Greg Wilson (1 August 2015)
THE THREE PILGRIMAGE FEASTS TO THE
LORD
The apostle Paul taught on the subject of the
resurrection of the dead and rapture doctrines. This
teaching appears principally in 1 Corinthians 15. As you
are all well aware, this is one of the two principal rapture
chapters in the New Testament. (See 1 Corinthians 15:51
and 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
In Chapter 15 Verses 20-28 Paul teaches
that the resurrection of the dead. This includes the
rapture event of Verses 51-51. The resurrection/rapture
events are associated with Israel's pilgrimage feasts to
the Lord Jehovah.
The Lord ordered that Israel observe three
feasts each year where all males should appear before the Lord.
Exodus 23:15, 34:23 and Deuteronomy 16:16. These special
feasts are (1) Unleavened bread, (2) Wave Sheaf offering of
first fruits and (3) Wave Loaf Offering of Weeks or Pentecost.
These feasts are to be distinguished from all other feasts as
pilgrimage feasts associated with the harvest of the land.
In Chapter 15 verse 20 Paul teaches that
Jesus was raised from the dead and became the first fruits of
them that sleep. We know Jesus as the Lord of the Harvest.
Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2. He teaches that in Adam,
all die, but in Christ shall all be made alive.
Paul teaches the meaning of Verses 23 and 24
in light of God's three pilgrimage feasts. Remember, God
is a God of order beyond our feeble comprehension. In
Verse 23 Paul, referring to the resurrection of the dead,
says, "But every man in his own order: Christ the first
fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. Christ was raised from the dead on the Feast of
First Fruits.
24 Then the end come, when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father; when he shall
have put down all rule and all authority in power. Verse
24 speaks to the Feast of the Ingathering when the Old Testament
and tribulation saints are raised for life in the millennia
kingdom.
If Christ is the first order of resurrection
of the dead which occurred at the Feast of First Fruits,
then at Christ's Coming for His own should follow in the second
order at the Feast of Pentecost. Christ's own are gathered
at His coming. 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 1
Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
In Romans 8:23 Paul teaches that Christ's own
have the "first fruits of the Spirit". This first fruits
of the Spirit which is given to each believer is a deposit, a
guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5. The
deposit is against the expectation of the "redemption of
purchase possession. Ephesians 1:13-14.
I realize that many believe that Pentecost
was fulfilled in totality with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
after Christ's ascension. Let us not jump to
conclusions without a thoughtful inquiry in light of Paul's
teaching on this important and timely subject.
Let's look back when God began His work with
Israel in Egypt. On the first Passover in Egypt we
can all agree that God began a relationship with corporate
Israel. On that Passover night when the Destroying Angel
removed the first born of Egypt, he saved Israel by the blood of
the lamb on the door lintels. This night began the seven
day feast known as Unleavened Bread. Exodus
12:17-18. This feast is a memorial of the Lord (1)
removing Egypt's burdens; (2) ridding Israel of Egypt's bondage
and (3) the Lord's redemption of Israel. At this time, the
Lord says "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to
you a God:". With this first Passover God began the
Age of Instruction or Dispensation of the Law.
Fast forward 1,500 years and we see Messiah
Jesus becoming the sacrificial lamb of God which takes
away the sins of the world who was sacrificed on Passover. This
was the second fulfilling event of Passover. With Jesus'
sacrificial death, the Age of Instruction/Law ended.
Passover commenced and terminated the Age of Instruction or
Dispensation of the Law.
If this is God's intended pattern, then we
have only seen half of God's teaching on the Feast of
Weeks/Pentecost. I know that you are going to say
that the first fulfillment of Pentecost was the giving of the
law at Sinai. There is no Scriptural support for this
claim. It does not exist in the Book. It is a
tradition of man, particularly the Jew who was trying to figure
out the meaning of this curious feast. It stands
apart. It has even been termed a mystery by the
Jews. Surely, a mystery explained by Paul. The
mystery of the Kingdom of God, Christ indwelling the
believer. Jesus said He was going to "give away the
Kingdom of God to a people who would produce fruit". Matthew
21:43. The Jew has been temporarily blinded. Romans
11:25. Be not lead by the blind. Study and search out the
Scriptures. John 5:39, 2 Tim 2:15.
The gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling
believers after Christ's ascension represents a new
dispensation. The Age of the Indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. This term is my personal choice because it
describes the event associated with Pentecost. Some call
this the beginning of the Church Age, but there is division
about the exact meaning this term, so I avoid using it
here.
Paul describes the dispensation following
Jesus' atoning work (1) dispensation of the gospel: 1 Cor 9:17,
(2) dispensation of the fullness of times, Ephesians 1:10, (3)
dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:2 and (4)
dispensation of God, Col 1:25.
In view of Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians
15, we are lead to a reasonable belief that the harvest of
Christ's own at His coming must be associated with the second
harvest festival, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost. We have
His Spirit of First Fruits. The Feast of First Fruits is a
sampling harvest and the Feast of Pentecost is the main grain
harvest. The Feast of Pentecost is a harvest feast
celebrating the wheat harvest. It is celebrated by the
waving of two loaves of harvest bread made with yeast in
the air to the Lord. This is a curious
picture. Is this a symbol ?
If the sheaf of the grain which was waved at
First Fruits represented Jesus' resurrection, then could the two
loaf waves offering represent the redeemed resurrected dead and
living in Christ at the resurrection of the dead and living
? If so, this picture is validated by Paul's disclosure of
the mystery of the "catching away/rapture" event described in
the same Chapter in Verse 51.
It is my firm belief that Christ's own should
be looking for His return after the manner of Paul's clear
teaching in Chapter 15.
The festival of Trumpets is not a subject of
Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the dead and living in
Chapter 15. Search the Scriptures for truth, not the
traditions of men. Disappointment awaits those who ignore
this principal of instruction.
GAPS
BETWEEN DISPENSATIONS
If God's word teaches that the Dispensation
of the Law began and ended on Passover and that the Dispensation
of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit began and will end on
Pentecost, then we should study the meaning of 53 day gap
between the Dispensation of the Law and Pentecost and the 113
day gap between Pentecost and Trumpets.
God uses mathematics as a teaching tool for
those who seek confirmation of His written word. I expect
that many of you will understand this truth.
The numbers 53 and 113 are prime
numbers. Prime numbers teach a truth as they can only be
divided by themselves and one. When God uses prime numbers
He is telling us that there is buried treasure. I have only
begun to study these two numerical time gaps so the following is
a preliminary work on the subject.
53 Days
What was happening in Jerusalem during this
53 day period. The most important event in the world had
just occurred. It was a "Genesis correction event".
God was removing the veil, the separation which resulted from
Eve and Adam's transgression. God had originally made man
in His image, but after Eve and Adam's transgression, man was
subsequently born in Adam's image, a fallen image. Genesis
5:3. After Christ's atoning work on the cross, man could
be made spiritually complete and restored to the image of God by
the operation of faith and belief in His works.
I wonder if the Jewish leadership was reading
Isaiah 53 during these 53 days ? This is the story of
Messiah as the suffering servant. Was this a clue - 53
days and Isaiah 53 ?
There are many Hebrew words with the gematria
value of 53. The word "stone" has a numeric value of
53. Who is the "stumbling stone" ? Romans 9:32. What
is the "rock of offense". 1 Peter 2:8. Who is the
"stone" which is not cut with hands ? Daniel 2:34.
The word "message" has a numeric value of 53. The message
is the gospel, the good news. The word
"prophesy" has a numeric vale of 53. Jesus Christ is the
spirit of prophesy. Revelation 19:10.
This 53 day period is a simple clue to look
further for confirmation that Jesus fulfilled the role as the
Messiah.
113 Days
The 113 day gap between Pentecost and
Trumpets is even more compelling. Let's wonder if
the resurrection of the dead and living in Christ occurred on a
future Feast of Pentecost, what would those who cared, be
thinking ?
Read Psalm 113. I think God has
something to say in this Psalm about the 113 day period between
the resurrection of the dead and living in Christ.
1Praise ye the
Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
2 Blessed be the name of the
Lord from this time forth and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun
unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above
the heavens.
5 Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,
6 Who humbleth himself to
behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
7 He raiseth up the poor out
of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
8 That he may set him with
princes, even with the princes of his people.
9 He maketh the barren woman
to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise
ye the Lord.
Could Verse 7 be a reference to the
resurrection of the dead and living in Christ ? The dead
are lifted out of the ground and the living are lifted or caught
up out of earth to be with the Lord. Both events of 1
Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 :are described
in Verse 7.
We know that the remnant of Israel will
recognized Jesus/Yeshuah as their Messiah during the Time of
Jacob's Trouble. Verse 9 speaks directly to the "barren
woman" , the Messiah rejecting Israel, a women who bears
children in Yeshuah. Israel is described as a "barren
woman" who will bear many children some day. Isaiah
54. Revelation 12:1-2 speaks of the birth of belief
fulfilling the Isaiah 54 prophesy.
The first occurrence of a word with the
numeric value of 113 in the Scriptures is Peleg. Genesis
10:25. Peleg means "divided". What happens at the
rapture ? Is this not the great division when God removes
His own prior to the Time of Jacob's Trouble ?
The number 113 is associated with a
description of God's eternal nature, that is having no beginning
and no end. There are 355 days in a lunar year. The
relationship between 113 and 355 is pi, a number with no ending.
The number 113 is associated with the word of
God. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.
The triangle of 22 is 253. The center of this triangle is
the number 113. Without belaboring the point, I want to
emphasize that this number is intimately associated with God's
word of truth and the Star of David. Frank Colijn has a
comprehensive article on this subject which you can read at: http://members.home.nl/frankcolijn/frankcolijn/10._God_speaks.htm
CONCLUSION:
Many people are looking for the rapture of
the true church on the Festival of Trumpets. I do not find
any Scriptural support for this belief. Paul certainly
teaches that the resurrection of the dead is associated with the
three harvest feasts. Trumpets is not a harvest
feast. Keep in mind, that Paul's revelation came directly
from the Lord. His words are trustworthy.
I would encourage you to study the Scriptures
and seek the guidance of the Lord.
Sincerely Yours.
Notes on the Feasts of the Lord:
Leviticus 23:5
In the fourteenth day of the first
month at even is the LORD'S passover.
Leviticus 23:6 "The Feast of
Unleavened Bread"
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is
the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must
eat unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:10 "Wave Sheaf of
First Fruits"
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you,
and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf
of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Leviticus 23:15-23 "The Feast of Weeks"
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow
after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the
wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev
23:16
Even unto the morrow after the seventh
sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new
meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev
23:17
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two
wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour;
they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto
the LORD.
Lev 23:20 "Wave Offering of Two
Loaves of First Fruits"
And the priest shall wave them with the bread
of the firstfruits for a wave offering
before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the
LORD for the priest.
Leviticus 23:23 "A Memorial Blowing
of the Trumpets"
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In
the seventh month, in the first day of
the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of
trumpets, an holy convocation.
Leviticus 23:24 "The Feast of
Ingathering"
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of
tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
Recommended Reading:
Articles
on the subject are on the web. See The Pentecostal
Rapture of the Church at http://www.separationtruth.com/resources/Pentecostal+Rapture+new.pdf
and The Threefold Order of the Resurrection of
Righteous at http://www.separationtruth.com/resources/ThreeFold+Order+of+Resur.+new.pdf
After
reading his article, you may wish to dig deeper into one or
more of his three books.
The
Pentecostal Rapture of the Church
http://www.amazon.com/Pentecostal-Rapture-Church-Jesus-Christ/dp/1498408303/ref=la_B00J4RJSNK_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427831781&sr=1-4
The
Threefold Order of Resurrection of the Righteous
http://www.amazon.com/Threefold-Order-Resurrection-Righteous/dp/1498404383/ref=la_B00J4RJSNK_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427831805&sr=1-1
The
Day Christ Died as Our Passover
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Christ-Died-Our-Passover/dp/1449793088/ref=la_B00J4RJSNK_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427831825&sr=1-2