The Feasts of God (2)

Table of Contents

8. A Biblical Foundation: Confirmation

9. A Biblical Foundation: Bridging the Gap

10. A Biblical Foundation: Revelation of the Mystery

11. A Biblical Foundation: Heirs of the Promise

12. Passover: A New Beginning

13. Passover: All Things New

14. Passover: The Spotless Lamb

15. Passover: The Slain Lamb

Chapter Eight

The Feasts of God

A Biblical Foundation

Confirmation

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1 Peter 1:9-12

In these four verses of scripture, the apostle Peter confirms what I have been saying concerning the Feasts of God being types and shadows of the New Testament Church. The Old Testament, the law and the prophets (including the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and the other books) are a picture of and a foreshadowing of the New Testament Church, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the feasts best summarize it all, which is why we have embarked on this study.

We should note that the Book of Acts and the letters of the apostles constantly refer to the Old Testament to prove or confirm the truths they teach in what has become the New Testament. They make no apologies for quoting the Old Testament to confirm doctrines being taught to the Church. Nor do they consider this practice to be taking Old Testament scripture out of context.

Considering this makes it clear that many, if not all of the Old Testament prophecies, have more than one application. While many of those prophecies were initially directed to natural Israel, they also have an application to spiritual Israel, which is none other than the true Church.

The apostle Paul confirms this in Romans 9:24-26:

Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in Ocee [Hosea], I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved (see Hosea 2:23). And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God (see Hosea 1:10).

This revelation of Paul confirms to us that Hosea was not only prophesying to Israel but also to the Gentile church.

Paul also confirms this truth and gives us a warning in his first letter to the church at Corinth:

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [age] are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

1 Corinthians 10:11-12

Many in the Church today, not understanding that scripture confirms scripture and that the Old Testament confirms the New Testament, have taken New Testament scripture out of context and fallen into error, thinking they are standing on the truth when in fact they don’t fully understand the truth. As a result they think they know the Lord, when in reality they barely know him, if at all.

That’s why we must study the entire Bible in order to rightly divide the Word of Truth (see 2 Timothy 2:15). It is only as we understand the prophetic types and shadows in the Old Testament that we can fully understand the writings of the New Testament.

Without the Old Testament, especially the Feasts of God, we would not be able to see the significance of the day (millennium) we are now entering. I have discovered that only as I realize the importance of this third day of the Church and seventh day since creation, do many of the New Testament scriptures make much sense.

Because we haven’t fully understood the application of the old to the new, we have embraced an intellectual understanding of much of the New Testament, especially the prophetic scriptures.

Interestingly, I have discovered that as I teach this, it is offensive to those that hold onto their intellectual doctrines, not realizing their understanding is only in part (see 1 Corinthians 13:9-10). I don’t know quite how to respond to them, except to allow them room to fall so that perhaps then they will have ears to hear and eyes to see.

But I know there are those who are seeing and for them, I must continue to proclaim and teach this truth. May God enlighten you with the knowledge of the truth that will set you free (see John 8:32).

Chapter Nine

The Feasts of God

A Biblical Foundation

Bridging the Gap

God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.

Ephesians 2:4-14

The gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament has been bridged and Jesus Christ is that bridge. The Old Covenant and the New Covenant are basically one covenant, just as natural Israel and spiritual Israel is one people if they have crossed the bridge.

It is only as we understand the types and shadows found in the Old Testament (Covenant) that we can discern and know the truth found in the New Testament (Covenant). Isn’t it interesting that this incredible book, made up of many books written by many authors over thousands of years, is actually one book with one author; none other than the Holy Spirit? There is a continuity that runs through its pages that only God could have orchestrated. Scripture proves scripture, and without comparing scripture to scripture, our understanding of scripture is at best incomplete and possibly wrong.

Scripture was written by a Spirit and must be spiritually discerned. Intellectual understanding of scripture will produce a gospel that is not the gospel but a product of man’s carnality. Not only has a carnal understanding of scripture produced an intellectual gospel rather than a spiritual gospel, it has given a license to interpret prophetic scripture based on intellect rather than truth.

We have dissected the Book of Revelation and some of the apostolic letters coming up with a chronological order of future events that is void of a scriptural understanding of those writings. As a result, many in the Church are focused on what they perceive to be upcoming events that are not going to happen; at least not as they think they will happen.

As we study and compare scripture with scripture, we can begin to better understand not only where we are on God’s timetable, but where we are going; which is imperative to determine our course of action. If you are simply occupying while waiting for the great escape (so called rapture), or if you are expecting the whole world to go to hell in a hand basket in the immediate future, you are not going to be focused on overcoming. In the seven letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, we find the criteria for success. The words of Jesus to these churches (and to the Church) over and over are, "To him that overcomes…"

Overcoming Guarantees Success

What is the success to be acquired by overcoming? That the Kingdom should come in Earth as in Heaven; the end result being the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our LORD and his Christ (see Revelation 11:15).

If you are expecting to spend eternity on a cloud playing a harp, you had better reconsider. The command God gave Adam is still our mission today, which I believe will continue throughout this new day (millennium). Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it (see Genesis 1:28).

If you think the marriage supper of the Lamb is a great feast to take place in the future somewhere in the sky or in Heaven, you had better reconsider. The marriage supper of the Lamb is taking place at this very moment and will continue throughout this new day (millennium) we are entering; and only the overcomers are going to be in attendance.

If you think you will reach perfection only after you have laid down your physical body and transitioned to another dimension (Heaven), you had better reconsider. We are currently being perfected, which can only be attained through a process rather than instantly at the time we transition to Heaven.

If you think we will only come into the unity of the faith after we get to Heaven, you had better reconsider. We are coming into the unity of the faith and it is the work of the five-fold ministry giftings to bring that to pass (see Ephesians 4:11-15). It begins with a remnant, but the time will come when all true believers will see exactly as God sees and literally think only His thoughts, truly having the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16).

Chapter Ten

The Feasts of God

A Biblical Foundation

Revelation of the Mystery

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:1-5 (emphasis added)

Paul believed he was chosen to walk the walk he walked. He realized it was by no choice of his own, therefore he considered himself a prisoner of the Lord with a job to do: take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the nations (Gentiles).

Paul’s conversion came in such a way that he could have no doubt as to the reality of it. I have heard it taught that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not force Himself on anyone. Try telling that to Paul. When he was knocked off his horse that fateful day on the road to Damascus, saw a bright light and heard the Lord speak in an audible voice, what other choice could he have made?

I suppose he could have cursed God and died but I really don’t think that was much of a choice. Most of us have heard it taught that we have free will and God will not violate our free will. I suspect Paul would take issue with that as well.

Not only did Paul’s conversion take place in such a way that he could never doubt it, his call to take the gospel to the nations was just as clear. You can read about it in the book of Acts. There was no doubt in Paul’s mind as to his calling, even though most of the Church at that time (which was still Jewish), hadn’t yet realized the gospel was for all people.

In Paul’s letters to the churches that he established, we find much doctrine. Paul’s knowledge of scripture, plus the revelation he received, established that doctrine, which at that time was new information to the believers he was addressing. Without his understanding of Old Testament scripture, he could not have received clear doctrine by revelation from the Spirit. Today we consider Paul’s doctrine to be scriptural truth and a part of the written Word of God; as it literally makes up much of the New Testament.

Almost two thousand years have passed since Paul received this doctrinal revelation that today makes up a good portion of our Bible. We have now crossed the threshold of the third millennium of the Church, and I believe that already in this new day (millennium), the Spirit of God is dealing with a remnant, especially true apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in such a way that there can be no doubt as to their calling and understanding of the time in which we live. They are receiving understanding of scripture that clarifies much that has been at best understood in part, and perhaps even misunderstood.

However, we should note that while Paul received revelation in such a way that he had no doubt as to its validity, and those that were able to receive it as Paul taught it had no doubt, the masses did not receive it; at least not initially. I think the same is true today of the true five-fold ministries (I emphasize true because there are many self-proclaimed five-fold ministers). The true five-fold minsters are part of a remnant chosen by God, and only others of that remnant are receiving their seemingly new revelations. They are a firstfruits company walking a very narrow way, paving the way for many more to follow.

Traditions die hard and the carnal ideas of men that are commonly accepted as truth are deeply ingrained in the Church. Only as God gives them eyes to see and ears to hear will they be able to move beyond that which is in part and progress on toward the unity of the faith, and the perfection (completion) of the Church.

The purpose of this study is so you too can receive a clearer revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation John received that day on Patmos was not a new revelation. Everything in the Book of Revelation can be found in the Old Testament and only understood in light of the Old Testament. Jesus was not giving John some new revelation. He was simply confirming already established revelation.

We should note that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ and not the revelation of so called end times. I have heard the Book of Revelation referred to as the fifth account of the Gospel, revealing Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, while Matthew, Mark, Luke and John reveal Him as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (see John 1:29).

Actually, these two revelations of Jesus are but one revelation. Taking away the sins of the world as the Lamb of God is not about making a way for people to go to Heaven when they die. It is about removing the curse from the world, enabling the Lamb of God to become the King of kings and Lord of lords, as the nations become the Kingdom of God (see Revelation 11:15).

Chapter Eleven

The Feasts of God

A Biblical Foundation

Heirs of the Promise

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Romans 4:13-17

I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

Hebrews 8:10

Ephesians 2:11-14

The possibility of individual believers and the Church as a whole coming into true unity and being perfected appears to be impossible. Perhaps that is why the doctrine of being perfected in an instant at the time of a so called rapture is so popular. Many just don’t believe it can happen any other way and yet, as we have already established, it can’t happen that way. Perfection or completeness can only be the end result of a process of being perfected or completed. The idea of instant success is enticing to the flesh and at times God does perform instant miracles. However, more often than not, our success is the product of a process.

Some say the unity of the faith (see Ephesians 4:13) is agreeing on the Lordship of Jesus but agreeing to disagree on doctrinal issues. But true unity is seeing the same thing, hearing the same thing and thinking the same thing that Jesus is seeing, hearing and thinking. That is truly having the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16), and while it appears to be impossible, my Bible says that with God all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26, Mark 9:23/10:27, Luke 18:27).

The apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Ephesus, that God is able to exceed abundantly beyond all we can ask or think (see Ephesians 3:20). In that same verse, Paul makes it clear that it is not by some instant miracle or supernatural manifestation, but by the power that works in us. That power is none other than the fire we are being immersed into, which began its process when we were baptized with (immersed into) the Holy Spirit and fire (see Matthew 3:11-12).

A Consuming Fire

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire…

Deuteronomy 4:24

For our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:29

Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 state that our God is a consuming fire. So actually God is the fire we are being baptized (immersed) into. Many teach sanctification and holiness as if it is something we can achieve by changing our behavior, but it is only by being baptized with fire that we are sanctified and made holy. It is that same baptism with fire that will bring us into the unity of the faith.

The purpose of that baptism is to burn away all the impurities within us, revealing the pure gold. It is this process that causes God’s laws to be put in our minds and written on our hearts.

Israel was given God’s laws and instructed to obey them, which proved over and over to be impossible in the natural. With the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts, man was baptized with the Holy Spirit of God, enabling him to be immersed into the consuming fire that God is, which will change our minds and hearts, making us spiritual beings whose natural desires are replaced with His desires. It is only in this state that He will give us the desires of our hearts (see Psalm 37:4).

It is not by believing the promises of God that we become like Him, nor is it by changing our behavior. It is by dying to self, which can only be accomplished as we allow Him to consume in us everything that is not of Him.

How do we allow Him to do that? By complete surrender and total trust. David, the writer of Psalm 37, was not only a psalmist but also a prophet. When he penned the words of Psalm 37, he was prophesying a future time and a people totally surrendered to and trusting in God, enabling them to have the same mind as God; thinking His thoughts and desiring His desires.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.

Psalm 37:3-7

The apostle Paul addressed this subject in his first letter to the church at Corinth:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day [the third day of the Church/the seventh day of/since creation] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

The cross of Jesus enables us to be made the righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Perhaps you have been taught as I have, that the finished work of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion made us righteous, and through the eyes of faith that is true. But it is only through the process of sanctification by fire that we experience becoming the righteousness of God.

It is the baptism of fire that changes our minds and our hearts. It is the baptism of fire that enables us to literally experience having the mind of Christ. Having the mind of Christ is more than Him putting His laws into our minds and writing them on our hearts; it is literally thinking His thoughts and having His desires.

In this third day (millennium) of the Church and seventh day (millennium) since creation, there is a firstfruits company chosen by God to begin manifesting this reality. The more we think His thoughts and the more we become like Him; the more we come into the unity of the faith.

Presently, the unity of the faith is not something being experienced by all wearing the label Christian, but it is being experienced more and more by a remnant that has been subjected to severe tests and trials, as they have been baptized into the consuming fire that God is.

Now, in the chapters that follow, let us begin to take a closer look at each feast in order to gain a better understanding of where we are on God’s timetable, and how He is dealing with a remnant, who are the firstfruits of many more to come.

In our next teaching we will begin with the Feast of Passover.

Chapter Twelve

The Feasts of God

Passover

A New Beginning

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Exodus 12:1-2

In the verses that follow Exodus 12:1-2, the Lord God gives Israel instructions to slaughter a firstborn lamb without blemish and paint its blood on their door posts. Then they were to eat the flesh of that lamb after roasting it with fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat it fully clothed, with their shoes on and a rod in their hand, ready to leave slavery in Egypt and journey into the wilderness, where God would begin to establish them as a new kingdom.

An angel of death was about to visit Egypt, killing the firstborn son of every family. This is the last plague God sent on Egypt, and it convinced Pharaoh to let Israel go. However, as with all the other plagues, Pharaoh would once again change his mind and pursue Israel into the wilderness, only to bring about his own death and the destruction of his cavalry.

When the death angel saw the blood on the door posts of the Israelites, he passed over those houses, sparing the first born son of all the families of Israel. Having eaten the flesh of the lamb, Israel was strengthened to embark on their journey into the wilderness.

While reading this story it becomes clear that God’s intention was much more than simply freeing Israel from the bondage of slavery. He also intended to remove from the earth the one who had enslaved them, which He did when He drowned Pharaoh and his cavalry in the Red Sea, after Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land; a type of baptism for God’s chosen and death for their enemy. Still, that was not God’s ultimate purpose. His ultimate purpose was to establish a new kingdom of chosen people, over whom He would have ultimate authority as their king.

The symbolisms, types and shadows found in this narrative are quite clear to the renewed minds of believers. Obviously the first born lamb without blemish represents Jesus. The blood on the door posts is symbolic of the blood of Jesus, which ensures us life rather than death. Israel was to eat the flesh of the slain lamb, whose blood was on their door posts. On the night of the last Passover Feast before the New Covenant became reality on God’s timetable, Jesus ordered His disciples to eat His flesh and drink His blood, represented by unleavened bread and wine.

Have you ever heard the saying, “You are what you eat?” To eat the flesh of Jesus and to drink His blood is to become one with Him, not only sharing in His righteousness but also possessing His strength, which enables us to successfully navigate the wilderness; a walk we must all walk. Sharing in His righteousness and possessing His strength will eventually culminate in our mortality putting on immortality.

The flesh of the lamb Israel ate that night in Egypt had to be prepared by fire. It could not be boiled or eaten raw. That fire represents the consuming fire that our God is, which we must be baptized into as we have already studied (see Deuteronomy 4:24/Hebrews 12:29). That fire plays out in our lives as adversary, tests and trials, represented by the bitter herbs they ate with the flesh of the lamb. Those bitter herbs produce in us unadulterated truth and holiness, which is represented by the unleavened bread (leaven in scripture represents a mixture and unleavened bread represents purity).

They were to eat this meal fully clothed with their shoes on, ready to go at a moment’s notice wherever the manifested glory of God led them. That visible glory appeared as a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, for the forty years Israel was in the wilderness.

Perhaps the apostle Paul was thinking of this command to be fully clothed when he wrote to the church at Ephesus concerning wearing the full armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-17). And he may have been thinking of Israel being led by the visible glory of God out of slavery into a new kingdom, when he penned these words to the church at Corinth:

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Israel’s journey into freedom was one of following the glory. Ours is one of not only following the glory but becoming the glory!

The rod they were to have in their hands was a type and shadow of the authority we as believers have, to drive out and trample on our enemy; and when necessary to cause the supernatural to manifest so our needs will be met (Moses held out his rod to part the Red Sea and for other manifestations of God’s supernatural power).

Jesus, the Fulfillment of Passover

Before Jesus ate the last Passover of the Old Testament with his disciples, He made this statement:

With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, “I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 22:15-16

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Passover. He tried to communicate that reality to His disciples at the last Passover meal before His crucifixion, but they didn’t understand until after His resurrection. And I might add, most in the Church today have not understood the full significance of this first feast God commanded Israel to keep.

The gospels and the epistles were written in the language of the feasts and cannot be understood from any other viewpoint. The Gentile church, from perhaps the second century and definitely from the fourth century until the present time, has tried to understand the New Testament without an understanding of the feasts and it is simply impossible.

Passover has only been understood in part. For most of my lifetime evangelical and charismatic Christians have preached and taught the Gospel of Personal Salvation. Jesus did not teach the Gospel of Personal Salvation. Jesus taught the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of slavery only has meaning when we realize God’s purpose for Israel was to establish a kingdom. Our personal salvation only has meaning when we realize it is for the purpose of establishing the Kingdom of God in/on Earth as in Heaven.

That first Passover was about much more than Israel’s freedom from bondage. That freedom was but the door into an entirely new beginning that forever changed history. So is our freedom from sin when we are born from above (born again). We are now free to see and enter the Kingdom of God; not a future event but a present reality that will continue to increase into the future (see John 3:3).

That present reality will reach its fulfillment in the prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, but we must first come to a better and complete understanding of the prophetic fulfillment of Passover, which cannot be ultimately fulfilled without Pentecost and Tabernacles.

Chapter Thirteen

The Feasts of God

Passover

All Things New

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Israel’s delivery from the bondage of slavery in Egypt was more than a new beginning. They were literally becoming a new people. In one night they went from being poor slaves under cruel taskmasters, to being a wealthy nation under the God that is love. Their servitude to the Egyptians had kept them in bondage. Their servitude to the Almighty God would now set them free.

Israel is a type and shadow of New Testament believers. Types and shadows are theological terms. Sometimes I like to use the word picture. God’s dealings with Israel were pictures of His dealings with the true Church. The Hebrew people called the festivals (feasts) appointments with God. In reality, they were rehearsals for future events that would be the fulfillment of the festivals.

The festivals take place at specific times each year, and on the timeline of history there are specific times for each festival to begin to be fulfilled. But from an eternal perspective, they overlap, at least to some degree.

Passover’s prophetic fulfillment began with the crucifixion of Jesus, but its completed fulfillment will take place during the prophetic fulfillment of Tabernacles. Without Tabernacles, I don’t think anyone can fully understand Passover; just as without the coming of Jesus (born in a stable in Bethlehem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles) there would have been no crucifixion, which took place at the time of the Feast of Passover.

While the fulfillment of the festivals takes place historically at specific time periods, giving us a clear perspective of their purposes, it takes all three festivals to fully understand God’s eternal purpose for mankind and planet Earth.

Passover and Tabernacles are divided into three festivals each. With Pentecost standing alone as one festival there is actually a total of seven festivals (seven being the Biblical number for completion/perfection), and without an understanding of all seven festivals, it is impossible to fully understand God’s plans and purposes for His creation. I have come to believe that without an understanding of the festivals and how they relate to history (past, present and future), it is impossible to really know God very well.

Passover was a new beginning for Israel only because they were a new people. Never before in history had a nation existed with God as its king. This was a new concept on the world stage and it changed everything. Suddenly, all other nations were inferior to Israel. No wonder Israel has been hated right up until the present time. With the United States being Israel’s closest ally in contemporary times, is it any wonder that Islamic nations hate us? At best, our relationship with the Islamic nations we negotiate with and trade with is fragile. Why? Political analysts and the news media may speculate as to the answer to that question, but I believe it is primarily and ultimately because of our historic and present relationship with Israel.

So it is with believers.

Have you ever wondered why, in the United States and the Western World, many no longer consider it politically correct to be Christian, while other religions are accepted with no problem? Isn’t it interesting that Biblical principles have come under attack while Shira law has been more and more accepted in American society, and in some cases has even been upheld by our courts? The truth has always been hated by that which is false, and we are seeing that hatred intensify as we progress into the fullness of times (see Galatians 4:4/Ephesians 1:10).

God Loves All

God is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10:34

It’s not that God loves the believer any more than the unbeliever, nor did He love Israel any more than other nations. However, truth is truth and a lie is a lie, and there can be no middle ground. The truth exposes the lie and as a result, the lie hates the truth (or the liars hate those telling the truth).

God has established Israel and the Church to be the revelation of truth to the world, with the intention to cause the world to desire the truth rather than driving them away and alienating them from the truth. There are those in the Old Testament that converted to the Hebrew way of life and served the Hebrew God. One example is the Queen of Sheba, who came to see firsthand the wisdom and wealth of Solomon, and was greatly impressed. Another example is Rahab, a prostitute who hid the Israeli spies who were spying out the land of Canaan, prior to Israel’s invasion and conquest of that land. Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus mentions Rahab (see Matthew 1:5), with a slightly different spelling in the KJV, as an ancestor of Jesus, so she must have been accepted into the nation of Israel.

As we progress more and more into the fullness of times, crossing the threshold of the prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles and coming to a more complete understanding of Passover, a great in-gathering is taking place worldwide, causing many to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Some estimates are as high as 175,000 new believers being added to the Church every day!

Still, many are blinded to the truth and the divide between the two camps is becoming more pronounced, causing much hatred and persecution of the truth. Jesus promised much to the believer who sacrifices for the gospel (see Mark 10:29-30), but one of the things He promised we would probably rather overlook. He promised us persecution.

God’s intent and purpose is to reconcile all things unto Himself (see Colossians 1:20/2 Corinthians 5:18-19/Hebrews 2:17). God has to have a chosen people (Israel in the Old Testament and the true Church in the New Testament), not only to reveal Himself to the world but to reconcile the world to Himself.

The Third Day Perfection

Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Luke 13:32

Jesus had to come and walk the earth as a sinless man, and then take the sins of all mankind on Himself in order for the Church to come into existence. Jesus was the firstborn and the firstfruit of many more to come. As the Body of Christ (the true Church) is being perfected, Jesus is being perfected.

Luke 13:32 wasn’t referring to Jesus’ resurrection. He walked out of the grave on the third day after the crucifixion with a glorified body but not a perfect body. He still had the scars of the crucifixion in his hands, feet and side. The third day he was referring to is the third millennium of the Church, which we have now entered. As we enter the fulfillment of Tabernacles and come to a better understanding of and experience of Passover in this third day (millennium) of the Church, His many membered body will be perfected, and that perfection must become reality for all that have gone before to be perfected.

The Abrahamic Covenant/Promise

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39-40

The promise God made to Abraham was more than land and descendants. The promise God made to Abraham was perfection. Abraham and all that followed died without receiving that promise. However, once God made the promise it had to come to pass.

Somehow, in God’s system of justice, it takes a perfected people to enable all that have gone before to be perfected. That perfection has to be more than a positional perfection. It has to be an experienced perfection and that will happen in this third day of the Church. There is a chosen remnant that is already beginning to experience it, though not yet fully.

I was teaching this some time ago in a meeting I was holding in Wilmington, NC. There were three Messianic Jews in attendance that night. I had not met them before nor have I seen them since. As I was teaching, I noticed one of the Jews (a lady) staring at me with her mouth literally hanging open. I became a little uncomfortable and interrupted my teaching to ask her if I was on the right track with what I was saying. She told me this:

“We (Messianic Jews) have always taught that. But we don’t teach it to Christians because they won’t accept it.”

Passover is the door we must walk through to begin the process of being perfected. Often believers refer to their initial born again experience as being saved, but the reality is that by being born again (born from above) we begin the process of being saved (perfected).

We must accept Jesus as the Passover Lamb in order to be born again. Being born again is a new beginning that enables us to begin the process of all things becoming new, first to us individually, then corporately, and then bringing the Kingdom of God on Earth as in Heaven, causing all creation to become new. Passover is the door to Pentecost and the two together are the door to Tabernacles. Passover and Pentecost will culminate in Tabernacles.

There are those that are stuck in Passover, not seeing the need for Pentecost and probably completely unaware of Tabernacles. Since the mid-nineteenth century until the present, Pentecost has been restored to those who will move beyond Passover, but now many are stuck in Pentecost, not realizing we have crossed the threshold of Tabernacles.

But before we delve into Pentecost and Tabernacles, I want us to take a more in-depth look at Passover. Passover was a glorious feast and a foreshadowing of one of the most glorious events in history; the crucifixion of the Son of God.

Chapter Fourteen

The Feasts of God

Passover

The Spotless Lamb

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

1 Peter 1:18-19

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.

Exodus 12:1-3, 5

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

John 1:29, 36

The comparison between the Passover lamb and Jesus, the Lamb of God is obvious. Year after year the Passover lamb, which could have no spot or blemish, was slaughtered. This was no less than a type and shadow of Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the womb of a virgin, having no sin nature (without spot or blemish).

The Last Adam

And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47

Like the first Adam, Jesus was born sinless but not perfect. Perfection cannot be created, it must be developed. To be sinless is not necessarily to be perfect. The first Adam was born sinless but had to fall, gaining knowledge of good and evil, then going to the grave imperfect in order for the last Adam (Jesus) to come and be perfected from a position of sinlessness; restoring immortality to mankind, which Adam lost when he sinned.

Jesus walked out of the grave after his crucifixion with a glorified body, but not a perfect body. He still had the scars of the crucifixion in his body. He had the keys of Hell (Hades) and death (see Revelation 1:18) but was not yet perfected. Keys are symbolic of authority. Jesus had authority over Hell and death. In other words, He had overcome Hell and death by living a sinless life as a man (the Son of Man), but had then taken the sin of all mankind on Himself. Since He had taken the sin of mankind on Himself, Jesus’ own perfection was dependent on mankind’s perfection.

We are the Body of Christ. Like His physical body when He walked out of the grave, we are imperfect. So when will Jesus be perfected? When we are perfected. When will we be perfected? In the third day (millennium/see 2 Peter 3:8)) of the Church, during the second prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Without the prophetic fulfillment of Passover there can be no prophetic fulfillment of Tabernacles. Without Tabernacles, Passover cannot be completely fulfilled.

Are you seeing that the coming of Jesus (at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles) was necessary for the Feast of Passover to be fulfilled prophetically, at the time of the crucifixion? However, the ultimate playing out of the fulfillment of the feasts on the timeline of history is just the opposite. It has taken the prophetic fulfillment of Passover to enable the prophetic fulfillment of Tabernacles, which entails another coming of Jesus, when He is fully formed in a people (see Galatians 4:19 AMP), bringing them to perfection/completion.

The Perfection of the Church

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

Paul told us that Jesus will sanctify and cleanse the Church (perfect it) with the washing of water by the Word (see Ephesians 5:26). The washing of water implies baptism; a total immersion into the Word. Jesus is the living Word of God (see John 1:14). As we become one with Him, being totally immersed into Him, we share not only in His suffering and death but in the power of His resurrection (see Philippians 3:10). Our walk, at least for a season, is a walk of suffering and death, which enables us to experience the power of His resurrection.

Like Jesus, we learn obedience because of the things we suffer (see Hebrews 5:8). Our obedience is more than doing the right things. Our obedience stems from our being the righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21), with His laws placed in our hearts and written in our minds (see Hebrews 10:16). Our obedience entails being, which determines our doing.

Obedience is the necessary element that ensures our perfection; a process of development rather than an act of creation.

When our experience becomes perfection, through the process being completed, then Jesus will present us to Himself and we will be glorious; without spot, wrinkle or any such thing (see Ephesians 5:25-27). We will be holy (sanctified/completely set apart) and without blemish, as if we had never sinned. Actually, the process of becoming totally immersed into Christ will have made us new creatures (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), so in reality we will have never sinned. At that point we will be exactly like him, sinless having been slain from the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8).

Revelation 12:11 is a well-known scripture that speaks of the word of our testimony. We have interpreted that to mean our story of being sinners in the world, then accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior and being born again (born from above). While this may be a useful tool for evangelism, our testimony is not one of who we were before we were born into the Kingdom. The person we were before we were born into the Kingdom no longer exists. We are new creatures in Christ, and through the process of being perfected that reality will one day be complete. That is our testimony, glory to God! We are the righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21), with His desires in our hearts (see Psalms 37:4/Hebrew 10:16) and we have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16).

That is our position in Christ and will become our completed experience during the third day (millennium) of the Church as the Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled. Passover is the door into Tabernacles, with Pentecost in between.

Saints of God, we are becoming the spotless Lamb without blemish. It may look impossible that we will ever arrive at that destination but if you don’t believe we will, you have a very limited understanding of Scripture, and of the plan and purpose of God for His creation.

I encourage you to seek God for greater revelation of these eternal truths because - surely we were born for such a time as this.

All glory to God.

Chapter Fifteen

The Feasts of God

Passover

The Slain Lamb

The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

Ephesians 1:3-4

For many years I viewed the Adam and Eve narrative with this understanding:

Adam and Eve were created and given a choice. They made the wrong choice so God had to implement Plan B, which entailed Jesus becoming a man, being crucified, resurrected and ascending into Heaven.

I have now come to realize that God never has had nor ever will have a Plan B. He only has one plan and it is playing out just as He purposed from before the foundation of the world. Or in other words, since eternity before all that has been created existed.

Psalm 40 is a prophetic psalm of David. It should not be read as David speaking his heart out of his circumstances. It should be read as Messiah speaking His heart out of His circumstances, as the Son of Man with a definite and specific purpose. In verse seven he says, “Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me.” The writer of Hebrews said this quoting from Psalm 40:

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

The body prepared for Jesus was more than the physical body that enabled Him to become the Son of Man. It was His many membered body; that corporate man in the world today known as the Body of Christ.

Long before time began God not only devised a plan; that plan played out in an ever present eternity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were there and saints of God, you and I were there. Everything that is happening now in a time/space world has already happened in eternity. Have you ever done something and gotten an almost eerie feeling you have done it before. Guess what? You have.

On a time line we experience new things but from an eternal perspective, nothing is new. God is never surprised; never caught off guard. Hence, there is never a need for a Plan B. Realizing that reality and beginning to understand that we were chosen to be in Him before the foundation of the world, is the foundation for our faith and trust in Him. Psalm 40:3 speaks of the man that makes the Lord his trust, which implies more than trusting in the Lord. To really know the Lord, not just in name or casually, is to trust Him. He (His person) becomes our trust.

You see, trusting the Lord or having faith in Him or in the written Word is more than something we do. It is who we are. We are in Him and He is in us. In other words, we are one with Him and He is one with us. We are one and the same, so how can we not trust Him. We not only trust in Him; He becomes our trust. The more we realize this truth, the more we will walk in eternity, unlimited by a time/space world. While we are still in mortal bodies there will be that connection to the time/space world, but glory to God, the time is approaching when these mortal bodies will put on immortality and then the so called supernatural will become natural.

The last book of the Bible is The Revelation of Jesus Christ but saints, the entire Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ, from Genesis through Revelation. He has come in the volume of the Book and because we are one with Him; because He is the head and we are the body, we too have come in the volume of the Book. Not only do we find Jesus throughout its pages, we find ourselves throughout its pages, glory to God!

Not only is He the Passover Lamb, we are the Passover Lamb. Not only was He slain from the foundation of the world, we were chosen to be in Him, slain from the foundation of the world. The more completely He is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19) in the time/space world, the more we become connected to eternity and walk there instead of here. That reality (truth) will give you a different perspective than religion will give you. Knowing that truth will set you free (see John 8:32). In coming to know that truth we come to know the Lord better than we have, as our understanding has been limited or in part.

I believe this deeper understanding and more intimate relationship (knowing) is what the writer of Hebrews was making reference to with these words:

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.

Hebrews 6:1-3

These basic or elementary doctrines listed in Hebrews 6:1-3 have to do with Passover and we should study and come to an experiential knowledge of them, realizing that while they are a new beginning for us, they are the beginning of all things becoming new. We cannot afford to camp out in Passover but must go on to Pentecost and Tabernacles.

Let’s break Hebrews 6:1-3 down:

>We have repented of dead works; our efforts at sanctifying ourselves by changing our behavior.

>Our faith is no longer toward God. Our faith is God.

>We have been baptized; in water to signify the death of the old man and that we are now becoming new creatures in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17); with the Holy Spirit and with the refining and consuming fire that God is (see Deuteronomy 4:24/Hebrews 12:29). (The baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire actually has to do with Pentecost but without Pentecost our understanding of Passover is incomplete.)

>Laying on of hands in this portion of scripture has nothing to do with laying hands on people for healing, impartation or to send them off on a mission. It is referring to that first Passover (and all following celebrations of it) in Egypt when the father of the house would lay hands on the spotless lamb and then slit its throat; taking its blood and painting the door posts of his family’s dwelling. It has to do with the blood covenant we are partakers of because of the blood covenant Jesus cut with the Father at Calvary.

>The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment has to do with God’s eternal plan for mankind, which entails the restitution of all things (see Acts 3:21).

All these elementary doctrines are of great importance but are only the beginning; only the door into all that we are becoming, which is all we have been since the foundation of the world; which is all in the volume of the Book.

What an amazing plan! What an awesome God! Bless his name forever!

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