The Fall Feasts are right around the corner, and given that I believe this feast season is extremely significant, I thought I would start blogging about their relevance.   So what’s the big deal about these Feasts?

God commanded the children of Israel to honor the Lord seven times a year through His “Feast Calendar”(Lev. 23). As a matter of fact, the Lord Himself referred to  these Feasts days as  “Convocations;” which when translated, means “dress rehearsals.” He called them “Holy” and gave specific instruction for each dress rehearsal.

The word “feast” in Hebrew is “moed,” which means “divine appointment.”

The importance of these “Feasts” dates that God established has NOT ceased, changed or become irrelevant, even though we now live in the Age of the New Covenant.  On the contrary, as believers, the invitation is actually more relevant to us now since we can see through the lens of the Old AND New Testament of how Jesus fulfills the blueprint. Honoring the Feasts aren’t a requirement for our salvation of course, but they do serve a kingdom purpose of a SIGN to the world of Christ as Savior and King.  In the years ahead, they will also be used as a measuring stick as to what nations are aligned with Christ in the Millennium:

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. ¹⁸ If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This shall be the ^[a]punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16-19).

The purpose of any dress rehearsal is to put into practice a production/show in its entirety before the “live performance.”  The children of Israel (representing those IN COVENANT WITH GOD) were chosen to be a part of the cast of what I am going to coin, the Lord’s “Redemption Production.”  In this production, the manuscript was written by the “finger of God,” and given to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai (Lev. 23).  Their role was to follow each Feast as instructed so that WHEN Christ came many years later, there was no doubt of who the Lord was.

We can read about the whole blueprint of the Spring Feasts going “LIVE” in the Gospels when Christ became the Passover lamb, died, rose from the dead, and sent the Holy Spirit as a promise of His return.  As the Spring Feasts come around each year now, believers can celebrate the memory of that “live performance,” and thank God for sending Christ to fulfill the script.

Today, believers have been given the privilege of participating in the cast of the second act of the “Redemption Production;”  preparing for the time when Christ will return as King.

The final three Feasts that we are waiting for the Lord to fulfill are celebrated in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, Tishri, and are known as the “Fall Feasts.” Given that ALL Christians have great hope and expectation of Christ’s return, it serves us well to study the manuscript so we understand our role and participate in the “dress rehearsal” so that our hearts are ready!

The Fall Feasts consist of the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Feast of Trumpets this year will begin at sundown on September 9th and marks the beginning of the celebration of these Fall Feasts.  Ten days later on September 18th, is the Day of Atonement, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles five days later on the 23rd.  The Feast of Tabernacles is an 8 day celebration, in which the last day is a corporate celebration on the 30th.  September will be a month of celebration.

Next blog:  Feast of Trumpets!

 

This month, on Firstfruits (New Moon), we will have another partial solar eclipse, followed by one of the most intense annual meteor showers, known as “The Perseids.”   This metro shower will produce up to 60 shooting stars an hour at their peak.

During the Perseids’ peak this month, spectators should see about 60-70 meteors per hour. The meteor shower’s peak will be visible both the nights of Aug. 11th and 12th.

We have had plenty of signs in the sky these past few years. Since the Hebrew calendar is established according to the moon, the moon in particular will give us God’s signs of fulfilling His Covenant Promises.

“He appointed the moon for seasons” (Psalm 104:19).

Recall the “blood” moons that occurred two years in a row falling on Feast Days in 2014, 2015.  Then we had the epic 2017 Total Solar Eclipse when the sun, moon and earth line up with each other on the NEW MOON.  In January of 2018, we had a “Super Blue Moon.” Last month, we had another blood moon with Mars shining brightly.  The sky is speaking!

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Acts.2:20).

This Hebrew Calendar month is linked to the characteristics of the tribe of GAD, whose name means “troop.”  In this season we are in right now, God is all about the preparation of His “troop”(remnant) to reign with Him in the Millennium.   The Hebrew month, ELUL, is associated with understanding the Father’s heart and joining in purpose and unity with those who are seeking the Father’s heart.

In a posture of humility, God’s heart is revealed.  As we recognize the signs God is giving us through the sun, moon, and stars, let’s all be prayerful to seek God’s heart.

 

If anyone hasn’t recognized the “blood moons” these past couple years, well, God in His mercy just gave us another “blood moon” SIGN so that our hearts are prepared for what is up ahead.

The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century happened Friday July 27th, 2018.  As the moon lined up with the earth and sun, the rising full moon darkened and changed from silver to blood red.  It was another “blood moon,” but this one was accompanied by Mars lined up in it’s path to shine brightly for us to see.

With so many of these signs occurring these past few years, ignoring their significance would be a bit silly at this point.  So what is God saying?

Genesis 1:14 says, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for SIGNS and SEASONS, and for days and years.”

Since the Hebrew calendar is based on the moon, whenever there is a significant moon event, we can safely say that it is usually a sign that is tied to the revealing or manifestation of God’s Covenant promises.  We are clearly getting many signals to be prepared for the Millennium, and it would serve us all well to stand at attention during these Fall Feasts up ahead in September.

The planet Mars (seen clearly because of this lunar eclipse), has been known in ancient past to be associated with war.  This could be mythology at it’s best, but there is something very coincidental happening that lines up with events ahead.  God is preparing an army, right?

“And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army (Rev. 19:19).

God’s army is His remnant whom He has been training for what is up ahead.  Remember, this year in the Hebrew calendar is about God revealing or releasing His remnant from the hidden places to positions of authority and influence.  But positioning and “having done all; STAND” (Eph. 6:10) will not come without a fight.

God will release His “firstfruits” corporate remnant at His SET TIME to step into their collective authority and purpose and assist King Jesus in establishing righteousness in the earth. God’s promise of protection, redemption, and glory will arise when “war” breaks out and the nations “roar.” (Psalm 2).

War isn’t defined as just killing, destroying  or dividing people and nations.  It can also be described as fighting against the natural elements we are presented with.   In the Bible, Joseph is a great example of one God used to raise up to war against the famine that was threatening to take lives and livelihood.  God positioned Joseph to become governor so that His people would prosper through his wisdom, leadership, and grace during the years of  famine.

Joseph managed to survive and thrive through great hardships throughout his life.  Through the years of bondage,  Joseph was in training to reign; gaining a great relationship with the Lord through the things he suffered.  Then Joseph was able to give what he gained and help the nation survive and thrive.

In Genesis 37:7-9, God gave Joseph a dream:

“There we were, binding sheaves in the field.  Then behold, my sheaf rose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.  And his brothers said to him, ‘Shall you indeed have dominion over us?  So they HATED HIM even more for his dreams and for his words.  

Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream.  And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

This dream revealed to Joseph the destiny God had ordained as being one God chose to bear the birthright responsibility of the Abrahamic Covenant.  This required Joseph to serve the Lord through obedience and humility.   Joseph was chosen to reign so that God could use Him to protect and bless His people (Gen. 48:48: 1 Chron. 5:2).

“yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph’s.” 

This role in God’s plan came with  great responsibility that required an even greater sanctification process of removing ALL things that would hinder Joseph’s ability to carry out the higher call.  (Have we been tested lately and chosen to go through this process?)

Yet as hard as it was for Joseph, the greatest transformation needed during this sanctification process was to prepare his heart to love his enemies (which in his case was his own brothers who tried to kill him because of their jealously.)  

When the time came to save his family from the famine in Egypt, Joseph was able to put aside the things he suffered because of their actions and extend to them a helping hand:  

“But now, do not therefore be grieved or any with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.  And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Gen. 45:5-7).

God had a method to promote Joseph to this position of authority.  It wouldn’t be the one we would pick in our world.  In our world, we would start off and work our way up the ladder with honor, money, and position and see our progression steadily grow.  But Joseph’s process seemed to go backward by world standards.  He went from being his dad’s “favorite,” picked to take over the family business, to being made a slave and then thrown in prison.  Hmm…didn’t appear to many that Joseph was the “chosen” one.

Through time and testing, God gave Joseph the opportunity to present his gift to interpret dreams to the one in charge: Pharaoh.  And he humbly, yet with great faith, stepped into that opportunity that the Lord presented SUDDENLY, at GOD’S SET TIME, by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream.

Pharaoh’s dream really ended up revealing the national blueprint of events that would transpire up ahead.  But it also revealed the blueprint of how God was going to make a way to overcome the adversity when this “war” broke out because God ALWAYS makes a way for His people.

If you recall Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh saw 7 healthy cows and seven gaunt cows (Gen. 41).  The gaunt cows ate the 7 fat and healthy cows.  Then 7 heads of grain full and good came up, and 7 withered heads sprang up after them and devoured the good heads.  Joseph interpreted this dream:  That the two dreams were a double witness to what would transpire up ahead.  The land would have 7 good years, and then be followed by 7 years of famine.  After Joseph gave this interpretation, he was asked to execute and govern a plan to prepare for the battle of famine ahead.

At the beginning of 2012, God gave me a similar vision to prepare God’s remnant.  He  reminded me of the dream God gave Pharaoh and told me that our nation would have 7 good years, followed by 7 difficult years.  I saw in particular this would be triggered by an economic shift that would affect the peace of our nation and the nations around the world.  But God also shows us in Matthew 24:7 that this shift is accompanied with the natural elements that will shake the earth (wind, fire, rain, earthquakes, famine to name a few).

We are now in process for the great shift, so we must be ready.  God is preparing His army to get into positions to govern and execute His plan so that when the shift occurs, we step into our roles.

Each of us have a significant part to play in God’s plan.  We may think our life has little significance to the world standards, or to even our own standards when we tend to fall into the trap of comparing our live with others; even Christians.  BUT, God had a grand plan for Joseph, and He has a grand plan for us too!  It doesn’t matter what prison we have been in, who has come against us, what accusations we have been accused of, or even if we find ourselves strangely stuck cleaning toilets for a living.  God never gave up on His plan to use Joseph significantly.  And God has not given up on us too!  Joseph was a light in a dark time.  We will be too!  Our job is to stand on His faithfulness, keep our eyes SET upon Him alone, and to prepare our hearts for the SUDDENLY!

“SUDDENLY there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed” (Acts 16:26).

Today, I learned that the horse JUSTIFY, who just won the Triple Crown,  is taking a lap around the Del Mar Racetrack in California before the races begin.  This is happening the day after this SIGN in the sky, while the California fires are burning, so we should ask again; What God is saying?  It will be a bitter sweet moment for JUSTIFY:  an honor lap in remembrance of the recent Triple Crown victory, but also a final lap because the Triple Crown winner is retiring due to his ankle injury that isn’t healing.  Afterwards, SWITCHFOOT is playing.

I have written in previous blogs of God’s vision to me years ago about the Kentucky Derby, and seeing it realized through JUSTIFY.  The Lord revealed through these races another SIGN that it is His time for His remnant to arise and run their race.  This race was fought through the war of the elements (rain and terrain).

JUSTIFY retires, which produces a period at the end of her victory story.  Now, the feet running the race up ahead are switched to the remnant.  The FIRE of the Holy Spirit will ignite this race.  Watch and see!

YOU who are reading this have been enlisted in His great army to fight for our King’s cause.  You have been through a great sanctification process. This lunar eclipse is yet another SIGN to remember there is a reward to those who wait upon the Lord.   But we must prepare our hearts for the sound of the trumpet, so when the Commander in Chief summons, we are READY!

  “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work” (Rev. 22:12).

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at the state of the Church today, we probably think it is impossible for God to draw the body of Christ together into ONE if we didn’t know it was God’s plan.  As we study what the Bible refers to as the “mysteries of Christ,” we will begin to get a glimpse of how He is going to do it.

The “mysteries of Christ” that the Bible speaks of can be simply explained when we have the full revelation that Christ is in ALL things.  This may sound so easy, but it requires the Lord taking off our blinders to really SEE it.

We know that Jesus was there “in the beginning” (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-4), and it is written He is in the end, which really isn’t an end because it is the beginning again when God makes all things new:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Rev. 21:1).

The Bible also says that Jesus is the First and Last, the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13).  Jesus is in ALL of creation. Paul had the revelation of this mystery, so it was his desire others would get the revelation as well:

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages, has been hidden in God who created all things through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:8,9).

It is interesting that so many Christians never think of Jesus being a part of the Old Testament, but He was there, because He was IN all things:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:15,16). 

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist”( Col. 1:17).

Therefore, if Jesus is in all things, then we cannot throw away the Old Testament, like many Christians do, and say it’s irrevelant today because Jesus was in it and set the pattern that He Himself would perfect as the Son of man.

“which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:17).

Everything about our Hebrew heritage in the Bible is a cyclical pattern, which lends itself to the whole concept of  eternal life because a circle has no beginning nor end.  Our world thinking conditions us to think differently, as we drive towards a one-way destination trying to create something new that we hope is valued.  Perhaps this mindset keeps the “mysteries of Christ” still mysteries.

This worldly thinking is not unfamiliar to the Bible as we read in Gen. 11 when the people decided to build the Tower of Babel.

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen.11:4).

We know the outcome of that one.  It led to destruction and the dividing of people to the ends of the earth, who eventually, started all over again building “their towers.”

Thankfully, God has a better pattern; a blueprint that repeats itself each day, week, month, year, and AGE that produces life and multiplicity.  This blueprint NEVER loses it’s value!  We can look at the beginning of the Bible and see the same pattern repeated in a different Age, but with greater levels of redemption and glory, until ALL is restored through Christ.

Since Christ remains the same, we can count on the established pattern.

This pattern doesn’t have a hierarchy that qualifies our worth, for ALL are worthy.  It also frees us to rest in the knowledge that we can’t miss God; for with each cycle, we are given opportunities to draw closer to the knowledge of the Lord and His plan for us.  This pattern produces hope and mirrors God’s love for the world (John 3:16).

Recognizing the cyclical pattern helps solve the mystery of Christ, so that we see that the bible isn’t divided into two parts, Old and New, but is ONE story repeating its pattern now perfected through Christ.

Having a Hebrew mindset produces in us a reverence to honor and adopt the Old and New and discover the same blueprint in both that God created.  We can line up with it and multiply it’s purpose.

We are fortunate enough to be on this side of the cross so we can actually read about the fulfillment of the pattern with His glory:

……”the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but now has been revealed to His saints” (1 Col. 1:15-18,26).

Ever since the time Jesus came as the Son of man, died on the cross and rose, man can SEE and experience the WORD through Christ. AND, through his example, we can understand the mind and heart of God’s law which is LOVE, not punishment.  We can also now see the purpose of the blueprint of the Feasts, which was to lay out the story of how God would redeem all things through Christ.

Jesus paid the price to be the substance of God’s love FIRST.  Those who have been saved have been chosen to multiply His light and love and become His HOLY NATION.  This description is used because a nation is made of many people in one land that function together through the unifying governing laws of the land.  When we choose to follow God’s blueprint, we submit ourselves to His kingship and become HIS HOLY NATION.

So before the New Testament, God’s people had NO concept of how Jesus would come in the flesh and perfect the Covenant promise except for the prophetic proclamations that had been made.  Even when Jesus began fulfilling these prophesies, many of God’s  people couldn’t see or understand.   However, when Christ fulfilled the “blueprint” and the “pattern” of what God instructed them in the Law, then Christ truly was a witness to Himself as being Lord.

Jesus Himself told us that the WORD, the pattern that had been established, must be fulfilled.

“Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me’” (Luke 24:44).

TIME AND LAW have been the two keys the enemy has strategized to change so he can remove the “sons of God” from God’s pattern.  Grace and mercy have covered the Church at large over the years while we have built denominations that have created their own LAWS and celebrations outside of God’s appointed TIMES.  But that grace is waning as Christ is shifting us to follow His appointed times and His way of being jointly fit together so we can emerge as His HOLY NATION.

God is removing the veil (mystery) of God’s blueprint to the Church at large so they can look and become the “HOLY NATION.”  As we sync into God’s timing, function, and purpose, it will open up a gate to unify corporately.  THEN the mystery of how this broken “body of Christ,” which today is so fragmented, will suddenly function together with other “body parts.” And the greatest miracle and mystery will be revealed as we then all knit together with the Head (Christ) and become the “HOLY NATION” that becomes known as His Bride.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a HOLY NATION, HIs own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”(1 Peter, 2:9).

 

 

Now that we have finished celebrating the four Spring Feasts, you might be wondering what is the next SET TIME in the Hebrew Calendar?  We have honored Christ these past few months in what He has already done in fulfilling the purpose of the Spring Feasts.  But up ahead, it’s all about what Christ is going to accomplish when He returns as our King.

The Fall Feasts are a blueprint of God’s SET TIMES when Jesus will establish His Dominion (Kingdom) here on the earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:6-9).  This redemption plan will be executed through Christ and His remnant through the Millennium reign (Rev.5:9,10).  The nations accepting or rejecting the Kingship of Christ in the earth during the Millennium are differentiated in the Bible between the “sheep and the goats.”

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left”(Matt. 25:31-33).

The fulfillment of the Fall Feasts is a fulfillment of God’s plan and covenant promise that is corporate in nature.  God even uses the “Feasts of Tabernacles” as a SIGN to distinguish those nations in the Millennium that are with him and those who aren’t:

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.  If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16-19).

Egypt in the Bible is symbolic of the world, or “anti-Christ” government and idolatry that opposes the Lord and His ways (Heb. 11:26).   When the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to Mt. Sinai, God offered the nation a “proposal of marriage” that they accepted (Ex. 19).  By honoring God’s Covenant, they were supposed to be SIGN to the other nations of the one true God, and to show them His ways.

“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths (weekly and yearly Feasts “holy days”) you shall keep, for it is a SIGN between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Ex. 31:13).

Honoring the FEASTS was a SIGN, but it also was a blueprint to unify the nation three times a year. 

“For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year” (Ex. 34:24).

Unfortunately, the Israelites failed to keep their promise to God, and it didn’t take much time until they did not reflect God’s sign at all.  It would take God Himself to keep His promise to the nation regardless of their shortcomings.  And so….Christ came… fulfilled the Spring Feasts, redeemed the Covenant, and made way for the SEAL/SIGN once again.

Christ will comes again….fullfill the Fall Feasts, judge the nations with His remnant at His side, establish righteousness in the earth, and then the nations who are with Him will be HIS CORPORATE SEAL/SIGN.

Now you are probably asking, “Well, that is great to know for what is up ahead, but what about now?  And the answer comes with the understanding this “pregnant” period” between the Spring and Fall Feasts. These next three summertime months where there are no Feasts indicates the time it will take between the fulfillment of the Spring and Fall Feasts.

In order to understand the purpose of this “pregnant period,” let’s go back to history to the last Spring Feast Jesus fulfilled to gain some perspective.

Once the Holy Spirit (the SEAL/SIGN) filled the disciples with God’s power in the Upper Room at Pentecost, the disciples dispersed and multiplied the message of Christ our Savior to the nations.  The gospel has spread to the ends of the earth, and those who have faith that Jesus is Lord have been “justified in Christ.”

In the process of multiplying believers, God has determined the exact number of “body parts” He will use in forming the “body of Christ.”  

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12).

This process has taken so far about 2,000 years, and we are approaching it’s completion, marked by many earthly signs. One of the signs that will indicate the completion of this “pregnant period” will be the exposure and demise of the “Mystery of Babylon.”

“After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.  And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every found spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!  For all the nations have drunk of her wine of wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have omitted fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich though the abundance of her luxury” (Rev. 18:1-3).

Another sign will be when the nations come against Jerusalem.

“For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech. 14:2).

A significant last sign will be the sound of the “trumpet,” which will announce the completion of this “pregnant period,” as well as welcome the coming King.

“And He will send HIs angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:31).

God said he would also give us signs through the sun, moon, and stars to indicate the end of this period (Gen. 1:14; Matt. 24:29).

“Immediately, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matt. 24:29).

We have had plenty of signs in the sky these past few years.  Since the Hebrew calendar is established according to the moon, the moon in particular will give us God’s signs of fulfilling His Covenant Promises.

“He appointed the moon for seasons” (Psalm 104:19).

Recall the “blood” moons that occurred two years in a row falling on Feast Days in 2014, 2015.  Then we had the epic 2017 Total Solar Eclipse when the sun, moon and earth line up with each other on the NEW MOON.  In January of 2018, we had a “Super Blue Moon.” And this August, on Firstfruits (New Moon), we will have another partial solar eclipse, followed by one of the most intense annual meteor showers, known as “The Perseids.”   This metro shower will produce up to 60 shooting stars an hour at their peak.

This “pregnant period” between the Spring and Fall Feasts is the time God allotted for the “birthing of body parts” to find their identity, purpose, submission, and connection to the “HEAD.”  

During the “pregnant period,” we cannot SEE the bigger picture of how God will take these body parts and form them into ONE, just as we cannot SEE a mother’s baby in her womb.  The corporate birth will happen when the Lord returns.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Cor.12:27).

The Bible states that Jesus is the HEAD and we who have been saved by grace are HIS BODY.  But if you look around today, we have many so called “bodies of Christ” which are distinguished by denominations and doctrines, so we have obviously not connected together into ONE.  For many of us who have been to so many different denominations and have seen good and bad, this is somewhat of a relief.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God”(Rom. 7:4).

The process the body of Christ is in right now is the Lord’s  “sanctification process.” Each “body part” of Christ is wrestling to conform to the image of Christ so it can follow the HEAD; CHRIST!  Our spirit is holy and “turned on” as believers, but our soul (mind, will and emotions) must go through a process of transformation to become like our “Father in heaven.” Jesus did only what the Father said and did.  We too must become like Christ.  This transformation comes with a wrestling with our old nature that gravitates toward sin and the desires of the flesh that crave control.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the “firstfruits” offering of Pentecost is the ONLY offering that allowed leaven (Lev. 23:17).  This was forbidden in all other offerings, as it represented sin.  But it was a blueprint that foreshadowed us as believers in this “pregnant period!”

God accepts us as righteous before Him through Christ, even though we are still wrestling with our sinful natures that still need crucifying.  It’s not until Jesus returns that we can abide fully in His nature in our new glorified bodies.   And so the Pentecost “firstfruits” offering shows us that we are acceptable to the Lord in this present state we are in because of His righteousness imputed upon us UNTIL Christ returns (Rom. 4:23,24).

Sanctification is the ONLY process that requires our partnership with the Lord.  Being justified in Christ comes free through His grace and what Christ already did.  Getting glorified bodies is also promised regardless of our obedience (1 Cor. 15:54).  But the sanctification process requires our willingness to humble ourselves and allow God to make us disciples, which is a complete surrender that will produce rewards.  The greatest of these rewards will be to reign with Christ in the Millennium.

“That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor”(1 Thes. 4:4).

The summer months between the Spring and Fall Feasts are there to build our character, our faith, and our trust in the Lord.  The summer months reveal what is inside of us all in our sinful nature that needs to be sanctified.  The summer months are full of tests given to see if we are ready for the outflow of God’s blessing and promises.  Through the tests and trials of the sanctification process, the reward of increased “REST” in knowing who God is grows in our hearts.  This prepares our hearts for the fulfillment of the Fall Feasts up ahead.

In the book of Revelation, the writer John uses a bride and a wedding celebration to describe what it will be like to finally be “ONE” body/nation with the Lord at the fulfillment of the “Feast of Tabernacles,”

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.  And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-9).

Christians today all have in them individually the hope of eternal life with the Lord.  We all are awaiting for our bodies to become gloried and somehow all become ONE with the LORD.  But we cannot attain that complete transformation until Jesus returns to fulfill the Fall Feasts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the 150th Belmont Stakes horse race, Justify became the 13th Triple Crown winner! If you have been following these three races and have read my blogs about them, you are someone God is encouraging right now as His remnant.  Hold on…..the triple crown of His glory is coming for those who have endured, been hidden, and have been trained to run His race and overcome!  DONT GIVE UP HOPE!

I am reminded through this story that everything significant in our destiny is in God’s timing.  And these races have been a sign that God is about to open up the gate for His remnant because it’s His timing.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”(Ecc. 3:1)

The jockey who rode Justify, Mike Smith, even commented of the perfect timing of this achievement to happen:

“I felt great, and that probably wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago or 20 years ago,” Smith said. “I’d have been probably running through a wall or something.”

The remnant today has had to endure warfare, and has probably heard from the enemy that they have missed God somehow or they are too old to fulfill their vision or dream.  But God even shows us through Mike Smith that a high school drop out can become a millionaire, and have a pinnacle achievement late in life.

“This horse ran a tremendous race,” said Smith, who at 52 is the oldest jockey to complete the rare sweep of America’s three most famous races. “He’s so gifted. He’s sent from heaven. He’s just amazing. I can’t describe the emotions going through my body right now.”

Finally, Mike Smith didn’t forget to do the greatest thing He had trained for: to acknowledge and honor the Lord for the victory and to praise Him for these achievements.

“I just want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for blessing us on this afternoon, and blessing us with this amazing horse.”

Ready for the Lord to open the gates? 

On May 14th, the 144th Kentucky Derby was won by the young horse, “JUSTIFY.”  The number 7 stallion passed up “Promised Fulfilled” and crossed the finish line, conquering the 3 inches of rain without a trace of mud on her face.  

I wrote in a blog a couple weeks ago about the vision God had given me several years ago that was a scene from the Kentucky Derby.  After watching this year’s Kentucky Derby, I knew I was seeing the vision take place through a horse named “JUSTIFY.”  I seriously flipped, and I was eager to find out when the second race was. What? The weekend of Pentecost!   And then it happened again:

“Good Magic stayed nose to nose with him for much of the muddy and foggy Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, but Justify broke free down the home stretch once again to walk away with his second major victory in two weeks. The horse now takes a monumental step forward in his hunt for an American Triple Crown.”

“JUSTIFY” has a chance now to be the 12th horse to join the elite triple crown winners after winning the Preakness Stakes last Saturday.  Ahh!, I can hardly wait for race three; the 150th Belmont Stakes on June 9th.  

It may seem strange to be pointing out all these details and relating them to signs from the Lord, but when God gives anyone a vision that unfolds in front of their eyes, they cannot discount the details.  

In this year’s Kentucky Derby, the horse “Promise Fulfilled” lead most of the race until “JUSTIFY” sped by, confirming that we are about to see God’s promise fulfilled for the remnant who are “Justified in Christ.”

I need to point out a key piece of information I wrote about in the last blog about it being the 144th Kentucky Derby.  144 is the number that symbolizes the remnant in the book of Revelation.  So this whole story unfolding through the horse  “JUSTIFY” is about God’s remnant overcoming the oppressive strongholds that are wrapped up in the world systems that have taken dominion in the earth.

The second race, The Preakness Stakes, had “Good Magic” neck in neck with “Justify.”    I believe “Good Magic” symbolized the Holy Spirit, the “invisible” power of the Lord, sent to accomplish His plan through an election of champions; God’s remnant.  The Holy Spirit is our “comforter, coming alongside of us as we run the race.  He is our “strength” to endure the race.  And He is our “victory” to overcome the odds to finish the race set before us.  Once again, this race was in the rain….another symbol of cleansing and the power of the Holy Spirit.

For all of us today who have been “waiting” and believing its our time to move forward, but circumstances still prevent us from being free to do so, this race was a picture of the “in-between period” that is so difficult.  “Justify” didn’t win this race easily, but she didn’t give up.  So much training, perseverance, and trust is needed to remain steadfast, even when the pressure is on.  But isn’t it great knowing that WE WIN!

Another significant sign of this second race was that it was foggy.  If you talk to anyone who has been chosen by God to run this race we are in, EVERYONE seems to be in a fog as to what the hec God is doing right now with the body of Christ.  We can all surmise it is something new.  We can all sense that Christ is returning soon.  We can all agree the old is passing away before our eyes.  BUT ALL are in a fog as to what it is to look like NOW.  And so we pray, rest, and wait until the KING’S race begins.

So what makes “JUSTIFY” special?  There hasn’t been a 2-year-old un-raced horse that has won the Kentucky Derby since a horse named “Apollo” in 1882. Many headlines have written that “JUSTIFY” broke the 136-year “curse of Apollo.”  Apollo means “destroyer,” and I believe it is symbolic of what the Lord is in the process of doing to set His remnant free by breaking the curse of the destroyer who has kept God’s people hidden and oppressed.

In 2015, when “American Pharaoh” won the last triple crown, America was in a tumultuous place, and the name actually represented her character.  There were racial riots, cop riots, terrorism, severe weather patterns, and a Supreme Court that was about to become a majority who would vote against God’s righteous laws.  The nation was reaping from her idolatrous decisions and her position of worldly influence was waning.

The President at the time was Obama, whom God put into office.  Every elected official in America is God’s choosing. It’s hard to come to terms with that sometimes when we see ANY leader we feel is ungodly, corrupt, or self-serving.  But the bible is clear that God raises up leaders and takes them down (Rom. 13:1-10).

 During the 8 years Obama was in office, America had already been heading down a wrong path, but it seemed to escalate dramatically during his years in office. America’s Constitution was challenged, her Christian foundations were being attacked, and the people were divided and angry.  This caused a movement of prayer all across America amongst Christians, to plead to God for intervention, and to have MERCY on a nation that kept making choices that were contrary to God’s Word.

“American Pharaoh” winning that year summed up what our country had become.  We had become like Egypt in the days when the children of Israel were enslaved to Pharaoh.  The difference today was that America had many “Pharaoh’s” in governing positions that infected and affected the nation.  Only by the MERCY of God, and the blood of Jesus, could God keep His promise to His people and halt the destruction planned for America.

Let’s compare the history of the story of Pharaoh, who was oppressing the Israelites, to what we have experienced in America:

There came a time during their slavery under Pharaoh’s rule, when the prayers of the Hebrews came before the Lord after years of persecution, oppression,  and bondage.

“So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham,with Isaac, and with Jacob.  And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” (Ex. 2:23,24).

The Lord shared with Moses His execution plan to deliver the Israelites by anointing him and Aaron to go before Pharaoh and declare, “Let My People GO!”  God told Moses that he would give him a SIGN that God indeed sent Moses to the people:

“So He said, “I will certainly be with you.  And this shall be a SIGN to you that I have sent you.  When n you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (Ex. 3:12).

God was about to fulfill the prophetic word He had spoken to Abraham 430 years before when He made a covenant with him (Gen. 15:13-16).  And in order to do so, He would harden Pharaoh’s heart:

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.  But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments”(Ex. 7:3,4).

We all know the story of the ten plagues that followed because Pharaoh would not heed God’s command.  As the plagues were being released by the Lord, the people had doubts if God was going to come through.  Some even attacked the messenger, Moses, because through the whole process of deliverance, THE CIRCUMSTANCES GOT HARDER ON THOSE WHO WERE BELIEVING FOR THE MIRACLE.

But SUDDENLY, all of the Israelites were free to leave Egypt, and go Feast (celebrate) with the Lord:

“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness (Ex.5:1).

God is using “JUSTIFY” to show us that the prayers of the saints “have been heard from heaven.”  The bowls are full, and being tipped over to answer the pleas.  And the process actually started with our last election.  Who would have thought that God would “TRUMP” the enemy with a businessman named Trump.  But who would have thought that a carpenter would save the world in Jesus’ day?

Against all odds, leaving everyone stunned, including the political experts, God put Trump into the most powerful position in the world.  And now, President Trump is being used to shake America free from the entanglements that have kept her from her true identity, exposing the iniquity, and adjusting her course.  It may appear like chaos and not how you and I would have designed to move God’s plan forward, but thank God He is in control.

America has been governed by many in high places, who like Pharaoh, became a god to themselves, and allowed money, power, and fame to control their agendas.  They fell prey to the working of “The Harlot,” in whom God describes in imagery a woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, who sits on the seven mountains of influence:

” And on her forehead a name was written:  MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5)

It is interesting how the Lord describes the “Mystery of Babylon” as a “mystery.”  It is only a mystery because we haven’t been able to see with our own eyes the iniquitous workings of the “harlot’s” tentacles behind the scenes of government, banking, and business. They have been hidden for years.

But God tells us in Revelation that the “Mystery of Babylon” will fall:

“And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich though the abundance of her luxury” (Rev. 18:2,3).

God also warns His people before it happens:

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.  For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities”(Rev. 18:4,5).

God’s word says that His ways are higher than our ways, and that He raises up leaders, even evil ones, who’s hearts are hardened toward God, to fulfill His Covenant purposes.  That is a mystery in itself when you stand by and watch corruption happening and wonder “Why is God allowing this to happen?”  But God ALWAYS is just, and ALWAYS follows the blueprint of HIS LAW AND TIMING, although admittedly it doesn’t seem to be quick enough for our flesh most of the time.

These horse races are a wake up call for those who have waited patiently.  They are an encouragement for those who have been faithful. God is not done with America, nor has He forgotten about His remnant.  As a matter of fact, God is about to reveal His identity and purpose for blessing the land of America, and a remnant who are have been waiting to see how God will cause the “American Pharaohs” to “Let MY PEOPLE GO!” Those who are “JUSTIFIED IN CHRIST will be crowned!

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev 14:12).

 

 

 

 

God has a royal wedding He has been preparing and planning for His Bride, and its invitation went out as soon as the disciples were baptized with “the Promise” on the Day of Pentecost.  How ironic that on this very same day that we begin to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the world watched Prince Harry and Meghan Markle say their own wedding vows.

The beauty and majesty of this Royal Wedding that took place serves as a reminder of the royal wedding to come, and why the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost was significant in God’s plan in the forming of His Bride.

In Part 1 of the Feast of Pentecost blog, I focused primarily on the similarities between the Old and New Pentecost Blueprint. Let’s now explore some of their differences.

The first difference is easy to identify.  In the Old Covenant, the execution of God’s Covenant, and the revealing of Himself by fire had an inherent problem that kept Him separated from His “Bride;” SIN.  Therefore, the people could SEE and HEAR God, but they could not get near God.

God needed a solution to cleanse and remove the sin that separated Himself from His bride. Without that solution, God’s consuming fire would destroy His bride instead of glorify her.  This is why God instructed Moses to bring himself and Aaron up the mountain to Him ONLY so that everyone else wouldn’t die.

“Then the Lord said to him (Moses), ‘Away!’ Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you.  But do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.”  (Ex. 19:24).

Notice in this scripture that the “Lord” is referencing the “Lord.”  Here we are introduced to the understanding of God the Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit.  In addition, Moses symbolized Christ, and Aaron symbolized the “firstfruits” priests who would be glorified through Christ at His second coming and able to stand in the presence of God.

“For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to Our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9,10).

Secondly, because of the Israelites choice to reject God’s VOICE and go through a mediator instead, God was going to have to restore His VOICE through a mediator. After Moses read the “Tablets of Covenant” to the people, which was God’s marriage vows written by His finger, the Israelites responded to Him in FEAR:

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain of smoking; and when the people SAW it, they trembled (FEARED), and stood afar off.  Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, lest we die.  And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin.  So THE PEOPLE STOOD AFAR OFF, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was” (Ex. 20:18-21).

We can now understand why the voice of God was still only heard through those selected by God in the Old Testament, even after this betrothal.  

If you notice from the scriptures above, Moses was the ONLY one who drew near to the Lord, while the others withdrew away from the Lord out of fear.  Moses walked into darkness, knowing God was in it.  The people saw darkness and ran for cover.

Through their rejection of God’s voice,  it was then established that a mediator was to remain between God and themselves.  Moses would then become a symbol and pattern of how Jesus would perfect this marriage covenant by becoming the mediator of the New Covenant, and unite us with the original promise of HIS VOICE, HIS FIRE, HIS PRESENCE, and HIS DESIRE to permanently dwell with His Covenant people.

These scriptures also then explains why the nation of Israel had to fight with their hands and not by the “sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD/VOICE of God” to gain dominion in the Promised Land (Eph. 6:17). As believers who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, we now have access to take dominion by HIS WORD over the enemy and not through the blood of our own hands.

Finally, we see the difference between the Old and New through God’s mercy and grace.  In the New Day of Pentecost, the Lord kept His promise to the people instead of the people trying to keep their promise to God and failing to be able to do it:  

“For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.  For they could not endure what was commanded:  And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.'”  and so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

SEE THAT YOU DO NOT REFUSE HIM WHO SPEAKS.  For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake; not only the earth, but also heaven.’

Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and GODLY FEAR.  FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE” (Heb. 12:18-29).

We are now coming into a greater understanding of the “national covenant of God.”  It is with an understanding of the purpose of the Feast’s blueprint, and a people abiding in His SET TIMES that we will be able to see the NEW JERUSALEM taking shape on the earth.  This NEW JERUSALEM was conceived on the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit of Promise to dwell in our bodies.  This national covenant began multiplying throughout the world through just 120 disciples.

Our role as His “living stones,”  His royal priesthood, and His “holy nation,” who God called out of the dark, and drew into His marvelous light, is to abide in His ways and to be ready in our hearts for His return (1 Peter 2:9).

It is my prayer that ALL who have been chosen to know Him will HEAR and SEE the LORD with greater clarity and understanding of His national Covenant so that the body of Christ will begin to connect with one another to form ONE NATION UNDER GOD.

“Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.  

The VOICE of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters.  The VOICE of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (Psalm 29:1-4).

 

 

 

After departing Egypt and surviving the wilderness through supernatural acts of God (The parting of the Red Sea, manna from heaven, bitter water made drinkable, and the Lord defending the Israelites from attacks), the children of Israel finally arrived at Mount Sinai.

“In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai” (Ex. 19:1).  

The Israelites camped at the base of Mt. Sinai while Moses went up to speak to God.

God then told Moses to remind the people of all the amazing things God had done to “court” His people to reveal His love and His ability to take care of them as their “Groom.”  He also told Moses to ask the people (nation of Israelites) if they would marry Him:  

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My VOICE, and keep My covenant, then you all be a special treasure to Me above all people, for the earth is Mine.  You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a HOLY NATION.” (Ex. 19:5,6).

This was a special invitation as a nation of people to accept the Lord as their God, King, Husband, Priest, and Provider and upon their “Yes” response, their commitment in turn would be to honor His voice and obey Him.  This union would open up heaven’s gates to prosper and bless a people, and a “promised” land where God would dwell with them.

The transaction of the prophetic word that had been given to Abraham declaring, “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gal. 3:8) was about to consummate.

In short, this was God’s SET TIME that He was going to multiply His promise to Abraham, from an individual SEED promise, to a “national” SEED promise.  This is so key to understanding the significance of the Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament, because the perfected blueprint went from fulfillment of God’s Covenant plan through an individual Seed (Christ) to a national Seed (CHRISTIAN NATION).  Therefore, it was this SET TIME in the blueprint of God’s storyline that He conceived His corporate (national) promise.

In order to follow the trail of this courtship and why this is taking place at Mount Sinai, we need to go back to the “founder of our faith, Abraham” (Rom. 4:16). Abraham accepted by FAITH the things God spoke to him concerning establishing a covenant with him and his family.  Abraham did not have to do anything to meet this requirement of being chosen EXCEPT to have faith in what God SAID:

“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make NATIONS of you, and kings shall come from you.  And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you: (Gen. 17:5-7).

God originally made this promise in Gen. 12 with ABRAM.  Years later, God changed his name from Abram (exalted father of a family), to Abraham (Father of many nations) because the covenant was going to extend past his immediate family.  Abraham’s son Isaac would be the inheritor of this promise, as the Lord said, “In Isaac your SEED shall be called” (Heb. 11:18).

Isaac then begot Jacob, and Jacob had 12 sons in whom became known as the “Israelites.” The Israelites inherited that name because God also changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which translated means, “one whom understands that God rules” (Gen. 28:34;35:10).  

Years later, over 2 million Israelites were at the base of Mt. Sinai, and God was about to unite them all into ONE NATION, giving them a blueprint to be a community that functioned together as God would instruct; in one rhythm and heartbeat so that the world could see their Groom; the “God of Abraham.”

God had also prophesied to Abraham in Gen. 15 that 400 years after the people were afflicted in Egypt, He would deliver them.  This would then become the “sign” of when God would solidify His promise to Abraham to national level.

“Then He said to Abram, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them and they will afflict them four hundred years” Gen. 15:13).

400 years later, the nation was gathered at Mt. Sinai, listening to God’s proposal, and accepting it “by faith” like their Father Abraham.  God then instructed Moses to tell the people to “consecrate themselves,” for in 3 days, God would descend from Mt. Sinai so they could hear (see) His VOICE.

“Then it came to pass, on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings, and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the SOUND of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled” (Ex. 19:16).”

When the trumpet sounded loudly,  the Israelites ran to the foot of the mountain to meet God. The Jewish scholars believe that the people actually “saw the voice of God” coming out in tongues of fire at Mt. Sinai.

“The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire” (Psalm 29:7).

The mixed multitude that came out of Egypt saw the tongues of fire and heard God’s voice in their own language.  The translation of “seeing voices” came through as thunder and lightnings:

“Now Mt. Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire.  Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly.  And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and because louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him BY VOICE.  Then the Lord came down upon Mt. Sinai, on the top of the mountain (Ex. 19:18-20).

Do you remember reading in the Book of Acts about the sound of the mighty rushing wind that came on the Day of  Pentecost, in the upper room?  This was the SAME day in God’s Calendar, years later from the day they were at the base of Mt. Sinai, that Christ would begin this covenantal national blueprint.

CHRIST had instructed His disciples, as Moses did, to get ready and prepare themselves, and then wait:

“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you all be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now….But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you all be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to he end of the earth” (Acts 1:4-8).

SUDDENLY, the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 disciples, at the same SET TIME that Mt. Sinai had been filled with FIRE in the Old Testament.  The people in Jerusalem, who had travelled from afar to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, were awakened to what was going on in the upper room and came to SEE the VOICE.

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts. 2:1-4). 

The Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem KNEW of a day when this would happen.  This is because God had established His Calendar Blueprint to gather at His SET TIME when the Promises made to Abraham would be perfected.  God used the Feasts schedule to prepare them, like a “dress rehearsal,” throughout the years between Mt. Sinai and the Day of Pentecost in the upper room:

“Count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.  You shall bring from your dwellings two waves loaves of two-tenths of an ephah.  They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven.  They are the first fruits to the Lord” (Lev. 23:15-17).

 God also used Jeremiah to prophesy of this Pentecost fulfillment:

“Behold, the days are coming says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand and lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, thought I was a husband to them, says the Lord.  

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:  I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer. 31:31-33; Heb. 10:16).

But the blueprint of the Feast of Pentecost would show us, through the understanding of its firstfruits wheat offering, that this fulfillment of Pentecost would ONLY be the beginning (deposit of guarantee) of the perfecting of the national marriage covenant promise God had made at Mt. Sinai.  

If you study the Pentecost first fruits offering, it was the ONLY sacrifice that was offered and acceptable with “leaven.” This offering symbolized believers in Christ today who are holy and acceptable through Christ’s sacrifice, but our sinful or “leavened” bodies have yet to been transformed.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20,21).

Therefore, we can REST knowing there is a day coming soon, during the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, that we believers will experience the FULL manifestation of this covenant of marriage.  We will be able to stand in the presence of God in our glorified bodies, as well as stand before men as “sons of light.”

The earth is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19).  This revealing will be when we are joined together with Christ, and are seen as His “HOLY NATION,” united and ONE to assist the King of Kings in restoring righteousness in the earth, and the nations into His Covenant of grace.

Between now and then, let’s honor God’s SET TIME and thank Him for His deposit of guarantee, and the increase of His glory that is coming.  Let’s thank Him for allowing us to be a part of His multiplication process He has determined by grace to chose every “living stone” for in His national building process. Thank God we are getting closer to the forming and revealing of the NEW JERUSALEM.

As His “living stones,” we are to discover our unique gift and calling through Christ, and follow the Holy Spirit’s to be joined and knitted together as ONE.  Honoring His Holy Calendar puts us in the blueprint of our Chief Cornerstone; CHRIST!

The nation of Israel will be celebrating it’s 70th birthday on May 14th, 2018.  This comes right before the Feast of Pentecost.  So why is this birthday so relevant to God’s time table?

70 in the Bible is the number for the perfection (completion) of divine order.  There were 70 members of Jacob’s family that went to Egypt during the famine.  There were 70 elders called up to Mt. Sinai with Moses and Aaron to see God and eat with Him (Ex. 24:9-11).  Jesus sent 70 disciples out on training for missionary work to preach the gospel in Judea (Luke 10).

70 was also a divine period of judgment to make an end of sins for the nation of Israel breaking God’s law.  Jerusalem went through two divine periods of 70 year judgment that resulted in the destruction of the city and a removal of God’s people from the land.

With all eyes upon Jerusalem this May 14th, God will use this 70th year landmark as another SET TIME to fulfill scriptures. So in order to understand this SET TIME, let’s review how 70 is associated with Jerusalem in the bible. The blueprint of the LAW will help us to understand this pattern.

To begin, all judgment is a product of rebellion to God’s laws, and the penalty of breaking the law has to be paid before redemption can take place.  But judgment always has a specified time period/cost for its penalty so that redemption can follow (Lev. 26).

The removal of the Israelites from their land was what the Old Testament Law referred to as the “iron yoke” penalty; judgment given to the nation for rebelling against the Lord and choosing idolatry.  The “wooden” yoke was less severe, and allowed the Israelites to stay in the land under an oppressive leader (Deut. 28:47,48; Jer. 28:10-13).

The manifestation of the “iron yoke” penalty came with the first destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. God raised up the Babylonians to lay siege against His people.  For 70 years, the people had not honored the Sabbath, and so for each year they didn’t honor the SIGN of their national Covenant, God put them into the Babylonian captivity and allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed (2 Chron.36:21):

“I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem”(Dan. 9:2).

Jerusalem remained destroyed for 70 years until 516 B.C., when the Jews went back to Jerusalem to rebuild under the “wooden yoke.” 

But God showed Daniel of another divine period of judgment that would come upon the city of Jerusalem in the future after Jesus was crucified because of their continued rejection of the law:

“70 WEEKS are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy” (Dan. 9:24).

Nehemiah and Ezra and a remnant went back to Jerusalem and built the city and the temple again under King Darius’s provision and decree (Neh. 2:5,6).  70 weeks later (which equals 490 years), Jerusalem was destroyed again.  However, before this SET TIME, Jesus would arrive on the scene to settle the debt. His death on the cross paid the “penalty” in full for individuals AND for the nation, just as the word declared through Daniel.  Those who accepted Jesus as their Savior were sealed with His “Promise” on the Day of Pentecost. But the majority in the city continued to reject Him.

Having received the “Promise,” the Holy Spirit was able to dwell IN the disciples bodies (temples) and empower them to go and preach the gospel. Pentecost was God’s SET TIME when the location of where God’s presence would dwell in changed locations from the OLD JERUSALEM to the NEW JERUSALEM.  Regardless of the future of the city of Jerusalem, Christ had executed a way for His presence to always be with His people who called on His name.

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple”(Rev. 21:22).

Because the Jews rejected Christ, and then rebelled against the “wooden yoke” of the oppressive Roman government, the “iron yoke” was issued again by the Lord. After 40 years, in God’s SET TIME, the destruction of Jerusalem came as prophesied in 70 AD..  This forced the Jews to be dispersed and forbidden back into the land until their judgment was complete.  The law declares in Lev. 26, a 7X punishment for the nation who rejects the law. (7X equates to 2520 years; which is figured by the amount of days in a lunar calendar year x7).  This national penalty began as soon as the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, and it met it’s completion in 1917.

In 1917, England conquered Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire, and through the agreement known as the “Balfour Declaration,” it began the process of the Jews being granted access to go back to the land of Judea, and share it with the Arabs.

The Balfour Declaration did not intend to establish a Jewish state, but rather, a Jewish national home. It had no intention of dispossessing Arabs. It was agreed that Arabs would continue inhabiting the majority of the land, but allow Jews to purchase land from the Arabs and live there with equal rights. This agreement never reached “legal status,” and the Zionists at the time negated this agreement and forced their hand to take back the land they called their own.

When the Jews returned, they took over the Judean area by force, killing many who lived there, seizing much of their land, and declaring it to be a “Jewish state.”  This was not what was originally agreed to, but in 1948, those who led this cause declared themselves a Jewish nation, and called their nation, ISRAEL.

Since then, the nation of Israel has not experienced peace in the land, even though Jerusalem’s name means “Peace.”  This is because the law requires repentance in order for the land to be healed.  There has been no repentance as a nation for rejecting the Messiah as having come in the flesh for salvation to “make reconciliation for iniquity.” Therefore, the nation remains under the Levitical Law that states:

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness to which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought  them into the land of their enemies, if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt- THEN I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land” (Lev. 26:40-42).

Jerusalem is now at the 70 year mark when Israel became a nation.  A completion of divine order of time has been established.  God has given the world 70 years to see that the nation of Israel is NOT the nation carrying the light of God’s glory to the world.  As a matter of fact, the nation of Israel has been the center of the world scene because of the lack of peace that exists between it and other nations of the world.  Israel is continually at war, defending itself, and much bloodshed has occurred.  The blood cries out to the throne of God, and Jerusalem, “the Bloody City,” still has no atonement (Ex. 22-24).  ONLY Christ can answer that cry.

What did Jesus prophesy over Jerusalem?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her?  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you DESOLATE; and assuredly I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'”(Luke 13:34-36).

Jesus Himself declares the city will remain desolate, meaning, that Jerusalem would remain barren (unfruitful) in establishing the Kingdom of God through Christ. The land of Judea was also stripped from the responsibility of building the kingdom of God here on the earth when they rejected Jesus.  That responsibility was given to another:

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read the scriptures; the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?  Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it'”(Matt. 21:42,43).

Even though Jesus prophesied this, many in the world still look to the land of Judea (the nation we call Israel today) to fulfill that responsibility. Hmmm, can you guess what nation got it?  Look around the world and ask yourself, what nation has sent ambassadors of Christ to the nations to preach the word?

The Word brings clarity about Jerusalem in Gal. 4:22-26, showing us there are TWO Jerusalem’s that coincide with TWO Covenants (the OLD and the NEW):

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons:  the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.  But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic.  For these are the two covenants:  the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar – for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and CORRESPONDS TO JERUSALEM, WHICH NOW IS, AND IS IN BONDAGE WITH HER CHILDREN – BUT THE JERUSALEM ABOVE IS FREE, WHICH IS THE MOTHER OF US ALL.”

In other words, the city of Jerusalem today is associated with the Old Testament and the Law given from Mt. Sinai.  It is connected to the symbolism God uses through Hagar, who birthed Abraham’s son, Ishmael.  Isaac, however, came from his wife Sarah, in whom the Lord prophesied would birth the  “promised SEED.” This son was chosen to produce the “Seed” that birthed the Messiah who later became the sacrificial lamb of the New Covenant.

Coincidently, the name Jerusalem in Hebrew is Y’ru-shah-lah-yim, which is plural in meaning, so the correct translation is: TWO Jerusalem’s.  Hidden in it’s name is the mystery that there would be two Jerusalem’s in God’s plan to house His glory, the OLD and the NEW.

We also know from the bible that prior to be named Jerusalem, it was called Salem, which means “Peace.” (complete, especially friendly, full, just, made ready, peaceable, perfect(ed), quiet and whole). But Jerusalem has not experienced peace since the birthing of the nation of Israel in 1948.  Today there is four different religions claiming the temple grounds.  This city rejected the “Prince of Peace,” and have had to fight for peace on their own ever since. It won’t happen UNTIL AFTER CHRIST RETURNS.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of PEACE.  Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. (Is.  6:6,7).

We are in God’s “SET TIME” in which the veil is coming off the eyes of of God’s people, who are still looking to Jerusalem, the nation here on the earth, to fulfill scripture of a future city in which God’s people will gathered to. Instead, a third “iron yoke” judgment is coming to Jerusalem to fulfill prophesy, for Jerusalem is said to be a city that will be destroyed before the Lord returns (Luke 19:41-44; Zeph. 1:4-13; Mic.3:12).

It has been reported that President Trump (who is 70 years old), will be in Jerusalem on their 70th year celebration.   He announced awhile ago that he is moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, which is a move that says to the world that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.  Two nations will be on stage: America and Israel.  One will represent the OLD JERUSALEM, who is under the bondage of the law, along with its people.  The other will represent a nation not perfect, but who accepted Christ as King from her founding; representing the NEW JERUSALEM whose land is the home of the FREE.

One can look at America today and see all the sin coming forth from the choices she has made and scratch their head wondering how God can bless America.  One can see all the destruction that has come forth because of the sinful choices we have added into our laws that oppose God’s laws.  We are no different than any other sinful nation, including Israel.  However, God chose America to multiply Christ’s light and become a beacon of hope to the nations.   America’s founders knew this, declared this nation’s faith in Christ, and founded this nation on God’s word.   The legacy of America is that she is a Christian nation, and her land has been dedicated to the freedom of serving Him.

Christ is the ONLY reason why America has been graced with so much of God’s mercy.    “America, America, God’s grace is shed on thee!”

“If My people who are called by My name (JESUS) will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and HEAL THEIR LAND” (2 Chron. 7:14).