Chapter Twenty Two

Book: God's Plan for Mankind

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June 10, 2000

Greetings brethren. This is day 49 the day before Pentecost, the year 2000. And as you know every year we go through the holy days. And every year we learn a little bit more, and every year we try and understand some other aspects of the holy days, other aspects of God’s word in relationship to it so that we can grow in grace and knowledge and understand. And so likewise with Pentecost we’re going to do the same thing today, and then tomorrow. Greetings brethren. This is day 49 the day before Pentecost, the year 2000. And as you know every year we go through the holy days. And every year we learn a little bit more, and every year we try and understand some other aspects of the holy days, other aspects of God’s word in relationship to it so that we can grow in grace and knowledge and understand. And so likewise with Pentecost we’re going to do the same thing today, and then tomorrow.

And 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. And I hope that you’ve gone over the tapes that we sent out for the 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. And I’m going to have some very good information for you concerning the holy days in the near future, 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. And that all adds to faith. That adds to love. That adds to hope, and then gives us a greater understanding, and that’s what God wants us to have.

So as we always do for the holy days, let’s begin in Leviticus 23 and continue the story and the flow of the holy days through the year as we are coming up to Pentecost. Now we know that this began with the wave sheaf offering day, and I hope you went over that tape that we did for the wave sheaf offering day because that is very significant. As a matter of fact that is the whole key for everything coming down to Pentecost.

Now let’s begin here in Leviticus 23:9. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land…” So now 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. And I’m sure that Pentecost was kept because as we’ll see, the Ten Commandments were given on Pentecost, and so 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 here. “…When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Lev. 23:9-11). Now this was the very first of the firstfruits, and that’s what Christ is called. He is called the first of the firstfruits.

Now let me read to you out of the Schocken Bible because he gives a little bit different description of it, which I think points more toward the resurrection than just the wave sheaf offering as we have it translated in the King James Version.

Verse 10, “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…” Now the premier means the most important. “…The premier sheaf of your harvest to the priest. He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [The LORD] YHWH, for acceptance for you” (Lev. 23:10-11, Schocken).

Now since Christ was the firstfruit, Christ was the firstborn, the premier one is this. Hold your place there in Leviticus 23 and let’s go to Romans 8 and let’s see where we have a fulfillment of this in describing Christ. And also it includes us because you see, 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 here in Romans 8 we have the fulfillment now of the firstfruits and also the firstborn. So remember the firstfruits and the firstborn are very connected in the plan of God.

Now we have it right here. Let’s pick it up in Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” And brethren 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. So when we understand that everything Christ went through, and that all worked for good.

Now let’s come here to Romans 8:29. “Because those whom He did foreknow, [and He’s foreknown us] He also predestinated, to be conformed to the image of His own Son, that He [that is His Son] might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

So what we have in the harvest of the firstfruits, let’s go back to Leviticus 23 now, you have this: 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. Now when that was cut, that is signifying being cut from the earth, meaning that it is no longer earthly bound, if we could put it that way. And let’s transfer that to Christ in a figure. Then the priest elevates it. And elevating is just like a resurrection. And remember there in John 20:17 when Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene. She came to hug Him, to hold Him, and He said, “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.” And so she did. So 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, and that perfect sacrifice to redeem all mankind. So that was the start. So the wave sheaf offering day is a very important and key thing.

Now let’s continue on here. “He is to elevate…” Now Leviticus 23:11, I’m still reading from the Schocken Bible. “He is to elevate the sheaf before the presence of [the LORD] YHWH, for acceptance for you; on the morrow of the Sabbath…” Now 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.

Now when Passover falls on a Friday night and then Sabbath day is the Passover day, then that day becomes the Sabbath of the Unleavened Bread because the Passover is also an unleavened bread day. So therefore the first day right after that becomes the wave sheaf offering day. Now 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. Then we have Christ ascending on the wave sheaf offering day on the morrow after the Sabbath to be accepted for us, when He was accepted.

Now then, let’s continue on, I’ll read out of the King James. And it says, “And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD (Lev. 23:12).” This was also a type of Christ. “And the [meal] meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God…” (Lev. 23:13-14). So here’s what we have. After they entered into the land, and after they had the very first wave sheaf offering, from that time on then they could eat the old corn and the new corn. Of course 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. “And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:14).

Now hold your place here and let’s go to Joshua 5, and let’s see how it was fulfilled when they came into the land. Now this becomes very important and this is one of those weeks where the weekly Sabbath was the Passover day. So 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. Now let’s read it here.

Joshua 5:10, “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day” (Josh. 5:10-11). So the morrow after the Passover was the 15th. And that was the wave sheaf offering in that day, that year rather, when they entered into the promised land, so therefore they could eat of the old corn, which was the harvest that they got from conquering on the east side of the Jordan. So they had stores of grain, they had the new harvest already planted and grown ready to harvest. So what they did, 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. Now notice they also ate unleavened bread with it.

Now let’s read verse 12. “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” So there it was fulfilled. There was the command that God gave, and we saw it fulfilled.

Now let’s come back to Leviticus 23 and again I’m going to read from the Schocken version of the Bible. And this tells us then how we are to count because counting is very important and there’s still some people who believe in a Monday Pentecost. Well, unfortunately there’s no such thing as a Monday Pentecost. Has never been and can’t be, especially when you understand the counting.

Now let me read from the Schocken Bible beginning in verse 15. “Now you are to number for yourselves, from the morrow [and that means beginning with the morrow] of the Sabbath…” Now the reason that is is because 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 morrow of the Sabbath, 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 bringnear a graingift of newcrops 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” (Lev. 23:15-17, Schocken).

Now let’s go back and analyze these two verses just a little bit more. First thing, number 1. You are to number beginning with the morrow after the Sabbath. From the day, that means including the day, that you bring the wave sheaf offering day. So that’s number 2. Number 3, you are to have seven Sabbaths of days. That means seven Sabbaths. Number 4, whole weeks are they to be. Now this is very easy to figure out once you understand. You start day one, which is the wave sheaf offering day, which is on a Sunday. Seven days you come to Sabbath. So then you count seven Sabbaths, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. That gives you 49 days. Then until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you are to number 50 days. Now if you went to Monday you would actually be numbering 51 days. So this is 50 days.

Now, on the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you are to number 50 days, ok so that’s number 5 to the morrow of the seventh Sabbath, number 50 days, number 6. Number 7 then you are to bring a grain offering of the new crop to the LORD, that’s number 7. So you’ve got those seven steps that you are to do.

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

Now, let’s come on here and read some more, verse 18. “And you are to bringnear along with the bread seven sheep, whollysound, 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. Is 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 offeringup for [the LORD] YHWH…” And so exactly what all of these picture other than whole burnt offerings, complete dedication to God, that’s what that shows. “…With their graingift and their pouredofferings, a fireoffering of soothing savor to [the LORD] YHWH. And you are to perform-as-sacrifice: one hairy goat for a [atonement] hattat, and two sheep, a year old, for a slaughter-offering of [a peace offering] shalom [and that is so you can have peace with God, sit down and eat with Him, as it were]. 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 makeproclamation on that same day…” (Lev. 23:18-20). Now you see you have the 50 days, you have the same day. We don’t go to the 51st day.

Now 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 written a booklet on it and we also have two other booklets on counting Pentecost, so if you don’t have those be sure and write for them. But the one is “The True Meaning of Acts 2:1”. And the Greek there has a very special construction which 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, or accomplished, or being completed, not yet finished. So 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. Now let’s come back here to Exodus 19:1. Now we also have a tape that we put out with a chart, and it’s called “From Egypt to Sinai”. And it took the children of Israel seven weeks to get from Egypt to Sinai. Not quite. Seven weeks less three days.

Let’s pick it up here in verse 1, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day…” Now this particular phrase means the same day of the week. Now the Passover that Israel had in Egypt was in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday. So Tuesday night is when they ate the passover. Tuesday night is when the firstborn were killed, the death of the firstborn. And then Wednesday morning, our time, then they got up and they gathered all the spoil of the Egyptians and assembled at Rameses and then that Wednesday night beginning the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the night much to be observed, 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.

Now let’s notice what happened, verse 3. “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed…” And brethren I want to emphasize this again over and over and over again. The whole key is to obey the voice of God. Now remember in Deuteronomy 8:3 it says, “…Man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” And 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.

Now notice, “…and keep My covenant…” So 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 ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Ex. 19:3-6).

“And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” 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” (Ex. 19:7-8).

Now how was Israel going to be a peculiar nation, a kingdom of priests? Let’s go to Deuteronomy 4. We’ll come right back here again and we’ll finish this. Let’s go to Deuteronomy 4 and see what they were supposed to do. Let’s pick it up here in verse 1. Again we have the same thing all the way through the Bible, obeying the voice of God.

“Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” Now just to make a point, and we covered this on the “Seven Church Harvest” tape #3, concerning Baalim. “Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor…” That’s what the Moabites came in and enticed the Israelites to come and do sacrifice to their gods. And that was under the instruction of Baalim to Balak to do so. “…For all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.” So 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. “But ye that did cleave unto 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, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it” (Deut. 4:1-5).

Now here’s how they were to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. “Keep therefore and do them; [that is 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 theses statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (vs. 6-8). Now brethren that’s why no one can improve upon God’s way.

Now if the word of God needs to be changed God will change it. And He did so in the New Covenant when Christ made all the laws more spiritually binding, raised them to a higher level of obedience than we’ve had in the past. And we need to understand this concerning lawkeeping 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. Now 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. And if we sin the law is there to convict us of sin. And when we repent through the operation of grace then we’re restored to God.

Now 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. Now let’s come back here to Exodus 19 and continue on with the rest of the account leading up to the day of Pentecost when the Ten Commandments were given. And that’s something very important to really understand.

Now verse 10, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day…” (vs. 10-11). So you have Friday, Sabbath, and Sunday. Sunday is the third day. So what did they do? They washed their clothes on Friday and got all prepared. They kept the Sabbath because that sanctified them. And then God came down the third day and brought the Ten Commandments.

Now let’s see how that went, ok. Verse 14, “And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning…” (vs. 15-16). Now we’re going to see there are parallels between this and Acts 2 when we come to Acts 2 tomorrow, because it was in the morning that the events took place in Acts 2. Same way here.

Now how’s this to wake up? How’d you like to wake up to this? “…There were thunders and lighnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet…” Now 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. “…Exceeding loud [here it is the trumpet]; 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 [what an absolutely awesome thing that must have been]; and they stood at the nether part of the mount [that is beneath the mountain]. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly” (vs. 16-18).

So here imagine this whole thing just all of the sound of the thunder and the lightning, and it’s recorded back in Hebrews 12, and the wind that was with it, and the earth quaking. And if there’s one thing that really puts fear into people, that’s to have the ground beneath them shaking. And that’s exactly what was happening here. Now we live in California, we know what that’s like. Those of you back in the midwest and east you have tornadoes. You know what that’s like, you can get afraid of that. So it’s the same thing.

“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, and on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish” (vs. 19-21). Because you see 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, “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory” (Ex. 34:20). He said, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Ex. 34:20). Because God in His glory living eternally in spiritually, you see, has that power just radiating from His very body. And so this is what happened here. So He says, “…to gaze, and many of them perish” (vs. 21).

“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. 22-25).

Now then God gave the Ten Commandments. You know what they are, we’ve gone over these many, many, many times. But 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 Sundaykeeper to claim because the New Testament church began on Pentecost that 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. Now God spoke all those words.

Now it was too much for the people to bear. 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. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die: (Ex. 20:18-19). And of course then what did that do? That gave them one person removed from God, and so then they could say, “Well Moses said” instead of “God said”. So remember this, everything Moses said was what God said he 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. And that’s why when you go to Deuteronomy 18, that’s why 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 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. And yet they rejected Christ. That’s the way that the carnal mind is.

Now let’s continue on here. Let’s see some things which are important concerning this. Now then, Moses went back up on the mount. God gave him all the statutes and judgments. Let’s come over here to Exodus 23. 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? Let’s read it.

Exodus 23:12, He reiterates the Sabbath. “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Ex. 23:12-17).

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. And 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, and to embrace Sunday, and Christmas, and Easter, and all of that. So you see, now you understand why God puts these warnings in here, over and over, and over, and 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. And yet some people never get it. They never get it.

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. And when you diminish from it what is the natural proclivity to do but to add to it. And that’s what the children of Israel did. That’s their whole history.

Now let’s come back here, continue on. Chapter 24 is where the covenant was made. Here is where the marriage covenant between the Lord GOD Who became Jesus Christ for the New Testament is to be found. This is the marriage covenant between the Lord GOD and Israel that took place. The Old Covenant was a marriage covenant. Now let’s see that beginning here in verse 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 we will see why all of them came up. “And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, 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” (Ex. 24:1-3).

Now 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 as unto the LORD, whether in sickness or in health, whether in want or in wealth?” Now 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?” And he says, “Yes I do.” That then is a marriage covenant. That’s what this is. These words are the words which God said, “that ye should be mine” (Lev. 20:26).

Now 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 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 offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD” (Ex. 20: 4-5). Now the reason he took young men, now these may have been Levites, but the Levitical priesthood was not yet consecrated. So therefore he took the young men, and I’m sure they were Levites.

Next notice what happens because there is no covenant that is made without blood. And without the shedding of blood there is no covenant. “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 it in basins. He put two basins, half in one basin, half in another basin. He sprinkled half of it on the altar. “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words” (Ex. 20:4-18).

Now I want you to notice that this covenant was made on the day after Pentecost. And 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.

Now let’s continue on here 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). This is called in the New Testament the sea of glass. And so whenever God comes down and is in a particular place, if He’s there for any length of time then there is the sea of glass. Now 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. Now 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.

Now let’s also notice something else that took place. Verse 11, “And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” Now what did they have? They had a wedding feast. And 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 seventy 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. He was the One Who went to the Father. He was the One now in this case, Who became Jesus Christ.

Now verse 12, “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; that 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” (vs. 12-16). So Moses had to wait seven days. I’m sure after Nadab, Abihu, and Aaron and the seventy of elders had finished eating, they went back down to be with the rest of the children of Israel. Moses went up into the mount.

“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. 17-18). Well 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. And I’m covering it in the Old Testament today on day 49 so that will lead us up to the New Testament tomorrow.

Now let’s look and see that this was a marriage. Let’s come to Isaiah 54. And this 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, that was sprinkled on the altar. And Moses read all the words that God commanded them to do. And they said, “Yes we will do that.”

Now here Isaiah 54 we find where it talks about Israel being the wife of the LORD. Let’s pick it up here Isaiah 54:5. “For thy Maker is thine husband…” Now 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 thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit [that is while they were down in Egypt], and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God” (Isa. 54:5-6). So 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 because they left God and forsook God for other gods and broke the covenant. Now brethren we need to understand that concerning the covenant with Jesus Christ because it is His body which is broken for us. And it is His blood which is shed for us, and that 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. Because you either will love God and keep His commandments, accept Jesus Christ, or you will be in the lake of fire. Now some people may even get mad at me for saying that. But let’s understand something. When I bring the series in Hebrews you’re going to 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 despite 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. Let’s come here to Matthew 13. Now Matthew 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. And that’s what God is doing.

Now we need to understand these parables here. Let’s just begin in verse 18. Don’t have enough time to read through it all. Let’s begin in verse 18 showing the harvest. “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower:” Now the sower was Christ. “When any one 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.” Now that is something we need to understand. Brethren, don’t let Satan come and take that away which was sown in your heart. Now we have seen some where that has happened to, 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” (Matt. 13:18-21). Now we can’t let that happen to us either. And we’ve also seen that take place haven’t we? That’s why all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. [But not for those who reject God’s Way and Will.]

Verse 22, “And the one who was sown…” So 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.”

Now then, remember the parable of the rich man who came to Christ and said “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” And He said, “…Keep the commandments.” And he said, “Which?” 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. So that’s why Jesus didn’t mention the first four commandments in that account in Matthew 19:16-23.

Now let’s come back here to Matthew 13. “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, the deceitfulness of riches. “But the one who was sown on good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands, who indeed brings forth fruit and produces—one an hundredfold, another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold” (Matt. 13:22-27).

So then He gave another parable and 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.” Then the tares and the wheat grew up together. “And the servants came to the master of the house and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did these tares come from?’ ” (Matt. 13:27).

Well you see, we’ve seen the same thing too. We’ve lived through that haven’t we? The enemy, Satan the devil, infiltrates the Church and what do we have? 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.” And Pentecost is the harvest. Let’s see that. Let’s pick it up in verse 37. “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth 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). And as we find in 1 John, they are the ones who are practicing lawlessness. And I’m going to have a lot to say about the mystery of lawlessness as we go down here in the next few weeks, or maybe even before Pentecost. I’ll just see how it works out. But I tell you that is something, the mystery of lawlessness, or the mystery of iniquity is really an awesome thing indeed.

“Now the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” Now we’ll see this takes 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). Now we’re going to see when this age ends.

Ok, let’s continue on here in Matthew 13. Now 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 hath ears to hear, let him hear” (vs. 41-43). And we’ll see that’s very important when we come to the harvest that God has.

Now then there are seven weeks to the harvest. This Sabbath ended the seventh week to the harvest. Then there was the 50th day offering that took place. Now let’s come here to Revelation 2 and 3, which we’ve already covered, but I just want to cover it very quickly. Well, we won’t go to Revelation 2 and 3, you’ve already had that. We have seven churches and I think that the seven churches represent, not necessarily just in time sequence, but represent in type the seven weeks to the harvest. And that is the Church age, and that is the Church harvest. And they will be in the first resurrection. Now there will be more in the first resurrection, which we will see, and we will cover that tomorrow because there is also the 50th day harvest which then is the harvest of God. So the seven churches represent the 49 day harvest.

Now let’s come back to Matthew 22 because we’re going to ask the question, and we will try and answer it tomorrow, but we will ask the question: Will everyone in the first resurrection be the bride of Christ? Now we’ve thought in the past, yes that is so. Let’s read the parable here in Matthew 22. Let’s pick it up here right in verse 1. There’s a lot for us to learn right here. “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 [now the king is God the Father, the son is Christ], and sent his servants [which then 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.” Now 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” ’ ” (Matt. 22: 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, and Aaron, and Nadab, and 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 they paid no attention and went away, one to his farm, and another to his buisiness. 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.” Now this is exactly what Christ did to Jerusalem. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is indeed ready, [so 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 welltraveled highways, 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. 5-10). So there is going to be God the Father, Who is the King, going to perform the ceremony. There’s going to be Christ. There is going to be the bride. There are going to be guests. And all of them will be there for this event. Now is this telling us that not everyone in the first resurrection will be part of the bride of Christ? Perhaps it is.

Now notice in this parable. “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”. 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. Now they won’t get there because they’ll have to be in the first resurrection. And 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. “For many are called, but few are chosen” (vs. 14).

Now let’s look at the parallel account back here in Luke 14, and I think this is quite profound when we put the whole chapter of Luke 14 together and see the things as they took place. Let’s begin here in verse 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 supper time 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’ ” (Luke 14:15-20). Now all of these are good and valid excuses, aren’t they? 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. Now you’ve been given the invitation. Are you going to come? Well, we’ll see.

“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.’ ” And of course that’s all of us because we are spiritually poor and maimed, and halt and blind. “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.’ ” So 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. “For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper” (vs. 21-24).

Now then notice, 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. And few repent with this kind of attitude. So what you need to do when we read these scriptures, you apply them to yourself. I’ll apply them to myself, because this is the qualification for the wedding invitation, right here.

Notice what Jesus said, “ 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, and that 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, and walking in the light, and serving God in the way that we do.

Now notice, “And whosoever does not carry his cross [whatever the difficulty may be], and come after Me, cannot be My disciple” (vs. 27). And the Greek there is the very strongest. It means ο δυναται. That’s what the Greek is, and that translated means “it is impossible to be His disciple”. And 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.

Now let’s carry this a little bit further. Let’s come here to Hebrews 12, we’ll see a parallel between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion in heaven above, showing what is going to happen to those who will be, in what is called the Church of the Firstborn. That is us. We are 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. Now let’s read that here in Hebrews 12. And notice how it starts out here in Hebrews 12. How that it is Christ that we need to look to. And 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 lot closer to the end than when we first believed. You can guarantee that.

Now here’s a whole example. Let’s begin right here in Hebrews 12:1. “ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,…” And that’s what we need to do brethren. 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, …” And today too many people have slowed down to a walk. They aren’t even trotting. And many of them are just sitting along the sidelines. They aren’t even participating in anything. They’ve just given up (Heb. 12:1-6, 14-29).

Now the way that you continue in this way is this, verse 2. “Having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher [or 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 so that we are justified, that we have the grace of God given to us.

Now notice, “…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.” And I put a little note to myself in my Bible, “…and give up”. Brethren 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. No, we have to do as it says here, verse 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. Verse 6 says “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 come over here and see what all of this is going to do. Let’s come over here. Let’s pick it up here in verse 14. “Pursue peace with everyone, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord; Looking diligently, lest anyone fall from the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and through this many be defiled;” People can fall from the grace of God. It is an absolute lie to say, “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 because it says right here, “…lest anyone fall from the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and through this [and when that happens] many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator or godless person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright; Because you also know how that afterwards, when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; and he found no room for repentance, though he sought it earnestly with tears” (vs. 14-17).

Now verse 18, now notice what Paul does here. He immediately shifts this right over into the spiritual reality of our existence in standing before Christ. “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, which those who heard, begged that the word not be spoken directly to them.” which we read back there in Exodus 19 and 20. Now we haven’t come to that mount, no. “…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;’ And so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, ‘I am greatly afraid and trembling.)” (vs. 18-21).

Now with this setting the tone, now then notice what Paul says. Heb. 12:22-23, “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,...” That’s where we have come to. You are part of the Church of the Firstborn. You are part of that general assembly, notice, “registered in the book of life in heaven;...” Your 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…” So this is quite a thing brethren, to be counted in this group, to be of this part. To be of this harvest, to be there and be able to be on Mt. Zion with Christ. “And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant; and to sprinkling of the blood of ratification, proclaiming superior things than that of Abel” (vs. 22-24). So I tell you it’s really quite a thing.

Then he gives a warning. “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;” (vs. 25). 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.

Notice. “Whose voice then shook the earth; but now He hath promised, saying, ‘Yet onc.0e more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven also.” And we find back in Hagai 3, and the sea and the dry land, and all of it. So the return of Jesus Christ is going to be absolutely tremendous. “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.” And 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. 26-29). And we are going to meet Him at the resurrection

Now let’s answer the question here concerning the guests. Let’s come to Revelation 19. Now we’ll sort of get over into tomorrow by going to Revelation 19 but that’s ok, we’ll come back for tomorrow. Now let’s read it here beginning in verse 1. “And after these things [now this is after the resurrection and we’ll see this is after being on the sea of glass and so forth] I heard the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven…” Now they’re 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. “…great multitude …saying, Hallelujah! The Salvation and the glory and the honour and the power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged 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, Hellelujah! And her smoke shall ascend upward into the ages of eternity. And the twentyfour elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, Who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” (Rev. 19:1-4).

“For her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she has rendered to you; and give to her double, even according to her works. In the cup that she mixed, give her back double. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give to her as much torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen enthroned, and am not a widow; and in no way shall I experience sorrow.’ For this very reason, her plagues shall come in one day—death and sorrow and famine; and she shall be burned with fire; for the Lord God, Who executes judgment upon her, is powerful. Then the kings of the earth who have committed fornication with her and have lived luxuriously, will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning.” (Rev. 18:5-9). 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. And we will see that tomorrow. So as Paul Harvey says, tune in for the rest of the story.

(End of Sermon)

Transcriber: Carolyn Singe

Day 49
June 10, 2000
Scriptural References

Leviticus 23:9-11
Romans 8:28-29
John 20:17
Leviticus 23:12-14
Joshua 5:10-11
Leviticus 23:15-20
Exodus 19:1, 3-8
Deuteronomy 4:1-8
Exodus 19:10-21
Exodus 34:20-25
Exodus 20:18
Exodus 23:12-17
Exodus 24:1-3
Leviticus 20:26
Exodus 20:4-8, 9-18
Isaiah 54:5-6
Matthew 13:18-22
Matthew 19:16-23
Matthew 13:22-27, 37-43
Matthew 22:1-14
Luke 14:15-27
Hebrews 12:1-6, 14-29
Revelation 19:1-4

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