Christ as Redeemer

As we count down the fifty days to the Feast of Pentecost, we have been considering the book of Ruth's Boaz as a type of Christ, first as a provider and then as a righteous judge. Ruth herself typifies the Christian, called out of this world to begin a new life in preparation for eternal life as part of the Bride of Christ in God's Kingdom. The spring harvest setting of the book securely plants the imagery and the lessons within the period of sanctification—the time of our converted, physical lives—that the weeks between the Wavesheaf offering and Pentecost represent.

Of course, one of the primary titles of Jesus Christ is Savior; He saved us from our sins by taking their penalty—death—upon Himself, paying the price for our rebellion against God in His flesh. So, as the Bible's language so often puts it, we have been redeemed by His blood shed in our behalf (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 5:9). The idea of redemption is that of "buying back," of paying the cost—normally a steep one—to restore someone or something to a former condition or ownership. Just as a person would redeem a treasured item from a pawnshop or a benefactor would redeem a kidnap victim from his captors, so Christ redeems sinners from the death penalty they have brought upon themselves through their transgressions. He achieved this through the sacrifice of His own priceless life.

In the final chapter of Ruth, the author shows Boaz cheerfully taking up the responsibility to be Ruth's kinsman-redeemer. In ancient Israel, the law allowed for the nearest male relative to buy the land of a deceased property owner to keep the holding within the family (see Leviticus 25:23-24; Deuteronomy 25:5-10). However, there was an important caveat: The kinsman-redeemer also had the responsibility to take his relative's childless widow as his wife, and their firstborn son would inherit the redeemed land as if he were the actual son of the dead man. If the redeemer already had children, the redeemed land would not pass to them.

This caveat comes into play in Ruth's case. The redeemer had to be willing to take responsibility for everything that his dead kinsman had left behind; he had to pay for it all. In the narrative of Ruth, the nearer kinsman was not willing. For the virtuous Ruth (Ruth 3:11), however, Boaz was more than willing to buy back the land (it had likely been mortgaged during the famine mentioned in Ruth 1:1), to pay off any of Naomi's other debts, if any, and to take the young Moabitess as his wife and raise their son as Elimelech's heir. To him, she was the pearl of great price that he would have spent all his wealth to possess (see Matthew 13:45-46). Likewise, for His Bride, Christ gave all that He had, His perfect, sinless life, paying for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2).

Because of her knowledge of Boaz' character, Naomi sets the tone that underlies the entire process of Ruth's redemption: "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day" (Ruth 3:18). Naomi had had experience with Boaz before she had left for Moab with her husband and sons. She knew that he was a decisive, energetic, determined individual who would not deviate from his purpose once he fixed upon it. As the saying goes, he would move heaven and earth to redeem Ruth.

Naomi's declaration about Boaz is similar to what the Bible says about God: Once He gives the word, it is as good as done. As Isaiah 46:11 declares, "Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it." Like Boaz, Christ has relentless, dogged determination to save us and prepare us for His Kingdom. It is His foremost desire, and He is on the job night and day "to present [us] holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight" (Colossians 1:22). Just as Boaz had said, "I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives!" so Christ will finish His work in us. Paul writes in Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." God prophesies in Isaiah 62:1, 4-5:

For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. . . . You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah [My Delight Is in Her], and your land Beulah [Married]; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. . . . And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Ruth 4:1-12 presents a step-by-step record describing how Boaz went about securing Ruth's redemption. For our purposes, it is not necessary to consider each element of the ancient redemption process, as shown in Ruth (although it makes an edifying study). We should note, however, that Boaz is not only eager and determined, but he is carefully, even stringently, lawful. Everything is done by the book. He makes sure all the required procedures are followed and leaves nothing out.

For instance, the transaction is conducted in the city gate of Bethlehem where judgments were to be made. He gathers ten witnesses to observe and, if necessary, to testify later about what he did. He allows the near kinsman every opportunity to do his legal duty in redeeming the property. He hides none of the pertinent facts from anyone, presenting all of the relevant details so that everyone clearly understands what is happening. Even his short speech to the townspeople as the process ends sounds like a contract:

You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day. (Ruth 4:9-10)

In the same way, Christ works within the boundaries He and the Father have established, so that no one will be able to accuse God of being unjust or unfair or playing fast and loose in any way with what is right. Every price will be fully paid, every legal requirement will be fulfilled, and every involved party will be satisfied with the outcome. Because He loves us, He redeems us lawfully so that there will never be any question as to our status before Him. Everyone will know that we belong to Him. God Himself declares in Isaiah 1:27, "Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness."

One final detail is worth pointing out as we consider the meaning of Pentecost. Boaz and Ruth marry and produce a son, Obed. Obed means "servant" or "worshipper." In spiritual terms, the product of Christ and a converted Christian is a servant and worshipper of God, the goal of God's harvest of firstfruits—a new creation in the image of God. Is that not a beautiful image?

Christ as Righteous Judge

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at the book of Ruth from the standpoint of the countdown to Pentecost, and in the last essay, from the standpoint of Boaz being a type of Christ. This essay continues our consideration of Boaz' actions toward Ruth, which can give us insight into the character of our Savior, particularly in His office of Judge. As the apostle Peter writes, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17), and this aspect of Christ's work appears in type in the story of Ruth.

Ruth 2:10-13 follows Boaz' five instructions to Ruth, covered in last week's essay:

So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?" And Boaz answered and said to her, "It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge." Then she said, "Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants."

His words had gone straight to Ruth's heart; he had reached her in her innermost being. As a newcomer to Israel, she wanted acceptance, help, and instruction, and he provided everything she needed.

Clearly, Boaz has knowledge of Ruth, her activities, and her character beyond what his servant had told him earlier. In fact, the text gives the impression that Boaz knows practically everything there is to know about Ruth. He has full knowledge of her; all the facts are at his disposal. This is an instance in which the type is obvious: Boaz is so knowledgeable as to be nearly omniscient. The four gospels frequently tell us that Jesus knew things that an ordinary human would not. Luke 6:8 says of Him, "But He knew their thoughts. . . ." The apostle John writes, "He knew all men, . . . for He knew what was in man" (John 2:24-25).

Boaz, it appears, has some of the same attributes. In Ruth 2:12, he makes a judgment based on his perfect knowledge. His judgment, which is framed as his desire, is that God will bless her and reward her for her sacrifices and her works. As Ruth acknowledges in verse 13, his judgment is an articulation of his favor, which is a general synonym for "grace." Her question to Boaz in verse 10 could just as easily have been written, "Why have I found grace in your sight?" In both deeds and words, Boaz shows her favor or grace, just as Christ extends to us.

This surprises Ruth because she is self-conscious about her foreignness. She mentions it twice in four verses, saying "since I am a foreigner" (verse 10) and "though I am not like one of your maidservants" (verse 13). He, however, does not mention it at all. To the contrary, Boaz praises her for having such strong convictions that she was able to forsake the land of her birth to join with people that she had never known before (verse 11). This sounds a great deal like Jesus' instruction in Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." Ruth was a paragon of this very virtue, willing to forsake her worldly family to join the people of Israel, a type of the church of God (Galatians 6:16).

Ruth 3:2 sets the stage for Boaz' role in the next chapters. Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, is speaking: "Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor." Boaz is winnowing the threshed grain. Winnowing is essentially cleaning the grain by taking the threshed grain and throwing it up into the wind, which blows away the chaff while allowing the grain to fall back to the ground where it can be gathered and used. Boaz, then, is shown separating the wheat from the chaff. It is a picture of judgment.

The psalmist Asaph writes in Psalm 83:13 of Israel's enemies, "O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind!" In the same vein, Isaiah says of sinful Israelites, "Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 5:24). John the Baptist speaks of Jesus as a winnower of men: "One mightier than I is coming. . . . His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire" (Luke 3:16-17).

In this figure, the author of Ruth (who may have been Samuel) is indicating that Boaz is an able judge, one who makes righteous decisions. In the next two chapters, he will make a truly significant judgment. Taking all the evidence that is before him, he will separate the wheat from the chaff and choose to perform a service of profound consequence, to redeem the property of Elimelech, which obligates him to marry Ruth, the widow of Elimelech's heir. This not only decides Ruth's future, but also the future of his house, of Israel, and ultimately of the world.

Notice his joyful words when Ruth asks him to redeem her:

Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. (Ruth 3:10-11)

Boaz praises her "kindness," which is the Hebrew word chesed, implying "covenant loyalty." She had shown herself true to her adopted family and to Israel by choosing Boaz over a younger man. The covenant said that as a widow, she had to marry the near kinsman, and she obeyed it to the letter. Spiritually, we could say that she acted contrary to the normal course of this world (see Ephesians 2:1-3), doing what was good and right rather than following her carnal desires.

He reassures her, saying, "Do not fear" (see Luke 12:32), for he would do everything that she requested (see John 14:13-14). Then he makes another judgment: He agrees that she is virtuous. In the spiritual type, he pronounces her righteous, which redemption and justification through the blood of Christ accomplishes. And in the morning, he makes it his chief aim to make her his bride. So does Christ work to bring His church into the Family of God, judging us worthy to live eternally with Him (Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7-9).

Christ as Provider

Last week, we considered the period of the count to Pentecost as representing the years of our conversion as Christians, and we focused on the work that was required of the Israelites to grow and harvest the grain used in the offering of the wave loaves. This work—and it can be called nothing less—typifies the work God requires of us in preparation for eternal life in His Kingdom. Just as the Israelite had to work to present an acceptable offering to God, so the Christian is required to "work out [his] own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

Ruth, the subject of the Old Testament book of the same name, is a wonderful example of a productive worker. She goes out into the fields at harvest time and industriously gleans on the heels of the reapers so that she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, would have enough to eat throughout the summer months. As Boaz' servant tells his master when he inquired about her, "She came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house" (Ruth 2:7). Her gleaning ties this story firmly to the instructions regarding Pentecost, as Leviticus 23:22 contains God's instruction to allow the poor and the stranger to gather the remnants of the crop after the reapers had gone through the fields.

While engaged in this, Ruth is introduced to Boaz, the owner of the field that she had "just happened" to choose (see Ruth 2:3). The Hebrew indicates with a wink that her choice of Boaz' part of the field was not serendipity; she was supernaturally led to it. This wealthy man, Boaz, we learn, came from Bethlehem (Ruth 2:4), which means "House of Bread," so God is suggesting that the man hails from a place of plenty—and of course, in the background lurks the biblical metaphor of bread as a symbol of God's Word. It is also good to know that Boaz means "in him is strength," a hint that he is a man of strong character, one whom Ruth can trust.

Boaz is immediately interested in her. Perhaps she was pretty and thus attracted his attention. More likely, though, it was the fact that she was a stranger, a Moabitess, and he probably admired her diligent work. His servant informs him that she is from Moab and is Naomi's daughter-in-law, and she herself humbly requests permission to glean, which he graciously gives (Ruth 2:8-9). Remembering that Boaz is clearly a type of Christ and that Ruth symbolizes the Christian who is being redeemed, Boaz' subsequent instructions take on a heightened meaning:

Then Boaz said to Ruth, "You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn."

His immediate concern is for Ruth's safety and health. Notice, too, that when he speaks to her, he makes no mention of her foreignness but calls her "my daughter." He was most likely older than she was, but what is striking is that his first words to her are familial, as if he had already accepted her. She was not a stranger and a foreigner to him but part of the community and maybe even as part of his extended family.

His speech is essentially five consecutive commands. As a type of Christ, Boaz is lord and master of his domain, in complete control of the situation. He knows what she should do and gives her clear instructions about it. Though he has already determined to provide for her—which he does lavishly throughout the rest of the book—he gives her some ground rules to guide her gleaning.

First, he tells her to listen, to pay attention, to heed his instruction. If she wished to place herself under his care, she would need to abide by his rules. He did not say this because he was a tyrant, but because it was for her good to do as he said. As the master of the harvest, he knew the situation and how she could be most successful. As Jesus would say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 11:15).

Second, he forbids her to glean anywhere else, "but stay close by my young women." This is the equivalent of Christ telling us, "Do not gather spiritual food from any other source." His field is sufficient to supply her all she needs to be filled, and the implication is that gleaning in other fields would not be safe. In fellowship with his other servants, she would be safe and satisfied with food.

Third, he tells her to keep her eyes on his field and his servants. A person's eyes show where he is focused, and Boaz did not want her to stray off his land. He did not want her to think that the gleaning was better elsewhere because, frankly, he knew it was not. He also desired that she follow the example of his servants, as they could give her help in doing her work.

Fourth, he assures her that his young men will not touch her. Boaz' servants are under strict orders to be kind and proper toward those under his care. They are not to take advantage of her in any way or to treat her harshly. The "young men" are equivalent to the ministry of God's church, who are commanded to "tend His sheep" in love (John 21:15-17).

Finally, he instructs Ruth to drink only what the young men have drawn from the well. Boaz knew that his water was clean and safe and that going to draw water at another well could put her in a dangerous situation. Water, as we know, is a type of God's Spirit, and here it represents teaching inspired by God's Spirit—what is offered through His true servants. Clearly, God is very concerned about what we consume spiritually, and so Jesus tells us in John 4:14, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him with never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

In Boaz' instructions to Ruth, we see the concern of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, for His people. He wants us to follow these instructions because they will keep us from harm, they will keep us nourished and satisfied, and they will keep us in the right environment so that we will grow and have a successful harvest. God gives us only good and wise advice, so if he tells us to stay in His church, listen to His ministers, and fellowship among His servants so that we will endure through the harvest, we would do well to heed Him.

The Work of the Firstfruits

Leviticus 23:9-21 covers God's instructions concerning making the wavesheaf offering, the counting of the seven weeks, and the observance of the Feast of Weeks, called Pentecost in the New Testament. With an understanding of the application of the holy days to the plan of God, it is easy to see that this entire period concentrates on the firstfruits of salvation. As the apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:22-23, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming." The wavesheaf is of the firstfruits; it is the first of the firstfruits. As we know, it represents Jesus Christ being accepted before God as our High Priest. He is the first of the Firstborn (Romans 8:29), those who are glorified in the first resurrection.

As last week's essay, Pat Higgin's "Count for Yourselves," illustrated, by counting throughout the whole fifty days from wavesheaf to Pentecost, we are to be concentrating on the theme of this period: on the harvest of the firstfruits and on God's part in it.

This period begins and ends with a waving of an offering. It starts with the waving of the sheaf of firstfruit barley, representing Christ. At the conclusion of the fifty days, two wave loaves baked with leaven are waved before God, and these represent the people of God, the called-out ones, the elect. This waving of the firstfruits in the form of loaves of leavened bread pictures the Father's gracious acceptance of very fallible human beings into His Kingdom.

In this period, then, the entire panorama of God's work with His firstfruits is portrayed—from Jesus Christ being accepted as the perfect sacrifice for sin and our High Priest all the way to the time when all of His brothers and sisters, the children of God, fully enter His Family. The holy day culminates a period of harvest, in which the firstfruits of the Kingdom are emphasized. It excludes almost everything else. During this time, God is concentrating on His people.

In the instructions on this period, God emphasizes something that many people miss. In Exodus 23:16, God calls the harvest "the firstfruits of your labors." He adds, "which you have sown in the field." The Pentecost offering, described in Leviticus 23:16-17, is to be of new grain, and it is brought "from your dwellings." These phrases hint that God stresses what His people do during this period. His people are hard at work in their fields and their dwellings.

Applying these types spiritually, we can say, then, that Pentecost tends to emphasize the Christian's work, and it is split between the field, his external labors, and his house, his internal labors. He has responsibilities to produce godly character and growth in his behavior and in his heart and mind. We are being converted inside and out, and it takes a great deal of hard work.

Thus, the period from the wavesheaf to Pentecost pictures a time of intense labor of sowing and reaping carried out by human beings whose goal is to be offered before God as an acceptable offering. God, though, is firmly in the picture. He may not be completely in the foreground, but He is certainly there by our side. He is working alongside us, blessing our efforts just as He blesses the efforts of a farmer bringing physical crops to harvest.

A farmer goes out into his field, tills the soil, plants the seed, pulls weeds, and toils ceaselessly to bring the harvest in. But who provides the rain and the sun? Who made the soil with all its nutrients? God is there and active in the work, but the farmer is the one whom other people see doing the labor. Yet, God is also there, unseen, helping things along. It is from these joint efforts that the new grain is produced.

From what we know from both Old and New Testaments, God is firmly in this picture during this Wavesheaf-Pentecost period in at least three ways. First, it is traditional that God gave His law from Mount Sinai on the Day of Pentecost—or very near to it. Biblical chronology places it firmly in the third month, Sivan, when Pentecost falls. Thus, we see God present in His providence of His law, the standard by which we are to live.

Second, Acts 2, of course, narrates the story of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the fledgling church. The Holy Spirit gives us the power, the inspiration, and the help that we need to do what is right—to see God, to follow Him, and to make right decisions.

Third, we should never forget what the wavesheaf offering represents. We could say it is the most important part of the whole process because Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and High Priest, has opened the way to a relationship with God (Hebrews 10:19-22). By His sinless life and teachings, He has shown us the way to live (John 14:6). He has done what is needed so that the rest of us can follow. We can have salvation because He lives, guiding us through this period of sanctification to eternal life (Romans 5:10).

These three factors are always in play, though in terms of work, they perform invisibly. However, just because they cannot be readily seen does not minimize the part they play in the harvest of the firstfruits. What God provides during the salvation process far surpasses all that we do. And for that we give Him glory.

Even so, the emphasis during this period—the fifty days of the count—seems to be on what we have to do. We know that God will do His work; He finishes what He starts (see Isaiah 55:11). He is faithful (I Corinthians 1:9). He never slacks off in His work—and this is exactly why the emphasis is on what we do because we will certainly drop the ball one time, several times, many times. Some would say we fail to carry the load most of the time!

Thus, we need to be prodded every year that there is still work to be done. We have to get in line with God the Father and Jesus Christ—the First of the Firstfruits—so that what He desires to be built in us is accomplished. While our part may be small, it is very important. We must work out our own salvation (Philippians 2:12).

In the book of Ruth, one of the five Megilloth—Festival Scrolls—and the one we should read in conjunction with the Feast of Pentecost, a great deal of work is done. Ruth, a type of the Christian, is a very diligent worker. Throughout the narrative, she is constantly working, serving, helping. More importantly, she is growing the whole time. Notice how many times she is commended for what she does.

Her work "pays off." She marries the kind, wealthy Boaz, a type of Christ, and becomes part of a joyous, blessed family. If she had not done the works, she would never have received the blessings. There is a wonderful lesson in this for us as we prepare for God's Kingdom.

Rehearsing God's Plan

This weekend marks the beginning of a new sacred year; in fact, this Sabbath is the first day of the year on the Hebrew calendar. God tells Moses in Exodus 12:2, "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." The next chapter confirms that this particular month is Abib (Exodus 13:4), which is Hebrew for "budding" or "sprouting," identifying the time of year as the beginning of spring. The Modern Hebrew equivalent is aviv, making the coastal city of Tel Aviv "Spring Hill" in English.

The beginning of another year means that we will observe another round of God's holy days, the seven high days between the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the early spring and the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles a half-year away in the autumn (see Leviticus 23). These seven appointed times of holy convocation are by no means mere spiritualized celebrations of ancient harvest festivals, as modern critical historians are fond of asserting. (They say this because of their evolutionary biases that force them to conclude that the religion of the Old Testament is nothing more than the previous Canaanite religion transformed by the peculiarities of Hebrew culture hardened into monotheism by the rigors of the wilderness. Clearly, they also have a bias against any recognition of God Himself, since He is the One who commanded Israel to worship Him in the ways demonstrated in Scripture. No, to them, Israelite religion separated from its Canaanite roots in the distant past and developed "naturally" over centuries until it was codified by the priestly caste in Holy Writ.) To the contrary, God's holy days are a carefully crafted series of memorials that tell a story.

That story is God's magnificent plan of salvation, told in a set of parable-like vignettes, which His people rehearse each year as a reminder of what God is doing among mankind. As the Bible shows, certain holy days commemorate major events in the history of Israel, and these events stand as types of spiritual realities brought about by God. While it may sound strange to our ears, some of the holy days are memorials of future events—pre-memorials, we could call them. God reveals enough in His Word, especially in the book of Revelation, for us to feel certain about what events they prefigure.

Although Passover is not a holy day with a holy convocation like the other festivals, it plays a major role in the story of God's plan, explaining the first, vital step. Exodus 12:1-13, 21-27 explains that the Old Testament ceremony of killing, draining the blood, roasting, and eating a male lamb without blemish is a yearly reminder of the Death Angel "passing over" the Israelites in Egypt because of the blood on their doorposts and lintels. Thus, they were spared the plague of the firstborn and redeemed—bought back—from their slavery. The Passover service, then, is a picture of redemption by the blood of a perfect sacrifice.

Jesus, of course, is that perfect Sacrifice. He lived among us for more than 33 years and never once sinned; He was spiritually perfect. And since He was also our Creator, His unjust, cruel death, in which His blood was drained from Him upon the ground, was more than sufficient to cover all sin and redeem all humanity from its captivity to sin and this world's god (I Corinthians 4:4), Satan the Devil. The New Testament picks up on the theme of redemption, recording the spiritual antitype of the historical event that took place roughly 3,500 years ago in the land of Goshen. Today, the Passover service concentrates on Christian service (in the footwashing; see John 13:1-17), Christ's broken body (in the broken bread; see Luke 22:19), and His shed blood, which ratifies God's New Covenant with His people (in the wine; see Luke 22:20).

The day after the Passover begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which Exodus 12:14-20 and other passages show to commemorate Israel's flight from Egypt into the wilderness. It took the many thousands of Israelites, as well as their livestock, an entire week to journey to and through the Red Sea, where they were finally free from the clutches of their former slave masters. They left in such a hurry that they had no time to allow their bread to rise, so they had to eat unleavened bread, which the Bible calls "the bread of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16:3). Thus, in commemoration of this momentous occasion, for the week of this Feast, the Israelites were commanded to clean their homes of yeast, which the Bible always paints in a negative light as an agent of corruption, and eat unleavened bread.

In I Corinthians 5:6-8, the apostle Paul points out the spiritual application of this festival. It is a time of remembering that we are on a spiritual wilderness journey, and instead of coming out of a physical, oppressive nation, we are fleeing from the corruption of sin. With God's help, we are putting off the sins and habits of our evil nature and putting on the character of our Savior Jesus Christ. Each year, then, we remember that our job is to quit living Satan's way and engrain God's way of holiness and righteousness into our characters.

Pentecost is the next holy day on the calendar, seven weeks after Unleavened Bread. It is called the Feast of Harvest, giving us a giant clue that it depicts, not just a harvest of grain (barley is ripe at the beginning of the seven-week count to Pentecost and wheat at its end), but of people. This is the first harvest festival and a smaller one than the Feast of Tabernacles, so it represents a small, early harvest of God's people. It also contains a wave offering of two leavened loaves of bread, symbolizing God's acceptance of once-sinful people in two groups. We believe that these loaves represent those whom God brought to salvation before Christ and those converted during the church age, which will continue until He returns.

The next four holy days—Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Last Day—are celebrated in the fall. The events that these days look forward to are conveniently summarized in the narrative of the prophecies of Revelation 19 and 20. Revelation 19 is all about the return of Jesus Christ, which is announced with great blasts of a trumpet (see Matthew 24:31). The Feast of Trumpets, therefore, covers His second coming, His rewarding of the saints, and His defeating of all opposition to His rule.

Revelation 20 contains the fulfillments of the last three holy days: Atonement, when Satan is bound and led "outside the camp" (see Leviticus 16 and the ritual commanded for this day), removing his evil influence over all people; the Feast of Tabernacles, when Christ reigns with the resurrected saints for a thousand years and the earth blossoms like a rose (see Isaiah 35); and the Last Day, when the great majority of humanity will have the opportunity to live under the gracious judgment of God, accept salvation, and live for eternity (see Isaiah 65:17-25).

This is the time of year, as the apostle Paul says on another matter, to think on these things.

Pentecost and Memorial Day

Every now and again, the Feast of Pentecost and Memorial Day fall back-to-back on the calendar, as they do this year. At first blush, they seem to have little in common: one is religious, the other secular; one focuses on the harvest of firstfruits, the other on the patriotic sacrifices of loved ones; one has an agrarian background, the other has its roots in war; and so forth. They seem to be as far removed from each other as ancient history and current events, as distant as Jerusalem from Washington.

Yet, we should not be too hasty in concluding that they do not share any common features. Immediately, we can see that they occur in the same season of the year, as spring is ending and summer looms. In this way, they both mark time, an end and a beginning.

Memorial Day does this in a couple of ways. For most, and especially for children, this holiday, situated as it is at the end of May, represents the end of the school year and the beginning of the more carefree summer months. If the administrators had an ounce of sense, most schools would not run their academic year beyond Memorial Day, since 99 percent of the students have already mentally finished their studies for the year. Requiring them to attend class into the heat of June serves only to fulfill meaningless mandated days-of-instruction regulations. Of course, it follows that this holiday ushers in the months of summer vacation until Labor Day in early September.

A more serious set of ends and beginnings in Memorial Day is one that those who have lost loved ones in the nation's wars realize all too well. For these, Memorial Day closes one year and begins another without the soldier, sailor, airman, marine, or guardsman or –woman who gave his or her life in the defense of American freedom. This day is for them not so much a holiday as it is a solemn day of remembrance and pride in the patriotism of their fallen service member. In many, it renews a commitment to the national values that so many have died to protect.

For its part, Pentecost concludes the seven-week count from the Days of Unleavened Bread, specifically commanded by God and unlike the determination of any other holy day. Such an oddity is a biblical tip-off that underlying spiritual meaning awaits our further study and consideration. That the count begins in the atmosphere of the Feast of Unleavened Bread—when thoughts of overcoming sin and putting on righteousness are thick in the air—traverses a time of verdure and growth, and finishes in a harvest, a reaping or gathering of ripe produce, should clue us in to at least one of the lessons God wishes us to learn from this annual exercise.

It marks a beginning too. Acts 2 tells us that the Christian church began on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead as a type of the wavesheaf offering, as the First of the firstfruits (Romans 8:29; I Corinthians 15:23; Revelation 1:5). On this day, God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in those few who had been converted during Christ's ministry, providing them with the understanding, power, and skills to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world. From then until now, the church of God has fulfilled this commission to a greater or lesser extent, the gates of the grave not prevailing against it (Matthew 16:18).

Because Pentecost focuses so much on the church and its work, it is not too much of a stretch to consider it a kind of day of remembrance of those who have gone before us spiritually. From that first Christian Day of Pentecost to our own time, thousands of men and women have given themselves in sacrifice—both in dying and in living—to transmit the true gospel to us. Many true Christians in the first century, and certainly almost all the apostles, suffered martyrdom for their convictions about God and His way of life. Some of them suffered cruelly in the "pleasure gardens" of Nero and in the "games" in the Coliseum, but many more died alone and unheralded at the hands of rioters, wicked judges, and tyrannical rulers.

The sacrifices did not end there. In many times and places, the true church and its practices have been outlawed under penalty of fines, imprisonment, and death. Under such injustice, keeping the Sabbath was risking one's life—and the lives of one's family members. Whether it was being baptized by immersion or celebrating Passover or even reading Scripture in one's native tongue, practicing God's way of life was for such people a matter of life and death. Yet, down through the centuries, many gladly took this risk upon themselves, and what is more, some had the courage to proclaim it beyond their families to the public. Most of these paid the highest price for their boldness, but the truth of God never ceased to be handed down from one generation to the next.

What the author of Hebrews says about the Old Testament faithful in Hebrews 11:35-40 can be applied to many true Christians over the last nearly two thousand years:

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

The Day of Pentecost pictures the spiritual harvest of firstfruits, among whom will be the Christian faithful down through the centuries. They still wait in their graves for their resurrection with us at the return of Christ, and for the fulfillment of God's promise of eternal life and their reward in the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 15:51-52; I Thessalonians 4:13-17). Perhaps we can take a few moments this weekend to consider their sacrifices and thank God that He has called such heroes of faith into His Family.