{"id":22253,"date":"2022-07-04T22:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_15_12-23-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-06-28T16:55:31","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T23:55:31","slug":"deuteronomy_16_1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_16_1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"How Should Christians Today Celebrate Passover and Pentecost?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 16:1-12 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 16:1-12.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a016:1-12, Moses describes to the current generation of Israelites two of the three most important feasts in the Jewish calendar: Passover (also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread) and Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Weeks).<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Sacrifice as the Passover to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste–so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God gives you
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Roast it and eat it at the place the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God and do no work.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses\u00a01-8: \u00a0Why don’t Christians celebrate Passover today in the way\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a016:1-8 talks about?\u00a0 It’s because we now have something even greater than Passover to remember and observe: \u00a0Jesus Christ, His death and His resurrection — also known as Easter.<\/p>\n

At Passover the Israelites sacrificed an animal from their flock or herd (v2) and ate unleavened bread to commemorate their escape from Egypt.\u00a0 It is not a coincidence that when Jesus Christ was betrayed, crucified and killed, it happened during the Passover (see Mark 14:1).\u00a0\u00a0Just as at Passover a lamb without defect was killed to atone for the sins of the people, Jesus is the ultimate, final and perfect Passover lamb, whose death atoned for our sins.\u00a0 But Jesus did more than die on the cross.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0This Lamb of God also rose again.\u00a0 Thus when we celebrate Easter, we are effectively celebrating the ultimate Passover.\u00a0 Instead of merely acknowledging the death of a lamb, at Easter we remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of the Lamb Jesus Christ, in whom we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life (John\u00a01:29).\u00a0 Easter is the ultimate Passover!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God has given you.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And rejoice before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name–you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-12: \u00a0The Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, was meant to be a celebration of the harvest, of God’s blessings on His people.\u00a0 It was to happen every year on the 50th day (or 7 seven weeks) after Passover – thus the word “Pentecost”, which comes from the Greek for “the 50th day”.<\/p>\n

Why don’t we celebrate the Feast of Weeks as described in\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a016:9-12?\u00a0 It’s because we now have something much greater to celebrate: the coming of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 After Jesus Christ rose from the grave and ascended to heaven, on the day of Pentecost the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon all of Jesus’ followers (see Acts 2), just as Jesus promised.<\/p>\n

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, who leads us to faith in Jesus, who inhabits us, who guides us to understand God’s Word and God’s will, and who enables us to experience God’s presence in our lives.\u00a0 Thus it is appropriate that the Holy Spirit came during the Feast of Weeks at Pentecost, since Pentecost is a celebration of God’s blessings and the greatest blessing we have been given is the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Different churches celebrate Pentecost different depending on their traditions.\u00a0 For those churches that don\u2019t celebrate Pentecost formally, it could be said that every time we gather together as the church and give worship to God we are celebrating this greatest blessing, the coming of His Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0Let’s thank God every day for His Holy Spirit and ask Him to fill us and guide us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank You Heavenly Father for giving us so many reasons to be thankful and to celebrate.\u00a0 Thank You for sending Jesus Your Son to be the fulfillment of Passover.\u00a0 And thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to be the fulfillment of Pentecost.\u00a0 Because You gave us Jesus Your Son and the Holy Spirit, we have reason to celebrate every single day.\u00a0 Come fill us today Holy Spirit.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 16:1-12.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a016:1-12, Moses describes to the current generation of Israelites two of the three most important feasts in the Jewish calendar: Passover (also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread) and Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Weeks). \u00a0<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Sacrifice as the Passover to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste–so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God gives you
\n6\u00a0\u00a0except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.
\n7\u00a0\u00a0Roast it and eat it at the place the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
\n8\u00a0\u00a0For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God and do no work.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses\u00a01-8: \u00a0Why don’t Christians celebrate Passover today in the way\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a016:1-8 talks about?\u00a0 It’s because we now have something even greater than Passover to remember and observe: \u00a0Jesus Christ, His death and His resurrection — also known as Easter. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22253"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22256,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253\/revisions\/22256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}