Exodus 23:16-3316And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field. 17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God. 18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 19The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. 20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 24Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Exodus 23:16‑33).
NEXT there was the feast of harvest (Pentecost). At that time they were to offer a basket full of the firstfruits of their harvest to the Lord, before they began to reap the rest of it. In this way they gave the Lord His portion first, and they also acknowledged that the harvest was really His. They took it as from His hand.
It is also a beautiful picture of Christ who is the firstfruits from among the dead, and now, because He is in glory, the whole harvest will be gathered in. (1 Cor. 15:20, 2320But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:23)) . The harvest' began, as it were, on the day of Pentecost, though in reality it takes in all the redeemed ones. The reaping time is going on now. Dear Christian, what are you and I doing in His harvest fields? (John 4:35, 3635Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. (John 4:35‑36).) Are we seeking to proclaim the Saviour's love to sinners? Let, us remember that the harvest will soon be ended.
This brings us to the next feast—the feast of ingathering, sometimes called the feast of tabernacles. At that time the children of Israel rejoiced before the Lord because the whole harvest had been gathered in. What rejoicing there will be in heaven and on earth when the whole redeemed company join in redemption's song! Dear reader, will you be in heaven to sing the Saviour's praises in that day? If you are not saved, do not go another day without settling this important matter.
The two things mentioned in the eighteenth verse are important. "Thou Shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning."
Leaven, as we know, speaks of evil, and so we can apply this in a practical way to ourselves. Some of our young readers profess to be saved through blood of Jesus. Are you walking in separation from evil? We are living in days of easy profession, and since God was so definite in His commands to His people Israel, how much more careful we should be, when we think of how much He has done for us.
The fat of the sacrifices was the -best part. Moreover it was God's part and it was to be offered at once. God mu: have His portion first. How often we look after our own interests first, and then if we have time we think of the Lord's claims. Too often we leave things till tomorrow so that we can look after our own things today, h this was not God's way for Israel, nor is it His way for us. The Lord shout have first. place today. Are we going to give it to Him?
The Lord promised to go before His people (as the Angel) and bring thee into the land of Canaan. It was however conditional on their obedience and so, although grace brought them in they never possessed all God had for them. There is however a blessed day coming when God will bring them into possession of all their land and he all their sickness, but it will be on the ground of pure grace at that time.
Once more, at the very end of our chapter, they were reminded to in separation from the people of the land, "lest they make thee sin against Me." We can never go on in worldly friendships and expect to be kept front dishonoring the Lord's name. The world is still at enmity with God and how can we be friends of God's enemies', (James 4:44Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4).)
Messages of God’s Love 9/25/1949