was an intelligent man, but he was not a wise man. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).  He denied what God’s word says about Jesus and the resurrection. If only he had understood the significance of the Feast of Firstfruits!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Get Rid of the Yeast

The Old Testament people of God were given directions for living the way God wanted them to live. Their lives were regulated by seven annual feasts which celebrated their identity as God’s redeemed people.

Passover, the first of the feasts, was followed by the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. These rituals were for worship, rest, remembrance, and national solidarity (Leviticus 23:4-8, Numbers 28:16-25). They symbolized our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings of salvation.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread began the day after the Passover supper. It required the ceremonial removal of all leaven from their dwellings before the Passover. Why was leaven to be removed? Because in the Bible it represents sin. The New Testament has a lot to say about it. Jesus spoke figuratively of the leaven of the Pharisees (hypocrisy), the Sadducees (unbelief), and of Herod (worldliness). The apostle Paul wrote about the leaven of malice and wickedness (1 Corinthians 5:8) and of false doctrine (Galatians 5:9).

We know leaven as yeast, which is used in baking. It makes bread dough rise. Why would God use a beneficial ingredient like leaven to picture sin? Because it spreads invisibly. Although it is small, it infects every part of the lump of dough.

So, for seven days the Hebrew people were to eat their meals with unleavened bread. This was a reminder of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and their covenant relationship to God. They were to be a separated people, consecrated to the Lord. During this week, there was to be a sacred assembly, a suspension of normal work, special offerings, and possibly periods of instruction about their unique place in God’s plan of redemption.

In Christian teaching this applies to God’s New Covenant people, and illustrates how we may have a relationship to him. In the Passover, the Hebrews slaughtered, roasted, and ate the Passover lamb, which represents Jesus, the Lamb of God. He had to die for our sins and go through the fire of God’s judgment for our salvation. We are not saved by self-improvement. We are saved by faith in the blood of the Lamb.

In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the bread pictures Jesus, the bread of life (John 6:25-35). When he instituted the Lord’s Supper, he spoke of the unleavened bread as representing his sinless body as he died on the cross. He was born in Bethlehem (“house of bread”). He said as God fed the Israelites with manna in the wilderness, so he is now the “bread of God” which gives life (John 6:33).

The Old Testament feast also reminds us of the New Testament believer’s spiritual sanctification, or separation to God. “Don’t you know that a little yeast (leaven) works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Sanctification, as taught in the New Testament, means that our Lord wants to remake us like himself: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). As we grow spiritually, we “are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is a process of growth through the word of God and by the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

The New Testament guides us away from sinful practices to which we are susceptible. The Holy Spirit convicts us of wrongdoing and leads us to repentance and confession of sins. But there is coming a day in which our sanctification will be complete, when we are with Christ in heaven. “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

Until then we are to “get rid of the old yeast” of sin and feed on Christ and his word. This is the way to “keep the feast,” that is, to live as life was meant to be lived.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Christ, Our Passover

“Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed” ( 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Just a few weeks ago Christians worldwide remembered our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. Every year this coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. This is because Jesus’ death was during the Passover season. Even more important is the fact that he is the fulfillment of everything Passover symbolizes.

While there are many symbolic features in the Passover ceremony, I will point out just a few. Passover tells the story of Israel’s national redemption and rescue from slavery in Egypt. The ceremony was unique to the Israelites. No other ancient civilization had anything like it. The Bible tells us that Jesus is uniquely the only savior and redeemer.

The redemption pictured in Passover involved the sacrifice of a lamb. It was to be unblemished. The first Passover lamb was to be killed and its blood smeared on the lintels and doorposts of the houses of the Israelite people. The blood of the lamb was for the protection of the believing families as the angel of death “passed over” them when God’s judgment descended upon Egypt. Jesus, the New Testament tells us, is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He is “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19).

Every year after that, a lamb was to be roasted and eaten in the Passover supper, in memory of the Exodus from Egypt. The meal also included bread baked without yeast, or leaven. Leaven, in the Bible, is a picture of sin. Unleavened bread is sold today as matzah. It looks like a large saltine cracker. It is baked in such a  way that it is pierced with tiny holes and it has brown spots like bruises. Jesus said he is “the bread of life” (John 6:35). When Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples, he held up the bread, broke it, and said, “This is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19). This reminds us of a prophecy: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

At the Passover supper the head of the household would lead the family in ceremoniously drinking four cups of wine, the cup of blessing, the cup of praise, the cup of redemption, and the cup of the kingdom. This would be accompanied by the reading of relevant scriptures and singing of psalms. At the last Passover with his friends, Jesus lifted the cup of redemption, and declared, “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:28-29).

Clearly, the New Testament is teaching us that Christ is the center of attention, the object of worship. The Passover was observed by the Jews in the spring of every year. It was a pointer to the ultimate sacrificial lamb whose blood brings redemption and spiritual security. For Christians, the Lord’s Supper is a reminder of these truths.

Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God “chosen before the creation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20). The annual killing of the Jews’  Passover lambs represented the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus. “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

The Bible says that while Jesus lived a sinless life, it was not his perfect life that atones for our sins. It was not his good example, as wonderful as that was. It was not his love or compassion alone that secured our redemption. He had to die for sinners. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). “You were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God” (Revelation 5:6-9). “Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

There were seven annual festivals on the Jewish calendar. Passover was to be observed as the first one of the year (Exodus 12:2). Each one of those subsequent festivals was an important picture to us of our Lord Jesus Christ and the panorama of God’s salvation. We shall explore these feasts of the Lord (Leviticus 23) in the coming weeks in this blog. I invite you to read these articles and share them with others on your favorite internet platform.

Pastor Randy Faulkner