The Marriage of the Lamb

Greetings brethren. This is Day 49 the day before Pentecost. As you know, every year we go through the Holy Days. Every year we learn a little bit more, and every year we try and understand some other aspects of the Holy Days and other aspects of God's Word in relationship to it so that we can grow in grace and knowledge and understand. Likewise with Pentecost we're going to do the same thing today, and then tomorrow.

It seems like the time has really flown since the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. As with us here, we've really been busy just trying to get everything done and get all the mailings and everything out so we can get them out to you to cover everything in a timely manner. Note our In-Depth Study: Seven Church Harvest, because that goes through all of the Churches and shows the spiritual harvest of God, which we'll cover a little bit more tomorrow.

But all of that is in preparation so that when we are preaching 'in season and out of season' we're always relating everything to the way of God pointing to the Holy Days. I'm going to have some very good information for you concerning the Holy Days, which is really going to be I think very, very helpful in understanding so that we will be able to have

•  greater confidence in the Holy Days of God
• greater confidence in God's way
• greater confidence in what God is doing

that all

• adds to faith
• adds to love
• adds to hope

and gives us a greater understanding! That's what God wants us to have.

As we always do for the Holy Days, let's begin in Lev. 23 and continue the story and the flow of the Holy Days through the year as we are coming up to Pentecost. We know that this began with the Wave Sheaf Offering Day—note message Wave Sheaf Offering and Joshua 5 because that is very significant. As a matter of fact, that is the whole key for everything coming down to Pentecost!

Leviticus 23:9: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "When you have come into the land…"'" (vs 9-10).

Pentecost, with the grain harvest and everything, was not to happen until they came into the land because as long as they were in the wilderness they didn't have any grain they had manna, and that was their food. I'm sure that Pentecost was kept because the Ten Commandments were given on Pentecost, and Pentecost was kept even though they did not have the grain. But when they got into the land we'll see what happened, what they did according to God's instruction:

"…When you have come into the land, which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it" (vs 10-11).

This was the very first of the firstfruits, and that's what Christ is called, the First of the firstfruits!

Now let me read to you out of The Schocken Bible: The Five Books of Moses by Everett Foxe, because he gives a little bit different description of it. I think points more toward the resurrection than just the Wave Sheaf Offering as it is translated in the King James Version.

Verse 10 (SB): "Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, and you harvest its harvest, you are to bring the premier sheaf…" [the premier means the most important] …of your harvest to the priest. He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [the LORD] YHWH, for acceptance for you" (vs 10-11).

Since Christ was the Firstfruit, Christ was the Firstborn, the premier one is this.

Let's see where we have a fulfillment of this in describing Christ. Also, it includes us because Christ had to be first because as Paul said, 'If Christ be not raised then you are dead in your sins, and your faith is empty and vain.'

So, we have now the fulfillment of the firstfruits and also the Firstborn. So remember the firstfruits and the Firstborn are very connected in the plan of God.

Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

I've seen that through the years over and over and over again. Everything works to good, but we have to let it exercise us so we can understand how it is good for us, and the trials and difficulties that we go through. But when you take a long perspective of it and you take and look back through the years you see how that everything works for good. God designed it that way. God is involved in our lives. God has called us. God has given us of His Spirit. God is leading us and guiding us and bringing us to His Kingdom. When we understand everything Christ went through, and that it all worked for good.

Verse 29. "Because those whom He did foreknow He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His own Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren."

What we have in the harvest of the firstfruits, in Lev. 23 you have the premier sheaf, which is cut first. No other grain was to be harvested. No other things were to be eaten until that was cut. When that was cut, that is signifying being cut from the earth, meaning that it is no longer earthly bound. Let's transfer that to Christ in a figure. Then the priest elevates it, which is just like a resurrection. Remember in John 20 when Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene. She came to hug Him, to hold Him, and He said:

Don't touch Me for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go tell My brethren and your brethren that I ascend to My God and to your God.

So, she did. Jesus immediately, right after that, ascended into heaven, was accepted of God the Father

• as the sacrifice
• as the First of the firstborn
• the First of the firstfruit
• that perfect sacrifice

to redeem all mankind! That was the start. So, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day is a very important and key thing.

Leviticus 23:11 (SB)—"He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [the LORD] YHWH, for acceptance for you; on the morrow of the Sabbath… [that means on the morrow after the Sabbath] …The priest is to elevate it."

This is the regular weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When Passover falls on a Friday night and then the Sabbath Day is the Passover Day, that day become the Sabbath of the Unleavened Bread because the Passover is also an unleavened bread day. Therefore, the first day right after that becomes the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. This year we didn't have that. This year:

• we had the Passover in the middle of the week
• we had the three days and three nights in the tomb
• we had the resurrection at the end of the Sabbath
• we have Christ ascending now on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day

On the morrow after the Sabbath to be accepted for us! He was accepted!

Now then, I'll read out of The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Favorite Version:

Verse 12: "And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering to the LORD…. [also a type of Christ] …And its grain offering shall be two tenth parts of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a sweet savor. And the drink offering of it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor green ears until the same day, until you have brought an offering to your God…" (vs 12-14).

After they entered into the land, and after they had the very first Wave Sheaf Offering, from that time on they could eat the old corn and the new corn. Then every year coming up to that time then they could always eat the old corn coming up to the time of the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, but they couldn't eat any of the new corn, or that is the new grain. They couldn't take it and dry it and parch it like it says here.

"…It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings" (v 14).

Now let's see how it was fulfilled when they came into the land. This becomes very important and this is one of those weeks where the weekly Sabbath was the Passover Day. Therefore, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread being the first day of the week after the Passover Sabbath became the Wave Sheaf Offering Day.

Joshua 5:10: "And the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the old grain of the land on the next day after the Passover, unleavened cakes and roasted new grain in the same day" (vs 10-11).

The morrow after the Passover was the 15th. That was the Wave Sheaf Offering in that year when they entered into the 'promised land.' Therefore, they could eat of the old corn, which was the harvest that they got from conquering on the east side of the Jordan. They had stores of grain, they had the new harvest already planted and grown ready to harvest. They took a premier sheaf right from the harvest that had been planted. The priest waved it before God, elevated it, and it was accepted on the morrow after the Sabbath, and the Sabbath being the Passover Day, and that's why this took place. Notice that they also ate unleavened bread with it.

Verse 12. "And the manna stopped on the next day after they had eaten the grain of the land. And there was no more manna for the children of Israel, but they ate the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." There it was fulfilled! There was the command that God gave, and we saw it fulfilled.

Lev. 23—this tells us how we are to count because counting is very important and there's still some people who believe in a Monday Pentecost. There's no such thing as a Monday Pentecost. Has never been and can't be, especially when you understand the counting.

Leviticus 23:15 (SB): "Now you are to number for yourselves, from the morrow… [that means beginning with the morrow] …of the Sabbath…"

You have to count that first day because Christ was accepted on that day. He ascended to the Father, and His ascension made Him accepted as the sacrifice for our sins. So, that day must be counted!

"…from the day that you bring the elevated sheaf, seven Sabbaths-of-days, whole (weeks) are they to be; until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you are to number—fifty days, then you are to bring-near a grain-gift of new-crops to {the LORD] YHWH. From your settlements you are to bring bread as an elevation-offering, two (loaves of) two tenth-measures of flour are they to be, leavened you are to bake them, as firstfruits to [the LORD] YHWH" (vs 15-17).

Let's go back and analyze these two verses just a little bit more.

• you are to number beginning with the morrow after the Sabbath
• from the day—including the day—that you bring the Wave Sheaf Offering Day
• you are to have seven Sabbaths of days; seven Sabbaths
• whole weeks are they to be

This is very easy to figure out once you understand that you start day one—the Wave Sheaf Offering Day—which is on a Sunday. Count seven days and you come to the Sabbath. Then you count seven Sabbaths and that gives you 49 days. Then "…until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath…" you are to number 50 days. If you went to Monday you would actually be numbering 51 days.

• on the morrow of the 7th Sabbath you are to number 50 days
• to the morrow of the 7th Sabbath, number 50 days
• you are to bring a grain offering of the new crop to the LORD

So, you've got those seven steps that you are to do!

Now then, this offering that was to come, was the only meal offering, or bread offering where God required that leaven be put in it. Leaven was never in any of the other offerings. They were always unleavened. Now there's a reason for them being leavened, and I'll let you come back tomorrow and find out what that reason is. I'll sort of leave you in suspended animation here. However, there's a distinct purpose in it.

Now, just understand that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread leaven is a picture of sin. On Pentecost leaven here pictures something entirely different. I used to say that it was God accepted us even though we have the law of sin and death in us, which that is a true statement. I'll cover a little bit more of that tomorrow so we'll understand more about that.

Verse 18: "And you are to bring near along with the bread seven sheep, wholly sound, a year old…"

Isn't that interesting? What is the Church called? The Church is called the flock of God! Sheep are of the flock!

• Isn't it interesting that we have seven sheep?
• Are those a type of the seven churches in Revelation that we've covered already? Could very well be!

"…And one bull, a young of the herd, and rams, two, they shall be an offering-up for [the LORD] YHWH…" (v 18).

That's exactly what all of these picture other than whole burnt offerings, complete dedication to God, that's what that shows.

"…With their grain-gift and their poured-offerings, a fire-offering of soothing savor to [the LORD] YHWH. And you are to perform-as-sacrifice: one hairy goat for a hattat… [atonement] …and two sheep, a year old, for a slaughter-offering… [a peace offering] …of shalom…. [so you can have peace with God, sit down and eat with Him] …The priest is to elevate them, together with the bread of the firstfruits as an elevation-offering before the presence of [the LORD] YHWH, together with the two sheep; they shall be a holy-portion for [the LORD] YHWH, for the priest. And you are to make-proclamation on that same day…" (vs 18-21).

We have the 50 days, you have the same day. We don't go to the 51st day.

Tomorrow we will see, when we come to Acts 2, what it's talking about there, the very first verse, talking about Pentecost means from the Greek, and I have a written a booklet on it and we also have two other booklets on counting Pentecost:

• The True Meaning of Acts 2:1
• Count to Pentecost—From the Morrow After Which Sabbath

The Greek has a very special construction that is called an articular present tense infinitive, meaning that when the Day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, or when the 50th day was being fulfilled, accomplished or being completed, not yet finished. That shows that you cannot move over to the 51st day. They didn't wait until the day there—till the day after the 50th day—they did it on that day.

Now then, let's look at some other things concerning Pentecost and how those fit in to the meaning of it. We also have a message with a chart, and it's called From The Red Sea to Mt. Sinai. {truthofGod.org} It took the children of Israel seven weeks to get from Egypt to Sinai; seven weeks less three days.

Exodus 19:1: "In the third month when the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day…"

This particular phrase means the same day of the week. The Passover that Israel had in Egypt was in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday.

• Tuesday night is when they ate the Passover
• Tuesday night is when the firstborn were killed; the death of the firstborn
• Wednesday morning, our time, then they got up and they gathered all the spoil of the Egyptians and assembled at Rameses
• Wednesday night, beginning the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Night Much to be Remembered 430 years after the promise given to Abraham, they departed from Rameses

That is the same day of the week that they came into the wilderness of Sinai!

Verse 3: "And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed…"'" (vs 3-5).

I want to emphasize this over and over again. The whole key is to obey the voice of God. Remember:

Deuteronomy 8:3: "…man does not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live."

Here we have all the words that God has for us that He spoke or inspired, one of the two, and it's out of the mouth of the LORD. It's the key thing. Same thing you find with Abraham. Same thing you find with all of those who were the prophets of God. They obeyed the voice of God!

Exodus 19:5: "…and keep My covenant…"

Not only do you have to obey the voice but you have to keep the covenant. That's for us today too in the same way.

"'"…then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation." 'These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.' And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words, which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.'…." (vs 5-8).

So, they came and told the elders, the elders went and told the people. The people said 'Yes, we'll do it.' The elders came back and told Moses, 'Yes we'll do it.'

"…And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD" (v 8).

How was Israel going to be a peculiar nation, a kingdom of priests?

Let's see what they were supposed to do. We have the same thing all the way through the Bible, obeying the voice of God!

Deuteronomy 4:1: "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, in order to do them, so that you may live and go in and possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers gives to you. You shall not add to the word, which I command you; neither shall you take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you…. [we covered this on the Seven Church Harvest #3, concerning Baalim] …Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor…" (vs 1-3).

That's when the Moabites came in and enticed the Israelites to come and do sacrifice to their gods. That was under the instruction of Baalim to Balak to do so.

"…For the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men that followed Baal Peor" (v 3).

He wants you to learn. Don't go do what the others did. Don't go out and bring something from the world and bring it in and try and make it a part of God's way. The same thing applies today. We're not to do that.

Verse 4: "And you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive, every one of you, this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it" (vs 4-5).

Now here's how they were to be a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation:

Verse 6: "And you shall keep and do them… [all the commandments, statutes and judgments of God] …for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what nation is so great whose God is so near to them, as the LORD our God is, whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation has statutes and judgments that are so righteous as all this Law, which I set before you today?" (vs. 6-8).

Brethren that's why no one can improve upon God's way.

If the Word of God needs to be changed, God will change it! He did so in the New Covenant when Christ made all the Laws more spiritually binding and raised them to a higher level of obedience than we've had in the past.

We need to understand this concerning Law-keeping and grace. Under the New Covenant—because we have the Laws of God written in our heart and in our mind through the power of God's Holy Spirit, and we stand in the grace of God—when we keep the commandments today, we are doing so as an operation of grace, because we do it from the heart filled with the Holy Spirit!

That's something you need to understand, because a lot of Protestants will tell you that what you do is to keep the Law and the Law is against grace. No such thing! The Law is there:

• to show us
• to teach us
• to lead us
• to guide us

if we sin, the Law is there

• to convict us of sin

WHEN we repent through the operation of grace THEN we're restored to God!

For the children of Israel, they were to do this for the whole world, and needless to say, they failed. But God said never the less, that's what He wanted.

Let's and continue on in Exo. 19 with the rest of the account leading up to the Day of Pentecost when the Ten Commandments were given. That's something very important to really understand.

Exodus 19:10: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And be ready for the third day…'" (vs 10-11).

So you have Friday, Sabbath, and Sunday, the third day. What did they do?

• they washed their clothes on Friday and got all prepared
• they kept the Sabbath because that sanctified them
• then God came down the third day and brought the Ten Commandments

Let's see how that went:

Verse 14: "And Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people. And they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day. Do not approach a woman.' And it came to pass on the third day in the morning…" (vs 14-16).

Now we're going to see there are parallels between this and Acts 2, because it was in the morning that the events took place in Acts 2, same way here.

How'd you like to wake up to this? "…that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain. And the sound of the trumpet…" (v 16).

There's something to understand. The trumpet is always blown on every Holy Day! The Feast of Trumpets is a memorial of blowing of trumpets all day long. That's why it's called the Feast of Trumpets.

"…was exceedingly loud… [here is the trumpet] …so that all the people in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God…." (vs 16-17).

What an absolutely awesome thing that must have been!

"…And they stood at the base of the mountain…. [beneath the mountain] …And Mount Sinai was smoking, all of it because the LORD came down upon it in fire. And the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (vs 17-18).

Imagine this whole thing just all of the sound of the thunder and the lightning, and it's recorded back in Heb. 12, and the wind that was with it, and the earth quaking. If there's one thing that really puts fear into people, that's to have the ground beneath them shaking. That's exactly what was happening here. We live in California; we know what that's like. Those of you back in the Midwest and East have tornadoes. You know what that's like; you can get afraid of that. It's the same thing.

Verse 19: "And when the sound of the trumpet sounded long, and became very strong, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go down. Command the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish'" (vs 19-21).

You can't look upon the glorified form of God as a physical human being and live! That's what God told Moses when he said, 'show me Your glory.' He said, 'No man can see My face and live.' Because God in His glory living eternally in spiritually has that power just radiating from His very body. This is what happened here. He says, 'Lest they perish!'

Verse 22: "'And let the priests also, who come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.' And Moses said to the LORD, 'The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You commanded us, saying, "Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it."' And the LORD said to him, 'Away! Get you down, and only you shall come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break forth upon them.' And Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them" (vs 22-25).

Then God gave the Ten Commandments. You know what they are; we've gone over these many, many times. Let's understand something very important here in relationship to Pentecost and the Sabbath. God gave the Ten Commandments on the Day of Pentecost, which is a Holy Day. God pronounced that the Sabbath was to be remembered and to be kept so there is no excuse by any Sunday-keeper to claim because the New Testament Church began on Pentecost, therefore the first day of the week is the day that God wanted to keep instead of the seventh day. Not so! IF you accept Pentecost:

• you accept the commandments of God
• you accept the Sabbath of God
• you accept the words of God

God spoke all those words! But it was too much for the people to bear:

Exodus 20:18: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw, they trembled and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die'" (vs 18-19).

Then what did that do? That gave them one person removed from God, and they could say, 'Moses said' instead of 'God said.' Remember this: Everything Moses said was what God said; Moses was to say!

So, this was a carnal excuse showing that the carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be and that it cannot hear the Laws of God. That's the whole lesson here with this. That's why in Deut. 18 God said he would send Jesus Christ to come in the flesh, to speak to them as a man rather than speak to them as a God. To speak to them with words that they could hear and understand rather than speaking with such great power and force that you are so afraid that there was hardly anything you could remember. Yet, they rejected Christ. That's the way that the carnal mind is.

Moses went back up on the mount. God gave him all the statutes and judgments. Let's understand something that's very important. On the very day that God gave the Ten Commandments He also gave the Holy Days. Do you realize that? He reiterates the Sabbath:

Exodus 23:12: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the stranger, may be rejuvenated. And be watchful in all that I have said to you. And make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth" (vs 12-13).

This precludes anything concerning Christmas and Easter and New Years, and any of the pagan holidays that any of the nations had, and they go right back to the very same thing that we see in the world today. God said don't even mention it. That is in the way that that is something that you would do. Yet, look what happened to the Worldwide Church of God. Totally taken down, totally subverted, totally back into the world.

• have forgotten the words of God
• have forgotten the commandments of God
• have had every lying excuse under the sun
  • to get rid of the Sabbath
  • to get rid of the Holy Days
  • to embrace Sunday, Christmas, Easter and all of that

So, now you understand why God puts these warnings in here over and over again. Perhaps taking up as much as one third of the whole Bible to tell you to beware to don't do the things that the pagans do! Yet, some people never get it. They never get it. 

Verse 14. "You shall keep a Feast unto Me three times in the year. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And no one shall appear before Me empty. Also, the Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits… [Pentecost] …of your labors, which you have sown in the field. And the Feast of Ingathering, in the end of the year… [end of the harvest season]… when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD" (vs. 14-17).

There it is right there. On the same day that God gave the Ten Commandments that He gave the Sabbath, and He also gave the Holy Days.

Now then, let's understand something important. If you accept one then you have to accept all, because if you do not accept all what are you doing? You are diminishing from it! When you diminish from it what is the natural proclivity to do but to add to it! That's what the children of Israel did. That's their whole history. 

Exo. 24—here is where the marriage covenant between the LORD God Who became Jesus Christ for the New Testament. But this is the marriage covenant between the LORD God and Israel that took place, because the Old Covenant was a marriage covenant. Let's see that beginning here:

Exodus 24:1: "And He said to Moses, 'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship afar off…. [we will see why all of them came up] …And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near. Neither shall the people go up with him.' And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the LORD has said, we will do.'" (vs 1-3). When there is a marriage you ask:

According to the covenant do you accept? Do you promise to love and obey—for the wife—to submit to your husband in all things unto the LORD whether in sickness or in health, whether in want or in wealth?
It's the same way with the man!.
Do you promise and covenant with God to faithfully love your wife, to cleave to her, to cherish her, to honor her, to provide for her? Yes I do!

That is a marriage covenant! That's what this is in the Old Testament. These words are the words that God said; 'If you do them you shall become Mine.'

Verse 4: "And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD…"

God always has His covenants written down. That is the record. That's why we have the new Covenant written down. That is the record.

"…and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the base of the mountain and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of bullocks to the LORD" (vs 4-5).

Now the reason he took young men, now these may have been Levites, but the Levitical priesthood was not yet consecrated. Therefore, he took the young men, and I'm sure they were Levites.

Notice what happens because there is no covenant that is made without blood; without the shedding of blood there is no covenant!

Verse 6: "And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar."

So he put half the blood and put that into two basins; the other half of the blood was sprinkled on the altar.

Verse 7: "And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read in the ears of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has said we will 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 has made with you concerning all these words'" (vs 7-8).

I want you to notice that this covenant was made on the day after Pentecost. We will see tomorrow that that is significant in relationship to the eternal covenant that God is going to make with the Church when the Church is resurrected.

Verse 9. "And Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the heavens in clearness" (vs 9-10).

This is called in the New Testament the Sea of Glass. Whenever God comes down and is in a particular place then if He's there for any length of time then there is the Sea of Glass. This Sea of Glass was also so that the people could not see up in toward God. But the elders who were right up close could see up into it, but the people couldn't. This was to establish the fact for all the people who the seventy elders represented that they saw God and that this covenant was sure and that it was true.

Let's also notice something else that took place; v 11: "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay his hands. Also they saw God, and ate and drank."

What did they have? They had a wedding feast! In this particular case, since God was dealing with carnal human beings He could not come down and eat with them directly. This wedding feast then had the representatives of Israel being the 70 elders, and the representatives of the priesthood being Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the representative of the high priest being Moses, who was a type of Christ Who was the One Who went to the Father. He was the One, in this case, Who became Jesus Christ.

Verse 12: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to Me in the mountain, and be there. And I will give you tablets of stone, and the law, and commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.' And Moses rose up, and his attendant Joshua. And Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, 'You wait here for us until we come again to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a cause, let him come to them.' And Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of the LORD abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud" (vs 12-16).

Moses had to wait seven days. I'm sure after Nadab, Abihu and Aaron and the 70 elders had finished eating, they went back down to be with the rest of the children of Israel. Moses went up into the mount.

Verse 17: "And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mountain. And Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights" (vs. 17-18).

We won't get into much of the rest of the story that took place there lest we get away from understanding about the Day of Pentecost. I'm covering it in the Old Testament today—Day 49—so that will lead us up to the New Testament tomorrow.

Let's see that this was a marriage. Isa. 54 tells us very clearly that what happened there with the covenant that was made. It was a marriage covenant on the Day after Pentecost with the blood of the covenant that was sprinkled on the people and on the altar. Moses read all the words that God commanded them to do. They said, 'Yes we will do that.' We find where it talks about Israel being the wife of the Lord.

Isaiah 54:5: "For your Maker is your husband…"

This not only is talking about Israel, because Israel was married to God. But in this particular case this is also a prophecy of the New Testament Church.

"…the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called, for the LORD has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected,' says your God" (vs 5-6).

Israel refused! Even though they said yes, their whole action said we refuse!

• that's why God had to divorce them
• that's why God had to put them away
• that's why God had to leave them and forsake them

They left God, forsook God for other gods and broke the covenant!

Brethren, we need to understand that concerning the covenant with Jesus Christ because

• it is His body that is broken for us
• it is His blood that is shed for us
• it is the blood of the New Covenant

Now let's understand the children of Israel, they broke the covenant. They were punished for it. But IF we break the covenant—the covenant with Christ, the covenant unto eternal life—THEN we have nothing to look forward to but eternal death. You either will love God and keep His commandments, accept Jesus Christ, or you will be in the Lake of Fire.

Some people may even get mad at me for saying that. The series Epistle of Paul to the  Hebrews you will understand that's exactly what Hebrews says. You either follow Christ:

• obey Him
• love God the Father
• keep all of His commandments

or

• you have the Lake of Fire to look forward to

Under Moses they were stoned. But when you do spite to the Spirit of grace, you are cast into the Lake of Fire and you are eternally dead; there's no resurrection from that.

Now let's come to the New Testament. Mat. 13 is a very important chapter because this shows that what Christ was working out from the time He came until the end of the age is likened unto a harvest. That's why Pentecost is the harvest of the firstfruits beginning with the first one, the Wave Sheaf Offering or the premier sheaf was accepted of God. Christ was the First. The rest of it is what He is doing. It is a harvest. It is a planting. That's what God is doing. We need to understand these parables here.

Matthew 13:18—showing the harvest: "Therefore, hear the parable of the sower… [which is Christ] … When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart…." (vs 18-19).

That is something we need to understand. Don't let Satan come and take that away, which was sown in your heart. We have seen some that that has happened, too, and I'm afraid that there are going to be great problems.

"…This is the one who was sown by the way. Now, the one who was sown upon the rocky places is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; but because he has no root in himself, he does not endure; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, he is quickly offended" (vs 19-21).

We can't let that happen to us either. We've also seen that take place. That's why all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Verse 22: "And the one who was sown…" This is a planting!

We'll see when the harvest takes place, because there's another aspect of it that we have to understand here.

"…among the thorns is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful" (v 22).

Remember the parable of the rich man who came to Christ and said 'Lord, what should I do to inherit eternal life?' Christ said, 'Keep the commandments.' The rich man said, 'Which one?' So, He listed off all the commandments having to do with loving your neighbor. Of course, they were living in a land where:

• they were keeping the Sabbath, that was not the issue
• they were keeping the Holy Days, that was not the issue
• they had the right God, that was not the issue
• they had no idols there, that was not the issue

That's why Jesus didn't mention the first four commandments in that account in Matt. 19.

Verse 23[transcriber's correction]: "But the one who was sown on good ground…"—as compared to the others and the rich man, you know, he went away very sorrowful because he had many riches!

Typical example of the one where the seed is sown among the thorns and the weeds, the cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches.

"'…this is the one who hears the Word and understands, who indeed brings forth fruit and produces—one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold.' And He put another parable before them, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a man who was sowing good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away'" (vs 23-25).

Then the tares and the wheat grew up together, and they came along and asked the Lord:

• Who's done this? An enemy has done this!
• How did this happen?

• we've seen the same thing, too
• we've lived through that

The enemy, Satan the devil, infiltrates the Church and:

• we have tares
• we have false doctrine

Right alongside those who are producing the good!

So, Christ said, "No, don't tear them up. But you wait until the harvest." Pentecost is the harvest! Let's see that.

Verse 37: "And He answered and said to them, 'The One Who sows the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one" (vs. 37-38).

As we find in 1-John, they are the ones who are practicing lawlessness. I'm going to have a lot to say about the mystery of lawlessness. I tell you that is something, the mystery of lawlessness, or the mystery of iniquity is really an awesome thing indeed.

Verse 39: "Now, the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels…. [we'll see that all take place concerning the resurrection] …Therefore, as the tares are gathered and consumed in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age" (vs 39-40). We're going to see when this age ends!

Verse 41: "The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all the offenders and those who are practicing lawlessness; and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear" (vs. 41-43). We'll see that's very important when we come to the harvest that God has!

Now then, there are 7 weeks to the harvest. This Sabbath ended the 7th week to the harvest. Then there was the 50th day offering that took place.

We have 7 churches (Rev. 2 & 3), and I think that the 7 churches represent, not necessarily just in time sequence, but represent in type the seven weeks to the harvest! That is the Church age and the Church harvest, and they will be in the first resurrection. There will be more in the first resurrection, because there is also the 50th day harvest, which then is the harvest of God! So, the 7 churches represent the 49-day harvest.

Will everyone in the first resurrection be the Bride of Christ? We've thought in the past, yes that is so. Let's read the parable in Matt. 22; there's a lot for us to learn right here:

Matthew 22:1: "And again Jesus answered and spoke to them in parables, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a man who was a king, who made a wedding feast for his son… [the king is God the Father; the son is Christ] …and sent his servants… [which began with the apostles and whoever the true servants of God are] … to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast; but they refused to come…. [these are the guests] …Afterwards he sent out other servants, saying "Say to those who have been invited, 'Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and the fatted beasts are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast'"" (vs 1-4).

Of course, there was going to be a marriage supper. Now we saw there was a marriage supper with the first covenant with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 elders of Israel. They did eat and drink. That was the marriage supper. So, here's the supper all ready to go.

Verse 5: "But they paid no attention and went away, one to his farm, and another to his business. And the rest, after seizing his servants, insulted and killed them. Now, when the king heard it, he became angry; and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city" (vs 5-7). This is exactly what Christ did to Jerusalem!

Verse 8: "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast indeed is ready… [there's going to be a time when the wedding is going to be ready] …but those who were invited were not worthy; therefore, go into the well-traveledhighways, and invite all that you find to the wedding feast' And after going out into the highways, those servants brought together everyone that they found, both good and evil; and the wedding feast was filled with guests" (vs 8-10). There is going to be:

• God the Father, Who is the King, to perform the ceremony
• Christ
• the Bride
• the guests

All of them will be there for this event!

Is this telling us that not everyone in the first resurrection will be part of the Bride of Christ? Perhaps it is!

Verse 11: "And when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not dressed in proper attire for the wedding feast; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you enter here without a garment fit for the wedding feast?' But he had no answer. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness.' There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (vs 11-13).

Well in this parable it can't be shown about the resurrection because this is showing about the wedding. In other words, no one is going to get there unless they have the wedding garments. They won't get there because they'll have to be in the first resurrection. If they're not in the first resurrection then they rejected the call, and they didn't do what God wanted to do, then sure enough they will be cast out into outer darkness and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Verse 14: "For many are called, but few are chosen."

Let's look at the parallel account in Luke 14, and I think this is quite profound when we put the whole chapter together and see the things as they took place.

Luke 14:15: "Then one of those who sat at the table with Him, after hearing these things, said to Him, 'Blessed is the one who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God.' But He said to him, 'A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. And he sent his servants at suppertime to say to those who had been invited, "Come, for everything is now ready." But everyone with one consent began to excuse himself. The first said to him, "I have bought a field, and I need to go out to see it; I beg you to have me excused." And another said, "I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am going to try them out; I beg you to have me excused." And another said, "I have married a wife, and because of this I am unable to come"'"" (vs 15-20).

All of these are good and valid excuses. I mean in the modern work-a-day place that we live in today. But that has nothing to do with valid excuses for obeying God. You've been given the invitation. Are you going to come? Well, we'll see!

Verse 21: "And that servant came and reported these things to his lord. Then the master of the house was angry; and he said to his servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind."

That's all of us because we are spiritually poor and maimed, and halt and blind.

Verse 22: "And the servant said, 'Sir, it has been done as you commanded, and there is still room.' Then the lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled'" (vs 22-23).

• God is going to accomplish His work
• it's going to be filled
• there is going to be the wedding
• there will be Christ
• there will be the Bride
• there will be the guests

Verse 24: "For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper."

This ties in with the other parable where many are called but few are chosen, and here is why only few are chosen: because few repent! Few repent with this kind of attitude. What you need to do when we read these Scriptures is apply them yourself and I'll apply them to myself, because this is the qualification for the wedding invitation, right here.

Notice what Jesus said, v 25: "And great multitudes were going with Him; and He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, and, in addition, his own life also, he cannot be My disciple'" (vs. 25-26)—and you cannot be in the first resurrection, whether you're called to be part of the Bride or whether you're called to be a guest.

• Have we done that?
• Do we continue to do that?
• Have we set our minds that we are going to always do that?
• That we will be faithful?
• That we will be loving?
• That we will be obedient to God in all circumstances?

We have this set before us! That's all a part of counting the cost. That's what we did when we were baptized, and that's what we continually do as we go down through the walk that we have with God:

• in walking in the Truth
• in walking in the Light
• serving God in the way that we do

Verse 27: "And whoever does not carry his cross… [whatever the difficulty may be] …and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

Greek there is the very strongest—Greek 'ou dunatai'—meaning it is impossible to be His disciple. If you're not His disciple, you won't be in the first resurrection, and you won't be in the resurrection for guests or as the Bride, either one.

Let's carry this a little bit further. Let's see a parallel between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Sion in heaven above, showing what is going to happen to those who will be, in what is called the Church of the Firstborn; that's us, the firstfruits. Christ is the First of the firstfruits. Christ is the Firstborn of the firstborn. We are going to be part of the Church of the Firstborn.

Heb. 12—notice how it starts out; how that it is Christ that we need to look to. Brethren, we need to really understand that. We don't know what the days are going to be. We don't know what the times are going to be. We don't know exactly when these things are going to come, but I'll guarantee you according to the Word of God that we are a whole closer to the end than when we first believed. You can guarantee that.

Here's a whole example; Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight…" That's what we need to do:

• every care
• every problem
• every weight
• everything that is dragging us down

"…and the sin that so easily entraps us…"

• yes, we're weak in the flesh
• yes, we have the law of sin and death in us
• yes, these things come upon us

But they can be set aside through Christ!

"…and let us run the race set before us with endurance" (v 1).

Today, too many people have slowed down to a walk. They aren't even trotting. Many of them are just sitting along the sidelines. They aren't even participating in anything. They've just given up. The way that you continue in this way is this:

Verse 2: "Having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of our faith…" We always need to look to Christ because:

• He's the Head of the Church
• He's the One Who set us an example
• He is the One Who is our Savior
• He is the One Who is our sacrifice
• it is His blood that pays for our sins
• it is His sitting at the right hand of God that we are justified
• it is His sitting at the right hand  of God that we have the grace of God given to us

"…Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him… [look how He counted the trial that He went through] …endured the cross, although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Now meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great hostility of sinners against Himself so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds" (vs 2-3)—and give up!

• we are not to give up
• we are not to let these things slip away from us
• we are not to let these things fall into disrepair because of neglect and disuse

We have to do as it says here, v 4: "You have not yet resisted to the point of losing blood in your struggle against sin." No, you haven't!

Yes, we're going to have correction, but v 6: "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He severely disciplines every son whom He receives." He chastens

• so that we can be better
• so that we can grow
• so that we can bring forth more fruit

Now let's see what all of this is going to do:

Verse 14: "Pursue peace with everyone, and Holiness, without which no one will see the Lord; looking diligently, lest anyone fall from the grace of God…" (vs 14-15). People can fall from the grace of God.

It is an absolute lie that 'once saved, always saved'; that once you have been saved you have eternal security and regardless of what you do you cannot fall away. That is a blatant lie!

It says right here, "…lest anyone fall from the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you… [when that happens]: …and through this many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator or godless person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright; because you also know that afterwards, when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; and he found no room for repentance, although he sought it earnestly with tears" (vs 15-17).

Notice what Paul does here. He immediately shifts this right over into the spiritual reality of our existence in standing before Christ:

Verse 18: "For you have not come to the mount that could be touched and that burned with fire, nor to gloominess, and fearful darkness, and the whirlwind; and to the sound of the trumpet, and to the voice of the words… [tie in Exo. 19-20; we haven't come to that mount] …which those who heard, begged that the word not be spoken directly to them. (For they could not endure what was being commanded: 'And if even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned, or shot through with an arrow'… [thrust through with a javelin] …and so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I am greatly afraid and trembling')" (vs 18-21).

With this setting the tone, Paul says, v 22: "But you have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; and to an innumerable company of angels; to the joyous festival gathering; and to the Church of the Firstborn..." (vs 22-23). That's where we have come to:

• you are part of the Church of the Firstborn
• you are part of that general assembly

"…registered in the Book of Life in heaven…" (v 23) You're name is in the Book of Life, and only you can take it out!

"…and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just who have been perfected" (v 23). This is quite a thing brethren:

• to be counted in this group
• to be part of this
• to be of this harvest
• to be there
• to be able to be on Mt. Sion with Christ

Verse 24: "And to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant; and to sprinkling of the blood of ratification, proclaiming superior things than that of Abel."

Then he gives a warning, v 25: "Beware that you do not refuse to hear Him Who is speaking! For if they did not escape judgment, who refused to hear the One Who was on the earth Divinely instructing them, how much more severely will we be judged, if we ourselves apostatize from Him Who speaks from heaven."

I tell you, that's something! The resurrection is going to be something. It is going to be a powerful thing that is going to take place.

Verse 26: "Whose voice then shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet, once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven also.'"

We find back in Haggai 3, and the sea and the dry land, and all of it! So, the return of Jesus Christ is going to be absolutely tremendous.

Verse 27: "Now the words 'once more' signify the removing of the things being shaken, as of things that were made, so that those things, which cannot be shaken may remain…. [that's us] …Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, through which we may serve God in a pleasing manner with reverence and awe; for our God is indeed a consuming fire" (vs 27-29). We are going to meet Him at the resurrection!

Now let's answer the question here concerning the guests!

Revelation 19:1: "And after these things… [this is after the resurrection and we'll see this is after being on the Sea of Glass] …I heard the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven…"—that is the first heaven where the Sea of Glass is, because we meet Christ in the air!

That's not in the heaven of heavens where God's Throne is. That is in the heavens where those who are resurrected meet Christ in the air on the Sea of Glass.

"…a great multitude saying, 'Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the honor and the power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He hasjudged the great whore, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.' And they said a second time, 'Hallelujah! And her smoke shall ascend upward into the ages of eternity.' And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, Who sits on the Throne, saying, 'Amen. Hallelujah!'" (vs 1-4).

Verse 5: "And a voice came forth from the Throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all His servants, and all who fear Him, both small and great.' And I heard a voice like that of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, and the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty has reigned. Let us be glad and shout with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And it was granted to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'…." (vs 5-9).

So, all of those who are called to the marriage supper, all of those who are called to the wedding have a great and a fantastic blessing from God! The Bride and Christ, when they are married, they will be in a special relationship forever. We will see that tomorrow. So, as Paul Harvey says, tune in for the rest of the story.

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, except where noted:The Schocken Bible: The Five Books of Moses by Everett Foxe

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:9-11
• Romans 8:28-29
• Leviticus 23:11-14
• Joshua 5:10-12
• Leviticus 23:15-21
• Exodus 19:1, 3-5
• Deuteronomy 8:3
• Exodus 19:5-8
• Deuteronomy 4:1-8
• Exodus 19:10-11, 14-25
• Exodus 20:13-19
• Exodus 23:12-17
• Exodus 24:1-18
• Isaiah 54:5-6
• Matthew 13:18-25, 37-43
• Matthew 22:1-14
• Luke 14:15-27
• Hebrews 12:1-4, 6, 14-29
• Revelation 19:1-9

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Acts 2
• John 20
• Hebrews 12
• Matthew 19
• Deuteronomy 18
• Revelation 2; 3
• Haggai 3

Also referenced: found at truthofGod.org

In-Depth Studies:

• Seven Church Harvest
• Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews

Booklets:

• The True Meaning of Acts 2:1
• Count to Pentecost—From the Morrow After Which Sabbath

Message: From The Red Sea to Mt. Sinai

FRC:cs
original transcription date unknown
Reformatted: 1/17/22