(Exodus) Exodus 23:14-33

Now he says, in verse 14, three times, Thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread. Thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee in the time appointed of the month Abed.

For in it thou camest out from Egypt, and none shall appear before me empty. And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the field, and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of thy field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord.

Now that'll be given to us again, friends, when we get over to the book of Numbers, and we'll find out that it was the Passover feast, and the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of Tabernacles, that all the males had to go to Jerusalem. Now, before they get in the land, they are told certain laws that will guide them when they get in the land. Verse 20, Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Beware of him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. There's always been the question of who is this angel, and I think many of you already know my interpretation.

They all did drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And then you'll notice, Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

You see, it's the Lord Jesus that they were to obey. This is the one definitely here. Now, we are told that when they went into the land, that they would find there an enemy, and the land was filled with the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hevites, Jebusites, and Electrolytes.

And God says, I intend to put them out of the land, and it's because of their sin that God did that. Now, the Lord says to them, I will send my fear before thee, and I'll destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And God says that I intend to put you in that land.

Now, he tells them very carefully here in verse 32, Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. Now, you'll find out that was the great mistake of Joshua of making a covenant with the Gibeonites that were in that land. He didn't think they were in that land, but they were.

And he made a big mistake by not investigating more. And, of course, the reason they went into Babylonian captivity is because they went into idolatry and served other gods.