“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.… .for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning.” Exodus 23:14–18
Those who see the true spiritual meaning in the Old Testament clearly see how each feast is lined up with the great program of God’s harvest of the precious fruit of the earth. In James 5:7 we read that the Lord is long-suffering until it receives the early and the latter rain. He is waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it until He receives it.
Perhaps you are thinking that the Lord is delaying His coming until the antichrist crowds us or the mark of the beast almost singes us. This is not true at all. Nothing in Satan’s program delays the Lord. He is not waiting for Satan to do anything. He is waiting until He has accomplished everything through us. When the precious fruit of the earth comes during the great ingathering, then His appearance is right upon us.
What should our emphasis be? Should our emphasis be on the terrible signs of the times? Or should we move with faith and diligence to send this gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the world and to gather out the precious fruit of the earth unto His name. Let us be dedicated to that. Let those who want to do so mourn over the times and pray that they will hold out until the end. But let us press on in the new beginnings of God. While others are talking about the last days, we are talking about the new day that God is bringing forth. Let us believe for it with all of our heart.
This will not be done by our might, nor by power, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). Therefore, let us be diligent about our appropriation. God said, “The fat of My feast is not to remain overnight until morning.” In no instance should we be of any other mind than to constantly appropriate His fullness. God has something for us; let us be determined to appropriate it every minute of every day and every night.
At the first Passover the people were instructed to eat the lamb in haste and not to let any of it remain until the morning (Exodus 12:10–11). Determine to partake of everything that Christ is. Determine to have every provision that He has made for you, now. Move into it with all of your heart.