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Awesome Hands – part 149

“The feasts of the Lords will”

February 2, 2019

While preparing for this study, I didn’t really know where I was going to start. So, like with many of my studies, I simply relied on the Lord to guide my thoughts as His spirit flowed through the words I was reading to the typing of my keyboard.

This study is an example of how the Lord is not random in what He is doing, but it quite precise.

That knowledge is like a two-edged sword because if they Lord is working everything after the counsel of His own will, then even then things we think are negative are happening as a direct effect of His will working it.

In our study today, we are going to see how the Lord has pre-orchestrated events which cause us to acknowledge His will in our lives.

Without this causation we might think all things are coincidence or “karma” or some other sort of causation NOT pointing to the Lord.

Our verses for today are found in Deuteronomy 16.

Deu 16:9  Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
Deu 16:10  And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Deu 16:11  And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
Deu 16:12  And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

I started with verse 9 because our first verse with the word hand or hands is in verse 10, and I always like to read these verses in context.

This chapter is listing out three time periods which the Lord has purposed for His people to come together in acknowledgement. These times of acknowledgement are given to the people of God so that they can acknowledge the accomplishments the Lord has done in their lives both present day and in the past.

Though we are started at the feast of weeks, also known as the feast of ingathering, the earlier verses speak about the Passover.

Of the verses I have chosen to start reading from, the number 7 is the first prominent point that is being made. With seven being the number of completion, especially of judgment, we can see that the Lord is completing the process of the bounty He has given Israel in the form of a harvest.

There are several things to note here that carry spiritual types for us to implement in our thinking and in our lives today.

Obviously, I will be listing things that are brought to my mind about this topic, but there certainly are many examples that can be taken from these verses.

The next things mentioned that stands out to me is that the Lord tells us to bring a freewill offering according to how the Lord has blessed us.

It is easy to look at the freewill part of these verse, but the real focus is on, “according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee”. Freewill mentioned here is not speaking about your will free from God’s but rather gives us a perfect example of showing how we have nothing to offer unless God has already blessed us.

The third thing I see in these verses is the inclusion of others around us. The Lord doesn’t simply bless only us, but He blesses others via us as well.

The feast of weeks is a feast that the Lord wants to make sure all participate in. In other words, the Lord wants us to sympathy towards those that are around us versus holding grudges, despising or looking down on others.

This phrase “thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you” tells us that the Lord wants us to acknowledge that He has placed these people where they are and we would do well to recognize that.

We are all servants of the Lord no matter what we are doing because the Lord will use what is happening for the good that will inevitably come about from it. Our intentions have not bearing on how the Lord works things in the end.

Gen 50:18  And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Why have I mentioned all of these verses together? Well, the stranger in the land is to be treated just as the “son, daughter or servants”. If we really hearken unto what the Lord teaches us concerning these things, then our outlook should change how we treat others.

We do this because we are commanded to remember that we were once “bondmen in the land of Egypt”. Any other outlook is not acceptable to the Lord and does not glorify Him.

The next set of verses finds us look at the feast of tabernacles.

Deu 16:13  Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
Deu 16:14  And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
Deu 16:15  Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Deu 16:17  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

These feasts were to all designed to acknowledge God in both the blessings of the past, present and future. That is because the Lord encompasses it all.

Passover shows us what the Lord has done for us, the feast of weeks shows us what the Lord us doing for us and the feast of booths shows us that we can celebrate because the Lord has brought us to where we are, and more importantly, where we are going. Without a bountiful harvest, we will not be going anywhere as far as progress with the Lord is concerned.

It is during the time of the feast of tabernacles that we reflect on the blessing of being able to gather in corn and wine. It takes a lot of work and a lot of blessing of the Lord to get us to this point.

Anyone that has gardened, farmed, raised livestock or even been around these things understands the toils involved, but more importantly the absolute reliance on the Lord for the increase to happen. IF the rains don’t come, the crops don’t grow, and the animals die too.

Additionally, the feast of tabernacle shows us that the Lord WANTS us to delight and take grateful pleasure in the work of our hands of which He has blessed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings the Lord gives us, but He wants us to SHARE those blessings as well. That sharing obviously comes in many forms.

Both of these events tell us to be conscious of those around us.

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee,” is telling us that the Lord knows what He has given us and wants a loving offering given back to the Lord as acknowledgement.

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

This is all good in well, but how do we look at these feasts and apply it to our lives today? Each event we have in our lives leads to the eventual crossing of the finish line where we will no longer need to toil.

However, the Lord wants us to acknowledge Him in all ways until we get there.

Much of our present day lives correspond to the “time period” of Pentecost. Passover certainly happens in ours lives, as well as, the feast of tabernacles.

I find that my daily activities have me reflecting on my walks with the Lord in the form of Pentecost or of being a kind of first-fruit unto the Lord. What do I mean by that?

“Seven weeks shall thou number” tells me this is about completely living my life to the Lord. A week is 7 days, and this is 7 weeks. There is a witness to this completion being works in our lives.

This period begins with the waving of the sheaf offering.

Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

It was after this time that the baked loaves were presented to the Lord.

Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

This shows us that we are to dedicate our lives to the Lord because we are a kind of firstfruits. The baked bread represents us acknowledging that the bread is life in us and we are the bread bring offered up unto the Lord.

This all starts with the “Passover sheaf” and ends with the wave of the wave loaves. This all points to a time and cycle in our lives.

Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Joh 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

We are the light of the world because we have the light in us, and that is how we need to live our lives. If we are always concentrated on the past events of our lives, then we cannot keep our eyes on the mark of the prize of the high calling.

Peter sinking in the water is a perfect example of this. The storm that caused the waves to crash against the boat was a storm of the PAST so to speak. It happened BEFORE Peter was called out onto the water, but it continued into the present time of Peter being called onto the water.

Instead of Peter keeping his eyes on Jesus, Peter looks around and continues to focus on the storm that has already been conquered by Jesus who is currently walking on the water.

Mat 14:22  And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Mat 14:23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

What we need to do is concentrate on Jesus coming before us as seen in the Passover.

(ESV) Rom 11:16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

1Co 15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

We must remember that Jesus died on the Passover and the Spirit of God didn’t come until the Pentecost was fully come.

I point this out to say there is always a waiting period with the Lord when He is working a situation that causes us to wait upon Him.

In the old testament examples, we have read today, the Israelites were being given directions on how to keep the feasts in the flesh, while we can take many, many lessons from the ways we should keep these feasts on both a macro and micro level.

These feasts were kept both individually and as a collective nation.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

I hope we can all continue to dwell upon the mindset that we are indeed very important to the Lord because of the position in His kingdom that He has placed us in, but not only for ourselves but for everyone around and connected to us in one way or another.