More Than Meets the Eye

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Festival of Weeks
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 1:1-8; Acts 2:1-4 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at them to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

“Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty…

Here I come, ready or not!”

 

Does that sound familiar to you? Does it bring back childhood memories? That’s how we started every game of Hide and Seek when I was a kid… by counting.

 

Just like we counted as kids, Israel was to count out 49 days, plus one, following the end of Passover week. On the fiftieth day, they were to celebrate the Festival of Weeks. It was a festival of thanksgiving to the Lord for their wheat harvest.

 

²¹ That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.                NLT   Leviticus 23

 

The book of Leviticus is basically a manual of regulations that Israel was given by the Lord through Moses while at Mount Sinai. The purpose of these regulations was to help Israel to live as the Lord’s holy people in the Promised Land. The Festival of Weeks was one of those regulations.

 

However, besides the immediate purpose of the Festival of Weeks, it was also a foreshadow of something even bigger. Following his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem where they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit”. After his ascension, here’s what happened.

 

² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.      NIV    Acts 2

 

It happened during the Festival of Weeks which is one of the three major festivals where Jewish men are expected to celebrate by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As a result, the city was packed with devout Jews from all across the world.

 

But there’s more than meets the eye happening here. Peter boldly stood and spoke to the skeptical crowd about Jesus. As a result, about three thousand believed in him as the Messiah. Just like the Festival of Weeks was originally instituted to give thanks for the wheat harvest, now there was a new harvest – a spiritual harvest.

 

Also, over the years the Festival of Weeks became known as Pentecost, which is Greek for the number 50. Providentially, Jesus was crucified and buried 50 days prior to Pentecost. It was the birth of the Christian church, and the beginning of the harvest.

 

During his last days on earth, Jesus made a promise to his disciples.

 

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”            NIV    Acts 1

 

Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit and being his witness is still true for us today. We may not have the physical manifestations of the Spirit, but he is at work in and through our lives to continue the harvest.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Feast of First Fruits
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Change is hard. At least for me it is. When I was working in insurance my boss changed our data management system multiple times. This meant that our daily operations changed because we used the system in every aspect of the job.

 

Because he changed the system, I had to relearn everything. This resulted in a learning curve that seemed so unnecessary. After all, the old system worked just fine. Why did it need to change? As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

 

The Israelites may have felt the same way while waiting at Mount Siani to enter the Promised Land. For centuries, their ancestors had lived as nomadic herdsmen. From Abraham to David, their geo-socio-economic society was based on it.

 

But now they were facing a change from nomadic herdsmen to resident farmer. To that end, Moses presented many laws from the Lord that were based on farming which the Israelites knew very little about.

 

For example, the Lord instituted the Feast of First Fruits as a “lasting ordinance” when they entered the Promised Land.

 

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land, I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. ¹¹ He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.     NIV

 

This is known as a wave offering. It was one way that Israel was to worship God. It was to acknowledge that he had provided the harvest and would continue to do so. It was to show that they trusted the Lord for his provision for their livelihood. But, if they truly believed this, they would have to learn how to farm.

 

However, the Canaanites, who lived in the Promised Land, already knew how to farm. Theirs was an agricultural society, and they believed that their gods had provided years of successful harvests. In some ways, this was a recipe for failure for the Israelites.

 

Knowing the risks of changing something so basic to their lives, the Feast of First Fruits gave the Israelites structure that would help them to “keep the faith”; to stay strong in their covenant relationship with the Lord; to not give in to the temptation of worshiping the gods of the Canaanites. Unfortunately, Israel failed miserably.

 

In addition to the wave offering, the Feast of First Fruits included a burnt offering. They were to take a spotless, year-old lamb and sacrifice it to the Lord. Like the Passover lamb, this was a foreshadowing of Christ, the lamb of God.

 

The bottom line is that the Feast of First Fruits was a metaphor for the resurrection of Jesus and a promise for the future harvest that includes all who have believed and follow him. Paul put it like this in his letter to the Corinthian church.

 

²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.            NIV

 

Here’s how a devotional from Ligonier explains it.

 

“Just as the firstfruits offered to God under the old covenant anticipated the fuller harvest to come, the resurrection of Jesus anticipates the bodily resurrection of His people first promised under the old covenant”.

 

Sometimes, if it ain’t broke… it still needs to be fixed.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

A Pizza Run to Gino’s

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Festival of Unleavened Bread
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 12:14–20; John 6:25-51 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Flatbread pizzas have become very popular. Many eclectic restaurants will offer a flatbread pizza as an appetizer, or sometimes as an entrée. When I was in high school, we didn’t have flatbread pizzas. Instead, my friends and I went to Pizza Sams where they had the best thin crust pizza around.

 

During my college years, I discovered deep dish pizza. Unfortunately, the best deep dish pizza was Gino’s in downtown Chicago. Despite this, my friends and I made at least one pizza run from Lansing to Gino’s – a four-hour drive one way, but worth every minute of it.

 

Israel also had a flatbread. It was an important part of celebrating their freedom from slavery in Egypt. For 400 years they had been slaves when finally, the Lord was going to set them free. However, it was under the most terrible circumstances.

 

The Lord sent a plague upon Egypt where every firstborn male, both human and animal, would die. Israel was given grace by the Lord if they put the blood of a sacrificial lamb over their doorpost. By doing so, the Lord would Passover their house.

 

In addition, they were to eat a special meal that included unleavened bread – a flatbread if you will. These ceremonies of Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were to be celebrated from that day forward. It was to remind them of how the Lord had miraculously delivered them from slavery.

 

¹⁷ “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.                      NIV

 

But why unleavened bread? One reason is that it was known as the “bread of haste”. Since there was no yeast, it didn’t require time to rise. And because the Israelites fled Egypt so quickly, unleavened bread was perfect for making a fast escape.

 

Secondly, unleavened bread was known as the “bread of affliction”. Therefore, it was a physical reminder of the hardship, suffering, and bitterness of Israel’s bondage under Pharaoh.

 

In the New Testament, a different reason is given for using unleavened bread. Jesus warned his disciples about “the yeast of the Pharisees”. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to “get rid of the old yeast”. In fact, yeast was normally used as a metaphor for a small, hidden sin that spreads and affects others.

 

However, Jesus turned everything upside down. After he fed the five thousand, the crowds tracked him down. They asked him for a sign and reminded him how God provided manna for their ancestors in the wilderness during the Exodus.

 

When Jesus told them the true bread from heaven would give them life, the crowds asked Jesus to give it to them.

 

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”                   NIV    John 6

 

Jesus didn’t differentiate between leavened or unleavened bread. But he declared that he was “the bread of life”. Therefore, my conclusion is that his bread is worth far more than a pizza run to Gino’s.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Remember and Celebrate

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Passover
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 12:1-16; Mark 14:22-26 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Since 2009, my wife and I have celebrated our anniversary at J. Gilberts. It’s an upscale, wood-fired steak restaurant. I don’t remember how we decided to go there unless it had something to do with the email that I got offering “$25 off your entrée with the purchase of a second entrée”.

 

Every year we order the same thing. It’s a three-course meal with a soup or salad, entrée and dessert. I love the lobster bisque; the steaks are always grilled perfectly; and the crème Brule is delightfully decadent. We even get to take the second one home. It has become an annual tradition to celebrate our marriage.

 

Israel had served as slaves to the Pharaohs of Egypt for 400 years when God called Moses to lead his people to the Promised Land. But when Moses asked Pharaoh if they could go into the wilderness, he said no. In fact, he kept saying no even when the Lord sent nine plagues upon the people of Egypt.

 

Finally, the Lord sent a plague on the firstborn. With this plague, every firstborn son – from Pharaoh to slaves to cattle – would die! The Lord told Moses that this would compel Pharaoh to let his people go. But there was one more detail.

 

The Lord would spare the Israelites if they followed his instructions. They were to sacrifice a male lamb and then spread the blood on the top and both sides of their doorframe. Later that night, the Lord would go through Egypt striking down the Egyptian’s firstborn sons… but not Israel’s.

 

Here are the Lord’s instructions for the meal.

 

⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.          NIV    Exodus 12

 

Moses gathered the elders together and told them that when they entered the Promised Land, they were to continue to observe the Passover ceremony and pass it down from generation to generation. They were to remember and celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness, his mercy and his grace.

 

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.                        NIV    Exodus 12

 

Approximately 1450 years later, a rising star rabbi and his motley crew of disciples, entered Jerusalem with great Messianic fanfare, to celebrate the Passover. But that night Jesus shared his Last Supper with them.

 

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” ²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.                                 NIV             Mark 14

 

The Passover that the Israelites observed in Egypt was a foreshadowing of Jesus. They had sacrificed a lamb whose blood had spared their lives so that they could be delivered from the slavery of Egypt. Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed his life so that his blood would spare our lives and that we could be delivered from sin.

 

That, my friend, is worth celebrating.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com