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Day 49 – To Pentecost
Fred Coulter – June 3, 1995
This is the day before the day of Pentecost. And there are so many things concerning Pentecost and the Old Testament and New Testament that I’ve decided to do Day 49 and Day 50. What I’m going to do on this Sabbath is I’m going to review all the things in the Old Testament leading up to Pentecost, and what the Old Testament Pentecost pictures. Then tomorrow we will go into the New Testament Pentecost and what that pictures and the full meaning of it. Many times in the past I’ve tried to squeeze it all into one day and I just get so rushed in the end that I’m not able to really finish and make it complete, so this year I’m going to split it up, Day 49 and Day 50.
Let’s begin by turning to Deuteronomy 11. And in Deuteronomy 11 we’re going to learn something very important because there are people now who used to be ministers of God, who are teaching and saying that all the holy days of God came from paganism. So therefore since they all came from paganism it’s perfectly alright to observe some of the pagan holy days, or holidays, that the pagans have, because after all if you do it in your heart for a good purpose and do it for God, then that’s fine. Let’s see what God says.
Let’s come to Deuteronomy 11:13. “And it shall come to pass, if…” Now I want you to notice and I want you to circle all the “ifs” that we’re going to come to, because every covenant is conditional. Every covenant requires performance. Every covenant of God requires a performance. “…If ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God…” So even in the Old covenant God was concerned that people love Him. God wanted to have a personal relationship with all of Israel. “…To love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul…” And that’s what God wants from every one of us, that we truly, truly, truly love Him and serve Him with all our heart, and all our soul.
Now let’s come down to verse 16, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them…” Now we’re seeing that happen to the people of God today. Their hearts are being deceived. They are deceiving themselves, they’re letting other’s deceive them, and they are serving other gods. How are they serving other gods? By doing that which God said not to do. By following those things which God said not to follow. And by changing the very nature of God. You think about it for a minute. If you change the nature of God, you have the wrong god.
Let’s continue on. Let’s go to verse 18. “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart…” That’s what God wants in the New covenant too, that all these words, all the laws and truths and scriptures of God be in our heart. “…And in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” Now we have the same thing in the New covenant to be written in our heart and in our mind. “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days maybe multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth”(vs. 18-21).
Now verse 22, again He repeats it. How many times do we see this? He says, “For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him…” Then God said that He would drive out all the enemy.
Now let’s come down here to verse 26. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if…” Notice again the “if”. We had verse 13, we had verse 22, and now we’ve got verse 27. “…If ye obey the commandments of the LORD you God, which I command you this day [there’s going to be a blessing]: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods [and to serve them], which ye have not known” (vs. 26-28).
Now let’s just turn the page and come to chapter 12, because we find some very important and most particularly profound things. First of all we’re going to see that none of these commandments of God came from paganism. Now it may be that the pagans counterfeited what God had. But God does not need to go to the pagans to originate His holy days. That is only a very deceitful presentation by deceitful men trying to deceive you into thinking that you can throw away the words and the commandments of God and everything’s going to be wonderful and fine. And that you can just do what you want.
I was talking to a person here recently, and she said that someone came along and tried to tell them that the laws of God were all done away. I said, “Well now let’s think of this for a minute.” Let’s just think about it for a minute. Is God lawgiver? Yes He is. How does He uphold the whole universe? By the very word of His power. Now if all these laws are done away then we need to come to the ultimate conclusion that God does not exist. Because if there are no laws then there is no lawgiver. Now let’s see how this applies here in relationship to people coming along and telling you that you can do something other than God has commanded that you should do.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 28, “Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.” Now are we to do the things that please God? Are we to do the things that please God in that way? Here now just hold your place here and let’s go to 1 John 3 for just a minute and let’s see something that’s very important for us to understand. 1 John 3:22, this is also New Testament doctrine. What you’re reading about in the Old Covenant is the same thing that’s in the New Covenant only now God expects us to do it in the spirit. So here’s what we have here. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” In other words, good and right.
Now let’s go back to Deuteronomy 12 again. So we have exactly the same situation here in the covenant that was given to Israel, “If you will do that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” Now verse 29, “when the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land…” Now let’s just apply that to us and to the Church today. When God calls you out of the world, gives you His Holy Spirit and places you in His Church, then you are not to do this. Verse 30, “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following [after] them, after they be destroyed from before thee…” After you’ve once destroyed all of your past religious habits and idols, and have left them, God is saying, “Now don’t go back.” Don’t go back and say, “Well let’s see what we can resurrect out of this and use it for ourselves.” He says, “…that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.” Because you see, you’re breaking the first commandment, “You shall have not other gods before Me.”
“Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth…” And God of the pagan feast days of Israel, and of Judah, He says, “Your feast days My soul hates.” So people want to go back and do that which God hates. Except that which God has not even, how shall we put it…God has long ago rejected it, and we will see that without a doubt that you cannot come along and cause God to accept you by doing things that the pagans have done to their gods and say, “Oh this is wonderful and nice.”
“Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (vs. 31-32).
Now chapter 13. “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder…” And we’ve had this happen haven’t we? Ministers and prophets coming along telling us this and that and the other thing to take us away from God. And He says, “And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them…” (Deut. 13:1-2). We have exactly the same thing taking place in the Churches of God today. Strange and pagan doctrines are being brought into the Church as a way and means of worshiping and serving the true God. But God says you shall not do that.
Verse 3, “Thou shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you…” That’s why all these things are happening. That’s why every one of these things are taking place because God is going to prove you. God is going to test you. God is going to test me, and every one that bears the name of God whether, “…to prove you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” And that is the whole central core of everything that we do brethren. Clear as a bell.
“Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death…” (vs. 5). Now today we do not have the administration of the death penalty because we are a church, but we are to leave anyone who does that. Or have circumstances in such a way that they are forced to leave.
Now let’s come clear back to Genesis 4 and we are going to see the first time that a pagan ritual was offered to God, and we’re going to see what happened. Let’s go back to Genesis 4. Now there was a proper worship, there was a proper service, there was a proper offering, and then there was an improper one, which we can say was a pagan one. Let’s pick it up here in verse 4. “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” Why? Because he did everything according to the commandments of God.
This teaches us several things here. First of all, there had to be the law of firstlings. There had to be the laws of offerings. And there had to be pretty much the same laws here as there was given to Israel 3000 years later. Now some people think that God went 3000 years without having any laws, or any commandments whatsoever. Nothing could be further from the truth. Do you think that God, Who is lawgiver would go 3000 years, or half of the history of humanity without having any commandments or laws? How is God going to convict someone of sin? What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. And by the law is the knowledge of sin. And without law there is no sin, so there had to be law.
Let’s continue on here in verse 5. “But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” Now why did God not accept his offering? Well, Cain brought an offering of the ground. It says back there in verse 3, “of the fruit of the ground.” Well now the Feast of Pentecost pictures an offering of the fruit of the ground, does it not? Yes it does. It pictures the firstfruits of the harvest, correct? Yes. So this was a harvest of the ground, which Cain brought, which God did not accept. Why? Because this was one of the very first pagan offerings ever offered. Offered to God and Cain got all mad because God didn’t accept his way. Now you can read about the way of Cain in the book of Jude.
“And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well…” Now didn’t we just read that in Deuteronomy 12, that if you do what is right and what is good… Didn’t we just read that in 1 John 3:22 that if we do the things that are pleasing in His sight and keep His commandments… Yes. So it’s the same lesson here. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well [that is you are sinning, you are transgressing], sin lieth at the door.” He’s trying to do this with sin. He’s bringing this to the door of God, but it is sin. God says He will not accept it. He will not accept sin. He will not accept the foreign offering. He will not accept something of the devising of our own hearts. And God continues to telling Cain, “And unto thee shall be [its] his desire, and thou shall rule over [it] him” (vs. 6-7).
Now Cain did not overcome it. He got more angry with Abel and finally rose up and killed him because God had respect unto Abel and not unto Cain, rather than look to himself and repent and change and come back to God and do what was right. Cain said, “I’ll get rid of the problem”, and he killed his brother Abel. That’s what a lot of people are trying to do right now. They’re trying to kill the people of God to enforce their paganization upon them.
Now let’s go to Jeremiah 7 and let’s see where the people of Israel tried to do this again. To do the pagan things in the name of God unto God and say this is wonderful. Let’s go to Jeremiah 7 and we’ll see how this comes right along here, and how it fit in with the Israelites of old. How it fits in with today’s situation and what is happening. Let’s pick it up here in Jeremiah 7:1, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD” (Jer. 7:1-2). So they’re coming in to worship the LORD. They’re coming in to the temple. The temple that Solomon build. The temple where God said He would put His name.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.” Now you see, when you look abroad… And I want you to apply this to the Church of God in its various branches, as you look and see what is happening to the Churches. We’re going to see that the same things: the wrong practices, the idolatry, the idolatry of men, the idolatry of ideas, the idolatry of false government, and every thing that is listed here against Israel in the letter was broken in the spirit and the letter by the Churches of God. So as I read this I want you to think about it as we go through.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words [you trust in lying words]…” Have you been lied to? Has your Church told you falsehoods? Are they trusting in lies? “…Saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these” (vs. 4). In other words if we do it in the Church of God it’s all right. As long as the leadership says it’s ok, it’s ok. As long as we find something in the Bible where we can justify it. And of course they leverage and misapply the scriptures to their own destruction. And yes everybody does it in the name of the LORD, trusting that God will accept it.
But God says, verse 5, “For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doing; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. He continues on and says, “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit” (vs. 5-8). Now we need to understand something that’s really true brethren. No lie is of the truth. We learned that in going through 1 John. No lie ever comes out of the truth. Now then, does the truth need lies to support it? Let’s put it another way. Can lies reinforce and made more valid, the truth, when you mix them together? No, the lies tear it down. You need the truth unmixed. “…Ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.” If you believe in doctrines and teachings which are not from God, they are not going to profit. No way.
“Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?” (vs. 9-10). Now just to give you an example. In one of the congregations, which was assembled in the name of God, the minister got up and said, “Guess what, I’ve got wonderful news for you. All the laws concerning unclean meats no longer apply. That was all done away with the Old Testament.” So what happened? Some people got up from that congregation and said, “Yea, we’re delivered to do evil.” They trusted in lying words. They went out and they got all the shrimp and all the lobster and filled their freezer full of unclean food, glutted themselves on it, and sure enough guess what happened? They got sick. There’s a reason why God says don’t eat those things. There’s a reason why God says keep the Sabbath. There’s a reason why God says keep the holy days. Because they are to teach us. They are to help us draw close to God. So they trusted in lying words, saying, “…We are delivered to do all these abominations.”
“Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD” (vs. 11). That’s why it’s all being scattered everywhere. God has seen it. And if you want your own way, go have it, God says. He doesn’t want you to, but you have to choose. That’s what we read. “Send you a blessing this day if you choose to do what is right, and a cursing this day if you choose to do that which is wrong.”
Now verse 12. “But go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh…” Now Shiloh was where they first set up the tabernacle and they had… Remember the account of Samuel and Eli, and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas. “…which I set My name at the first…” (vs. 12-13). And what He did, He scraped the earth, destroyed that place. He said , “I want you to learn a lesson. You don’t believe My word, what I have said against this temple. You can’t come to this temple, which Solomon built, where I said I would put My name, and because the physical building is here, trust that I’m going to be here. Because if you come into this house and dishonor Me, I’m going to take away the house.” Now you just apply that to the Churches of God today.
“[You go see what I did to Shiloh where I put] My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore I will do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust…” See you’re trusting in the wrong thing. If you’re trusting in a corporation, if you’re trusting in a building, if you’re trusting in a man, if you’re trusting in the name, if you’re trusting in a house you’re not trusting in God. “…Wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim” (vs. 13-15).
Now they got so bad that God said to Jeremiah, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear thee” (vs. 16). So there comes a time when it’s too late to turn back. And it happened to them. Now let’s hope it doesn’t happen to very many people in the Church of God. But it’s going to happen to cleanse and to purge because they say, “Well none of the holy days are to be kept. And all the holy days came from paganism.” Not so.
Let’s go back to Leviticus 23 where all the holy days are listed because as we’re coming up to the time of Pentecost we need to review all these scriptures again. Leviticus 23, and we’re going to see that Pentecost is intrinsically tied to the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and show one continuity right on down to the day of Pentecost. Now here in Leviticus 23, we find all the listing of all the holy days of God. These are from God. Now let’s read it beginning in verse 1. Now it’s incredible how many times we are just ready to take the step beyond the very basic principles of God and really begin to understand the deeper things of God, there comes along some more trouble and some more difficulty, and we have to say “Whoa, time out.” We gotta go back and teach the very basic things, which are the principles of Christ, which are the principles of the word of God. So let’s hope we can really understand this. And everyone you know, if you come into a situation like this, be sure and let them know.
These did not come from paganism. Notice, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them…” (Lev. 23:1-2). Now I want you to understand that all of these Amorites and these Moabites, and these Canaanites, they were really good and well intentioned people. And they were sincere in their hearts, and they really didn’t understand what they were doing. But they had all of their religious practices and they had their gods, and their baals, and their aales, and their elohims. And I’m going to tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to go over here and we’re going to pick out the best that they have because I want the best of what they have for me. That’s like saying let’s take the best of Satan and let’s use it to worship God. Stupid. That’s not what God said.
He said, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them Concerning the feasts of the LORD…” Now God was telling them what He was going to do, which feasts were His. He didn’t get them from the pagans. “…Which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts” (vs. 2). Just like Jesus Christ said, “I will build My Church.” Christ is going to build it. Now just like we need to let Christ build His Church, and build His Spirit in us, and His love in us, and His truth in us, what He’s going to do let’s also with the holy days of God, realize these are His feasts. And let’s come to the point of learning to, not only keep, but to fulfill to the fullest extent every one of the feast days of God, beginning with the Sabbath.
So He says, “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein:…” Yet Church leaders come along today and say, “Well if you need to you can go work. That’s all right. God understands.” You better believe He understands. You read Matthew 6. God says He’s able to provide regardless of the circumstances. “…It is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons” (vs. 3-4). And that’s what we’re doing now. This is the season of the Feast of Pentecost.
Notice it begins the fourteenth day of the first month at even, “…is the LORD’S passover.” Fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD [your God]: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. First day’s a holy convocation. Do no servile work therein. Offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. The seventh day is a holy convocation, you shall do no servile work therein (vs.5-8, paraphrased). So we’ve go the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Then another event occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which we will show you in a little bit on a chart exactly how this is figured, exactly how this is calculated. And as a matter of fact we’re going to go back and review the events leading up to the children of Israel receiving the Ten Commandments of God, which we will see was on the day of Pentecost. That’s why this is tied in together.
Now verse 9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (vs. 9-11). Now that is the morrow after the Sabbath during the Passover / Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now we just recently sent out three booklets covering that. “God’s Command For The Wave Sheaf Offering”, To Count Pentecost, The Morrow After Which Sabbath?”, and “The True Meaning of Acts 2:1”. So we’re not going to get into all the details of those except to say that in Joshua 5 you have the fulfillment of this. And you need to read that whole booklet because that happened on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread when they waved that first wave sheaf when they crossed over Jordan into the Promised Land.
Now notice, He says here, “When ye be come into the land…”, so this was not to happen until they took possession of the land. So they did not have the wave sheaf offering all during the time that they were wandering in the wilderness because they hadn’t come into the land. I am sure that they were celebrating Pentecost in observance of the memorial of receiving of the Ten Commandments. But they had no firstfruits harvest to offer with it.
Now let’s continue on and read here. “And he shall wave it to be accepted for you.” This is the firstfruits. Now firstfruits here means the chief, the principle part, the very, very first of the harvest. Now when we get to the New Testament, which we will cover tomorrow, we will see that that was Jesus Christ, Who ascended to heaven and was accepted of God the Father. Then He gives us explicit instructions on what to do, how to count it.
Verse 15. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow [the Hebrew m moh-ghorahth, which means “beginning with the day after”] the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering [meal offering, as it should read] unto the LORD” (vs. 15-16).
Then on that 50th day what they were to do, “Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of ten tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven…” The only offering of God which is accepted by Him that specifically has leaven in it. Every other meal offering, every other flour offering of God was to be unleavened. Now the reason these are leavened is because, we will see, this reflects the harvest of the Church finally finished, finally done and God accepts us even with our human nature, because the leaven is a type of sin and God accepts us even with our human nature that we can change and grow and overcome.
Now the reason there are two loaves here is because one is for those who enter into the Kingdom of God from the Covenant with Israel and the Patriarchs, and the second loaf then is a prophecy of the coming Church of God. Then He gives all of the other things that they were to do there with that. And let’s come right on down here to verse 21. The priest would bring this, he would wave it and so forth.
Now verse 21, “And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day…”, the 50th day. Seven Sabbaths will be complete unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath, which then brings it again to the first day of the week. “Ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”
Now let’s go back and review how the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover are connected with Pentecost and the events leading up to it. Let’s go back to Exodus 15 for just a minute. Now we know the Passover they were in their houses. God passed over, killed the firstborn of all the land of Egypt of man and beast, whether they be in the field or in the dungeon or in the house. God executed His judgment against all the gods of Egypt.
Let’s go back to chapter 12 for just a minute and let’s understand why this is so important with the Passover in relationship to the fact that we should never bring anything of a pagan religion into the true worship of God. Now there may be pagans out there doing what they want to do. They may be even using the name of God but they are not worshiping God, because when God passed over and destroyed all the firstborn here’s what He said He did. Exodus 12:12, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment…” So God doesn’t want that brought in.
Then we know they departed on the day after the Passover. They left with a high hand. They came down to the Red Sea. They accused God of bringing them out in the wilderness to kill them. God miraculously saved them, opened the Red Sea. They crossed to the other side. They were all happy and all rejoicing because God fought for them, destroyed the Egyptians. They were seen no more. Then they started on their journey toward Mt. Sinai.
And let’s pick it up here in Exodus 15:22. “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah [which means bitterness]. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Now you would think after all of those miracles that they would have said, “Well look, God killed all the firstborn, God brought all those plagues, God spared us, God brought us out. He brought us through the Red Sea, parted the Red Sea so we could escape safely. Now there’s no water here. Why don’t we all just go to Moses and say, ‘Moses, why don’t you lead us in prayer and ask God to provide some water for us, to make the water sweet.’” Don’t you think God would have done it just like that? Yes He would have. Because God brought them out because He loved them, because He wanted to teach them His ways, because He wanted to give them the things that were good for them. So they murmured. No they murmured and complained saying, “What shall we drink?”
“And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree [that is Moses did, cried unto the LORD], which when he had cast [it] into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them…” (vs. 25). See all the way through God is going to test us, God is going to prove us. That’s why we have trials and difficulties to come along. That’s why all of these things are taking place right now in the Church of God. God wants to know down deep in your heart do you love Him, are you going to follow Him, are you going to worship Him, are you going to obey Him and keep His commandments?
So here’s the statute, “And said, If [notice again, “if”, always conditional] thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” (vs. 26). So here the name of God is Jehovah Rophika [raphah], which means “the LORD your healer.”
Now we need to trust in God too. Let’s also ask the question: Are there a lot of diseases and difficulties taking place against the people of God because they are doing the same thing as the people here in murmuring, in complaining, in throwing away God’s ways and commandments and laws and statutes and all the things in the New Testament in addition to that? Yes, yes. Can we not come back to God and say, “God help us. God heal us. God be with us. God lead us?” And if you’re kind of out there in the wilderness of, spiritual wilderness, as it were, if you don’t know where you’re going or where you’re headed, just stop, just ask God to lead you. Just ask God to grant you His Spirit. Just ask God to help you. Just like the children of Israel were right here, they could have had it differently but they chose to murmur and complain, and so God had to intervene in the way He did.
Now let’s come to chapter 16 because now we’re leading on up to Mt. Sinai, and we’re coming to the time that we will understand concerning of the giving of the Ten Commandments. Now this is a very key important chapter for many reasons. Let’s see why. Verse 1, “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out to the land of Egypt.” Now we’re going to see why this becomes very, very important. We’re going to see why this is necessary and how this ties in with Pentecost, and how this ties in with the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Now let’s continue on here for just a bit, verse 2. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh post, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (vs. 2-3). And isn’t that the way people always do? Don’t people always blame God for their problems when God had nothing to do with their problems what so ever?
Part 2
Let’s continue on here in Exodus 16, and let’s pick it up in verse 4. “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them…” Now let’s understand something here is very, very important. How many times does God say that I will prove you, that I will test you, that I want to know what your choice is going to be? “…That I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no.” Now that’s what God wants to know. For the New Testament are you willing to walk in the way of God and love God and keep His commandments and keep all the words of Christ? We’ll see that’s going to be very important.
“And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily” (vs. 5). Now the whole long and short of this whole story of Exodus 16 is this: the fifteenth day of the second month was a weekly Sabbath when this sermon was given. The morning after the Sabbath they gathered the manna for six days. And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much. God, in this event, also revealed and established the Sabbath, without a doubt, and it was to test whether they would walk in His ways or not. You can read the rest of the story.
Some when out on the Sabbath when they were told not to go out. Verse 27, “And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the Sabbath…” The Sabbath and the holy days brethren, are a gift from God. That’s what they are. He’s given it.
Now with this established, that this day that this sermon was given on was on the Sabbath, now we will go ahead and follow through with the chart and we will see exactly how the flow of events transpire, coming right up unto the giving of the Ten Commandments. Now I want you to go ahead and take the copy of the chart that you have and follow along with what I’m describing here with the chart.
The chart that you have, which I want you to follow along with, it’s entitled “Count Pentecost”. So we’re going to see several things that are important here. We’re also going to see, not only how to count it, but how Pentecost ties right in and is directly connected on a day by day basis from the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread all the way down to the 50th day.
Now let’s begin with the chart right here. This is sunset, which begins the day. It ends the 13th and the Passover then is on the 14th. At midnight is where it was, right here at this point, this is midnight right in the middle of the black on the 14th, where God passed over in the land of Egypt and destroyed all the firstborn. Now what I want you to do is come down with your chart now, come all the way down here on the side. Let’s come down here to this day, the 15th day. You will see this is the second month, the 15th day. That’s what we are talking about in Exodus 16. Now it’s very easy to figure out when the Passover day was during the time of the Exodus by counting back thirty days. So that is how we arrive back to know that the Passover being the 14th was here. Then we know on the day portion of the 14th they gathered at Ramsees and began leaving that very self-same day, the beginning of the 15th. Right as the sun was going down they were leaving. They left with a high hand and they traveled first of all to Succoth and then the kept the Sabbath. Here is the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Now remember the instruction on how to count to Pentecost and God was actually counting to Pentecost with all of these events leading to Mt. Sinai. So the morrow after this Sabbath, which is over here this day. This day, right here on the 18th is the morrow after the Sabbath. Now you were to count seven Sabbaths, or seven weeks, which then is 49 days plus one day to the morrow after the seventh Sabbath.
Now let’s quickly go through this and count this. Let’s come clear to the end. There is the first Sabbath. Here is the second Sabbath, so that’s 14 days. Here is the third Sabbath, 21 days. Here is the fourth Sabbath, 28 days, and this is when they received the message in the sermon that beginning on the next day, over here, they would be receiving the manna. So I’ve got it listed here – manna, manna, manna, manna, manna, double manna, no manna. Then you come to the end of the fifth week. Down here the next week is the sixth week. Now I’ve got listed out here in the third month, I’ve got the days listed so we have the seventh week. So we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Sabbaths shall be complete unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number 50 days, and there is the morrow after the seventh Sabbath. And this is the day of Pentecost right here.
Now what we need to understand, you will see right here a little number 1 on the 30th day of the second month. Now the reason I have that little 1 here is simply this. Because there are some people who say that the second month only has 29 days. There are some people who say it has 30 days. So what I did was give a secondary count showing that if this day were the first day of the third month then it would be 1, 2, 3, 4, as you follow along with the little numbers, 5, 6, 7, and then 8. If the second month had 30 days then it would be 30 and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Now the reason that I have this is so we will see and understand exactly the events that took place.
Now notice back up here on the day of the Exodus, they’re leaving on the 15th day of the first month. Now I want you to follow right on down, right straight through every one of the weeks, right on down until we come to the time of the same day, right here. This is the same day of the week in the third month that they left coming out of the land of Egypt where we will pick up the story to begin when we get back to the scriptures.
Now then, on this day the 5th day, Moses went up on the mountain and talked to God and came down and said, “The third day God is going to talk with you.” Today, tomorrow, and the third day they were to wash their clothes and prepare for the Sabbath on Friday. Then they were to keep the Sabbath, which then would be the second day, so I’ve got it numbered. You see the little number down here in the lower right-hand corner, number 1. Number 2 for the Sabbath, and then number 3 for the third day showing the day of Pentecost when the Ten Commandments were given.
So Moses went up in the morning and got the message. He delivered it to the people. So the third day, 1, 2, 3, then God came down from on top of the mountain to give the Ten Commandments. Now we’re also going to learn something else very important here for us to realize. If there was a Monday Pentecost then you would have a problem of four days. You would have 1, 2, 3, 4 days. So you cannot have a Monday Pentecost. You cannot have a 51st day Pentecost because it’s an impossibility. We are to count 50 days to Pentecost. But also it fits in with the giving of the law showing that they came into the wilderness of Sinai on the same day of the week that they left the land of Egypt. Let’s just follow that right back up so we can review that and see that all the way back up here. There it is. There on a Thursday, as we would call it, or the 5th day of the week, and coming right on back down again. Their journey took them to the Mt. Sinai and they got there in the wilderness of Sinai on the same day of the week in the third month that they left the land of Egypt. So now we will go to the scriptures and we will see how all this fits in and you follow right along with your chart.
Now let’s come to Exodus 19:1, and we’ll go through the scriptures. Now I want you to go ahead and refer back to your chart in case it’s unclear to you. And so you can follow along with this because this becomes a very profound and important thing for us to realize that in the Old Covenant on the day of Pentecost God gave the Ten Commandments. God spoke from heaven.
Exodus 19:1, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day…” That means the same day of the week as it is right on the chart. You just follow right down the seven weeks and you come right down to the same day of the week. “For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself” (Ex. 19:1-4). Now eagles’ wings is a type of protection. They had to walk there. They had their part. That’s important for us to realize in our understanding concerning God, that there are certain things we have to do, certain things we have to accomplish.
Now here is a very key and important thing concerning the covenant given to Israel. “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed [which means truly]…” Notice again the condition “if”. All covenants have conditions. This covenant had conditions. All covenants have laws. This covenant has laws, just like the New Covenant that was given through Christ. There are conditions. We will see the conditions are nearly identical. The proposition is different because here they were given physical promises for physical obedience in the letter of the law. In the New Covenant they are given spiritual promises for spiritual blessings for keeping the words and commandments of God in the spirit and loving God. Now we’ll contrast that here in just a minute.
But I want you to understand what He says. And everything that we have brethren, is obeying the voice of God and these are the words of God in print for us, and so if God were to come down here and talk to us today as He did to the children of Israel, as Jesus did to the apostles and disciples and to the world He would say the same thing. “If you will indeed or truly obey My voice.” Now notice how broad it is. What does it mean “obey His voice”? That means anything God says. Does that mean you have a right to pick and choose the words? No. Does that mean you can tell God which words you will and will not do? No. The condition is, “If you will obey My voice”, which means anything God tells you. That’s what it means.
And continuing He says, “…and keep My covenant…” So a covenant has performance. God said if you do this, I will do this. If you do this, I will do this. All the way through. “…And keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is mine.” God says don’t worry about what’s going to happen to you, because I own all the earth. “And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (vs. 5-6).
Now it was a very short message. It’s kind of like a wedding, or a marriage proposal. Will you marry me? If you will marry me I will be your husband and do thus and such. And was not the Old Covenant a marriage agreement? Yes it was. Is not the New Covenant a betrothal agreement for a marriage when Christ returns? Yes it is. Now we don’t have time to go into it this year but you go back and you study the whole book of Ruth, because the book of Ruth is a type of the Church with Ruth and Boaz. Boaz being an older man, the ancient of days in type. And Ruth being the New Testament Church. And also of Gentile extraction who was made part of Israel. So that’s important for us to understand. This is a marriage covenant requiring performance by the husband, being God, and the wife being Israel.
“And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” It’s the same way in a marriage covenant. Do you so and so promise to take so and so as your lawful wedded wife? To provide for her, to support her, in sickness and health, in riches and wealth? For better for worse, until death do we part? To love her, to cleave her, to cherish her until death do we part? I do. And do you so and so promise to take so and so for your lawful wedded husband? To submit to him, to obey him in everything in the Lord, to reverence him, to honor him and to do those things that are pleasing to him? Yes, I do. I say that you are married in the name of God. Now this is exactly what’s happening here. Here’s the proposal. The people said we will. God said I will. So Moses returned all the words of the people to the Lord and said, “Ok God, the people said we’ll do it.” God says, “All right we’ll do it.”
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes [that is today, obviously they wouldn’t do it on the Sabbath], and be ready against the third day…”(vs. 9-11). So today, tomorrow, the third day. Friday, Sabbath, Sunday. So Friday He came down and the message was given. They were preparing for the Sabbath. They washed their clothes. Sabbath they rested, didn’t come near their wives, and then the first day of the week being a Sunday… And of course there’s no such thing as a pagan day. Pagans name their own days. God created them. A pagan cannot make a day that God has created, pagan. So the day of Pentecost is a holy day. And holy because God gave His Holy law. Holy because God gave His Holy Spirit as we will see tomorrow.
“…For the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount” (vs. 11-13). Come up to the bottom of it.
Now here’s something for us to understand that’s important. The trumpet is blown on the day of Pentecost. The trumpet is blown on every single holy day. Please understand that because this will be important when we come to when does the last trumpet sound?
Verse 14, “And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day; come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning…”, which then is the day of Pentecost. The 50th day, the Jubilee, the release. How bout that, isn’t that something? Yes indeed. “…That there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the came to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount [that is right down at the base of the mountain]. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly” (vs. 14-18).
“And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” This was a tremendous event. God coming down on Mt. Sinai to bring the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel and to establish the covenant with them. “And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest He break forth upon them. So Moses went down…” (vs. 19-25), told the people the final instructions. Everything was ready.
What is the first thing that God wanted the people to know? The very first thing. Now with this great display, don’t you think this was important? Also on a holy day, how profound the giving of the Ten Commandments was. How profound it was that God came down and established this covenant with the people.
“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:1-2). The very first thing God wants us to understand is He is God alone. No other gods, no other way, no other form other than what God has said should be. These are the words of God. So He wanted them to be sure and have no other gods before Him.
Then He said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me” (vs. 3-5). So if you don’t keep the commandments of God you hate Him. If you make idols you hate God. If you have an idol, regardless if it’s in your mind or a physical thing that you make or build or construct, you hate God. That’s what God is saying. That’s why it’s so important that everything else keys from the first commandment of you shall have no other gods before Me. And then goes right on down with every one of them.
Now notice verse 6, “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep My commandments.” Question: do you want mercy from God? Yes. How do you receive mercy from God? Because you’re rebellious, because you throw all of the commandments of God away? No. Do not the Protestants, Catholics try and claim the mercy of God? Yes. But do they love Him and keep His commandments? No. That’s why they don’t receive it.
Commandment number three. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain” (vs. 7). And of course the most vain pronouncement using the name of God is to preach false doctrine, isn’t it? That is worse than all the swearing and cursing you will hear anywhere. Anyone comes along and uses the name of God to teach a false doctrine to bring other gods, to bring idols, that’s taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. That’s why it’s the third commandment.
And then the fourth one, “Remember the Sabbath” because that’s the day that God has sanctified. That is the day that memorializes the creation that God has made. And that is the day in which God fellowships with us.
Then He goes and gives all the rest of the commandments, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt no covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, the removed, and stood afar off” (vs. 12-17).
And what did they say? “This is too much. We can’t stand the voice of God. Now Moses, you go speak to God, and you come and tell us and we’ll hear you. Don’t let God speak with us lest we die” (vs. 18-19, paraphrased).
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (vs. 20-21). And then God gave them all the statutes and judgments. Now you go all the way through chapter 21, 22, 23, and chapter 24.
Let’s come to chapter 24 and verse 1, and let’s see then after the speaking of the Ten Commandments, then the people confirmed the covenant with God, which should properly be called the covenant with Israel. Now I know we call it the Old Testament but testament is really not quite correct. It should be covenant. And everywhere in the Old Covenant where it is testament, it should be covenant. And it should not really be called the Old Covenant because there are many covenants. There are covenants that are given by God which are older than the one which was given to Israel, which were the covenants to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Those are actually older covenants. Then you go clear back to the covenant with Noah and his sons after the flood, and that is even older yet. So the terminology “Old Testament” comes from the book of Hebrews where it’s talking about the former covenant with Israel, which now is being replaced and faded away. The covenant not the laws, to bring in the fullness of the New Covenant with the Church. So God did this so that they would learn to fear him, that they would understand their obligations under the Old Covenant. They would understand God’s obligations. God said if you do this, I’ll bring you into the land, I will bless you, I will make sure that you’re fruitful in everything that you do. I will fight you’re battles for you, I will love you, I will watch over you. You will be an example to whole world, and here are My statutes, which you’re going to do.
And we come to Exodus 24:1 now, “And He said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the LORD…” So Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu the sons of Aaron, and the 70 elders came up, so high up on the mountain. And then Moses came up to the top of the mountain. “…They shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD [every one of them], and all the judgments…” Now you might circle in your Bible “all” because that becomes very important. “…All the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words [it’s important I want you to understand there are words in a covenant. And those words started out with, what did we see? “If you will obey My voice indeed.” Did God speak the Ten Commandments? Yes. Did God speak the statutes and judgments? Yes. Were they from the voice of God, the words of God? Yes. So they said All the words which the LORD hath said will we do” (vs. 1-3).
Now to make sure there was no misunderstanding, “Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning [which was the day after Pentecost then], and builded an altar under the hill [or that is right at the base of it], and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant…”(vs. 4-7), all the words which God had spoken. The reason they were written down is very simple. How long can you remember a verbal instruction in detail? You can’t. So it was written down. Because it’s written down makes it not less the words of God.
So, “…he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words” (vs. 7-8). Now that’s going to be very important for us to understand.
Notice what God did. First of all He began calling them in the land of Egypt. With all of His signs and mighty wonders that He did leading up to the Passover, and on the Passover at midnight, right at the high hour of the pagans, He killed all the firstborn of Egypt. He judged all the gods of Egypt, all their idols, and everything that they had, and saved the children of Israel. They left Egypt with a high hand. God brought them through the wilderness, brought them to Mt. Sinai, proposed this marriage covenant with them, and they said, “We will, we will do, we will keep everything that God has told us to do. Yes we will.”
Now whenever there is a covenant there is always the shedding of blood. Always. And the shedding of the blood in this case was the blood of the animals. And they said, “All these words we will do.” Now question: can God add more words to this? Yes He can. God can. But in order to do that He has to make a new covenant. Now you can take these words which are here and you can make other judgments and interpretations from them based on what is here but you are not changing the covenant.
Now when it comes to the New Covenant the same principle applies. And in order to have the New Covenant there was the blood of the New Covenant which was what? The blood of Jesus Christ. And there were the words of the covenant, were there not? Yes indeed. Let’s see those. Let’s see and how it ties right in with Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and coming right on down to Pentecost. So we will finish today where we will begin tomorrow.
Let’s come to John 14. And as we know and we have studied, and I’ve said again and again and again, which is absolutely true. And I want us to understand it. I want us to grasp it. I want it to be a very part of our heat and minds and beings that we will never forget it. John 14, 15, 16, and 17 are the words and the promises of the New Covenant. Everything else flows from here. Everything that Jesus did is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John relate right back to the words of the covenant that we have in John 14, 15, 16, and 17. Everything that we have here in John 14, 15, 16, and 17 are the basic words of the covenant and the prophecy of the things that will take place, and the ultimate reward of being at one with God. Now let’s come to John 14 and let’s review a couple of very key important verses. And we will see how this flows right along with the same proposition that God gave Israel. Exactly.
John 14:6, remember how we read about the way they were to walk in with the Old Covenant, or the covenant with Israel? But here with the covenant with the Church God says through Jesus, He said, “…I am the way, [and] the truth, and the life: no [one] man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” Now this covenant is very profound. This covenant is spiritual. This covenant is eternal. There are conditions, all based upon the love of God. And these conditions are stated here very clearly. Let’s just look at a couple of them as they relate back to the same fundamental principle that we saw concerning the covenant with Israel.
Verse 15, “I ye love Me, keep My commandments.” You can find that all…we covered that in the beginning, didn’t we, leading up to the day of Pentecost where they said, “All the words that God has spoken we will do.” Question: will you do all the words of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant? All the words that Christ has spoken? All the words that He inspired the apostles to preach and to write? That’s what we need to think of as we’re coming down to the observance of Pentecost.
Now let’s come down to verse 21. “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” And that means spiritually through God’s Holy Spirit and the very commandments of God because He’s talking about sending the comforter, the Holy Spirit.
Verse 23, after Judas, who was not Iscariot, wanted to know how this phenomenon would be that He would show Himself to them and not the world. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words:” And what are Jesus words? Jesus words are the words of the covenant, which is called the New Covenant in relation to the covenant with Israel. “…And My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”
Then He defines the rejection of the New Covenant. “He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings…” Remember what God said? “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My commandments…” He’s saying the same thing here. The one who is not loving Me is not keeping My commandments. So anyone who comes along and says, “Well, you don’t have to keep this commandment of God, or that commandment of God.”, is a liar and the truth is not in them. And they are not conveying the words of Christ. If they are saying that they’re not loving Him. “…And the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.”
Now you see how all of this ties in. The Feast of Pentecost is very important. In the covenant with Israel it’s connected with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and reaches it’s fullest point 50 days later at Mt. Sinai where God gave the Ten Commandments. Now in the covenant with Jesus Christ we have the same exact principle for the New Covenant. If we love God we’re going to keep His commandments. If we love Him we will obey His voice and keep His word. And further more than God says He will give us the Holy Spirit to do it and accomplish it, and that’s where the day of Pentecost comes in because just like in the Old Covenant, the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread were connected with the Feast of Pentecost, so the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are connected with the Feast of Pentecost in the covenant with the Church being the New Covenant.
