Treasure Hunting

I’ve been on a treasure hunt that so far has lasted from January till now.  I’ve been following clues from one to another, going up side trails and exploring far and wide.  I’ve found forgotten treasure in things I’ve become too used to.  Treasure in other things under my nose but not recognised.  I’ve found treasures in places I had no idea there was anything buried, and treasure in places I had inklings there might be some as well.

I’m going to be giving lots of information today and you wont be able to keep up with everything on the screen!  The newsletter has a website address where I have put the notes for today with all the references and some links for other reading. 

The BEST way though is to hit your Bible and wring this out for yourselves.

One of my faith heroes is my Granpa.  And one of the reasons for that is that right up until the last few weeks before he died he was still learning about God.  If I want to be like that – and I do – it’s simple maths to know I’m still gonna make mistakes as I learn and grow.

At the beginning of the April family service I encouraged anyone who might feel irritated by things begin so different, to think that irritation through to the moral or practical reason why and see if it had merit.

This time I’m asking you to do the same if what I SAY has some negative effect in you.  If I am wrong about anything I present today, I’m asking you to write to me by email so I can put any objections with reasons and references on the website.  I genuinely don’t want to be responsible for error – for my own sake or the sake of others. 

With four thousand years of scrupulous oral history; a complete Old Testament; many many prophecies concerning the coming Messiah; hours days and weeks every year given to the knowledge, memorization and obedience to the books of the Law  (the Torah);  plus all that combined expectation - the majority of Hebrews living at the time of Jesus – missed it.  They missed Jesus as Messiah because He did not come in the manner of the expectation of the masses.

This has caused me to consider long and hard – could I be deceived?  How as Christians might we be being deceived?  How could we be? 

The only way to not be deceived is by knowing the Scriptures well enough to recognise it, or by searching them to show it.  There is a lot we know from the Word, and there is a lot about Him we think we know from the Word but is actually from the accumulation of life, experience, hope, expectation, disappointment and teaching of others.  The Word of God and these words of accumulation are not always the same thing. 

When an author writes a story he might start out in one of several ways.  He might have a great beginning, or great character ideas and the story almost writes itself as they go along. Or he might have a portion or the end of the story that he wants to use, so has to work out the plot backwards from that point to bring the climax or conclusion to pass.

God is the Author of the Ages.  He knew the conflict, the cause, the characters, the climax and the conclusion before setting it all in motion.  The plan of redemption through Jesus was not an afterthought.  It was not ‘written in’ after things began to go wrong.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  Nothing is hidden from He who wrote the Story, either which has been already or which is still to come.  We are the ones hindered by the viewpoint of time, He authored time also, and Knows no bounds.

The Hebrew calendar is quite complicated to understand with all its adjustments, but the main point here is that these adjustments are done to reconcile the three natural phenomena that determine it.

When the new moon was sighted and confirmed by two reliable witnesses from the surrounding land it was announced by trumpet or shofar blasts from Jerusalem, so that all far and wide would hear and know when to recon the days of the month. 

Also the Hebrew day runs from dusk to dusk.

Why?  Because God called creation out of the dark. 

GE 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

GE 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days,years

These days it’s hard enough to get a general doctor’s appointment and harder still to get a Specialist appointment.  You can’t ring and tell them what you want, you have to hear what’s available and choose the best you can. 

God has a calendar.  He has appointments written in.  And He keeps His appointments to the minute, the hour, the day, the month and the year.

Also we’ve learned that God has set “types” or “foreshadowing’s” in His Scripture.  These too are a kind of prophesy.

The Hebrews also saw patterns in Scripture as being prophetic – patterns are evidence of design.  We are aware of some of these where one description, person or event is mirrored somewhere else.

Many old testament prophesies were fulfilled in Jesus first coming.  These are what we generally recognise most frequently as prophesy.

The Passover was a foreshadow, a type, of Jesus death and resurrection, where every portion of the Biblical tradition was fulfilled in Jesus.

The Passover was also the first in a group of 7 events, the first 4 of which are completed as prophesy, which indicates the pattern of fulfilled prophesy will continue in the remaining three.  These 7 are the Moed.  His appointments.  His feasts.  (More soon!)

5.  Sevens

It is pretty commonly known and accepted that numbers can carry significance in the Bible.  Sometimes the use of numbers is just a record and nothing more but there are many examples of numbers carrying meaning.  Study it yourselves – prove me wrong if this sounds like bunk.

A few examples.

One – Beginning

Two - Witness

Three – The Godhead

Six - Man

 

Seven – Completion or perfection

 

Eight – New beginning

 

Twelve – Divine government (12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples)

Sabbath/ שבת shabbat  means: literally “ceasing” or “stopping.”

GE 2:2-3 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

When our oldest children were quite little, they had standing instructions from us that on Saturday mornings they were to stay in bed till 7am and then pop on the telly for a video – QUIETLY.

At one level this was an instruction to be obeyed.  At the next level, it was an activity that they were going to find easy to obey because they were going to enjoy it.  At the final level, we would be able to sleep-in till about 8.30.

Many of Gods instructions, patterns, prophecies, types and shadows are likewise multi-level.  What we see on the surface is unlikely to be all there is.

• At one level, the Sabbath was a model God set by keeping it for Himself.  He worked for 6 and He rested for 1.
• At the next level it was a model God set the Israelites when they were sent manna to eat in the wilderness.  By it, he showed His miraculous provision through the seventh day on which they would find no manna.  Days 1-6 they were to collect only enough to eat that day…

EX 16:20-29 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell…On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much…saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.  "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today.  Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."  Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.

• AT the next level, God placed the Sabbath as number 4 of the 10 commandments.  It carried the death penalty and carries the longest explanation of the group of ten.

• Now, Jesus and the disciples frequently brought negative attention on themselves by not behaving on the Sabbath as the law keepers thought they ought.

In Colossians we are told:

COL 2:16-17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

• And most intriguingly,

HEB 4: 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

 

As well as these weeks of years, there are other “weeks” also.

In 597 BC the Hebrews went into captivity in Babylon because they failed to keep the Sabbath year command for the land.  They were there for 70 years to atone for the 70 years of not giving the land its Sabbath rest. God either takes numbers seriously or He’s using them and establishing patterns - to try and get our attention.  Seven seems to be the most common number attributed to specific measurements of time.

According to the Gregorian calendar we are in the year 2009. 

Feasts Overview

All this hunting started in the Christmas holidays when I ordered and read 2 kids books on how the Bible came in to being in it's present form. 

Then I read two Novels written from the perspectives of Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer.  Not really my style of fiction but fascinating as the author was drawing on the whole breadth of Scripture plus some of the 'other' historical books that I'd just learned about - as sources for much of her novels... places, names, customs, events etc.

As I read these - I followed up trails that I wanted to know if were based in truth...  Then what I was studying kind of exploded into a feeding frenzy of all sorts... archaeology, flood, end times, codes, communion, feasts and festivals, The Hebrew Calendar, typology, prophesy, The Blood of Jesus and Covenants. 

One of the many trails I went down began with thinking more deeply about communion and Passover – and what I learned on that trail was partly what I shared in the Family Service in April.

 

 

Many treasures have come to light in this time and I’m hoping that you might get interested in doing some treasure hunting of your own along these lines.  The Bible is our map – in life and in this hunt.  We can trust it – for every word is true.

... and then about the Lords Supper being a meal in New Testament times – evidenced by Paul ticking them off for eating and drinking too much while others went hungry. 

Then I thought about Passover – the reason for the meal Jesus and the disciples were together for when Jesus instituted what we now commemorate in communion.

Then I remembered this other thing that happened shortly after Jesus resurrection and return to heaven – Pentecost - the day the Holy Spirit came on the disciples when they spoke in tongues that people from all the nations understood in their own languages.  I’d heard something in the dim dark past that I couldn’t quite recall, how just as Jesus had died at Passover, that Pentecost happened on another day the Israelites were celebrating “something or other on” - so that caught my attention to find out more about!

Somewhere along the line I learned that there are many feasts the Israelites kept but of them there are 7 in a particular cycle that God instructed them to keep.  There are others such as Purim which commemorate other events in their history, but these 7 were instructed by God Himself in a connected cycle.

As it turned out, the three times the Lord requires the men of Israel to appear before Him are the first, the middle and the last of the cycle of seven and the first feast/moed was set by God to be the 14^th day of the first month - Passover.  The second of the three, was Pentecost so I was all a-buzz to find out what the third was.  Along with wondering what it might be I felt certain it would turn up to be in the seventh month – and guess what? – it is.  Also I felt certain it would be something to do with the second coming and guess what? It is.

Another reason this seemed significant is because the Hebrews have two ways of observing the calendar – like we have the regular and the financial year calendars.  God Himself set both the calendar and the appointments.  We may celebrate or mark days on those different to their original (like our Queens birthday), but what is, IS, regardless.

Also, it seems significant that where we break between June and July for the financial year, the seventh month of Tishri in the Sacred Cycle, becomes the first month in the Civil cycle.  There is an overlap.  When Jesus fulfils the next batch of feasts, it too will usher in a new era.  It will be the end of the prophetic nature of the feast calendar and the beginning of the contract for King Jesus to reign for a thousand years.

Even within the Bible there are some different or overlapping names for the same seven feasts, so the names I’m using this morning are these.

1. Passover
2. Unleavened Bread
3. Firstfruits (Counting the Omer)
4. Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
5. Feast of Trumpets
6. Day of Atonement
7. Feats of Tabernacles

God gave the instructions for the first two feasts/Moed just before leaving Egypt.  (Exodus 12:17-20) He gave instructions for the others at the same time He have the 10 Commandments – when they reached Mt Sinai.

The full account is in Leviticus 23 (See also Exodus 23, Numbers 33 and Deuteronomy 16). 

Passover is the 14^th of the first month of Nissan. It commemorates the night the Angel of the Lord passed over the Israelite homes that were marked with lambs blood.  The night God led them out of 400 years bondage in Egypt.  The night that all homes not marked with blood, lost their firstborn.

Unleavened Bread runs from the 15^th to the 22^nd of Nissan.  It commemorates the Israelites leaving Egypt having no time to add the leaven to the bread that was being made, which they carried with them as they left.  In God’s instructions for the feast they were told to have no leaven (yeast) in their homes for the duration of the 7 day feast.  Not only to eat no yeasted product but TO unleavened bread in this time.  Yeast represents sin, and becoming puffed up. 

EX 13:3 Then Moses said to the people, "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.

This feast remembers the day the Israelites were led out of bondage in Egypt.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread prophesied and was fulfilled when Jesus made a way out of bondage to sin for all those that would follow Him.

 

 

On the same day a temple Priest gathered the first sheaf of the barley harvest, the Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the dead, the day after the Sabbath.  The first day of the Feast, of counting days.   Jesus IS the Firstfruits of the dead – the first raised to life after death.

1CO 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

50 days after Jesus was the Firstfruits of the dead – the first raised to life - a Temple Priest was lifting 2 loaves of leavened bread before the Lord, made from the Firstfruits of the wheat harvest.  In another part of the city the fulfilment of the Feast was taking place where 3000 believers became the first fruits of the Holy Spirit.

From: JN 14:15-18 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

From: LK 24:47b… repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

AC 2:1 When the day of Pentecost [had fully come], they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. [why so many from other Nations?  God saw to it 1400 years before when he instructed His men to be in Jerusalem three times a year!].  6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language…

RO 8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

AC 2: 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

EX 40:36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out--until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

It speaks prophetically of Jesus who will Tabernacle with humanity again, this time for 1000 years.

REV 20:4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. 

 

 

LEV 23:26 The LORD said to Moses, 27 "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. 28 Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.

The Day of Atonement speaks prophetically of the Day of Judgement.

JN 12:47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.

The Year of Jubilee was announced on the Day of Atonement.  It is possible that this speaks also in a prophetic sense of the Day of Atonement and what follow.  In the year of Jubilee, the fields were rested, slaves were released, and land returned to its rightful owner - never being considered permanently owned anyway, as all people are tenants of the Lords who owns the land.

PS 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it

 

I was very relieved to find the Feast of Trumpets is the most mysterious to the Hebrews as I found it the hardest to make sense of.  It occurs on the 1^st day of the seventh month.  The last month of the Feast cycle, and New Year’s Day within the Civil cycle.  Every month was announced with trumpet blasts so it is not unusual for that reason.  Though when the trumpets blew on the first of Tishri, the people all knew the next moed was the Day of Atonement and they had 10 days to prepare.

There are a couple of other reasons it is distinct from the other feasts…

It is the only Feast Day on the first of the month – the others are all given days or counts from another marker.  It was known as “The Hidden Day” or “The Day that no man knows” as it is marked by the first sight of the new moon which could happen at either the 29^th or the 30 of the month.  So they knew around about when, but not exactly the day or the hour that it would be announced.

Another reason it is distinct is that it is not commemorating a past event – it stands somewhat alone as representing something only yet to come.  Most commentators I’ve read believe the Feast of Trumpets represents the rapture. 

1 Corinthians 15:52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first

Another possibility is that it heralds the beginning of the 7 angels sounding their 7 trumpets – found in Revelation 8.

I believe God intends this day to be masked.  Both the day of trumpets and the day the dead shall rise in Christ.  It may be the same day and they may be not.

Jesus said to His disciples that it was not for them to know the times or dates set by the Father’s authority.  (Acts 1:7).  And He said “no one, not the angels nor the Son, but only the Father” knows the day or the hour.  If God intends for each of the Feasts to be fulfilled on the day, Jesus would have known this and in turn, so would we.

MT 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Most teaching I’ve heard on this verse centres on the sinfulness of the age of Noah and the age in which Jesus will come again.  This is true but there is another point to be made.  The people of Noah’s day literally missed the boat - though they had evidence and signs right before their eyes that they chose to disbelieve and ignore - and so, they did not know.

What I think is most likely is that whether or not The Feast of Trumpets brings the rapture; it heralds the beginning of the end of this age. 

In Revelation 1, John writes that he was in the Spirit on the Lords Day. (Which could be a reference to a name the Hebrews understood as a Feast day – not referring to Sunday)

REV 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

1TH 5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

REV 3:1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write:  These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

• Firstly – genuine caution.  The need to look at the totality of Scripture and carefully weigh it up
• Secondly –another area of genuine caution – care for people not to be manipulated or hurt as may have been witnessed in the past.

There are more reasons as well.

• Many – including myself till 6 months ago - would rather dismiss the topic with remarks like “yes, but people have thought that all through the ages… during the wars, during the depression…”
• Some have simply grown weary of the topic having felt it’s been done to death in the churches they’ve attended. 
• Some do church to be in a club – not to hear truth
• Pride – showing itself in a patronising attitude or lack of patience.  Another aspect of pride in this context is that many of us have forgotten – or never really known - either the depths of our need of Him, or perhaps of His plan across the ages.  On the one hand an area of “not knowing” might not be pride, but acting on that not knowing – even in attitude – is pride.
• Self sufficiency.  A major reason the church is flourishing in China, Africa and other oppressed countries – is because they are oppressed.  They know their need.  Here, we are comfortable.  And comfort leads to being quite content – thank you very much! – with things being as they are and not wanting to change them.  We’ve got plans!  We’ve made God too small and swallowed lines like “God has a plan for your life” and “asking Jesus into our heart” as small concepts, complete in themselves, rather than with the added perspective of these thoughts – “He has a plan for the whole of time and eternity, and His plan for my life fits within that incredible expanse!” and “Jesus came into my heart, now I am living my life in Him”! 
• Fear.
• Due to religious abuse – many aspects of Christianity have been wrongfully used for manipulation and the procurement of fear for behaviour management, that ever again by simply touching on those topics fear can result.
• Fear of the unknown.  The best way to counter this is with knowledge.  About the events yes - but more importantly - of the One who set it all in motion.
• Fear in the knowledge that things are not right within oneself.  Repentance is the antidote here.  If repentance is refused, the fear is rightful.
• Fear for loved ones who are not ready.

This following portion of Scripture addresses many of the points I just mentioned.

From 2 Peter 3  

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  [There’s the manipulators and the abusers] They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." [sounds awfully like “yes but people have always been saying that” – those who have grown weary of the topic]  But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. [There are the club attendees who are not interested in truth]

 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. [There’s the comfort for those waiting on loved ones]

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives  as you  look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation…

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard [there’s the need to check what I’m saying for yourselves] so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position [there’s the possibility of deception by design or error].  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. [And there’s the knowledge of the Once who set it all in motion]

We’ve been asked to a banquet.  We can choose not to go.  We can choose not to hear about it, but we’re invited none the less.

If a bride is looking forward to her wedding day, she is planning.  She is busy.  She is counting the days.

Jewish wedding tradition meant a bride did not know the exact day or time the wedding would take place.  After the betrothal agreement, the groom would go and prepare their home, and when all was ready, return with the bridal procession through the streets with much fanfare and noise.  When the bride first heard the trumpets in the distance, she knew he was on his way.

In her days of preparation, she probably had a few false alarms.  And whether she was thrilled or terrified, you can be sure she was watchful and alert, ready and waiting, while going about her days.  The brides friends could feel joy for those thrilled,  and sadness for the terrified.  But brides who were neither, the bride who didn’t care, didn’t watch, didn’t prepare, wasn’t excited, wasn’t in fear – she is in contempt.  She’s got a different agenda and it’s not about being joined with her betrothed.  Perhaps this is the difference spoken of to the lukewarm church of Laodicea.

REV 3:14-16 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

THEORY VS. PARTICIPATION

Earlier this year when I found the Feasts come alive, I decided to try and live them.  The further we went, the more I came to see them as these incredible “object lessons” that God has placed in the Word for our learning. 

That the whole week is to be lived in anticipation and preparedness for the different way the 7^th is lived.  And that the closer Sabbath comes, the busier I need to be to be prepared.  There is a countdown of days and a countdown of hours.

In studying Passover, I learned about sifting tradition from Scripture and finding my way to the Source as I ferreted through three and a half thousand years.

That it’s not enough to avoid sin, but like the Israelites were TO eat unleavened bread each day, we are to take Jesus – the unleavened (sinless) bread of Life -  in to ourselves.  Being good isn’t enough.  Knowing Him is what counts.

When we come to something new we are excited about, our enthusiasm carries us.

It was day 18 when we first forgot to “count the omer”.  Even with our bowl and jug of barley sitting in the middle of the table, we forgot to number the day.

PS 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

JER 2:32 Does a maiden forget her jewellery, a bride her wedding ornaments?  Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.

It was day 23 when we gave it no time for discussion but a quick perfunctory “Day 23”.

And every night of the count makes the point that this is leading somewhere.  No one counts of random days for no reason.  It’s done because there is something anticipated and looked forward to on the way.

LEV 23:15 " `From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, [the omer of barley] count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD.

The only place in the Bible that specifically commands the use of leavened bread (instead of unleavened) is at the Feast of Weeks – Pentecost – when the 2 loaves are made from the first of the wheat harvest and waved before the Lord.  Jesus is always represented as Unleavened bread – because of yeast being a representation for sin.

The only place in the Bible that uses yeast as an illustration of ‘good’, is this one.

MT 13:33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." 34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:  "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."

The reason this is significant is because the 2 loaves of bread represent us, not the Lord.  And the two loaves are specifically, the Jewish and Gentile believers.

God’s plan for the Holy Spirit to indwell believers, both Jew and Gentile, was fulfilled to the day of the lifting of those loaves in the temple.  From Romans…

RO 11:13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:  "The deliverer will come from Zion;  he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Then think about this verse:

AC 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

• The Holy Spirit came to fulfil God’s plan of the ages. 
• He came to fulfil and BE prophecy. 
• He came that we might not be left orphans till Jesus return.  
• He came to seal us for the day of redemption. 
• He came to be our comforter.  Our teacher.  Our advocate. 
• Our helper when we need words and wisdom. 
• He came to help us to know God in our heart of hearts by taking residence there with us. 
• He came to help us show Jesus to the world. 
• He came to grow and shape our character to be more like Jesus.. 
• He came to help us communicate with God. 
• He came that we might be filled with Him. 
• To enable us to receive His gifts. 
• To give us joy in the presence of God. 
• To be our reminder.  
• To baptize us.   
• To help us be bold.
• To quip us with power from On High.
• To enable us to participate in the power of God for His own glory. 
• That just as He fulfilled the Feast of Firstfuits, He came that WE might bear much fruit.

(Click here for supporting verses to the above points)

All, first through the Jew and then the Gentile.

RO 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Put away any reasons why you wouldn’t and go with me for a moment in your imagination.  If we truly believed the Messiah was coming again say, next month or next year or in the next 10 years, might some of us reprioritize our lives?  Perhaps knowing we were going to stand before the Lord at any moment - might make a difference on whether we upgrade furniture we don’t need or buy another pretty pair of shoes or that newest gadget – or put food in the mouth of someone starving.  From Matthew…

MT 25:34… "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'  "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The curtain that separated the Most Holy place from the people was torn at the time of Jesus death.  My comments on the Sabbath are not intended to be reduced to having “a” (singular) “right” (as opposed to wrong!) day to worship.  Because of the cross our lives can be lived in His daily presence.

EX 31:14 " `Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.' "

DT 5:12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

That each kind of Sabbath is holy and “unto the Lord”, AND there are extra layers of purpose in each.

EX 16:24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD.

The Sabbath of days was made for MAN.   By keeping it holy we honour the day God rested after the 6 days of creation.

MK 2:27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

 

                                                    

                                        

LEV 25:1 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.

 

GE 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,  "Cursed are you above all the livestock    and all the wild animals!  You will crawl on your belly    and you will eat dust    all the days of your life. 

 

GE 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,  and you will strike his heel."16 To the woman he said,  "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,'  "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it    all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

HEB 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

I wrestled with the question of whether deception and not-knowing were the same thing.  See, Eve was deceived BEFOR she ate.  If Satan is the father of lies – and he is – then whether it’s misinformation, or lack of information it reaps the same result.  Particularly if Satan has long ago orchestrated the lack of information out of which doctrines of demons may then find root.  A doctrine of a demon is anything that usurps or distracts from the primary place of Jesus in our hearts and minds.  The slighter the deviation the less recognisable and the more cunning on the part of the Deceiver.

JN 8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils

If I thought I was watchful, but now I’m not so sure – would that be a deception?

If we’ve forgotten (corporately) or never knew (individually) that God is still dealing with Jew and Gentile as separate batches with the same yeast, could that be a deception – and why might it matter?

If I thought Christianity was all about God completing me – would that be a deception?

If I came to Christ based on what He could do for me, without knowing my place in His plan for the ages, and never grew from there – would that be a deception?

Deception is a craftier animal than temptation. 

Temptation is more recognisable. 

Temptation alone is not sin.

Temptation with action IS.

Deception comes without recognisable danger – it comes well camouflaged.

The agreement of the heart IS an action which is why deception is a more difficult beast.

REV 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" [because the Spirit is HERE waiting too] And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Over the last 20 months or so of our life, the cruise ship of my faith got stripped away to a bare raft that for a while consisted almost solely of: God is real, He loves me, He is kind.  One day I asked God "what ARE your promises?" as I felt like so much I had picked up over the years actually was not promised - just Scripture taken and applied out of context with hope or desire for control.

I told God I knew I had stripped away too much of Him and would He please 'put back in', 'restore' and 'increase' Himself to me – but only what really belonged.  I was sick of fluff and padding.  Fairy floss faith that dissolved on contact.  The raft had taken me through the storm but I also knew God to be so much more. 

Then one day I had a super special time with Tarri. She'd had her immunisations and was as miserable as they come.  Temperature, local reactions and sad sad sad.  I had her sitting on the kitchen bench with my arms around her saying over and over "I know, I know" when... in that moment... God's presence was right THERE with US.  It was as though we were held in His feather soft wing and He’d come to show me He'd done the same for me... us... all this time... that just like Tarri didn't understand my words AND that she still felt miserable she WAS still being comforted as had I been... the worse thing, the unbearable thing for Tarri or for me would have been to remove the presence of the comforter and that would be the only way to know the difference.

Yes I had still hurt, but yes, He’d been there all along comforting and whispering “I know, I know”.

A while after that driving home one day, I realised that over the past year I had truly come to know God as Emmanuel - God with Me.  The Son of God was born into human skin in the person of Jesus of Nazareth so that we might live Life in the Spirit and know Him in person.

A few months after that happened was when I embarked on this Treasure hunt that I’ve summarized this morning.  It is only now that I can see He has answered my prayer to restore and increase Himself to me beyond anything I could ever have imagined. 

He is Both.  God with us. Author of the ages.  Binder of wounds.  Ruler.  Redeemer.  King.

PR 2:1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.