Big Idea Of This Series: This series examines the holy days of the Old Testament. Through observing the importance of feasts, ceremonies, and remembering the past, we can understand the importance of God’s people remembering him on special days like Passover, Pentecost, and the Day of Atonement. Our understanding these Old Testament holy days shows us the foreshadowing and building of the work of Christ and God’s continued work in us.
Genesis 1:14-15 NLT Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God established festivals and holy days for His people to celebrate and remember what He had done for them.
We can celebrate what God has done for us every day.
Deuteronomy 16:15-22 NLT For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the LORD your God at the place he chooses, for it is he who blesses you with bountiful harvests and gives you success in all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.“Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the LORD without a gift for him.All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the LORD your God.“Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.“You must never set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build for the LORD your God.And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the LORD your God hates them.
Passover revealed God’s sacrifice and rescue of His people.
John 1:29 NLT The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
We will remember the Passover lamb is Christ.
Leviticus 16:15-22 NLT “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood.Through this process, he will purify the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites.No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the LORD.“Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the LORD. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar.Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.“When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.
The Day of Atonement reflected God’s redemption and people’s need to repent and receive grace.
Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 9:12 NLT With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
We will continue to repent of our wrongs and receive God’s grace.
Hebrews 10:1-7 NLT The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”
We can celebrate what God has done for us every day.