Exodus 34:15

God said to Moses in Exodus 34:15-17, “Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.” These verses list two of the requirements that God gave for the children of Israel for them to keep their responsibilities under the Covenant of the Law. They were not to “make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land.” And they were not to “take of their daughters unto thy sons.” Both of these requirements have to do with the principle of separation from the world. We are social creatures and we are easily affected by those around us. Unbelievers do not have the philosophy or the world view that comes from God. Unbelievers do not desire to please God, do not desire to follow Christ, and have no concept of what it means to seek to do the will of God.

The principle of separation from unbelievers is stated very clearly in the New Testament also. For example, it says in Second Corinthians 6:14-17, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

These are the two major areas of concern for human beings and their close connections with others: religious affiliations, and marriage. Official organized religion often becomes corrupted. The modernists deny the power of God, the Word of God, and the person of Jesus Christ. In addition to the problems of the modernists, there are religious Pharisees, who have correct doctrine, but who do not have the Spirit. Jesus warned the disciples about the Pharisees in Matthew 16:11, “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?” Much of official Christianity is controlled by the false teachers and the Pharisees. The Bible says in Romans 16:17-18, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

One of the great evils that will exist on the earth just before the return of Christ will be the compromise and unity with false religion that most of the earth will be involved with. It says in Revelation 17:1-6, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” False religion has several main characteristics about it. The first characteristic is that it is just that: false religion. God’s will is that every person on this earth would be involved in true religion: which is knowing and serving God through faith in Jesus Christ. False religion opposes faith in Jesus Christ, and/or offers a substitute to faith in Jesus. In other words false religion is a tool of the devil to keep people from God. One of the worse sins possible would be for a true Christian to compromise and join hands with false religion. The longer that a church is established and the larger that it becomes can bring many temptations to join with false religious organizations and ecclesiastical organizations that have false doctrines such as even denying the deity of Christ.

False religious organizations of the last day are called “Babylon” because of what Babylon has always stood for in the Bible: the unjust domination and control of human beings. Many churches have already succumbed to “Babylon.” We are first told about Babylon in the book of Genesis when we are told about the founder of Babylon, a person named Nimrod. It says in Genesis 10:8-10, “And Cush begot Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” The question is: what exactly was Nimrod hunting, and the answer is that he was hunting human beings. Nimrod became adept at conquering people and ruling them and dominating them. He was obviously very aggressive and very cruel at doing so. Of course, to be led by such a spirit is in great contrast to what the Lord wants people to experience. That is why it says that Nimrod was a “mighty hunter before the Lord.” This means in front of God’s face, and it means that God was not pleased with what He was seeing. Jesus came to set us free: free from our sins and free to do the right thing. God gives a free choice to people, and so God is always on the side of freedom.

The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of enslavement and domination. “Babylon” from a religious standpoint represents the organized religions of the world as they indoctrinate, manipulate, and control their adherents in opposition to the will of God. “Babylon” from a commercial point of view represents what goes on in the world to dominate and control people from a financial perspective. This aggressive, dominating, and conquering spirit that is in rebellion to the will of God can be found all over the world. We see from Genesis that when Babylon was first established, it was found in the Middle East, in what is today Iraq. We see from Revelation chapter 17 that when Babylon was the object of prophecy in the first century, that the spirit of Babylon was found in Rome. Undoubtedly, just before the return of Christ the kingdom that most completely manifests the spirit of Babylon will be the kingdom that is described in Revelation chapter 17. Evidence of what God really thinks of this dominating and controlling spirit can be seen in the destructive end to Babylon that God allows to come upon it. It says in Revelation 18:18-19, “And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.” Perhaps such sudden destruction will be the result of a nuclear attack.

Looking back in Exodus chapter 34 we read more of the requirements of the Covenant of the Law. It says in Exodus 34:18-23, “The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.” Actually, in these verses are five of the many requirements for anyone who would keep the Law of Moses (the Old Covenant.) There was the requirement for keeping three feasts every year. There was a requirement to give back to God for the firstborn of every animal and every son that was born into the world. And there was also the requirement of keeping the Sabbath Day every week.

Let’s look at these five requirements that God gave to anyone who would live under the Law. The feast of unleavened bread is the feast in which the Passover takes place. Of course, it occurs in the Spring. The Friday of Passover week we know as “Good Friday.” It is the day in which Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. One reason that we no longer have the Feast of Unleavened Bread is because Jesus fulfilled the Passover. Jesus was the Passover Lamb. When the first Passover took place, God said to the Israelites in Exodus 12:13, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” God says the same thing today to every person who believes on Jesus Christ: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” As it says in First John 1:7, “The blood of Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

The Feast of Firstfruits took place fifty days after Passover. That is why it is called “Pentecost.” The word “Pentecost” comes from the word “fifty.” Jesus also fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits because He sent to us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the first-fruit of all the eternal blessings that will be showered upon the children of God. Jesus said in John 15:26, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”

The Feast of Tabernacles that would take place later in the year symbolized at least two major truths. Because the people made little temporary booths or “tabernacles,” they were reminded of the fact that God took care of them and provided for them after they left Egypt. Also, because this feast of “ingathering” took place at the end of the harvest time, it was a time to remember that all that we have comes from God’s blessings upon us. Jesus has fulfilled this Feast of Tabernacles, because Jesus becomes everything to us once we are saved through faith in Him. Of course, our greatest needs are the spiritual needs. The material needs that we have simply symbolize the spiritual needs. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

In addition to these feasts that absolutely had to be observed every year by everyone who was under the Law of Moses, the giving back to God was a requirement for showing appreciation for the firstborn. This would teach them that everything they had came from God, including their material substance and their family members. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away that which He hath given. But notice the penalty that was given during the Old Testament for whoever did not obey this commandment: death. It says in Exodus 34:20, “and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.” Remember that the Law of Moses brought death to whoever failed to keep it. There was a curse associated with this law. It says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

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