 Okay, good morning everyone. Welcome to a new week of sessions. Let's begin this time with the word of prayer. Sid, is it okay if you can lead us in prayer? Yes, pastor. Go ahead. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Father, thank you for this day. You have given us a lot, the word from your word, what we are going to learn from your word, not whatever we will be learning Lord, whatever the pastor Paul is going to teach us Lord, like it should not be just kept in our heart Lord, but it should be revealing us and not Lord. When other people see us Lord, they should see the change in our life Lord. They should see the blessing we are going through a Lord. We should reveal and manifest the godly character Lord. Whatever is APC Bible college is putting the seed in our heart Lord. They are keeping us to do the ministry Lord. Not everything they are doing Lord bless us Lord. Bless the teacher Lord bless the students who are learning Lord about your word Lord. Lord, we need your fear to learn about your word Lord. Lord give us everything. Lord give us wisdom. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Sid. All right, before we go ahead, let's just do a quick review of what we did last week. Last week we talked about understanding the blood covenant and we saw that the blood covenant is the strongest covenant that God has ever made. Right, and we looked at the verse where the entire chapter where you know God makes this blood covenant with Abraham. He says Abraham you have believed what I've said and what does God do? He makes him you know put an offering there and then finally God himself walks through the offering and he makes a blood covenant and after the blood covenant he says a sign will be given to you and then that sign was circumcision and and we see that a blood covenant we studied there last week that the blood covenant is the strongest bond on earth. It's like God was telling Abraham Abraham. I know you have a lot of questions. I'm you know, I'm telling you that you're gonna be a father to many nations. Maybe you'll go back home and say I don't even have a son. But I am making this covenant not on my own words. Making this covenant not not because I'm just saying it but I'm making a blood covenant with you. Right, now when somebody enters a blood covenant when we read further on from the Levitical offerings blood covenant refers to life where you have to be willing to each party is supposed to be willing to give their life for the other person. So it's like God is telling Abraham I'm willing to do all I can to fulfill my side of the covenant and a blood covenant is a covenant of love. You know, only when we love one another is when we can do anything for them at any cost and God was basically telling Abraham that it is out of love that I'm making this covenant with you out of a promise that that will never go unanswered. And then a blood covenant is a covenant of protection. God tells Abraham no matter who you will have to fight no matter what happens ahead I'm going to take you to a land that you don't even know of. It's going to be new people new places. There may be, you know, battles that you will have to fight. Remember as this blood covenant that I'm giving you Abraham you will have protection from my side. And so Abraham we saw last week that he believed God and God made this wonderful covenant, the blood covenant. He changed his identity. He gave him a seal of circumcision and God tells everyone who ever is part of this seal or part of this covenant will be blessed. And then we looked at a few revelations of the blood covenant where he himself became the Jehovah Jireh and God himself backs up the covenant. And let's pick up from the blood covenant with Moses and Israel. Let's learn what happened. I'm sure we all know the story of how God used Moses to bring the people of Israel out of bondage from Egypt into the promised land which God had promised. So let's look at a few insights and also we will see some of the covenants that God made to Moses and which we also see in the levitical offerings. First one, Passover. Passover was a type of redemption. Now we all know the feast of the Passover. God made this promise to Moses and he says, Moses I'm going to bring you out on the last plague or pestilence that is going to hit Egypt. What you do is you take your people, you go into your home, you cut a lamb, an unblemished lamb, you take the blood of that lamb, you put it on your dopo's and when death comes it will pass by. Death will pass over and so to commemorate that even now the Passover is the most celebrated festival that the Jews follow. We are on page 63 on the Nodes territory. Blood covenant with Moses in Israel. So it was a type of redemption. So even now when we translate it in the New Testament, it is the blood of Jesus that keeps us from sin. It is the blood of Jesus that saves us from death. And so God gave Moses the law and he established a blood covenant because God was saying, okay you cut the lamb, you put it on the dopo's and that's that blood. Because of the blood of that lamb, death will pass by. None of you will taste death and that's what happened. It was the last plague. The blood was put, death came and none of those who had the blood of the lamb on the dopo's died but everyone else who did not have it died. It was like God saying they are part of the covenant and when you're part of the covenant there's protection. Right, let's read this portion. It's a long portion. Exodus chapter 24 was 1 to 8. Yes, could one of us please read that? Exodus 24, 1 to 8. Now he said to Moses, come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel and worship from afar. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord but they shall not come near nor shall the people go up with him. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood sprinkled it on the people and said this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. Amen. Thank you Rosalind. So we see here that God is you know the people have come out they're on the Exodus they're on the way God is giving very specific instructions to Moses he says Moses I brought you out of Egypt now you're in this place in the desert now here's what I want you to go and tell the people not to come up the mountain but take the blood of this lamb and take half of it put it on the altar use the other half sprinkle it over the people and this will be a blood covenant according to the words that I have spoken right and later on we see that Moses and then the Aaronic priesthood became mediators of that covenant Aaron became the first high priest and with this blood covenant already set in place they became the mediators so it was like you know Aaron is standing there the blood of the animals or later on we see that the offerings were bought to the high priest and the high priest would take those offerings and offer it to God as a mediator and I love what the book of Hebrews teaches us Jesus Christ is our high priest our mediator now everything in the Old Testament has you know sometimes when we read it we may think why all this you know so complicated but it has meaning because right now the Lord Jesus in heaven the book of Hebrews says that he's standing as our high priest and our mediator and what is he doing he is standing as a mediator through the blood through his own blood that's why we sing you know we enter his throne room not by the blood of rams or bulls but by the blood of Jesus so here we see that there were mediators high priest and now we've got this perfect mediator Jesus who is standing who has made the blood covenant eternal right and so all through from Exodus we see that every offering every sacrifice every feast that they celebrated when we read through Exodus and Leviticus numbers every aspect has a meaning to it right now let's look at a few sacrifices and feasts right that God initiated during the time of Moses right we know that God gave Moses the 10 commandments and the mosaic law he told Moses okay you build a tabernacle you build an ark you in the tabernacle you have these you have the outer court you have the inner court holy place and this is will be a place where you will offer the sacrifices and these are the kinds of offerings these are the kinds of sacrifices there's a whole list of things right and also he you know when we read the book of numbers God even tells the tribes where to camp it's not like they would you know walk in in the desert and say okay I feel this place is good let me camp here no God tells them exactly where should the tribe of Benjamin be where should the tribe of Judah camp and so everything was very meticulously done by the Lord by God because everything has a significance in the new covenant sometimes we read you know when I read this I think you know God used Moses to do such wonderful works but only because he hit that stone the second time what does God tell him God tells Moses Moses you will not enter the promised land because of your disobedience you will not enter the promised land you know so what about the others what about the other Israelites they did all kinds of sins they did everything possible but they all entered maybe Moses thought why you know you told me to you know speak to it but you know I hit it but there was a significance there was something that God wanted to portray and bring out and so for everything every feast every way of worship had a reason in the old covenant right and we can't say that all of the things in the old covenant are you know don't apply now in the new covenant that are certain you know we can take in certain aspects certain points which is which in the new covenant will relate to the old covenant so let's look at a few of them right first one the feast of the Passover we know that the blood was put on the doorpost and you know death passed by the same way Christ is our redeemer and he's our redemption right those people who were in the homes with the blood on the doorpost they were redeemed they were redeemed they were the ones who walked out of Egypt into the promised land the feast of the Passover is is one of the most beautiful feasts you know if we read the history of the Passover it is the most celebrated feast it's something like Christmas for us it's it's it's a time of joy it's a time of celebration it's a time where the Jews especially they say God overcame God helped us and brought us out of Egypt so it was a celebratory feast right and people would come from all over different parts of the world different parts of Europe they would come to Israel to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover right that is why when we look at the book of Acts right why were there so many people in Jerusalem people of different languages there were people of Greek Aramaic Hebrew all kinds of people were there why because the Jews from different places would come to the main the center which is Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover right so it was a it was a joyous time right the second feast was the feast of the unleavened bread now let me give you a context on what the feast is so that we can relate it to what's what in the New Testament the feast of the unleavened bread is is nothing but they would the the Jews would take barley and they would you know make that barley unleavened right so it it wouldn't be mixed with anything it would just be barley and they would mix it and they would eat that for about seven days and it would be tasteless right it is there's no taste but the point of this feast of the unleavened bread was to commemorate that we were living in sin in Egypt but God in his mighty hand brought us out and this we are now not living in sin anymore and so we do want the things of this world to come into us and make us sinful right so the moment you put additional things into that unleavened bread it becomes a leave in bread it becomes you know something else so what they would do is they would not add anything into the flower of barley so they would leave it just as it is what does it commemorate okay we were living in sin right and and it is it commemorates that now we are cleansed we are washed away from sin sin is removed from us right and so that is what the feast of the unleavened bread is now when we read in the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus removed our sins he is the bread of life right Jesus himself said that I'm the bread of life he was relating to that unleavened bread the bread that takes away the the sins or not takes away but covers the sin cleanses them I'm sure in the Lord's supper the last supper when Jesus said this is my body I'm sure the disciples may be wondering how how is this body how is this his body maybe they thought that but he was trying to say this bread when you eat of it it will cleanse away your sins it will wash away your sins now this unleavened bread again was is a time some some people would have it for seven days it would go on for many more days people could you know if they'd like they could go on for 30 days but again it is to commemorate that we are no longer living in sin right same thing the Lord Jesus did for us the feast next one the feast of the first fruits speaking of our new life in Christ and what the Lord Jesus did for us by offering himself for for us now the feast of the first fruits also is a very interesting feast this is a feast where it's a feast of redemption the feast of the first fruits usually the book of Ruth is read through that whole feast in in you know in the new cover when we see that during the time of Jesus and the early church they would read the book of Ruth as a redemption story but what is this feast of the first fruits those who are working those who have crops and cattle and vegetation what they would do is when the time of harvest is ready they would have to go right into the middle of their land and they would take out the best crops right take out the best crops and they would keep that aside go to the temple and offer them as a sacrifice to God right they are not to eat of it now if they eat of the first fruits they will have to go back and make a sin offering right it's not like you know you know oh I forgot I ate and now I have to you know go back and make a sin offering no they should consciously be aware okay the feast is coming up the fruits are ready the first batch usually what they would do is the corner sides of the field this I'm talking about during the old you know during history I'm talking about history where during the corner sides of the land they would the crops that are there they would not use that they would usually leave those corner sides of the plot vegetation and fruits or vegetables whatever they were growing they would leave that as you know something that they would donate to people or to bless other people right so the feast of the first fruits is the first fruits that you get from your labor right now mostly mostly it is vegetation right like crops pomegranate oil so these are the normally the things that they would grow and so so this feast again it is to tell God you have blessed me whatever I have here is the best of what you have given me right and so when we look at the new covenant as well we see it as tight right we give one tenth first of what God has blessed us with and then additionally we can give more as well but it is to commemorate this life that we have in Christ a life of giving a life of blessing and and a life of also offering ourselves to the Lord then comes the feast of the pentecost right now the feast of the pentecost was a feast the word penta means 50 right five pentecost 50 days so this feast usually lasted for a long time and what they would do is they would believe in in the power of God to flow in them there would be extended times of prayer there be extended times of you know spending time meditating God's word being in God's presence and they would wait on the Lord some some Jews would very seriously you know even avoid work during the season but we know that others will have to work so there were some who would fast and work but even as they work they will remember that this is a time where we're seeking God because you know the Jews during those times history says that they would work not as you know just to fill their stomachs that's it not to you know not for business or for other reasons and it was a time of just staying and meditating on God remembering God for everything that he is and so that's what the feast of the pentecost is they believed that the power of the Holy Spirit the power of God will you know really flow in them as they you know celebrate the feast of the pentecost and that is why in the New Covenant as well it's it's it's wonderful that God chose the day of pentecost itself to you know to pour out his Holy Spirit upon the people who are in the upper room the next feast is the feast of trumpets now this feast is a feast of victory and triumph now in in times in the in history and during the time of Moses what they would do is they would blow the horn of a chauffeur it's a it's an animal just like just like a bigger version of a deer and they would blow that horn right now what is the feast of the trumpets all about it is a feast to commemorate how God triumphantly brought us out of Egypt to remember that in his mighty hand he sent the plagues he sent all those he he'd parted the seas into two and we walked through the seas and he provided for manna there was water going with us and the feast of the trumpets trumpets is a is a feast which declares that you know they are victorious the word trumpet I mean the usage of trumpet is mostly to alert or even when there is a victory or when there's ready for battle a trumpet is blown so this this whole feast was to remember and commemorate that that Jesus sorry God was victorious now when you translate that to the New Testament Colossians the book of Colossians chapter one Paul is writing and he says he was victorious where he made a public spectacle of the enemy he overcame and he's victorious and and so all through the New Testament we see Christ victorious the book of revelations talks about how trumpets will be blown and the victory of the Lord will will be shown upon people right so again to commemorate that in the old covenant even in the new covenant the Lord Jesus fulfilled that victory then comes the day of atonement now the day of atonement is a day of mourning like nobody works so God told Moses listen this day of atonement is the day you will sit and you will pray and you know spend time meditating on the word of God and there is no work so they just have to sit and they would pray and say God forgive me for my sins forgive me for my sins right that's all the whole day they would pray for forgive me of my sins and so the whole day they would fast they would pray they would you know read scriptures they would sing songs it was not a celebration but it's about their own life they would say okay I'm a sinner but God is a holy God how can we make atonement for this so they would sit and pray but at towards the end of the day what they would do is they would go take a lamp or an animal unblemished take it go to the altar and they would sacrifice that and that blood would be smeared on the offering saying cry the the the blood has covered your sins and now you have no sin in you it has covered the day of atonement as those sacrifices made the blood is covered your sins so they would do that offering they would go back home that is the day of atonement now Christ's atoning work on the cross did not just cover sins but it washed away our sins now can you picture this John the Baptist there's 400 years of silence right after Malachi 400 years of silence God has sent prophet after prophet after prophet but the Israelites the Jews are just doing whatever they want to do 400 years silence they've been doing all these things feast of the Passover feast of the Unleavened Bread feast of the Pentecost feast from all these things they've been doing but what has happened here is it has become it's not something that they're doing it out of reverence for God but it's become a ritual just a practice so for example the day of atonement comes oh I'm sorry God you know I shouldn't have done this I'm a sinner I'm sorry they go cut the offering put it on the you know give it to the high priest the high priest will pray and then it's done they go back they'll sin again so it became you know like a routine and that is why when John John the Baptist comes Israel was in a complete mess I would say their religious condition was very bad the Jews were doing what they wanted to do the high priests were happy they were getting offerings the Pharisees were happy the Sadducees were happy the Jews were happy they were hardly there was no reverence for God because all of these became just a you know a ritual a practice it didn't have meaning in them anymore that is why you know John the Baptist says to the Pharisees to the Pharisees and the Sadducees God can raise up Abraham's from the stone itself and so during these times when during Moses's time it was done out of reverence and when we look through and read through the Old Testament as prophets came and went prophets came and went the entire you know the weight of these offerings and sacrifices was lost finally the last was the feast of the tabernacles now again this feast was a feast of enjoyment it is a feast where people would come from different parts again what they would do is it was to this feast was mainly to remember that when God brought us out of Egypt we were journeying through the desert God gave us rest we stayed in small huts and houses but God protected us and and so what they would do even right now is especially you know staunch Jews in Jerusalem what they would do is they would know they would go to somewhere away in the desert they would build you know small houses you know basically just rooms one side out of bamboo and then they would cover it with hay or sticks and the reason they did that was because they wanted to commemorate that when we came out of Egypt we were living in these kind of places these kind of huts I would say and when we lived there God still provided for us and God was with us through this whole journey into the promised land so it was to remember that so even now you know if you go to Jerusalem and certain places you will see that when especially they will go find some empty place they would you know build those you know small tents kind and use sometimes they leave the upper portion open so that when rain comes it should come into the tent signifying the blessings of God and so all of these are wonderful to learn and and how they you know relate to the new covenant the Lord Jesus himself you know gave us rest when we were what does the Bible say in the book of Romans that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he made a way he gave us rest he provided for us right so we come to an end on this chapter and it's any anybody have any questions any thoughts on the offerings does it is it something that you're able to understand have any questions everyone okay yes okay I just don't know in what page we are okay we are at page 63 okay thank you okay so we're looking at we just looked at the sacrifices and the feasts so any questions on the sacrifices you know we've not gone into the you know what kind of sacrifice but when we read the book of numbers Leviticus numbers God tells Moses what kind of animal what kind of sacrifice which are the blood offerings which ones you you know you don't offer the blood which one so there's a lot of technical things that God gives them but then we're just looking at how these covenants were fulfilled through our Lord Jesus Christ right should we go ahead should we go to the next chapter all right okay let's go to the next chapter now we've we saw all of these things in the old covenant in chapter four people of the covenant the old covenant affected the people in their everyday lives right so even during the exodus even when they were in the promised land God told Abraham sorry Moses write down whatever happened during the exodus and then he wrote it down he said remember this remember that and Deuteronomy was a book of remembrance now as people of the old covenant everything God was there in every aspect of their lives right how the covenant affected them in their workplace or even in even those who are high priests those who are in business in every area family there was a covenant set in place now with that in mind let's look at how we you and I being part of the new covenant how are we to respond to what God has done for us what are the things that we can take as people who are in covenant with God right now remember that being in covenant with God God is the one who initiated this covenant right we did not say God please send your son into this world to die on the cross for us no God himself initiated it right so God has given us the opportunity to enter the covenant so as people of his covenant what is it that we can receive from him of course there are plenty of things but let's look at a few things right Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5 can one of us please read that Exodus 19 verse 5 Exodus chapter 19 verse 5 Amen let's also read the next one Exodus 34 10 I made the covenant before all your people and I will I will do mother mother have not been done in all the heart not not in my mission and all the people among you you have to see the work of the Lord for you are also me that I will be with you amen amen so we see here God is telling Moses Exodus 19 5 if you indeed obey my voice and keep my commandment then you will be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine now this covenant as we are part of God's covenant as well this holds true for us as well where God is saying if you obey my voice we keep you keep my commandment you will be a special treasure to him and he goes on to say I will do marvels that I've never done before because God is telling Moses that you know I'm going to do these great things for the nation of Israel for your people but as part of God's covenant we can receive this and say God I know that you will do marvels in my life as well that the work of the Lord and people will see the work of the Lord for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you these are promises that we can apply as people of his covenant right we see this reflected in Peter Sermon in Acts 3 25 he says you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying Abraham and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed so Peter is remembering you know Jesus has died and he's gone he's resurrected to heaven and they're ready to start the ministry Peter's remembering the covenant that God made long time back with Abraham saying in your seed all family shall be blessed so how do we apply it to our lives we say God as part of your covenant my family shall be blessed my the generation to generation remember the blood covenant goes on for generations and more so we can say God through this covenant that you've made my family shall be blessed my children my children's children and going on from generation to generation God draws a distinction between those who obey him and those who disobey and do not know him read through the Old Testament we see that God sent prophet after prophets but God knew the people who will follow him and God you know he knew the people who disobeyed and you know rejected him God draws a distinction let's read Exodus chapter 8 21 to 23 go ahead anyone Exodus chapter 8 was 21 to 23 or else if you will not let my people go behold I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants on your people and into your houses the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand and in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people dwell that no swarms of flies shall be there in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land I will make a difference between my people and your people tomorrow this sign shall be Amen thank you Rosalind so we see here and then we read on the other portions as well we are seeing that God is telling the people now I'm going to make a difference if you do not let my people go these are the troubles that will come upon you later on he says the life stop of Israel will all sorry of Egypt will all die the land of Goshen the children of Israel will nothing will happen to them but there will be hail on the people of Egypt then there will be darkness on the people of Egypt and then we saw that the first born of Egypt will die God draws a distinction now why do we why does he do that because we see in in in the old testament God revealed his power and he gave people the opportunity to believe in him and so does he do even now in the new covenant as God has given each one of us we are part of his covenant he gives people the opportunity to come and to believe now in God's mercy he does not you know it's not like God says okay you don't believe in me you're going to die in two days or your life is going to be taken away from you or you're going to go through the sickness it is God's mercy that he doesn't love that but God draws a distinction he says these are my children these are my people right you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation why does he say all that because when we are part of the covenant he draws a distinction God loves the world the same way John 3 16 loves the world that he gave us life but he draws a distinction for those who believe and those who do not believe great wonders he will do for you and me as people of his covenant so even as we go about in our ministry in our studies in our in a work workplace anything that we're doing remember that God sees us differently God sees us as part of his covenant the Lord is willing to do all these miraculous miraculous works that he has done in the old covenant he's willing to do that and more in the new covenant right next he says that you are a special people Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6 to 11 yes could one of us please read Deuteronomy chapter 7 6 to 11 go ahead Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6 to 11 for you are a holy people to the Lord your God the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth the Lord did not set his love on you nor chose you because you were more in number than any other people for you are the least of all peoples but because the Lord loves you and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt therefore know that the Lord your God he is God the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments and he repays those who hate him to their face to destroy them he will not be slack with him who hates him he will repay him to his face therefore you shall keep the commandment the statutes and the judgments which I command you today to observe them hey man thank you Rosalind so here in Deuteronomy he's reminding Moses is reminding the people listen you are a holy people to the Lord you are chosen you are a special treasure and he goes on to say that those who love him he will honor them and and those who try to you know who don't obey him and dishonor him he will bring trouble and wrath upon them right now I want to focus on this aspect of being a special treasure he says that when you are a special treasure above the people of the face of the earth maybe sometimes you may feel God I'm you know I'm there I'm I'm here I'm your child I'm part of the covenant but doesn't look like I am blessed doesn't look like people are honoring me you know people don't respect me maybe sometimes we feel that way but I want to encourage you though we can stand and we must understand that we are part of God's covenant and we have already received all of this people may not understand it right but you say who you are maybe in the workplace you you know people are mocking and people are making fun of you and you don't you see that you know you've been working sincerely but things are not going right you know and those who have been doing the wrong things have been growing and those who you know you've been sincere but nothing's happening remember God is a God of covenant you are a special generation a special treasure to him continue to trust in him I continue to believe because you're part of the covenant right you may feel God you know I'm part of the covenant but I'm not able to experience any of your blessings no he's there his blessings are there his grace is there his mercy is there he's extending it to us we have to just you know hold on and continue to trust in him right so let's take a break we'll pick up from overtaken with blessings after we take a break we'll come back at 11 o'clock let's take a break