Part 01.1
What time is it and where are we going from here?
We have examined the revivals of the last century of the second day in the previous series, He Cometh with and in the Clouds. (Can be requested by clicking on the button above and requesting He Cometh With Clouds). We have determined from the scriptures of the prophet Hosea where we are in relation to His coming as the former and latter rain to the earth (Hosea 6:1-3):
1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn and he will heal us; he hath smitten and he will bind us up. 2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. 3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
As the times of the restoration of all things (Acts 3: 21) continues we hear the promises of Joel 2:23-25:
23Be glad then, ye children of Zion and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately (Pentecost) and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain (Pentecost) and the latter rain (Tabernacles) in the first month. 24And the floors shall be full of wheat (Pentecost harvest) and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil (Tabernacles harvest). 25And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpiller and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
We are Between two Feasts
Most of us could testify that we experienced the love of God shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5) when Jesus breathed on us (John 20:22) and we received the washing of the water (John 3:3) by the word, the regeneration (Titus 3:5) or as we say it, got saved! We had celebrated a portion of the Feast of Passover. It was a profoundly life-changing experience. The Lord passed over when he saw the blood. The Lord was so near and dear to us. Then we settled into the everyday life of being a believer according to the traditions of the Christian Religious System in which we found ourselves. As time passed and we felt more and more burdened with down with the cares of life and we came to the realization that there’s gotta be more!
Some believers celebrated Pentecost and were baptized in the Holy Spirit shortly after of their Passover, as should be the norm (Acts 10:44-48), but for many of us, the experience of Pentecost came much later. Out of a thirst for more of Him, we overcame the traditions of men we took that leap of faith. We were filled with the Holy Spirit, with signs following (Mark 16:17-18), speaking in tongues, casting out devils and divine protection. Once again, for so many of us, this baptism was a wonderful and fresh experience of the Lord Jesus. How could we have missed that for so many years? It almost felt like we had been saved again. We experienced the gifts of the Spirit and all the ministries of Jesus that we had read about in 1st Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14 and Ephesians 4:8-15.
The scriptures then came alive again as we continued to search them daily even as the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12. Under the influence of the Spirit’s leading and guiding us into all truth, John 16:13, we discovered one of Peter’s keys of the kingdom, present truth, but not applying it to ourselves yet. We couldn’t stop talking about Him and the baptism to others. We called it the full gospel on the assumption that until the baptism we had only known a partial gospel. Some people jokingly said we needed to be locked up for a few months until the new wore off. The sad truth is, in many ways, the new did wear off…
We took all that was new and fresh and dynamic and molded for ourselves new forms of doing church. Once again the carnally minded turned gems of revelatory truth into doctrinal formulas and camped around them. Faith, healing, deliverance, sonship, prosperity, headship and submission, home church and many other teachings became the ultimate of what our Father was doing. Many of us left churches for other churches or went into home fellowships searching once again. Our Father always has a remnant that hungers, thirsts and searches for all truth. As we search, the Spirit brings all things to our remembrance (John 14:26) and we remember Peter’s admonition to be established in present truth:
2nd Peter 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth.
Presently, in December 2011, what at one time seemed like the full gospel is proving not to be so full after all. We deceived ourselves into thinking that our previous experiences with Passover and Pentecost was all of His gospel and His present truth. The joy and love we felt over Pentecost has waned and once again we find ourselves hungering and thirsting for more. Increasing numbers of seekers feel as though we are going through a transition. We cannot go back to where we have been; yet, we don’t know where to go from here. We feel somewhat lost, bewildered, and alone, stuck out there somewhere.
We don’t fit in anywhere, anymore. All of those past experiences in the Spirit were wonderful. No one can take those away from us, because they are established in us, but we presently find ourselves longing for more, to move upward, to go to a place in Christ we have never been before, whether the deep or the high and holy place. The things of this world are literally growing dimmer and the light of His love and life beckon us onward. How do we understand where we are going from here?
We are in Transition from one Feast to another
The beginning of the answer is this: We are in a time of transition. We are passing from one feast to another from Pentecost to Tabernacles. We are leaving Pentecost in pursuit of Tabernacles.
The feast of Pentecost speaks of the time from the 1st Century (Acts 2:17-21) until the dawning of the 21st century (3rd day Hosea 6:1-4). Two of the last days have passed and the 3rd day is dawning. Peter stood up and declared what the worshipers from around the world were hearing and seeing at that first Pentecostal outpouring on those 120 who followed the heavenly vision given them by Jesus (1st Corinthians 15:5-6). Only about a third of those called followed on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3). Only 120 out of over 500! Although 5000 received the benefit of the faithfulness of the 120!
In order to have some understanding of this present time, let us reach into a time past when God, gave instructions to Moses in the wilderness for Israel’s worship, service and behavior. The answer is there, embedded within the mystery of the three main courts of Moses’ tabernacle in the wilderness as they correspond to three main feasts of Israel’s worship.
An uninformed, by the spirit of wisdom and revelation, reading of these three courts and three feasts would cause one to ask, What are they for? They seem so independent of present truth, but they are not! The eternal purposes of God, the Father, are mysteriously hidden within them. Our Father, through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, is opening up this mystery to us and more so in this 3rd day of the Pentecost feast.
The Tabernacle and Feasts of the Lord are types and shadows in the natural realm and symbols in the spiritual realm that were given then to reveal present truth. All of the scriptures of the prophets confirm this principle. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 1st Corinthians15:46. (Also read Romans 5:14; 1st Corinthians 10:11; Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:5, 10:1; and 11:19.) An understanding of the tabernacle of Moses and these feasts will help us to understand the times and the seasons and where we are going from here.
Moses’ Tabernacle in the Wilderness
God commanded Moses to make a tabernacle for Him while he and the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Exodus 25-26. Moses’ tabernacle was called, among other names, the tabernacle of the congregation. The congregation was in reference to Israel. This was to be their tabernacle. They were to make it. They were to serve in it through the priesthood. They were to meet God there. His overall purpose for the tabernacle was to meet and commune with His people. Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them, Exodus 24:8.
Patterned according to our Father’s instructions
Our Father gave specific instructions for building this tabernacle. Every detail had significance and represented something pertaining to both Jesus and to all true believers who are His tabernacle / temple. He gave the pattern for the tabernacle to Moses, who in turn appointed, according to Father’s instruction, Bezaleel, Aholiab and others to make it in Exodus 31:1-11.They were anointed by the Spirit in wisdom, understanding, knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to make the tabernacle. No one else but these persons had the inspiration to make it. And so they did! They made it exactly according to the pattern. Everything had a reason for being there. The Tabernacle of Moses consisted of three courts: the Outer Court with the brazen altar for burnt sacrifices and a laver for washing; the Holy Place with the table of showbread, the candlestick (lampstand), and the altar of incense; and the Holy of Holies with the ark of the covenant, mercy seat and cherubim.
I place these courts in three columns to later show how they correspond to other aspects of our walk with the Lord and to illustrate this transition I believe we walking in. Some of this is illustrated below.
|
Outer Court |
Holy Place |
Holy of Holies |
Three annual feasts
While in the wilderness, Our Father also gave instructions for the three main annual feasts of Israel’s worship:
Three times you shall keep a feast unto Me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread…And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field; and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. Exodus 23:14-16 & Deuteronomy 16:16.
Passover is the first major feast of Israel’s worship. This spring feast was first instituted and observed in Egypt as told in Exodus 12. Specific instructions are given in various places in the Old Testament for observing this feast. The Passover meal is observed on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan (March/April). The seven days that follow are called the feast of Unleavened Bread, ending with Firstfruits. Leviticus 23:5-6.
The feast of harvest (or first fruits) also known as Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks) is the second main feast of Israel’s worship. Passover was the first fruits of the barley harvest and Pentecost was the first fruits of the wheat harvest. It is celebrated fifty days after Firstfruits in Israel’s third month of Sivan (May/June). Exodus 34:33; Leviticus 23:15-16; Deuteronomy 16:10; 16 and 2nd Chronicles 8:13.
The feast of Ingathering known as Tabernacles is the third main feast of Israel’s worship. This fall feast is celebrated during the seventh month of Tishri 15-22 (September/October). This feast is also celebrated in three parts, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.
1st Thessalonians 5:23-24 23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Our spirit is saved at Passover
Our soul is being saved during Pentecost
Our body is being saved during Tabernacles
This is the acceptable year of the Lord…Luke 4:19
Loving Kindness to you and yours from our Father
Carroll & Margaret Sanders