Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20080507.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Leviticus: Fellowship With A Holy God
Part III: Acceptable Living Before A Holy God, Leviticus 11:1-27:34
M. Honoring God's Great Works In History
2. Honoring The Cross Of Christ In Separating From Sin And Error
(Leviticus 23:4-8)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Leviticus 23 feasts were regularly observed in Israel's calendar year, each one prophetically typifying a key event of God's work with Israel in history, J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, vol. I, p 426.
    2. The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread prefigure the redemption of Christ at the cross, and the ensuing separation from sinful living and errant teaching God wanted in His people (as follows):
  2. Honoring The Cross Of Christ In Separating From Sin And Error, Leviticus 23:4-8.
    1. The Lev. 23:4-5 Feast of Passover prophetically anticipated the work of Christ on the cross (as follows):
      1. The new year began the first of Nisan, the month when the Feast of Passover was to occur, Exodus 12:1-6, 11. This spoke of the importance both of Israel's redemption from Egypt (Exodus 12:14, 25-33) as well as typifying the importance Christ's redemption from sin, 1 Corinthians 5:7b.
      2. The Passover lamb to be slain was to be a male without blemish (Ex. 12:5), typifying the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ Who was sacrificed as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, John 1:29.
      3. The lamb was to be slain in the "evening," Ex. 12:6, and when Jesus died at the time of the evening sacrifice, at 3:00 p.m., the Passover lambs were being slain in Judaea (Harold Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 89. [Jesus ate the Passover the previous night in the Galilean method of dating, not the Judaean reckoning that set the slaying of the Passover lamb at His death! (Ibid.)]
      4. In slaying or preparing the Passover lamb for consumption, not a bone of it was to be broken, Exodus 12:46, prefiguring how Christ would not have a bone of His body broken on the cross, John 19:31-34.
      5. The blood of the Passover Lamb was applied to the home door posts to protect those within from God's judgment, Exodus 12:7, 12-13. This prefigures Christ's substitutionary death on the cross that shields those who trust in Him for salvation from God's wrath, John 3:16!
    2. The seven days of Unleavened Bread that followed Passover anticipated the holy lives God's people were to live once they partook of the blessings of Christ's work on the cross (as follows), Leviticus 23:6-8:
      1. The feast of Unleavened Bread was initially observed to recall God's powerful redemption of Israel from Egyptian bondage was so sudden, the peoples' dough did not have time to rise, cf. Ex. 12:33-34.
      2. However, even in that feast, God forbade the use of leaven in any way relative to the feast, Ex. 12:15.
      3. Thus, this emphasis on avoiding leaven, a sign of decay and hence of sin (or hypocrisy [Lk. 12:1] or errant teaching [Mtt. 16:12]), became the sign of practical holiness Christians should live, 1 Cor. 5:7-8.
      4. This truth is to be applied in one's personal life (1 John 1:8-10) as well as in the holiness of Church discipline in the removal of ungodly sinners from the Church body's fellowship, 1 Cor. 5:3-8, 13b.
      5. The Days of Unleavened Bread totaled seven, the number representing completeness, cf. Lev. 23:6-8. The believer is to recall his redemption from sin is to be followed by holy living throughout his life!
      6. The first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread were to be Sabbath Days, days of rest to show the holy life is to be lived by God's power as one "rests" in Him for living, Rom. 8:3-4 with Hebrews 4:4, 9-10.
      7. The offerings given each day of Unleavened Bread were initially used for the New Moon celebrations, and the Sabbath Day offerings for the two Sabbaths of the feast, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 249. This prefigured the newness of life to be lived in Christ, a life of victory over sin, Romans 6:4-11.
Lesson: The feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread prophetically anticipated the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and the practical holiness God wanted in believers as a result of the cross!

Application: (1) If by uniting Passover with Unleavened Bread, God typologically united the great work of Christ on the cross to pay for sin with Christian practical holiness, He wants us to translate our appreciation of Christ's work on the cross into LIVING HOLY lives! (2) Typified in the "unleavened" bread, this holiness means separating from practical sin and errant teachings, Luke 12:1; Matt. 16:12.