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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Exodus 23:17

Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

For further study - Exodus 23:14-19


Exodus 20 records the giving of "the law" to Moses on Mt Sinai. This "law," better known as the "ten commandments," was given to the Jewish people to show them there would be no way to be good enough to have merit with God by keeping the law.

In fact the "ten" are only a small part of the "total law" that must be kept. There are over "six hundred laws" that make up the requirements for the Jewish people. Of course, the Lord knew no one could keep all of these laws so He put a "sacrificial system" in place, "the shedding of blood" to atone for man's sin.

Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy give us additional information about the requirements, the "law", for the Jewish people. Let me show you one of those over six hundred "laws" that is found in our devotional reading for today. Notice verse 19, "thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milk".

This "thou shall not" is where the Jewish people get the requirement for "kosher". The Jews believe that verse 19 tells them they cannot mix meat with dairy. If meats are served in a meal they cannot have dairy products with the meat and vice versa.

Now please notice verses 14-17. The Lord gives to the Jewish men the directive, the "law," that they must "appear" before the Lord for three feast days each year; the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.

These three Jewish feast days are called "pilgrim feast days" which means the Jewish men must "appear", be seen, by the Lord for these three feast. The Jews would have to travel to the tabernacle or the temple for these three feast days.

Remember, the Glory of the Lord would rest on the “ark of the covenant" in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle or the Temple. The Jews must appear before Him for these feast days. A close look at the Gospel of John reveals that Jesus did go up to Jerusalem for each of these “feast days” every year.

Even today religious Jews make their way to Jerusalem for the “feast days” even though there is no Temple in Jerusalem. When the Temple is rebuilt, every year every Jew will travel to Jerusalem for these “feast days”. In fact, we who are saved will go up to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles every year during the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom.

There are today many Christians that go to Jerusalem every fall for the Feast of Tabernacles in anticipation of what we will do when Jesus comes back.


PRAYER THOT: Thank You dear Lord for today giving us a glimpse of what we will be doing to honor you in the future. Help us to honor you each and every day in the present.