JESUS FULFILLS THE FEASTS and THE CHURCH BEGINS THE JOURNEY

JESUS FULFILS THE FEASTS

Jesus was “..the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  [Revelation 13:8]  When Man sinned, God provided a covering of animal skins which cost the shedding of blood. From that time onward He was working towards that Passover in Jerusalem when Jesus rode into the city on a donkey as foretold.

“Behold, your king is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,...”  Zechariah 9:9

The Lamb Chosen

The Passover lamb was to be chosen on the tenth day of Nisan [or Abib] by “all the congregation of Israel”  Exodus 12:3

When Jesus rode through the streets of Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday the crowds that had come to celebrate Passover acclaimed Him as a king.  Unwittingly they were choosing their Lamb – a Lamb for the nation and for the world.

The Lamb Examined

The Lamb was to be kept for four days and examined for blemishes.  Exodus 12:5,6

Following the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the Temple, Jesus taught there daily.  He was confronted by the chief priests, the scribes and the elders, who tried to trap Him in His words.  After His arrest, He was questioned by the Chief Priest Caiaphas, Herod the King, and Pilate the Roman Governor.  He was examined by every authority in the Land and none could lay blame on Him.  Finally Pilate declared, “I find no fault in Him.”  The Lamb was declared faultless.  He was “...a lamb without blemish and without spot....foreordained before the foundation of the world.” [1Peter 1:19,20]

The Lamb slain

On “the fourteenth day of the same month...the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel....” were to kill the lamb “in the evening” [literally “between the two evenings” The Jews had two evenings, the first being at the decline of the sun when the evening sacrifice was made  3pm]

After a mockery of a trial Jesus was presented by Pilate to the crowds which had assembled from all over Israel to celebrate the Passover Feast.  With one accord they cried,  “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.”  His death was by common consent.  Then, as the prophet Isaiah wrote, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.”  [Isaiah 53;7] Jesus died at the ninth hour or 3pm, the time of the evening sacrifice.

The Lamb was to be roast with fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread Exodus 12:8

Fire speaks of the wrath and judgement of God.  “Our God is a consuming fire.”Hebrews 12:29

Jesus stood between the whole Human race and the righteous wrath of God towards sin.  The sour wine which they gave Him to drink, typified the cup of suffering and of the bitterness of our sins and which He choose to drink for our sake.  At the Last Supper, Jesus broke unleavened bread and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take eat, this is my body.”

No bone was to be broken  Exodus 12:46

Sometimes, in order to hasten the death of a victim, his legs were broken, thus preventing any upward movement necessary to breathe.  When the soldiers came to Jesus, He was already dead.  John states, “These things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.”  John 19:36

Passover was on 14^th Nisan. On the 15^th  at 6pm, the Feast of Unleavened Bread began.  Leaven is a type of sin.  Jesus fulfilled this Feast by taking our sins into the grave so that we can be declared holy.  We are sanctified in Him. 

On the Sunday after Passover was the Feast of Firstfruits.  The instructions for keeping this Feast were given on the way to the Promised Land. These three feasts together make up Passover.  The Feast of Firstfruits was the consecration of the first sheaf of the harvest.  Israel was to be a nation consecrated to God.  They were the firstfruits of the nations.  “Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstfruits of His increase.”  Jeremiah 2:3  This Feast would have been the anniversary of Israel’s emergence from Egypt by way of the Red Sea.  They were “baptized in the cloud and in the sea” 1 Corinthians 10:2. 

Jesus fulfilled this Feast by rising from the dead and becoming “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  1 Corinthians 15:20

When we receive Jesus as our Saviour, we are justified by faith in the shed blood of the Lamb.  God then declares us holy and we are baptized by the Spirit into Christ and become members of His Body.[1Corinthians 12:13]   This properly is followed by baptism in water. Baptism is an identification with Christ’s burial and resurrection.  We have been brought out of “Egypt” i.e. out of bondage to sin and death in the kingdom of darkness .

The Feast of Pentecost was a celebration of thanksgiving for the first harvest.  It was the anniversary of the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai which as we have seen was equipping Israel to fulfil their mission.  The ascended Lord fulfilled this Feast by pouring out The Holy Spirit on the 120 disciples gathered in the upper room.  That day the first harvest of 3,000 souls responded to the Gospel and were baptized.  Every believer can and ought to have a personal Pentecost. This is a baptism from within, where the Spirit of God in the spirit of the believer, flows out into the soul area [mind, will and emotions] and brings a heightened sense of the spiritual realm and spiritual truth with deeper revelation of the Bible. The believer is then a channel for the supernatural gifts of the Spirit as in 1 Corinthians 12.  Pentecost is the Lord of the Church equipping His Church to fulfil their Commission.

The Feast of Tabernacles in made up of three Feasts – Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles.

The first mention of Israel keeping this Feast was when Solomon, the son of David, consecrated the Temple.  This was the great climax of their journey to and possession of, the Promised Land.  Their Commission had been completed. The Feast of Tabernacles was the fulfilment of all that Passover promised.   This Feast is the End time Feast.  It has yet to be fulfilled in the Church.

We will look at the fulfilment of this Feast later. 

THE CHURCH BEGINS THE JOURNEY

As the twelve sons of Jacob [later called Israel] were the beginnings of the nation of Israel, so the twelve disciples of Jesus were to be the nucleus of the Church.  Judas the betrayer was replaced by  Matthias.  On the Day of Pentecost 120 waiting in an upper room were filled with the Spirit and 3,000 were added to the infant Church.  The Early Church was a vital evangelizing force which “turned the world upside down”  [Acts 17:6]

Surviving persecution and the early inroads of heresy, the Church became acceptable when the Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in 312AD. Many who had never had a true conversion joined the Church, swelling the numbers but reducing its spirituality, and though there have always been true followers of Jesus, the Church succumbed to apathy and error, and became increasingly institutional and ritualistic.  The Scriptures were lost to the common people and heathen practices and immorality was tolerated.  The Church went into the “Dark Ages” sometimes called the “Devil’s Millennium”

The Church, like the first generation of Israel from Egypt, failed to fulfil its Commission, but God hadn’t finished with Israel and raised up a generation under Joshua who crossed Jordan and possessed the Land. Likewise the Church is still God’s instrument of restoration in the Earth and even now God is raising up a Joshua generation who will complete the Great Commission.

When God began restoring the Church, He first raised up men like Huss and Tyndale to make His Word available to the people.  The Spirit and the Word began to bring to light again, truths that had been lost for centuries.

The first truth restored in the 1500’s mainly through Martin Luther, was Justification by faith – faith in Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  In the Wesleyan revival in the 1700’s the truth of Justification by faith was re-emphasized and the truth of Sanctification was restored.  The Baptist movement restored the need for personal commitment in baptism.  The truths of Passover [coming out of “Egypt”] were restored.

In the 1900’s in the Pentecostal and Charismatic renewals, God restored the truth of Pentecost.

For centuries God has guided the Church on its journey toward its destiny.  He brought us out of “Egypt” [the kingdom of darkness] by the shed blood of our Passover Lamb Jesus.  We were slaves of Pharaoh [Satan] but have been brought out from under his authority, sanctified, declared to be holy and set apart to God.  At Pentecost He equipped the Church to fulfil its Commission and He will bring us into the Land a conquering army.  What has been demonstrated in Israel will be manifested in the Church through the power of the Cross of Christ. 

God is restoring the Church according to the pattern in the Types. Ahead is the Feast of Tabernacles, but before we celebrate that, we have to come out of the wilderness in the power of the Spirit and cross Jordan.

NEXT:-  CROSSING JORDAN

GOD'S ROAD MAP OF RESTORATION

map used with permission, courtesy of Google Earth
A PHYSICAL MAP OF A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

The Journey to the Promised Land is a map showing how to recover our Inheritance which was lost in Adam but regained in Christ.  What is that inheritance?

“For the promise that he would be heir of the world was not to Abraham or his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”  Romans 4:13 [emphasis added]

“And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Galatians 3:29

In the nation of Israel, God set the pattern of Restoration.  Israel is the Demonstration Nation. 

God’s purposes are :-

Demonstrated in Israel

Fulfilled in Christ

Manifested through the Church.

The Feasts of Israel commemorated the great events of the Journey and the recovery of Israel’s inheritance promised to them through Abraham.

PASSOVER [Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits]  is about  coming out of Egypt

PENTECOST  Is about equipping the people of God to fulfil their Commission

TABERNACLES  [Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles] is about that Commission being accomplished

PASSOVER     The Nation comes out of Egypt in infancy

“When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” Hosea 11:1

Redeemed by the blood of a lamb   Exodus 12    Passover

Sanctified [declared to be holy]    Exodus 13       Unleavened Bread

Baptised “in the cloud and in the sea” [1 Corinthians 10:2]     Exodus 14   Firstfruits

Their Commission  Possess their inheritance and establish “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”

PENTECOST   The Nation equipped to fulfil their Commission

At Mt Sinai God came down in fire and gave the Law and the Tabernacle.   Exodus 19..........

After 40 years the nation came out of the wilderness, crossed Jordan and began to destroy the strongholds of the enemy.

TABERNACLES     The Nation completes their Commission

The great climax of Israel’s history was the dedication of the Temple by King Solomon, son of David.  The enemy had been subdued and the Land possessed.  The Kingdom had been established and the son of David sat on the throne.  The Glory of God filled the Temple.  The final harvest was in and the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated.  The Golden Age had begun. 

2 Chronicles 7

After this great time of peace and prosperity, the nation went into decline, and here the Type breaks down as all types do.  They are only “shadows” of the reality which is in Christ. But a pattern had been established which God Himself followed in the preparation of Jesus for ministry and in restoring the Church.

JESUS’ PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY

True to the type, Jesus was brought out of Egypt in infancy. 

“When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt.  And was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Hosea 11:1

Like all Jewish firstborn males, Jesus was sanctified [dedicated to the Lord as an infant] according to Exodus 13:2.  As He was about to begin His ministry, He was set apart in baptism  at the Jordan

Jesus was  equipped to fulfil His Commission  by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him. This was His Pentecost.

His Commission:-

“For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” [1John 3:8].

And ultimately:-

“To restore the earth.”  [Isaiah 49:8]

Restoration comes as the works of the devil are destroyed.

After forty days in the wilderness  overcoming the temptations of satan,  Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit and began to  destroy the works of the devil.  After ministering for three and a half years Jesus then went to the Cross to make a way for us to begin the Journey  into Restoration when the whole Earth will be filled with the Glory of the Lord according to God’s promise long ago.

“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord.”  Numbers 14:21

TABERNACLES   will be celebrated when Jesus sits on the throne of the Earth, then Jesus, Israel,  and the Church will celebrate the Feast together.

NEXT 
JESUS FULFILLS THE FEASTS AND
THE CHURCH BEGINS THE JOURNEY INTO RESTORATION

BRINGING THE WORLD BACK TO GOD

                                  
In this post there will be some statements that may be new and even radical to some of you.  You are most welcome to leave your comments or insights and even your objections.  

What are the dynamics at work in our world today that determine the direction and future of planet Earth?  As Christians it is vital that we have a Biblical worldview if we’re going to “hasten the coming of the day of God” and the “new [renewed] earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:12

In the last post “Whose World” [which I hope you will take the time to read] we saw that:-

* God gave Man in right relationship with Himself to have authority in the Earth to execute His will.  It was a perfect Creation and the Kingdom of God was on Earth as it is in Heaven.

* Man rejected God’s rule and gave allegiance to satan who is “the ruler of this world.” John 16:11

Jesus came to change all that! The Cross brought a whole new dynamic into play, the full extent of which we have yet to see. Jesus didn’t come just to take us to Heaven when we die, but ultimately to bring Heaven back to Earth. 

                I will preserve You and give You as a covenant

to the people to restore the Earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages  Isaiah 49:8

Jesus came to restore the Earth, to reclaim all that satan stole. At the Cross, Jesus paid the penalty for all sin for all time and thus stripped satan of his authority over us.

And you.....He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.  And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”   Colossians 2:13 - 15.

.  Having completed the work which the Father had given Him to do, Jesus commissioned the disciples saying:-

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.....” Matthew 28:18,19

All authority belongs to Jesus and, in His name, [as representing Him] the people of God have authority in the Earth to execute His will, as was God’s original intention. The authority we have is over the principalities and powers and all the works of darkness which hold the people of the Earth in spiritual blindness and bondage.

It is now almost 2,000 years since the Resurrection, and though millions have been redeemed and multitudes have been helped through the love of God in action through the Church, it has to be said that the powers of darkness are more active than ever.  Though, since the Cross, satan has no legal authority in the Earth, he continues to hold people in bondage through deceit and accusation.  Revelation 12:9,10  He retains dominion over the Earth by default.

The Commission which Jesus gave to us is a mandate to reclaim the Earth for God. It looks impossible, but “impossible” isn’t in God’s vocabulary.  Through the pattern nation Israel, He demonstrated how it could be done. 

* God rescued Israel from bondage in Egypt [the kingdom of darkness] by the blood of a lamb.

* He gave them an inheritance – the Promised Land, WHICH THEY HAD TO POSSESS

* He commissioned them to claim their inheritance and establish “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”  Exodus 19:6  This involved overcoming the giants who were resident in the Land and overthrowing their strongholds.

* He equipped them at Mt Sinai [afterwards celebrated as Pentecost] to fulfil their commission.

At the borders of the Promised Land, God made a vow. “As truly as I live, all the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord.”  Numbers 14:21 That was dependent upon the people of God possessing their inheritance.  After years of wilderness wanderings Israel finally crossed the Jordan to find that the hosts of Heaven were waiting to do battle with them.  Israel did possess their inheritance and eventually Solomon [Peace] son of David sat on the throne.  The Land experienced a Golden Era – a faint earthly demonstration of what Earth will be like when Jesus the greater Son of David sits on the throne of the Earth.

“Now all these things happened to them as examples [types] and they were written

 for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”  1 Corinthians 10:11. 

All of this was a demonstration for us “on whom the ages have come” to show us how to claim our inheritance.  When we do the Glory of the Lord will fill the Earth as was promised long ago.

What is our inheritance?

“For the promise that he would be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”  Romans 4:13

This is a "thumbnail sketch" of what I have written in “The Other Bible Code.” I hope you will get the book and study it through.  Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness was prolonged because:-

* They didn’t really understand what they were supposed

to do

* When they finally saw what God wanted them to do,

they didn't believe they could.

* They didn’t really know who they were.  God called

them "My Son, My firstborn” Ex. 4:22 but in their eyes

they were “grasshoppers”  Num.13:33

and good Christian Friends in the Journey the Church is on
THAT’S ABOUT WHERE WE’RE AT!

 

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fulness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.  Colossians 1:19,20 [emphasis added]

Please leave a comment, or question, or an insight.  These may determine what the next post will be about.    Val

WHOSE WORLD

                  

Whose world is it anyway? The powers of darkness appear to be gaining ascendancy every day as the antichrist spirit grows in the Earth. John wrote “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Is that the way it’s supposed to be?

Many Christians accept that it is.  As one song says “This world is not my home I’m just passing through.” Some are more than ready to abandon the world in the Rapture Rescue any time now. Jesus will sort things out when He comes back. Meanwhile the devil runs rampant through the Earth doing what he does so well.  “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.”

Some Christians are endeavouring to salt the Earth and wherever they do, some gains are made. In the Transformation series we saw what can happen when Christians pray persistently and make a stand.  But is this a battle we can win?

One of the things I believe is lacking in the Church [the Body of Christ] is a clear unified Biblical world view.  I stress Biblical world view.  One of the biggest lies which the “father of lies” has foisted on us is that the world somehow created itself and we are just the result of a cosmic accident.  Some people mange to put God in the picture as guiding the “evolutionary” process and still come to faith in Christ.  They are saved, but their ability to understand the will and purposes of God for the Earth is limited. Another strategy of the enemy is camouflage – having us believe that he just doesn’t exist; that the concept of the devil and spiritual forces of wickedness is all just myth and superstition.  

This of course muddies the waters considerably.  If we’re going to come up with answers, we need to get back to a true Biblical worldview.  If we don’t know that there was a Fall and what was lost there, then we won’t know what the Cross has restored. It is only as we come back to accepting the Bible in its entirety as the Word of God, that it begins to open up and bring revelation. More than ever we need to see the world as God sees it. 

So, Whose world is it?

* It’s God’s world because He created it. “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” [Genesis 1:1] He created a beautiful Earth where everything was in harmony.  It was an extension of Heaven and the Kingdom of God was “On Earth as it is in Heaven.” If we want to know what is God’s will for us , we have only to look back to how things were before the Fall, no sickness, poverty, war, or hate etc, It was Heaven on Earth. The Earth as we see it now is far from being what God intended.

* It’s Man's world because God gave him dominion over it.

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;

But the earth He has given to the children of men.”  Psalm 115;16

It was God’s intention that Man in right relationship with Himself  should administer the Earth.  The command was to fill the Earth, subdue it and have dominion over it. Genesis 1:28. 

God has not reversed His original intention.  Having given the Earth to Man, He continues to honour that.

“The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable”  Romans 11:29

This is a very important point and one which will explain a great many things. When tragedy strikes, the question arises “Why would God allow such a thing to happen?” God is blamed for everything that goes wrong because, after all “God He is sovereign” so whatever happens must be His will.  God is sovereign but in His sovereignty He has given the Earth to Man and will not intervene in the Earth without invitation. THIS EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER.

Jesus demonstrated this principle in Mark 6;48 when the disciples were in trouble on the sea and He “would have passed them by.” [see also Luke 24;28].  He waited for invitation. He stands at the door and knocks. [Revelation 3:20] He doesn’t break the door down.

God never forces His will on us. Always, when He wishes to do something in the Earth, He reveals His plan to people of faith and seeks their co-operation.  Then, working with them and through them, He accomplishes His will. God gives a word [a rhema], Man obeys, miracles happen. Read Hebrews 11 and check this out.

Many Christians think that there is little they can do about what happens in the Earth and adopt a “bystander” attitude, just waiting to see what God will do, when all the while God is waiting for us to open the way for His will to be done. He doesn’t just blast out of the sky and do things, He waits for our invitation and co-operation. God reveals His on-going will to us by bringing new light on the Word.

“ He that has an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit IS saying to the Churches.”  As the Church lays hold of and moves into that truth, so God’s will is accomplished.

So let’s restate this very important principle.  God’s original intention was for Man in right relationship with God should have dominion over the Earth and administer it for Him.  However that relationship was broken.

* It is satan’s world because Man transferred his allegiance to him. [he doesn’t get a capital “S” only at the beginning of a sentence]. Satan is now “the god of this age” [2 Corinthians 4:4], “the ruler of this world” [John 16:11], “the prince of the power of the air” [Ephesians 2;2], and “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”[1 John 5:19]

Over every nation there are principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness,”[Ephesians 6:12] dedicated to preserving satan’s grip on the Earth.  We see this in Daniel 10.  The messenger sent in answer to Daniel’s prayer [v13] was delayed because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia.” [the demonic power over Persia] prevented him and the Archangel Michael had to come and help him.” As Daniel continued to pray the answer came.

The throne of God is depicted as being in the 3^rd Heaven [2 Corinthians 12:2].  Between the Earth and the 3rd Heaven lies the domain of “the prince of the power of the air.” [Ephesians 2:2]Satan keeps the world in spiritual blindness while the powers of darkness ravage the Earth.  Jesus came to change all that.

NEXT:    BRINGING THE WORLD BACK TO GOD

HASTENING THE DAY

Hi there and thanks for joining me.  The theme of this BlogSpot will be the Coming of the King.  Most of us are aware that things are “hotting up” as we see prophecy continuing to be fulfilled before our very eyes. Right now we see people declaring that the world is going to end today, a man claiming that he is Jesus Christ and Benjamin Netanyahu in America battling to preserve Israel from being divided, not to mention the series of devastating earthquakes, all of which Christians know are signs of the end of the age.  I would like to share with you some of the things the Lord has shown me concerning the times in which we are living for, while no man knows the hour or the day, we should certainly to be able to “discern the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:3

I am one who doesn’t believe that the “Rapture” will happen any minute now.  There are few things that have to happen yet: e.g. The Church will rise “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”[Ephesians 4:13]; “Elijah” must come first and restore all things;” [Matthew 17:11] and, most importantly, we have to complete the Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20]. We are to look for and hasten the coming of the day of God. [2Peter 3:12].

I’m all for hastening the day and the coming of the renewed earth “in which righteousness dwells;" when God shall wipe away all tears and there shall be no more crying pain sorrow or death.[Revelation 21:4] When I look at our sad world and the terrible things that are happening, the pain and the suffering, the hate and man’s inhumanity to man, I long for that time and I know you do too..  So how do we hasten the day? We need to first establish some precepts which will help us to see the way ahead. Stay posted.  Blessings   Val

NEXT;  WHOSE WORLD?