The spring festivals memorialize the redemption and exodus of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery, as well as our own spiritual redemption.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a remembrance of the release from bondage. We eat unleavened bread as a sign that the Lord's law may be in our mouths.

Our service and sacrifice should never be considered a burden, but a joy, declaring the excellency of God, witnessing what God in Christ has done for us.

A piece of paper, such as Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, does not really set people free, especially from the slavery of human nature.

We can experience escape and rescue by exercising reverence and godly fear. One of the most dangerous forms of enslavement consists of our own carnal lusts.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread memorializes God's deliverance from the environment of sin rather than our coming out of sin. Christ embodies sincerity and truth.

As we are liberated from the bondage of sin, we are now free because we are slaves of righteousness, ironically the only true and lasting liberty.

Jewish tradition calls for four cups of wine on Passover based on God's 'I will' statements in Exodus 6:6-7, which apply to the Israel of God today.

Time after time, the children of Israel accused Moses of leading them to their deaths, failing to trust God in spite of His track record of provision.

The Israelites were to bring their first fruits to the altar in a basket and make a solemn declaration to rehearse God's deliverance and abundance.

Nothing happens in our lives (including repentance) until God initiates it. A change of heart, by God's Holy Spirit, results in a total change of direction.

God has freed us from the bondage of sin, the breaking of His law. Liberty comes only from obeying God and accepting the positive yoke of Jesus Christ.

God's people are pressured by this evil age. We must remember that God will fight for us; we need to wait silently and patiently for His promised intervention.

The same God who exercised vigilance and care over our forebears does so over us. Israel's leaving Egypt signifies maintaining the relationship with God.

The Feast of Trumpets memorializes God's deliverance of Israel beginning with Joseph, and looks forward to Christ's return when God will deliver His people.

While the truth of Christ has the power to elevate, our worldly orientation blinds us, dulls our minds, and pulls us downward to abject slavery to sin.

Christ warns that we must do everything possible to annihilate sin - surgically going right to the heart or mind: the level of thought and imagination.