Leviticus 23:4–5: “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.”
January 6th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotionalWe come to the section in Leviticus concerning the seven feast days that God commanded to be observed in the Law. Like the book of Revelation, Leviticus is also built around sevens. Every seventh day is a Sabbath, and every seventh year a Sabbath year. In the seventh month are the feasts of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles. Passover lasts seven days. Seven weeks after Passover is Pentecost, which also lasts seven days.
The first feast listed in chapter 23 is the commemoration of the Passover. That day of deliverance was to be remembered as the day death passed over God’s people because they put themselves under the blood of a lamb. All of this, of course, looked forward to the death of the Lamb of God, Jesus, the Savior. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” to remind us that Jesus fulfills the role of the lamb and is, in fact, our Passover. In that sense we celebrate Passover every time we take the Lord’s Supper. Or more precisely we celebrate the death of Jesus; for it is by His death, on our behalf, that the death angel passed over us.
According to Hebrews 10:1, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.” We understand that the Law foreshadowed the “good things to come,” namely Jesus Christ and His Redemption.
“Thank you, LORD, for redemption today. Help us to live our lives like a redeemed child of Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”