Chapter Twenty Four - Pentecost and the Sea of Glass

Book: God's Plan for Mankind

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April 17, 1999

Now on my trip I had several people ask me about the Sea of Glass. And there have been…other letters that have been written about the Sea of Glass in relationship to Pentecost. And Pentecost being the first resurrection…since those who have been in the Church of God for years and years, especially Worldwide Church of God, have thought that because of the teachings of the Church, that the resurrection would be on the Feast of Trumpets. And, just to give you a little background on that so you kind of know what happened in Worldwide and how they came to a Monday Pentecost. And many people don’t know this. I came across this when I was up in Eugene, Oregon. Now on my trip I had several people ask me about the Sea of Glass. And there have been…other letters that have been written about the Sea of Glass in relationship to Pentecost. And Pentecost being the first resurrection…since those who have been in the Church of God for years and years, especially Worldwide Church of God, have thought that because of the teachings of the Church, that the resurrection would be on the Feast of Trumpets. And, just to give you a little background on that so you kind of know what happened in Worldwide and how they came to a Monday Pentecost. And many people don’t know this. I came across this when I was up in Eugene, Oregon.

In 1952 in Eugene, Oregon when the Church was still very, very small, Eugene, Oregon being the mother Church and they had the College down in Pasadena just starting and so forth, they had a big difficulty over how to count Pentecost. And I think at that time they had just less than a dozen members up in Eugene, and all but one of them went with a Sunday count of Pentecost. So Herbert Armstrong sent Raymond Cole up there to solve the problem and to try and save the Church. And then he had Hermon Hoeh go ahead and do a study on it to find out from the scriptures. Well, they concluded that it ought to be on a Monday.

So what happened was that this came up again and again during the years from then until 1974. And in 1974 it came up again and there was really a big difficulty about it and there was more knowledge concerning the Hebrew and concerning the Greek and so forth. So again they had another study on it and there was a ministerial conference over it and I was there at the conference and I heard Hermon Hoeh give his confession as to how he came up with a Monday Pentecost, which was this. In Leviticus 23 he went ahead and said that the word Sabbath ha shabbath meant “weeks.” Ha shabbath never means “weeks” but he concluded in his mind that since Herbert Armstrong was the apostle of God that the apostle of God could not be wrong with a Monday Pentecost, so he sought a way to justify it and that’s how he justified it. So he had to admit at this conference that ha shabbath meant “Sabbath” and “Sabbath” only, and shabua meant “weeks.” “Week or weeks,” the shabua is the week.

So that’s how we came to have a Monday Pentecost in the Worldwide Church of God. And all of those years and all of those problems could have been solved going clear back to 1952 if it would have been handled rightly. And since that time there are many, many people who have tried to justify a Monday Pentecost and we’ll see how they do it, one of them, because before we begin Pentecost we need to go through and review how to count it. First of all I’m going to show you how to count it correctly, and I’m going to use the Schocken Bible, Volume 1, The Five Books of Moses. Now when I was on my trip back east I mentioned the phone number for Christian Book Distributors. And I gave you the wrong number so I’m going to give you the right number: Christian Book Distributors—978-977-5000. And I called the number to verify that it was correct, and it is correct. Now then, you cannot get it by asking for the Schocken Bible because it is under the First Five Books of Moses. So here is the order number at CBD: Stock Number — 40616 .

Now the Schocken Bible has the first five books of Moses and it is a translation, which is based upon the more literal reading of the Hebrew and it is really excellent. And when I first got it I was shocked at how that he was able to get it published at Schocken Publishing Company, because that is the largest Jewish publication company in the world. And I’ve since figured out how he was able to get the clarity of scripture but get it past the Rabbi’s, because the Rabbi’s are not interested in scripture, they’re interested in commentary. So he gave many of the traditional Rabbinical commentaries in the commentary section and so it got through and got published. Because here he says…let’s go to Leviticus 23, but let me just tell you very clearly concerning another dispute that centers around Passover…that is when “between the two evenings” or ben ha arbaim is. And he translates it correctly “between the setting times,” which I think is a good, very good translation. But he makes this definition of it and he proves it in Exodus 16. Now I’m not going to go back and do that, we’ve already done that. But he says concerning “between the setting times” is between the time that the sun is below the horizon, no longer visible, and total darkness. An idiomatic rendition would be “at twilight.” There, from one of the foremost experts in the world on Hebrew.

Now he also translated this from the Ben AsherBen Napthalai text, which is the Levitical Masoretic text. Most people don’t realize that there is also a Rabbinic Masoretic text, which comes from the Ashkenazi manuscripts, which come out of Poland and East Germany. And those are not the texts that Luther and Tyndale used to translate the Old Testament. That’s another story I won’t get into it, but suffice to say we have here a proper Levitical Hebrew text underlying the Schocken translation.

Now let’s come to Leviticus 23 and let’s pick it up here in verse 10, and we will go through on how to count it and I’m going to show you five checkpoints that gives us absolute certainty that it is the 50th day and it is on a Sunday. Now, many people are familiar with double entry bookkeeping. Double entry bookkeeping gives you two reference points so that you can balance the books. Now if you want to balance the books without balancing the books you do like this little joke. There’s a little cartoon came out, the auditor came in and was auditing this business and he said, “Well I see your books are in perfect shape they all balance, but I have just one question.” And the bookkeeper looked up and said, “Well, what’s that?” He said, “What is this ESP account? That seems be a very large account and I don’t know what it is?” And she said, “Oh, that means “error some place”. (Laughter) Whenever there’s an error I just put it in the ESP account and the books balance.”

Well a lot of people do that with the Bible. They don’t properly put it together, but double entry bookkeeping rightly handled gives you the correct perspective and it gives you a double check that all your figures are right. Now then if you are on the ocean or on the land and you want to figure a precise place where you are then you do a three point not a two point. You do what is called a triangulation, and you can pick the exact spot as to where you are or the exact spot as to where you want to go. So here with Pentecost we don’t have double entry bookkeeping, we don’t have triangulation, we have five points which prove and give us a definition on how to come to the 50 days.

Now, you can’t have any one of these five points wrong and you cannot have a Monday Pentecost or a 6th of Sivan Pentecost, except in rare occasions where you have all five of these correct. You must break some of them in order to do that. So let’s read it here beginning here in verse 10, and this picks up right after what I gave on the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread.

“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…” Now you see all during the wilderness all they had was manna. Manna, manna, manna, manna, manna, manna. (Laughter) They could boil it, they could bake it, they could deep fry it, they could eat it raw, they could mix it in with other vegetables if they had it, but all they had was manna. And they could not eat bread nor eat grain until they got in to make the first harvest of the land. Now continuing, “…and you harvest its harvest, you are to bring the premier sheaf…” Now the King James says “the sheaf of the firstfruits.” ok. The premiere sheaf because that means “the first of the first” in the Hebrew. That’s why he translates it “premiere sheaf,” it is the first and most important, and that’s why this pictures the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, not his resurrection—I beg your pardon. He was already resurrected at the end of the Sabbath, but His ascension.

And another thing that is important to remember is this: the premiere sheaf had a special time of harvest. And the special time of harvest was right after the regular Sabbath, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread; was ending. Now in Temple times they would do this: they would send out the Priests and they would send out the watchers, and they had a special barley plot right on the Mount of Olives. So they would come across the bridge Kidron, go over to this special ceremonial barley plot and they would then be ready to harvest the sheaf because they had put a scarlet thread around it to mark it off. They marked it off before the Sabbath. Then the men who were the watchers would be up on top of the hill, and they would be watching for sundown. So they would go out there right at the end of the Sabbath, that was less then a Sabbath day’s journey because it was only from the Temple over to the Mount of Olives, which was just across the bridge Kidron. And the watchers would look out west and those who were with the group would ask them three times, “Is the sun set?” “No.” “Is the sun set?” “No.” Finally the third time, “Is the sun set?” “Yes.” And they would harvest the sheaf. Now that’s a type of when Christ was lifted from the earth, as it were, right at the end of the Sabbath. Just as the first day of the week was beginning. He already had spiritual life given back to Him. So He was the first harvest, the premier sheaf. This was the one then that was to be taken to the Priest.

Now notice verse 11. It says in the King James, “…he shall wave” it. But in the Schocken it says, “He is to elevate the sheaf…” Now, elevate means to “lift up” and that’s more like an ascension into heaven than it is just waving back and forth. “He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [the LORD], for acceptance for you…” And that’s exactly what happened on the day that Jesus ascended into heaven to be accepted of the Father as a sacrifice on our behalf for us. And the “us” means we’re the rest of the firstfruits.

Now let’s notice, “…on the morrow of the Sabbath…” That means “on the day after the Sabbath.” Question: when does the day after the Sabbath begin? At sunset. It’s the whole day. You count the whole day. See, because as the day the Sabbath was ending they cut the sheaf, so they had it cut at the beginning of the day. Then in the morning at 9 o’clock they would take it to the Priest and “…on the morrow of the Sabbath [shall] the priest…elevate it.”

Now let’s come down to verse 14, it gives all the things that they were to do on that day when they waved the wave sheaf offering there. “Now bread or parchedgrain or groats, you’re not to eat, until that same day…” Now that, you go to Joshua 5 and that tells you when that same day occurred when they entered into the land and harvested it’s harvest. Now you go back up here to verse 10 and it says, “…and you harvest its harvest…,” see. Some people made the argument that they had to wait until they planted their own grain and harvested their own harvest, which then would put it a year later. But no, you harvest its harvest because when they came in and took over those areas that were already planted, whose grain did it become? It became theirs. So they couldn’t eat any “…bread or parchedgrain or goats, you are not to eat, until [that] same day…” So if you think eating unleavened bread for seven days is difficult, try 40 years with no bread. That would be, when you really get bread, then that would be kind of like a strange new food, especially all this manna, ok. Now, you’re not to eat it “…until you have brought the nearoffering of your God—(it is) a law for the ages, into your generations, throughout all your settlements.”

Now verse 15 is the key. “Now you are to number…” That is to count. Counting is different from adding and subtracting. I use this example many times and I’ll use it again because we’re familiar with it, ok. When you went to high school you went four years, didn’t you? If you count the years, they’re 9, 10, 11, and 12, correct? Inclusive counting. Now if you take 9 and subtract it from 12, you don’t get 4 but you get 3. And that’s where people make a lot of mistakes. Another example: you work from Monday to Friday. That includes Monday, does it not? Now just to give you an example, if your boss would do subtracting instead of counting, you would come and get your paycheck and say you were to make $100 a day. And you come in to get your paycheck and you expect the gross amount to be $500, and you look on it and it’s $400. So you ask your boss, “Well, I’m short $100 here.” Well he says, “No, you agreed to work from Monday to Friday, see, so since it’s from Monday I’m not counting Monday because it’s from Monday.” Well how long would you work for him? (Laughter) You would tell him, “Look, you either pay it…” (Laughter) And then what would you do? If you belonged to a union you’d get a grievance, right? If you didn’t belong to the union you’d go to the Fair Employment Practices, right? And you would get your day’s pay of $100. Well, this is what people have done concerning Pentecost. They’re not doing it correctly, ok.

Now, verse 15, “Now you are to number for yourselves, from the morrow of the Sabbath…” Which means “including that day” because the Hebrew is m moh’ghorahth, which means “including that day.” Cause you’re counting from the Sabbath. You are not counting from Sunday. You are including Sunday. Let’s put it this way. The first day of the week, because that follows the seventh day of the week, correct? Yes. So you have to count from that Sabbath. That’s #1, see. You are including the morrow from the Sabbath. You’re counting the first day of the week.

Now, to reemphasize it. From the day that you bring the wave sheaf. That’s all part of number 1, cause that’s included on that day. Now there’s only one day to bring the wave sheaf. Every one agrees on the wave sheaf with the exception of the Jews who say it’s on the holy day rather than Sabbath, and that’s a Pharisaical way of reckoning it, and that’s how they come up with the 6th of Sivan.

Now then it says what you’re to do here, “…seven Sabbaths-of-days…” (vs. 15), that’s #2, seven Sabbaths. Now you’re going to miss out on the Sabbath, one Sabbath if you go a 6th of Sivan, so that can’t be right. And you’re going to miss out on a Sabbath if you’re counting to a Monday Pentecost. We’ll see there’s another checkpoint. So there have to be seven Sabbaths, ok. That’s #2, seven Sabbaths of days.

#3, “…whole (weeks) are they to be…” (vs. 15). Now it says, in the King James, “complete weeks” doesn’t it? Now what is a whole week? A whole week is seven consecutive days. That is a whole week. That is a complete week. What is a deficient week? A deficient week is when you start, say like on Monday, and if you count from Monday to Monday you’re dealing with deficient weeks. All seven weeks are deficient, are they not? You don’t have whole weeks. A whole week is day one through day seven including one and including seven. That is a whole week. If you go from day two to day two you have deficient weeks and they are not whole weeks, and they’re not complete weeks, see. “Whole weeks are they to be.”

Ok, now #4, verse 16. “Unto the morrow of the seventh Sabbath…” So you’re to go unto the morrow of the seventh Sabbath, so there again it’s not the day after, the day after the Sabbath, see. When you have a Monday Pentecost you’re coming to the day after the day after, the Sabbath, correct? “Unto the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you are to number fifty days,” which then is #5 [ number fifty days].

Now in order to come to the right counting of it you must have all five of these conditions met. Let’s go back and review it again so we get it clear here. You are to number unto yourselves:

#1–from the morrow of the Sabbath from the day you bring the wave sheaf.
#2–seven Sabbaths of days
#3–whole weeks are they to be
#4–until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath
#5–you are to number fifty days

You can take any calendar and you can start out on any Sunday and you can count seven full weeks and come to the day after the seventh full week and you will be on a Sunday. There is no way that can be missed.

Now then what they were to do, they were to bring the offering we find here, verse 17. And what they did after that, they brought two loaves of two tenths meal, flour they are to be, firstfruits unto the LORD. Now these firstfruits are different than the others, ok. Notice verse 17, “…leavened you are to bake them…” This is the only offering that God required to be leavened [except peace offerings]. All other meal or bread offerings were to be unleavened. The leavening of these then symbolizes the two covenants, or the two ages of when people would be brought into the Kingdom of God. One being the Covenant with Israel, and of course that goes on back including the other patriarchs going back to that. And two, would be the New Testament Church. That’s why there are only two. That’s why there are not three, there are not six, there are not ten, there are only two.

Now notice, let’s come down here to verse 21. “And you are to makeproclamation on that same day…” Now I want you to really emphasize this, fifty days—that same day. “…a proclamation of holiness shall there be for you, anykind of servile work you are not to do—a law for the ages, throughout your settlements, into your generations.” Ok.

Now we’re going to look at a very clever slight of hand which is done by some people where they use the word in verse 16 where it says “…fifty days, then you are to bring the grain [offering] of newcrops to [the LORD].” Now in the King James it says, “and” instead of “then,” “and.” But this “then” does not mean an afterward “then,” but it means inclusive.

Let’s come here to Leviticus 15, let’s show where they go to try and prove their point. Because they use that as a device to say that we should go to the 51st day by saying that after you have counted the 50 days then you are to go to the 51st day by using the word “then” or “and” as it were. Now let’s come here to Leviticus 15:13, this time I’ll read in the King James. “And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue [that could be of any wound, sore, infection, anything that was draining or issuing]; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.”

Now verse 14, “And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves…” and he shall go and that will be his offering. That will be an atonement, see. So what they say is this: that the seven days in counting here is likened unto numbering the 50 days in Leviticus 23. So when you get done numbering the 50 days then you must go to the 51st day. But you see it doesn’t say number eight days here. It says count and number to himself seven days. Then on the eighth day he is to go do his offering. It doesn’t say count the eighth day. You count seven days and then that eighth day you go do it. Whereas back here it says, number to yourself 50 days and on that same 50th day you are to bring the offering. It does not say, and on the 51st day then you are to bring your offerings.

So what is missing is this, here in Leviticus 15:14, it specifically mentions the eighth day, correct? Yes. In Leviticus 23 it does not mention specifically a 51st day. So if there was to be a parallel in thought then it would have to say, then on the 51st day you are to bring a near grain offering or meal offering. So this is the cleverest slight of hand that I have heard. Because people get tripped up over reading this and there are some people who fervently, adamantly believe in a 51st day Pentecost, a Monday Pentecost based upon what I just said.

See, what happens if you did that, you would go on to the morrow after the morrow, see. So what happens is this, you violate the very last point, see. Or the fourth point rather, under the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. And if you have a Monday Pentecost you are not on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath. You’re on the morrow after the morrow of the seventh Sabbath and then you can’t avoid the situation down here in verse 21. “And you are to makeproclamation on that same day…” (Lev. 23:21, Schocken). Now if this were referring to the 51st day that’s where it would say it. “That same day”.

Now let’s go to the New Testament here for just a minute. And that’s all of Schocken for this situation here, and I’m glad I have the phone number correct for you. Ok, let’s go to John 20:1 and we will see that there is a sequence of days, a sequence of counting that lead up to the 50 days. And on “The first day of the weeks [or the first of the weeks]…” Now the Greek there is plural ton sabbaton, which means “on the first of the weeks”. Now which day is the first day of the weeks? The morrow after the Sabbath, correct? And this is counting toward Pentecost. “…Mary Magdalene came early…” and so forth. That is the day that Jesus ascended.

Let’s come here to verse 16, we’ll just summarize this. “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’. Turning around, she said to Him, ‘Rabboni’, that is to say, ‘Teacher’. . Jesus said to her, ‘Do not touch Me; because I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brethren and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father and My God and your God’.” So she came and told them. “…bring word that she had seen the Lord, and that He had said these things to her. Afterwards, as evening was drawing near that day, the first day of the weeks,…”. Apparently just right before the sun was setting, still on that day, the first day of the week. “…And the doors were shut where the disciples had assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, ‘Peace be to you’.” (vs. 16-19). And then you know the rest of the story.

Let’s come over here, verse 26. “Now after eight days…” So now we’ve got eight days. We have day one. We have day eight. “…His disciples again were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus came after the doors were shut,…” Jesus appeared to them. All right, now let’s come over here to Acts 1. So we have a numbering of the days. Now let’s come over here to Acts 1. Let’s pick it up right here in verse 1. “The first account I indeed have written, O Theophilus, concerning all things that Jesus began both to do and to teach, Until the day in which He was taken up, after giving command by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen; To whom also, by many infallible proofs, He presented Himself alive after He had suffered, being seen by them for forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3). Now there were a great many brethren that saw Him. Hold your place here and go to 1 Corinthians 15. God did not want this to be some little thing done in a corner. The whole ministry of Christ was public, absolutely if we could put it this way, of great notoriety. And of course to the Scribes and Pharisees—notorious. But they were the notorious ones.

Now let’s pick it up here in 1 Corinthians 15, and let’s begin in verse 3. “For in the first place, I delivered to you what I also had received: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripturres: And that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve. Then He appeared to over five hundred brethren at one time, of whom the greater part are alive until now, but some have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:3-6). So He was seen by many, many, many. Many infallible proofs. I don’t know all the infallible proofs that it says there. It would be interesting to know what they were, but it doesn’t tell us. So when we’re resurrected and we meet the apostles and those who saw it, we can ask them what they were. We’ll find out at that time.

Now let’s come back to the book of Acts, Chapter 1. “And while they were assembled with Him, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to ‘await the promise of the Father, which’ He said, ‘you have heard of Me. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit after not many days.’ ” (Acts 1:4-5). How many days was it from that? Well, we had 40 days. On the 40th day He ascended. The disciples really didn’t quite understand it.

Verse 6, “So then, when they were assembled together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?’ ” You see because they were promised to sit on thrones weren’t they, so they wanted to know, “Lord is the throne coming?” See. “And He said unto them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority;.” That’s what it should read, not power—authority, cause the Greek here is exousiaz not dunamis. “But you yourselves shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth” (vs. 6-8), then which is a continuing ongoing prophecy of the gospel going out to the world. “And after saying these things, as they were looking at Him, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Now that would be an experience, wouldn’t it? Today we have television or movies and we can see things simulated like that, but to actually see the real thing…and of course this was a one time thing for them.

“Now while they were gazing intently up into heaven…” I wonder what they were thinking when He was going up. I wonder what they were thinking in their minds. “Look, He’s going higher and higher, higher and higher. Wow, I can’t see Him. There He goes right into a cloud. Look at that.” “...as He was going up, two men in white apparel (these were angels) suddenly stood by them, Who also said, ‘…You men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into heaven?’ ” Once the event is finished God wants you to get on with the business, you see. “…This same Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, shall come in exactly the same manner as you have seen Him go into heaven” (vs. 10-11). So they returned. Now then, that was the 40th day.

Now let’s come to Acts 2. And I’m not going to go through this in great detail, but you can…we have three booklets in Care Package #2. Many, many people have received Care Packages, but you haven’t received Care Package #2. And there are a lot of things in Care Package #2 that you need, three of which are: how to count Pentecost, when is Pentecost, and all the peculiar details of it that I’ve just covered here. So you need to write in for Care Package #2 if you don’t have it. And in it, I have the booklet where I go into quite technical detail concerning verse 1, Acts 2. Now let’s read it here in the King James.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Now those who believe in a Monday Pentecost and will not refuse to let go of it say that this means “when the Day of Pentecost had ended.” But unfortunately that is not what it means. “When the Day of Pentecost was fully come” that doesn’t mean the day after, it doesn’t mean the day before. Now in the Greek it means this: “and when the day, namely the 50th day was being fulfilled.” That’s what it means in the Greek. Now if you want to prove that then you have to write in for Care Package #2 and get the Pentecost articles because the “being fulfilled” is a peculiar thing to Greek which is not in any other language, maybe in some other languages, but at least it is not in English. It is in Greek and that is what is called an articular infinitive. That means this: that you put the definite article “the” in front of an “ing” verb. “The coming,” “the going,” “the keeping, ” “the fulfilling.” And that’s what it means—during the fulfilling of the day, namely the 50th day. So it wasn’t the day before and it wasn’t the day after.

Now let’s look at some of the same language here that we find in Leviticus 23. You know what happened there on the Day of Pentecost, I’ll cover it for Pentecost. Now let’s look at the same…you know what happened, I’ll cover this when the day of Pentecost comes but this, look at the fulfilling of not only the wave sheaf offering on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, the first day, but also the fulfilling of the bringing the loaves of leaven for the 50th day.

Now let’s read it right here, Faithful Version, verse 37, “Now after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call.’ And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation’. Then those who joyfully received his message were baptized; and about three thousand souls were added that day [notice the same wording as back in Leviticus 23, ‘the same day’] ” (Acts 2:37-41). So there is a fulfilling of the wave offering loaves on the 50th day.

So you have the same exact thing as we find in Leviticus 23 and that’s what those loaves were picturing because this was a great and a momentous event, wasn’t it? Yes, great momentous event. It just occurred to me that these loaves could also signify more than just what I said, Old Testament, New Testament. It could also signify Jew and Gentile as relating to receiving the Holy Spirit after baptism, because the Gentiles were given the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Jews were, and in the same manner, by the way, Acts 10.

Ok, now that we have that taken care of that, and therefore I won’t have to repeat it on Pentecost. I’ll do it ahead of time. There are too many things to bring out on Pentecost so I’m doing some of this ahead of time. Let’s go to Hebrews 12 and let’s see the comparison between Hebrews 12 and Exodus 19 and 20. Hebrews 12, let’s go there first. And this is also a very important chapter which also shows us why the first resurrection is on Pentecost and not on the Feast of Trumpets. There will be other things, which I will show to prove that. But I never will forget the first Pentecost that we kept on the first day of the week in 1974. At that time, we were still living in Pasadena and I was pastoring Torrance and Santa Monica and we had combined Torrance and Santa Monica services down at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and Gerald Waterhouse was the speaker. Well, I led the songs and everything. I think someone else brought the Sermonette, but I led the songs and took the announcements and I had to announce to everyone, “Well brethren, here we are the first time keeping Pentecost on the right day.” And trying to help them understand a little bit about it, you know, not getting into scripture or anything. But I mentioned just offhandedly, and I said, “Who knows? Maybe we will find out that the first resurrection is really on Pentecost.” And Gerald Waterhouse is sitting out there, and I’m thankful that it just sailed over his head, because I’m sure I would have been lambasted up one side and down the other for having said such a presumptuous thing. But later it’s turned out to be true. Let’s see some of the reasons for it today. Not all of them, we’ll cover some of those on Pentecost, but we need to get some of this out before Pentecost.

So let’s pick it up here in verse 18. Hebrews 12:18, “For you have not come unto the mount [now that’s referring to the one back in Exodus 19, Mt. Sinai] 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…” I want to emphasize “a trumpet. ” We’re going to see that’s important. Now the reason I’m emphasizing it is because “trumpets” is plural, “trumpet” is singular. We also need to understand this: on every holy day, you’ll read this in Numbers 10, the trumpet was to be blown. So a trumpet was blown on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, the day of Pentecost. And then on the Feast of Trumpets, now they had a different day, it was a memorial or a blowing of trumpets all the day long. Of which I think the Buddhists perversion is where they have these big long horns you know. And they all get up there on whatever day they have, they go whhhhh, these big old horns going. And they’re all decked up and all these demonic costumes and running around firing off firecrackers and jumping in the air and doing all sorts of silly things to drive the demons away.

Question? Is God going to stop blowing trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets because the pagans do this? Because they have a counterfeit of it? No. Just because pagans have a counterfeit of anything that we do does not mean that we stop doing it because they have something that they have done.

Now, let’s continue here. “And to the sound of the trumpet, and to the voice of the words, 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 [now a dart means an arrow]:’ And so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, ‘I am greatly afraid and trembling’.)” Now we’re going to see so did all the people. Now he’s making a comparison here. And the comparison has to do with the Feast of Pentecost, because that’s when the Ten Commandments were given. “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…and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just who have been perfected;.” (vs. 19-23). Now the Greek has it here “to the general assembly.” The general assembly here means “to the festal gathering of the church of the firstborn.” Now when is the festal gathering of the church of the firstborn going to take place? Well, let’s see. “…which are written in heaven…” and so forth.

Now, let’s come back here to Exodus 19, let’s look at some parallels. Let’s pick it up here in verse 16, which then is the day of Pentecost and I’ve got a chart, the Count Pentecost Chart,. showing that, and that’s in the Care Package #2. All right. “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet…” Now we have “a trumpet,” now we have “the trumpet”. It wasn’t many trumpets. “…exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount [that is up close to 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. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 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” (Ex. 19:16-20). And I imagine all the people…[sound of sucking breath in]. Boy, that must have been a sight with him going up.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, ‘Go down,’…” So he climbed and down this mountain. Boy, Moses really was a mountain climber here. “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 unto the people, and spake unto them” (vs. 21-24). And then God gave the Ten Commandments.

And of course the people couldn’t stand it. Now this must have been some awesome display. Here Exodus 20:18, “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, they removed, and stood afar off.” No chance of them running up the hill. “And they said unto Moses, [You] speak with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (vs. 19). So this must have been such a loud noise and so much happening that the vibrations of the noise and the thunder and the lightning was just going through their system so much that it affected them to the point that they felt they were going to die. Have you ever had any loud noise affect you that way? Well that’s how it affected them. Ok.

Now, let’s look at a scripture here which is important for us to understand. Hold your place cause we’re coming right back here. Let’s go to Jeremiah 2, because we’re going to see that with the giving of the Ten Commandments and the events that took place right after that, the day after Pentecost, that ties right in with the Church and the marriage of the Lamb and so forth. Let’s come in here with Jeremiah 2. Let’s pick it up in verse 1.

“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD’…” Now, when did they become holiness unto the LORD? We’ll see. “…and the firstfruits of His increase:…” When did they become the firstfruits? See because they were literally harvested out of Egypt, were they not? And had a seven week journey coming up to Mt. Sinai. So they became firstfruits and became holiness to the LORD on Pentecost and then the sealing of it on the day after Pentecost when the covenant was sealed and the marriage took place. “…firstfruits of His increase: all that devour Him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel…” (Jeremiah 2:1-4). And then He asked, “What happened to you? I brought you out of Egypt, why did you reject Me? If I were sent even unto other nations, why they would have rejected their gods and accepted Me and would have kept Me, but you’ve forsaken Me."

Now let’s come to Isaiah 54 just a few pages back. Isaiah 54:5, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel…” Now when did the LORD become the husband to Israel? Now you see there are going to be parallels with Christ and the Church with this. Parallels with Mt. Sinai and Mt. Sion. Parallels with the festal gathering at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and the festal gathering which will take place at the resurrection, which we will see, and the marriage of the Church and the Lamb.

Now let’s come back to Exodus 20 again. Let’s continue on. The rest of Exodus 20, 21, 22, and 23 are all the basic statutes and judgments based upon the Ten Commandments. Now we come to Chapter 24. This becomes important because this finishes off the day of Pentecost. And the day after Pentecost then is when the marriage took place. And the marriage took place when they accepted the covenant because this was a covenant ceremony.

Exodus 24:1, “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: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him’” (vs. 1-2). So Moses came, then he came down. So he went up, came down…Moses doing a lot of walking here. “…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 hath said will we do.’” Now what do we have in a marriage ceremony? Do you accept this woman as your lawful wedded wife? I do. Do you accept this man as your lawful wedded husband? I do. This is what Israel and the LORD did here. And it’s always a written contract. God never enters into a covenant without some kind of written contract. God is the author of law, so God is legal. So He makes sure that it’s done legally and technically correct.

Verse 4, “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning [so then this is after Pentecost], and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars. according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offering, 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, and read in the audience of the people…” These are the words of the marriage covenant between Israel and God, which took place the day after Pentecost. Years ago I thought it was done on Pentecost but it’s obvious, “and in the morning,” so that’s the next day. “…Read it 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…” Now when you understand covenant relationships and you understand that a covenant is cut. It is binding until death. That’s why when Christ came to be human, one of the functions He served in dying, was the husband to physical Israel died to loose that marriage. Now either He had to die or all of Israel had to die. So God died. That loosed the Old Covenant. No longer binding (Rom. 7:1-4). That has nothing to do with the laws and commandments because all covenants have laws and commandments and if you don’t understand that write for the series on “The Covenants of God.” We have 15 tapes which go through all the covenants, ok. “…Blood of the covenant [this is serious business], which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” (Exodus 24:1-8). So we have the marriage of Israel to God.

When the Church is resurrected there will be the marriage of Christ and the Church and there will be a new covenant at that time. It will be a marriage covenant for all eternity. I don’t think many people really understand that. The covenant we are under now is renewed every year by us with the bread and wine and footwashing. Christ doesn’t have to renew it because He gave His life. That’s why He said He would not eat of the bread or drink of the wine, especially of the wine. Of course He’s not going to eat of bread because there’s no…well He ate bread later but that wasn’t in the covenant ceremony of the Passover. He ate bread and fish there we find in John 21. But He’s not going to drink of the fruit of the vine until it’s in the Kingdom. And when its going to be when He drinks it, It will be the wine of the marriage ceremony when the Church is married to Christ.

Now let’s look at where and when and how this is going to happen. But first of all let’s answer a question here and let’s get into the situation concerning what is called the sea of glass, which we pick up right here beginning in verse 9. “Then went up Moses, 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 body of heaven in his clearness” (vs. 9-10). There is a sea of glass, or a pavement of what you would call glass. Now why did He come down to there? So that they could see Him but not look upon Him. They saw the outline of Him but they couldn’t see it clearly. So Moses had to go up and to be up there on this pavement with God.

Now notice what they did. “And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” So they had a special ceremony there, didn’t they, commemorating the marriage of Israel and God. “And the LORD said unto Moses, ‘Come up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; and thou mayest teach them.’ And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. And he said unto the elders, ‘Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights” (vs. 1118).

Well, you know what happened there. The children of Israel couldn’t stand it. They thought, “I wonder what’s happening. I wonder what happened to that Moses, he’s still up there. You know, this has been like unto three weeks and where is this guy? I bet he’s fallen into the volcanic explosions up there and he’s been all devoured. Yeah, well we better go to Aaron here. He said go to Aaron, so let’s go to Aaron.” And they came to Aaron and said, “You know Aaron, look we don’t know where he is, we don’t have a God, now what you should do, you just make us gods.” And Aaron said, “Ok, bring all your gold and all of this…” And I love the excuse when Moses came down and said, “Aaron why did you do this?” He said, “We just threw the gold in the fire and out jumped these calves.” You know. But just as an aside, what happened? The children of Israel didn’t want God’s pure way, they wanted a religion. Remember that, I’ll talk about that later on.

Ok, let’s go on. Let’s look at the presence of God and the sea of glass. Here we find the sea of glass. Now there’s some people very angry at me because I say that when we’re resurrected we’re going to be on the sea of glass. Well, we’ll get to that verse in a minute. Then what you need to do is also be very angry at God because God only talks of the prophet twice by name. And is the false prophet going to do a lot of damage? Yes indeed. So please understand something about scripture, which is this: once is sufficient.

Now let’s come to Psalm 11. Let’s talk about God’s throne because that also has to do with the sea of glass. Psalm 11:4, “The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men.” So God is in heaven. How close is the heaven of God’s throne to the earth? I can’t tell you but I don’t think it’s in the far, far, far north, because we’re going to see that it’s probably a whole lot closer to the earth but men cannot see it at the present time.

Ok, let’s come to Psalm 45, it talks about the throne of God. Psalm 45:6, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows” (Psalm 45:6-7). That’s a direct prophecy that Christ would be, or was, and is God. Right there. His throne is forever and ever.

Psalm 47:8, “God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham [now that could have an allusion to the resurrection]: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted” (Psalm 47:8-9).

Now, let’s come to Ezekiel 1. We have something here in Ezekiel 1 that is very unusual, and I don’t think that anyone can properly explain about the Cherubim, exactly how they look like. I know people have tried to draw pictures of them. When I read it I think of something of a jet plane and the things that look…the way that they look, I don’t know how to explain it other than just it’s in there. What he wrote he wrote and for us to try and decide what it is, is very difficult for us to do indeed. But let’s just clarify something here that is important. Everything in this room is made of the dust of the earth, including us. Even though we are composed of the dust of the earth and are flesh we have life, whereas this microphone doesn’t, nor the stand doesn’t, nor the rug, and so forth. We have things which bring us light which are called lights and have electricity in them, but those are still made of physical fleshly things. There are things in heaven which are made of spiritual things which are not living beings. For example, New Jerusalem is going to be made out of spiritual material but it is not a living being. So likewise here with this, whatever these Cherubim are, it is God’s chariot.

So let’s pick it up here in verse 20. “Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them [Now that seems to me kind of like the wheels were folded up in just like an airplane today. That’s what it seems like to me. I don’t know]: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.” Now the “spirit”, that could be just the power of the living creatures. “And the likeness [now here’s what I want to get to] of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible [or that is awesome] crystal…,” so beautiful to behold. So there we have something now in kind of like a rainbow over them like crystal. Not a sea of glass, but just to show you that there are things composed of spirit.

And verse 23, “And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: everyone had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.” So it’s just like, you know, the closest I can come to that is like propellers. And when the plane lands you turn off the propellers they stop. The propellers are kind of like wings. That’s the best I can do.

Verse 25, “And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne [So this was to carry a portable throne of God], as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.” So here he’s seeing just a glorified spirit being who’s obviously God. “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain [so there was a rainbow round about this whole Cherubim], so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake” (Ezek. 1:20-28). “And He said unto me (Ezek. 2:1), ‘Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.’” So here God came right down to Ezekiel. Boy, that’s quite a thing, you see. Stood him on his feet, gave him His message and everything. “And the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me” (vs. 1-3). And then He gives him his commission that he is to do. So that’s quite a thing.

Now let’s come to Ezekiel 3:12. “Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place.’ I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures [so apparently he got a ride on this Cherubim] that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar…” (vs. 12-15). So apparently Ezekiel had a ride on a Cherubim.

Now this is probably very similar as to what happened to Enoch when he was carried away, and Elisha when he was carried away. They were carried away to a separate place and the chariot of the LORD took them away, ok. The reason I’m bringing that out is because I want you to see that there are things made of spirit which must then be manifested to the human eyes that you can’t see otherwise and God uses those things. Ok.

Let’s come to Isaiah 6 and let’s see where Isaiah was also before the throne of God. As we’re turning to Isaiah 6 let’s understand something. Maybe this will convince some people who want to profess themselves to be prophets, to maybe not be prophets any longer because maybe the Cherubim is going to come and correct you rather than give you a ride. God may come and correct you with some pretty severe things. That’s why no one should set himself up as a prophet. Look at how Ezekiel was set up. Look at how Jeremiah was set up. Look how Isaiah was set up here. God did it directly. Let’s read it here beginning in verse 1.

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.” So he saw the throne and the temple. “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts [Now we’ll see in Revelation 4 this is pretty similar to what we have back there]: the whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, ‘Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’” Actually saw God in vision. “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.’” So God has more than one way of forgiving sin doesn’t He? This was to show Isaiah that God was going to use him. “Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me.’ And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed’” (Isa. 6:1-10). Now how many times was that quoted in Matthew and by the apostles in the New Testament, yes, and even by Christ Himself.

Ok, let’s continue on this with the throne of God. Let’s come to Acts 7. Now this is when Stephen was martyred. Let’s just pick it up here in verse 51. You talk about a witness. And this was one of the last profound witnesses to the leaders of Judaism. And with this, with this, this sealed the doom of Jerusalem and the temple and everything. “O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so also do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of Whom you have become the betrayers and murderers; Who received the law by the disposition of angels, but have not kept it.” And here they thought they were the most righteous people in the world. “And when they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts [not unto repentance], and they gnashed their teeth at him…” Not on him but against him. They were sitting there gnashing their teeth. “But he, being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God…” (vs. 51-56). So again, how close is the throne of God to the earth? We don’t know. But Stephen looked up and saw it, and Christ standing at the right hand.

Now let’s understand something about being at the right hand. When someone is at the right hand that is a sign of equality. That is a sign of equality, standing at the right hand of God. Notice He wasn’t sitting there. You come to Revelation the last verse and it says “To the one who overcomes will I give authority to sit with Me in My throne even as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne.” (Rev. 3:21). So this time He was standing. He was standing there looking on to what was going on, not just sitting viewing. So He wasn’t a passive participant in this, but active—standing.

And Stephen said, “…Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.’ Then they cried out with a loud voice [They couldn’t stand this, couldn’t stand this. The one whom they killed and crucified, rejected], and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him…” (Acts 7:56-58). There comes a point some people just won’t listen to the truth at all and there’s no repentance available.

Now let’s continue on with this concerning the throne of God. Let’s come to Revelation 4. Let’s begin in verse 1. I’m so out of time I don’t have time to finish this. There’s too many important things that I need to cover about the sea of glass.

(End of Sermon)

Transcriber: Carolyn Singer

Pentecost and the Sea of Glass—Sermon I
April 17, 1999
Scriptural References

Leviticus 23:10-11, 14-17, 21, (SB)
Leviticus 15:13-14
John 20:1, 16-19, 26
Acts 1:1-11
Acts 2:1, 37-41
Hebrews 12:18-23
Exodus 19:16-24
Exodus 20:18-19
Jeremiah 2:1-4
Isaiah 54:5
Exodus 24:1-18
Psalm 11:4
Psalm 45:6-7
Psalm 47:8-9
Ezekiel 1:20-28
Ezekiel 2:1-3
Ezekiel 3:12-15
Isaiah 6:1-10
Acts 7:51-58
Revelation 3:21

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