Survey of God's Holy Days I

Fred R. Coulter—September 17, 2011

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Recently Harry Curley gave me some material written by experts at the CIA, how the human mind works. It was basically written to try and find why the CIA made errors in their assessments. How people think, preconceived notions, and all of that.

But there was with it, there was a picture and this picture had two purposes. It said, 'My wife, my lovely wife, and my awful mother-in-law.' You look at it and you can see the lovely wife. Then you just turn slightly and look at it this way and you see the ugly mother-in-law, looked just like the traditional thing of what witches look like.

But the point is: God is a God who hides Himself. You can't see Him, you can't go to Him, you can't go in a building and find Him. But the secret of finding God is through repentance and crying out to Him in faith and belief. Likewise the plan of God is also hidden, but in plain sight. It's in plain sight in the Bible, but it's hidden, or it's secret, because God has not made it obviously known. And lots of times, He does it in such a way that you won't figure it out.

Proverbs 25:2: "The glory of God is to conceal a thing..." God conceals things! Think of this now in relationship to the Christians in the world. Do they have the Bible? Yes, they do! Do they use the Bible? Some more than others, but yes, they do! Catholics virtually don't use it at all. Are there many things in the Bible that they don't know? Yes! But they have it.

Some things of God are very easy to understand, like the Ten Commandments. That's not hard to understand. But why does God conceal things? He does it for two reasons:

• to hide it from the world
• to see if we will be diligent to properly study the Bible and uncover it

"...but the honor of kings is to search out a matter" (v 2). We're to search these out. Let's see the method in that God has hidden it, which also then gives us the clue as to what we need to do. What we're going to see is something interesting.

By the same process that God lets it be known what He's doing to those who are searching and loving God and obeying God, the same process works the opposite for people who don't want to know. Just like the picture. You have a hard time finding the ugly mother-in-law. You see the beautiful wife. Most Protestants look at the Old Testament as if it's an ugly mother-in-law. They don't believe it, they don't want to follow it. And yet, they claim themselves to be Christians, they claim to believe the Bible. So, this is a conundrum. How do you reach those people whose minds are not only closed, but cemented over and dropped into the bottom of the ocean? Only God can do that, because He's blinded them!

Here's what God says; let's notice this process. We've gone over it before, but this is very basic for us to realize. Isaiah 28:9: "Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those who are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts." That's a statement showing that you have to be in the attitude of an infant, or converted, because even unconverted people, if they are sincere, can find a great deal of the Truth, but not all of it.

"...drawn from the milk..." (v 9). That means that they are ready for the doctrines that Paul talks about in Heb, 5, which is called strong meat. You don't give a newborn baby a slice of T-bone steak. The only way you give the baby a steak is it goes into the mother's system, and she gives it to the baby in her milk. We could cut out 80% of the diseases, if they would just do two things with children:

• Mothers would nurse them, which more and more mothers are and that's a good thing
• Let the mother's natural immunization take care of what the baby needs, rather than all the shots

If you do just those two little things the health of babies would be a whole lot better. But just like with God's Word, men come along and they like to add toxic things to it—don't they? If we could put it that way, liken to shots and so forth.

Who's going to learn? All right, here's the process, v 10: "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little." That's the process; you put the Scriptures together. Now remember this, here is a big principle concerning studying the Bible. You have to understand this: The Bible does not contradict itself! Where there is an apparent contradiction, it is because there is lack of knowledge and it needs to be studied out.

• Don't fight Scripture against Scripture

You have to search out what is the proper explanation.

• You have to put all the Scriptures concerning a topic together so you understand what it's talking about

That's line upon line; precept upon precept; a little here, and little there—especially in the Old Testament, and especially in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah will go along, he'll give a prophecy that is immediate, right ahead, just within the next months or years ahead, and then the next verse he'll jump ahead to something that has to do with the millennium. And a few verses later, he'll come back and talk and talk about something to do with Jesus Christ.

That's how you put it together. Here's the other side of the coin. This is what happens to people who have the Bible and the simple things that they can find that are easy to understand, they reject. Verse 11: "For with a stammering lips and foreign tongue He will speak to this people. To whom He said, 'This is the rest He gives to the weary;' and 'This is the refreshing,' yet they were not willing to hear" (vs 11-12). This was intended to give rest to the weary, to give understanding, but people have to be willing to hear. We'll see that a little bit later as Jesus explains it.

Verse 13: "So then the Word of the LORD was to them... [Rather than the ones He would teach knowledge, the same thing:] ...precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken. Therefore hear the Word of the LORD, you scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem" (vs 13-14). That's why atheists can't understand the Bible. They're scornful of God.

Surely God would want things known—don't you think? Who's He going to show it to? Stop and think about it. The whole Bible has the whole plan of God in it, but people reject it; they don't believe it because of what we just covered. Everything we need to know for eternal life through Jesus Christ. Everything we need to know concerning the plan of God, what God is doing. A lot of people say, 'Well, what is God doing?' They don't know. You tell them it's in the Bible. 'Well, where is it in the Bible? I can't understand the Bible.' We'll see the answer to that here in just a minute.

Psalm 25:14: "The secret of the LORD..." God has secrets. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, 'God reveals secrets.' And Daniel said, 'It's been revealed to us not because we're anything.' That was Daniel and his three fellows that were with him: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He said, 'God has revealed it, not because I'm anything greater than anyone else, but God has given the knowledge.' "The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him..." Add to that:

• love Him
• obey Him
• listen to His Word
• search out and study the Scriptures to see whether the things are so
• prove all things; hold fast which is good.

"...and He will show them His covenant" (v 14).

Let's come to Matthew 13; let's see how Jesus brings out again this principle that if you won't hear and hearken—also means hear to obey—you don't just listen as to hear, but you hearken, as to listen and obey. We've covered this in the past to some detail, so we'll just review it right here

Matthew 13:10: "And His disciples came to Him and asked, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' And He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries... [or the secrets] ...of the Kingdom of Heaven... [How do you know the secrets? It is given! How is it given? You've been 'weaned from the breast.' You understand the Word of God, certain parts of it.] ...Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries [secrets] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given'" (vs 10-11).

Come to Psalm 111; here is a basic Scripture. What happens to the average person when they hear about the Sabbath? Immediately the fists come up! You can even be nice about it. You can even be tactful about it—but will they listen? Some may, some don't! Same thing with the trinity; people have been so steeped in the trinity and going to heaven that when they hear that the Bible doesn't teach this, it blows them away.

When you examine who they are and what they are, even if they're religious and call themselves Christians, they are either Catholics or they're Protestants and they reject the fourth commandment, the second commandment, hence the first commandment. They think they're right; they think they have it; but they have a different gospel, they have a different Jesus—yet, they have the Bible and they don't use it the way it should be used.

Right here's a key, Psalm 111:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever."

• Keep the commandments of God

That's how you're going to understand the secret things. We will see why these people were not given understanding. They were living in a country which kept the Sabbath ostensibly—right? Yes! They had the Ten Commandments—didn't they? Yes! But then how many really kept them?

Matthew 13:12: "For whoever has understanding, to him more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him." They're going to lose it. That's what happening right now with Protestantism. What understanding they had 150 years ago has just been eroded and evaporated.

Verse 13: "For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand." Why? Because they're not obeying! You can add on to it believing.

• You have to believe

Verse 14: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed...'" (vs 14-15). 'I don't want to see it.' I've heard people say that. 'I don't want to hear it.'

Look at all they're trying to do to extend human life. Even working on bringing animal genes into the human genome. That's called 'trans-humanism.' And they're even bragging, 'Well, if we improve this then we can live forever.' Really! Never happen!

"'...lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them'" (v 15).

Another thing that's true: God is not trying to save the world today. If He were, He'd be failing greatly—wouldn't He? Have the Protestants converted the world? No! Have the Catholics converted the world? No! Are there going to be religious movements to try and make the earth a better place and help human beings? Yes! Will those work? No! They don't obey God! They don't keep His commandments, and they don't follow what He says.

Now let's see the additional thing in it. God has to give that knowledge. These are all basic Scriptures, most of which we know. But the longer that you understand the Truth, the more you come back to Scriptures like these into understanding why the world doesn't understand.

1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'.... [we have the love of God] ...But God has revealed... [As we search and we compare—precept upon precept; line up line; here a little, there a little—and follow the Truth and know that the Word of God is the Truth, when we do that God reveals through His Spirit from His Word so we gain understanding.] ...God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God" (vs 9-10).

I don't know about you, but just give someone in the world the book of Revelation and say, 'Here read it and tell me what it means,' they wouldn't be able to understand it. As long as we've been in the church, the more I study it, the more easy it is to understand and the more it reveals. I'm sure there's still a whole lot more things we need to learn out of Revelation. God has to reveal it.

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God." Especially the things that are hidden in plain sight, but they don't comprehend it.

Let's come here to Ephesians 1 and let's see how Paul expands this just a little bit further about understanding. It talks here about how we've been redeemed, Ephesians 1:7: "In Whom we have redemption through His blood [Jesus Christ.] even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence; having made known to us the mystery [secret] of His own will..." (vs 7-9).

The things that we understand in the Bible, the things that we understand concerning the appointed times of God, or the Feast days of God and what they mean, God has made known the secret of His will through the keeping of those days. Remember commandment-keeping? But the things that people universally reject—'We don't like that picture of the ugly mother-in-law, throw it away'—are the very things that God has used to reveal His will.

Verse 9: "Having made known to us the mystery [secret] of His own will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself; that in the divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; yes, in Him, in Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to His purpose, Who is working out all things according to the counsel of His own will" (vs 9-11).

How does He do that? What does He use? The most obvious things that people see—day and night—and they don't have a clue.

Let's come back to Genesis 1 because God did this in the beginning. It's God's glory to conceal something, but honor to seek it out. We read this, you read through all of it, and one day flows into the next—the first day, the second day, the third day and we come here to the fourth day.

• Is there anyone on earth who hasn't seen the sun, except maybe a blind person?
• Is there anyone on earth who has not seen the moon?
• Is there anyone on earth who has not seen the stars?

Today, many people have seen all of the fantastic pictures by all of these high-tech satellites that we have, such as the Hubbell satellite telescope showing the beautiful creation of God! God has made that known.

Genesis 1:14: "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for appointed seasons... [In that we're going to see is hidden what God calls in Lev. 23 'appointed times.' What are those? What are the seasons?] ...for days and years.'"

Just think, 'Well, this is spring, summer, fall, winter. This is day and night everyday and months and weeks and that's it. God made it.' But in there is hidden a clue to the secret of how we find out what God is doing.

Verse 15: "'And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. And God had made two great lights..." (vs 15-16). So, on the fourth day what He did, He set the sun and the moon in their proper places so that the earth would receive the timing from the sun and the moon. Also we can conclude from this in relationship to the calculated Hebrew calendar. The calculated Hebrew calendar for setting the months began on day four. For setting the days began on day one.

There are people who say that you wait for the new moon and when you see the new moon, the next day is the weekly Sabbath. They have their Sabbaths rotating through the weeks and months. It's a crazy thing. Right here it tells us that the months are different than the days. Yet, God counts all time, all days, all months, all years.

Verse 16: "And God had made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night; and God had made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good" (vs 16-18).

You wouldn't think too much about that—would you? You just read it and what are you thinking about? Sun, moon, earth, stars! Why did He make them?

Genesis 2:1—here we have our first instance of the Sabbath and it hasn't changed since creation. Men have tried to have different calendars to try it. Even the French had a ten-day week for a while. It exhausted the people and didn't work. Men want to change everything that God does!That's one of the greatest sins of men, to add to and take away. Because they don't like this, they don't like that, they don't like the other thing. Like the great Jewish attorney (can't think of his name), said, 'You know obviously, the tenth commandment is out of date. You shall not covet. That's what Wall Street is built upon.' Those who run brothels will say, 'Well, obviously the commandment against committing adultery is out of date. Look, I'd be out of business.' Sunday-keepers say, 'Well, the Sabbath is out of date. You know, that old Sabbath. That was made for the Jews.' They're going to find out that's not so!.

God wants us to know right from the beginning. We don't automatically, when we read this, come to understand that, we have to put other Scriptures together—how? 'Precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, there a little.' That's what we're going to do.

Genesis 2:1: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And by the beginning of the seventh day... [That's what it means in the Hebrew, not on the seventh day He finished His work, because that would mean He worked on the seventh day for a while.] ...by the beginning of the seventh day God finished His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (vs 1-3).

If He sanctifies it, He made it Holy. How did He make it Holy? His presence was in it! Since God, today, hides Himself, how is the Sabbath Holy? It's Holy because He declared it Holy and sanctified it! But for those who are serving God, His Spirit will be with them as they keep the Sabbath. God works through His Spirit, because men rejected God and said, 'Go to heaven, God, get out of here.' Didn't quite put it that way, but that's how people act. God says, 'Okay, that's what you want? I'll just sit up here and watch you. Wait until you're in trouble. If you really repent, I'll help you, but if not, your chances, you don't want Me. You don't want My way. You want the highway, so there it is, go.'

There are many other things we can do, many other Scriptures we can add to it, but what I want to show you is the sequence of things here in Leviticus 23. Here is where God hid everything inplain sight if people are willing to search it out. It's concealed. Most people read these things and they think, 'Well, these are just rituals which are to be kept. Aren't those lovely things?' We will also end another myth concerning the Law of Moses. When you get to the New Testament there are two Laws of Moses:

• The Law of Moses that is in the Bible as Jesus said and the apostles understood
• The Law of Moses according to the Pharisees, which then takes the skeleton of God's laws and overlays it with all of their traditions

That's why one of the best books we have is Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? If you don't understand Judaism, you're never going to understand the New Testament. Very few people really, really understand that today—and it's been this way for a long, long time; how far back it goes, I don't know, but it surely goes back to the time of Christ and before—whatever the rabbi says is binding. Some of the rabbis are so great, that their pronouncement 'God has to agree to.'

In this case, everything is upside down. Who's God? The rabbi! No man can tell God what to do, but they tell God what to do. How much of God's plan do they understand? Nothing! They rejected the One Who came to reveal it: Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is going to be taken from them and given to a people who will obey, and they will be cast out into outer darkness and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's not the Lake of Fire. That is being totally cut off from God in darkness.

Have the Jews had a lot of weeping and gnashing in teeth down through the years? Yes, indeed! Very sad! It's like one Jew said, 'If we're the chosen people, I wish God would let up a little bit.' What you need to do is check out the real Jesus. Don't look at that cathedral in Rome and think that's Christianity. You understand correctly, that's not from God. Find the true Jesus.

Here we have the Sabbath and all the Holy Days of God. The Law of Moses came from God, so this is the Lord's Law, Leviticus 23:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying.... [All Moses was, was a repeater.] ...'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "Concerning the appointed Feasts..."'" (vs 1-2).Which ties right in with Gen. 1 with the appointed times.

That's why after the Feast we're going to produce the book, and I'll give you a sneak preview of the cover here, The Appointed Times of the Messiah, hidden within the Scriptures—all there.

"'…the appointed Feasts of the LORD…. [Not of the Jews, not of Israel, but of the Lord. And remember, the Lord God of the Old Testament became Jesus Christ of the New Testament—right? Yes!] ...which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations, even these are My appointed Feasts'" (v 2). He owns them. And in these appointed Feasts God has hidden His plan, but you need all the rest of the Bible to put it together.

Notice He starts out with the Sabbath, v 3: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a Holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, Holy convocations" (vs 3-4). Is the Sabbath Day a Holy convocation? Yes! Are the Feasts days of God Holy convocations? Yes! He lays them all out in order, one after the other.

• Passover—fourteenth day of the first month
• Feast of Unleavened Bread—fifteenth day is beginning
• Wave Sheaf Offering—the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread
• Pentecost

All of these have to do with the first coming of Jesus Christ and the New Testament Church as we relate it to the New Testament. They had meaning to the Jews and the Israelites back then, because these were the harvest feasts. The Passover commemorated God passing over the firstborn in Egypt.

Let's come to one more principle. Let's come to the New Testament and let's understand something. Everything comes from the creation of God, from the Sabbath of God, from the Holy Days of God, and everything unfolds from that.

Here we're taking a Scripture and a precept and putting it together. Since the Sabbath belongs to God and all the appointed Feasts, including the ones we're coming to here now:

• Trumpets
• Atonement
• Tabernacles
• Last Great Day

All of those have great meaning, too. Therefore, He's Lord also of all the Holy Days.

• Did He create the time? Yes!
• Did He designate the day and the month? Yes!
• Did He give the calculated Hebrew calendar so we would know when to observe them? Yes!

After the dispute about the disciples plucking and eating on the Sabbath, Mark 2:27: "He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man...'"—was made for us! God rested on the first one to show what to do, but it was made for man. We need the Sabbath. The Sabbath itself has many meanings in it, too—doesn't it?

• you rest
• you don't work
• God's Spirit is with you
• you fellowship with God
• you pray
• you come to Church
• you learn of the Word of God
• you're instructed
• you're uplifted
• you have knowledge that comes from God

The purpose of the Sabbath is more than what the first Sabbaths were for the children of Israel in the wilderness. God told them, 'Stay in your tents. Don't go out of the door of your tent.' Did they have Bibles to study with? No! It wasn't even written yet. Didn't even know there was going to be a Bible. Wandering out there in the wilderness. Hey, you need a whole day of rest. Didn't want them up out there doing things and playing games, and all of this sort of thing. So He said, 'Stay in your tents.'

Later when they got to Mount Sinai, and we know it was on the Day of Pentecost, He called them all together at the base of the mountain and then gave the Ten Commandments, the One Who became Jesus Christ.

"…'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath'" (v 27). Which tells us this: Men do not set the rules, God does! Men cannot change the day—andGod has never changed it—so what gives men the authority to change something that God never did? Jesus never did! Those who believe that Jesus did, believe a lie. If you hear it from the pulpit, my advice to you is, get out of that church as fast as you can. If talk to the pastor privately he will admit that the Sabbath is the day that God gave and yet they keep Sunday.

Verse 28: "Therefore, the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

• Is He Lord of your life? Yes, He is!
• Is He God manifested in the flesh? Yes, He is!
• Did He create the Sabbath Day? Yes, He did!
• Did He create the Holy Days and the Feasts? Yes, He did!
• Are they appointed times that He has appointed? Yes!

He's Lord of them! No man—not the Jews, not the Israelites, not the pope, not the minister—God is! We look into the Word of God to see what we are to do and the meaning of it.

Track 2: or Download

Let's come to Psalm 119:18. This is quite a verse. We can use this verse to understand what's in the law, but also realize all the Holy Days come out of the law. Everything that God has done comes from creation and from His law. Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law." We could also say, 'Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things about Your Sabbath, about Your Passover, about Your Holy Days.'

In the fifty years of being a minister and preaching, not being a minister for quite fifty years, but getting close to it, but preaching and studying and teaching, we now have not only the Holy Bible in its Original Order to help everyone understand. This is by far the best English translation available on the market today, we also have many books and two of the most important, now I'm not counting TheChristian Passover book, I'll save that for a later day, but the Passover is the key important thing. Unless you are in covenant with God the Father and Jesus Christ, you don't belong to Them.

• doesn't matter what you profess
• doesn't matter how nice you are
• doesn't matter how dedicated you are

And if you don't keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days of God, you'll never understand His plan. It's revealed out of His law through the rest of the Bible.

Furthermore, the Bible does not say one positive thing about the coming holiday, which will be right after the Feast of Tabernacles—Halloween. Says, 'Don't seek to the dead,' yet Halloween's a day for the dead. God says, 'I hate your feast days,' but He loves His. God never said anything about keeping Sunday. And don't say, 'Well, the Church said,' or 'the first days of week....' You haven't even gotten into the ballpark, let alone get up to bat, if those are the things that you argue by. So, we have two books:

• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which?

This surveys all the occult holidays of this world and then surveys the Holy Days of God in the Old Testament and the Holy Days of God in the New Testament and it helps fulfill v 18: "Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law."

• God's Plan for Mankind

This is a unique book. This is a compilation of sermons with their transcripts. This was suggested by Jim Hyles, who helps me, and he said, 'Why don't we do a book on all the Holy Days in depth.' Nearly 400 pages; 36 sermons. We have the sermons that come on CDs for it. This will really open your eyes. The reason I bring these up is because we are not going to go an in-depth study of the Holy Days of God in the Bible in this sermon and the next one that I'm going to do. But we're going to do a survey and we're going to see certain key Scriptures. We're going to see certain things that are important for us to understand.

Proto-Passover—the covenant that God made with Abraham:

Here's our first survey. Genesis 15 has also hidden in it one of the most important appointed times of God. This is what you would call the proto-Passover. When you read it you don't know the days that this occurred on, but when you come to Exo. 12 we have defined for us certain days by number according to month and number, according to the calculated Hebrew calendar, and it says the very same day. This is what it's referring to: the covenant that God made with Abraham.

This becomes the proto-Passover. Remember, the Bible says in Revelation that Jesus 'was slain from the foundation of the world.' In other words, that's a way of God explaining this. Whenever God is determined to do something or say something or command something or promise something, it is as good as done.

Here's where He makes the covenant with Abraham which includes the covenant that came to Israel for the Old Covenant and the covenant which comes to the Church for the New Covenant. We have seen:

• God hides it; we have to find it!
• God reveals it; if we search for it!
• God will open our eyes to behold wondrous things; if we're yielded to God and willing to obey His Word!

Here Abraham was called Abram at this time and he was at 85-years-old and no children. Yet, God promised him that 'I will make you a great nation and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.' How is that going to happen? Well, it's hidden right here:

Genesis 15:3: "And Abram said, 'Behold, You have given no seed to me; and lo, one born in my house is my heir.'.... [his servant Eliezer] ...And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir'" (vs 3-4). Promise of a physical seed! As we know later, it was Isaac and he was born at the appointed time! From that then came Jacob, and from Jacob came the twelve sons, and from Joseph came the two sons of Ephraim and Manasseh. All the Word of God is structured upon that clear down to the time of Christ.

There are a lot of things hidden in the Word of God, in plain sight and for us to learn. Then v 5: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.'" Jesus said that the righteous 'shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father,' that is after the resurrection. This is a promise of the spiritual seed.

When we come to the book of Galatians, what does it say? It says that if you are Christ's—and another thing hidden in there was Isaac was a type of Christ—then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, given right here. These three verses form everything else in the entirety of the rest of the Bible. Everything is contingent upon those three verses.

You'll have to get the books: God's Plan for MankindRevealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days and/or TheChristian Passover. Some people say, 'Well, why are they so thick?' Because all the information is necessary! One thing you need to understand: the Passover is so important.

We'll talk about that here in just a little bit. But the Passover is so important in the New Testament that Satan has attacked it from every side to try and destroy the knowledge of it, because that was the very day that Jesus Christ was crucified. That happened in the middle of the week, not on a 'Good Friday.'

You need these so you can understand that whatever the Christian world has and what they do, though they have the Bible, is not relevant to God. Sunday is not His day. It's the first day of the week. God blessed the seventh day of the week.

None of the [world's] holidays are of God. In fact, God denounces them in the Scriptures, even talks specifically saying, 'Don't do as the heathen and put up a Christmas tree. Don't seek unto the dead. Don't weep for Tammuz,' which is where the weeping on Friday night occurred until they come to Sunday morning at midnight. Then the pope announces, 'He is risen,' and everybody's joyful. That's not of God! That's a substitute, because they won't believe God.

Passover:

Let's see that in the book of Exodus, God began dealing with His people to bring them out of the land of Egypt with plagues and signs and wonders at the hand of Moses and Aaron. Then we come to Exodus 12 and here's where we find the Passover for the physical seed of the children of Israel. He gives certain instructions and He says of the Passover—I'm not going to go through all the instructions. I just want to cover a couple important things here.

He says, the last part of Exodus 12:11: "…It is the LORD'S Passover." Belongs to God, not the Jews, the Lord's. The Passover Day was the day on which Jesus died. Right in plain sight in the New Testament, but everyone ignores it because they don't see and they don't listen and they don't obey.

Here's why it's called the Passover, v 12: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD."

Every false god in the world has come from Babylon and Egypt. All those gods have been judged, have been rendered worthless by the power of God. And yet, people go back to it. They had to have the blood of the lamb as a sign

Verse 13: "And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…. [Great spiritual significance when it comes to our sins. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.] …And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast as a law forever'" (vs 13-14).

And what did Jesus do on the Passover night in the New Testament? He established the New Covenant Passover! Not communion, not the Eucharist, not the 'sacrifice of the mass'—His sacrifice! And He established it with unleavened bread, after foot-washing and said, 'Take eat, this is My body which is broken for you'; same way with the wine. 'Take and drink this,' symbolic, 'this is My blood in the New Covenant which is shed for the remission of sins for many.'

All of this comes out of the covenant with Abraham, the Passover with Israel.

Day of Unleavened Bread:

Then we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, beginning in v 15, first day and the last day. Let's come here to Exodus 23. After He gave the Ten Commandments, it's very interesting. I want you to see right where God put these Feast days in the middle of these judgments and commands that He has given.

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

We have commandment four, Sabbath, which He just gave in Exo. 20 and we have the second commandment—no other gods. First and second, don't make any images. Notice what comes next, so this gives us the level of importance to God. That's why I'm pointing it out. What you're going to see in these Scriptures that I'm covering now is that there are no rituals commanded to be performed on these Feast days. That's important. The rituals came after the days.

People come along and say, 'Well, since Jesus' sacrifice replaced all the rituals, therefore since these days are rituals'—wrong conclusion—'they are all done away.' The days came first, then the ritual.

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

Right in the middle, all these commands are all together. He did the same thing over here in Exodus 34:17—we find something here very much the same: "You shall make no molten gods for yourselves. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time of the month of Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt…. [Notice what follows them: the firstborn, all belong to Him]: …And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.'" (vs 17-19). See how He repeats this?

Since all the pagan feasts commemorate other gods, knowing what you know up to this point, should you observe any of their days? No! Well, that's the whole story on how these things came to be. Let's come back to Exodus 31, because we see something that's important concerning the Sabbath here. Just like we find in Lev. 23, it starts out with the weekly Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath is the overarching authority for the annual Sabbaths.

Exodus 31:13: "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, 'Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths... [Please understand, wherever it says Sabbaths, that means the weekly Sabbath and the yearly Sabbaths.] (Here is what the keeping of the Sabbaths represent): ...for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies you.'"

Let's look at it from this point of view: If you don't keep the Sabbaths of God, do you know God? No, you don't! You can claim sanctity by God if you're a Sunday-keeping Christian, but God never sanctified Sunday. And the observing of the Sabbaths then are the things that sanctify you because God puts His presence in those days.

Verse 14: "You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is Holy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, Holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath Day, he shall surely be put to death" (vs 14-15).

If you have the Holy Bible in its Original Order, go back and read Rome's Challenge to the Protestants (Appendix N), where Cardinal Gibbon wrote to the Protestants, saying that 'since you claim sola scriptura'—Scriptures only—'you better read these Scriptures.' He quotes this saying that 'if you keep Sunday, you are under a death penalty. And your reasoning for keeping Sunday is suicidal if you say that you follow the Scriptures.' I mean, it is something! You go back and read that appendices, right in the back of the Bible. There's a reason that we put it there. And basically this Bible is designed to help people come out of false Christianity, so they can learn the Truth.

Verse 16: "Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath through their generations as a perpetual covenant." The Church is spiritual Israel and those who belong to Christ and God the Father are the children of God. God has not changed these days, so we are to keep it. Perpetual means continuously, as long as there are all the factors involved.

• Is the earth still here? Yes!
• Is the sun still here? Yes!
• Is the moon still here? Yes!
• Are the Holy Days and the calculated Hebrew calendar here? Yes!
• What should we do perpetually?
• What did Jesus do?
• What did the apostles do?

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

Now we come to a prophetic working of human nature, and also a prophecy of the leaders in it who would turn people from God even in the presence of God at the foot of Mount Sinai. This is so profound and ironic.

Verse 18: "And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God." From God!

What was happening while all this was going on:

• getting all the statutes and judgments of God
• seeing the glory of God, His backside
• talking to God
• writing all of these things down, in addition to those two tablets, written by God

God wanted the children of Israel to have the testimony of these that it came from God, no man!

Exodus 32 is very instructive. I'm going to go through this just to show a point here, because this becomes very important. It shows the working of the religious leaders, the working of the people; their desire not to follow God; their desire to have the gods of Egypt' their desire even in the presence of God to demand their own way. That's why people are blinded; they won't listen to the simple commandments of God. Almost every Protestant minister would say, 'Well, yes, the Sabbath we know that's what God gave in the Old Testament, but....' Really? Are you greater than God to tell God what to do?

Exodus 32:1: "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, then the people gathered themselves to Aaron..." Who was Aaron? The brother of Moses! The one designated to be high priest, the—as you would say—religious leader in Israel. Moses was higher, because he went directly to God, but Aaron was to be the priest. Who's in on all of these schemes to get rid of the Word of God? The religious leaders, the priests, the evangelists, the cardinals, the bishops, the popes.

"...the people gathered themselves to Aaron, and they said to him, 'Up! Make us gods which shall go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him'" (v 1).

What should he have said right there? He should have said:'Now wait a minute!

• Remember those plagues back there in Egypt?
• Remember all the darkness?
• Remember the grasshoppers, the lice, the flea, the murrain?
• Remember the Passover night, the killing of the firstborn of all man and beast in Egypt?
• Remember the manna that God has given to us that you go and get ever morning to eat?
• Remember the water that Moses brought out of the rock so you could drink?

Don't come to me to have me do something for you. We're all going to wait here for Moses. Since he's in God's hands, he's in good shape. We have to wait here in faith for him, because he's coming back and he'll have a message from God for us.' But what did he do? Shows his attitude, too—right?

Verse 2: "And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.' And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he took them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool..." (vs 2-4). This probably tells us that Aaron was an idol-maker in Egypt. How would he know how to do it? Even if people brought gold to me, I wouldn't know how to do it. I haven't worked with it.

"...and made a molten calf…." (v 4). What was the golden calf? The golden calf was the main god of Egypt! In Babylon that was Nimrod. And what was between the horns of the golden calf? A sun disk, sun worship. Right in the presence of God, Aaron and the people went right back to Egyptian religion and sun worship and idolatry. How many times did God say don't make any idols, don't take the name of God in vain? Let's see what he says, because it becomes even worse.

"...and made a molten calf. And they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt'" (v 4). Really! Did they not see the pillar of fire at night and the cloud by day to lead them? Did they not hear the voice of God from Mount Sinai, 'This is God!' Yes, they did! This is less than 40 days.

Verse 5: "And when Aaron saw the calf, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation..."—the one who was to represent God to the people. And right across the band that would be on the forehead when he put on the Holy garments, there was a golden band which said, 'Holiness to the Lord'—to show that his thoughts and his representation was for the God Who created the heavens and the earth—and he did this?

A couple of comments were made. Did not Aaron originally have the staff that was Moses', that he threw down and it became the serpent to eat up the serpents of the magicians? Did he not have the rod and struck the river and it turned to blood, and beat the ground in which the dust then became the fleas and the lice and the murrain? He had all of that. God used him for that—right?

Then not only did he build the calf, he also built an altar and he said, v 5: "…And Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.'" The comment was made, this reminds you a lot about Sunday—doesn't it? And they take all the pagan things and put God's name on it. Sunday—the day of the sun for sun worship. 'This is the Lord's day.' And you hear the minister say, 'This is the day which the Lord has made.' Well, He made every day, but only one was Holy, the one He made Holy.

Here's what happened, v 6: "And they rose up early on the next morning, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." Think of this as a grand rock concert and all the orgies that go with it. Now you understand from this why God said that He almost exterminated Israel in Egypt, because this is what they were used to. Couldn't even get them off of it clear out in the wilderness away from everything.

Verse 7: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go! Get you down, for your people, whom you... [When the people did badly, they were Moses' people. When they did good, they were God's people.] ...whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up out of the land of Egypt."' And the LORD said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. And now leave Me alone, so that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation'" (vs 7-10). Moses didn't want that.

He didn't say, 'Yeah, Lord, get them. I'm right here. I'm Your man.' No, he pleaded for them. He said, 'No, no, no, don't destroy them.' He said, v 13: "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever."' And the LORD repented of the evil which He spoke of doing to His people" (vs 13-14).

Can you change God's mind? Yes, indeed! If you plead for mercy, if you plead to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God's Word, what He promised. Yes!

Verse 15: "And Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand: the tablets were written on both their sides; on one side and on the other. And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God. It was engraved upon the tablets" (vs 15-16).

Moses is making a great point of this, because look what he did. Moses heard the voice of the people and their shouting and Joshua said to Moses, v 17: "'A sound of war in the camp!' And he said, 'It is not a sound of a cry of victory, nor a sound of the cry of defeat. I am hearing the sound of singing'" (vs 17-18). What were they singing? Songs to the idol!

Verse 19: "And it came to pass, as soon as he came near to the camp and saw the calf and dancing, then Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the bottom of the mountain." This is an everlasting lesson that everyone who thinks that they know God, whether you're a Sunday-keeper, a Sabbath-keeper, Church of God, you better think hard and long about trying to add something to God's way that you think is good.

Don't incorporate one single thing from paganism. The Catholics brag on it. 'All we did was just change the name and look it, we swelled the numbers in the church.' They still do it today. I saw a documentary of a priest way, way in the back of the mountains of Peru, down on the western slope of the mountains of Peru, where the land is flat, where the Indian tribes are. He taught them to do the rituals they were doing to their cannibal god, only now 'Don't eat any human flesh. Be good boys.' Put the names of Catholicism on that and they did the same ritual. They did the same dance and they were all happy. They do it to this day.

And here's a prophecy that that's where it comes from, v 20: "And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and pulverized it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said to Aaron, 'What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?' And Aaron said... ['Don't get mad.'] ...Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on mischief.... [God called them to get out of this thing. You never do things to please people. That's what Paul said. 'If I please men, I won't please God'—right?] ...For they said to me, "Make us gods who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And I said to them, "Whoever has any gold, let them break it off." And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf'" (vs 20-24). Just leaped out! A miracle!

Moses persuaded God to forgive Aaron. That's something! Verse 25: "And when Moses saw that the people were naked... [They weren't out there naked for sunbathing.] ...(for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies), Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Who is on the LORD'S side? Come to me'...." (vs 25-26). Great lesson in all the Bible.

• God never comes to your side
• God never comes to your thoughts
• God never comes to fulfill your lust

You want God? You go to Him! God is not on your side because of who you are. You get on God's side and He'll take care of you.

"...And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him. And he said to them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Each man put his sword by his side... [to the Levites] ...and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and kill each one his brother, and each one his companion, and each one his neighbor."' And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses" (vs 26-28).

The wages of sin is death! This particular case, instant! Verse 29: "And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men; for Moses had said, 'Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD—even though it has been at the cost of a son or a brother—in order that He may give you a blessing today.' And it came to pass on the next day, Moses said to the people, 'You have sinned a great sin'" (vs 29-30).

Think about this with Sunday-worship, especially if you are Catholic. Especially if you go in to that idolatrous cathedral and you take of the sacrifice of the mass, which is a round sundisk. Remember, Jesus broke the bread. He didn't give them a round sundisk. So, you need to think about it yourself, and ask yourself: What am I doing going into this idolatrous temple with all these pagan rituals and I expect to find God? He's not there!

Verse 31: "'You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD. Perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.' And Moses returned to the LORD, and said, 'Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold! And now if You would only forgive their sin! And if not, I pray You, blot me out of Your book which You have written'" (vs 31-32). 'Let me die, Lord. Don't do the people in.'

Verse 33: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. And now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel shall go before you. And in the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them.' And the LORD plagued the people because they made the calf, which Aaron made" (vs 33-35).

Great lesson! That's why it's important to understand concerning the Sabbath and Holy Days of God. Here we have what God has commanded us to keep and now we're going to see, as we survey through the rest of the Old Testament and into the New Testament, that the same thing applies today.

Nowhere does it say anything about Christmas or Easter and we'll get to Acts 12 where the translators deliberately mistranslated Passover to read 'Easter.' They could say, 'Oh, look, in the Bible, there's Easter.'

Scriptural References:

• Proverbs 25:2
• Isaiah 28:9-14
• Psalm 25:14
• Matthew 13:10-11
• Psalm 111:10
• Matthew 13:12-15
• 1-Corinthians 2:9-11
• Ephesians 1:7-11
• Genesis 1:14-18
• Genesis 2:1-3
• Leviticus 23:1-4
• Mark 2:27-28
• Psalm 119:18
• Genesis 15:3-5
• Exodus 12:11-14
• Exodus 23:12-17
• Exodus 34:17-22
• Exodus 31:13-18
• Exodus 32:1-10, 13-35

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 5
• Exodus 20
• Acts 12

Also referenced:

Books:

• Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal
• The Appointed Times of the Messiah (coming soon)
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? by Fred R. Coulter
• God's Plan for MankindRevealed by the Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter

Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants (The Holy Bible in its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter)

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 9-25-11
Formatted: bo—9/26/11

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