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George Warnock - THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Preface "In the beginning GOD . . ." So it was that in the spring of 1948 God came
forth in answer to the prayer and fasting of his children, poured out the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, and revealed the fact that now at this time He would
bring His body together, and make of His Church one glorious Church without
spot or wrinkle. It was a day long treasured up in the counsels of God. On
February 12 and 13, 1948, the Revival started. An eyewitness testifies as
follows:
"Three buildings on the Airport at North Battleford, Sask., composed Sharon
Orphanage and Schools at its beginning in the fall of 1947. About 70 students
gathered to study the Word of God, and fast and pray. After about three months
the Revival suddenly began in our largest classroom where the entire student
body was gathered for devotional exercises. One young man told me that when he
was five years old. God gave him a vision of that classroom. Everything in it
was identical. He saw God moving in a way he could not understand."
I shall never forget the morning that God moved into our midst in this
strange new manner. Some students were under the power of God on the floor,
others were kneeling in adoration and worship before the Lord. The anointing
deepened until the awe of God was upon everyone. The Lord spoke to one of the
brethren. 'Go and lay hands upon a certain student and pray for him.' While he
was in doubt and contemplation one of the sisters who had been under the power
of God went to the brother saying the same words, and naming the identical
student he was to pray for. He went in obedience, and a revelation was given
concerning the student's life and future ministry. After this a long prophecy
was given with minute details concerning the great thing God was about to do.
The pattern for the Revival and many details concerning it were given. To this
day I can remember the gist of the prophecy, and will try to repeat some
things here as they were spoken.
"Immediately following this prophecy a sister who was under the power of
God came among us. Great repentance, humbling, fasting and prayer prevailed."
So it was that God began this great work of Restoration. For that is what
is happening. God is restoring! He is restoring all that was lost in the fall
of the Church, and in the fall of Adam! All creation groans in birth-pangs to
be delivered from its corruption-and her travail of tears and sorrow has
prevailed upon the God of Heaven to come down and deliver her.
"In the beginning God." Thank God for the beginning; and also for the
continuation of the great work which He started a few hears ago. And though
men are prone to look for the spectacular, God continues to move silently and
noiselessly in the hearts of His people, perfecting that good work which he
has begun in them. The place that God chose in which to start the Revival is
only significant in as much as it is the most unlikely of places. No man would
have chosen either the town, or the school or the students, or the ministers
through whom God bestowed His blessing. But that is all most consistent with
God's ways; for He chooses what man rejects. Bethlehem was the least esteemed
village of the tribes of Judah-but the Son of God was born there. Nazareth was
most contemptible in the eyes of the people, but the Great Prophet arose from
thence. The Roman cross was an instrument of torture so despicable and so
vile, that a great Roman politician once declared it ought never be mentioned
in decent conversation; and yet there it was, on a Roman Cross, that God
displayed His infinite Wisdom and Power through Jesus Christ.
Let the saints rejoice, therefore, for the mercy-drops of blessing which He
has given-but most of all for the sound of abundance of rain. A cloud appears
on the horizon! It will not be long ere it covers the earth, and the Glory of
God shall be displayed throughout all nations, as the water cover the sea.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION We believe the hour has come when the
saints should know and understand, at least in part, the meaning of Israel’s
annual Feasts, for they constitute a very beautiful type and pattern for the
Church. There is a time and a season for the proclamation of every Biblical
truth, and when God’s hour of revelation has struck, the Spirit of God is
gloriously present to remove the veil from God’s secrets and initiate His
people into the mysteries of God. Such is the office work of the Holy Spirit,
to lead and guide the saints into all truth, and to reveal the things which
are to come. (Jn. 16:13). A consecrated and holy walk in the Spirit,
therefore, is the only genuine basis we have for a proper understanding of the
Scriptures. Without that consecration and that walk in the Spirit we might
acquire a considerable understanding of theology, but it will be theology
devoid of Truth. After all, theology is the study about God and about Truth;
whereas Truth is a living, vital, powerful demonstration of the Spirit of God,
pulsating with Divine life and power and wisdom and knowledge. JESUS HIMSELF, THE TRUTH
When Jesus declared so emphatically, "I am the Truth," He there and then
completely demolished the idea the Truth has anything in common with creeds
and doctrines and theories about God and spiritual things. And not only so,
for if Christ is Truth, then Truth comes to us in garments of humility and
meekness and will find little acceptance at the hands of the learned or the
ecclesiastical. It is strange but true that those who lead the masses in the
religious realm are those who cast the Truth aside when He knocks at their
door and asks for admission. There is only one answer to this strange state of
affairs, and it is this: Ecclesiastical success has developed into pride of
heart, and with that pride has come that Laodicean spirit so prevalent in all
evangelical circles today: "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need
of nothing..." (Rev. 3:17). Instead of hungering and thirsting after God and
righteousness, we find on every hand the boastful claims of various sects as
to how much Truth they have, and how much knowledge and understanding of the
Scriptures. Perhaps it is needless to say that such boastful claims merely
establish their Laodicean condition, and hinder them from taking their places
as overcomers on the throne of Christ. The people of God have yet to learn
that the Kingdom belongeth to those who are and have nothing, those who are
poor in spirit, and such as hunger and thirst after righteousness. God
exalteth the meek and lowly to inherit the throne of princes, and the lofty
and noble He sendeth away with empty hands. May God help us each one, as His
people, to humble ourselves and pray and seek His face--and above all things
to recognize how little we have of Truth and Righteousness, that we might be
prepared to receive bountiful spiritual blessings at the hand of Him who
giveth liberally to all men and upbraideth not. GREAT THINGS AHEAD Truly the Lord hath prepared great and mighty things for
His people: things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which have not
entered into the heart of man. (1Cor. 2:9). If God’s true children would only
believe this one Scripture with all their hearts, how greatly it would help to
release the riches of Heaven, and unlock the flood-gates of Glory! We know, of
course, that Christians everywhere loudly profess to believe this, as well as
the rest of the Bible; but in actuality they do not believe it. Yes, they will
acknowledge that God has some great and mighty things prepared for us when we
get to Heaven, but Paul declares in the following verse that these unseen,
unheard-of, and unthought-of things are "revealed...by the Spirit," and not by
way of rapture or death. (vs. 10). Let us, therefore, give all diligence to enter into the realm of the
Spirit, which realm constitutes the real heritage of the saints. Truly the
heritage is ours for the possessing. And if no man from the ascension of
Christ until now has entered into it, it still does not make any difference.
The fact remains, it is ours for conquest if we can believe for it and receive
it. The universal Church has rejected the possibility of possessing it; that
is true; but the history of the Church is by no means the pattern of spiritual
attainment. Paul did not fully apprehend it either; that is true. But he
beheld the glory of it, nevertheless, like Moses who stood on Mount Nebo and
viewed the promised land. And furthermore, he pressed forward with all
diligence by the Spirit "if by any means" he could apprehend it, and confessed
that he had not done so. (Phil. 3:12,13). Thank God, however, for the assurance that some are going to
possess the land! God is not going to close this dispensation until
some really enter in and possess their heritage in Christ Jesus. Paul
declared, "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter
therein." (Heb. 4:6). The first generation that came out of Egypt by
Moses failed to enter in because of unbelief, and God decreed that they would
die in the wilderness. However, He had already sworn that Abraham’s seed would
possess the land, and therefore He raised up a new generation who should go in
and possess what their fathers saw but refused to appropriate. And they did.
God’s purposes cannot miscarry. He will have a people who
shall believe their God and possess their possessions. The early generation of
Spirit-filled people at the turn of the century took their journey from the
blighting wilderness of denominationalism and encamped at their Kadesh-Barnea
on the every doorstep of Canaan--but they too failed to enter in because of
unbelief. Some saw the vision; the majority did not; and they perished in the
wilderness. True, there were a few Calebs and Joshuas who rested in the
promises of God and continued to look forward to better things--and God will
certainly vindicate His word and His oath, and cause them to possess the land
with the new generation that God is now raising up. But as a whole, the people
whom God chose from amongst the denominations and called apart into a new
fellowship in the Spirit and baptized with the Holy Ghost--they failed to
enter into the land, denounced those who exhorted the people to do so--and
turned back into the wilderness like their predecessors in Israel. As surely, therefore, as God’s Word is true and His oath immutable--so
surely is the Lord now raising up a new generation who shall be empowered to
take the promised land of spiritual power and authority, and enter into the
realm of the Spirit of God. "Some must enter therein..." If this new
generation withdraws from the promises in the face of violent opposition, it
too will perish in the wilderness, and God will wait for still another
generation to take the land. Because, "some must enter therein..." His Word
has declared it, and it must come to pass. We feel confident, however, that
this time God’s people will not fail; that in this great hour God Himself will
intervene in wonderful sovereignty on behalf of those who see the vision, and
will take them through to complete and glorious victory. We cannot help but
believe that this new generation will, by God’s Grace, cross over Jordan and
possess the Kingdom prepared for the "little flock" from the foundation of the
world. The powers of heaven are being shaken, according to the prophetic Word.
Great and momentous spiritual battles are being fought and won in heavenly
places. Spiritual hosts of wickedness are beginning to feel the impact of the
saints who are pressing in by the Spirit and beginning to possess their
possessions in "the heavenlies." And above all, the saints of God are
receiving gifts of the Spirit, the gifts are developing into ministries of the
Spirit--and these ministries constitute God’s only method "for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:12,13). Thank God for that inborn confidence and assurance in the hearts of His
people that the "hour has come" for the unveiling of the Sons of God; that the
eternal purposes of God in the Church are about to be revealed; that we stand
now on the brink of Jordan prepared and ready to follow the priests of the
Lord and the ark of the covenant into a new experience in Christ; down into
death and humiliation and abasement in Jordan, but up on the other side into
life and victory and authority in Canaan. Let us constantly bear in mind the
rules and principles of Christian warfare; namely, that we conquer by
yielding, we receive by giving, we overcome by being defeated, and we live by
dying. There is no other way except the way of the Cross. The Cross of Christ
stands out on the horizons of time and eternity, not only as the means of
pardon from sin and the gateway to Eternal Life--but as the one and only
principle of Christian conduct. "If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find
it." (Matt. 16:24,25). THREE GREAT FEASTS FOR THE CHURCH
We are confident that the hour has come in the history of the Church when
Israel’s annual cycle of Feasts is about to be fulfilled in the midst of the
saints. And inasmuch as the natural observance of the Feasts constitutes a
type and pattern of great and momentous spiritual events, it is vitally
important that we should understand their meaning. The Scriptures reveal the
fact that there were three annual festival seasons in Israel’s worship. Other
days were added in later years to commemorate certain events, but according to
the original Levitical pattern there were three occasions during the year when
all Israel was called upon to observe a national religious festival. And
inasmuch as the Church of Christ is the true spiritual Israel (a fact which we
will establish from the Scriptures later.) and what happened to natural Israel
constituted merely a type and shadow of what should happen to spiritual
Israel--we can derive great spiritual benefit and comfort by studying the
types in the Old Testament, and then discovering by the Spirit wherein they
apply to us on a higher and vaster spiritual plane. For the scriptures make it
very clear that "all these things happened unto them for ensamples (as a
figure, or type): and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come." (1Cor. 10:11). And not only so. For we have abundant evidence from the New Testament to
establish the fact that two of the three annual Feasts of Israel’s worship
have already been fulfilled in Christ and His Church: fulfilled, moreover, in
a way so manifestly clear from the Scriptures that we do not hesitate to
declare that we are now on the verge of the fulfillment of the last annual
Feast of the Lord. If God declares that the Old Testament is to be fulfilled
in Christ and His Church, that is certainly sufficient for us. Buy when we can
actually look into the New Testament and see the manner in which two of the
three Feasts have already been gloriously fulfilled, what great consolation
and comfort it is for the saints who are looking forward to the fulfillment of
the last Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles. In this study, therefore, we wish to present some of the fundamental
principles concerning the great events transpiring at this present season, and
mention other events that are yet to transpire, by way of fulfilling the Old
Testament Feasts. We appeal entirely to the Word of God and the Spirit of God;
for it is evident that the natural man cannot receive, much less teach, the
things of the Spirit of God. If it is God’s Word, then it is infinite and
eternal, and far beyond any human understanding; and only the Spirit can
reveal and quicken it to us. We are aware that we have only touched the fringe of Truth relative to this
great subject which we have undertaken to explore; and we know that when the
Scriptures are openly and manifestly fulfilled before our very eyes--the
unveiled Truth and Glory of the Feasts of the Lord shall far transcend
anything that we have ever imagined in our contemplation and meditation of the
Word. But this, indeed, is cause for great encouragement--knowing that in the
hour of the great Unveiling of the Sons of God we shall see and hear and
perceive and experience a power and a glory such as we have never imagined to
be within the realm of possibility. May God, therefore, give us guidance by His Spirit to see and understand
and contemplate wondrous things out of His Word--the entrance of which giveth
light to such as are in darkness, and the appropriation of which giveth
understanding to the simple, wisdom to the foolish, and illumination to the
blind. We care not for established creeds or doctrines or theological
disputes, nor for the marginal notes we find in our various expository and
reference Bibles. God has spoken, and that is sufficient. If Christians are
content to abide by the revelation they have received at the hands of great
men of the past--let them be content. But God is now leading His people onward
and upward to higher heights, to greater depths, to vaster expanses of Truth
and Glory than the saints have ever enjoyed or appropriated in the past.
Therefore we fix our hopes and our eyes upon the God of increasing revelation,
even on Him who is ...Able to do ...Exceedingly...Abundantly ...Above all
...That we ask ...Or Think ...According to the power ...That worketh in us.
Let others look at the apostasy of a corrupt church system; but let us
behold the unfolding glory of the true Church, and exult with the Apostle
Paul, in the face of all opposition; "Unto Him be glory in the Church by
Christ Jesus through all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph. 3:20,21). MANY GROUPS IN THE CHURCH
We make no particular attempt in this study to distinguish between the
Church, the Body, the Bride, the Sons, and so forth. That there are many
different groups which may be included in the word "Church" is quite evident
from the Scriptures, and from Creation itself. But the Lord knoweth them that
are His in each particular group, and in His own good time it will be
manifest. A building in its formative stages appears to be but one vast
conglomeration of scaffolds, framework, brick and steel--and it is not too
evident how many rooms there will be, and for what purpose the rooms are
intended. But in the day of its completion it is all quite evident. So shall
it be with the Church of Christ. For there are celestial bodies and
terrestrial bodies; one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of
the stars--and even one star differeth from another star in glory. So shall it
be in the day of Christ, when each man is revealed in His own order according
to the plan and purpose of God. THE CHURCH IN OLD TESTAMENT TYPE AND
PROPHECY Before we begin to deal with the typical significance of the various Feasts
of the Lord, it will be necessary for us to establish the fact that the Old
Testament, in type and prophecy, is applicable to the Church of Jesus Christ
on a spiritual plane. It is quite common among all evangelical circles to hear
sermons which are based upon the Old Testament and expounded in the light of
the New; but there are so many who would insist on a literal and natural
interpretation if and when a spiritual interpretation would conflict with
their theological views. For example, there is no question as to the meaning of the Passover. It is
established beyond all question that Jesus Christ is our Passover, who has
been sacrificed for us. Then we have the type of the Unleavened Bread--and
Paul exhorts the saints to keep this Feast, "not with old leaven, neither with
the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth." (1Cor. 5:8). All Christians are agreed on this
interpretation. Next in order is the waving of the Sheaf of Firstfruits before
the Lord. That too, is generally recognized as having been fulfilled in Christ
on resurrection morning: "Christ, the firstfruits..." Then comes Pentecost,
occurring fifty days after the Passover sabbath--and the typical significance
of this Feast is definitely established in the New Testament, when the Holy
Spirit descended upon the waiting disciples to bestow upon them the promise of
the Father. (Acts 2). But for some strange reason this pattern of Biblical
exposition is forsaken, and men seek to postpone the last three events
comprising the Feast of Tabernacles to some future age, and to a people other
than the Church. And whereas the first four events are generally taught as
being applicable to the Church in a spiritual way, the last three are given a
most literal and natural and earthly interpretation, and consequently the real
spiritual meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles is completely obscured and lost.
It is essential therefore that the saints know for a certainty that the Old
Testament was written for us, and that the truths which once applied to an
earthly and natural Israel, are now gloriously applicable to a heavenly and
spiritual Israel, only on a much higher and much more glorious spiritual
plane. Much could be said concerning this, but we believe a few Scriptures
will suffice for the purpose of this study: Rom. 4:13-16. Here it is clearly and emphatically declared that the
Abrahamic promises were not only to the circumcision, but also to the
uncircumcision; and in either case to men of faith. Neither the circumcision
nor the uncircumcision had any share in the promises of the Old Testament,
except they were men of faith: "For the promise, that he should be the heir of
the world, was not to Abraham, or 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." Rom. 9:6-8. Again the apostle stresses the fact that it is the children of
promise, not the children of the flesh, who constitute the promised seed to
whom the covenants apply. "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are
counted for the seed." Gal. 3:22. "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Eph. 2:12-14. "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." Eph. 3:3,6. "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery: (as
I wrote afore in few words...) that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of
the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." 1 Pet. 1:9-12. This is a most conclusive passage as to verifying what we
have said concerning the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the Church. Here
Peter plainly declares that the prophets wrote primarily of the grace that was
to come unto us, and the glory that was to follow Christ’s sufferings. He goes
so far as to say that the prophets were not ministering to their day and age,
but "unto us...," and that the things they prophesied are now proclaimed unto
the saints under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. This is what he says,
"Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which
salvation the prophets have enquired 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 (he) 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." HOW THE APOSTLES ESTABLISHED CHURCH TRUTH
Many, many more scriptures could be quoted to confirm what we have been
saying. But perhaps the most conclusive evidence of all is the fact that the
apostles, in their writings, refer constantly to the Old Testament to prove
the truths they are declaring to the Church, and make innumerable quotations
from all portions of the Law and the Prophets to confirm their doctrines of
Christ and the Church. Nor do they make any apologies whatsoever, or even
intimate that they are taking an Old Testament Scripture out of its context.
Therefore if it should seem strange to some that we should quote from the Law
and the Prophets to confirm some spiritual truth concerning the Body of
Christ--let the reader take careful note when reading the New Testament, as to
how the apostles applied the Old Testament to the Church which Christ built,
and applied to spiritual Israel what the prophets originally prophesied
concerning natural Israel. THE TRUE ISRAEL The whole New Testament is literally filled with direct quotations from the
Old, by way of establishing Church truth, and the saints of God as the true
Israel. Notice this remarkable passage in Romans: "Even us, whom he hath
called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in
Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved,
which was not beloved. 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." (Rom. 9:24-26). Paul has just referred to Jews
and Gentiles alike as being the "vessels of glory," and then he quoted this
passage from Hosea to prove what he said. Bear in mind that Paul referred to
them as the "vessels of glory" taken from Jew and Gentile alike. Then let us
refer to the passage he quoted from in Hosea. Here we discover that the people
Hosea wrote about constituted the true Israel. Without the further revelation
given to the apostle Paul, one would never have discerned that Hosea was
actually including the Gentiles in his prophecy concerning Israel’s
blessedness. First of all he declares God’s displeasure with Israel, and
affirms that God will not be their God: "Then said God, Call his name Loammi:
for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God." That seems to be
conclusive: natural Israel is rejected, and they are no longer God’s people.
However, in the very next verse the prophet declares: "Yet the number of the
children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered: and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said
unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the
sons of the living God." (See Hos. 1:9,10). How could Hosea declare Israel had
been rejected in vs. 9, then in vs. 10 affirm that the children of Israel
should become as the sand of the sea? The apostle Paul quotes this passage
from Hosea, and explains why the apparent contradiction. The answer is clear:
God had now received the Gentiles into the Olive Tree of Israel. "Even us,
whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles...As he
saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people..."
This clearly explains why Israel could be rejected on the one hand, and at the
same time become as measureless as the sands of the sea. The natural branches
were broken off, but spiritual branches were grafted in from the Gentile
wild-olive--and the tree of Israel retained its glory. In fact, it became even
more glorious as a result of Israel’s rejection--it brought to pass even "the
reconciling of the world." (Rom. 11:15). Let us bear these truths in mend, therefore, as we study the various types
and prophecies of the Old Testament--for unless we understand that the Bible,
the whole Bible, was written for us, we are bound to deny ourselves the glory
which God intended we should derive from the Word. "Unto us," the prophets
ministered (1Pet. 1:12). The history of Israel constituted them as "ensamples
(or types)" for us, and the records "are written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the world are come" (1Cor. 10:11). The Law, we are told, expressed
"a shadow of (the) good things to come, and not the very image of the things."
(Heb. 10:1). And the saints of the New Testament are "a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people...which in time past were
not a people, but are now the people of God..." (1Pet. 2:9,10). Here again a
simple reference to the Old Testament shows us clearly that the apostle was
referring to the true Israel. (See Ex. 19:6, Hos. 2:23). That God will yet restore the natural Israel that was cast off, and graft
back into the Olive Tree the branches which were cut off in unbelief--that is
true, and the glory which shall accompany such a transformation is beyond
words to express. The apostle simply describes this revival in four brief
words: "Life from the dead..." (Rom. 11:15). When and in what manner this
shall be fulfilled, God shall manifest in His own good time, and it does not
concern us so far as this study is concerned. But the fact remains, Israel
never was completely cast off, for "God hath not cast away his people which he
foreknew." (Rom. 11:2). Only this disobedient were cast off; the believing
Gentiles in turn were grafted into the same Olive Tree, and became "with them"
partakers "of the root and fatness of the olive tree." (Rom. 11:17). Let us glory in our heritage, therefore, and in the fact that we who once
had no share in the covenants of promise, and were without God and without
hope in the world, are now "fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." (Eph.
2:12,19,20). In the following pages, therefore we have no hesitancy what-so-ever in
quoting profusely from the Old Testament and New, by way of establishing these
glorious Church truths. If the apostle Paul was "rightly dividing the Word of
truth" when he made some eighty-five references to the Old Testament in the
one letter he wrote to the Romans, by way of establishing the Gospel of the
Grace of God and the doctrines of the Church; and at least eighteen such
references in the short letter he wrote to the Galatians; and well over one
hundred such references in the epistle to the Hebrews; and if Peter would dare
make some thirty references or quotations from the Old Testament in his first
epistle; and if the beloved John should make direct quotations from, or
references to, practically four hundred Old Testament Scriptures in the Book
of Revelation: then we care not in the least if orthodox theology forbids us
to take Old Testament type and prophecy and apply them to the Church. The
apostles have already done so under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that
is sufficient for men who believe in the verbal inspiration of the Holy
Scriptures. THE OLD, THE PATTERN OF THE NEW
There is a simple order that God has established relative to the
progression of Truth and to the creation itself, and it is this: "Howbeit that
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual." (1Cor. 15:46). This principle is evident everywhere
in the Scriptures. First the old creation, then the New. First darkness, then
light. First a garden in Eden and the tree of life, then the Garden of God and
the real Tree of Life. First Adam, then the Last Adam. First the Passover,
then the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. First Law, and
then Grace. First the typical Feast of Tabernacles, then the unveiled glory of
God in the spiritual Feast of Tabernacles. And the wonder of it all is this,
that the end of the Old is the beginning of the New; and out of that which is
destined to pass away there cometh forth that which is destined to remain.
And so it was that God called light out of darkness. It came to pass also
that from the first Adam there came Christ, destined not only to become the
Last Adam (the last of Adam, the last of the old race), but the Second Man
(the beginning of the second creation). Likewise, the Last Passover was the
occasion of the true Passover that was sacrificed for us. And when Christ died
on the Cross, and the veil of the temple was rent in twain--that was the end
of the Law, but it was also the beginning of Grace. God always "taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second." (Heb. 10:9). It is important, therefore, that we should always observe that which is
first, and natural, and from the natural learn to discern in what way it
typifies the spiritual. If we read of the natural Passover, God intends that
from the various circumstances and rituals connected with the natural we
should hear what He would say to us concerning the spiritual Passover, even
Christ. If it is the Feast of Weeks, then in this God would teach us
concerning the true Feast of Weeks, even Pentecost. If it is the Day of
Atonement, then let us learn to discern the pattern of the true Atonement. And
so likewise, if the Feast of Tabernacles is being observed, it is for the
purpose that we might learn great and mighty spiritual truths from the natural
circumstances and events transpiring at the Feast. If we bear this in mind we
will receive a mine of wealth from the various occasions in the Old Testament
and New when the Feast of Tabernacles was observed. There are three occasions
in particular that we shall refer to, as having a most remarkable application
to the spiritual Feast of Tabernacles which lies just ahead of us. These three
occasions are: the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, the restoration of the
temple following the captivity, and the presence of Jesus at the Feast of
Tabernacles in the time of His earthly ministry. These three observances of
the Feast will be dealt with in detail in the last three chapters of the book.
The particular characteristics of all three events must find their glorious
fulfillment, only on a much higher and vaster spiritual plane than when they
were first observed--in this great hour in which we live. THE ORDER OF THE FEASTS
As we begin this study, we would exhort the reader to carefully read all
that we have to say in this first section of the book, for it is written to
form a foundation, as it were, for some of the glorious truths which are to
follow. We realize that much of the information that is given concerning dates
and seasons may appear insignificant and unimportant, but they are necessary,
nevertheless, in order that the reader may more readily appreciate the
glorious truths concerning the third and last Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The three great annual Feast of the Lord in Israel’s worship are set forth
in considerable detail in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. In a very real sense
these Feasts prefigure and typify the whole Church age beginning with the
Cross and consummating in the manifestation of the Sons of God and the
glorious display of God’s power and glory. It is, of course, this great
unveiling that we are chiefly concerned about--for the eternal purposes of God
begin to be accomplished in that glorious event. But we cannot have a proper
understanding of the end, unless we know somewhat of the beginning. We cannot
appreciate the Glory, unless we learn about the Cross. We cannot enter the
Kingdom, unless we first learn obedience by the things which we suffer. The
Feasts therefore begin with the Passover, and end with the Feast of
Tabernacles; and in between we have the various steps and degrees by which the
Church is brought out of death and into life, out of rejection and into
exaltation, out of suffering and into the Kingdom. The three Feasts in
Israel’s annual cycle of religious ceremonies were: 1. The Feast of the Passover. 2. The Feast of Pentecost. 3. The Feast of Tabernacles. These three Feasts, moreover, consisted of seven major events, three of
which comprised the Feast of the Passover, then one stood alone--Pentecost,
and then the remaining three events comprise the Feast of Tabernacles. A brief
summary of the Feasts with their various festival events may be helpful: I The Feast of the Passover, or the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. This Feast consisted of: 1. The Passover. (See Ex. 12:1-23; Lev. 23:4,5; Deut.
16:1-3). 2. The Unleavened Bread. (See Ex. 12:18; 23:15; Lev.
23:6-8; Deut. 16:3-4). 3. The Sheaf of Firstfruits. (See Lev. 23:10-14).
II The Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, of
Harvest, of Firstfruits. (See Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:15-21; Deut. 16:9-12; Acts
2:1). III The Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths,
or of Ingathering. This Feast consisted of: 1. The Blowing of Trumpets. (See Lev. 23:24-25).
2. The Day of Atonement. (See Lev. 16; 23:27-32).
3. The Feast of Tabernacles. (See Ex. 23:16; Lev.
23:34-44; Deut. 16:13-15). All Israel’s worship seemed to center around these three great annual
Feasts. They were the occasions of great convocations, the keeping of
sabbaths, the eating of certain foods, the performance of certain ordinances
and rituals, and a time of great consecration and sanctification: "Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God
in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in
the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear
before the Lord empty." (Deut. 16:16). It is our intention to deal at some length with each of the seven festival
events comprising the three Feasts, and to show in what manner they have been
fulfilled, or shall yet be fulfilled, in the Church of Jesus Christ. Our
primary purpose, of course, is to present the last great Feast, the Feast of
Tabernacles, in the light of the New Testament--and especially in the light of
what God is now doing in the formation of His Body, the Church. For truly the
Lord is moving by His Spirit, moving o’er all the earth--brooding dovelike
over the distressing state of affairs existing in the Church today, that He
might bring order and harmony and peace out of chaos and darkness. And as
surely as the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep in the beginning,
and commanded light to shine out of darkness, and life to spring up out of the
place of death--so surely will the voice of God once again in the ends of the
ages restore the glory of Zion, and give unto her "beauty for ashes, the oil
of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." CHAPTER 2 THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
The first Passover was observed by the children of Israel in the land of
Egypt, on the eve of their departure out of the house of bondage into the
wilderness. It was the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. God
had raised up a deliverer for the people in the person of the Man Moses, and
had equipped him with such power and authority in the Spirit that he was to
Pharaoh even "as God." Many and dreadful and great were the signs and wonders
which were wrought by his hand, so that Egypt became utterly wasted at the
hands of a God of judgment. One by one the plagues fell upon the land; and
time and again Pharaoh promised to let the people go, only to harden his heart
when the plague was lifted. Finally God declared His judgment upon the
firstborn of all the land of Egypt--and then Egypt was literally "glad" to see
the people depart, so dreadful and far-reaching was the destruction of the
Almighty. 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" (Ex. 12:1,2). As from this date Israel was to have a new
calendar. It was to be the first month instead of the second, because God was
going to deliver them from Egyptian bondage, and bring them into a new
experience and into a new land. Israel’s old associations were to be gone
forever. No longer would they serve the Egyptian taskmaster under hard
bondage, but they were to serve the Lord their God. No longer were they to eat
the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, but they would feast upon manna from
heaven, and drink water out of the flinty rock. No longer would they abide in
the houses of their little world in Egypt, but they would henceforth follow
the cloud of glory from one place to another, from one experience to another,
even from "glory to glory." Had not the Lord plainly declared, "I have surely
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry
by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down
to deliver them." (Ex. 3:7,8). And so, to deliver Israel from the judgment of
the firstborn, and to prepare them for a new life as a separated and holy
nation, God instituted the Passover. And this event would mean the
preservation of Israel in the hour of God’s judgments upon the land of Egypt,
and the beginning of a new era for the people of God. So it is that the Cross of Christ becomes the beginning of a new era for
the children of God. Old things begin to pass away, and all things begin to
become new. The bondage of the world, the flesh, and the Devil, gives way to a
liberty in the Spirit, and a life of servitude to the God of our salvation.
"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
(Rom. 6:18). From the time we receive Christ as our personal Saviour, and
really partake of the benefits of Calvary’s Cross--from that very hour we
begin a new life in God. And whereas, we once served the enemy of our souls
under cruel bondage, now we have become the voluntary bond-slaves of Christ.
And after all, the only liberty man will ever find in this world is the
liberty which he drives in becoming the "slave" of the Lord Jesus. Paul
delighted in calling himself a "doulos," a "bond-slave" of Christ. Man is only
free when he is bound to Christ with a chain of love and friendship which
neither the cares of life nor the attacks of Satan can sever. A LAMB FOR AN HOUSE Our Passover Lamb is sufficient for all our needs. And though men have
appropriated His grace and blessing from the foundation of the world even
until now--still there remaineth grace sufficient for any sinner who comes to
Christ. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; the ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." (2Cor.
9:8). THE LAMB TO BE WITHOUT BLEMISH This was necessary because it typified the true "Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world." (Jn. 1:29). "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." (1Pet.
1:18,19). THE LAMB MUST BE KILLED Modernism will accept the Lamb of God as He teaches in the temple, lives a
life of righteousness and purity, and expounds His parables. But they will
have nothing to do with the Lamb who was crucified for their sins. And
therefore the door of salvation is closed to them. For there is positively no
acceptance for any man before God except by the shedding of the precious blood
of Christ. It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul, and "without
shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. 9:22). THE BLOOD MUST BE APPLIED It is not even sufficient that the lamb should be slain; the blood of the
slain lamb must be applied to the door-posts of the house. In other words,
there must be an individual and personal appropriation, by faith, of the work
of the Cross. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (Mercy Seat)
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. (Rom. 3:25,26). THE FLESH MUST BE EATEN Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at
the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." (Jn.
6:53-55). It was a hard saying then, and it is a hard saying today. How can we
eat the flesh of Christ? So reasons the natural man. But we can do so by the
Spirit, through faith. We may eat His flesh in daily meditation and
appropriation of the Word. We may eat His flesh in prayer and communion by the
Spirit. And we may eat his flesh as we discern the Lord’s Body in the
Communion. Jesus said, and incidentally it was on the occasion of the last
Passover, "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of
me." (Lk. 22:19). For He was the fulfillment of every Passover Lamb which was
ever offered in Jewish ceremony; and the Substance having been revealed, the
type has passed away. THE PEOPLE MUST DEPART The children of Israel were to eat the Passover lamb with their loins
girded and with their shoes on their feet-ready to depart from Egypt. The
moment a man receives Christ as his Passover Lamb, he must there and then be
prepared to depart from the world and all of its allurements. He is not saved
by works, and it is entirely unscriptural to teach holiness as the means of
salvation. For it is not within the power of any man in Adam’s fallen race to
present himself acceptably before God. There is none righteous, no not so much
as one; and by the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God’s
sight. (See Rom. 3:9-31). He receives the efficacy of the blood, and eats of
the Passover Lamb by faith--and that constitutes his salvation. But when one
identifies himself with Christ he must depart from the world and its
corrupting influences, and be prepared to follow his Lord in the pathway of
separation and consecration. Then only, by the works of grace produced in the
heart, do we behold the scriptural signs and evidences of the salvation of
Christ. THE BLOOD IS THE SIGN
"When I see the blood I will pass over you." (Ex. 12:13). For our part we
must apply the blood by faith to our hearts. Our feet must be shod, and we
must be ready to leave the old ways behind. We must participate in Christ, and
give evidence of the fact that we are true disciples. But so far as God is
concerned He beholds this one token: "When I see the blood I will pass over
you." God is eternally satisfied with the work of Calvary’s Cross, and we as
God’s children are "accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. 1:6). "For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." (2Cor. 5:21).
‘Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me;
Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die.’
O, there are so many, many things that we have left unsaid concerning the
Passover Lamb. He is the theme of the whole Bible. All spiritual blessings
stem from Calvary, and all power and glory and majesty pertaineth to the Lamb
that was slain, and He is therefore "Worthy...to receive power, and riches,
and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." (Rev. 5:12).
CHAPTER 3
THE UNLEAVENED
BREAD
The observance of the Unleavened Bread followed Passover and
was associated with it. So much so that the two events were regarded as being
one and the same Feast. We read therefore, "Now the feast of unleavened bread
drew nigh, which is called the Passover." (Lk. 22:1; Matt. 26:17). The
Passover event itself was on the fourteenth day of the first month, in the
evening. Then the Unleavened Bread continued from the fifteenth day until the
twenty-first day, seven days in all.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LEAVEN
As to the spiritual significance of the Unleavened Bread we
are not left in doubt. Says Paul to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that a
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven,
that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover
is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth." (1Cor. 5:6-8). The penetrating and spreading characteristics of leaven make
it to be a fitting type of malice and wickedness in a believer or in an
assembly. Paul likens the persuasive and corrupting influence of the Judaizers
upon the Galatians to "leaven." "This persuasion cometh not of him that
calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Gal. 5:8,9). Again,
our Lord likens the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees to "leaven,"
because of their evil influence. "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees, and of the Sadducees." (Matt. 16:6). To observe the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, therefore is to live a life that is free from the corrupting
influences of sin and the flesh. HOW TO BE FREE FROM LEAVEN When the children of Israel departed from Egypt they gathered
up their dough before it was leavened, for they did not have opportunity to
leaven it, "because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry." (Ex.
12:39). Had they lingered in Egypt, they would have had plenty of opportunity
to leaven their dough; but because they were thrust out in haste their bread
was unleavened. So it is with the child of God. As long as he is pressing on
with God, and fleeing from the corrupting influences of the world, the flesh,
and the Devil--his life is free from sin. He does not have "time" for sin to
work within him. He is too busy following his God and following on in the
pathway of obedience. But let him linger by the way, lose the vision of the
glory that is set before him, and yearn for the good old days when he had
plenty in Egypt--and leaven will begin to work afresh in his life. Let any
child of God, or group of saints, lose the vision of God’s glory, and before
long that man or that assembly becomes filled with the leaven of malice and
wickedness. There is only one sure way by which a stream of water can be kept
pure and clean--and that is by flowing. Let it be diverted into an open
pit, and before long the water becomes a stagnant pool and will breed
corruption and death. So it is with Truth. When an individual, and assembly,
or a group of assemblies settles back in self-complacency, satisfied with
their condition, and content with the thought that they have arrived at the
Truth--stagnation immediately sets in, the leaven begins to function, and
"malice and wickedness" characterize the whole denomination. You simply cannot
expect to keep a sect clean from the corrupting influences of the flesh,
because if they linger behind when the glory-cloud moves forward, they have
plenty of time to leaven their dough. On the other hand, if you proceed from
"glory to glory" there is no opportunity for you to become leavened. MODERN PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES That is why Jesus warned the disciples to beware of the
leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now the doctrines of the Sadducees were
definitely false, for they denied the resurrection, the fact of angels and
spirits, and so forth. They were the predecessors of our modern religions
which have a form of godliness but "deny the power thereof." They denied the
supernatural; and we have plenty of Sadducees in the world today. But the
Pharisees, on the other hand, were quite orthodox in their teachings; so much
so that Jesus commanded His own disciples to observe and do what they said.
(Matt. 23:3). Why then did He tell the same disciples to "beware" of their
doctrine? For this simple reason: "They say, and do not." What they said was
all right, generally speaking, but their works gave the lie to their
teachings. So it is with our modern Pharisees, our orthodox Christian
teachers. They teach about the power of Jesus’ blood; they lift you to heights
of praise as they expound the glories of the celestial, and the power of
Christ’s resurrection; they speak much of the miracles of Christ, and the
power of the early Church; they will expound the doctrines of healing, and
miracles, and the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. But "they say, and do
not." And not only that: for they condemn and denounce the man who wishes to
go in and explore the glories of resurrection life and the "powers of the age
to come." They think it is all right to talk about resurrection and life and
the heavenly realm--but when one suggests that this is the heritage of the
saints here and now, there are loud protests from the Pharisees. Then the
leaven begins its subtle influence, and an orthodox theology develops into
malice and wickedness. O saints of God everywhere, let us launch out into the deep!
Let us lift our anchor which has gripped the earth for so long--and let us
become anchored to Christ in the heavens, where we ought to be anchored. For
God has intended that our anchor should pass into the heavens, behind the
veil, whither the forerunner has for us entered. (Heb. 6:19,20). If we are
anchored to earth, and to the doctrines of men, we will be earth-bound
creatures; but once we anchor to Heaven and to the Man behind the veil, we are
Heaven-bound creatures--and we are constantly rising higher and higher and
higher into the realms of the Spirit. Then one day, thank God!--the veil of
the flesh shall be rent asunder, and we shall see Him as He is! And when we
speak this way, we are not talking about physical death, nor about the
rapture; but we are speaking of seeing Him "who is invisible," as Moses did of
old. We shall see Him, even though the world sees Him not. Did not Jesus say,
"The world seeth me no more; but ye see me..." (Jn. 14:19)? And was He
not speaking of seeing Him in the Spirit, because of the coming of the Holy
Spirit into the hearts of the disciples? THE LORD’S SUPPER "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called
the Passover." (Lk. 22:1). It is most significant and enlightening when we
discover that Jesus used the natural observance of the Feasts of the
Lord by which to explain and reveal their spiritual significance. So it
was on the occasion of the last Passover that Jesus revealed its true
spiritual significance. To fulfill the righteousness of the Law on the one
hand, and to establish the new Covenant on the other, the Lord kept this Feast
with His disciples. "With desire," He said, "I have desired to eat this
passover with you before I suffer." (Lk. 22:15). He greatly desired to do this
that He might introduce His disciples into a new order of worship and
fellowship in the Spirit. On the eve of the Passover, when He Himself was
about to be slain as the true Passover Lamb, then it was that our Lord
gathered His disciples together and gave them the ordinance of the Lord’s
Supper. He finished the old ceremony that He might establish the new. For it
is always consistent with God’s plains and purposes that He takes away the
first before He establishes the second. (Heb. 10:9). And again, "Howbeit that
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual." (1Cor. 15:46). First the earthly, then the heavenly.
First the flesh, and then the Spirit. Christ was therefore desirous to eat the
last Passover with His disciples, that He might take it away and establish the
new Feast, the Lord’s Supper. "And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake
it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this
do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup
is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you." (Lk. 22:19,20). THIS IS THE HOUR OF RESTORATION It is certain that God is now preparing His people for the
greatest Feast of her long history--the Feast of Tabernacles. And therefore it
is not without significance that in this day and hour of restoration God is
stressing the spiritual significance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that we
might be prepared to go on to the fullness of Pentecost, and then to
Tabernacles. And this must be so, because it is always God’s plan to lead us
from "glory to glory" and from one experience to the next in Divine order. And
though it is true that the Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost, both found their
fulfillment in Christ and the early Church--we have now come to the "ends of
the ages" when the glory of the past must be restored and absorbed in the last
great Feast of the Church. Truth having been largely lost or obscured during
the Dark Ages, the Spirit is now as never before bringing forth out of God’s
treasure-house things new and old, re-establishing the walls and foundations
of Truth, and rebuilding the Temple of God. And so from Reformation days and
until now, God has graciously been restoring lost Truth; and the Reformation
is by no means finished yet. Therefore, with the corruption and division of God’s people,
the true meaning of the Lord’s Supper has been lost. That is why Paul said to
the Corinthians, rent asunder as they were with strife and heresy: "When ye
come together therefore into one place, this is not (or, it is not possible)
to eat the Lord’s Supper." (1Cor. 11:20). The fact is this: the Lord’s Supper,
when observed in the Spirit, and in spiritual union and fellowship with the
saints, is actual participation with Christ. "The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of (participation with) the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of (participation with) the
body of Christ?" (1Cor. 10:16). Therefore, without that spiritual
participation and fellowship, it is really not the Lord’s Supper. True, the
Corinthians partook of the elements of the Communion just the same as our
churches do today--but it was not really the Lord’s Supper, because in their
carnality they did not understand its true meaning, and instead of
appropriating Christ they became weak and sickly, and many even died. This however, is the day and hour when God is moving by His
Spirit to restore His Church, to perfect the saints, and to establish unity in
the Body of Christ. This is the day and hour that God has chosen to restore
the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem, and turn again the captivity of Zion. And
therefore, it is beginning to become possible, once again, for the saints to
eat the Lord’s Supper in reality, and partake of Christ in so doing. "For we
being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one
bread." (1Cor. 10:17). Perhaps we have often wondered why there are so many
sick and weak saints of God. But how could we have anything else with a Church
filled with malice and wickedness and disunity and bitterness? Under such
conditions the Church has been doing nothing more nor less than eating and
drinking condemnation to itself--and consequently many have become weak and
sickly, and many have died. For it is only in discerning the Lord’s Body that
we can expect to derive healing and health and life from the Table of the
Lord. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation (condemnation) to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body..." (1Cor.
11:29). THE REAL UNITY IS SPIRITUAL This Feast is pre-eminently a spiritual Feast, and
consequently a spiritual unity that God is mostly concerned about. Let us not
be deceived into thinking that great mass rallies, with hundreds and thousands
of people from various sects assembled together in one building, constitute
the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is a spiritual Body, and the unity in
that Body is a spiritual unity. In this Body, Divine life can flow from one
member to another, and from Christ the Head to all members--as the various
members minister one to another by the Spirit, and Christ the Head ministers
to the whole Body by the same Spirit. Feasting upon the Unleavened Bread,
therefore, is living in real genuine fellowship and communion with all the
saints, recognizing their God-ordained ministry in the Body of Christ, and
giving honour one to another in meekness and humility. May our constant prayer
be, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread. Make us one, even as thou didst pray
in the gathering darkness of the Cross. Purge out of our midst the old leaven,
that we might become a new lump. Rid us of all our carnal ways--from divisive
tendencies, from the chaos of doctrinal disputes, from hatred and variance and
emulations and strife. Restore unity to Thy people, that we may become that
holy and glorious Church of which all the prophets and apostles have spoken
since the world began. Give us the mind of Christ, till we all think and say
and believe and understand the same things.’ And rest assured, child of God, that this prayer is going to
be answered; for it is the burden--not only of the holy apostles and prophets
who penned the sacred pages of the Bible, but also the prayer of the Son of
God Himself, who testified concerning His Father, "I know Thou hearest Me
always." CHAPTER 4 THE SHEAF OF
FIRSTFRUITS The waving of the Sheaf of Firstfruits before the Lord
took place "on the morrow after the sabbath." Hence it would be on the
sixteenth day of the first month. All the events, therefore in connection with
the Feast of Unleavened Bread find their perfect fulfillment in the death and
resurrection of Christ. The Passover event itself was on the fourteenth day of
the first month, in the evening. That is the day of the crucifixion, which in
the New Testament is called the Preparation, or the day before the sabbath.
(See Mk. 15:42; Lk. 23:56). Then followed the days of Unleavened Bread,
beginning on the fifteenth day, and continuing for seven days. Then on the
sixteenth day, which was "the morrow after the sabbath" the Sheaf of
Firstfruits was waved before the Lord. It is clear from the New Testament that Christ rose "the
third day." (Matt. 16:21; Lk. 23:54-56; 24:46), and according to the generally
accepted terms of the day this was equivalent to saying he rose "after three
days." (Matt. 27:63; Mk. 8:31). Therefore, to fulfill the type of the Old
Testament, it is clear that Christ was crucified on the day of the Passover,
the sabbath followed the next day, and the Sheaf of Firstfruits was waved
before the Lord on the "morrow after the sabbath." CHRIST, THE FIRSTFRUITS Here we have a beautiful type, therefore, of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead on the "morrow after the sabbath." Mark tells
us, "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week..." (Mk. 16:9).
It was the beginning of the harvest season, when the fields were beginning to
show the first signs of a ripening harvest. Before there was any general
harvest, however, one sheaf was garnered and waved before the
Lord on the first day of the week, during the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. And therefore in the waving of that one sheaf, Israel would be
reminded of the fact that soon a great harvest was to be gathered in. Perhaps there was not a single person in the camp of Israel
who saw anything more in that ordinance than the promise of a great
harvest--but in type it spoke beautifully of "Christ, the firstfruits." (1Cor.
15:20,23). And just as assuredly as the one ripe sheaf testified to
Israel that a great harvest was soon to be garnered, so surely did the
resurrection of Christ testify to the fact that soon after that event there
would be a great spiritual harvest of souls. And so there was! Thousands upon
thousands came to know the Lord in the weeks that were to follow, when God
sent forth the Holy Spirit and empowered His waiting disciples to preach the
Gospel. Soon the revival spread to the Gentiles, and the apostle Paul was
raised up to evangelize practically the whole Roman Empire. THE CORN OF WHEAT MUST DIE Jesus Himself testified, "Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit." (Jn. 12:24). Except He die, there could be no harvest. And the fact
that He did die and rose again was positive proof that there would be a great
and mighty harvest. "Christ the firstfruits..." And if He was
"firstfruits," then certainly there must be a great harvest to follow
His resurrection. This explains, in part, the strange reply that Jesus gave to
Philip and Andrew when they told Him of certain Greeks who desired to see Him.
Incidentally it was the Feast of the Passover, when these God-fearing Greeks
had gathered to observe the Feast of the Jews. Jesus’ only reply was: "Except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit." In other words, in His present position He had
no ministry for them, for He had nothing in common with them. He must first go
down into death before He could mean anything to them. If and when His death
was accomplished, then He would be able to minister life to all men,
irrespective of race or nationality, in the great harvest that would follow
His resurrection. That great harvest constitutes the Feast of Pentecost. CHAPTER 5 THE FEAST OF
PENTECOST The Feast of Pentecost was the second of Israel’s three
annual Feasts. As the Scriptures reveal, the Feast is also called the Feast of
Harvest, of Firstfruits, or of Weeks. Pentecost is the New Testament name, and
is so called because Pentecost means "fiftieth." An examination of Lev.
23:15,16 will reveal why the Feast is called Fiftieth. It was because the
Feast began on the fiftieth day after the Passover sabbath, or "the morrow
after the seventh sabbath." This, of course, parallels exactly with the
fulfillment of the type in the New Testament. When Christ arose from the dead,
He continued with the disciples for the space of forty days, "speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3). Then He departed into
Heaven, and after ten days (at the time of Israel’s Feast of Pentecost), He
sent forth the Holy Ghost upon the waiting disciples. THIS IS THE AGE OF PENTECOST Pentecost! What a vast subject looms before us as we
contemplate the tremendous implications of the word! Many books have been
written on the power and glory of this Feast, and men who have appropriated in
some measure the experience of Pentecost have proved by the Word and by
experience its reality, and the Word has been confirmed with signs following.
We could not begin to adequately explain the meaning of the Feast in this
study, nor is it our intention to do so. Our prime concern is to prepare to
ground for truth concerning the Feast of Tabernacles, which surpasses the
glory of Pentecost even as the noon-day surpasses the glory of early dawn. How
strange, it seems, that good men of God who have discerned by the Spirit the
fulfillment of Passover and Pentecost in the Church, should now close the door
to further revelation and deny that the last Feast has any application to our
day and age! At the turn of this century, when God began to restore
pentecost--and right up to the present time, many evangelical circles have
gone to considerable trouble in an attempt to prove that Pentecost was an
event of ancient history, and that its power and glory were not for
present-day experience. But a large group of hungry souls have proved by the
Word and by experience that Pentecost was and is for personal appropriation by
faith, just as the Passover was. Therefore let us not stop at the Passover;
but let us go on to enjoy the fruits for which Christ died, even the glories
of Pentecost. And let us not stop at this partial restoration of Pentecost,
but let us go on to enjoy the fullness of the Pentecostal experience as
recorded in the Book of Acts. And even then, let us not stop at the fullness
of Pentecost, but let us go on to appropriate and experience the glories of
the Feast of Tabernacles--for which Pentecost has paved the way. Even among the saints who are hungering and thirsting for
more of God there is a tendency to believe that a restoration of early
apostolic Pentecost is the hope of the Church, and many will be satisfied with
a return of apostolic power and blessing. True, we have a long way to go yet
to equal the power and glory of the early Church; but that power and glory is
by no means the sum and substance of genuine Christianity. That was Pentecost
in the early hours of dawn; the Church must go on to the Pentecost of the
noon-day sun; and then on, and on, and on to the Feast of Tabernacles, which
will utterly eclipse the glory of any people in any past dispensation. Of
course, we must enter into this glorious experience one step at a time. And we
will certainly have to enter fully into the glory of Pentecost before we can
hope to enter the glory of Tabernacles. Our generation has had a foretaste of
Pentecost, that is true. But we have by no means seen the fullness of the
Pentecostal experience, as recorded in the Book of Acts, when tongues like as
of fire came down and sat upon each of the disciples, and they were given the
ability to speak the languages of all nations. But thank God, He is continuing the great work of restoration
which He began in the days of Luther. The former foundations must be relaid,
the gates re-established, and the walls of the Temple re-erected. "For precept
must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little: for with stammering lips and another tongue
will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye
may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not
hear." (Isa. 28:10-12). An examination of the passages concerning the typical
Pentecost are most enlightening, especially in view of the real spiritual
Pentecost in the New Testament. Having a historical record of the actual
fulfillment of the Feast, it is comparatively easy for us to look back into
the type, and see exactly what it was intended to signify. PENTECOST WAS A NEW FEAST "Ye shall offer a new meat (meal) offering unto the
Lord." (Lev. 23:16). The Passover was wonderful--and an experimental
appropriation of the Passover produces pardon and justification from all our
sins. But that is really a negative experience: the old is taken away, sins
are forgiven, the past life is forgotten, and the sinner is left with a clean
record before God and ready to start a new life. In conformity with this happy
state, therefore, the God of grace and glory invites the justified man to
receive a new experience in the Holy Spirit, whereby he can offer a
"new...offering unto the Lord." He is invited to drink into
God’s Spirit, and be baptized with the Holy Ghost. In justification he is
pardoned; in this new experience he is empowered for service. The early
disciples were cleansed by the Word which Jesus had spoken unto them during
His earthly ministry. (Jn. 15:3). Furthermore, on resurrection day "He
breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost." (Jn.
20:22). The original Greek of the word "receive ye" proves conclusively that
right there and then the Spirit of God entered into the disciples--and that
imparted life brought them into the experience which we call regeneration or
new birth. Just as truly as God in the beginning breathed into Adam’s nostrils
the breath of life and man "became a living soul,"--so now the Last Adam (who
had now become, by virtue of His death and resurrection, a ‘life-giving
Spirit’--1Cor. 15:45)--so now the Last Adam breathed into the disciples the
breath of spiritual life, and they passed experimentally from death unto
life. This experience, however, was not sufficient by way of
equipping them for the great and mighty tasks which lay just ahead of them;
and so the Lord "commanded that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but
wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence." (Acts 1:4,5). And so they tarried in Jerusalem for the
"promise of the Father," and after ten days the Holy Ghost came down upon
them, and literally revolutionized their whole concept of life and service by
transforming weak and humble vessels into the mighty apostles of truth and
power and authority. PENTECOST WAS A HARVEST FEAST In one instance it is called "the feast of harvest." (Ex.
23:16). It was so called because they had just completed the harvesting of
their grain. The sheaf had already been waved before the Lord fifty
days before, heralding the coming of the harvest; and now the harvest time had
come. And what a tremendous harvest there was! Peter preached his dynamic
sermon under the "dunamis," the "power" of the Holy Ghost, and some three
thousand souls were added to the disciples. A few days later there was another
harvest, and we are told "the number of the men was about five thousand."
(Acts 4:4)--to say nothing of the hundreds or thousands of women and children
who also must have believed at the same time. The revival continued with
ever-increasing power from day to day, "And believers were the more added to
the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." (Acts 5:14). Great and mighty
signs and miracles were wrought amongst the people, until--in very short
order--Jerusalem, and then Samaria, and then the uttermost parts of the earth
literally rocked under the mighty impact of the Holy Ghost through His
anointed ministers. Truly the Day of Pentecost was a great Day...but the Day
is not finished yet...that was but the dawning of the Day. We have yet to
witness the noon-day splendour of the Feast of Pentecost. PENTECOST SIGNIFIED THE FORMATION OF THE BODY "Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of
two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven;
they are the firstfruits unto the Lord." (Lev. 23:17). The loaves of
bread would speak to us of God’s people in union with Christ. "For we being
many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread."
(1Cor. 10:17). The number "two" is quite significant in that it refers to
Christ in the fullness of His Body. It would be interesting to follow the
meaning of the number "two" through the Scriptures. There is Adam and Eve, two
and yet, one,--Eve being the complement, the likeness, the counterpart of
Adam. Then there is the sun and moon--the latter being the glory of the
former, having no light of its own. Then there were two rows of bread on the
table of shewbread in the holy place of the tabernacle; and the two tables of
stone in the ark of the covenant--the law written first on the heart and mind
of the only begotten Son, and finally on the heart and mind of His people.
Then there were the two trumpets that were used for the calling of the
assembly and for the journeying of the camps. And so we read concerning Christ
and His Body, that He died and rose again that He might "make in Himself of
twain one new man." (Eph. 2:15). Hence in the "two" loaves of this new meal-offering we have
the completion of this new Body of believers known as the Church, wherein all
the believers were "made...one" by the grace and Spirit of Christ.
(Eph. 2:14). The grain had been harvested, and now instead of a sheaf we have
two loaves, a body of believers. The loaves were "baked with leaven"
because from the time of Pentecost right until now, the Church of Christ has
never been really free from division, sectarianism, and carnality. How
wonderful it is to know that God knew exactly what the Church would be like
throughout her long history, and made the type to fit accordingly! PENTECOST SIGNIFIES THE GATHERING OF THE FIRSTFRUITS Pentecost signifies a great harvest, that is true. But
compared to the coming glory, it is really but a harvest of
firstfruits. "The feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy
labours..." (Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:17). And so Christ as the Sheaf that was
waved, was the "firstfruits" of a great harvest to follow. Pentecost is that
harvest. But even the harvest of Pentecost is the firstfruits of the
coming harvest of the Feast of Tabernacles! Pentecost is wonderful, as we
shall discover--when the real fullness of this experience is restored to the
Church. But wonderful as it is, Pentecost is but the firstfruits of
great and mighty things awaiting the Church of Jesus Christ in the Feast of
Tabernacles. PENTECOSTAL POWER If there was to be a great ingathering of souls at Pentecost
then truly it would require the power of the Holy Ghost to accomplish so great
a task. Therefore God imparted not only great miracle-working power, but a new
language to the people--that men of all nations might hear the wonderful works
of God proclaimed in their own tongue, and be won to Christ. This was a day
when a "new meal-offering" was to be presented to the Lord;
hence God imparted a new language. See what a great secret remained
locked up in the counsels of God until the Day of Pentecost was revealed! For
if it was God’s plan that the nations should at first be scattered abroad over
the face of the earth by means of the confusion of languages--why should it be
thought incredible that God should now restore the gift of languages to His
disciples, that they might preach the Gospel in the tongues of many nations,
and reverse the order (or shall we say the disorder) of Babel? And that is
exactly what the all-wise God did. In the beginning He confused the languages
of the disobedient, to scatter them over the face of the earth and make many
nations out of one. (Gen. 11:1-9). But now in the time of the harvest, God in
grace and wisdom imparts to His own disciples the gift of languages (languages
which came into being because of Babel), that He might gather together
a people for His name, and create one holy nation out of the midst of
many nations--a nation that would serve Him in obedience and love and unity,
even the holy nation and the holy priesthood of the Church. (Some would object
to the statement that God gave His disciples the gift of languages to preach
the Gospel to the nations. They insist that the disciples declared "the
wonderful works of God," and not the Gospel! As if there was a more
"wonderful" work of God than the story of redeeming Grace!) And so the pattern of Pentecost takes on real meaning. "And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come (was being fulfilled), they were all
with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind (a violent impetuous blowing), and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came
together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his
own language." (Acts 2:1-6). THE DISORDER OF BABEL REVERSED Notice the contrast between Pentecost and Babel. There the
Lord did "confound the language of all the earth," but here at
Pentecost harmony is restored by the gift of languages, and the people are
"confounded." At Babel the people were "confounded" because they could not
understand the language of their own fellow-workmen and fellow-citizens; here
at Pentecost the people are "confounded" because they can actually hear and
understand the tongue of foreigners! O the depth of the riches, both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways
past finding out! Shall a God of wisdom and power bring judgment upon the
nations, and shall He not bring grace? Shall He curse and not bless? Shall He
slay and not make alive? And shall He not bring grace out of the midst of
judgment, and blessing out of cursing, and life out of death? Should we deem
it an incredible thing therefore, that in the fullness of the Pentecostal
experience the saints of God shall receive a gift of languages so perfect and
so real and so genuine, that just as the people of Babel were "confounded" by
hearing strange languages they could not understand,--so now in the day of
restoration the people of Babel shall be "confounded," but this time even unto
repentance, by hearing their own languages from the lips of foreigners? Thank God for the truth of Pentecost, and for the hope and
confidence that the Lord has implanted in the hearts of His people, that we
are yet to receive and experience a real Pentecostal experience, when the
saints of God shall go forth into the world preaching the unsearchable riches
of Christ in all the languages of the heathen. Praise His Name! But even then we must go on, and on, and on...on from
Pentecost to the greatest Feast of the Church, the Feast of Tabernacles. CHAPTER 6 THE BLOWING OF
TRUMPETS AN INTRODUCTION TO
TABERNACLES The Day of Trumpets was really an introduction to Israel’s
third Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles or of Ingathering. Like the Feast of the
Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles is of a threefold nature. The Passover
included (1) the Passover itself, (2) the Unleavened Bread, (3) the waving of
the Sheaf. Then Pentecost stands alone, between the Passover and Tabernacles.
And finally Tabernacles is observed, likewise in a series of three ordinances,
(1) Trumpets, (2) Atonement, (3) Tabernacles. It might be interesting to consider the three Feast of the
Lord in the light of the creative work in Genesis. When God commanded
"let there be light,"--light sprang forth out of darkness, and we had the
beginning of the old creation, the first day. And so it was said concerning
Israel at the time of the Passover, "This month shall be unto you the
beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." (Ex.
12:2). Then on the third day, God commanded the earth to bring forth her
produce, "the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in
itself." (Gen. 1:11) Hence Pentecost occurred in the third month, the time of
harvest and fruitfulness, when the precious fruit of the earth was to be
gathered in. And finally we come to the seventh day, when God "rested from all
his work." (Gen. 2:2). So it was that the Feast of Tabernacles was observed in
the seventh month. Furthermore it was not only observed in the seventh month,
but it was the seventh event in Israel’s series of Feasts and their
accompanying ordinances: 1. Passover 2. Unleavened Bread 3. Sheaf of Firstfruits 4. Pentecost 5. Trumpets 6. Atonement 7. Tabernacles In other words, it is the feast of rest for the Church--the
consummation of God’s glorious purposes in His people so far as this
dispensation is concerned. We have much more to say regarding this rest
which "remaineth for the people of God," but we will deal with it later when
we consider the various characteristics of the Feast of Tabernacles. A NEW HARVEST From the earliest days in Israel, time was reckoned not only
from the month of the Passover, but there existed what was called a Civil or
Agricultural year, which began in the seventh month. It is evident from Ex.
23:16 and 34:22 that the seventh month was the end of the old and the
beginning of this new year. Also, from Lev. 25:9 we discover that the year of
Jubilee began in the seventh month. All this helps us to understand
more clearly Joel’s prophecy: "He will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." (Joel 2:23). The
"first month" mentioned here is not the Passover month, but the beginning of
this Agricultural or Civil year. A good translation is, "At the beginning of
the season..." It was the end of the year, when the corn, the wine and
the oil were gathered in, but it was also the beginning of a new Agricultural
Year, when the rains could be expected. All this is beautifully significant so far as the Church of
Jesus Christ is concerned--for she has now come to the end of her
long--and in many ways, discouraging career, and is about to enter a New Day
in the Spirit. We thank God for her beginning at the Cross--the fountain and
source of every spiritual blessing that we have ever enjoyed in the Church, or
shall ever enjoy in eternity. We thank God also for the great harvest which
began at Pentecost and has continued in considerable measure ever since.
But the real harvest is just ahead! A harvest not only of souls, but of
the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of the saints. Pentecost was a harvest of
Firstfruits. This Feast of the seventh month constitutes the real
ingathering of God’s great harvest field: "The feast of harvest, the
Firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the
feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast
gathered in thy labours out of the field." (Ex. 23:16). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRUMPETS "Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt
thou make them..." (Num. 10:2). In the verses which follow it is clear what
the blowing of the Trumpets signified to Israel: 1. Calling the assembly. (vs. 2) 2. Journeying of the Camps. (vs. 3-6) 3. Preparation for war. (vs. 9) 4. Celebration of the Feasts. (vs. 10) We will deal with each of these later; but first, what about
the significance of the "silver," and the fact there were "two" trumpets? It
is evident that "silver" in the Scriptures speaks of redemption. Whenever
Israel was numbered, every man was required to give by way of ransom a
half-shekel, and the money thus collected was used in the service of the
sanctuary. (See Ex. 30:12-16; Lev. 25:48). The number "two," as we have
discovered, speaks of Christ in union with His people, the "one new man" who
was "created in Himself." Hence the significance of the blowing of the two
silver trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. "Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the
month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy
convocation." (Lev. 23:24). It is the day and hour of the fullness of
redemption’s story, proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit by God’s
people. Yes, the trumpets were blown for all the Feasts as their seasons came
around; but there was a day and an hour when the blowing of the Trumpets took
on what you might call a seasonal significance, hence a dispensational
significance. And that hour is upon us. From the historical standpoint the
Church has enjoyed her Passover and her Pentecost--and the age of Pentecost is
now about to reach her glorious climax, giving way to the Feast of
Ingathering. We stand now in fields "white unto harvest," when the corn and
wine and oil must be gathered in, and God is beginning to send forth his
ministers as never before--for this is the Day of the blowing of Trumpets. As
one age or dispensation draws to a close, and another follows, there is always
that overlapping and merging of the one into the other. Thus the Law merged
into Grace through the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Christ. And so
it is, we believe, with the Feasts. Even as Pentecost draws to its climax, the
Day of Trumpets is being ushered in. And even as the full glory of Pentecost
is about to break upon us--so also the Trumpets are beginning to blow,
heralding the coming of a still more glorious Feast. The Trumpet ministry, as
we have mentioned, is fourfold: 1. CALLING THE ASSEMBLY (Num. 10:2) Once again is the Lord raising up a John the Baptist ministry
to declare the Day of the Lord, and the approaching Kingdom. Again
there is the "voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord." Again the cry goes forth from God’s anointed ministries everywhere for
the saints to assemble themselves together in the unity of the Spirit, to cast
aside their carnal sectarian ways, and to hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. John on Patmos was caught away in the Spirit and heard the words of
One like unto the Son of Man calling the seven churches, and the voice "was a
great voice, as of a Trumpet." (Rev. 1:10). With clarion call is the Lord now
speaking unto His people through the various ministries which He hath
established in the Body of Christ, calling the assembly together that they
might hear "what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Not only does this refer
to the seven churches of Asia, nor yet to the seven historical church periods
from Pentecost until now--but it refers to the seven-fold church of this
present day and hour. That is to say, He is addressing the complete Church of
this day and hour in which we live, "seven" being the number of completion.
With trumpet voice the Spirit calleth to His people everywhere: to patience,
to love, to repentance, to endurance, to faith in Christ in the midst of
Satanic opposition, to holiness of life. In this great Day of Trumpets we
should all study carefully the first three chapters of Revelation, and pay
heed to their trumpet-like appeal to the people of God. They constitute the
burden of the Spirit to God’s people everywhere, wooing them to repentance,
and promising them great and mighty things if they will "overcome" the world,
the flesh, and the Devil. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their
sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that
did righteousness..." (Isa. 58:1,2). This is no time for pretty sermons and
soothing words to a backslidden and corrupt Church; this is the Day of
Trumpets. 2. THE JOURNEYING OF THE CAMPS (Num. 10:3-6) The Church has camped around this mountain long enough. Said
God to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this
Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give them." (Josh.
1:2). God is calling His people to go forward, as never before in the history
of the Church. Only men who have ears to hear have been able to hear the call
of the Spirit, but the Trumpet is blowing nevertheless, and many have heard
the call. Thank God for the manna which has sustained us throughout our
pilgrimage journey, even unto now. Thank God for the water out of the rock, to
quench our thirst. Thank God for the Holy Spirit, the cloud that has gone
ahead of us, and directed us all through this great and terrible wilderness.
But there are better things ahead! We must leave the manna, and the water out
of the rock, and enter into a new realm, a new experience. Instead of manna
there is the old corn of Canaan. Instead of water out of the rock, there are
ceaseless, perpetually flowing waters from springs and rivers and lakes of the
land of rest. Instead of drought there is the dew of heaven every morning, and
rain in due season. Instead of barrenness and heat there is fertility and life
and blessing in the realm of the Spirit, in the heritage of Beulah. Let us go
forward as we see the Ark of the Covenant crossing Jordan, with the priests
the Levites bearing it. 3. PREPARATION OF THE PEOPLE FOR WAR (Num. 10:9) "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the
Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon
the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A
fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth..." (Joel
2:1-3). Joel’s prophecy is the sound of a Trumpet from beginning to
end. In this passage he is sounding the alarm for war: calling God’s people
together to prepare for battle, for the great Day of the Lord is at
hand. It shall be a Day of darkness and gloominess to the unrighteous and
disobedient, but "as the morning spread upon the mountains" to the people who
know their God, and are therefore "great and strong." THE CHURCH’S FALSE HOPE The Church of Christ is literally filled with carnal,
earthly-minded Christians who sit back in ease and self-complacency and await
a rapture that will translate them out of the midst of earth’s Great
Tribulation at the beginning of the Day of the Lord. To this generation
of world-conformers God speaks in no uncertain terms: "Woe unto you that
desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the
Lord is darkness, and not light." (Amos 5:18). In the vast majority of
evangelical circles we are taught that any moment all God’s people shall be
caught up, raptured, to be with the Lord in the air--to escape the Great
Tribulation which soon shall visit the earth. It is not true. The saints shall
be "caught up" all right; but "every man in his own order." (1Cor. 15:23).
What that order is does not concern us right now; but the fact remains, we are
nowhere taught that the saints are going to escape the hour of Great
Tribulation by way of rapture. WHY WERE THE THESSALONIANS TROUBLED? If it is true, as we are generally taught, that the
Thessalonian Christians thought they had missed the rapture because of the
supposed letter they had received from the apostle Paul, then how is it that
the apostle Paul must have missed it too? Apparently they had received a
letter bearing Paul’s signature, stating that the Day of the Lord had
started or was about to start. (2Thess. 2:2). And the common explanation is
that they were "troubled," because they expected they would have been raptured
when this Day began. Now if the Thessalonians actually thought that
Paul wrote that deceptive letter--and it is clear that they did,--then why
should they be "troubled," for if they missed the rapture, then Paul must have
missed it too! But no, Paul had never taught them that they should be taken
away from the earth when the Great Tribulation started. What he did tell them
was that they should not be "moved" by afflictions or tribulations of any
kind, "for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when
we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation;
even as it came to pass, and ye know." (1Thess. 3:3,4). Knowing, therefore,
they they were to go through the Tribulation, they were particularly
"troubled" about this deceptive letter they received, because according to
this letter the Day of the Lord, or the Great Tribulation, was just
about to start. Paul therefore would comfort them again by informing them that
this great and terrible Day of the Lord "shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition." (2Thess. 2:3). The Day of the Lord, Paul would tell them,
was not imminent, because the man of sin had to be revealed before that great
Day. It is not our purpose to prove, or to disprove that "the man of sin" has
been revealed. The fact remains that a "rapture" is not held out to the saints
as their hope in the hour of the Great Tribulation; nor are we taught that the
saints who are walking in the light are going to be caught unawares when the
Day of the Lord begins. On the contrary we are told, "But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1Thess.
5:4). AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH As for the hour of the Great Tribulation, Jesus said it would
be as in the days of Noah. What happened, then, at the time of the Flood?
Those who were spared the wrath of God were left right in the very midst
of the wrath of God, but protected by the ark. So shall it be in the Day
of the Lord. "The one shall be taken, and the other left."
(Matt. 24:40). Now who were taken at the time of the flood? We read,
"The flood came, and took them all away,"--all except those who were in
the ark. (Matt. 24:39). In the very same way, Jesus said, would men be taken
as in a "snare" at the time of the Day of the Lord. (Lk. 21:35). The
powers of darkness and the wrath of God shall be poured out with such sudden
fury over all the earth, that men shall be caught unawares, as if in a trap,
and shall not escape. "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they
shall not escape." (1Thess. 5:3). Just in what manner this sudden destruction shall come upon
men, perhaps we do not understand; but it shall be as in the days of Noah.
Sudden cataclysmic judgments shall fall upon the earth, the ungodly shall be
"taken" suddenly as in a "snare," but the righteous shall be "left" in a place
of safety. They shall be "in Christ," hidden away in "the secret place of the
Most High." With their eyes they shall see and behold the reward of iniquity,
for they shall be right on the earth; but they shall be in safety. What very
few people understand is this: that this great event which shall constitute a
snare and a trap to earth-dwellers or earthly-minded Christians, shall become
a glory and a power and a means of victory to the one who is walking with God.
Jesus promised "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth." (Rev. 3:10). And if God’s people will but
study the Scriptures carefully, they will discover in what manner the Lord
keeps His own from temptation and from trial. One thing is sure; it is not by
carrying them aloft in celestial chariots of ease to some Elysian
fields--but by becoming their shelter and protection in the very midst of
trouble and distress. Behold the children of Israel in the very midst of
Egypt’s desolation, but protected by the glory of God and the rod of Moses.
They had flies throughout all Egypt, but there were none in the homes of
Israel. Frogs everywhere, but not in the humble cottages of the Israelites.
Hail and pestilence on the fields of the Egyptians, but not on the fields of
Israel. Darkness and gloominess throughout all Egypt for three days--a
darkness so dense that it could be felt--but light in the homes of
Israel. The death angel passes through all the land of Egypt, even over the
homes of the Israelites, but passing or "fluttering" over the blood-sprinkled
door posts of the covenant people of God. See Daniel in the lion’s den, but it
is no torment to him; the very beasts became his best friends. Behold the
three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, but they are not consumed. Yea,
the very fire which was intended for their destruction became their light and
their life--it consumed the cords which bound their arms and legs, and lo the
form of one like unto the Son of Man was seen walking side by side with them
in the midst of the flames. Thank God for this great and mighty truth: the day of the
Lord to the wicked is "not light...but darkness." But to the righteous,
and those who have appropriated the fullness of the Spirit and are walking
with God, the Day of gloom and Great Tribulation is not darkness, but a light
and a glory. To the disobedient, "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day
of clouds and of thick darkness." But to the great and mighty army of the
Lord it shall be "as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong." (Joel 2:2). THE DAY OF GOD’S POWER The Church and the world are both going to be greatly
surprised when they discover that the Great Tribulation, unleashed in all its
fury, is nothing more nor less than the greatest display of Divine power and
glory that this world has ever witnessed. (We should, perhaps, call this day
the Day of the Lord, instead of the Great Tribulation; for it is only
Great Tribulation to those who have not discovered "the secret place of the
Most High.") We have heard it said that Heaven would be Hell for the sinner,
if he were allowed to enter its pearly gates. And that is exactly right. The
unveiling of the might and power and glory of God in the midst of this crooked
and perverse generation is going to produce on the one hand the Great
Tribulation, and on the other hand the power and glory of the saints. "Yet once more," saith God, "I shake not the earth only, but
also the heaven." (Heb. 12:26). And this shaking is going to cast Satan and
his principalities from their heavenly throne, while the Sons of God ascend
into "the heavenlies"--first of all in the Spirit--to take upon themselves the
authority which belongeth to those who are overcomers. And entering into this
place of power and authority, the Sons of God shall be able to administer
protection, and comfort, and help, and deliverance, and blessing to such as
are in need. All this is confirmed by the prophecy of Joel the Trumpeter,
concerning the Day of the Lord. "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the
day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon
shall be darkened, and the starts shall withdraw their shining. The
Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem;
and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the
hope (shelter) of his people, and the strength (refuge) of the children of
Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion,
my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and
all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come
forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim"
(Joel 3:14-18). What can be more clear than this: darkness, the shaking of
heaven and earth, judgment,--but in God there is shelter and refuge and new
wine and milk, and refreshing waters from the house of the Lord! And
why is this? Because the shaking of the heavens is in reality, not merely the
shaking of the natural sun and moon and stars, but the shaking from their
celestial thrones of the powers of darkness and the hosts of wickedness, and
the rising up of the Sons of God in the power of the Spirit, to take the
Kingdom which Satan has usurped and occupied for so long. That Satan’s kingdom is situated in "the heavenlies" is
Paul’s teaching to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:12). From there he rules and reigns
over the world and its many religions, as "prince of the power of the air" and
"god of this world." But "the heavenlies" is also the heritage of the children
of God; for God "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places (in the heavenlies) in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). The child of
God is therefore called upon to war against these evil hosts of wickedness who
have usurped the authority of Christ and His Church. Says Paul, "For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places (the heavenlies)" (Eph. 6:12). THE CHURCH--DEFEATED Can you see, child of God, what a tremendous heritage is
ours, and how Satan has completely usurped the authority of the Sons of God?
Paul says, "We wrestle..." True, Paul did so to a certain extent, along with
some of the saints through the ages--but as a whole the Church of Christ has
suffered defeat from the powers of darkness for century upon century. Deceived
on every hand; afflicted with all manner of sickness and disease;
demon-oppressed and demon-possessed; filled with carnality, sin, bitterness,
bewilderment, sorrow, fear, and torment. The surging masses of humanity,
including many of the real saints of God, have been taken captive by the "god
of this world," and instead of a glorious Church one needs only to visit a
great healing meeting to behold a veritable Museum of the Devil displaying his
exhibits: children of God twisted into the most gruesome forms; hobbling on
crutches; dragging themselves; crawling on the ground; men with tortured
minds; oppressed by demons; and cast into Satan’s mould of deception, fear,
torment and filth. Thank God for the measure of deliverance we can see
beginning to come to pass, and for the mighty healing power of God that is
being delivered unto mankind through His anointed servants--but Oh, how little
we have seen yet in comparison with the tremendous need that presents itself!
And yet the saints really think they are telling the truth when they stand
religiously on a Sunday morning, and sing to the charming peal of the
organ: "Like a mighty army, moves the Church of God, Brothers, we are treading, where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war! With the Cross of Jesus, Going on before." The exact opposite is just about the truth of the situation:
a defeated band of slaves, divided into a thousand sects, all having different
hopes and different doctrines, and knowing nothing of charity. "Bow ye the
trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain..." Arise, Church of
God, from the dust of defeat and desolation. Put on your beautiful garments,
and the whole armour of God! The Trumpet call goes forth in this great hour,
calling for a Gideon’s band who shall be "more than conquerors" through Christ
that loved us. And the bank is being prepared, for which we are thankful; an
army whose power is not in themselves, but in the Sword of the Lord. WAR IN HEAVEN The Book of Revelation is in reality, not the Revelation of
John, but as John himself stated: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ..." The word
"Revelation" is "Apokalupsis," the very same word that is translated "The
manifestation (apokalupsis) of the Sons of God..." (Rom. 8:19). Literally, it
is the Unveiling of Jesus Christ that John was told to write about there on
the isle of Patmos. It is lamentable that the Church should have become so
deceived as to refuse to believe the Book is for them; so many are teaching
that just the first three chapters are for the Church. However, it is enough
for us that John should have said, "The Unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to
pass...Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at
hand" (Rev. 1:1,3). If you want to be blessed, then, read this wonderful book
and believe it is for you. God is speaking by the Spirit to as many as have
"ears to hear." If you can hear its message, then it is for you. And so we are told in the Book of Revelation what happens
when the powers of heaven are shaken: "And there was war in heaven: Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his
angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old (ancient) serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12:7-9). The powers of
heaven shaken! Yes, and that means Great Tribulation for the earth-dwellers,
but glory and honour and salvation for the saints! "And I heard a loud voice
saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our
God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night...Therefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of
the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he
knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Rev. 12:10-12). And then what happens? "And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man
child" (vs. 13). By this time this man-child company, this group of overcomers
brought forth by the travail of the Church, is in a place of power and
authority in the "heavenlies;" and the Church that brought forth the man child
through much pain and spiritual travail, is left in the earth. For a time she
is persecuted by the Dragon who lost his heavenly throne, but soon a place is
prepared for the "woman" in the wilderness, where she is nourished and
protected. THE MAN-CHILD The whole picture is a wonderful description of the Church of
this hour. We cannot deal at length with the subject here, but a few
Scriptures will help us to see the picture more clearly. As we mentioned
before, Satan rules and reigns over the earth from his exalted position in
"the heavenlies." That is his fortress; but it is likewise the heritage of the
saints. There it is that God hath blessed the Church with all spiritual
blessings, even in "the heavenlies" (Eph. 1:3), and there it is that we are
called upon to wrestle with Satan, as we become clothed upon with the "whole
armour of God" (Eph. 6:12,13). Now when the saints of God begin to really
press into their heritage in Christ Jesus, Satan is going to object--and there
will be "war in heaven." Hence the great "wrestling" that Paul speaks about.
Michael the Archangel himself is going to enter the fray on behalf of God’s
people in this great Day of the Lord, and he is going to take up their
cause in this heavenly warfare. God has promised he would. "And at that time
shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of
thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall
be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (Dan. 12:1).
Then angelic hosts are ministering spirits sent forth to wait in service upon
the elect; and Michael is one of their chief princes. Consequently the hosts
of Satan are cast down; the overcomer takes his place of authority in the
place left vacant by these evil hosts of wickedness; and hence the triumphant
shout, "therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them..." But the
Dragon, having lost his kingdom, roams through the earth in great wrath,
tormenting men, and attempting to persecute the Church which was responsible
for bringing forth the overcoming man child. But God in mercy has a place
prepared for her "in the wilderness"--some secret, spiritual hiding-place, and
there she is protected and nourished. God, therefore, promised Daniel: "Thy
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."
As we shall discover later, when we deal with the priesthood of this
overcoming group, they shall be in a place of power and authority with God,
and shall be able to administer the help and protection and sustenance that
the Church needs. 4. THE CELEBRATION OF THE FEASTS This brings us to the fourth purpose for which the silver
trumpets were made. They were also used to call the people together to observe
the solemn Feasts of the Lord. Joel’s prophecy is the sound of a
Trumpet from beginning to end--and in addition to calling God’s people to
repentance, and to prepare themselves for war, he likewise call the saints to
the Feasts of the Lord. "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders,
gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go
forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet...Yea, the Lord
will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine,
and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen...Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the
Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for
the pastures of the wilderness do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye
children, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the
former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the
former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be
full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil..." (Joel
2:15-24). The whole passage speaks loudly of the Feast of Tabernacles,
and the coming glory of the Lord when the corn and the wine and the oil
are to be gathered in; and at the same time, the hour of the rain from
Heaven--the former and the latter rain combined. LAMENTATIONS OF THE PROPHETS God’s people everywhere should pay heed to the solemn
exhortations and lamentations of the prophets. Jeremiah, who lamented over the
desolation of the earthly Jerusalem, cried in the anguish of his spirit; |