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(7th Day of Unleavened Bread)
Fred R. Coulter—April 19, 2025
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Greetings, brethren. Welcome to Day 7, the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It's a day that pictures that God always, in the final analysis, does the impossible! We've seen that with the first day, because:
- only God could bring them out of Egypt
- only God could bring them to where He wanted them to go
- only God could release them from the slavery that they were in
That physical slavery that they were in is also, as we see during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a type of sin and the bondage of sin. That before we were called, we were slaves to sin. That:
- it is God's intervention
- it's God's Truth
- it's God's power
- it's God's Spirit
which to the world is impossible, brings us to the point that we are baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and then we are walking in the way of the Lord, as we have seen.
Lev. 23—let's look what it says concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then we will see the miracles of the impossible things that God did on that last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Leviticus 23:6: "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. You must eat unleavened bread seven days." So that's it; today is the seventh day of it.
Verse 8: "But you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days…."—that was for the priest!
Every day the sacrifices would be offered. But that doesn't mean that we offer every day during the days of Unleavened Bread.
"…In the seventh day is a Holy convocation… [that's today] …You shall do no servile work therein" (v 8).
- What is the meaning of this day?
- Why do we have seven days of Unleavened Bread?
- Because seven is the number of completion!
We have to go from where we start, God intervening in our lives, to where we go through Unleavened Bread and the seventh day, and that pictures our travel in walking God's ways! That God will intervene for us in everything that we need.
So, as he says, to bring an offering, and every Holy Day we take up an offering. So at this time, we'll take a pause, take up an offering, and we'll be back, and we will see the impossible things that God can do.
(pause for the offering)
Now let's continue on in Exo. 14, which is very interesting as we saw, and that it was timed explicitly according to the time of the maledictory oath of Abraham in Gen. 15 for their Exodus.
Let's see what happens here. They left, left with a high hand, and the night they left was a full moon, plus there was the light of the fire from heaven. They left on the Night to be Much Observed unto the Lord.
Now some people say, that was an invention of some apostle of God, Herbert Armstrong. No, he didn't invent that. It's in the Word of God (Exo. 12:42)! It says that it is the Night to be Much Observed unto the Lord throughout your generations.
Now then, God goes on to show that following Him is not always easy, but following Him in all circumstances is always correct, and there are blessings that come with it.
Exodus 13:21: "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people."
That means in all the 40 years that they wandered in the wilderness. Now think about that! That was always there. How would you behave if you were there? I'll let you think about it today:
- How do you behave?
- How do you feel?
- What is your attitude?
WHEN things don't go exactly correct as you think God should make them go?
God had the same thing here. He planned this ahead of time, and what we're going to read here in Exo. 14 is the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and God brought them to a point that the only thing they had was trust in God, because all the circumstances were against them. Lots of times we find we're in the midst of things where circumstances are against us and some of them are so hard and tough we really don't know how to overcome them, and we cry out to God to help us! That's exactly what God wants us to do!
Exodus 14:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal Zephon. You shall camp before it by the sea" (vs 1-2).
Now, when they came down to the Red Sea, there was a narrow flat place just before the Red Sea. Then there were mountains right behind it, so there was no room to go.
We will see what happened here. God planned it this way; He had two things in mind He was going to do:
- destroy the last remnant of Pharaoh and his armies
- deliver the children of Israel in one of the most awesome miracles in the Bible
Verse 3: "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are trapped in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'"
Isn't that what happens to us a lot of times? We seem to be trapped with no way out! Let's see what God does.
Verse 4: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he will follow them. And I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD."
Now, not only did he want the children of Israel to know that He was the Lord, but He also wanted the Egyptians to know. Likewise today, the things taking place, many people understand it's the hand of God!
Verse 5: "And the king of Egypt was told that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, 'Why have we done this…?'" Look, we let all of our slaves go.
- How are we going to live?
- Who's going to help us with our bath?
- Who's going to cook our food?
- Who's going to watch over our children?
Their whole world was eliminated. The dead of the firstborn, man and beast. Think of the stack of bodies that they had to get rid of.
"…And they did so. And the king of Egypt was told that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, 'Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' And he made his chariot ready and took his people with him" (vs 4-6).
Now then, it's the same thing: Pharaoh is a type of Satan. His army is a type of the demons. They always want to come after the people of God.
But as long as we stay close to God and walk in His way and do what He says, they have no power over us! They may cause a little conflict. They may cause a little trouble. But as we yield to God, he intervenes. Let's see how we intervene for the children of Israel here.
Verse 7: "And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them…. [all the rest of his army] …And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with a high hand" (vs 7-8).
Just like when you're baptized. Oh, you're happy. Oh, this is great. Oh, this is wonderful. Then somewhere down the road, you're confronted with a problem that is really difficult! What are you going to do? Let's learn a lesson from the children of Israel.
Verse 9: "So, the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army. And they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes. And, behold, the Egyptians marched after them…." (vs 9-10).
- What did they have?
- How many weapons did they have? Maybe a few spears!
They were completely helpless!
Now sometimes that's the way it is! Sometimes we are completely helpless, and God has to intervene to help us!
"…And they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD" (v 10).
A lot of people cry out to the Lord, 'Oh help me, save me,' but they're not willing to do what God says.
Verse 11: "They said to Moses…"
Now here's the first thing that happens when you're confronted with a terrible trial: 'God, why did you bring this trial upon me?' Well, God wants to know:
- Do you love Him?
- Do you obey Him?
- Do you believe Him?
That's the whole story of the Bible with everyone with God, including:
- all of the patriarchs
- all of the prophets
- all of the kings
And the same way with all of those in the Church of God!
"…'Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt?….'" (v 11).
Well, we could have died in Egypt, you know. That's nice to die when we have food in our belly and not any trouble.
"'…Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt?'" (v 11).
Troubles come that it doesn't look like that we should have them, but God wants them so that we look to Him! Because as we have said recently, remember that God is all things to everything! From the galaxies and the heavens above to the smallest nanos that we are able to measure,
Verse 12: "Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians?'…."
No, that wasn't so!. They were crying out to God: 'O God save us from this slavery.' The exact opposite.
"'…for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness'" (v 12).
You impute to God something that is not correct, and you don't trust God to lead you! That's the lesson! We should not do that. So what did Moses say? Here's Moses right here, and this is part of the theme of nothing is impossible for God!
Verse 13: "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not! Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still'" (vs 13-14).
How's God going to work that out? Circumstances completely different than you would ever imagine! Now this is a vast thing because there were so many of the children of Israel in the Exodus that they were all strewn along the shore of the Red Sea in a column, in their marching column. There wasn't room for them to move out and set up the camp as they set it up later.
Okay, so here they were. Red Sea right here all of that deep water. Mountains and Pharaoh behind them. How are we going to escape? I know, call Patton and all of his tanks! No, that won't work! No human way is going to work!
Verse 15: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.'"
How are they going to go forward? There's the Red Sea, and they can't go backward toward Pharaoh and to Egypt and they can't go forward down past where they were with the Red Sea.
Now here's the weapon of God. He always uses a weapon that doesn't look like a weapon.
Verse 16—The Lord God says: "And you—lift up your rod… [big walking stick] …and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it…" God is the One Who's doing the dividing!
"…And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And behold, I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get honor for Myself upon Pharaoh, and over all his army, over his chariots and over his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I will be glorified through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen" (vs 16-18).
God's going to carry that out! Now we're going to see another thing, too. when we get to the New Testament. Jesus said to His apostles and disciples, 'I will never leave you!' Keep that in mind as we go forward here.
Verse 19: "And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved.…"
Isn't that interesting? There was an angel in charge of all the children of Israel to lead them with the pillar of fire and the cloud.
"…And he went to the rear of them. And the pillar of the cloud went from in front of them and it stood behind them" (v 19). That is between the Egyptians and the children of Israel!
Verse 20: "And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. It was a cloud of darkness to one…" That is to Pharaoh and the Egyptians!
Now isn't that interesting? They are led by the power of darkness: Satan the devil. Then here's this pillar of Light. It's darkness to the Egyptians over here:
"…but gave light by night to the other… [to the children of Israel] …so that the two did not come near one another all night" (v 20).
I wonder how they felt out there, knowing that the Egyptians were over here. Here we are here and there's the Red Sea.
How is God going to deliver us? This is impossible! Well, there's nothing impossible for God!
Verse 21: "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."
That opening was so wide and so broad, it wasn't the little narrow thing that they show in the movies because it would have taken all day, all night for them to cross, but they weren't to cross until the morning. So this is an amazing thing!
Verse 21: "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground…." (vs 21-22).
So, Moses gave the command to go forward! They looked and there was no water And behold, the seabed was dry!
How did that happen? An impossible miracle that God did!
"…And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left" (v 22).
Now they got across. Didn't take long because the column did not go in a column (one after the other). They went in a flanking movement this way. So, they got to the other side of the Red Sea pretty quickly.
Verse 23: "And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the middle of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch it came to pass that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and the army of the Egyptians was thrown into confusion" (vs 23-24).
Isn't that amazing? Now, you study about what God said about how He would fight for them when they got into the 'promised land.' He told them, 'You don't go out and fight unless I tell you.' IF you go out to fight, THEN you are to take the Ark of the Covenant and the priest is to go ahead. (We'll see that a little later on what happened at Jericho.) Quite a thing!
"…the Egyptians was thrown into confusion. And He loosened their chariot wheels…" (vs 24-25). God took them all off! No wheels on them!
Sidebar: Over in the Gulf of Aqaba. It looks like that was probably the place they crossed, but that's not so, because even though there are some chariots below the water, their wheels are still on them.
So that was another event of another time, not related to this. But archaeologists come along and they assume…
Well, God took the wheels off! An amazing thing! "…and made them go heavily…" (v 25).
Now then God started to let the seabed get wet and muddy.
"…so that the Egyptians said, 'Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.' And the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen'" (vs 25-26).
- How are you going to stop two walls of water coming?
- What did that do to all the chariots and everything? It broke them to little pieces.
Verse 27: "And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea. And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians tried to flee from it. And the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There did not remain so much as one of them" (vs 27-28). Complete wipeout!
Verse 29: "But the children of Israel walked upon dry land through the middle of the sea. And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So, the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses" (vs 29-31).
Great thing indeed! That is a great miracle for us to understand! That is something that we need to always remember concerning what God wants to do for us.
God did another miracle, but it took Him seven weeks to get there, and that is Exo. 19 and coming before God at Mount Sinai. This is a very interesting thing, indeed!
It is the only time—I want you to think about this concerning the Ten Commandments and how important it is—in the history of the world, up to that time—even after that time in Jesus Christ, and down through the history of the Church—that all the children of Israel gathered at the base of the mountain. They had to prepare themselves three days before the giving of the Ten Commandments on Pentecost. We will go into that a little more when we come to Pentecost.
But I want you to understand what God intended the children of Israel to do, but really never really accomplished it. The closest it came was in the days of Solomon.
Exodus 19:1: "In the third month when the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day…"--which then was a Thursday on our calendar today, or the fifth day of the week!
Verse 2: "For they had journeyed from Rephidim, and came to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness. And Israel camped there in front of the mount."
Now here is what God wanted to do. He brought them to where He wanted them, and here's what He told them He was going to do. We'll just read a couple more verses and we'll save the rest of it for Pentecost.
Verse 3: "And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself"'" (vs 3-4). Look at all the things that they went through that God did:
- purifying the water
- providing the food
- providing the quail
- providing water out of the rock a little later
Here they come and here all the number of them plus a multitude of mixed Egyptian and Israelites were there. as well.
Now then, this group all together, here's what God wanted them to know. Let's see this is exactly what God wants with anyone that He is dealing with, and the whole purpose and goal as to:
- why we were born
- why we were converted
- why we are overcoming
- why are we growing in grace and knowledge
Verse 5: "Now therefore, IF…"—everything that God does is based upon our choices,
- IF you will love Me
- IF you will obey Me
- IF you will keep My Commandments
- IF you will listen to My Word
- IF you will follow My ways
- IF you will obey My voice
That's the same thing! Remember what it was with Abraham and the blessing going to Isaac. The first thing the Lord God said was: because he obeyed My voice!
That's the key important thing in everyone's relationship with God: Obey the voice of God and it's all written down. We don't have to ask: What did the Lord say? Here it is.
"…IF you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant…"—commandments!
We'll look at something here in just a minute that is New Testament: the same requirement for us in the spirit.
Verse 5: "Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant…"—meaning everything that He spoke from Mount Sinai and everything that Moses had written down that God told him! (we'll cover that a little later)
"…then…" (v 5) you're standing with God always depends upon us!
- Do we love God?
- Do we obey His voice?
There it is right there!
"'…then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (vs 5-6).
Verse 8: "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.'…."
Now, let's come all the way to the book of Revelation, the fulfilling and completing of the whole Plan of God right here!
- What is it that we are to seek first in everything that we do? The Kingdom of God!
- What is it in our conduct that we are to grow and become perfect? That final perfection is the resurrection!
On our way to Rev. 20, let's stop at
1-John 2:3—notice the similarity between that and back there in Exo. The reason being is because God requires the same thing of us today, but in a complete spiritual way since we have the Commandments of God!
Here's one of the measurements that always comes along, and there are always those attacking. We have more false prophets and false teachers in the world today than at any time in the history of the world!
1-John 2:3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him: IF we keep His Commandments."
Isn't that what He said back there in Exo. 19? Yes! Now we have a differentiation of it.
Verse 4: "The one who says, 'I know Him' and does not keep His Commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him."
That applies to every Sunday-keeper, everyone who keeps all the occult holidays of this world. You are not part of Christ, though you have His name plastered over everything!
Verse 5: "On the other hand, IFanyone is keeping His Word… [think about that; whatever God says, His Word] …truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him. Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked" (vs 5-6).
That's the whole picture of the journey of them walking to Mount Sinai to get the Laws of God. Coming to Mount Sinai pictures a type of coming before God and as we know through the first resurrection. That's it right there!
Now let's see the final result. Let's see in Rev. 20 that what God wanted is fulfilled in the Church at the resurrection for what God wants to do for the whole world.
Revelation 20:6: "Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God … [Exo. 19] …and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."
Then we fulfill God's Plan as pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles and bring God's way to the whole earth!
Let's understand the whole process of everything that we do is wrapped up in this. This applies to everything that seems a very rigid requirement of God. One that's almost unattainable. In the flesh we cannot become perfect, because we have within—as we know from the Feast of Unleavened Bread—the law of sin and death, and we have to overcome that.
Matt. 19—this that was about husband and wife, and so forth, and that it's difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 19:25: "But after hearing this, the disciples were greatly astonished and said, 'Who then is able to be saved?'"
Carnally speaking it can't happen! But with the Spirit of God, all these things can happen! That's why there's:
- the baptism
- the laying on of hands
- the receiving of the Holy Spirit
- the growing in grace and knowledge
Verse 26: "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men this is impossible; but with God ALL things are possible.'"
Isn't that what we are up against with the trials that we face even today? We face some things that are very difficult! When we come down to the thing that we have nothing left to do, but:
- to choose the Truth
- to choose God
- to trust Him
Like Moses told the children of Israel, the Lord will fight for you! That's quite a thing! Then God does the impossible by completely changing the circumstances for you, as you:
- believe Him
- trust Him
- obey Him
There we go! Nothing is impossible for God! That's what the angel Gabriel told Mary when she said, 'How is this going to be?' And he said, 'Nothing is impossible for God!' What is not possible for men is possible for God!
We'll end the first half here with the account of Hezekiah. Now, you can find that in Isaiah 37 thru 39. This is the account of what happened when the Assyrians came to conquer Judah and Jerusalem, and everything was against them. The king of Assyria was there with his great army of 185,000. They came and camped down at the edge of Judah, ready to come up and take over and take them captive.
They even sent the leading general to go talk to the people on the wall, and he told them, 'We've conquered all of these nations and none of their gods were able to save them. Now we've come here, so don't think in your heart or believe your king when he says that the Lord will deliver!
So then, the prophet Isaiah and Hezekiah took the letter that came from the general—came from the king himself—to surrender.
So, they went into the Temple of God and opened the letter and read it before God, and said:
Oh God, here they are to destroy us, and we're helpless, because we don't have the defenses to do anything to fight against them or turn back this army of 185,000.
And Hezekiah wept sore! The Word came to Isaiah, 'You go tell Hezekiah, I will fight for you!'
How did God do that? Well, that night, all the 185,000 soldiers, with the exception of the king and a couple of generals, died at the hand of an angel! Just like what happened in Egypt when the children of Israel were brought out from Egypt.
God killed—that was the great sacrifice for Israel—all the firstborn of the Egyptians, man and beast, and how God fought for them at the Red Sea, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!
What happened? The army coming against Hezekiah and Jerusalem was destroyed! The king of Assyria had to 'skadoodle' out of there and get back to Assyria, where he was assassinated later.
But the children of Israel spent days and days and days collecting all the treasure: all the spoil, all the gold, all the silver, and putting it in the treasure houses of God. It was a marvelous thing that took place there. they had a great and fantastic Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover. They were so thrilled and so happy at that time that they decided to keep another seven days in addition to it. Great deliverance of God!
Then we saw there came a time the ambassadors from Babylon came over, because they wanted to know from the king: 'How did all of this happen that the whole army of the Assyrians was destroyed? What did you get out of it?
This happened after God gave 15 more years to Hezekiah; this was Hezekiah's mistake, and it's a great lesson for us! After God does something for us, let's not make the mistake of doing something wrong, because God has helped us. What he did was this:
The ambassadors said, 'Well, what did you get in booty from all of the Assyrians?' Oh, I got all of this! So, he showed them everything, all the gold, all the silver, everything that they had.
Isaiah came and he asked him, 'Hezekiah, who were these men?' They were ambassadors from Babylon. 'What did you show them?' I showed them everything!
Now pay attention here; a big lesson to learn:
- whenever God blesses you
- whenever God intervenes
- whenever God fights for you
—which this day, the 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, pictures—don't get lifted up in vanity and egotism because that will be your downfall!
So, Isaiah[transcriber's correction] came and said, 'Hezekiah, who were these men? Well, they were ambassadors from Babylon! 'What did you show them?' Well, I showed them everything!
Isaiah said, 'Because of this, it's all going to Babylon, every bit of it.' But that didn't happen for over 120 years. But it took place! When Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, conquered Jerusalem and destroyed it! There were actually three invasions.
Let's look at the lesson:
- God will fight for us
- He's always with us
- He will do the things that are impossible, things that we cannot do
But when God does that for us and we're humbled by it and thankful for it, never lose that humility in thanksgiving by doing something presumptuous out of vanity and egotism like King Hezekiah did!
(break@48:06)
Now let's come to the book of Proverbs and let's see after God:
- has forgiven our sins
- has given us His Holy Spirit
- helps us with His Holy Spirit
so we
- grow and overcome
- overcome personal sins
- overcome obstacles and difficulties that are in the way
and actually does impossible things for us!
We need to have our behavior in such a way that we don't make the mistakes that the children of Israel did, that King Hezekiah did, and all of the failures that we find.
Come to the book of Proverbs and we will see what we need to do. Now then, we are to become the children of God the Father through Jesus Christ Who is our Elder Brother and High Priest and our King, our Ruler in everything.
We're to become the sons and daughters of God. That's what we're told, and that's what it is and we know and understand that and believe it!
Proverbs 3:1: "My son…"—or daughter, because it's true both ways. we find in the New Testament—we'll look at that a little bit—that sons and daughters, as well.
"…do not forget My Law…" (v 1).
Isn't that the whole thing that happens? That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so that we understand the way of God is the only way and His Laws.
"…but let your [#1]heart keep My Commandments" (v 1)—that's spiritual!
Remember: as a man thinks in his heart, so he is!
- whatever you are
- whatever I am
- whatever any other human being is
It's what is in their heart and in their mind! Not what you see with an exterior dimension of our bodies or in the physical things that you possess. We all have those, don't we? In varying degrees.
"…let your heart keep My Commandments" (v 1) let means you decide. So, we have IF and LET—very important.
Verse 2: "For they shall add length of days, and long life, and peace, to you."
What's the ultimate of the New Testament and the conversion and the spiritual covenant with God?
- long life—how about eternal
- peace—you have peace with God the Father and Jesus Christ and You will see Them
How do you accomplish this? This is something you need to do on a day-to-day basis, day in and day out, and during the day: hour in and hour out. Here it is:
Verse 3: "Do not let mercy and Truth forsake you…"
Isn't that interesting? You can read about what happens if you don't have mercy. Matt. 19: God has forgiven your sins, but you turn around and you condemn somebody else for their sins.
"…bind them… [mercy and truth] …around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your [#2]heart" (v 3).
Verse 4: "And so shall you find favor…"
Now, favor means grace. Are we not under grace? Yes, indeed! Grace means this: Each one of us have direct personal contact to God the Father in heaven above through Jesus Christ all the time. Isn't that amazing?
God is dwelling in us with his spirit. Yes, indeed. And we come with the Spirit of God in us (1-Cor. 3), we are a mini-temple of God.
How are we going to build on that? That is what Paul wrote about: Gold, silver, precious stone or wood, hay and stubble! Paul said we are all going to have fiery trials. IF what you have built up is wood and stubble, that's all going to be burned away! You might be saved, but you lose a lot of your reward.
"…and good understanding in the sight of God and man" (v 4).
- you think right
- you believe right
- you understand correctly
- you're not following lies
What does that lead to?
Verse 5 shows the epitome of this 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which the children of Israel had to do. They had to trust in God! Moses did, and the Red Sea was parted, and they walked through on dry ground.
Verse 5: "Trust in the LORD with all your [#3]heart…"
How important is your heart? Not only what you have intellectually up here (in your mind), but:
- what you feel
- what you believe
- the whole thing of emotions of your life
"…and lean not to your own understanding" (v 5).
Where does that lesson go back to? Clear back to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why? Because they leaned to their own understanding and didn't trust God!
If you don't believe in God, you don't believe in God. They leaned to their own understanding and didn't trust God!
Verse 6: "In all your ways acknowledge Him…."
Isn't that interesting? That's why every day you put your whole day in God's hands:
- to help you
- to lead you
- to guide you
- to inspire you
- to direct you
- to help you to understand
- to help you to think properly
- to help you believe Him
- to help you obey Him
- to help you love Him
Verse 6: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
Prov. 16:9—very interesting thing here for us. This helps us every day to understand what we need to do.
Proverbs 16:9. "A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps."
Now that's interesting. You're involved in deciding what you're going to do:
- based upon God's Spirit in you
- based upon the Word of God
- based upon how you are living
"…but the LORD directs his steps" (v 9).
How does God direct your steps? By inspiring you to do the right thing because you:
- trust in Him
- believe in Him
- obey Him
That's the whole lesson of the 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
Proverbs 3:6: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil" (vs 6-7).
Now that's quite a thing and that's the whole basis of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Let's look at some more and how important this is.
Prov. 4:11—This is interesting because every one of us have to be taught of God. He teaches us:
- through His Word
- through our study
- through our prayers
- through how we live
It is God Who is the One Who is teaching us! That's what all the elders need to do all the time: to teach the brethren how to have that relationship with God!
Proverbs 4:11: "I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in the right paths. When you go, your steps shall not be hampered, and when you run, you shall not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; keep her, for she is your life" (vs 11-13).
Very important! All these things are part of walking in the way of the Lord!
Verse 14—here's the warning because it's so easy to do: "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil men. Avoid it; do not go in it; turn from it, and pass on!" (vs 14-15).
Because they're devoted to evil and they want to take you down!
Verse 16: "For they do not sleep except when they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall. for they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence" (vs 16-17).
That's the comparison in the world; that's the way it is out there!
Verse 18: "But the path of the just…"—the way that you walk, as we read there in 1-John 2, you walk in the way of the Lord!
"…is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day" (v 18). What is that perfect day? The resurrection!
In the early Church they taught the spiritual way of God right from the Old Testament. The biggest lie today is it's all been fulfilled, so we don't need to keep it. Or the Catholics say 'that's the old Law.'
But the truth of Catholicism is this. They have the oldest laws of paganism that go back way before Mount Sinai! Where the epitome of everything that was done in Egypt, as well.
Verse 18: "But the path of the just is as the shining Light… [we're to walk in the Light as He is in the Light] …that shines more and more to the perfect day."
Verse 19: "The way of the wicked is as darkness…"
- Remember how that applies back there at the Red Sea? Light to the children of Israel, but darkness to the Egyptians!
- Were they the wicked ones? Yes!
- Were they destroyed? Yes!
Verse 19: "The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble."
That's exactly what happened when they entered into the Red Sea, thinking that they could get the children of Israel. All of the plans of men, if they're not right, God saves them for a great correction! In this case, death, BANG! they all died instantly in the Red Sea! An amazing thing, indeed!
We'll be confronted with all of these things all the time, especially with television that we have today. The world comes into our homes invitedevery time that we turn on television.
Verse 20: "My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes…" (vs 20-21). Keep everything of God right in front of you!
"…Keep them in the midst of your heart" (v 21).
You might do a word study of ' heart' just in the book of Proverbs. I think you will find that very interesting, indeed.
"…keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them… [spiritually] …and health to all the flesh" (vs 21-22).
Now, just like I announced that new transcript book we have: The Healing of God: Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual. That's the healing of God.
Remember back there in Matt, 13, Jesus said that they have closed their eyes 'lest they should hear, lest they should see, lest they should believe and be converted.' Conversion! There it is. That's what it's talking about here.
Verse 23 is a key important verse in everything that we do as pictured by our walking in the way of God with the unleavened bread of Spirit and Truth.
Verse 23: "Above all guard the door of your mind…"—or heart!
- you guard it
- you get rid of the things that are in there
Isn't that what unleavened bread is all about?
- put out the sin/put in the righteousness
- put out the leaven/eat the unleavened bread, symbolic of the pure Word of God
Verse 23: "Above all guard the door of your mind with diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."
Let's read the rest of this chapter. This chapter is so important for this Feast of Unleavened Bread and also for our daily living.
Verse 24: "Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and devious lips put far from you."
- it's so easy to kind of fudge
- it's so easy to say things that are not true
Verse 25: "Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established" (vs 25-26).
That's what God wants! That in everything with us:
- with God's Spirit
- with God's Truth
- with overcoming sin
- with being under grace
so that all our ways will be established!
Verse 27: "Do not turn to the right hand nor to the left; remove your foot from evil."
That's the whole lesson of Unleavened Bread. Quite an amazing thing indeed! Isn't it amazing what there is in the Bible?
You know, all the years that we've been studying the Bible, there are a lot of things that we're even learning today, and things we thought we knew we understand more deeply! Things that we couldn't understand, now we do understand?
Why? Because we yield ourselves to God! It's not because we're greater than anybody else. We're not. because:
- God calls the weak
- God calls the rejected
- God calls those that are nothing in the world
So that through the
- training of God
- the Laws of God
- the Spirit of God
We develop, and at the resurrection we are made kings and priests and governors and rulers to rule the world! What a great and fantastic calling!
Prov. 10—we'll get the flow of this and see how it works.
Proverbs 10:27: "The fear of the LORD prolongs days…"
That's what we are in now. We have a lot of senior citizens and I'm one of them. There are other people out there that are loving God and serving God that are older than me. God has blessed them; this is an answer.
Verse 27: "The fear of the LORD prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened."
Look at that. Isn't that true? Look at what happens to all of these Hollywood stars. All of a sudden they die at a young age.
Verse 28: "The hope of the righteous is gladness…"
- the resurrection
- love
- Truth
- God the Father
- Jesus Christ
- all of the angels
- all of the resurrected saints
- all of us organized in the Kingdom of God
- all singing the song Hallelujah! Lord God Almighty
"…but the expectation of the wicked shall perish" (v 28). Think about that! They'll all be destroyed!
Verse 29: "The way of the LORD is strength to the upright…"—because you're following what is good!
To the wicked in the same book are the penalties for disobeying God:
"…but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity" (v 29).
Always happens, doesn't it? Yes indeed!
Verse 30: "The righteous shall never be moved, and the wicked shall not remain in the land."
Isn't that true? That's what the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures: We are to never be moved from the Truth of God!
Verse 31: "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perversity" (vs 31-32).
That's what it is. This is telling us how we live in the world that we're always confronted with so much evil from so many different sides. It's really quite a tremendous thing, indeed.
Proverbs 12:17: "He who speaks Truth shows forth righteousness…" Yes, and it's always right and good!
"…but a false witness deceit. There are those who speak like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals. The lips of Truth shall be established forever..." (vs 17-19).Whose lips of Truth do we follow? God's!
- that's how we are to live our lives
- that's how we are to think
- that's how we are to speak
So, notice the comparison here:
"…but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who imagine evil, but to counselors of peace there is joy" (vs 19-20).
Proverbs 13:5—see how this fits in with Unleavened Bread: "The righteous hates lying, but the wicked one is loathsome and comes to shame. Righteousness guards the one who is upright in the Way…" (vs 5-6).
Automatic protection! What's an added blessing that comes with it? Angels
- to watch over you
- to care for you
- to give you grace and favor
"…but wickedness overthrows the sinner" (v 6).
Verse 12: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire is fulfilled it is a Tree of Life."
What is our hope? God doesn't defer it! It's out there every day! But sometimes it looks like it takes a long time, but it always comes!
Verse 13: "Whoever despises the Word shall be destroyed, but he who fears the Commandment shall be rewarded. The law of the wise is a fountain of life… [the Tree of Life] …to depart from the snares of death" (vs 13-14).
Quite a thing! All of those are great and good things for us that we are to keep.
Now let's see how God deals with us. Let's come to the book of Matthew, and this is a promise spoken directly by Jesus to all of the disciples. Right at the end, He wants us to know.
So, on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread let us understand how God works for us, to fight for us, to be with us, that He is always with us! Never leaves us! Even in
- our troubles He is there
- our overcomings He is there
- the things that we have to battle, He is there
Christ is in us and the Father is in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now notice this blessing He says here: Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying… [these are the last words that He spoke to the great crowd that was there, over 500 people] …' All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me…. [Amazing!] …Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'" (vs 18-19). That's not a trinity!
What's the result of being baptized? Receiving the Holy Spirit! It's not a person, it's the power of God!
Verse 20: "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…. [that's what we're to do] …And lo, I am with you always..."—we don't have to wonder, where God is!
Having the Spirit of God, we have the Spirit of God right here (within us)! God is in heaven, but He's given us His Spirit. So in that sense, He is always with us with everything that we do, because His Spirit is in us!
"…And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (v 20). That's quite a thing, indeed!
Now let's come to Heb. 13, the very last chapter of the book of Hebrews. This is interesting because it was written to confirm the brethren, have them yield to God and stay firm:
- to believe all the examples in the Old Testament
- to believe what Jesus did
- to believe in His sacrifice
- to believe in His name
- to keep His Commandments and have God write them in your heart and mind
Let's see what Paul wrote, quoting what God told him.
Hebrews 13:5: "Do not allow the love of money to influence your behavior, but be satisfied with what you have; for He has said, 'In no way…'"
I want you to understand this: in the Greek there are five negations. And if you want to translate it into English, literally it would be, 'I will not, not, not, not, not leave you.'
Now is the Word of God once good enough? Yes! Why this extra emphasis?
- to give us more understanding
- to draw us closer to God
- to remember He is always there
That's the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the whole meaning of the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God is always there, and we have to be always with Him! He will never leave us and forsake us, as we will see.
"…'In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way'" (v 5). Amazing! That's why we are:
- to obey God
- to believe God
- to love God
"'…I will never forsake you in any way.' So then, let us boldly say, 'The Lord is my Helper, and I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" (vs 5-6).
That's the whole lesson of the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Brethren, it's been a great time! I'm glad you've taken the time between the two Holy Days to study Psa. 119, because that's really quite a thing for you to do, because that's really quite a thing for you to understand. It shows how we need to come to God, and how God comes to us.
So we'll go ahead and end with a final prayer here:
Holy Father in heaven above, we thank You so much for Your goodness, Your mercy, Your love for Jesus or Your Holiness, Your Truth that you give to us.
Help us, inspire us, grant us Your Spirit, grant us Your love, grant us Your favor, grant us the angels intervening to protect us and watch over us.
Help us to think on Your Word, live by Your Word, do all the things that are pleasing in Your sight so that we can be in that glorious Kingdom that You have promised us and that the way that we go is symbolized by the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, of living in this world in spite of all the wickedness that is everywhere.
So, guide us and protect us and be with us, and we commit ourselves to You in Jesus' name. Amen!
Scriptural References:
- Leviticus 23:6, 8
- Exodus 13:21-22
- Exodus 14:1-31
- Exodus 19:1-6, 8
- 1-John 2:3-6
- Revelation 20:6
- Matthew 19:25-26
- Proverbs 3:1-6
- Proverbs 16:9
- Proverbs 3:6-9
- Proverbs 4:11-27
- Proverbs 10:27-32
- Proverbs 12:17-20
- Proverbs 13:5-6, 12-14
- Matthew 28:18-20
- Hebrews 13:5-6
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Genesis 15
- Exodus 12:42
- Isaiah 37 thru 39
- 1-Corinthians 3
- Psalm 119
Also referenced: Transcript Book:
The Healing from God: Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual.
FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 3/18/25
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