Created Relationships #2

(FOT Day 4)

Fred R. Coulter—September 24, 2021

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to day 4 of the Feast of Tabernacles!

This will mark in the Millennium the 500th year when it's over. I want you to notice something very important, which is: How does God divide seven in half?

Let's take the week that Jesus was crucified: days 1, 2, 3, and day 4 was the Passover Day. There's the split. Then days 5, 6, 7, and right as the 7th day was ending, and the 8th day beginning, Christ was raised from the dead.

The seven churches in Revelation: 1, 2, 3, and 4 is Thyatira, 5, 6, 7

The seven seals in Rev. 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, and the 5th seal is the martyrdom of the saints.

The seven trumpet plagues: first 4 plagues come quickly, the 5, 6, and 7 is the resurrection.

You can see a pattern in all of this. That's quite a thing to look at.

The seven last plagues is the same thing: 1-4 quickly, then 5-7.

So, here we are, at the halfway point for the Feast of Tabernacles, and remember that Tabernacles is seven days. Then we have the Last Great Day at the end.

Now, let's continue to study created relationships! Those are unique relationships that God wants us to have. We saw how important it was with Abraham, and how that that outlines everything in the rest of the Bible. Everything else in the rest of the Bible comes from Gen. 15 and 22, everything! That's something to think about.

Let's come here and see what God wants. He wants a relationship! God loves the world (John 3:16). But He wants to love each one of us in particular as we will see, and for us to love Him back. That's what the created relationship is for.

We're going to see that marriage is one of the most common created relationships. I want you to stop and think about it for a minute. When husband and wife marry and they're faithful, loyal and love each other, and their children are faithful and loyal, honoring father and mother, etc. etc. everything works well. But when there are fights, divisions, self-willedness to get one's own way against the way of God, then there's trouble.

We will also see a little later that that's what's going to happen during the Millennium. Because of free moral agency, there will be those who chose, 'I don't want to go this way.' Whenever there is a severed created relationship, there has to be a distance put between God and that person or group, because the created relationship is broken with sin.

Look at what God did with Israel bringing them out of the land of Egypt. It's interesting what happened to them when they got to Mt. Sinai. We've covered this before, but we'll cover it again because this will set the stage.

Here is the proposal: God wants a relationship with His people. God wanted a relationship with Israel, all 12 tribes. Here is God's proposal. All relationships must have:

• love
• devotion
• faithfulness
• obedience
• following the will of God

That's why we were created in the first place!

Exodus 19:3—God speaking to Moses: "…'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel.'"

He had all of them there at Mt. Sinai, and they were going to stay there quite a while. So, God is making a proposition with them, or a proposal of marriage for the created relationship between Israel and God.

Verse 4: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself."

Notice that all created relationships are based on conditions. Have to be, otherwise it won't work! Here's the overarching, #1 condition of everything else, and all the other conditions follow after that.

Verse 5: "Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed…"—whatever God says.

Remember how we pray? Not our will, Lord, but Your will, whatever You want done work it out in our lives! So, you can see how all of this is really a framework to understand God's relationship with people and what He's doing.

"…obey My voice and keep My covenant…" (v 5).

A covenant is not just commandments, a covenant is every word of the covenant of which there are commandments, statutes and judgments.

"…then… [here's an IF and THEN] …you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine" (v 5)—a special relationship with God!

We're going to see with the New Covenant that we have a tremendous special relationship with God, and we need to keep that in mind.

Verse 6: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation…."

Why? Because God would be with them! Isn't that something? Think about that in relationship to the New Covenant when get there.

"…These are the words, which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (v 6).

So Moses came down off the mountain, he told the people what God said, and all the people said, 'Hey, this is a good idea. Yes, all that the Lord has said…' remember that when you say, 'Yes,' and 'all' God takes you at your word.

Verse 8: "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.' And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD."

Then God said, 'Go down and get ready and in three days I'm going to come and talk to them.' There they are, and the first thing that God gave, He wanted everyone to know that He alone was God, andHe would:

• bless them
• be with them
• dwell with them
• have this relationship with them, which He had with no other people

Let's look at the Ten Commandments for just a minute, and let's also see some New Testament things in it.

• How about the world? The world says they believe the Ten Commandments!
• Really?
• What day do they worship on? 'We've got the Lord's day, Sunday!'

That's not a relationship with God! That is a fake relationship because God never said anything about the weekly first day of the week as the Lord's day. Never! That was an invention of men!

We're going to see a little later that when men—even men who are supposed to be men of God—do their own inventing and going against the Word of God and try to add to it. That destroys the created relationship, which is a covenant relationship!

Commandment #1: Exodus 20:2: 'I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

God is saying that He's the only One Who can bring you out of sin! No on else can do it.

Verse 3: "You shall have no other gods before Me."

You have to the whole one so you can understand. Today that's the same thing. We can't come out of sin unless it's through Christ, unless it's through receiving the Holy Spirit. We can't overcome sin without loving God, loving His way and loving the brethren; all of that! You can see how it all fits together.

No other gods; that the first one, and that's the first one people break. We will see it little later.

Commandment #2: v 4: "You shall not make for yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity… [penalty] …of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation… [depending on how badly they sin against God] …of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments" (vs 4-6).

There is right there; right in the middle of the Ten Commandments is New Testament doctrine. And right there is the basis of our relationship with our created covenant with God, which is each of us individually and the whole Church collectively.

Commandment #3: v 7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…"

The #1 priority with this is don't say something in the name of God that God has not first said! Cursing and swearing is also part of it.

Commandment #4: v 8: "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy."

That's the most important of it, because God wants to fellowship with those who are in covenant with Him; those who are in the created relationship with Him! He wants us to learn from His Word and love each other.

Commandment #5: v 12: "Honor your father and your mother so that your days may be long upon the land, which the LORD your God gives you."

Commandment #6: v 13: "You shall not murder."

Look at what the world is like today with all the murder.

Commandment #7: v14: "You shall not commit adultery."

Commandment #8: v 15: "You shall not steal."

Commandment #9: v 16: "You shall not bear false witness…" lying!

Commandment #10: v 17: "You shall not covet…"

What happens when you covet; it's just like the Ten Commandments in a circle; you start lusting and coveting and you create other gods before you. Isn't that interesting? What is the #1 god that men create before the true God? Self!

Then God spoke all the commandments. The people heard that and they were all afraid. They said, 'Moses, you speak to God and tell us what He wants, and we'll hear and do it. How did that work? Not too well!

Exo. 24: they said the same thing after Moses read all the words of the covenant in their ears that he had written down from God (Exo. 21-24).

Then God asked the people again, after reading all of it and having sacrifices for blood to confirm it. They said, 'All that God has said we will do!' So then, God revealed what He wanted to do with them. What was it that God was going to do? Think about this, and we're going to see when that created relationshipwas broken and then repaired at a lower level!

Moses took the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkled on what was written and on the people, and 'all that you have said you will do, and all that God has said He will do.' God said, 'I will,' and the people said they will, so there's a marriage covenant relationship!

In Isa. 54 God says, 'O Israel, I am your husband!' so, it was a marriage relationship!

Exo. 25—God starts giving the instruction on how to build the sanctuary. What was the sanctuary for? And later the temple? Why did God have that? Because He wanted to have His presence with the people. He wanted that created relationshipto be:

• firm
• loving
• lasting

so that

• He could bless the people
• the people would be blessed
• they would bless, praise and honor God

That's what God wanted!

Exodus 25:9: "According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments of it, even so you shall make it." That's what was going to happen!

Verse 8: "And let them make Me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them."

Isn't that interesting? God wanted to live with His people! You would think that everyone would want to have God near them in the temple:

• His presence
• His blessing
• everything about God

But as God said, 'Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would obey Me always.'

Let's see what happened when Moses was up there for 40 days and 40 nights. Going to learn a big lesson right here, too. Exo. 31 was concluding all the instructions that God gave. He wanted the people to know and understand how important that the Sabbath was.

The Sabbath is the key of the created relationship between God and His people that He wants maintained! Why? Because God puts His presence among His people on His Sabbath, Holy Days and Feasts so that:

• they might understand God more
• God may love us more
• we may love God back more

God wants His love going both ways all the time, just like a husband and wife!

Exo. 31 becomes important, and that sign still exists today for the people of God, which is the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths.

Exodus 31:13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, 'Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths…'"—in Truth; God is a God of Truth!

• His way is true
• His laws are true
• His commandments are true
• His precepts are true

Everything of God is true from the beginning!

What was the first thing that He gave that we saw for the created relationship? The Sabbath! This is what He's reiterating to the children of Israel with the covenant that He gave to them so that they would have a good created relationship!

"…for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you" (v 13)—to make Holy and also to provide for!

Remember that everything there is in the world and universe God created! Here's God telling the children of Israel how you can have contact with Him, and here is the sign.

Verse 14: "You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is Holy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death…"

That is a warning of breaking the created relationship! Everyone who defiles it brings upon themselves the automatic curses that God has set in motion in hopes that there will be repentance and you will come back. Then He reiterates it, He wants it known clearly:

Verse 15: "Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, Holy to the LORD…. [because He puts His presence in it and He made it Holy] …Whoever does any work on the Sabbath Day, he shall surely be put to death."

If you break the created relationship and there is no repentance: death!What does it say in the New Testament? The wages of sin is death! But the gift of eternal life is from God. That's the completion of the created relationship for a greater and more permanent eternal created relationship through all eternity.

Verse 16: "Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant."

Perpetual is based on spiritual, because spiritual does not end! Perpetual means through all time, through all generations wherever you are, that is paramount! That keeps the created relationship:

• in tack
• in balance
• in growing
• in expanding our:
• knowledge
• Truth of God
• love of God
• hope from God
• view of eternal life

Verse 17: "It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever… [the Church is spiritual Israel] …for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed."

Then you know what happened; while Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, the people were down here wondering:

What happened to Moses? Maybe there's volcano up there, because we saw the fire and smoke and maybe Moses fell into it. We don't know what happened to him, so they ran to Aaron.

Aaron is totally responsible for this:

Exodus 32:1: "…then the people gathered themselves to Aaron, and they said to him, 'Up! Make us gods… [break the first commandment immediately] …which shall go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And Aaron said to them…" (vs 1-2). Here was a perfect opportunity for Aaron!

This was also a prophetic act to show that the Aaronic priesthood would always be weak and failing. You look through the rest of the Old Testament and that is surely exactly what happened. He didn't say:

Wait, people, Moses is up on the mountain getting something very important from God for us, and we need to know what that is. So, just relax, Moses will be here. God is faithful!

If Aaron would have said that, think about how much different the whole history of Israel would have been. But no he didn't, because he was a weak-kneed sniveling whatever.

Verse 2: "And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.'" So, they brought it to Aaron!

Verse 4: "And he took them from their hand, and fashioned it…"

• Does this tell us what Aaron's occupation was in Egypt?
• Was he an idol-maker?

It doesn't say that the people made it! It says that Aaron fashioned it.

"…with an engraving tool… [he had people help him, of course] …and made a molten calf" (v 4).

Now listen to what Aaron said in direct violation of the first commandment, and this—even after God repaired the broken relationship—was never the same as what God intended ever.

"…And they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' And when Aaron saw the calf, he built an altar before it…. [went further; real dedication to evil] …And Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.'" (vs 4-5).

Let's learn a vital, vital lesson, which all of Christendom in this world has never, never, never learned. Even some of the Churches of God have never learned, which is this: you cannot take the ideas of men, bring them to God and tell Him that you want Him to sanctified your ideas! Whatever it may be; in this case, the golden calf. Whatever it may be:

• Sunday-keeping
• holiday-keeping
• whatever it may be

Men can never tell God what to do! Men can never add to what God has given! That's true through the whole Bible. If that isn't true, then we don't need the Bible! See how far off people get?

You know what happened, Moses came down and he was so angry that he broke the two tables of stone written by the finger of God, the Ten Commandments! And Moses broke them! That's symbolic of breaking the created relationship!

Look at every created relationship that is broken. Sorrow, woe and all of the stupid things that come along. Let's see how that worked with Israel; let's see what God said and God graphically explained this and what God did. God gave so much to Israel.

As he said in Psa. 78, even though when they were in trouble, to get out of trouble they flattered God. They only did so, because He had to slay some of them before they would get the point.

Ezek. 16—God also brings up, just as a reminder, just before He's going to bring some punishment. This was just before God destroyed Jerusalem. Like He said through the prophet Jeremiah, 'What is it that I have done to you, that you would do this to Me?' because this is a created relationship!

Ezekiel 16:1: "Again the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations'"(vs 1-2). Look at it today!

Verse 3: "And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, "Your origin and your birth is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. And as for your birth, in the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you. And you were not salted, nor swaddled at all"'" (vs 3-4).

So, for Israel to get and start thinking: 'Aren't we great people? We are God's people!' To this day the Jews have never gotten the point! They are not the chosen people! They are the rejected people! All you have to do is look at the history of the Jews and see that that is true. Look at the other ten tribes, same thing!

Verse 5: "No eye pitied you, to do any of these for you, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown out into the open field because your life was despised in the day that you were born."

They did that a lot; there's a whole history about throwing out children with the Romans and the Greeks, and the Mayans and Aztecs with child sacrifices. Same way with those in Jerusalem and in the other ten tribes.

Verse 6: "And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yea, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I have caused you to multiply like the growth of the field, and you increased and grew up, and became exceedingly beautiful; your breasts are formed, and your hair is grown, yet, you were naked and bare" (vs 6-7).

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart." We are laid bare before Him!

Who do we think we are getting all uppity-uppity, saying that we're great and this, that and the other thing? Brethren, that ought not be so in the Churches of God! All the elders are to serve the brethren. We're to help keep all the brethren pointed toward God and to teach them to have this created relationship with God in love, hope, truth and all of that.

Not like this, leaving them alone and naked. So, there are a lot of lessons we can learn here.

Ezekiel 16:8: "'And I passed by you and looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you,' says the Lord GOD. 'And you became Mine."

• A marriage covenant relationship!
• A created relationship!

Initiated by God, and He wants us to respond!

Verse 9: "And I washed you with water…" How does ours begin? With baptism in water to wash away our sins!

See how the New Testament and Old Testament always mesh together when you come to understand it.

"…I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil…. [type of the Holy Spirit] …I also clothed you with embroidered work, and I shod you with leather sandals. And I wrapped you in fine linen, and I covered you with silk" (vs 9-10). WOW!

What is the righteousness of the saints? The white linen, fine and bright! I want you to think about that. That's something.

Verse 13: "And you were adorned with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; and you were exceedingly beautiful. And you advanced into a kingdom."

Remember how that was with Solomon? The great height of the Kingdom of God on earth in Israel, and the dedication of the temple, which was during the Feast of Tabernacles. God put His presence there. This we find in 2-Chron. 5.

Verse 14: "'And your name went out among the nations because of your beauty; for it was perfect through My splendor, which I had put on you,' says the Lord GOD."

Look at all Israel today, look at the beautiful country that God has given Europe and the other ten tribes of Israel. To America—Manasseh, and the British Isles—Ephraim. Look at it! Some of the best land in the whole world.

But what happens? People don't keep up their created relationship with God! They become:

• unthankful
• ungrateful
• unholy
• confident in self
• confident in their own schemes

Just look at it today; everyone trying to solve the problems that are out there, they rarely mention God. Some few do, but in what way? Not the way that God wants it! Here's what happened:

Verse 15: "But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your name, and poured out your fornications on all who passed by—on any who would have it." Here's what happened and what's happening to us:

Verse 16: "And you took from your clothes and adorned your high places with different colors, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor should ever be! And you have taken of your beautiful jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made images of men, and did commit whoredom with them" (vs 16-17).

Then they became complete harlots! Look at us today; think about all the abortion that's going on, everything against God! So, the created relationship is broken. When the created relationship is broken:

• there's trouble
• there are penalties
• there's anguish
• everything is all upside down and backward

(break@42:31)

Created relationships are really, really important for us to understand and going through it at the Feast of Tabernacles also adds greater weight to it. We're going to be bringing the whole world, through Christ—to understand about:

• salvation
• eternal life
• how run their physical live

we're going to be a kingdom of

• priests
• teachers
• kings
• rulers
• administrators

to bring the greatest, up to this point, created relationship that could possibly be

• with God
• with His spirit sons and daughters
• with the world
• with the nations
• with every individual together

We need to learn the lessons! The created relationship is also a covenant relationship and held together by:

• love
• truth
• faith
• goodness
• understanding God

so that we can have the capacity to teach the people, because it's within us! Do you understand the difference? The difference is that it's part of us!

That's why with the New Covenant that Jesus is going to write in our heart and mind His laws and commandments, and inscribe them, just like God with His own finger wrote the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone; two tables. What's the human mind? Right and left hemisphere! Two tables, as it were! For what purpose? That we can show them:

• God's way
• why it is good
• what God is doing
• His overall purpose

We will see, because of the fault of Aaron, that the whole thing with the priesthood for Israel turned to be corrupted. That's not going to happen during the Millennium. But we need to learn the lesson now:

• what not to do
• what we should do
• why created relationships that God makes

God wants them to work! But also remember the IF always falls upon us, not on God.

Malachi 1:6: "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a Father…" God is saying to them and to us!

Think about this in relationship to the Church today. A lot of them are trying to operate on a broken created relationship, rather than repairing it and having it healed, they perpetuate the break. Just like He says here:

"…where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. And you say, 'In what way do we despise Your name?'" (v 6).

They ought to know! Same way with the Church of God. Take some of those churches that are so far out there in dictatorial humanistic ways of running the Church. If you try and tell them that 'this is not the way to do you're going against God.' No! You become the enemy!

When you look at the nation and what's happening today, that's precisely what it is. With all the Christian leaders out there today, just apply what we're going to read here from the Word of God to them, and see that they are #1 on the list of God of those who have broken the created relationship between God and the people.

• they have their own ways
• they have their own doctrines
• they have their own traditions

They use a little bit if the Bible so that they sound authentic, but they're not!

Verse 7: "You offer defiled bread upon My altar…."

Think about that; the true Church of God is to keep the Passover. Those in fake Christianity keep the Lord's Supper; "…defiled bread…"

"…And you say, 'In what way do we defile You?' In your saying, 'The table of the LORD is contemptible'" (v 7).

Isn't that what they say of the Old Testament? It's contemptible, we don't need it!

Verse 8: "'And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to your governor. Will he be pleased with you, or accept your person?' says the LORD of hosts.

Amazing, isn't it? Look at the parallel. That's why the Word of God is so good and true. We're to learn from this. We're to learn that we must now—in keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days and through this Feast of Tabernacles—keep that created relationship going between each one of us and God, and between each one of us as brethren.

That's what God wants! He wants so when we come and have a Feast of Tabernacles:

• we're all together
• we all love each other
• we all serve each other
• we all care for each other

No hidden agendas in the back of the mind! None of that!

Verse 9: "'And now entreat the favor of God, that He will be gracious unto you….'"—repentance; that's what God wants. Favor is grace, and grace comes with repentance.

"'…This has been by your own hand…'" (v 9). Think about that! We don't do it our way, we do it God's way!

"'…and now will He show regard for you?' says the LORD of hosts" (v 9). Of course not!

Verse 11: "'For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, My name shall be great among the nations… [that during the Feast of Tabernacles] …and in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering, for My name shall be great among the nations,' says the LORD of hosts."

But here's what happens when they break it. Even during the Millennium there will be people who will break that covenant relationship.

Verse 12[transcriber's correction]: "But you are profaning it when you say, 'The table of the LORD, it is polluted; and its fruit, His food, is contemptible.'"

Isn't that what they concerning the Old Testament? The Sabbaths and Feast of God!

Verse 13: "'You also said, "Behold, what a weariness it is!" And you have snuffed at it in contempt,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And you bring that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick, and thus you brought an offering. Should I accept it from your hand?' says the LORD."

Look at it! Look especially at the Protestants out there. That's just what they're doing. They have contempt for it. The ministers, if you bring up the Sabbath, say that 'it's a joke.' They hate and despise it! But they love their own ways!

This is a good lesson for us when we're all here together at the Feast of Tabernacles.

• let's keep that love
• let's keep that openness
• let's help and serve one another
• let's not have any secret, hidden agendas

Here's why and here's what will happen:

• this will happen to all the Protestants
• this will happen to the Churches of God, those who don't follow God's ways

And we have see that, haven't we? Let's read it right here:

Verse 14: "'But cursed be a deceiver who has in his flock an acceptable male—yet, he vows and sacrifices to the LORD a blemished one, for I am a great King,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and My name is feared among the nations.'"

Let's take all of this to heart, because we're to be priests and kings. Let's learn the lesson, and this is something for all the elders today. Elders are not right just because they're elders. Elders must have that created relationship with God as an elder:

• through prayer and study
• through preparing and understanding the Word of God
• through helping the people of God
• through praying for the people of God
• through serving the people of God

so that they grow in

• grace
• knowledge
• understanding

That's what the whole purpose of being an elder is. It's not a high exaltation to an office where you rule over the people. That's not what God wants!

Elders among elders, let there be that created relationship that is with us so that we don't have trouble and difficulty among ourselves. How do we avoid that?

• by faithful prayer
• by faithful study
• by faithful teaching
• by loving the brethren
• by loving God

All of that combined! That's why it's a created relationship! It's not a position, it's not a job, it's a created relationship!

Let's see what He says to the priests, because this becomes important, and then we will see what God is going to do to change that what He's already done and what will be happening to complete it.

Malachi 2:1: "And now, O priests, this commandment is for you."

• IF you're going to be a priest in the Kingdom of God, this is for you
• IF you're going to be a king, this is for you

Verse 2: "'If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to My name,' says the LORD of hosts…"

Think about that! Yes, we do work, but all of that is only possible because of God and His Spirit. We are not an entity, any of us anywhere, just to ourselves.

"…'then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have indeed cursed them already because you do not lay it to heart'" (v 2). The thing needs to be:

• Are we going to lay it to heart so that we serve God the way that we need to.
• Do we take this in the way that God wants us to?
• Do we look at what we're doing, and with the Spirit of God, correct our own faults, sins and mistakes and confess them to God and change?
  • whether you're an elder?
  • whether you're a brother or sister in the Church?

We're all in the same boat together!

Verse 3: "Behold, I will rebuke your seed; and I will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your appointed feasts…."

A perfect description of Protestantism and the ministers there, and all of the Halloween, Christmas, Easter and all of that. That's what God thinks of those things—dung!

"'…And one shall carry you away with it. And you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, so that My covenant might be with Levi,' says the LORD of hosts." Interesting! The father of Aaron!

We saw what Aaron did, and we see what the descendants of Aaron did.

Verse 5: "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him for fear; that he might fear Me, and he was in awe before My name." That's what God wants! We come before God in awe of:

• all that He's made
• all that He's done
• His wonderful Word
• His tremendous Spirit
• His love
• His truth
• His guidance
• everything in our lives

That's why! So, these are good instructions for us in preparing to be kings and priests in the Millennium.

Verse 6: "The Law of Truth was in his mouth…" That's what it has to be!

Remember what you've heard me say many times: the Truth, the Truth, the Truth! Not the ideas of men. That's why I have my cowbell, so when I have something I'm thinking on and I don't have it quite formed, yet, and I just want to talk about it, I ring the cowbell because that is not to be counted as something from God's Word.

"…and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and turned away many from iniquity" (v 6).

That's what we should do: Teach people how to get away from sin. Look at the world today, because it doesn't do it, and that falls right on all the Sunday-keeping ministers! And within the Churches of God, those who adopt the ways of the Protestants.

Now, here's a responsibility, and this how we can prepare for the Millennium, and prepare for the resurrection:

Verse 7: "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and the people should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts."

That's what it should be, and that's what it's going to be. But look at what has happened, all the way through here God is saying, 'This is what I want, but here's what you have done.' All of that is so we can learn the lessons, repent and draw close to God and learn the lesson that you can't substitute human ways for the way of God! That breaks the created relationship! Let's see it right here:

Verse 8: "'But you have departed out of the way; you have caused many to stumble at the Law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,' says the LORD of hosts."

Stop and think: How many have corrupted the covenant of Jesus Christ where He said, 'This is the New Covenant in My blood.'How many have done that? If they have, they better repent!

God is giving a warning message to us so that we know what to do. When Christ returns we will be fully equipped spiritually and have the character of God.

Sidebar: In the Old Testament it talks an awful lot about the coming activities during the Millennium. Nearly 80% of all the Scriptures come from the Old Testament. Now you come to the New Testament and you have something a step higher and more important. That is the New Covenant is for us to learn the character of God within us, the mind of Christ!

We can't be good rulers, priests or administrators without the mind of Christ!

So, God has said… And look at how true this is with the 'Christian' religion in the world, and of the Jews today:

Verse 9: "Therefore, I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, just as you have not kept My ways but have been partial in the Law."

• Doesn't that tell something? Yes!
• Are we going to be partial in the Law during the Millennium? No! We're not going to be partial! We're not going to give part of it!
• Is that not what Satan did when he rebelled and deceived a third of the angels to go with him, because he misrepresented himself to the angels? Yes, indeed!

Let's see what happens when that occurs. Look at it! Look at the world today!

Verse 10: "Have we not all one Father?…." Yes, we do; we all come from God!

"…Has not one God created us?…." Absolutely, everyone of us! If you don't believe it, look at your bellybutton.

"…Why do we deal treacherously, each man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" (v 10)—for the covenant of Jesus Christ!

That's why one of the most important things we need to do is to learn to overcome our own weaknesses and sins and problems. When problems are created, we use the spirit, love and law of God to solve them between each other!

You're not to get minister to be a referee between two people who are contentious and are not in the created relationship they ought to be.

• they have to repair it
• they have to repent
• they have to make amends
• they have to learn to love each other

The minister can help them, but he's not going to be the referee. That's why we have Matt. 18. any difficulty you go person to person and you solve it with love, dedication and service.

Read everything in Malachi. There's one minister who turns out Malachi's Message and it's a total farce, a totally wrong. It is against God!

Verse 13: "And this is a second thing you have done, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and groaning, so that He does not regard the offering and no longer receives it with delight from your hand. Yet, you say, 'Why?'…. [Why, Lord, do You do this?] …Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously—yet, she is your companion and your covenant wife" (vs 13-14).

• between marriages, husband and wife,
• between us and God
• between brethren and brethren; a little lower level but the same thing

Verse 15: "And did He not make you one? Yet, the vestige of the Spirit is in him. And why one? That He might seek a godly seed. Therefore, guard your spirit, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth."

We can take the statement "…guard your spirit, and do not act presumptuously against anyone!" or think presumptuously about how 'good' you are! How neglected you are! And you have your own little 'boo hoo' pity party! Have you ever done that? Had a pity party? Oh, woe is me! Look to God and He'll take away the woe, you will be just fine!

Then He talks about divorce; that's bad news.

Now let's see the greatest created relationship of all! It was completely successful, because the One Who became Jesus Christ did it right! He's our example!

Psalm 2:7: "I will declare the decree of the LORD. He has said to Me…"

Here's the decree. Go back and look at all the prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah, about that He was to be born. Then you read in Matt. and Luke how that came about. Quite an amazing thing indeed that God did. He wanted to create a relationship between the Son of God Jesus Christ and God the Father, so that created relationship could go out to those whom He would call and be converted and brought into oneness with God.

This is what we're going to be doing during the Millennium. Think about it! How important that is, that we're going help people come to the knowledge, love, truth and understanding of God so they can enter into the Kingdom of God. How awesome is that! You compare that to what the world shows, and how pitiful and contemptible and absolutely abominable that it is.

"…'You are My Son; this day… [on a special particular one day] …I have begotten You" (v 7). That's quite a statement!

Luke 1:35—the angel Gabriel said to Mary: "…the power of the Highest shall overshadow… [come upon] …you… [that's God the Father]…the Holy One being begotten in you…" that's what it is in the Greek, present tense passive, "…being begotten…" at that very moment Gabriel was talking:

"…shall be called the Son of God" (v 35)—the Son of the Highest! He's also called the Son of man. That happened on a particular day, and He was born on a particular day.

Notice what is going to be the result of it. This is going cure all broken relationships: past, present, future. It can only be done through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 2:8: "Ask of Me… [the One Who was begotten asks of the Father] …and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance…"

Isn't that the joint inheritance that we're going to receive with Christ? If we are joint heirs with Christ—husband/wife… You know that when you buy property today, the husband and wife are joint heirs. Husband and wife are joined as one body. So, you see how great God's way is? It permeates everything that there is!

"…and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron…" (v 9)—if they don't repent!

When Christ returns, what's the first thing He's going to do? You talk about a war of wars! When Christ returns it's going to be awesome, breathtaking, absolutely awesome and stunning! When we're on the Sea of Glass looking down on the earth, we will see all of that going on. That's going to be an amazing thing, indeed!

"…You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (v 9).

Let's see how that's going to work out. First of all let's go to where the resurrected Christ is shown. Notice how important it is with Christ as the Head of the Church, the One Who came and was begotten into the womb of the virgin Mary, born as a human being, grew up so that He could experience everything that all human beings do. So that no human being could ever say to God:

God, You're up in heaven and we're down on the earth and You don't know what it's like to be on the earth.
God will say:
I do! My only Begotten Son came to earth, and you despised Him like you did with everything else. Yet, He took upon Himself the sin of all mankind, and all who repent. Because I love the world, and I love you and He loves you.

The greatest love is going to be shown up to that point during the Millennium.

Hebrews 1:1: "God Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the Prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son."

We found those words that God wants preserved for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Just like He raised up the 12 tribes of Israel for the covenant with Israel and brought them to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Jesus Christ raised up the 12 apostles. Remember that one of them was a traitor, but he fell and was replaced by Mathias. How important are the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles? So important that their names are going to be written in New Jerusalem forever!

Brethren, what we need to understand is that God has called us—

• not just be better people; we need to be
• not just so we can learn to get along with each other; we ought to

—the greatest calling ever in the history of the world! That's why we're here at the Feast of Tabernacles, because of what God did!

Verse 2: "Whom He has appointed heir of all things…"

We're joint heirs with Him; didn't Paul write that? Yes! Think about that!

"…by Whom also He made the ages" (v 2).

Of course, this all began before the ages of time! So, you can see what a great thing God has called us to. Look around here and you see all of us, and wherever the people of God are, and wherever they have been down through history from the time of Jesus Christ up until now. All of them are going to be part of the great Bride of Christ! We're going to save the world! How? Because of the created relationship of God, maintained with:

• love
• truth
• dedication

That's how it's going to be done!

Verse 3: "Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power…"

Think about how powerful Jesus is and was! All that He gave up to become a pinpoint of life!

• Isn't that the most humble thing you can think of?
• Giving up being God to become a pinpoint of life to save the world?

Let that sink in!

Verse 3: "Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person…" that means having the same character!

That's why we're here in the Church of the Firstborn! The firstfruits! To develop the most important thing that kings, priests, rulers and administrators need to learn, which is:

• love
• truth
• service

"…and upholding all things by the word of His own power…" (v 3).

Remember what He told the disciples in Matt. 28, just before He ascended and was gone? All power in heaven and earth has been given to Me, therefore, you go into all nations and:

• make disciples
• preach the Gospel
• baptize

That's what we are to do, and we're doing it! "…upholding all things by the word of His own power…" Think about that!

Christ is so righteous that He's entrusted with the whole of the universe around us here on the Earth, that in one word He could dissolve this whole solar system in a flash!

"…when He had by Himself…" (v 3). He had to do this all alone! No one was there holding His hand!

Even God the Father had to back off and leaven Him alone, because He had to do this alone! Think about that! Bearing the sins of the whole world. The Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world!

"…purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (v 3). There we have the whole purpose of Christ:

• His life
• His death
• His resurrection

sitting at the right hand of God! That's an amazing thing to understand!

Tomorrow we will continue with #3, because the created relationships that God wants with us—between Him and us—are so great and important. I want you to concentrate on not letting:

• carnality
• stupidity
• squabbling
• unforgiveness

cause you to be upset and not close to God. Repent of that! Draw close to God, let Him fill you with His Spirit and get your mind on the whole purpose as to why we're here. This is the whole purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles!

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 19:3-6, 8
• Exodus 20:2-8, 12-17
• Exodus 25:9, 8
• Exodus 31:13-17
• Exodus 32:1-2, 4-5
• Ezekiel 16:1-7
• Hebrews 4:12
• Ezekiel 16:8-10, 13-17
• Malachi 1:6-9, 11-14
• Malachi 2:1-10, 13-15
• Psalm 2:7
• Luke 1:35
• Psalm 2:8-9
• Hebrews 1:1-3

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 2; 3; 6
• Genesis 15; 22
• John 3:16
• Exodus 21-24
• Isaiah 54
• Psalm 78
• 2 Chronicles 5
• Matthew 18; 28

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7/16/21

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