SEASONS - GOD'S SACRED HOLY DAYS - PART FOUR - THE DAY OF EARLY FIRST FRUITS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

EARLY FIRST FRUITS

We come, during the season of Passover and Unleavened Bread to the Feast of Early First Fruits, another sacred time set apart by God to be thankful for the early harvest of the land; and a time that is very symbolic of the Resurrection of Christ.   It is as if the Resurrection was being proclaimed even centuries and centuries before it occurred by faithful people keeping this day even before Messiah had come!  Now that is faith!  They were simply being obedient to God, but did not fully understand why.  

 After the Resurrection Jesus told us to wait and count the days until Pentecost when The Holy Spirit would come.  The scriptures tell us how to begin counting the omer during the Days of Unleavened Bread on this day of Early First Fruits that begins at sunset after Passover on the 2nd Day of Unleavened Bread.   Remember that Hebraic days start at sunset and last for 24 hours according to the phases of the moon.  

It was on THE THIRD DAY that Jesus was Resurrected.  At the end of this second day of Unleavened Bread,  the day we know as the day of Early First Fruits became the day He presented the atoning blood that redeemed our souls to God.   At the Evening of The Second Day Of Unleavened Bread after sunset the Third Day of Unleavened Bread begins.  This is our time for celebrating The Resurrection of Christ!  It was made possible by the Early First Fruit offering of Christ, given between the time that He died and the time that He returned to earth in the Resurrection.  

The omer was the unit for measuring the offering of the early barley crops that were harvested  of which the first portion was taken to the priest from the best of the early crops.  It happened like clockwork each year on this day.  The largest early harvest was the barley harvest.  Barley was simply the first crop to ripen every year.  The barley was ready before all the other crops.
 

On that day (the day of the Early First Fruits)  the priest waived the first offerings of the barley crop (which measured an omer when processed) before God in Thanksgiving for the early harvest of the year.  

This day of the offering of the early first fruits came always on the morrow after the seventh day Sabbath during the week of Passover.  This year Passover falls on the Sabbath, so the first Day of Unleavened Bread falls on the day after the Sabbath, that is always on a Sunday.  The counting of the omer will always begin on a Sunday (the morrow after the 7th Day Sabbath of Passover Week).    The day of Early First Fruits during Unleavened Bread is the first day you begin counting and you count up to 50 to get to Pentecost.  The Early First Fruits offering would have happened just BEFORE the Resurrection, while Christ was still in Heaven with God as He gave the offering of his atoning blood for us.  So the offering in heaven might have occurred on the Second Day of The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread as Jesus who had died stood before the throne of God and offered up His Holy Body and Blood for our sins.  This is why we waive the sheaf offering before God on the 2nd Day of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Early First Fruits, because that waive sheaf offering is symbolic of The Risen Lord.    

We see from this that the time between Passover and the Seder meal and somewhere before the second day of Unleavened Bread, on the Day of Early First Fruits represents the true day of our redemption.  We also know that an offering is not complete until God has accepted it.  It was on THE THIRD DAY just before sunset between the second day of Unleavened Bread and the Third Day of Unleavened Bread that God accepted the offering and resurrected Jesus from the grave.  

So we observe Early First Fruits on The Second Day of Unleavened Bread and observe The Resurrection of Christ after sunset of The Second Day of Unleavened Bread (moving into the beginning of the third day.)   Now in its fulfillment by Christ this day has come to represent the offering of Christ's atoning blood for our sins, and the acceptance of God at which point Christ was raised from the dead.  Don't forget to include Passover in your counting of the days.  Christ was put in the grave late on Passover.  He was in the grave on The First Day and The Second Day and he rose on THE THIRD DAY of Unleavened Bread.  Well that surely seems right and appropriate, after looking at the unleavened bread we ate at Passover and observing how many ways it represents Christ to us, then seeing the wave sheaf waived before God on the 2nd Day of Unleavened Bread!  At the end of the 2nd day and going into the first part of the third day we rejoice in The Resurrection miracle of God!

We start counting the Omer on Early First Fruits, because that is when Christ offered up Himself for us before God in Heaven.  This was the way of celebrating this day in the ancient church.  They knew on The Second Day of Unleavened Bread (the day of Early First Fruits) to give their offering to the priest and to start counting the Omer on that day.   It was one of the first ways of keeping time, and the days of the omer counting became one of the first calendars ever used by men.   It feels very appropriate that we would be counting time AFTER our redemption had taken place in heaven.  Until that time occurred, our lives did not count for anything.  Now in the counting of the Omer, we are anticipating new and exciting things to come because we have had our sins forgiven and we have been made new.  We have placed ourselves under the will of God and we open our hearts to learn all that He has to teach us about The Kingdom of God.  We come out of the ways of the world and we come into the ways of God.  Following the example of Our Messiah, we offer our lives as living sacrifices.  We are waiting and counting the days until Pentecost because we know that it is The Holy Spirit that brings us the power of Resurrection and New Life in Christ.  We are like a crop of wheat growing in the sun, waiting for the harvest.  We know at that time if we keep growing in God that we can be useful to our heavenly Father, and our own purposes will be fulfilled under God's will and they will be significant and make a difference.  In the harvest of God's souls, each person will make a difference in their own unique way.  

The ancient people had no idea WHY they were counting, or WHY they always started on the day of Early First Fruits, but that was what God had commanded and that was what they did for years and years and years.  When Messiah came, most of the people finally understood.  Especially when they looked around them on the day of Early First Fruits and saw the other people who had also risen from their graves right after Christ.  These were the ones who had believed in faith that God would send the Messiah.  Jesus was THE Early First Fruit offering, the first and the best of all souls that had ever lived, and these others were the first souls to rise from the grave as part of the early harvest of God's souls.  Can you just imagine who would have been there?  It is mind boggling to think of it. 

 

When Early First Fruits was only known as a day to go up to the Temple to bring your early harvest offering, the priests would wave the sheaves of barley before God in Thanksgiving at The Temple.  There is no physical Temple today, but we have our bodies with The Holy Spirit of God residing inside as a temporary temple (or tabernacle) until we meet God after death.  That is why Jesus wanted us to count the omer and wait the 50 days until God sent The Holy Spirit.  

We can remember to keep this commandment of giving an offering of the early first fruits of our labor by setting aside an extra offering specifically to be used for looking after the widows, orphans, strangers and Levites (those in the ministry of God) among us. This is what the ancient people realized when they left the corners of their fields for others in need to gather for food.  That was how Ruth came to know Boaz; her kinsman redeemer.  By giving of our early first fruits we make a way for others to know our kinsman redeemer also.  By showing love and care for those in need, we show others the love of Christ.  First Fruits is a time to give of the first of your blessings to those in need of support instead of buying more than you actually need for yourself.

Remember the story of Cain and Abel when you decide on your offering.  Pick something that is of your first and your best to offer up on this day.   Do you have a special talent that you will dedicate to God in the next year?  That would be a good first fruits offering!  This offering can consist of money or time or whatever you feel God is leading you to do.  Pray for guidance.  It is not a corporate decision, it is an individual decision.  Why not pay a bill for a friend who needs help, or buy some groceries for some young struggling couple, or help an older person take care of some medical needs, or give something to your Pastor to help him better take care of his family?  

Pray – and God will show you where to put your offering of the first fruits of your labor.  This is an offering that is above your usual tithe.  Have you not been tithing to God?  I do not mean to say are you giving one-tenth of your income to a local congregation, though that would certainly be tithing.  I mean are you taking one tenth of your income each time you receive profit and giving it away in the name of God to whatever worthy cause God puts on your heart?  If you are not following this practice, perhaps your first fruits offering this year will be to promise God to do this in the coming year.  Each of us grow and learn at a different pace, trust God to show you from where you are right now.  This Early First Fruits offering should come directly from you and the Sanctuary of your own home.  It is not a group effort of a church congregation, though there is certainly nothing wrong with that.  The offering of The Early First Fruits is an offering between you and God.  Consider it carefully so that God finds it acceptable.  Remember Cain and Abel.

All these years the people kept this feast day in a spirit of thanksgiving, thinking it was only for giving thanks for their first barley crops, their first physical harvest of the year; and a way of marking time to start counting up to the latter harvest of their wheat crops.   Now Jesus has shown us how it was prophetic of a much greater spiritual harvest.    This first harvest is symbolic of Jesus, who has risen from the dead and  ascended into heaven as the First Fruits of everlasting life.  Those who rose from the grave after Him were the first of God’s harvest of souls. 

Unless you are keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread and observing Day of First Fruits and counting the omer after First Fruits until Pentecost, you might miss all of this, lose a lot of the wonderful details, or just forget to make time to remember it all.  You might even get the wrong interpretations of these true days mixed up in your mind from the teachings of the world around you.  These days were given by God for a reason and they are holy and scriptural.  Observance of them brings you more understanding every year and that will give you more joy in your heart each year!

So remember and ponder the facts that we know Christ was crucified on Passover.  He was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights.  He rose from the grave alive just after sunset on that third day,   This would make the celebration of the Resurrection occur always after sunset ending the 2^nd day of Unleavened Bread going into the 3^rd Day (don't forget to count Pasover in your counting.) Because the Hebrews counted from sunset to sunset it would have been possible for Christ to have the Passover meal the evening before his crucifixion day.  He was in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights, Passover Day was the first day (he celebrated the Passover Seder the night BEFORE), The 1st Day of Unleavened Bread is the 2nd day, and the second day of Unleavened Bread is the 3rd Day.  Now; He is Risen!  It happened on Early First Fruits!  Know in your heart that this is a time of celebrating much more than a barley harvest!  It is a time to celebrate The Resurrection of Christ!  

All of this is true to the sign of Jonah that Christ said He would fulfill.  As Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a whale, Christ spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth.   The world celebrates Good Friday to Easter Sunday.  This isn't 3 days and 3 nights.  Keeping Unleavened Bread keeps the time accurate according to the scriptures.  He died, He presented His blood before God as our atonement, and He went to release the captives who were bound in the underworld.  Then He rose from the grave! Those who believed in Him even before He died on the cross, rose from their graves right after Him!  On the third day He showed himself alive.   He is risen!  Let there be a thousand Hallelujahs!  He is risen indeed!

Because certain churches have said that Easter Sunday would be the day of the annual celebration of The Resurrection of Christ most people today observe that day.  It is printed in black and white each year on the calendar of the world; but it simply is not correct, even though it is very conveniently placed at a time when most people will be off from work and years and years of family traditions have been built around these erroneous facts.  

Some people even know the truth, but refuse to change their habits for the truth.  I heard a good comparison of this one day.  When you are a child and you believe in The Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bunny and Santa Clause, then you begin to get older and more mature and you find out the truth.  For awhile you will just pretend you still believe, because you want these things to be really true, but you know they are not.  Humans tend to hold on to what is familiar to them, even if it is a lie.  Satan has used this against us for thousands of years now.   Eventually, you grow up and become an adult.  You learn to put the old familiar thoughts aside and do the things you know are true.  As you mature, eventually you let go of the lie and embrace the truth.

It is hard to go against traditions that have gone on for years and years with families that have held them sacred.  Do you want to keep holding on to what is not true?   One day as a child of God you will find freedom in accepting the truth and God will give you true joy when you believe what He told you instead of what the world has twisted because of the enemy of God wanting us to believe in lies.  

Christ rose from the grave as an Early First Fruit offering for us on the day of Early First Fruits.  So between sunset on the 2^nd day of unleavened bread and sunset on the 3^rd day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus!  

This day was known as a shadow and a type for the people through all the ritual of early first fruits harvests, long before Jesus ever walked the earth.

Why would we change it?  God ordained it!   Can an earthly ruler change the dates set by a heavenly ruler? 

Keeping the most important commandment in mind, that last and greatest commandment Jesus spoke to us, to LOVE our brothers, I do practice the art of grace and let my friends celebrating Easter Sunday off easy by realizing they truly are celebrating the resurrection of Christ to the best of their knowledge and understanding, and it is a good thing to celebrate the resurrection EVERY DAY of the year. 

With God's Holy Spirit living and alive in us, we can have compassion for one another and share what we do agree on in love.   God looks at the intentions of our hearts.  We will not be judged for what we do not yet understand.   I do not condemn others, but I am careful to try to make the sacred days observed in my own life accurate and scriptural.   

It is a great balancing act  meant to bring confusion from the devil, but God has taught us a way to change it for good.  It is also a time to show love, respect and compassion to others.  Isn't that what Jesus was proclaiming when he laid down his life?  It is a time of worship, to look to God and not to worry about those around us.  We must simply judge ourselves, clean our own houses and move on through the world with love and compassion and kindness, yet speak the truth in love so that others, should they have ears to hear, may share our joy.    

God holds each of us accountable to the knowledge that He has given us.  Each of us must answer individually just as each of us must bring our early first fruits individually.  When we reach that day when the sheep are separated from the goats, what I have done will not count for you, and what you have done will not count for me.  We all must obey whatever God has shown us in this life.  He will show all of us exactly what He needs for us to know exactly when He needs for us to know it.

I am simply living out who I am; a person who studies deep and follows the amazing patterns that God has given us.  God has over history and time shown us many, many patterns, and I love using the patterns that God spelled out for us to follow.  If your earthly father proclaimed a family holiday on a Tuesday; would you tell him it was inconvenient for you to celebrate it on that day and proclaim that you can only celebrate it on a Wednesday?  I think not.  If you loved your Father very much and wanted to always honor Him, you would most likely be obedient and honor your father on the day that he chose to celebrate the family event.  That is all I am trying to do in observing the more exact scriptural days.  

I had no idea what blessings this would bring into my life the first few years I stepped out in blind faith and followed God's original instructions straight from His instruction book. I felt like a little toddler learning to walk.  I was very self conscious about it for many years.  I was simply being obedient to the truth of the scriptures.  Now my life is full of joy because of that decision.  I would never go back!  

So, you might ask; if I do not judge people, why do I keep writing about it?  Because God has called me to do so, and I want everyone to experience this joy that I have found.  The writing is part of my offering of early first fruits.  I wish to use the talents God gave to me for His glory.  I write about these things to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as others write about other scriptural things to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in other ways.  I've found The Holy Days of God are actually the most perfect tool I've ever found to proclaim The Gospel and the truth of Jesus Christ being the Messiah.  

How wonderful to know that My Savior, Jesus Christ fulfilled the meaning of this sacred time when he brought His very own sacred blood before God as an early first fruits offering for our salvation.  For so many long years the priest would take the sheaves of the first fruits and waive them before God on the day of  Early First Fruits, on the second day of Unleavened Bread.  Now we know that it corresponds directly with the very time that Christ stood before God in Heaven and presented evidence of our salvation.  The sheaves were waived BEFORE the Resurrection happened, in order that we might know and believe when it did.  

We start counting the Omer on the second Day of Unleavened Bread because this was the time when we received the promise of The Holy Spirit coming in 50 days.     We received this promise because Christ died for us and presented the atonement before God in Heaven on this day.  It was the early first fruit offering to God from our Messiah, an offering of His first and His best; He gave all He had, His very life.  He set the example for us on how to give offerings to God.  Our offerings can never have the value of Christ's offering, but we are still asked to come in faith before God offering our first and our best from the fruit of our labor.  Our labor is our work.  Jesus Christ had one job to do while He was on earth.  His work was to be The Messiah of God.  This work is what He offered to The Father.  

By the blood of Christ we are also able to obtain a sure resurrection.  This is what happens at the Latter Harvest, the time when we too like Jesus will rise from the grave and go to be with God forever and ever.  This is made possible by The Holy Spirit living in us, and we celebrate it (the latter harvest) at Pentecost, which comes like clockwork 50 days after Early First Fruits each year.  That is why we are counting the days by counting the Omer!  We are anticipating Pentecost!  We are anticipating what gives us the same resurrection power of Christ inside our own bodies.  It is The Holy Spirit that brings us to the time of our own resurrection.  

All those many years that the Israelites waved the sheaves before God and did not realize that it was a representation of Christ rising from the grave are so very significant to us now.  They tell us that it is good to wait on God, that He will never forget us and that He will eventually use the messages found in His Holy Days to proclaim and fulfill all of His truth for us.  

 Are you anticipating whatever God will do next?  Are you watching and waiting and observing the days that He gave us in order to help us to understand all the truth of the Gospel?  It is an awesome experience, and anyone who has spent their years observing these Spring Holy Days of God will speak to you of their great blessings!  And when we reach Pentecost???

Yes, there is even more to the story!  All the more reason to be counting our days!

SEASONS - THOUGHTS ON THE HISTORY OF PASSOVER

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Passover is coming soon.  Passover for the year of 2016 begins on the evening of Friday, April 22 and ends on the evening of Saturday, April 30.   Many do not realize that Passover is not just one day, but a season that lasts for eight days. 

It all started not long after Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and they began to till and harvest the land.  Every year they enjoyed a celebration of the harvest of the spring barley crops and the new lambs.  We can understand this from the stories of Cain and Abel.  One brought vegetables and one brought meat.   It was a set aside time that God had ordained each year at the ending of the rainy season and the beginning of the growing season. 

Adam and Eve passed this down through the generations right up until the flood.  Noah was the grandson of Enoch.  Enoch had walked with God and he taught Noah.  Noah taught his sons and kept God's calendar even during the time on the ark and the flood.  After the flood Noah's son Shem was made the family high priest.  He established a school to teach God's ways to the people of the earth.  Shem passed on the Holy Days of God to the generations after the flood.  Abraham was the next family high priest after Shem.  Abraham knew and passed down God's Holy Days to his sons and his household.

Many years before the redemption of Israel from Egypt, God instructed Abraham about the sacrifice of a lamb.   We know that Abraham offered up many lambs for sacrifice, and was even prepared to offer his own son, but God would not allow it.   

The word Pesach, as the Hebrews call it, was first derived from the instructions given by God to Moses.  It means “passing over” or “protection.”  God had promised that the Angel of Death would “pass over” the people who had put the blood of the lamb over the door posts of their homes.  The time of the year was right in line with the same clock that God had given men from the beginning.  It was the season of Passover when God told Moses to tell the Israelite people that He would bring them out of the bondage of slavery to the Egyptians.  

God was officially calling His people out and stating that He would lead them to the promised land, the land that He had promised to the seed of Abraham in a covenant long ago.  This was a land that would be known as the land of the people of God.  These people of God were the ones from which would come the promised Messiah.  It was a time of new beginnings for Israel.  They were leaving an old life and entering a new life.

  

After the Exodus, during temple times, people came up to Jerusalem every year singing joyous songs, bringing their lambs to the temple for sacrifice.  A sign hung around each lamb naming the family that brought them.  

Sometimes there were 3 million lambs offered up for the sins of the people in Jerusalem in one 24 hour period of time.  The priests blew the trumpet when the lambs were slain and they caught the blood of the lambs in a special silver or gold bowl.  Hymns were sung as this happened and the priest carried the bowls to the altar.  The service ended with incense on the altar after the lambs had been roasted on a special pole made specifically of pomegranate wood. 

The lambs were eaten at a special meal.  Anything that was not eaten was burned up with fire until none remained.  Unleavened bread and herbs were served with the lamb as well as red wine and water.  The people always remembered how God led them through the wilderness out of slavery into a new promised land where they lived in freedom and luxury.

By the time Jesus walked the earth this offering had been a required offering for many years.  He too went up for the Passover every year with his family.  Every Jewish male was expected to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem during the Passover.   It became a week long festival.  It was a time to repent, to  give the offering for atonement, to cleanse your house of all leaven (sin) then celebrate the harvest with an offering of the first fruits of your crops. 

The offering of the lamb was made on Passover.  The first fruits waive sheaf of barley was offered and waived before God in the first few days of unleavened bread which came to be known as The Day of the FirstFruits.   The people, who had put away sin and cleaned their homes of anything ungodly came up and celebrated the first fruits of their crops with Thanksgiving before God. 

The disciples of Jesus also kept the Passover.  They celebrated The Passover with Christ just before He was crucified.  Having celebrated this set-aside sacred time all of their lives, and understanding the history of their people, they realized when Jesus died for them that He had become their true Passover.  His resurrection on the third day, the day of Early First Fruits was positive proof to them that He was Messiah.  He was the perfect lamb of God offered up for the sins of mankind. 

Even after Jesus once more ascended to heaven; the disciples remembered that Jesus had commanded them to “remember Him” with this special Passover meal every year.  The Messiah is remembered weekly in The Holy Eucharist celebrated on The Sabbath and remembered annually with the great ritual and symbolism that tells the whole extensive story at Passover.  

The disciples continued year after year to remember the Passover, Unleavened Bread and Early First Fruits.  Each generation taught their sons and daughters, and the Church now understands the offering of Christ was fulfilled by keeping the Passover.  Now we do this to remember that He was once The Suffering Servant, but now is The Resurrected Lord of Lords and King of Kings and He will come again for His people.  He has commanded us to remember the story.  

We retell the whole story each year with The Passover.  The symbols and the whole eight days teach our children how to live in the truth of The Messiah. 

 With the season of Passover every year we learn and grow in God's grace as we celebrate all He has done for us.  We remember His resurrection on the day of Early First Fruits and we look forward to our own resurrection day when we will be with Him forever.

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 115 LISTENING TO THE BURNING BUSH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law while living in Midian. 

One day Moses took the flock over to the far side of the wilderness, to a mountain named Horeb, the place scriptures call “The Mountain of God.”

While Moses was there on the mountain The Angel of The LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  The bush was clearly on fire; but it never burned up.  Moses moved closer, very curious as to why this strange bush never burned up.

As Moses stepped closer and closer; the LORD saw that Moses was approaching and he called out to him; “Moses!  Moses!”

As we have mentioned before, when God calls your name two times in a row, you better pay attention!  The only correct answer is the very one that came out of Moses mouth at the time:  “Here I am.” 

God told Moses not to come any closer.  He instructed him to take off his sandals, because the place where he was standing was holy ground.  Then God said:  “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Up until this point, Moses had only known Egypt and life in the palace, then his present life as a shepherd in Midian.  He did not know much about his original heritage at all, except that he had learned he was a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian.  After finding this out he had run away. 

Now God himself had come down to speak to him about his heritage! 

Moses could not escape his own reality.  

God is telling Moses that He is the God of his father and their fathers! It is pretty clear that God wasn’t referring to Pharaoh.   God gives Moses a brief history lesson by mentioning the family linage; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Not only had Moses run away from his problems in Egypt, he had also ran away from who he really was; an Israelite.  God was forcing Moses to face his heritage head-on.  There was no running away this time.

Moses was one of God's people.  Are you running away from being one of God's people too?  You can't run and you can't hide.  If you belong to God he will find you.  He will find you in a palace or in a tent.  He will find you in a garden or in a desert.  If you belong to God; He is not going to let you forget.  Just ask Moses!     

When Moses heard these words from God he hid his face because he was afraid.  He was afraid to look at God, and he was afraid to face who he really was. 

God continued to speak to Moses: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.  So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

There is so much information to retain from that one little paragraph where God spoke to Moses! 

Can you imagine how it felt to see a bush that did not burn up, and then to hear the voice of God coming from it? 

What did it feel like to Moses to be standing on holy ground and to be hearing the voice of God speaking to him?

To me, the most striking words spoken by God were “So I have come down…”  God had come down to earth because he had heard the Israelites praying over and over again, begging for relief from their misery. 

Have you ever prayed this way?  

What if you were praying in one of THOSE moments and you physically KNEW when God came down to help you?  Not an angel, not a spirit; but GOD, HIMSELF (IN PERSON) gave up His time in heaven to look down on a nation of poor pitiful people who were praying during the time of their suffering. 

Well, it actually isn’t that rare!  It really isn’t that strange when you think about it for a long time.  God does this all the time.  We just don’t see the physical evidence of it; like Moses did here.  If we did; we would probably be like Moses and hide our faces in fear, afraid of what was about to happen next; afraid to SEE God in person. 

If you actually saw God with your own eyes, like was possible with Moses in this story, you would never again have any argument for the existence of God.  You would know without a doubt that God was real.  There would be no denying it; and that would mean you might have to listen, obey and follow His instructions.  No pressure at all....; I think Moses was in one of THOSE moments here. 

He had NO choice but to obey.  It was God speaking! 

Had God already looked down and noticed that Moses had great compassion on the Hebrews? 

People always marvel at how God chose Moses, but don’t you think God knew that Moses had a passion for these people and their suffering?  

Don’t you think God was looking over the fence when Moses went out from the comfort of Pharaoh’s palace to see how the people of his true heritage were getting along in Egypt?  

Do you think God took notice when Moses cared enough about their welfare to risk his own life to defend his fellow Israelite? 

God KNEW the heart of Moses.  God KNOWS the heart of all of his children.

I think God had been watching Moses from the moment of his birth, guiding that little basket through the bulrushes and placing him strategically in the places where he could fulfill his God-planned and God given destiny.  Now it was time for Moses to learn more of that destiny; straight from the horse’s mouth.  God didn’t send a messenger, He came in person. 

The next words God had to say to Moses were pretty plain:  

GO!!!

How many people had heard God say “go” before Moses?  Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now we come to Moses.  Moses more than likely knew about those guys from the things that his birth mother had taught him when he was very young during the time she tended to him for Pharaoh’s daughter. 

Moses knew when God said “go” He wasn’t being casual.  He meant it. 

God was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  He was asking Moses to go right back to the very things he had run away from.  Moses must have considered how dangerous that would be.  He gave God an answer that stalled for time.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God didn’t answer Moses by telling him how equipped he was and how his whole life had been a preparation for this moment.  God simply said “I will be with you!”   How many times have those called by God had to learn that he doesn't call the equipped, but He equips the called?  Moses was no different than any other man in this respect.  God said He would go with Moses!

 That in itself should have been enough! Dayenu!  If God is for us, who can stand against us? 

God did give Moses some more information for assurance though.  He told Moses He would give him a sign that He had sent him.  God said “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”  

It is odd to some people that God speaks of himself in the third person here, but it is simply proof that The Angel of The LORD was once again a Christophany; or the appearance of Jesus in another form, before the Incarnation when He came as Savior of the world.  Jesus could speak of himself as God both then and now, because the Father and the Son are One.  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had seen this pre-incarnate form of Christ too.  Now Moses had seen Him. 

Jesus was saying to Moses, when you have done what God instructed, you will come here to this place again and worship on this mountain. 

So Moses finally begins to think in terms of what he must do.  He knew if he had questions, this was definitely the time to be asking them!  

So Moses said to God:  “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them “The God of your Fathers has sent me to you.”  What if they ask me; “What is His name?”  What shall I tell them?”

God’s answer was “I AM THAT I AM. 

This is what you are to say to the Israelites:  “I AM has sent me to you.” 

Then God added a second part to that statement.  He told Moses to say “The LORD, The God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.  This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me from generation to generation.”

So God repeated it all to Moses again, probably so he would not forget all the details:  

“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – appeared to me and said:  I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.  And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey.  The elders of Israel will listen to you.  Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us.  Let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.  But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.  So, I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.  After that, he will let you go.  And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty handed.  Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters.  And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

WRITER'S SAMPLES: THE SUKKAH STORY (PART ONE) ABRAHAM'S SUKKAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

            Long ago, even long before your great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents were born, Abraham built a sukkah.

            It was near a tamarisk tree and a well of fresh spring water. It was positioned in an area of Canaan near the road where the caravans of merchants and traders traveled back and forth to the large cities to sell their goods at the markets.

            Abraham would sit in the shade of his sukkah and welcome these guests to the land as they rode by.  He would invite them to come inside his sukkah and have a meal with him. He would tell them the stories of God. 

            Abraham believed there was only One God; the God of Heaven and Earth, Our Creator.  Abraham worshiped no other gods such as the pagans around him did.  He wanted everyone to know about The One True God, so he would welcome everyone and tell them God’s stories at his table in his sukkah.

            Sometimes, during the days of Awe, before he sat in his sukkah, Abraham would go down by the sea.  He would sit on the shore and look at the sand and the waves rushing in.  Abraham would find himself in complete awe of the things God had created.  They were indeed wonderful!  Abraham would give thanks to God as he sat by the sea shore.

            One day while Abraham was sitting near the ocean in awe, God make him a promise. God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the sands of the sea.  Abraham knew that the sands of the sea were so many that it would be impossible to count them!  Abraham thanked God for this promise, even though as of yet, he did not even have one son with his wife Sarah.  Abraham still believed the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings that were to come.

            Back at home near the road that the merchants traveled, Abraham sat in his sukkah again.  On many cool clear nights Abraham looked up through the covering of his sukkah’s roof to see the stars in the sky twinkling back at him.  They were so bright and so beautiful that Abraham just had to praise God for creating them!

            When Abraham worshiped God and praised Him as he sat in his sukkah, God made Abraham another wonderful promise.  God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.  Abraham knew he could never count the number of stars in the sky, and that would be a great miracle! As of yet, Abraham and Sarah had no children.  They were old!  Still; Abraham had faith in God and he believed God’s promises and he looked forward to the blessings of the future.

            As the people traveled to and fro on the main trade route of the country, Abraham would invite these strangers into his sukkah.  Abraham would prepare feasts for his guests.  A feast is not just an ordinary meal, but a feast is a very festive meal with a purpose behind it.  Abraham’s purpose was to tell the stories of God to the people in the land.  Abraham and his wife Sarah were known for their gifts of welcome and hospitality to all the people of all the lands.

            You would be amazed at the guests that Abraham entertained under the roof of his sukkah!

Red, yellow, black or white, skin color did not matter to Father Abraham.  If you were rich or poor or in-between; you were invited to Abraham’s sukkah for a festive meal.  The only requirement was that you had ears.  Ears are for listening and Abraham liked to tell the stories of God to each of his guests.

            One day The Angel of The Lord (who was really Jesus in another form long before He came to earth as a man) and two other angels came to visit in the sukkah of Abraham.  They were passing through the land when Abraham spotted them in the distance.  He ran to them and invited them into his sukkah for a festive meal.

            The three were on a mission from God.  Part of their mission was to deliver a message to Abraham, but Abraham did not know this.  Abraham was so honored to have someone from The One True God that he worshiped sitting in his sukkah and gathering around his very table!  Abraham had Sarah to cook an elaborate and very special feast for them.  Abraham brought his very best offerings.  They shared a festive meal full of some serious talk but also some laughter.

            After the meal they shared a glass of wine together.  Sarah was waiting inside the tent where she and Abraham lived, tending to some of the things she would bring out for dessert, and she could hear their voices carrying on the wind as they spoke inside the sukkah.  Sarah heard The Angel of The Lord tell Abraham that a son would be born to them.  Sarah could not help but laugh out loud because she was very old and past the age of having children.

            So when Isaac, the son of Sarah and Abraham was born in their old age; it was a great miracle and Abraham and Sarah remembered the words that were told to Abraham as their special guests dined with them under the roof of their sukkah.  Sarah remembered her laughing and so they named him Isaac, which means “laughter.”

            Abraham had faith to believe the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings to come.  (The rest of this story series, (there are eight stories in this series, one for every day of The Feast of Tabernacles) is available, just send an e-mail to wordcastlepublications@gmail.com.  The Keeper of the Castle will be happy to help you.)